2 years old!

Our beautiful baby girl turned two on June 22nd. Time flies! Here are her stats:

Weight: 30 lbs 9oz (90%)

Height: 37" (98%)

Head circ: 19"(71%)

 

 

Carmen is a big growing girl. She eats just about everything that we put in front of her except she doesn't like too much meat. She loves her veggies and fruit! Strange enough, she has high cholesterol, so I need to give her skim milk now. The doctor told me no more fast food. They don't know what freaks we are with food!

Carmen is so sweet! She wakes up asking to kiss baby Hudson and absolutely loves him. She sleeps with about 5 dolls and a baby bottle. 'Bubby' (her blanket) and lovie are in the crib too. She feeds her babies a bottle and has even tried to nurse them. 

Carmen is really starting to play with Roman a lot more. She follows him around a lot and does everything that he does. They play hard and definitely fight hard too. 

Carmen is one tough cookie. It takes a big fall to make her cry. She has also had a little problem with pulling her little friends' hair, and pinching Roman in the car. We're working on it. Carmen has already had many spankings and time-outs. 

Carmen is usually pretty easy going and plays well by herself. She loves to stack blocks, do puzzles, sing Jesus loves me, play with dolls, and cook in her pretend kitchen. 

Carmen wears a size 5 diaper, size 2t and 3t clothes, and size 6 shoe. 

Carmen tells us when she has gone poo poo and went per pee in the potty the other day for the first time. She is very interested, but we are not going to potty train her until she is absolutely ready and Hudson is sleeping through the night. 

We love you sweet Carmen Dale! We love watching you dance and sing and seeing your personality coming out. You are such a blessing and a joy to our family!

6 weeks

The moment you look up at the alarm clock and realize that it is after 3am and the baby hasn't woken yet! Hudson just went 7hrs between feedings! 8pm-3:10am! Mommy just slept 5 hrs in a row for the first time in 6 weeks! I know this probably won't happen again for a while, so I had to document the event!

Crazy times

Matt ended up flying and being away for six days last week. It was so hard because it was unexpected since he's on call. I hate that! My mom was so helpful. She had Carmen spend the night one night and then Roman had a sleep over the next night. By the third night, I starting feeling sick and realized I had mastitis. It was terrible! I had aching all over and fever for two days. My mom ended up spending the night and helping me for four nights in a row. She was amazing! We toughed it out together! I am so happy that she lives here! It's like having my best friend over every day!

One month

Hudson turned one month old on June 9th! I took him to the dr on June 14th.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 12lbs 2 oz (87%)

Height: 23-1/4 " (87%)

Head circ: 16-1/4" ( 94%)

Hudson got diagnosed with acid reflux because he screams a lot after evening feedings and spits up a ton. I don't like putting my baby on medicine, but the doctor recommended Zantac. He is now on a small dose and doing so much better! He still screams in the evening, but it's a lot better. 

Hudson started sleeping in his room at three weeks. He now naps in there too if we're at home. He slept 6 hrs between feedings twice now at night! Getting him on a routine has been harder than both our other kids. It's been a difficult month, but we're definitely seeing progress. We're trying to stay on this routine, but there have been a couple of growth spurts along the way:

1st feeding - 8am nap at 9am

2nd - 10:30am nap at 11:30am

3rd - 1:00pm nap at 2pm

4th - 3:30pm nap at 4:30pm

5th - 6:00 pm awake

6th - 8:00pm bed

7th - 1:00 am

8th - 6:00 am

I have to have him on a routine because his schedule has to match up with the other two busy kids.  It's crazy around here!

Big boy is really starting to smile more (still randomly) and look around at his surroundings. He hears everything. His poor hair is starting to fall out on top. His balding looks like an old man! But he's still cute!

Roman and Carmen are not jealous of Hudson at all. They have completely accepted him into our family. They just get a little jealous of my time. It is so hard to juggle three kids' attention!  I nurse him a lot during the day and each feeding takes 30-45 minutes. I'm ready for those to get shorter! I've nursed him everywhere! The mall, standing up in stores, the doctor's office, cars, etc.  (I'm covered up of course!) We're on the go a lot and he must stay flexible! He's had a couple tries with formula at the end of the night (dessert bottle), but he'll only take about an ounce.

Hudson, we love you so much. We can't imagine life without you now! You are an amazing gift from God and we feel so blessed to be your parents!

Lately

I have a big helper around the house. Miss Carmen helps me put all the clean laundry in the basket and transfer the wet laundry to the dryer. She also gets the kitchen towel and always helps clean up spills. She's a little organizer and cleaner. 

Carmen is so obsessed with baby. The minute she wakes up, she asks for him. I can honestly say she's not jealous yet. Oops! Shouldn't have said that out loud!

Our little boy finally didn't cry during bath last night at four weeks old. Now he just cries after the bath. "It's cold mommy!"

Hudson is four weeks old! We weighed him at my doctor's apt and he's around 11 lbs! Big boy!

Big kids love bumbo seats too! Roman and Carmen are playing together so much more! They play and fight all day long. She does everything that he does. It's pretty cute!

We're coping better and better every day. I managed to go on a jog yesterday and clean the house. (The doctor released me to exercise this week!) Matt helps out so much. I don't know what I'd do without him when he's home!  I got four hour of straight sleep last night for the first time! Not so much tonight, but now I know it's possible. Life is good!

Tired with joy

 Raising three children under the age of 4 is the hardest thing Matt and I have ever done. I seriously feel so blessed to have three healthy children, but it's tough. Someone is always crying. While I am nursing hudson, the older two are always fighting.  Not up mention the car situation. Carmen is always pinching or hitting Roman for attention and Hudson is usually screaming. I am so sleep deprived, it's insane! There was no recovery time with three kids. I don't get to nap too often because someone always needs me.  Roman has wet the bed or come in our room for some useless reason in the middle of the night in between one of my 2 hr sleep periods of feeding Hudson. It's exhausting!  Also, our computer crashed and we lost every single picture from 2012 and 2013. I have really been praying and trying to not let the pressure and stress get the best of me. I am choosing Joy! God has entrusted us with these three beauties. I know that the days are long and the years are short, so I am trying to just soak it in. It is really hard for me to let my house go and not get to cook as much healthy meals right now, but those things just aren't quite as important. I know it will get easier once we figure out a routine. We are so blessed.

Look at this sweet face!

First days alone, kind of...

Matt had his first trip back to work on Sunday, May 26th. I was so sad to have him leave. Matt's parents were here two days of his four day trip, but Tuesday morning I was alone. Luckily my mom moved here! She came over during breakfast and helped me. She actually stayed the night two nights in a row. It was awesome! Together, we took the kids on a field trip to the Chesapeake Wildlife zoo in Dalonega and met up with my friends.

(Lunch at the wildlife zoo)

Wednesday, we met my friend Lauren at the local library for story time. My mom helped so much! I'm trying so hard to keep the older kids active. It's hard, but we're managing. I don't know how I could do it without my mom here!

(AnnaClaire and Carmen holding hands at library)