Life

Where to begin? Life is so busy. We've had so much going on the past few months. Time has flown by, all too quickly. Emma started school. That's right, I have a kindergartener. In fact, she's almost done. Then I'll have a first grader AND a kindergartener, as Addison will be starting school this year. Do I feel old? Yes. Anyway, Emma has been doing so well in school. She's blossoming intellectually & socially. My kid can read! She is a whiz at math (no surprise there). She is a HUGE help at home. She gave herself a chore to do besides the things we already ask of her. She took the initiative and did it, afterwards telling me, "Mom, this will be my job from now on." Ok... twist my arm. Addison is also a huge help at home. Being the oldest here all day with me, she herself has blossomed. She's becoming increasingly confident. She feeds the baby for me, she CAN change a diaper if the need arises. She keeps Cadence busy when I need a few minutes to myself. She's learning to read & write & is VERY excited to be starting school in September with her sister. She'll be 5 in April & has chosen pirates as her theme. I'm excited for this. Way too excited. Cadence just finished potty training. (Wasn't it only a couple months ago that Addie was potty training? It sure feels like it. But no, Addison potty trained two years ago.) I couldn't believe it when Cadence started asking to go to the bathroom & taking her diaper off when she had gone in it. I wasn't ready. I mean, I've done this before, but my idea was to wait until AFTER our Disneyland trip in February. Cadence had other plans. She wanted to do it NOW. So she did. In nine days. I've noticed in all of my children, that once they potty train, they act differently. They all of the sudden have this confidence. 'I'm a big kid now.' They start to become much more outgoing. She sings & dances around the house all day long now. Liam... oh my little Liam. He's not so little anymore. Yes he's still a baby, but babies grow so fast. It isn't fair. But let me tell you, this kid is awesome. The biggest sweetheart. Even at the age where babies are finding their way to knowing they are separate from us, as their parents, he still will let me hold & cuddle him to my hearts content. I wish I had all the time in the world to cuddle with this kid. He won't be this small forever. He is also, hilarious. I LOVE seeing their little personalities start to come out. What will they think is funny? He loves to grab my face in both his hands and bring my face to his for a big slobbery baby kiss. LOVE. His sisters adore him of course. Perhaps a little too much. They are forever in his face if he is on the floor playing. He doesn't seem to mind, but I sure do. Let him breathe! Let him play! Let him figure things out for himself. Let him get frustrated. It's hard, teaching kids to NOT help each other in those instances. Craig is working two jobs. It allows me to stay home with our kids. Just the way we want it. But it is SO hard, having him gone that much. We hate being away from each other. Hate it. We want to be with each other all day, every day. Life... it gets in the way. After having to start drinking soda again during my pregnancy with Liam (literally the ONLY fluid I could keep down), I have gone off it again. This time I intend to stay off of it. That's about it for me, except my going crazy. But hey, it just means I have a lot of kids to love.

Liam is here!

So... he's here! He's here and he is perfect! We all adore him. Of course he's already managed to get everyone wrapped around his little finger. Emma is a huge help with him & both of her sisters. I don't know what I'm going to do with her starting kindergarten this year. Yes I do... I'll adapt. I'll have Addison, who is also a huge help, & I'll have Cadence who still takes naps. That will save my sanity. Emma & Addison (and sometimes Cadence) like to feed Liam his bottle. They love to hold & kiss him. Quite frankly, it's a bit chaotic, trying to take care of him & have all three girls swarming around us as we do it. I'll ask one of the older girls to feed him, and to feed him he has to be held. So what does that cause? A problem. "But I want to hold him!" Emma will cry if Addie is feeding him. And vice versa. Then of course when he's fed Cadence pipes up "My tuwn!" Craig LOVES having a boy here, FINALLY. He's got a partner in crime now. I am so blessed to have Craig. Because I had my 4th c-section he has had to do EVERYTHING. He has basically had to be Superman for the past month. Taking care of me (right down to having to help me roll over in bed), a newborn (who we all know has 24/7 needs), a VERY hyperactive toddler, a 4 year old trying to figure out her place in our new family dynamic, and is using aggression to do so, & a 5 year old who breaks down and cries at the slightest thing (this is nothing new. It's been going on since she turned 4, I know it's a phase, but it's annoying.) Then he had to start going back to work. Comes home, cooks us all dinner & everything starts all over again. Like I said, Superman. Of course I am biased, but Liam is the cutest baby boy alive. He's absolutely precious. He has bright blue eyes, a full head of blonde hair, adorable ears, my lips, Craigs nose & the cutest little chin dimple ever! He has a very calm tempermant. He is a HUGE cuddlebug. He wants to be held, ALL. THE. TIME. Which let's face it, I have NO problem with. He eats a ton. When he's awake and alert, I love to stare at him & have him stare back. When he hears my voice, or Craig's he turns his head to try & find us. If we're close enough to see, I love seeing the recognition in his face. And because, I am his only source of food, if he smells me he needs to eat, right then. He's a very good eater. Gained a whole pound in a week! He's tiny, he smells good, & hasn't peed on me yet! I know it will happen eventually, but it hasn't yet, so I'll take it.

Waiting on Liam

Is it June yet? I can't believe we are so close to seeing and holding our little boy! Addison is getting so impatient. She asks if Liam is big enough to come out yet, every single day.

Emma is a little more patient. She knows he has to grow, but she is still just as excited to hold him! And Cadence... well Cadence doesn't really understand what's going on. I think she knows something is up though. She has become so clingy.

Knowing that he is our last baby makes me appreciate everything a little more. Even the cons of pregnancy. Do I enjoy the cons? No. But I know that they are happening for a reason, and that reason is a precious little baby boy.

Those little movements he makes. All of them, are so special to me. They always were with the girls as well. Knowing this is the last time I'll feel them makes me sad. Only a little though, because soon he'll be here, and I'll get to hold him and feel him move on the outside.

This kid is the first grandson (on my side) and I can already see how spoiled he will be.

I am so anxious to see who he looks like. Will he look like Addison, and even out the who looks like who? Or will he take after Emma and Cadence? Will he be the spitting image of Craig? Will he look like my little brother (who is convinced that Liam will look exactly like him?)

I can't wait to hold him close and breathe in that sweet newborn smell. I can't wait to have him handed to me and see him focus his eyes on me, and know in that instant that he knows exactly who I am.

June can't come fast enough.

An Update!

Emma has lost two teeth!! It made her look instantly older, I'm not too sure how I feel about that. She has decided that she likes her hair long and is enjoying coming up with fun new hairstyles with me.

Addison has been potty trained for a year & still no accidents! She has decided that she likes her hair short, so we chopped it into a bob. She loves it and I do too. Short and sassy, just like her.

Cadence is a walking, talking ball of energy. She isn't afraid to speak her mind. She tells me to stop if she doesn't like something. Her favorite people are Emma and Addison, she can't stand to be separated from them. She thinks she is a big girl and gets frustrated when she can't do what the big girls do.

We are having another baby and just found out it is a BOY!!!!!!! Our first little boy! We are all so excited! I've been waiting so long to buy little boys clothes that I ran out and bought some already. Craig obviously is over the moon to have a little buddy. A mini Craig! I'm so excited!

Potty training and traveling don't always mix...

Have you ever traveled with a potty training child?

Have you ever traveled with a newly potty trained child?

I have. It's not that bad. But... I have some stories.


Emma showed interest in the potty. I started training her. She decided she wasn't interested. I stopped training her. We went to Disneyland, fully prepared to use diapers. We were in the middle of the line for Dumbo and she announced, "I have to go potty." What are you going to do? Say no? This is something every parent dreams of, the day their kid decided to use the potty. So begrudgingly (have YOU ever waited in line for Dumbo during Spring Break? At least a 45 minute wait) we got out of line and took her to the bathroom.

I am SO glad we did. She was potty trained by the time we got home from Disneyland. A week. That's all it took (including night training.) When SHE was ready, it was easy as pie. I would have preferred that we didn't have to stop a million times a day, but it was worth it. I had potty trained my first child! Or rather... she sort of potty trained herself, but I'm her mom, so I'm taking some of the credit. I was incredibly impressed with myself for having done it at Disneyland. I was proud of her for even thinking about the potty when there were so many fun things to distract her. She was done potty training at 2. She is a pretty awesome kid.

So, since Emma was so easy & we both did such a great job potty training at a theme park, Addison was going to be even easier, right?

For those of you who can see what's coming, feel free to shake your heads and laugh at me...

Addison is a very strong willed, spunky kid. Definitely my child. I wouldn't have it any other way. Although I could have done without the stubbornness during the potty training phase.

We went to the Dr. for Emma's 3 year old check up. The Dr. watched Addison quite a bit while we were there. She stated Addison was ready for potty training. I agreed, because I had also noticed the "tell-tale" signs.

I pulled out the little potty, she loved it. She would sit on it all day long... but not go to the bathroom at all. As soon as I took her off of the toilet she would go on the floor. UGH!!! EVERY SINGLE TIME! I realized she was acting the same way as Emma had. She completely lost interest. So frustrating, but forcing them doesn't help at all. So I stopped training. A few weeks later she got upset with me because the potty wasn't out for her to use. "YES!" I thought smugly.

I pulled her potty out and began training again. She lost interest again. This was the pattern over the course of a full year!!! I began to lose hope.

I realize that normal children will eventually potty train, she wouldn't be in diapers forever. While you're dealing with it though, you think that YOUR kid will be the first kid ever to graduate high school in diapers.

Then 2 months before she turned 3 it was like the light suddenly turned on. She wanted to potty train. That girl is impressive. It only took her 4 days to potty train. INCLUDING night training (she had 4 or 5 accidents that first night, then never again.) Now almost a year later, she still has never had a night time accident. Again, it took her til SHE was ready for it to happen.

I did it! She did it! We lived through it. She proved even more stubborn than I thought, but I learned patience with her. So I guess we both learned something valuable.

With a newly potty trained kid (3 months after she was done) we decided to be brave, so we went to Disneyland. We drive at night, to squeeze another Disney day in. So... we're driving. It's midnight. We had just left a gas station 15 minutes before. Addison pipes up from the back seat "I need to go potty." I looked at Craig, "Why couldn't she have said that 15 minutes ago?" He responded with, "I know, because now we are an hour away from the next rest stop/gas station."

She was screaming now, "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!!!" Frantic. She was so upset that she MIGHT have an accident.

"PULL OVER!" I said. He pulled over. I think I got her out of her car seat in record time. I opened the car door and realized, it was pitch black outside. I couldn't see anything past the car. I wasn't going to bring my kid out there, to fall in a hole, or get bitten by some unseen creature. So I did the only think I could think of... I pulled her pants and underwear all the way off and told her to pee. She looked at me like I was crazy. "I sit down to potty."

"No sweetie, you can't sit down, you'll get thorns in your butt."

"OK mommy." She then proceeded to go. My little 3 year old was standing there, just peeing on herself. It was sad and hilarious all at the same time. I whipped out the wipes and scrubbed her down. Put her clothes back on. Strapped her back into her car seat. Crisis averted.

I am going to invest in a travel potty next time we go to Disneyland.