I'm the lamest blogger ever

Yes, we are still all alive. No, I have no idea why I haven't taken the time to sit down and let you all know what's going on in my crazy, busy life.

The footnotes:

- Em is loving school. First parent teacher conference and they basically said she can just go ahead and graduate high school because she is so smart (or something like that. She is ahead, though.)

- Connor is pure boy. Just innocent meanness. He also now has boy hands. Mom's of boys will know what boy hands are. Instead of just normal preschooler hands, they are starting to look like the hands of a little boy. Rough and dirty with square, blunt fingernails. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

-Declan continues to be the perfect baby that ever was. So cute and happy and squishy. He's always smiling, he laughs if you just look at him, he's rolling both ways, he's sleeping through the night. He's just a joy. And he turned 4 months old 2 days ago. UM, WHAT THE WHAT?

I promise to get his 4mo post up in the next few days. Pinky promise. I also promise to catch up on all of my blogs. I'm a couple of weeks behind, so here's hoping you guys have all been just as lazy as me!

Until then, Happy late Halloween!

3 months old!

Declan turned 3 months old on October 2nd. He's now in that fun baby stage and I am just eating him up. Just a happy easy baby for the most part.

sleeping pattern - We are starting to get into more of a pattern in this area. I have to leave at 7:25 to take emma to school, so it's hit or miss if he wakes up or not while we are gone. He wakes up when I put him in his car seat but I'd say 7-8 times out of 10 he's asleep by the time we get back home. He'll usually nap in his car seat while I get Connor situated with breakfast and some cartoons (or hogging my computer like he's been doing lately. Note to Santa, the kids need their own!). He's wake by at least 9 and stays up until 11:30 or noon. Back to sleep and then he wakes up when it's time to get emma. I wish I could have it where he is ready for nap when we go get her since he sleeps so nicely in the car but I haven't gotten it there yet. One more cat nap around 5 and then he's in bed for the night anywhere between 8-10. I then usually don't hear from him again until close to 5am. He has his off nights but for the most part, he just wakes up once (and truthfully, I'm not even sure I can count a 5am feeding as a night feeding). I love that I am getting true naps out of him, instead of cat naps *cough Emma cough*.

Feedings - Usually 4oz every 3hrs or so. I keep thinking he's going to start wanting more than that, but he seems really content right now with that amount. I've noticed that when he sees me chewing, he starts mimicking me with his mouth. He's not quite ready for solids, of course, but it's one of many signs! I did a Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach with C and I loved it. No feeding with a spoon, just cutting up food that I eat and letting him eat that from the get-go. I wasn't super passionate about it and he did have pureed food on occasion but I'll definitely be going that route again.

New discoveries/accomplishments - Dude has decided that rolling just isn't all it's cracked up to be. He hasn't done it in probably 6 weeks. He rolls onto his side no problem on his back but he's then content to just lay there. Tummy time is usually spent with his face planted on the floor, using his vocal cords to let me know that THIS IS NOT OK. So yeah, no dice on the rolling. Connor took for-ev-er (cue the dude from The Sandlot) to roll. Like almost 6mo! So I'm not worried on that front. He's super smiley, has started giggling, makes the worlds best eye contact (looooook into my eyes) and has started reaching for things. He's not well-tuned in that department. He sort of just flings his hand toward whatever he wants and bats around at it.  If he's on his back his head, shoulders, and legs are all completely up as he tries to sit up on his own. I wish I had his core strength. Overall, I think his development is right on track. 

It's all in the details - officially in 3-6mo. Size 2 diapers. Size 1 in shoes.

I can't wait to see how he changes as the holidays get closer and closer. He's such a camera ham that I'm probably not going to get one of those awesome "OMG! I'm so scared!" pictures with Santa Claus (because let's face it, those are freaking adorable). He'll just be all calm and chill with Em. It will be Connor giving St Nick the ole' stink eye. Trust me.

Quick up date

_We are all still sick. We are probably going to infect the entire world! Connor still has a nasty cough and Declan has yucky eyes and a snotty nose (I had to rush him to the doctor last monday after he suddenly developed a 101.6 fever. It was gone by the time we made it up there. Weird!).

_ I have become obsessed with The Vampire Diaries and my heart is about to explode with fangirl feelings. I literally push my husband into bed every night so that I can have the tv and rewatch the third season. I need help, ya'll.

_I promise a 3mo post about Declan's latest months is coming. The reason I started this blog was so that I could look back and sort of "relive" what was going on at this stage of our life.

_Declan is seriously one of the most cutest babies in the whole entire world. No joke. I mean, lookie.

He's turning into quite the chunky little thing (and a major ham for the camera)

Welcome to my life

Yesterday was eventful to say the least.

- Connor is battling some sort of bug that appeared last Thursday. I finally decided to take him in to the doctor. Bad cough, runny nose, yellow discharge from eyes. Verdict? Allergies, which I kinda sorta don't agree with. He's now on Clariton once a day for a couple of weeks and some sort antibiotic eye drops. What does C think about that? No bueno. He spit the medicine out all over the couch this morning and screams "it tickles! (???) whenever we are able to pry an eye open to get drops in it. He's growing like a weed, though. 36lbs! Big boy!

Besides that, this is what went down.

-My car would not start, so I somehow figured out how to jump start my car without killing myself in order to get to town.

- While doing this, Declan threw up all over his clothes. And then pooped.

- I get to the doctors office and immediately try to restart my car. It won't start. I must call my husband and let him know that we are stranded.

- I parked in a parking space that had a ton of empty spaces around it, that way DH could get in to jump start me. When I got out, EVERY PARKING SPOT WAS TAKEN. It was almost comical. So DH had to pull an "Austin Powers" (you know, back up then pull forward then back up and then pull forward) until he was close enough to start my car.

- I had to take C's prescription to get filled, which was going to take 2 hours. T.WO. So I went to Dh's work, where he left me so he could get another battery for my car.

- I then had to go back to pick up the medication and found out Tr.icare only pays for one of them. Oh, thanks.

-I am now in that awkward time table of "not enough time to go home, but also super early to pick up my kindergartner". So I have like 30 minutes to kill. Both boys are asleep! I can just park in the waiting line and read my book! Except Declan wakes up as soon as the car stops moving. And C wakes himself up coughing. Now they are both crying. Yay. *___ *

HOWEVER, when DH got home he took the two older ones outside with him and the baby ended up passing out for a 4 hour nap. So, it ended on a good note. :)

[totally picturing you all reading this like this]

Coming up - Declan turns 3 months next week. Someone hold me!

Little Ballerina

3 weeks ago Emma started her first dance class. She'd been doing gymnastics since she was 18mo and I felt like maybe we should try something else out. She enjoyed gymnastics while there, but she never talked about it between classes, didn't notice if we skipped a class, etc. So, right after Declan was born I took her out and started looking for dance classes. I found one that started in September and looked perfect for us. She's in a class for kindergartners-2nd graders and it's a ballet/tap/hip hop combo. Once a week and she has a big dance recital next May. SO looking forward to that. With gymnastics, it was just practice week after week, not really leading up to anything since there are no competitions at her age (and considering how little she really thought about it, I'm not sure she would have put in the time to actually get on the team).

And oh my word, she LOVES it! I wish I would have just made the switch sooner. She smiles the whole time and asks constantly throughout the week when it's time for ballet again. She's also excited at the thought of preforming on stage because my daughter is a weirdo and loves stuff like that (I am obviously a normal person and have a huge case of stage fright ;) ). I've been joking that she must of gotten her dancing abilities from her father (to which he replied, "you mean she was awesome out there? Ha) but this week she was much more in control of her body and I think come May she, and the rest of the group, will have their dances down.

Happy 3rd birthday!

My sweet, sweet middle child turned 3 years old on Monday of this week (the 10th). It has been such a wonderful 3 years of being his mama. Never had to deal with tantrums, no separation anxiety, slept through the night by 2mo, gained weight well and never got sick....all in all, a perfect child. The definition of a middle child. He was always a serious baby, never quick to smile and how you had to work for those laughs. I think that made them extra special. He's not quite so serious now and his sense of humor? I better get myself prepared now for lots of trips to the principals office because he's going to be the class clown. He still co-sleeps which doesn't bother me in the slightest (although I do get a few horrified looks when I mention it). He's only little this one time and he'll move into his own room in his own time. I will also be able to tell his future wife that he is a bed hog, so she will be prepared for that. He loves chicken nuggets with "big ketchup" (which means he just wants a huge glop of ketchup that takes up half the plate). He still loves his binkie and I am taking the same approach I take with the sleeping arrangements: he's only little once. As long as he doesn't have it stuffed in his pocket on his wedding day we'll be doing good. He's about 75% potty trained. He can count to 20, knows all shapes (including trapezoid!) and colors, and has absolutely no interest in ever learning the abc's. He can play computer games like a pro and wants to be Mike the Knight when he grows up. He's so excited about getting bigger and tells me constantly that "I'm a big boy!". He still has some baby chub, which I love. He's a boy through and through and has forced me to start learning superhero names. What is it with boys and super hero's? It's like they are programmed from birth to be obsessed with men in tights and capes and to run around in batman underwear yelling "POWER!" (this happened today).

Connor has taught me what it means to be a mommy to a little boy and I couldn't be more blessed to have him. Happy birthday my sweet boy! I love you more than words can say.

2 months!

Declan turned 2 months old way back on the 2nd and what a month it has been! This little ball of grumpiness has slowly turned into this slightly larger ball of happiness (there is still some meanness mixed it, but it's more of the normal variety and not the 'omg, my child has colic' type). 

Sleeping patterns - Sleeping is still hit or miss, but definitely more hitting right now. He goes to bed around 9pm or so and then sleeps until sometime between 4-5:30. Eats and then goes back to sleep until 8 or so. So, a nice little stretch there. If I'd actually go to bed at 9 and I'd get a lot of sleep but I end up staring at the computer like a zombie until at least 11, go to sleep, and then moan about how tired I am the next morning. I'm going to kick myself the night he ends up waking up every hour (he's slept so good lately that I KNOW it's coming). Naps are still a work in progress, but I've learned my lesson of trying to get him to nap in the living room where all the action is. I've been laying him on either my bed or Em's bed ( no worries, he's safe) and he's had several good naps there. His favorite place to nap is still in his car seat. Only problem is, the car seat must be in the car. With the car running. And moving. So there are days where I'm all "Connor, let's go to sonic!" just because D had been fighting sleep all day.

Height - he's 10 weeks old and last time he was measured was 2 weeks ago. He was 22 inches then.

Weight - 2 weeks ago he was 11lbs 5oz.

Eating Habits - While we don't really have a set schedule down, he usually eats every 3-4hrs during the day, unless he gets sleepy inbetween that. Then he snacks himself to sleep. From about 7-to whenever he finally conks out is also a big cluster feeding. With the bottle. LOL. He eats usually 4oz at a time, although I've noticed there are times where 30 minutes later he wants 2 more oz, so we'll be into the 5-6oz bottle range here soon enough. As for nursing, I guess we can consider me still doing it? He nurses a few times a day, never for long, but long enough to keep at least a little milk supply up. I have thoughts every once in awhile to  ditching the bottle and work on getting my supply up (since he does still latch on fine) but for the most part I am happy with how things are going in this department.

New foods he liked - nothing but formula and breastmilk in these parts!

New discoveries he's made - Since we're still in the beginning stages of this month, there hasn't been A LOT of new things going on. He's super,SUPER, smiley and I swear a laugh is coming any minute. He puts his hands together all the time, and has started bicycling his little leggies. He's also been focusing on certain objects and you can just see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to figure out how to move his hands toward it. My smart man!

Me - I'm doing well in the emotional department. Physical department is still an on-going process. Why can't I lose these extra 8lbs?! I can tell you exactly where those extra pounds are hanging out, too (4lbs in my butt/thigh region, 3lbs in my stomach, and 1lb split between my arms. I don't wave at people at the moment..hah). I ran for about 11 minutes on the treadmill before thinking "I'm so bored!" so obviously I am doing everything in my power to lose this weight - this is sarcasm. I am doing nothing but complaining about the weight - this is truth. I have given myself a goal. All weight off by Halloween. So there, stubborn me.

Whooo Pig Sooie!