Playing catch-up

Just a few snapshots of this crazy-busy month. My blogging has fallen by the wayside while we've been settling into our groove. Life with three kids is a little more jam-packed than I was used to... It's rich, though. With Jason in school for the past three weeks, and me getting stir-crazy, I've been filling our schedule to the brim. We've gone to the park, to birthday parties, to quilt shops, to get frozen yogurt, visited with my mom, played outside, and just enjoyed ourselves in general. It feels summery already and we're taking advantage of it.

Airborne school

Airborne school came and went. The schedule ended up being much more bearable than I'd expected, and Jason did his best to be helpful and available when he came home at night--even if he'd been up since 2:30 in the morning and spent the day running his butt off in blistering heat.
Jump week was the probably the most fun, him getting to play Army and do all the cool, physical stuff that he'd been wanting to do for years and never got to do while we were in New York. The kids and I (I have to keep reminding myself that I can't use the phrase "the boys and I" anymore and backspacing repeatedly) drove [a million miles away] to the airfield [actually it's even past the airfield to this little middle-of-nowhere area South of post] to watch his first jump.
It was unseasonably hot [for March, not for Georgia] and I said a little prayer of thanks that he wasn't doing this in July. After I slathered sunscreen on everyone, the boys picnicked on lunchables, Poppy napped in her stroller and I counted planes as they circled overhead, each chalke of soldiers waiting their turn to jump, knowing that Jason was in one of them. I misunderstood chalke 10 as plane number ten and overheard a family sitting nearby discussing what number their soldier was going to be. Eventually I just started taking random pictures of the first jumper out of each fly-by (that's all I knew at that point, that he'd be the first out of the plane on his chalke) and after 11 or 12 jumps I put the camera away to chase my little trouble-makers as they headed higher and higher on the bleachers, despite my protests.
As luck would have it, the very last plane I photographed happened to be Jason's. I discovered this, because he yelled out to us as he was walking to the buses.

He even came over on his adrenaline-high and gave us all a quick hug. He jumped 4 more times that week, which we didn't see, and only had one shaky landing (one that he did not hesitate to admit scared the crap out of him).

His dad, Bill, flew in from Texas at the end of the week to be at his graduation. The boys loved having Grampy around for the weekend--they went to see The Lorax in 3d and to the Infantry Museum--and it meant a lot to Jason that Bill, a former paratrooper himself, got to pin him.

Jason is third from the right--the tall one.

The commander called up the grandparents and parents of the current graduates, who had been to Airborne School, themselves, to pin their soldiers.

Then we all got to go see him.

Daddy and his three.

Our poor attempt at a family portrait. In our defense, it was reeeeeeally bright.

Just us, two. Rare. Very rare.I'm very proud of Jason and all his accomplishments--especially in this past year. Look at all those pins! Seems like we're attending a new graduation every month, and this year will see another couple before it's over.

Aquarium

Restless and itching for some out-of-the-ordinary fun, we loaded up our pack and headed up to Atlanta to the aquarium--per Jason's suggestion--a few weekends ago. Word to the wise--order tickets online BEFORE you go. After a nearly two-hour drive, we stood in line for nearly another hour--no easy feat with a preschooler, a toddler, and a newborn.
Once we got our tickets, got inside the air-conditioning and fed baby, though, it was magic! Riley has always loved fish tanks. Our babysitter in NY had a nice ten-gallon tank in her kitchen and would hold him up to the counter to watch the fish. He could stare in that tank all day! I knew he'd be thrilled.

James loooves sharks. They had an area with huge tanks and a moving walkway that you could stand on and the tanks surrounded on all sides. Giant whale sharks, smaller sharks, and brightly colored fish swam over our heads. The boys loved it!

We saw every color fish. We saw otters, beluga whales, spider crabs, eels, snakes, frogs, sea horses, sea dragons, anemones, tiny sharks you could pet in a tank, sting rays, all kinds of creatures.

Jason kept up with the boys while I pushed a sleeping Poppy in the stroller. Well, until the frog room where she woke up hungry. Very hungry.

After we explored the aquarium--there was so much to see--we got to go to the dolphin show. Poppy stayed awake for the whole thing--bright lights, loud music, splashing water. The boys were fascinated, especially with the trainers riding the dolphins. Riley clapped after every trick. James said it was his favorite part (which is surprising because it's hard to compete with the sharks!). So even though the prices were ridiculous, the parking was crazy, the people were rude, and we had to navigate through Atlanta traffic, during rush hour on St. Patrick's Day--we still had a great time with no meltdowns. Well, mostly. Poppy hates her carseat and started screaming on the drive home. We pulled over to feed her halfway home, but she still screamed the last hour of driving.

Days later the boys couldn't stop talking about it [the aquarium--not the baby screaming]. Next time we'll plan better and go in the morning, buy tickets ahead of time, and check out the Coca-Cola museum (right across from the aquarium). I hope we get to explore more of Atlanta while we're close enough to do it!

One month old

Where did March go? Baby girl is now one month old! She is still sleeping 3-5 hour stretches at night, napping when the boys do in the afternoons, and more alert during the day. She has some days that she sleeps all day long (like now) when she's hitting a growth spurt and others where she's awake all day long and will hardly nap. She's wearing mostly 0-3 month size clothes, and some 3 month sizes (her outfit above), and size 1 in disposable diapers (we're transitioning into using more cloth diapers). She's had some issues with gas pains and a stuffy nose leftover from the cold that was going around the past couple weeks, that make some evenings a little rough. The earlier I put her down to bed, the easier it is to get her to sleep. She's starting to grasp things and she's gotten more and more smiley this week! Those little baby grins are irresistable! Her head control is getting steadier, especially during tummy-time. She likes music by the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Jack Johnson (she does NOT like 80's music) and the color red. When I eat garlic and chocolate, it seems to upset her tummy--which we're going to have some problems with... She has the "Stack-brows" and looks just like James did when he was a baby. She does not like her carseat and screams when she's been in it too long. We're going to have to do something about that before we start travelling this summer...

I can't believe this little girl has been in the world for a whole month!

Three weeks old

Our little princess is three weeks old! She's grow grow growing, I'm estimating above 10 lbs now. She's busting out of all her newborn sized clothes, so it looks like I'll be packing those up soon--if I can muster up the courage to see it all go. She's in a size one diaper and 0-3 mos size clothes. I'll probably go ahead and start washing the size 3 month outfits.
It's incredible to watch her grow--it's record speed these days. Her neck/head control is getting stronger and she's holding it up during tummy time for minutes at a time. She's a smiler! She grins at her brothers, she smiles at me and her daddy. When she's looking at our faces she goes cross-eyed as she tries to focus, but that's getting better, too. She makes happy squeaks and "giggles" in her sleep. When you tickle her foot she "grabs" your finger with her toes (Riley always did that). Her eyes are getting bluer and she has dimples in her elbows. I looked over the boys' baby pictures and she is a spitting image of James (and Jason). She has days where she has long awake periods and growth spurts where she sleeps all day and night. When she's awake she demands to be entertained. She's not one too get over-stimulated--she loves people and sounds and lights. She's sleeping great, as long as we put her down early enough. After 10 or so she starts to get overtired and cranky. As long as we start the bedtime routine at 9:30 with a bath (a real bath now that her umbilical stump fell off), lotion and pajamas, then she eats and she'll fall asleep on my lap on the boppy. After she's been asleep for 15-20 minutes and she's really out, I'll move her and she'll sleep from 10:30 or 11 til about 4-4:30 in the morning. Then she eats and goes back to sleep til anywhere between 6-8. On school days, she tends to wake up at 7, right before my alarm goes off. It works out perfectly for getting her fed and changed and everyone else ready in time. Since Jason's back at school/work now, I'm on my own in the mornings and afternoons for school drop off, which is going well so far. Riley's out of his routine again since Jason was taking him to school and the baby's here, so we're having some issues with him not wanting to go into his classroom again.

I've been out with all three just about every day this week and it's going well for the most part. It's a juggling act, but so far the boys are understanding and cooperate for me. I was always super nervous to take James out anywhere when he was a baby, especially when he was as young as Poppy is now. Then when Riley came along, I was more comfortable taking the kids places, but when I had to do it by myself I was terrified. Now I'm just trying to keep up with all our social lives. I've got to wear these kids out! So everywhere we go, we file out of our small SUV, like it's a clown car. Then we walk, baby in her carrier carseat or more often in the wrap carrier, and me holding Riley's hand and Riley holding James's hand. The looks and comments have been entertaining. There's wide eyes and gaping mouths. We'll hear, "Wow!" "That's a lot of kids!" "I go crazy with one/two [kids]". But when my kids are holding my hand and behaving themselves, following directions the first time I ask them, calmly, I am just proud. It doesn't happen every time, but it does often. And I know that even though all these strangers think I'm a glutton for punishment having three small children, so close together in age, they have to be at least a little impressed, too.

Poppy just fits right into our little adventures.

Two weeks old

Poppy girl is two weeks old now! Time seems to be going even faster than it did when I was pregnant. She had her check-up Thursday and is growing great, up to 9lb 1 1/2oz now. She started getting a diaper rash and stuffy nose in the past few days, but everything else is golden. She's eating every two to three hours during the day and starting to sleep longer stretches at night--5 hours last night! Woohoo! She's currently snuggled up, propped up in our bed with Jason and me hugging the edge because she can't breathe laying flat--which we learned last night in the two hours it took to get her to sleep last night before that glorious 5 hour stretch, whew! She started showing a little more head control this week and is up and alert more during the day, but she slept most of today which i'm suspecting may be a growth spurt.
We're working out the kinks in nursing--which kind of suck the first few weeks . A mild case of mastitis, some antibiotics (that I'm stuck taking for ten days), gel pads, tubes of lanolin, and a thousand dirty burp cloths later things are feeling more normal. I tell you what I have used the most this time around that I've never used with the boys is the nursing cover! I never had one til I made this one and between all the trips to the hospital and all the parking lots I've had to feed her in in the past week, I've been wearing it out! It's so much more convenient than those tiny flannel receiving blankets.
Haven't started cloth diapering her yet but we've gotten so many disposables as gifts and been out of the house so much that it hasn't been practical. I also don't really have the time or energy to add to our ever growing list of chores or laundry pile. She's up to a size one and already busting out of her newborn size clothes.
My parents are visiting this weekend and it's nice to have some help with the boys and the house. They're in love with her already, but who could resist? Jason started back to work this week so Thursday was my first time juggling all three kids by myself period, in public at that. I'm happy to say it went smoothly and James was excited to show his baby off to his teachers and friends at school. Jason started airborne school this week/end, which is not ideal timing but an exciting opportunity for him and something he's wanted to do for a while. I'm not thrilled about being mostly on my own for three weeks with a preschooler a toddler and a newborn, but I have no doubt that I can handle it. The boys are still doing great with Poppy, but the rock in our routine has them shaken up a bit. Riley has started having bad dreams and waking up in the middle of the night, which wakes James up and then I'm up with all three. There have been some tantrums and struggles but I'm trying to be flexible and patient and keep in mind that even the hard parts are over quickly. I find that when it's just me and I explain that I need them to be good and help me out, they do. They know there are some things I can't do and if there's anything they can do for their sister they are on it. But it's hard being little and having things change all the time.
I'm still healing well, but I tend to forget I just had a baby two weeks ago and it's easy to overdo it, especially when everything is up to me. I'm definitely feeling more myself this week and getting restless. I've enjoyed getting out of the house this week, regaining my driving privileges, seeing friends. I want to be able to go back to the gym and start running again, but those will have to wait a bit. I'm ten pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight and eager to drop the rest (and then some hopefully!) and break out normal clothes again. Oh and I'm still eating the heck out of some ritz crackers! Go figure.
Three weeks will be here in a blink and before we know it, a month will have passed by. I'm begging time to slow down but there is no mercy. I'm loving watching this little girl grow up. She just fits right in and completes our family and I already can't imagine us without her.

One week old

Happy due date, Poppy Jane!
Our sweet girl is one week old today! Here's what she's been up to:
After three days in a row of early visits to the hospital for bilirubin labwork, she got to celebrate her one week "birthday" by sleeping in and not getting her poor little heels stuck. It's been awfully cloudy all week, and her counts kept going up. After the count was up to 16.9 on Wednesday and things were feeling particularly grim, the sun poked out of the clouds as soon as we got home. I sat with her in front of the bedroom window for two hours. I nursed her in front of the window, I changed her diaper in front of the window (thank goodness for privacy fences, or my neighbors might have gotten a show). I put her in the bouncy seat on vibrate, while I laid on a nest of pillows at her side with sunglasses on. We sat there for two hours and sure enough it paid off! Thursday morning the practitioner greeted us in the exam room with "14.1!" and my sister (who I've been lucky enough to have around to drive us to those appointments all week--even if her driving is a little erratic..haha) and I breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Poppy is still nursing great, going two-to-three hour stretches between feedings, mostly three hour stretches at night. As soon as she's eaten at night, she goes right back to sleep, with no problems. She's not a sucker--may be the only one of my children to not take a pacifier. She's growing fast, like newborns do. She should be just about back to her birthweight at this point (she was a little over 8 lbs at her last dr visit).
Since her jaundice is improving, I've noticed her more alert and having longer awake periods. When her eyes are open, she'll turn her head to follow her daddy's and brothers' voices. She loves watching them! She also makes this little "ooooh" face with her mouth in an "o", lips puckered up. She's such a happy little girl. She likes being swaddled, sometimes, but also like her arms free and tends to kick her blankets off. She sleeps great in her co-sleeper at night, but if I put her in it during the day she tends to wake up if I set her down in it. She makes precious little expressions, but I have yet to see her scowl.
We made our first outting as a family of five to Chill, a frozen yogurt place in town. Filing into the restaurant, we got some funny looks from the other customers. Inside we got lots of sweet compliments on our beautiful children and good-for-us-for-getting-out-of-the-house-with-a-one-week-old-baby. Everybody behaved themselves and Poppy slept the whole time in her carseat.
I'm recovering pretty well from the c-section. It's been a week, so things are healing up and I'm feeling a little more myself. I'm still a little sore, especially after all the going back and forth to the hospital all week. I'm exhausted (lucky I have a good little napper!). Oh and hungry--ravenous actually. And you know what I wanted desperately, even in the hospital? Crackers. No kidding. I'm still eating them (maybe not as much...maybe..). But overall recovery has been much easier with each baby.
For now, it's getting late and I'm sore and tired and have a sweet, sleeping baby next to me. So it's bedtime around here.
Poppy, we are so blessed to have you in our family! Your brothers, daddy, and I just love you so much. We can't get enough. You are such a easy, perfect baby. Don't grow up too fast, okay?