4, 2, and new

Baby Hadley!  She really is as sweet as she looks!

Hi! we love our new baby!

Gosh it's been a while since I've posted.  Well I've had a baby!  Table for 5!  Well despite my pre-baby mommy of 3 anxieties I can say that things have been going fabulously!  My little Hadley is the world's most precious baby.  I hesitate to brag on her too much for fear I might "jinx" our wonderful luck but....she has beeen sleeping through the night since 2 weeks, happy as a clam all day, and just a sweet happy little squishy bundle that is chunking up more and more every day.  I love to squeeze those little legs!  Big sister SK is fantastic though she may at some point require a restraining order.  If I say "leave the baby alone!  Don't poke her! Don't (insert anything that would wake happy baby or you shouldn't do) one time I say it a million times.  Will however has been an excellent student in the art of baby harrassing and he is keeping up his end of the bargain by trying to pick her up if I leave her unattende for a second.  So we call Haldey the "lap dog."  We are always holding her - always!  Well except when she is soundly sleeping in her carseat without big sis/bro bothering her.  She likes to be packed around (i'm sure she fears for her safety) and we are happy to oblidge.  Now for all of you who wanna tell me I'm gonna spoil her....oh well.  She'll be big and grown before I realize it so I'm gonna have to just enjoy my rotten little lap dog baby for a while.  I've learned a few things in these last 6 weeks....



they love her - poor Hadley! 



#1 - I make massive amounts of breastmilk and should probably consider hiring out at some sort of milk production company and get paid for my talent - ha.

#2- I need (or needed) a minivan.  I made it a few weeks with my SUV that I loved and gave in and traded it.  Now that everyone can't touch each other there is far less screaming and fighting everywhere we go. 

#3 - it is imperative when having more children than you have hands, to strategically place them in the car and buckle/unbuckle everyone in a specific order.  You get this wrong you've got the wrong person loose and they're running in the parking lot while you frantically try and grab them and not veer too far from the car so you can unbuckle the rest who are left behind.

#4 - it takes FOREVER to get ready and go anywhere (this time is not effected by whether or not my husband is "helping" because I'm conviced it actually takes longer with his "help" - though I appreciate the effort)  (ex. the other day we were going swimming at a friends who lives in our town....I started getting us ready to leave at 9:30 - we left at 11:30)

 - Matt said what the heck?  What takes so long?  dress em and put em in the car! 

here's how we find ourselves many mornings!

Well....maybe he is right??? (prob not) but I seriously have to get a more efficient routine.  I am super blessed that big bro/sis sleep anywhere 7-830 each morning (W even slept till 915 today).  Baby H wakes up at 5ish to eat and then when I get up (730-830) usually ready for a "top off."  By the time I then fix Sk's breakfast and get H settled I start pumping (refer to lesson #1 on milk - this takes a while when I've not pumped all night) - during this process W wakes up.  I have to get him breakfast and finish pumping while he is secure in the highchair (aka can't poke baby and make her cry while I am hooked to the "milk factory" as sk calls it).  He finishes eating and is covered (each and every day) head to toe in whatever he is eating "myself."  W clean up, highchair clean up, SK's breakfast cleanup, pack baby back anf forth where I am going for her safety, bag and freeze milk, attempt to eat breakfast (look at clock and realize how late it is), pack baby back to bathroom and put her in bouncy in floor, combat children who want to "watch you" and try and fix own hair and put on mediocre makeup, dress kids 1,2 and 3, make sure bags have dipaers, wipes, anything needed and head out the door (at this point someone usually poops and requires a diaper change and possible clothing change before leaving) - get out the door only to realize this routine has taken 2 hours and you never ate breakfast and are starving (as are the children who just ate) and everyone is screaming for a snack. 

haha seriously though...I love it.

#5- I will spend the rest of my life counting to 3.  Not 1,2,3 you're getting a spanking 3 (though I do that too) but where are my children 1,2,3 who am I missing?  It's a constant counting of where are they, what are they doing.  Sadly H is still immobile and I have no idea how crazy I'll be when she starts running in the other direction of the 2 seperate ones her brother/sister have chosen as well.

I love my baby and my new life.  It's a fun journey and I am getting the hang of it more and more every day.  I've made it in/out of grocery and Wal-Mart with everyone several times.  i've also learned that older women love the expression "you've sure got your hands full" - from some I'm sure this is code for "good grief use birth control" - oh well!  We are blessed and happy and thankful.  I still plan on posting my actual birth story (mainly for me to remember it as much as anything) but my mom has pictures she wanted me to include from the waiting room so I'll try and get to that soon.