September Cell Phone Pics

I really need to rename this because all pictures these days are being taken on my phone! I hardly every pull out the nice camera anymore. Maybe one day I will again. 

In an attempt to get caught up, I am just doing a giant random other photo post. I want to have all these memories for my yearly blog book but life was busy and fuzzy then so trying to remember the ins and outs of our days is best just done with pictures this month.! Without further ado, our insane September in photos: 

 Grammy kept us well fed for the first several weeks of Mary's life! Annie got to go over and hang out and bake cookies with her! I hope Annie picks up some of Grammy's baking skills, I have zero.

 When Mom naps, Mary is used as a plate...and table.

 Samuel is our quietest child. He is sweet and sensitive and oh so cuddly. I caught him quietly singing to Mary one day and it was the most precious thing ever!

 He also likes to sit in buckets so.....
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 Annie and Ainsley hanging out. I can't wait for Mary to get big enough for these two to play together!

 Nicholas got an Oreo from Brandon and proceeded to share it with Ainsley. shhhhh don't tell her mom.

 We took the girls on their first friend shopping run to target. They took turns crying the entire time until they both passed out as we pulled into the driveway. go figure

 Lots of snuggles and outside time!

 There wasn't a whole lot of time in the the day when I wasn't feeding Mary. Brandon had to step up his Mr. Mom duties including hair! He did a pretty good bun don't you think?

 Elias started Orchestra and loves it!

 Nicholas really wasn't feeling left out or jealous of Mary. Could it be because he had a very silly dad to play with?

 I staged this picture to show how helpful my Annie Kat is. Mary loves her. Like stops crying for more then 10 second loves her. Annie started "babysitting" her for me. $1 an hour( or until she got bored, usually 15 min) best money I ever spent.

 My shirt making obsession hasn't subsided with Mary's birth. I love this shirt. Jordan hates it.

 Thankful to be able to send the kids out back. Between home school and Mary they aren't getting as much mom and dad attention as they are used to. I would be delusional to think it bothered them. They love all the freedom out back( I spy through the window) and all the neighborhood kid playing they are getting!

 Always nice when Carrie visits!

 Did you know you can buy an ENTIRE box of Sams club pretzels!? 

 We still managed to plow through homeschool despite being out manned and so so tired. Lots of couch reading and Mary snuggling!

I posted this picture on Instagram with Benjamin cropped out, the zoomed out and posted the original picture. A very obvious example of presenting only the good on social media. I like to include the temper tantrums, mismatched clothes, dirty house,kids in boxes or eating on the floor and nose picking pictures just as much as the perfectly posed ones because this is real life and these days its moving too fast to keep track of it all. Plus, I want to scare any of Benjamins girlfriends off with this :)

Happy Birthday Annie

At the end of September, Annie turned 8! Her birthdays are always a little baffling to me because she always seems like she is so much older then the age she is turning. She turned 8 but since she is 7 going on 17, it seems weird that she is ONLY turning 8.

Anyways, We have instituted an every other year party rule in our house, and this year is an off year for everyone. Due to this, we try to make the day at home seem extra special! We started off the day with a breakfast in bed fit for a princess( which she has recently informed me she is no longer interested in because she is growing up). 

After breakfast, she opened up card from Grandparents and wanted to immediately go and spend her birthday money on crafts! The public school kids were out of school so we invited a neighbor and  friend from gymnastics to lunch , craft shopping and back for a crafting date. Annie was very pleased this worked out on such short notice and it was fun for me to spend a few hours with just us girls!

 

Annie got to open one of her presents early, our yearly tradition birthday leo! It is also a tradition to do a private lesson on her birthday so after a fun filled afternoon playing, it was time to flip. Once we got home from the private, she wasted no time running out in the neighborhood and soon found herself at a cross country meet with neighborhood kids. She hung out there for a couple of hours which gave us at home a chance to clean and get ready for family to come and  celebrate!

Annie asked for meatloaf and mashed potatoes for her birthday dinner and I was happy to accommodate. My mom was supposed to make her amazing cupcakes but fell deathly ill the day before her birthday. Thankfully, I found the type of cake we like in the Hugo's freezer and they were able to write a personalized message on it, phew! We ate, opened presents and ate some more. We enjoyed and nice quiet evening celebrating our little Annie Kat turning 8!

Message to Annie: Stop trying to grow up so dang fast! From the age of 3, you have wanted to be a teenager. I have news for you , its not all that great! Enjoy being silly and innocent for as long as possible, before you know it teenage angst will be here and you will long for the carefree days of your childhood. 

You love to dance, tumble, play piano, sing, swim and play outside non stop. As you continue to get older I am curious to see which activities you stick with. You love life and love being busy with activities!

Word cannot express how much I appreciate all of your help with your siblings. We often say we would be lost without you in this house and that is the truth! Thankfully, for now, you find excitement and joy in everyday tasks like cooking, learning to do laundry, dishes,"babysitting". I love spending time with you teaching you all the things and it is an added bonus to have another set of helping non complaining hands around. Thank you for being such an amazing daughter, we love you beaners!

Mary Elizabeth- 1 month

Mary is now almost 3 months old but I will try to remember what she was like 2 short months ago

Mary has had a rough 1st month of life! She had trouble gaining weight, trouble eating, trouble sleeping, hates the car seat, hates walks,  and so on and so on. She is very fidgety and I am fairly certain her tummy is giving her troubles either hunger, gassy or upset. Despite all of this she was my earliest baby to smile and is still oh so sweet. When you have a new baby everyone asks" oh is she a good baby?" I could do the " Oh, ya she is great" but what fun is that so I give a truthful answer to friends and strangers alike." No, she cries all the time and is crabby but she is baby 6 and it doesn't phase me. We try to make her as happy and comfortable as possible and one day she will be more smiles then cries" So in summary her first month was lots of sweet sweet baby snuggles and lots of cries.

Weight: Mary had a weight check at 2 days and was still loosing weight so we did another check at 2 weeks. She was still not back up to her birth weight so we had to start pumping and doing bottles to make sure she was eating enough. She wasn't a fan of the bottles at first but did eat well enough to gain weight! Based on the home scale she hit the 9 lb mark a few days after  she hit a month old.

Eye Color- They are still that baby blue that all babies are born with but I think they will be blue like Samuel and Nicholas'!

Sleep- Mary is pretty hit or miss with sleep. She sometimes sleeps all day and night and sometimes is awake it seems like all day and night. We try to settle down for the night around 10 but usually end up not being able to get our first long stretch in until midnight or 1. I usually get a couple hour stretch once or twice a night and its slowly getting better so I have no complaints. Just part of having a newborn! She doesn't usually sleep for more then 2.5 hours at night, however, if you hold her she will sleep for 3-4. She loves to be warm and next to body heat!

Eating- Poor girl eats constantly because she keeps falling asleep in the middle of eating. I would say during the day she eats every hour. Once we started pumping and doing bottles she was eating every 2. Exhausting but necessary!

Daily routine- Mary doesn't really have a daily routine yet. She consistently goes to bed for the first long stretch around midnight and we get out of bed for the day around 10( 7 once Brandon went back to work, BOO!) Her best sleep is from 7-10 which is nice now that Brandon is back to work. She sleeps and I am able to get up, pump and get the day started with the kids before crabby pants mcgee wakes up for the day. We spend the rest of the day eating, driving to activities, homeschooling and  napping when we aren't crying.

Firsts: Everything! First visitors, First tummy time ,First trip to grandma's, first shots, First outing in public and I am really sad to say, I can't even remember where we went, Maybe Annie's gymnastics? First (of many)photo sessions with brothers and sister, First time being wrapped, First cloth diaper, first bottle, first time outside with the family, first smile and so many more!

What we are looking forward to:  Cherishing this baby stage and soaking in all the sweet snuggles. She is the last one after all! Figuring out how to make her more content so she isn't so uncomfortable and crying all the time.

Message to Mary: You are going to hear a lot how you were the CRABBIEST baby EVER. I want you to know, despite this, you were so unbelievably loved! All your siblings, grandparents, family friends and of course us, did everything we could to make you feel better. You were always held, snuggled, kissed and soothed. In a house of 8, no one seemed to mind the crying all that much.  Since you gave us such a hard time at the beginning, please be an easy toddler and perfect teen. K? Thanks. 

Love, Mom