Cousins!

Gemma got to meet my sister's baby, her cousin while we were at the anniversary weekend. The girls are just 3 weeks apart in age! So cute!

8 weeks!

Our sweet girl is 8 week old!

We were out of town last weekend helping my grandparents celebrate their 60th weddin anniversary a little early. Gemma got to meet tons of family members and checked 3 states off her list (Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota) as well. Since coming home, I've just been fighting to keep ahead of the game. We have some big milestones coming up:
Next Friday William will go to KINDERGARTEN for his "practice" day and then school starts officially the following Wednesday. I am so confident William is ready, so ready. However, this mama is not quite ready. This is another huge change for our family.

I will be going back to work 2 days a week in another 4 weeks, Amelia starts a new preschool program in 5 weeks. Between now and then we have more traveling to do and a list a mile long. I hope to keep things up around here, but it is going to be a challenge!

Here is a quick lowdown on our little monkey:

Size 1 dipes, size 2 at night. Cloth diapers finally fit! We have been able to use our old supply when we're home for the last week or so.

Size 0-3 clothes are still fitting, but many outfits are now retired. The 3-6 month stuff is starting to fit- particularly one piece outfits.

We are rewarded with smiles all day long from our sunshine, Gemma. She is starting to giggle, which I could just eat up because it is so delicious. Video I suspect will come soon.

We've seen some rolling from her belly to her back, but it is still pretty inconsistent.

Gemma's personality is just so sunny. She loves her siblings, even when they are less than gentle. She is delighted by having anyone talk to her and coos, smiles and "talks" back. She is a delight to have in our family!

7 weeks

Gemma is 7 weeks old. We had to get a little creative as we weren't at home today. Where are we? Stay tuned. I'll tell you tomorrow. Probably.

6 weeks old

Chatting with my baby

3 kids, 3 things

How did this happen?  She started with her head in the center of the blanket and her feet near the RIGHT side of the picture frame.

*In no particular order:

1.  Gemma is a wiggler.  A wiggly, wriggly wiggler.  On Wednesday,  I left her on her blanket with some toys to look at while I fed kids and then chased them into clothes.  Gemma was very content for awhile and then started to complain (note: this wasn't crying.  She would squawk and then settle down.  A few moments later she would squawk again.)  I ran around and finished the critical tasks before going to rescue Gemma, taking possibly 3-4 more minutes.  When I came to get her, I found that she had scooted across the floor on her back 2+ feet.  She might have gone further, except her head was pressed up against the coffee table and probably why she was complaining.

2.  Amelia is finally potty trained during the day (also: HOORAY!) and she has been somewhat consistent with staying dry all night.  This means we are still using diapers at night until we are confident we won't wake up to a pile of wet laundry.  This is also new enough that we haven't set up the routine each night to make sure she goes potty right before bed.  We're working on it.

So, when she wandered into my room yesterday morning while I was feeding the baby, I didn't drop everything. Roughly fifteen minutes later, I chased Amelia into the bathroom and discovered.....we forgot to put a diaper on her at bedtime last night, my heart sank.  Luckily, she was dry.  Unluckily, she knows that she didn't wear a diaper last night and it might be a battle to get her in one tonight...wish us luck!

3.  We were driving to swimming lessons on Wednesday morning and William was reading the street signs to me.  We passed Oak Street, Elm Street, etc, etc.  We turned onto Main Street, which gave us the opportunity to discuss the definition of intersections and why streets go where they do. William announced the last street before the pool "Chestnut Doctor".

I was first reaction was to be impressed that he correctly read and pronounced Chestnut as I am certain this was an unknown word for him and the sign was only visible for a brief moment.  Without thinking, I automatically corrected him and the following conversation took place:

Me: That sign said "Chestnut Drive". 

William: No.  It didn't. It said Chestnut Doctor.  Dr. is a nickname for someone who is a doctor.  That sign said Chestnut D-R.  That means Chestnut Doctor.

Me:(...thinking...impressed by the logic......)

William: Right, mom?

Me: Weeellllll...See, sometimes things can have more that one meaning.  Dr can mean "doctor" or "drive" depending on the situation they are in.  If I see Dr. on a sign, I know it means drive.  If I see Dr. 

William: That is silly.  They should just use one nickname for one thing.  Why don't they do that?

Me: Hey look!  We're at the pool! (Or: I don't have a good answer, do you?)

*I started this post on Wednesday and when I went to finish it Thursday morning, it was gone :(  How frustrating to have to go back and retype everything.

A bonus picture of our smiling girl!  There are four people who live at this house that will now do utterly ridiculous things in order to see this gummy grin!

3 things, 3 kids

Sent from my iPhone