It's Almost Christmas!

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Wrap. Wrap. Wrap. Crochet. Crochet. Crochet. That about sums up my week. Things have been so crazy this month with the arrival of our handsome little Lucas that we almost forgot about Christmas preparation. We knew Christmas was coming, but all the preparations kept getting put off. Now we are here, the week of Christmas! Our tree has decorations on the top half, we have a total of three other decorations sitting out, presents are wrapped sitting in our room, and I have one stocking half made.Hey, I'd call that progress!The great thing is that our kids couldn't care less. They are just excited it's almost Christmas!! We have been reading the story of the birth of Jesus every night before bed and having Liam retell it to us. So far he thinks Christmas is about mama who had baby Jesus in her belly, shepherds that fought with sticks, and Christmas lights. I also can't tell if he thinks I had baby Jesus in my belly at one point or if he knows it was Mary...My goal was to make all of us a homemade stocking, but it looks like Lucas may be the only one that has one... It's ironic that he's the only one that doesn't need one!Our first Christmas as a family of five hasn't gone as planned so far, but we are all so excited and are having a great time getting ready! I can't wait to wake up Christmas morning with our kiddos, have hot cinnamon rolls, hot coffee, open presents, listen to our children tell us the story of Jesus' birth, and remember how blessed we all are to have each other! Oh and don't forget the endless sword fights all day because I'm pretty sure Joel just went out and got the kids last minute Ninja Turtle weapons!

How have your Christmas preparations been going?

Stop Touching Me!

Before I was a mom, I’d look at moms cuddling their kids and say to myself, “I can’t wait until I can cuddle my kids all day!” It just looked like so much fun. Who wouldn’t want a little baby at home to cuddle with? 

We had our first little boy, Liam, and it was amazing! I snuggled with that kid all day long. About a month or so later he started the cutest thing ever, or so I thought. He started sleeping with his hand on my face. Adorable! He loved me so much he wanted to touch my face while he was asleep for comfort!! I loved it. He started doing it a few times a day, then every time I’d hold him while he slept. He slept in our bed at night which also meant he would cuddle my face all night. I loved it for the first month… Then I realized he now HAD to sleep like that. If I moved his hand, he’d lose it. 

Liam is now three years old and still does it! He says he’s cuddling us when he does it. We even have rules on when he can cuddle our face. It’s only when we’re going to sleep and once in a while during the day. I’m always trying to show him other ways to cuddle, but he reminds me that it’s not how HE cuddles. 

 

Levi tries to do it now as well because he sees Liam doing it. They even do it to each other! That usually ends in them hitting each other though because they fight over who can cuddle each other’s face. 

I love my children. Don’t get me wrong. I know one day I will cry to myself wishing for this time back. However, my kids are touching me all. day. long. I never thought I’d actually have times I’d beg my kids to stop touching me! 

 

If you sit on the couch at our house, all the kids swarm you. I’m usually nursing Lucas and then my other two kids want to sit on my lap or “cuddle” me. 

If you don’t have kids, relish in the times you can sit on the couch without a child touching you! If you do have kids, remember this time doesn’t last forever. If you want to get back at your face cuddling child, do what we do…

 

Joel and I will lean over and put our hands on Liam’s face. Both hands. Covering his whole face. He tries to move and we follow him saying we only want to cuddle his face. This always turns into wrestling or chasing. It’s very mature and makes you feel much better. 

First Day Home Alone

My first day home alone with the boys. Well, they all survived... The house definitely looked like a construction zone while Joel was gone, but we pieced it back together pretty well before he got back. Joel was great and let me sleep in until he had to go to work. He had some training to do and had to go in a few times over the week. My usual routine is to wake up, make an iced coffee, get the kids breakfast, and start on some housework. I figured I'd aim for the same routine. Instead it took me two hours to make my coffee... When you're running on fumes, coffee is a MUST. Why don't my children understand that fact? We are huge coffee drinkers in this house. They even know daddy will not play or wrestle until he's had his coffee in the morning and start yelling for someone to make coffee when he wakes up! Come to think of it I don't even think they had breakfast... Wow. I really don't remember if I fed them an actual meal that morning. I know they had lots of crackers and snacks at least. Well, they ate right? I'll count that as a success. They even had a bath! Although it was unintentional. Levi got into the bathroom and turned the tub water on. He ended up getting wet enough that I figured he might as well. I left while the tub was filling up to get towels and of course both older boys had already hopped in. The rest of the day was spent keeping my kids up for the plumber to come fix our sink. It's been clogged for two weeks!!! I scheduled him to come while the kids napped. I figured I'd keep them awake until he got here and then put them to sleep while he was working. Each minute I waited felt like an eternity. He got lost and ended up getting there a few hours late. Luckily it only took him five minutes to fix the clog!All in all day one was pretty productive. I made myself a coffee, gave my kids a bath, fed them, and got our sink fixed. I feel like I deserve two gold stars for my day!

How was your first day alone with your new additions? Share you stories in the comment section!

Levi and Lucas. Friends or Enemies?

One of my biggest concerns with bringing Lucas home was how Levi would handle it. He was our baby for the last two years. He's also our feistiest child! I was nervous he would be jealous of Lucas. Levi makes sure everyone knows how he feels verbally and physically. If he decided he didn't like Lucas, it would be pretty obvious. He brought Lucas a little baby (little bird toy) at the hospital. He gave him a big kiss and held him. That was enough for him. He spent the rest of his time at the hospital cuddling mommy and hiding under my hospital bed. I told you, he's feisty. He was so excited to see Joel and I bring Lucas home that day. He ran around saying, "Baby" with a big grin. For the most part Levi ignores Lucas, but makes sure we all know if he's crying or needs something. If we don't respond IMMEDIATELY he starts yelling at us. That means he cares right... He also runs up and gives him surprise kisses a few times a day. I'll take it! He loves him in Levi's own little way. Although... He did punch Lucas on his second day home.I was nursing Lucas on the couch. Liam and Levi were attempting to sit next to me. It turned into them hanging on me while I tried to feed Lucas. All of the sudden Levi leans forward and starts giving Lucas a very confused look. Then confusion turned to anger and he punched Lucas in the arm, started pulling on him, and yelled, "STOP EATING MY MOM!"Apparently he thought he had to fight him to protect me!The funny thing was that Lucas hardly flinched. I guess the scrappy third child thing is true!This will forever be my favorite story. I will share it with everyone. I will remind Levi about this when he's older. I will be that parent that embarrasses him with this story all the time. Admit it. You're still laughing over it too!

He's Here!!

I'm sure you've all noticed my little hiatus lately. I promise I have a good excuse. Let me just show you. Lucas Jude was born December 3rd at 3:20 in the morning. He is our biggest baby yet! He was 8lb and 6oz. Even though he's our biggest, he seems so teeny, tiny. After an exhausting night of labor, Joel and I slept on and off the rest of the day. It's funny how quickly your body remembers the newborn sleep schedule and somehow allows you to function off of such little sleep.We were able to go home that night. Some people love staying at the hospital after having a baby because everything is done for you and you don't have the responsibilities of the home. I'm definitely not that way. I miss my bed way too much. I go home as soon as I'm able to. Now, that I can look back on my first few days home, I'm realizing I probably should have stayed!Our second night home proved to be the start to a horrible few days. Levi, our now middle child, puked all over his bed. Joel and I immediately went in there, took Liam out to the couch, and tried to comfort Levi. He cried for an hour straight while we cleaned and tried to help him feel better. We ended up deciding Joel would be with Levi all night since I wouldn't be able to. My mom is still in town, so she took Liam. Then I had Lucas all night. We were very lucky to have all three of us that night. The next day... Joel got sick. We decided to quarantine Joel and Levi to make sure all the germs stayed in one room of the house. Levi started feeling better pretty quickly, although the first week after the flu is never fun. He wants to cuddle mommy all day. It just figures our family would get the flu NOW! We rarely ever get sick.I'm pretty proud of our little family. With everything that's been going on, everyone is adjusting to our new normal and I love it. Liam wants to take care of everyone, Levi is proud to be a big brother, and Lucas is such a happy little guy!

Our Children's First Haircuts

Levi's hair. Oh Levi's hair. It's beautiful. It's luscious. 

I prayed for that curly hair. Not that I expect it to work for baby number three... Although I am trying. 

 

Most parents pray for their kids to be born with a full head of hair. We definitely don't have a chance of anything but thick, dark hair. I had it when I was born and well have you have seen an Indian baby without hair? I think not. 

 

Hence why I was so surprised when Joel's mom asked if we were going to shave his head. Do what!? 

 

Apparently it's very common to shave your baby's head (boys and girls) for their first haircut. Some Hindu families even have a ceremony. This tradition changed depending on religion and the region you are from in India. 

 

The biggest part of the first haircut that is so important to Joel's family is the fact that it's a big first! It's also said to make their hair grow back thicker and fuller. The common practice with my culture and Joel's culture is that we all like to keep a little lock of babies hair from the first haircut. 

 

I try to be open minded on all of the new traditions. I want our kids to take part in so many of them. I was hesitant when she wanted us to do it with Liam, but willing. We ended up not all being together for his first haircut and Joel and I decided to just give Liam a trim. 

 

When Levi was born, I was so excited to see his curly hair. We decided to let him keep his hair long and trim it when he starts getting the "Oh what a cute girl," comments. We've cut it dozens and dozens of times, but usually keep it the same length. Joel's mom mentioned cutting it a few times. Then it happened. She fell in love with his hair too!!! Then she even said we will never cut his hair. She even went as far as to say his personality is in his hair!

 

We're contemplating changing his name to Samson. 

 

One day we will actually cut his hair. Not trim, but cut. That day is not today. It's far from now. Until then I'll just smile when grocers call him princess and flight attendants call him a little girl. I'm so used to it that I don't even correct them now!!! Is that bad? I know he looks nothing like a little girl and that's enough for me. 

How old was your child before you cut their hair for the first time?

Quick! Pick A Culture!

Earlier this week, I read an article about mixed kids. It had funny little things they can all relate to. One of them was 

 

the moment you have to choose which ethnicity you are on a standardized test.

 

Joel always jokes around about his experience with this growing up. East Indian was never an option so he says he would choose... Pacific Islander. Obviously that's not true, but he jokes it was the closest thing he could find. Now he marks Asian when surveys go around. 

 

It got me thinking. My kids have to choose one. They will either choose Indian (or something close) or Caucasian. In my head, I said duh, Indian. Then I got offended. Society is making my children choose which culture they identify with more. They are not one or the other. They're both. 

 

Joel and I do everything we can to teach them the importance of both cultures. In one quick decision, they're asked to pick a culture. 

 

Part of me feels sad that it will most likely be my culture that gets left behind and the other part of me hopes they choose Indian. 

 

I don't want my kids to grow up with the conflict of cultures in their minds. They shouldn't have to choose a culture, rather they should learn how to blend both in their lives. 

 

Their are certain situations they will be faced with as mixed kids, but the blessings of two rich cultures should outweigh all of them. 

 

How do you or have you seen families blend cultures?

Early Birds, Coffee, And The Secret To Parenthood.

While most people in the little town of Bellingham are sleeping my children and I have already been awake, had coffee, enjoyed breakfast, taken showers, and mediated at least two fights between the boys. All of that by 7 am. Am I proud of this? Feel superior to other parents. Heck. No. I wish I had the secret other parents must be hiding. How in the world do you keep your kids in bed past 7!? I will pay you. I will bring you coffee. My aunt has to drag her five year old out of bed most mornings. I even have her over all the time to have her rub off on my kids. Never works. Instead my kids fall asleep first and wake up first. They wait by the door until she begrudgingly drags herself out of bed. I'm always asking moms out there what time their kids wake up. Once in a great while I will be pleased to hear a similar story to mine, but usually I leave bitter.  Then someone told me a little secret to help keep early birds in their beds. The clock. Not a clock. THE. CLOCK.This clock is brilliant, if you couldn't catch that from the name. It was also 50% off which thrilled the cheap side of me. This clock glows yellow at night and then turns green at the time of your choosing. Liam is thrilled waiting for the green light. The best part is that it keeps my kids in their bed all night. All I have to do when they creep into my room in the middle of the night is ask Liam what color it is and he stomps back to bed. Then I hear them in their beds in the morning talking while they wait for the infamous green light. I heard the chattering start at 5:30 this morning. Mommy isn't nice until at least 6 am. I'm getting them used to the light by setting it at 6:10, but as soon as they get the routine down... Mwuahahah. (evil laugh) Then I start changing the time slowly. Maybe I can actually get them to sleep in until 12. Come on a mom can dream right. Fine. I'd be happy with 7. Especially with baby number three coming. If Liam and Levi actually think they can convert this new, impressionable child to become an early bird.... They. Will. Pay. 

My Little Troublemaker

Oh my little Levi. He's the baby of our family for the next two months. He's sensitive, independent, loving, and the biggest handful alive. Our oldest, Liam, is extremely social. He always wants to be in the same room as you, telling you some story merely to make sure you're paying attention to him. He's also pretty easy to discipline. All you need to do is ground him from a toy, put him in timeout, or let daddy tell him no (apparently that's worse than the rest). I think we assumed Levi would be the same way. Oh, were we wrong...He couldn't be more different. He has cute curly, wispy hair. He's independent and could sit on his own and read all day long. He's impossible to discipline. He will actually go touch something he shouldn't, look at me, and then put himself in timeout or tell me to spank him. If I don't he actually yells at me. Mom, pankin!!Then of course I laugh and he wins. This adorable child wears me out everyday. I have to remind myself that he's only 20 months and is only doing it on purpose part of the time. Recently, we've been able to start having some alone time. He's about to be one of three children and I know alone time for our kids won't always be easy to facilitate. Liam goes to preschool for a few hours, twice a week. Usually, Levi and I drop him off and come home. It would be easy to focus on cleaning the house since he just wants to do his own thing. Instead, I've tried really hard to spend quality time with him the whole time. At first, he almost acted offended that I wanted to play with him. Mom, I can finally play with all of Liam's toys. Leave. Me. Alone.I think I've finally won him over. Now, he wants to play with me! One point for mom! I don't want this to end. I always want to have alone time with my kids. Will it be easier to just have them all be together all the time? Obviously. I want each of my children to know how much I love them. I want to know each of their little personalities and all about their lives. I'll always fight for my relationship with my children. How do you get in good quality time with all of your kids?

Your Inner "Greatness"

As you all know, Joel travels quite a bit for work. He had a bit of a break in travel the last week or so, but he's getting really busy the next two months. I'm due in December so he's trying to get all his travel in before so he can take some time off. It's definitely worth the next few busy months for help later. I'm still not entirely sure having three kids under four is possible...These little boys sure miss their daddy when he's gone. We decided to take a little family trip to Vancouver, Wa. We packed it full of some super fun things!Bollywood Theater was by far my favorite! It was delicious! If you're in the Vancouver, WA area you have to go and tell me what you think!!! You walk in to see a Hindi movie playing and stand in a super long line. The word is out. This place is a hit! Don't let the line scare you, their service is amazing!!They use authentic Indian utensils and dishes. If you were to go to a restaurant in India, you would see the set up in the picture above. They even have a little modern flare to some of the dishes. Everything we got was spicy. On purpose. Oh man was it amazing. Don't worry, they have white friendly, not so spicy food as well. Liam wasn't as thrilled with the heat level. I kept giving him these cucumbers in yogurt to help. Nothing was helping. He was getting upset and I made a final attempt to give him a cucumber. Joel saw what I was doing and stopped me. "Babe, you know those are really spicy right?" Umm..... Nope. I'm a "great" mom. I finally gave Liam regular yogurt and it fixed it all. After I tormented him. Come on, I know you all have them. Those moments where your inner "greatness" comes out. Share your stories!  

Our May Adventures

If you live in a place with constant sunshine all around you, you will never understand Pacific Northwest problems. We, here in the PNW, experience a few short months of summer and almost an entire year of clouds and rain. What do we do when the sun rarely shines?RUN OUTSIDE IN A SWIMSUIT AND SOAK UP THE VITAMIN D!!!Yes, that's right. The temperature doesn't matter because the sun makes it feel glorious. We get a little sick of the Vitamin D pills, light therapy, and daydreaming of a rain free day. This week the sun has been out and every single person in the PNW is out and ready to enjoy. My boys have been loving this nice weather! We've had so many adventures this week. The boys have been living in their pool. Inspecting "terrifying" itty bitty bugs.Being as cute as can be. Eating "Elsa snacks." Yes, Liam is still obsessed with Frozen.Then of course Levi's adorable new Zoolander face he makes when he's told to do something he deems ridiculous.Levi wasn't quite sure about the beach.Then he went for it and never came out! At the end, these little cuties decided they were too cold and hungry to move until they were served hot dogs.What's a fun post without my favorite Liam quote of the week?"Liam will you pick mama a flower?""Mom, there are no more flowers," as he stands next to this.....

The Terrible Sleep Training Mama

One thing I have learned over my "extensive" two years of parenting is all parents think their way is the only way. If you ask for advice on any topic concerning your children, get ready to hear that your terrible for even posing said question, ridiculous advice that you'd never follow, hilarious remarks from friends, and a few good ideas. 

 

One thing that's extremely important to my little family is sleep. If my children don't get enough sleep, they are monsters the next day. If my husband doesn't get enough sleep at night, he acts like the world is over. Literally over and can't proceed with his day. If I don't get enough sleep... Let's just say, stay away from mommy. 

 

We learned very early that sleep training is key to our sanity as a family. Ah sleep training. The controversial topic that causes riots amount at mothers.

 

I've heard it all. Letting your children cry it out won't hurt them. You are traumatizing your children and making them feel abandoned when you let them cry. Lay with your kids until they fall asleep. Lay them back down every time they get up in bed. 

We'll, I've tried it all. I don't think there is a universal way to sleep train your child. I think it depends on your child. You know what your child needs, as their mom. It's completely ok if you don't agree with this post. Let's just remember to keep the comments friendly. :)

 

We have chosen the cry it out method with both kids. We were very strict with Liam for the first year and it went perfectly. He cried for thirty minutes the first night and he cried less and less the following nights. Then Joel and I lost our minds and thought it would be sweet to let him sleep with us in bed sometimes. This turned into him climbing into our bed in the middle of the night. It was cute at first. Then we had Levi. I'll never forget the first night we brought Levi home. Liam woke up in the middle of the night, Joel brought him into our bed, and he was utterly betrayed when he found Levi in our bed nursing. It took about a week straight of working with both of them to share. 

 

It got worse from there. They both go to sleep in their own beds to start out the night. Then they both mosey in around three in the morning. How do we fix this? Put list back in his bed and let Levi cry it out. However that is much easier said than done. My husband and I are delirious I the middle of the night and don't realize we're giving I until the next morning whenwe wake up with no blankets and a child's foot in our face. 

 

I guess we have eight months to fix this. Otherwise we will have five people in our beds every morning. No thank you.