The Joy of 3 Little Ones

Today I have 3 napping children and some time on my hands!

Meet the newest member of our family:  Theresa Jane who was born February 19th and will be 4 months old tomorrow!  She’s tiny and weighs less than 11 pounds right now, but super happy and smiley.  She enjoys cooing loudly, rolling onto her tummy and has been sleeping like a champ- about 10 hours straight.  My hope is that this continues and she’ll be my first baby to actually sleep at night.

Adored by her big brother and sister

Sometimes they like to copy her

Everybody asks me how life is with 3.  And to my complete surprise, it’s been beautiful.  My expectations of these early months have been exceedingly surpassed. After the painful first month and the sleep deprived first 2-3 months, Theresa has become a very sweet and wonderful baby who brightens up her whole family’s lives.  The kids and I get out as much as before with playdates, the zoo, museum and playing outside with neighbors.

I thought for sure I’d have some form of depression as I did after my first two; but so far, no signs of it.  It seems we were  in survival mode only a brief time and have already begun thriving.

The title of my blog is about searching for freedom. Over the past several months I have finally taken some baby steps in this direction and have some experiences to share, but I’ll save that for another post.

Here’s a few more pictures of what we’ve been up to  since Theresa was born.

Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary

Leo’s 4th birthday party

Celebrating Leo’s 4th birthday with a train ride at the zoo.

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An update before I settle back into writing.

Well, I took quite a hiatus from blogging.  I think that before I jump back in to thoughtful posts, I need to fill you in on my ever-changing life to give you some perspective on my experiences.

Real quick like:

-It’s been a potty-training summer, but success with both of my toddlers

-Leo turned 3

-Silvia turned 2

-We’re having another baby in February (already halfway there)

-I’m working for my friend a couple days a week as a nanny.  I bring my 2 kids.  And her 3 kids are all younger than Leo, so it’s a crowd of miniature people.

Those are the biggest changes, but here’s some photos:

Leo’s 3rd birthday party!

What we did on Silvia’s 2nd birthday.

At a baseball game in July

Indiana State fair in August

    

Our 4th Anniversary in June

Moments to be Grateful For

How blessed I feel to be spending these days with my children.  We’ve been getting out of the house almost every day on an adventure together.  We’ve gone to the zoo, the park, a coffeehouse (which has toys for kids), a walk to the market, partly around the 100-acre woods, the splash pad, friends’ houses…and more.

Trying to climb into the polar bear’s lair

Yesterday morning, I had plans to go to the zoo with my friend and Joe said he was jealous.  There was a time when I was jealous that he got to get out of the house and go to work.  Times have changed, and the kids have grown and gotten easier to take on outings or play by themselves in the yard.  I know that I am so lucky to be home with them.

Children’s museum

One afternoon this week, it was a beautiful sunny day and we were in our backyard when the storm clouds appeared.  We went inside to change into our bathing suits and then the three of us went back outside to play in the rain.  They threw rocks in puddles and I showed Silvia how fun the slide is when it’s wet.  We went inside and I gave them a bath and when they were done, it was hailing balls about a 1/2 inch in size!

rain, rain, it’s ok. you can stay for just today

She was walking away, but every time I said “smile”, she would walk back and get in the camera’s face before the picture would take

Today, I had to catch up on dishes and make a big lunch, so the kids played outside by themselves for a long time.  I would check on them every so often, and they’d be crouched down making a mud pile or playing with rocks.  When I came outside, I found the broom from the front porch on the outside of our front fence.  Leo must have tossed it over.  When they came inside, they put blankets over their heads and walked around, bumping into things.  Leo kept saying “hewoh (hello) ghost guy”, since they were pretending to be ghosts.  Then they spun themselves around in circles until they were dizzy and laughing and falling over.   I told them to tell each other night-night before their naps, and they gave each other a kiss.  Leo frequently asks if Silvia can nap in his bed with him, but we say she’s not old enough yet.

Leo spinning Silvia’s chair and saying “baby go wost (fast)” and “hold on tight”

Thankfully, my little beauties are napping well today 🙂

 

Catching up on life with snapshots

Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted pictures, so here are some.

  Playdate with a friend at a mall play area

Leo going down the slide and my friend’s daughter in the background

Leo found Silvia!

She had a good time trying to escape.  Why are babies always interested in the exit?  

Leo playing pretend at the ice cream parlor at the Children’s Museum.

The kids watching a short dvd when I needed a bit of peace to work on dinner.

Silvia after a bath so fresh and so clean clean.  Back to playing.

And Leo obsessed with his Thomas the train books.

The kids at Joe’s aunt’s house on Thanksgiving Day.

Joe playing with Silvia on their grandparents’ playground

Silvia playing with her cousin.

All the cousins on my side playing together.