Nora is 2 months

Nora is 2 months old!

 Nora had her 2 month well visit this Wednesday.  She is now 11 lb 12.5 oz and 22.25 inches. She is very responsive to facial expressions and has become very social after she has eaten.  She likes to coo and smile and is really just a very easy-going baby. It's fun to see that she stops crying as I approach her or from the sound of my voice before I pick her up.

Kids Playing

       Riley has really been enjoying going to preschool and now knows the names of all of the children in her classroom.  She got to go on a field trip to Hy-Vee to meet a chef and learn about what they do. In the classroom they made pizzas and made chef hats.

     After dropping her off in the morning it's nice to have some more one-on-one time with August. It's fun to see him growing and what his interests are.  Sometimes it's hard to tell what is him because he picks up a lot from Riley.

Riley is getting really elaborate in storytelling and very creative at building. I have seen her come up with some very interesting designs. They are generally pretty good at playing together but they also know each other well and how to push each other's buttons

Kids are hard. It's a fine line of discipline and hurting them emotionally.  I have to keep myself in check pretty often when multiple kids are crying so I have to leave myself little reminder post-its around on how to be always try to be a better parent and a good and loving example, because honestly I get tired and need those reminders. They are people who want to be heard and my being tired is not an excuse. I need to teach them how to problem solve and how to react to each other with kindness and patience. It may be hard to teach with more yelling.

Involving them in anything I am doing is the best. Everyone is happy to be together and to be useful and it is also teaching them a skill. The only drawback is, I don't always get a lot done with all that help.

 I love them all so much! They are often really silly, really stubborn and just really sweet kids with good hearts.

Looking Forward to Christmas

Today it is snowing and Riley is really excited for Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2016

 Nora is one month

 At 3 weeks Nora was awake for longer stretches of time.  She was also really looking around at anything she could see. Most nights she sleeps pretty well as long as she doesn't wiggle out of her swaddle which she has been known to do.

Nora is getting really strong and doesn't seem to mind tummy time. She is always entertained by her siblings who surround her with love most of the time.

At 6 weeks she started smiling a lot and getting much more social during her awake time.  She is really analyzing faces and starting to make little noises like she is trying to talk to me.  When she is lonely she cries, but sometimes instead of crying she makes a noise like she is calling out and asking where everybody is, which is new.

August wanted his picture taken too!

Thanksgiving in Ottumwa

All of the kids got to decorate gingerbread houses. I helped August but he enjoyed trying to eat the candy, of course.

         It was a fun gathering, lots of great food and everyone got to meet Nora.  The kids all got along and had so much fun running around and playing.  It was especially fun to see August and Liam playing so well despite the age difference,  it was sweet.  August was just too little last year.
          Olivia wanted to hold Nora the entire time. I double checked the car seat before we left to make sure she was still in it.  Riley and Liv seem to have a special language as they ran around both giggling and being silly.  We will just say that everyone was very sleepy on the way back to Ames.

Everybody piled on Daddy the next morning!