20 weeks with Baby4!!!

20 weeks! Didn't realize the bad lighting. 🙄🤦‍♀️

18 weeks- better lighting!

Here we are (over) HALFWAY through this pregnancy, and I'm just remembering to write a post. I feel like I don't have time or energy for very much right now besides surviving the day with 3 littles and growing this baby. Buttttttttt this is a precious time, and I want to remember it. So here we go...

Pregnancy highlights so far...

1. Andrew being my rock through all the hormones and emotions that come with being pregnant with 3 littles already consuming my everything. I was SUCH a mess the first trimester, but I've never seen Andrew stronger for me, trusting that God's gift of life is always good, and somehow passing that onto me as I battled all-day nausea and extreme fatigue and crazy hormones and all the super fun first trimester stuff.🙄 But seriously, he's been the best!

2. The boys' reactions. When we told them, Graham's response was "wow, Mama, your belly's going to get so big you won't be able to drive the minivan!" 😂 Owen didn't really react at first, but a few minutes later came over and asked me if he could feel the baby.😍 And he asks every few days if the baby's still in there. Audrey's oblivious, of course, but I love sharing this pregnancy with the boys!!

3. When we went to the first ultrasound, I was farther along than they thought, so the baby was bigger than we've ever seen at the first appt, and seeing that sweet peanut wave and kick and wiggle was a moment I'll never forget. Never ever ever EVER gets old. Allllllllllllllllllllllll the feels.

4. I didn't feel this one kick until 19 weeks- which I think is the latest I've ever felt one kick! Especially with the fourth, when I'm all stretched out and know what it feels like, it made me incredibly nervous that something was wrong. The 20 week ultrasound tech explained that my placenta is in "front" this time, between my belly and the baby, like extra padding, so it makes it harder to feel the kicks. But now I'm feeling them every day, which is so reassuring!!

5. We decided to have another surprise gender this time! I really loved knowing the boys' gender, and yet also really loved Audrey's surprise, so I was really 50/50 for this time. Andrew was leaning more towards a surprise, so we just went with that! Graham has been guessing BOY, and Owen has been saying GIRL!

6. I was super anxious about our 20 week ultrasound, just convinced something was really wrong with the baby (for no good reason), but the doctor said everything looks great!!!  #doxology

Sweet little peanut :)

Audrey at 1 YEAR!!!

Weight: She has her checkup in a few days.

Height: Same.

Clothing size: 12 months.

Cloth diaper booty in leggings is the bestttttttt. ;)

Diaper size: Cloth all day every day.

Feeding: Nursing 3 times/ day now. First thing in the morning, before afternoon nap, and before bedtime. I can tell she's taking less and less from me, as she eats more solids. I'm guessing we'll be completely done in a few weeks. FREEDOMMMMMMMMM!
ORANGES are by far her absolute favorite, along with frozen blueberries, broccoli (what?!), and as of tonight- baked ziti! She screams and kicks her feet to get more of all of these!

Devouring her first taste of baked ziti.

Sleeping: She boycotted her morning nap completely for a week straight, but has been doing about 30 minutes again the past few days, plus afternoon nap of about an hour. Sleeping roughly 6pm-6.30am.

Milestones: She finally got her top 2 teeth a few days ago. Going from crawling to sitting to crawling. Letting go with one hand while standing. "Talking" with a lot more sounds.

Likes: Music- she claps and smiles and is so cute!! Being outside. Destroying train tracks built by her brothers. ;) Playing with shoes-- she bypasses tons of toys anytime there are shoes in sight!!

 

Dislikes: Anyone holding her except Mommy... which makes it really hard sometimes, but is also really sweet. Getting her diaper changed.

Adventures: First St. Patty's Day. First birthday. Lots of family visiting.

What we couldn't live without: Bows! ;) Her hair is down past her nose, so she seriously needs one every day... And I'm loving making them lately!!

Best part of parenting this age: I am devastated that she's not a baby anymore, but it is so exciting to see who she's becoming. And always a relief to make it through the first year, and that she can now survive without my milk. ;)

Hardest part of parenting this age: I think just the acknowledgement that BABIES DON'T KEEP. I can't press pause or slow down this stage of life. She's seriously the sweetest baby, and I so wish I could keep her like this forever. Audrey, we adore you with our whole hearts.
 

Making Weekends Great Again...

Remember when you got to sleep in and hang out late with your friends and do whatever you wanted to on the weekends?? I think this was one of the most shocking parts of being a mom--there's NEVER a breakkkkkkkkk. Amiright?! Obviously kids are so worth it, but come on... #MamaNeedsABreak
My hubs works full-time and is getting his PHD, so he leaves the house to study every Saturday, and travels one weekend/ month for his doctorate program. So, being a stay-at-home mom, all the days just run together, and I just NEED the weekends in general to feel different from the rest of the week. So, thanks to a Facebook poll, I came up with some great ideas, and have been implementing them for the last month. And let me tell you- it's already a GAME CHANGER. I'm already looking forward to my next weekend, which never used to be the case. Here's all I did...

1. Took turns sleeping in with the hubs. Sleeping in was my biggest weekend tradition before kids. ;) After birthing & breastfeeding 3 babies in 3 years, I am sufficiently sleep-deprived, so this was the biggest one for me. I sleep in on Saturday (crawling back into bed after nursing my bottle-hating baby at 6am), and the hubs gets the kids up, dressed, and fed. It feels like Christmas morning to sleep til 8am. Then he sleeps in on Sunday. Genius. Why have I never thought of that?! #thanksfacebookmom

2. "Dad-urday" was the term a friend used, and I loved it! Andrew has occasionally watched the kids for a couple hours on Saturdays over the years to give me a break, but never super consistently, and I usually still have the baby. This weekend, he watched all 3 in the morning for a couple hours, and then went to study at lunchtime. HUGE. I totally just hid in our bedroom and made hairbows for Audrey, because bows are my happy place. ;) Other times I've walked around Target and then read in their coffee shop, which has been heavenly. The point is, usually by naptime, I'm so exhausted from meeting three little people's needs for 7 hours straight, I can't even sit up straight. So having a break in the morning is awesome.

3. No cooking on Sunday. Some days all I feel like I do is cook, feed people, clean up, repeat. Even when we have leftovers at night, I still usually cook Andrew's beloved turkey sausage for breakfast the next day, or muffins for the boys, or granola ball snacks for the week, or something! So not cooking anything for a WHOLE DAY neverrrrrrrr happens. Until now. And it is glorious. No cooking, no cleaning up... And I think I'm going to start a tradition of "breakfast for dinner" every Sunday night. I could eat breakfast 3 meals a day, and we always have eggs, sausage, muffins, etc. on hand. Pull them out, cut up some fruit, and call it done. THE BEST.


Y'all. This has seriously changed my life, and I am so not even exaggerating.  We've tried other things too, but these three are by far the best changes we've made.  #MakeWeekendsGreatAgain

Tell me your tips and tricks!!!

Audrey at 11 months

Weight: She was 17.6 lbs (40th %) at her 9 month appointment, so over that now.

Height: She was 27.75" (50-75th %) at her 9 months appointment.

Clothing size: 12 months.

Hanging with Eli at gymnastics

Staring into Frankie's eyes at the library

Diaper size: Cloth 4 life.

Feeding: Usually nursing around 6.30am, 10.30am, 1pm, 3.30pm, 6:00pm...DONE with the dream feed!!!! Cue doxology.

Also- I just looked back at where Owen was at this age, and he was on THREE NURSING SESSIONS a day! What?!!! Gonna drop one of hers asap!!!!!
LOVES solids. She grabs food off anyone's plate and stuffs it in her mouth whenever she has the opportunity. Obvious favorites are definitely blueberries, oranges, and cheddar cheese. She started eating meat this month- tiny bits of ground beef and chicken from my plate, plus these turkey meatballs that she now loves! I made them a couple months ago, and she spit them out-- only food to ever spit out! Ha. So I just froze them and tried again. Now she's a fan, and it's an easy way to give her meat. 
Also- one of my favorite #momhacks is to give her frozen peas when she's hungry but other food isn't ready yet, or if I just need her contained while I cook. Throw some frozen peas on her highchair tray, and she's good to go for a while. 

When the blueberries run out

Sleeping: Still not a great napper- usually 30 minutes in the morning, and 1 hour in the afternoon. Sleeps 6pm ish - 6:30am ish.

Milestones: She has 4 teeth now, all on the bottom! Ha. Loves standing now, but has to hold onto something, and not taking any steps yet. Moved to her big girl carseat! We also discovered she not only recognizes her name, but also responds to "pretty-face." Hahahaha. She also says "Mama" all the time now- mainly when she's upset! Ha.

Check out those bottom teeth!

Likes: Eating solids. Her brothers- she CONSTANTLY is looking for them and thinks they're both hilarious and fascinating. Being outside-- she screams if i am holding her while I grab the mail or something, because she thinks we're going outside and then we come right back in! Ha.

Actually playing at the gardens for the first time

Checking out the new modern park in the neighborhood

Dislikes: She's a lot more vocal about her dislikes these days! Getting her diaper changed, when she wants to change positions but can't (she can't go from crawling to sitting, etc, yet), the church nursery (made it 10 minutes before she lost her mind), naps.

Adventures: First Valentine's Day. Being outside a ton in the BEST FEBRUARY EVER in Indy!!

 

V-Day toddler party

Elodie is her biggest fan evaaaaaa

What we couldn't live without: Man, I gotta say- this February warm weather was a LIFE-SAVER!!!!! Usually the most depressing month in Indy, but we were probably outside playing at least half of the days this month!!!!

Best part of parenting this age: I have LOVED seeing the boys love on her the past 11 months, and it just keeps getting sweeter. Graham constantly calls her nicknames, like "babydoll," "pretty-face," or "Auds." Presh. 

 

Hardest part of parenting this age: This has probably been her fussiest month. She is becoming more opinionated and voicing her frustration a lot more loudly. Ha. I think she's also wanting to walk/ move more, but she can't figure it out. She's super squirmy ALL THE TIME. So funny seeing her little personality develop, and seeing her becoming more like a toddler than a baby!!! (And now I will go cry in a corner.)

Owen at 2.5 years

Age: 2.5 Years

Stats: 37.5" tall (90th%) and 30.2 lbs (50-75th %)

Clothes: 2T ... His dinosaur shirt and Superman shirt are definitely his faves.

Favorite foods: YOGURT. Scrambled eggs. Oatmeal. Cheese crackers. Smoothies. Cupcakes of course. He would still begs me to feed him EVERY.SINGLE.BITE. I don't, but that's definitely his preference. Flashbacks to him as a baby refusing to feed himself until 14/15 months. This kid.

Words: He talks all.the.time. He and Graham give each other a run for their money in this area. He wants to have some of the same conversations every day about some of his favorite things... "Big black train, museum, FUN!" and "Gymnastics, foam pit, got stuck, can't get out." (I don't think this actually happened- at least not to him ;) And some of his favorite phrases are
"let's get cozyyyyyyyy!" (when we snuggle under blankets and read books)
"I caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan't!!!! Mommy do it!!!!" (because my boys never went through the "I do it myself" stage and want help with everythinggggggg)
"Jingle bells jingle bells HEY!"
"NO Grahammers!!!!"
"Audrey is so tinyyyyyyyyyy."

He can quote some books and sing some songs, which is so, so fun.

Activities: Mops. Gymnastics (open gym). Children's Museum. Grocery shopping. Playdates at nature center, libraries, etc.

Favorite Friends: Elodie & Lewis, Chet & Beau, Liam & Lynnlee, Cori & Lexi, Chapman & Bennett, Jonathan & Charlotte. 

Favorite Things:
Balls. Obsessed. 
Trains. Big trains at the museum. Little trains at home. Any trains. All trains.
Racing on cars with Graham. Around and around the circle of our downstairs layout. Every day.
Chasing with anyone.
Gymnastics (mostly bouncing on the trampolines).
Swings.
Books- He's grown a lot in reading longer books that Graham likes too, instead of more "baby" books. His faves are probably  "How do dinosaurs...?" series, Knuffle Bunny series, Thomas the Train, Piggie & Elephant series.
Songs- "Train song," Let It Go (thanks Charlotte ;) , Food Food Champion

 

Selfies with Nonnie ;)

Siblings: He and Graham are absolute "frenemies," with equal times being sweet and happy with each other, and equal times screaming and fighting over a  prized toy. At times he seems to follow in Graham's footsteps, picking up on things like playing guitar & singing, and at times he sets the pace for the brothers, so I'm interested to see how their relationship plays out over the years. He is a big teddy bear with Audrey-- incredibly gentle and loving and sweet.

Mom's Proudest Moment: How sweet he is with Audrey. He is loud and aggressive and keeps me on my toes... But with her, he is gentle, loving, and kind. Makes my heart melt every time. So, so precious. Also, PEEING ON THE POTTY for the first time!!!!

Dad's Proudest Moment: Peeing in the potty! "Ummmm.... he's just such a cute little kid!!!!" Being sweet to Audrey.