Charlotte at Four

We here at the Valentine Nest have a FOUR year old in our midst! How this happened I do not know but she is a precious gift to our family & we love her more than words can express.  She has been four just over a week now & I have had ample amount of time to think about this lovely little lady since she has been visiting her grandparents in Houston. We miss her dearly & are looking forward to her return on Wednesday evening. Our little nest is just is not the same when we are down one talkative, hilarious, snuggly, sensitive, entertaining, helpful little birdie. 

Her Daddy took her to her four year old check up last week & she was so proud of her bravery as she received her shots. Prior to her visit, she told Eloise, Owen & Anson about 10 times each that she was going to be brave & according to Rob's report, she was.  He said she was chatty with her favorite doctor & answered all sorts of questions. I'm not sure if she was asked what her favorite breakfast food is or not but she would surely say a cinnamon roll from Panera....

possibly due to a cinnamon roll or two plus all that other good eating she does....

FOUR year old STATS:

40 3/4 inches- 75th percentile

37.6 pounds- 75th percentile

The thing I notice most about this sweet girl is that she is a loving little mommy to her sister & brothers. Three younger siblings by age four is quite the transition for any child & she has taken it in stride.  She has been excited & helpful about 99% of the time & I am so thankful for that. She loves to spend time with Eloise. Eloise thinks Charlotte is amazing & Charlotte makes us laugh with the glance & smirk she gives us when Eloise does something cute. They are best buddies that can be so kind one minute & feisty the next. We do a LOT of correcting during the day to help these girls interact in a loving manner.  Charlotte has really caught onto the advice "think before you speak" although a more accurate statement would be "think after you speak unkindly & then try again." That, she is good at. You can hear her from the other room attempt to chase down her sister & take something from her yelling "Eloise!!" then she stops & says "let me try that again." That does not happen all the time but progress is being made : ) She loves to help Eloise do anything except for going potty....she says that she takes too long. I know the feeling Charlotte. Here they are outside in some fresh rain puddles....

While she & Eloise are wild & crazy together, she calms down in an instant when around the boys. Her voice is precious as she talks to them & asks them questions. When we first got home from the hospital my mom & I would say when a baby would fuss "Oh, poor Anson, he says 'I want my mommy'." Charlotte would correct us & say babies can't talk. We explained how we like to pretend that we know what they are saying. It took about an hour before Charlotte was on board & now interprets for the little guys all the time. According to her, they are usually saying things like "We want to watch sissies favorite show" or "Please, can Charlotte hold me?" or "Owen says I can have a cookie." Interpreting baby language is completely subjective so many times I can't argue ; )

I am sure others might think we are crazy for the amount of holding & maneuvering of the babies that we allow Charlotte to do but she has proven herself quite capable.  I really am impressed with how she can switch them from a cradle hold to up against her chest in a split second all while supporting their neck. One afternoon she even held a baby with one arm while playing a game with the other. She likes to pick them up from the floor & set them in the bouncer (right next to her).  I did discover the #1 thing you don't want to hear when you turn your back to grab a burp cloth from the changing table...Char was in the chair with one of the boys sitting quietly. I turned around for about 20 seconds & heard her say "Whoa! That was close!" I flew back around to see a baby sliding feet first off the chair headed towards the floor with Char pulling him up under his arms. Haha! True statement, it was a close call! Eloise watches everything Charlotte does & wants to do the same so we have to be extra careful ; ) Here she is getting some double snuggles...

We are still working on helping her understand personal space. We stole exclaiming "Bubble!" from some old neighbors Chad & Sara when everyone needs to back off. It works well for the most part unless the girls are in super silly moods & like to get ultra close then scream "bubble" & run away before returning again seconds later. They also like for us to "pop their bubble" so they can get close again.  Most of the time though, Owen & Anson are happy to see Charlotte & respond with lots of grins & little giggles.  This makes her one happy big sis.

Busy Body:

• Charlotte loves to hop & has just mastered skipping in the recent weeks although she only does three "skips" in a row before a quick run & then three more "skips."
• She likes to show us how she balances on one foot & lifts her other leg up in the air.
• She likes for me to draw dots & let her trace shapes or letters.
• Charlotte has lots of letters in her name & has not mastered writing it yet but likes to practice writing some of the letters individually without assistance. She also draws lots of shapes & people who still look blob like.
• She is getting better at cutting & loves any project that involves cutting shapes to glue on paper. She also likes when I cut shapes that when put together make a house or an owl or something of the sort. 
• Miss outdoors is still a scooter riding maniac & perfects her turning skills & speediness by practicing coming down the neighbors driveway & making a nearly 90 degree turn onto the sidewalk headed towards our driveway. She also speeds around the cul de sac while I watch from our driveway. She thinks it is cool to be that independent. 
• Char loves playing with her soccer ball & can kick/dribble very well & makes it into the goal often. 
• We have not done any official swim lessons to date but she is really excited to put her head under water & kick if you are holding her. She is quite timid if you start to let go with one hand. As you can imagine we don't get to the pool very often these days ; ) 
• She is quite the show off to her sister climbing onto furniture & jumping off. Unfortunately Eloise has just started being overly brave & repeating all jumps thank you Charlotte.  Good thing she is a tough little cookie.

Here is Charlotte practicing writing her name on her map.

Busy Mind:

• She is figuring out time & frequently asks what time it is or how many minutes it will take to get somewhere. If you say more than 15 minutes she says "that is too long, I don't like when it takes that long." Oh I can't wait to tell her how long our drive will be to Texas on our next visit! She also measures time between now & something in the future in the number of sleeps it takes to get there. The countdown for her birthday started at about 14 sleeps. 
• She has used the words yesterday, today & tomorrow for awhile & I thought she understood their use until a couple weeks ago when she revealed in the cutest way that her "tomorrow" was not the same as my "tomorrow." She was snuggled close to Anson & having a sweet little sibling conversation. She asked him "Buddy, were you so happy you came home from the hospital tomorrow? It was such a happy day when you & Owen came home tomorrow!" I said "Char, did you know that tomorrow means after one more sleep?" She looked at me like I had three eyes & said "No mommy! Don't you remember when we were at the hospital with the baby brothers & Dr. Alexander came to see us? He said 'Charlotte, would you like for your brothers to come home from the hospital tomorrow?' I told him 'yes, please' & then they came home tomorrow." I could not help but smile at her cuteness. I did tell her that I understood why she may think that but restated the definition of "tomorrow." She stared at me blankly for a moment then leaned over Anson & asked him in a sweet baby voice "Were you so happy you came home from the hospital tomorrow?" Haha! She is pretty sure she is right...and not only about this issue ; ) 
• Charlotte's new obsession is her map. It came with a puzzle from Grammy & Papa she got last summer & she has not paid much attention to it until the past couple months. She carries it in her backpack wherever she goes & if you put her down for a nap without it, she requests to go get it. She knows Texas, Florida, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York & Illinois.  She has learned each of these states in relation to who lives there or who is from there. Such as Kentucky with the "horsie races" is where her friend Hannah is from or Illinois is where my friend Sadee's dad lives. Below you can see she is pointing at New York where her beloved Sunday morning teachers & our friends Ryan & Leah just moved last week to share the Gospel with Muslim people. 

• She loves story telling or hearing the same stories over & over. This started back when my mom was here prior to the birth of the twins. One story that my mom had to tell over & over & OVER was about how they went to "Dinosaur land" which is really Downtown Disney. They ate at a Chicken place & sat at an outside table. My mom warned the girls about the ravenous squirrels that were begging for food & Charlotte climbed on top of the table & over to my mom. I had to retell the story about her choking on the gummy worm on our special date about a million times.  When the boys were in the NICU & I was away often, Charlotte wanted to curl up in my lap & hear the story about the day before the boys were born & how she had the stomach bug.  So interesting that her insecurities came out that way. It was like she needed to hear over & over that mommy was so sad when she was sick, that I missed her when I was in the hospital after the babies were born & that Gaga took care of her when she was throwing up. So, I told her story after story at her request making sure I included plenty of statements affirming my love for her. Once we were all under one roof, she stopped requesting those specific stories & got hung up on the story below.
• This story needs a tab of its own. This is the story about Crab Hi. It's origination is of the imagination of Charlotte. One day we were riding in the car & she asked me to tell her the story about Crab Hi. I asked her what story that was & she said, "you don't remember?" So, I requested that she tell it to me again. It was quite the story & when I asked her if she made it up she said "No mommy, I saw it on my phone." The phone she is speaking of is an old play cell phone with no battery. Back to the story, I only got to hear it once before I was put to the repeat test. I then became a professional story teller of Crab Hi. I won't tell every detail so as not to ruin the surprise if she decides to publish it someday but the gist of the story is our family went to the Crab Hi store prior to our hike up a small mountain. While on the hike, Charlotte was bit by a crab, her Daddy said it would feel better if we put sand on it, we took her to see Dr. Nielsen(our pediatrician) who was mad about the crab biting Charlotte so Dr. Nielsen went up the mountain, gave the crab a lecture & then bit it. Ha! We had many a good laugh about her story she saw on her phone. 
• This will get much more explanation in the coming months but we are beginning our home school journey with preschool this year & are really excited about it. I have a few things picked out for teaching phonics, writing & various other things but have been lacking something in the math field. I was wondering how you even teach something you hate so much ; ) Anyway, out of nowhere the other day we were riding in the car on our way over to Hannah, Lawson & Lilah's house when I asked Charlotte how many kids were in our car. She said all the kids names & said "4!" then I asked her how many were at Hannah's house so she said their names & shouted "3!"Then I asked her how many kids will that be when we are all together. She named all the names again with no numbers & shouted "7!" I was impressed since I really had not tried anything like that before. She also did it on her own with the how many more sleeps till Uncle Kyle came into town by adding 2 sleeps plus 3 sleeps. Check! I think we will be okay in the math realm & I am praying she is a billion times smarter than me once we hit pre calculus ; ) 
• She loves to pretend about anything & loves even more that she ropes her sister into all of her imaginary games.  As of lately, they have been pirates going on a treasure hunt with a treasure map from Jake & the Neverland Pirates or as Charlotte says "the Everland pirates."
• She is a talker & still has some really cute ways of saying things. One that I have always enjoyed is her pronunciation of Chick Fil A which has been for the longest time "ChickAYea." That's a good name for it : ) She has not been able to say "L's" until the past few weeks when we were driving down the road & she looked out her window & said "Look mommy, it's Chick A Lay!" She looked at me & said "Mommy! I said "lay" not "yea!" I can say L right!" So cute. Another hilarious thing about mispronouncing words is that however she says it is how Eloise believes it to be pronounced so I have a feeling we will be doing the same corrections with little sis. 

A few other random things about our four year old:

• She is a fairly good eater with her favorites being PB&J, cheese, smoothies, carrots, chicken parmesan, broccoli, peas & most fruits.
• Charlotte is still a great sleeper although she is an early EARLY riser. The girls are in their room around 7pm & usually fall asleep around 8 or 8:30. They both wake by 6am cheerful & ready to start the day.  She is happy to nap from about 1-2:30 about 6 days a week. 
• She has a sensitive heart & is easily offended. I have found myself telling her I am sorry for the way I have spoken to her & asked for her forgiveness on more than one occasion since we have had four children stretching us. She responds so very well in those moments where she sees that I fail too & need to seek forgiveness. It brings up yet another opportunity to talk about our need for Jesus. In a book we just read to Eloise the other day called "Our Home is like a Little Church" one of the pages reads "At home my daddy says to me each time I disobey, 'that's why we all need Jesus' love to take our sins away." I love rhymes & think they are easy for kids to remember so as we read that yesterday I was thinking about incorporating it into our chats following disobedience & into my own mind when I struggle to obey God. She loves reading her bible with Rob & Eloise in the mornings & is usually ready to read before Robby is. She is a little chatterbox asking what story is next as she sits down to find her bookmark. 
• She was given the book Charlotte's Web by my mom when she was first born & it has mostly sat up on a shelf in her room until the past month. It is now stuffed full of random pictures & she sits & looks through it shouting out letters that she finds. She also likes for you to sit next to her so she can show you all the pictures. 
• Charlotte is a collector of things so much so that I have considered letting her watch an episode of Hoarders to let her know where she might be headed. She mostly collects papers, pictures & small books. She puts them all in the gift bag pictured below until it is full. She then piles more onto her nightstand. At nap time she hauls it all to my room & loads it into my nightstand drawer. She likes to make "lists" on small pieces of paper. She sits by me & asks what we need at the store then she does really small scribbles all the way across the page. When you ask her what is on the list she can usually recall what she "wrote." She also says that she writes recipes for things. I help her go through her piles weekly & we throw away things that we don't need anymore....that is one way I can help us not be taken over by papers ; ) 

Added clutter & all, this girl brings great joy to our home. Four years of being her mommy & I am feeling thankful that God saw fit to place her in our nest. Here she is just before leaving with Uncle Kyle on her trip to Texas last Friday....

All the reports from Gaga & PawPaw show that this independent young lady is having a blast & is not homesick at all. She is counting down how many sleeps until she & Gaga fly back but is basking in all the attention from her grandparents & uncles. We cannot WAIT to see her & hear about her visit. This nest is way too quiet without her....I know that is strange to say when only one of four kids is gone but she contributes so much to the noise level ; ) One more sleep & she will be in my arms again!

Celebrating Charlotte

Charlotte turned four on Saturday & we had quite the day of celebrating.  I picked up my brother Kyle from the airport on Friday night & although it was not a surprise, Charlotte was SO excited to see him when she woke up. We told Kyle that everyday is like Christmas with our kids waking before the sun rises to start the day.  Saturday was no different & we heard a knock on our door precisely at 6am (I think that will always be painful, even on birthdays). Both girls snuggled up in our bed & we said "Happy Birthday" to our big four year old. She was very smiley. After a little bit of snuggling we headed to living room & were just about ready to open gifts when we heard babies crying. Gifts were postponed while I filled up the tanks of the little guys & then we were back to business. 

The boys had front row seats...  

Charlotte received the Hello Kitty nightgown she is wearing as a hand me down from her friends Anna & Clara.  Their Mommy later apologized to me & said that she too received it second hand, both girls LOVED it, wore it out, she tried to convince them to retire it but they insisted that Charlotte would love it.  Boy were they right! She would like to sleep in it every night : ) It definitely looks like it has been passed down through a good 6-8 girls but she would be devastated if it "disappeared" ; ) So, instead of breaking her heart, when Uncle Kyle asked if there was anything Charlotte might like for her birthday, I suggested a Tinkerbell nightgown. She opened it, dropped it on the ground & refused to say "Thank You." Long story short, we postponed gift opening once again while Charlotte & her Daddy had a little chit chat about having a thankful heart & resumed after 15 minutes when Charlotte was able to tell Kyle thank you for her gift.  Again, so funny to me how I plan out a lovely day of celebrating but our own sin gets in the way. Maybe "getting in the way" is not the right way to look at it.... a more accurate way to think about it might be God giving us the opportunity to recognize our shortcomings, repent & continue on.  Here are the girls with Charlotte's new nightgown...I think Bella wanted to wear it....

Charlotte got a new suitcase that matches her owl backpack from Gaga & Paw Paw. This will come in handy on Friday when we get Char all packed up to hop on a plane to Houston with Uncle Kyle to spend 6 days with my parents! She is really looking forward to her trip & is even more excited now that she has a stylish suitcase....on wheels!

Robby & I went on a date earlier in the week & did a little birthday shopping for Charlotte. We were all over the place on ideas considering the many things she likes.  A new favorite thing for Charlotte to do with her Daddy is watch tennis. She listens to every word he says explaining how the game is played & scored, remembers the names of the popular players & asks when she can watch again. We thought she might enjoy her own tennis racket so she could learn how to play with Daddy.  Here is her face when she realized what was inside the wrapping paper. 

Baby sister was excited too!

We also thought the addition of a soccer ball & goal would increase the fun factor of our time outside. We have already played ALOT! She has quite good aim & can dribble down the "field" really well.

After we opened gifts, Steve, Jenny & the kids joined us for breakfast. We had pink pancakes & sausage balls. We put a candle in the pancakes  & were ready to sing to Charlotte when the precious little four year old burst into tears saying she didn't want anyone to sing to her nor did she want to blow out a candle.  She does not really like being the center of attention so I removed the candle & served her breakfast. She was smiling again in no time & even participated in some silly faces with Karis & Eloise. 

Charlotte could hardly wait to put on her tennis clothes & squirrel hat as she calls it & head over to the neighborhood tennis courts for her first lesson. I stayed home with the boys while Kyle & Eloise joined the duo. I did send my camera along so I wouldn't have to miss out entirely & must give all credit to Kyle for the following photos. 

It's soooooo hard to share ; )

Robby was on the tennis team in high school & then has played for fun on & off since then. He was really impressed with how comfortable Charlotte was holding the raquet & swinging as he tossed the ball to her. She actually hit it a good 10 times. I guess some little girlie was paying attention to Wimbledon a couple weekends ago!

They came home all sweaty so I got the girls bathed & jammified (our word for putting pjs on).  Char & I hopped in my bed & took a nap together. I love snuggling with her! She was not the snuggliest of babies so I have thoroughly enjoyed any cuddle I get as she has grown older.  

One other gift Charlotte received from us was a new dress & little white sweater to wear on a special birthday date that afternoon.  It was tied to a Monsters University balloon to clue her in to the fact that we were going to the movies! This girl didn't even know a movie theater existed so she was in for a great surprise.  Heather who spent 4 out of 6 days with us last week helping with kids (God bless her) came back over to care for Eloise & the babes. 

Here she is with Uncle Kyle before we left.

We drove over to the AMC theater at Downtown Disney. Silly mommy who is usually way too good at over planning didn't take into consideration it was the Disney theater, a Saturday afternoon & a high chance of rain. We walked up 20 minutes before the movie started to find that it was sold out : ( Sweet Charlotte was as understanding as she could be as we walked back to the car & drove to another nearby theater so we wouldn't have to wait 3 hours to see it there.

We were early for the showing we purchased tickets for which happened to be a good thing because the line to get our popcorn was really long! Charlotte wanted to hold onto our tickets which made me a little nervous but then I reminded myself that she is four & much more responsible ; ) She wanted Uncle Kyle to hold her while we waited.

Her face was so cute when we walked in to see the huge screen. She was happy as a clam to have her mini popcorn, drink & fruit snacks plus the 8 M&Ms she got for 50 cents from the machine (what a rip off!) She sat between the two of us in the front row of the upper section so no one could sit in front of us & block our view. It has been a long time since I have been to a movie & I completely forgot how ridiculously long all the commercials/previews are. Charlotte kept leaning over & saying in a loud whisper voice "where is Monsters Inc?" After a good thirty minutes of all those silly previews I wanted to yell the same thing! She was still happy though : ) She ended up in my lap by the time the movie started & stayed put until the last 10 minutes when she requested to sit in Uncle Kyle's lap. 

The movie was fabulous! There were a couple parts that were a bit scary & made us a little jumpy. Over all though it was so witty & I will add it to our collection eventually. 

Our original plan was to eat at Chuy's for dinner since it is nearby Downtown Disney but since we ended up in a different area of town, we decided upon BJs brewery.  Charlotte got to eat her favorite food, macaroni & cheese as she sat by Uncle Kyle. She was getting sillier by the minute for two reasons, one, she was tired & two, she was next to Uncle Kyle. After she ate she wanted to come sit with me & do you know what she did? 

She fell right to sleep where she stayed until dessert arrived. It took me back to four years ago when this same little girl snuggled quietly on my chest & drifted off to sleep. Loved her then & love her now. 

It was a happy day celebrating with Charlotte Grace. We find it hard to believe that we have a four year old!  Happy Birthday little lady!

Owen & Anson at 4 months

Owen & Anson are 4 months old today.  This has been a wild few weeks for us with what seemed like an absurd amount of feedings between these growing boys but they have rewarded me with a full nights sleep on more than one occasion.  That's how they show their love for me right now ; ) There is a lot of growing & changing going on in our little nest right now with a new two year old, a four year old (by the end of the week) & these precious little guys! Thankfully, I have stopped growing & am shrinking back down to my regular size ; ) 

They are cute....oh my, I can't stop staring at them!  

Owen & Anson

OWEN

Stats: 

10 pounds 4 ounces - 10th % at corrected gestational age 

23 inches- 15% at corrected gestational age

Size 1 diapers during the day & Size 2 at night for the long stretch : ) 

3 month clothing

**Our pediatrician was very pleased with the boys growth pattern over the past two months & cheered me on to keep up with the breastfeeding. It was really encouraging to hear their weights & her encouragement to stick with it.**

Mighty O is becoming more smiley every day especially around his sisters. I am guessing it is because he is getting bigger & has less cause for fear of injury.  He does lots of cooing & squealing when we talk to him & sometimes when he sees me coming to pick him up. He LOVES being in the bathtub....

He really enjoys sitting in the Bumbo seat watching all the excitement in the house & still has a sweet spot for the swing. I have started putting the boys in the crib together propped up on their tummies on their Boppy pillows where they can look at each other. They smile huge & "talk" to each other. Owen seems to always be flexing his muscles which makes me laugh thinking that he is trying to show how tough he is so he will be left alone. We say his motto is "light as a feather, stiff as a board" when we pick him up. He seriously holds his body so straight it is hard to make him bend at the waist to sit in your lap.  

He has enjoyed his paci & will still take it if we are out & about trying to get him to fall asleep but he, along with his brother ditched it when he figured out how to get that thumb in his mouth! He is getting so much control over his arm & hand that he can now suck on it while in motion ; ) 

He is much happier during wake time as long as you keep him busy with talking to him or with toys he can swing at in the bouncer.  He is starting to get the hang of grasping a toy but will not hold onto it for more than a few seconds.  Cowboy Small usually enjoys a car ride but if he gets upset, it's all over. He screams & screams & by the time we get where we are going he has a full beard of spit bubbles. He looks like Santa Clause. Owen appreciates time in the Ergo or sling & is usually found leaning his head back to look up at me. When I acknowledge his sweet little look he smiles back at me & keeps right on staring. It melts my heart. We affectionately call him Schmoopsie-poo....more on how we got that name later.

When I see the girls talking to & playing with the boys I often wonder if each will have a closer relationship with one of the boys.  I know that each sibling relationship is different & I am excited to see how their personalities match up.  For the beginning weeks both girls paid much attention to Owen in fact, they kind of ignored Anson.  It's like they were concerned for the "yittle guy" as Charlotte referred to him. They didn't want anyone else to hold him or talk to him.  I'm sure Owen wished all the attention would have been on his brother ; )

Here is Charlotte & the "yittle guy" who seems delighted to be sitting with her & cheesing for the camera.

ANSON

Stats:

12 pounds 7 ounces- 35th% for corrected gestational age
24 inches- 73rd% for corrected gestational age
Size 2 diapers during the day & Size 3 at night (which look like adult diapers on him)
3 month clothing

Anson, my big guy. He always has that furrowed brow or raised eyebrow when paying close attention to someone or something. It makes him look so serious even though he is the easier one to coax a smile after. In fact, there is no coaxing at all, he just grins randomly all the time. Anson loves me more than anyone else in the house. We have been watching Monsters Inc lately with the girls & always laugh when the couple's pet names for each other are Schmoopsie-Poo & Googely Bear. It was easy to decide that Anson would be Googley Bear because he looks at me googley eyed all the time whether he is in my lap, nursing, riding next to me in the car. He makes me feel so special ; )  He too loves a bath, even if his sisters are helping. 

Anson is usually happy wherever you put him, Bumbo, Boppy, bouncer or bent over in half on the couch after leaving him propped up on the couch for a second when I run to grab something for the girls.  He is easy going which is much appreciated in this house.  He gets really focused when you hold a toy up in front of him. It's like he is trying to make the item move by brain power ; ) He will be focused enough to reach out & grab it after a couple tries but will not hold it for very long.  Unlike "light as a feather, stiff as a board" Owen, Anson is like a little lump of chubbiness that melts on you every time you pick him up.  He is squishy, just like Eloise was. 

Everyone has something to say about who our children look like & I enjoy hearing their thoughts. I have seen Anson looking more like Robby in the recent weeks, especially in the picture below.

Anson spends much of his time every day blowing bubbles for us with sweet little sounds.  He also squeals when really excited.  I love this stage of interaction! It is definitely more fun for the girls. Here are those bubbles.....

I mentioned that both girls preferred Owen in the first weeks of the boys being home.  They show no favoritism now unless directly related to who has the poopie diaper.  I overheard Charlotte telling Anson the other day "I used to only like your brother Owen but now I like you too." Ha! Glad they can't really comprehend that!  Anson & Eloise are good buddies for more rough & tumble kind of relationship. 

And when I just can't monitor everyone at the same time, I put Bella Blue in charge of the boys.....

Just kidding, but honestly, Eloise is way more likely to cause harm than this ol' girl!  The boys have started to pay attention to her more & will watch her walk past & sometimes even grin when they get kisses from her. It makes me wish Bennett was around so the boys could enjoy him too. He would be disappointed at the lack of hair bows & headbands around the house these days with baby boys ; )  

Eating & Sleeping will be lumped into one paragraph for times sake today. I really thought I might lose my mind about 100 times in the past three weeks. I clearly remember cluster feeding days with the girls where they would eat every two hours for a couple days to build up supply before a growth spurt but then go right back to normal taking at least a few weeks break before doing it again. Those days were challenging with one but with two, OH MY GOODNESS! I am not lying when I say that these guys ate every two hours at a maximum for at least 5 days straight, taking a 1 day break & then back to every two hours for the past three weeks. I have been super tempted to start supplementing with formula but I know I have plenty of milk & they are continuing to grow so we pressed on through the ridiculousness. The outcome is fabulous! We are back to a regular routine as of 5 days ago & are going on about a week & a half of consistent 10-12 hour stretches at night! My best guess is it took a lot of work on their part to build up a supply during the day so they could sleep that long at night. Anson is like an old grandpa & most nights would love to eat by 6 before going down for the night. We don't hear from him until around 5am, when I feed both of them & put them right back in bed until 7:30.  We need to work on getting this stretch from 8-7 or something of the sort but I am so tired by the end of the day, I sometimes just let them do whatever. With these long stretches at night it is allowing me to pump before I go to bed & keep the freezer stock of milk up. Napping has been relatively good for the buckaroos.  They are usually napping three times with around an hour and a half for two naps & two and a half for the other.  They are not consistent with which nap is the longer one but again, I'm tired, I have two busy girls that need lots of attention from mama so the "routine" is working for us. They have dropped their snooze between the last two feedings for the most part. There are a couple days a week that they still need it so I just put them in the swing so they don't get into a deep sleep. They are so adorable nursing together, they frequently hold hands but sometimes they pinch or scratch each other with their wild arm.  Tandem nursing is continuing to get more comfortable & easy as they get bigger.  The plan is to keep on keepin' on & pray that the growth spurts are a little more manageable next go round! 

So, four months in, we are still very much in survival mode which I have heard from other mommies of multiples lasts for at least the first six months. As exhausting as life is right now, there are many sweet moments to be treasured.  Watching these two "talk" is one of them.......

a laid back 4th of July

We really love the 4th of July & have spent years at the lake, at friends houses or with too many people somewhere watching fireworks.  This year (like the past few years) we decided to be as laid back as possible making plans to stay home & last minute, inviting a family over for a morning swim.  I was anticipating heading to work for the night around 6pm so home, relaxing & napping fit the bill. 

The pool was filled up & the girls got right down to business as soon as Annie, Hannah, Lawson & Lilah arrived.  

Okay, I don't mean to brag but it just doesn't get much cuter than this....

Anson & Owen who looks like he is falling asleep.

These adorable little guys watching from the minimal amount of shade we have in the backyard. They were quite content to watch the big kids splash about in the pool.

I'd say we got a pretty decent picture of our four despite Anson's silly face. I think he was squirming to get away from his wet sister. I know this because I did the very same thing when she came near me. 

As little as they are, Owen & Anson aren't the newest babies anymore in the bunch of children we have between all our friends. Miss Lilah Leigh joined us & couldn't have been prettier. She is nearly three weeks old & bringing her family (and ours) many smiles. She was less than impressed by the kids in the pool ; ) 

Annie & her little ladies....

Annie & her husband Eli moved into a house around the corner from Steve & Jenny in December last year. We met them within the first few weeks when they came to our Life Group one evening. We hit it off immediately & have grown to really enjoy our time spent with this wonderful family.  Their daughter Hannah is about a week younger than Charlotte while Lawson is a few months older than Eloise. They get along well which makes spending time together even more enjoyable! Annie invited me to be with her during her labor & delivery with Lilah & capture it all in photos. I returned the next morning to photograph Hannah & Lawson meeting their baby sister as well. We got some incredible photos that I know Annie & Eli will enjoy for years.  I am convinced that those two events are my FAVORITE to photograph. I keep trying to think of a way to have my own little business doing that....hmm.... Anyway, back to the  4th of July. We were bummed that Eli had to work that morning but were glad that Annie was up to venturing out with her crew. 

There was a whole lotta splashing & jumping & running going on with the four big kids. It's crazy how much fun a 5 foot diameter pool with 10 inches of water can provide!

Up until the 4th, our little Florida born babies had not taken their first swim.  We thought a pool full of crazy kids was just what they needed for the exciting moment of cold water inching up your body (and splashing all over your face) opposed to the nice calm, warm baths they are used to.

Anson was the first guinea pig...

I'm not sure if it was the cool water or the splashing that annoyed him more. He lasted about 2.5 seconds before screaming loud enough to let me know he was done.

Owen, who I would have predicted might hate this experience the most really surprised us.  He even let Charlotte hold him!

The big kids dried off & were complaining of hunger pains so we got some lunch out to satisfy their desires. They were all pretty grumpy until they got some food in their bellies. Annie & I were laughing as we watched them try to share their chairs.  Lawson & Eloise were both interested in the same one & could not hide their disgust...

Handsome Anson with Daddy & Mommy. He is a good little snuggler with all his squishiness...

We would have loved to get a picture with Mighty-O but he was busy showing off his guns for baby Lilah....

and then was completely overcome by sleepiness as he snuggled on Annie.....the baby whisperer. 

Owen is 3 months & one week older than Lilah but is not too much bigger than she is.  Lilah was 8lbs 8oz of sweetness when she was born & I am guessing that Owen is now in the 10 pound range. They actually kind of look alike in this picture. Maybe Annie & I could pass O, A & L off as triplets ; )

Once we gobbled down lunch & our guests left, we got half the kids down for naps & then I followed.  I have not talked much about going back to work but when I returned on June 1st, I went to night shift working 7pm-7am once a week. More on that later but it is working really well for our family. I took a three hour nap, woke up, fixed some dinner & headed to Winnie, the baby factory of the East.  It was the busiest night since I have been back to being a working woman so it was easy to stay awake. We welcomed many a firecracker baby & had some stubborn ones that waited till the wee hours of the morning to make their debut.  We did hear that some staff got to watch the Lake Eola fireworks from the unfinished 11th floor & could see the Disney fireworks in the distance. My pregnant mamas kept me so busy I don't think I even got a bathroom break till after midnight ; )

I got a text from Rob around 11 that said "the neighbors grand finale scared the tee tee out of Eloise" haha! Rob said he was in his room & the girls were both asleep when it got really loud.  He met them in the living room as they were running through the house screaming. They opened up the playroom window & had a front row seat to a lovely show with Eloise in the nude. Charlotte told me about the "firecracks" the next morning.

There is not a whole lot that is "laid back" about life right now but there are things that encourage more relaxing instead of stress & those are the things we love right now.  The 4th was as relaxing as it could be!