HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Rose-15 weeks!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!! The girls are sick today, so fun will be at home :(

A week in the life of me-Thursday

Yes, I am now a day behind but posting each day is hard! WARNING: I was very camera happy today..lots of photos :)

Anyway, Rose decided to mix things up a bit and wake up on and off from 1 am on...since I went to bed around 1, not much sleep for me! She was so needy, it seemed like she just couldn't get close enough to me :)

So Mara is up at her usual 7:20, but fortunately greg got her up before she woke Analese up. Mara has absolute no volume control, and I laid in bed giggling over her talking-quite loudly, to greg and hearing him try to convince her to talk softly. She was quite upset over the nightgown she had on-the same nightgown she was so proud of last night!

I get up as soon as Greg leaves, and find Mara studying our cat Chloe's bottom. As I walked in, she said "Does Chloe have a butt? I can't see it!"

We snuggled on the couch together as we talked about what had butts and what didn't. I love hearing what's going on in her head!


Today we have our reggio class from 1-3. You would think with it being in the afternoon that we would have plenty of time to get ready for it, but its still a struggle. My girls are so unmotivated and time just flies by on mornings like these.

With Analese now up, it's time to make breakfast! Mara is all about helping me, and sweeps the floors and even wipes up some spills she notices. I have to get them to wash the floors more often!



Baby Rose wakes up before breakfast preparations are complete, so I have to take a break in order to change/feed her. I am hoping she will sit and watch me for a few minutes so that I can finish cooking!






She looks happy, doesn't she?





So, she starts out in her bassinet

She lasts 5 minutes.

We try her papason:











Nope.


So then we try her floor gym:

I give up. Thank goodness for my collection of wraps and slings!




Breakfast is finally ready and we can sit down and eat. I always try and sit and eat with the girls, I think its an important time to be able to just talk with them. This morning Analese is all about fairies, discussing what kinds of things fairies do....I love hearing her ideas!


After breakfast, Rose goes down for a nap. I love how easy it is to get her to sleep!
I clean up breakfast, and get the girls to pick their clothes out and get dressed.










I also take the time to get myself ready.

I throw some laundry in, prepare the diaper bag, and start thinking about lunch! The girls are never ready to eat lunch at 12, as we usually eat around 1, so I attempt small, calorie-packed lunches to help them get through class.


For class today, we had to bring in a variety of hats. Analese had so much fun searching the house for hats!


Mara thought she would help...gathering ALL their coats and sweaters and piling them up by the door. She did not want t o hear that we were looking for hats, and kept telling us no.





Rose is now up so its time to get her dressed and ready to go. Isn't she a sweetie?




Until we get her dressed....how dare we try and change her before feeding her?


I read the girls some stories on my bed while I nurse Rose.











And we're off to class!





Of course, the girls are getting tired and really need a nap instead of class!
It's about this time that I always questions why I am taking them.



But we're off!




The girls are fine by the time we get to class. Class goes well. Mara has to go potty and wants to use her potty (that we keep in the back of the van) So I lug her and Rose downstairs and race her to the potty. She makes it, only to have peed on her skirt! So she gets a new outfit....



After class, its a struggle to get the girls into the car to head home. They love it there, and never want to leave.

Once we get home, I decide to get them outside. We're all tired, and need the space to do our own thing...it's beautiful outside too!


Our neighbors comes home, so I went to talk with her while the girls tended to their "grass garden". It's
always nice to have some adult conversation!













And the best part of the girls' day?


Daddy shows them a snake he found in a bucket. He found it last night and kept it to show the girls today. Afterwards they went down to the compost and let him go.


While they are doing that, I run inside with Rose and get ready to go. I have to go to a fiance meeting for the girl's school. I am so braindead at this point and have no desire to go, but I am in charge of the money so I really don't have a choice.

Rose and I kiss the girls-and Daddy goodbye and off we go. Analese has an especially hard time with us leaving tonight, and cried hysterically out the window. I hate it, it makes me feel awful.

I get home in time to kiss them goodnight and then hit the books. Such a long day, and now an even longer night!

Congrats if you got through reading that!

A day in the life of Me-Wednesday

Once again, my day begins around 4 or so, and Rose wakes up on and off from then on. I am blessed, as she goes to sleep around 9 and wakes up for the first time around four. I have never had a baby sleep for so long-if I wasn't stuck studying every night I would be pretty rested!

The girls woke up around 7:30, and I got up once Greg was ready for work. Rose slept on peacefully...I am so jealous!

I found the girls watching "Curious George" and drinking their milk:

Both are still so tired. Mara is up every day around 7:30, and usually wakes up Analese before she is ready to get up.

Mornings are usually the only time they get to watch television, and I think that's what forces Analese out of bed.



On Wednesdays have Analese's speech class every other week, and I am so thankful it's an off-week this week. It's so nice to have a break from activities mid-week, and I was hoping to get some much-needed cleaning done.


Mara is always my helper when its time to cook. It's hard on me, as it takes twice as long and I am usually trying to make things as fast as I can before Rose wakes up. BUT-I was also know that this time won't last.......

She's got a mouthful of dates in her mouth-one of the main reasons she loves to cook with me :)


While breakfast is cooking, the girls help me clean out the dishwasher. I love that they love to help me.




Rose is now up, so the cycle of diaper changing and nursing begins! Rose is such a heavy wetter, and since you change more often with cloth diapers...I change about 10-12 diapers every day. She is still nursing about every 1 1/2-2 hours as well, so these two things are a BIG part of my day :)

After breakfast, the fun begins! Both girls are still tired, so there is lots of this:




AND












Oh and we can't forget this:












Mara is usually crying because she got hurt, falling into something. Either that or Analese hurt her. On days when they are both tired, its usually the latter.

Analese is my sensitive child and Mara feeds off of it. By simply not answering her, Mara has the ability to produce a screaming, crying, hysterical sister



She loves this power.

Mara refused to get dressed this morning, so instead of making it a battle, I just left her alone until she was ready.


Two hours later, she finally was.






The day was quickly getting away from us, but I was still determined to try and get something done!

So I let the girls wash the kitchen floor while I cleaned the living room. This is their favorite thing to do. i just add a bit of vinegar to a bowl of water and they are set:









See how clean it looks? The best was when Greg came home and I whispered to him to notice the floor. they were so excited that he noticed!

This completely wiped them out, even more then before!

Taking turns holding the baby. Poor Rose, she is such a trooper!



The girls decided that naps were not necessary this afternoon, and although I disagreed, i refuse to fight it. Analese is outgrowing her need for a nap, and Mara just refuses to without her sister. It makes our evenings so difficult-filled with so many tears, but I am not one to force them to nap. It's too stressful on all of us.

So the girls got to watch "Thumbelina", just in order for them to rest their bodies in some way!


This picture of Analese makes me smile. It was chilly outside, so I suggested to Analese that she might want to put something else on.

She did.

SHORTS!!

Mara read some books before joining Rose and I in the rocking chair. Lots of cuddle time for me!










As soon as Greg came home, I took off to the bedroom in order to get some early studying done. Sort of my payoff for having the girls Tuesday night while he goes out to play pool :)

I stay up studying until 12. The it's yogurt time and I am off to sleep!

Day in the Life of ME-Tuesday

So my sister started this idea last week, where she started posting about the daily events in her life. My other sisters began to do this and I have really enjoyed reading them! It's always hard to stay connected when distance is a factor and you get caught up in your own daily life....

So, anyway, last week I began taking photos throughout the day and I am hoping this week I'll be able to post them!

Always a week behind.....

Rose wakes me up around 4 to nurse. I was up studying until 1, so this is somewhat dream-like for me. She usually doesn't wake me up by crying-more squirming and grunting. I turn the television on to wake myself up a bit, change her diaper and feed her. I used to always watch "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" or "Rosanne" at this time, but I have now discovered that "Without a Trace" is on at this time, and I am happy :) Yes, the simple things....

Anyway, Rose nurses on and off for the next couple of hours. Mara wakes us up promptly at 7:15 by screaming at the top of her lungs. Greg jumps up to get her and I get to snuggle with Rose a few more minutes while he gets ready for work.

7:40 Time for me to get up, leave Rose sleeping and join the girls out in the living room. The first thing on my mind?

My coffee. It's a must, although its more of a psychological thing because I very rarely drink more than a 1/2 cup these days. My first goal in the morning is to at least get a sip in before Rose wakes up!
So Rose wakes up...I change her diaper, nurse her some more and then begin to attempt breakfast for the girls. My fingers are crossed that Rose will sit in her bassinet long enough for me to get things together!












"Not in her face Mara" I will repeat this at least 50 times today! Poor, poor Rose. She is so loved!

9:00 I am on the phone with this new nature center that opened up. We went to the "Great Mother Earth festival" on Sunday and found out about this Nature and Arts program that would be perfect for Analese. It's all about getting children back into nature. They have circle time, music, go hiking, have a story and puppet show. Oh and art! Just perfect for Analese.

So anyway, I get her enrolled into the program and we have to be there in 2 hours. we are supposed to have class at their reggio program on Tuesdays, so i have to call and tell them we won't be there. As much as I love the program, it hasn't worked out great for Analese. She is the oldest one there, and they decided to put Mara back into her class, which is really tough for me. Now, instead of dropping Analese off for class, which was the original plan, I have to stay from 1-3 with the girls. It's very draining for me, hard for Mara with no nap, hard for Rose...its just tough.

So anyway, I struggle with getting the girls dressed, bags packed and out the door in time to meet the educational assistant at the center at 12:30. The girls are less then cooperative! Analese has begun to stress about the "all by herself" part of the class, wondering what I was going to be doing while she was in class. I tried to downplay it with her and play it up with Mara, who was already telling me how much she was going to miss her sister :)

So we get to her classroom. It's cute, pretty small but set up nice. Analese has her own cubby, which she loves. we meet her teacher, who is very bubbly and I can tell Analese is going to be comfortable with her. She takes Analese's hand and brings her over to circle with a few other children. Analese sits down and as I turn to leave, she runs over and whispers "Mommy, I need hugs and kisses" just melted my heart...

So, another reason I was excited about this class was that it would give me a chance to spend some alone time with Mara. I feel like she has been really needing me lately, and its been tough with Rose and studying, etc. I had visions of us being able to hike the trails, talking, laughing, bonding....

Instead I got this. Yes, she looks happy there, but she was such a STINKER!

She refused to move once she saw the picnic tables.

"I tarvin!" was all I heard, in her ultra whiny voice.

I tried to motivate her, showing her the chipmunks that were running around everywhere. Nope, she didn't care.

Sigh. what can you do?

We opted to take silly photos of ourselves while Rose slept. We had some snacks, ad played in the nature center. So , we did get to spend some time together, and that's all that matters!

Analese was exhausted when we picked her up, but she was very happy. She talked the whole way home, telling me about the dam they tried to build, the lobster the painted, etc.

Mara was asleep two minutes after we got into the car.




It's Greg's night out to play pool, so he was home early-thankfully! He made "breakfast dinner" while I tended to Rose and tried to keep the peace with two tired girls.



After dinner, he got the girls ready for bed and ready them some stories before heading out the door.
















Me? I was doing this:


It's what I do every night. Ugh.







But, I also have this beside me:

















She lights up whenever I look at her.

Always make me smile...even while I am doing statistics :)

I end my night eating a bowl of coconut yogurt with granola and some chocolate chips thrown in Yummm