Haunted by Sneaky Fingers

So remember when the indoor blizzard of beans happened, oh, about 6 months ago? It happened...again. This time it wasn't the dog. No, it was the 2-year-old who found some scissors and CUT open the beanbag that I lovingly made him for Christmas, with super-cute, heavy duty fabric, zipper, and high quality beans.

 I have never before been this MAD as a parent. Once, I can understand....they didn't know better really, and it was the dog who chewed the hole. But TWICE?! I was ticked off. I had just barely gotten the majority of the beans cleaned up from last time. Undoubtedly, we'd still be finding wayward beans 'til the cows came home, but all the visible ones at least, were gone.

Chase came home and took the kids to buy a shop-vac, since my vacuum was not going to last another round of those clogging beans. But they didn't get to vacuum, oh no, that would be too much fun. They had to stand in the corner, silent, not moving and watch Daddy vacuum.


Those beanbags are now history, at least Gavin's is. Lauren's is put away until certain children grow out of the 2-3-year-old destructive mindset.

Speaking of destructive. Lauren loves to color, and write notes. Subsequently, there are hidden pens, pencils, crayons and markers all over. Not where I can see them, no, but in the hidden crevices that only sneaky little fingers can fit into. Said sneaky little fingers found a marker. His cohort encouraged him to color all over the walls and doors downstairs. Thankfully it was washable and they spent the afternoon washing it off. What I didn't see until later was that Sneaky Fingers made a canvas out of the couch cushion and put it back so his work couldn't be seen. Upon finding the drawing I investigated as to who's work it was. Sneaky fingers innocently and sweetly said, "But for YOU Mommy...for YOUUU!" Nice move, Sneaky Fingers.

Sneaky Fingers turns three in a month. I've been told three is worse than two. Heaven help us all. And nobody give him markers, scissors or a beanbag for his birthday...please.

2 Months In

Two months have never gone by so fast! Everyone told me that the third baby is the hardest... and I kind of believed them...I had no idea! I don't think I've ever been this exhausted before.

 

Now I feel like we have somewhat of a routine figured out. Just watch, it will probably change tomorrow!

Logan is a fun baby, he laughs and grins all the time. He's still figuring out how to sleep at night. But he's making improvements little by little. I can't get him to take a binky which is a bummer, but oh well. He loves to be rocked and bounced while falling asleep instead and he fights going to sleep. I thought he would be a really deep sleeper having such loud older siblings, so far no such luck. The poor kid jerks awake scared to death when Gavin lets out his blood-curdling scream, which is quite often unfortunately! We're working on the volume level in the house these days. :)

He's very alert, his favorite spot is on my left shoulder where he can hold his head up and look around at everything, all the time. He likes his bath but hates being naked and getting dressed! He hates being left alone and he knows the second he can't see you anymore.

He had his two-month check-up on Friday and he did great! He's a small little squirt. Only 6th percentile for weight and 2nd for height at 10.4 pounds and 18.5 inches long. His head is in the 62nd though! I was surprised he was still so little! The doctor says he's growing right on track though so nothing to worry about. He cried like his little heart was broken while getting his shots, but calmed right down when I picked him up. Poor guy has had a rough few days though, he's had a fever, doesn't want to eat and wants to be held all the time. I'll take the snuggles but I feel bad for him!

His hair is growing too! From the looks of it, it will be either dark blond or light brown. It's interesting to see how different all the kids look. They all have blue eyes but they're all different shades.

Oh how we love you Logan and are so glad you're part of our family!

Gavin Grows Up

Gavin has all of a sudden decided to start talking! It's so fun to listen to him. We still have a hard time understanding him, but it's getting better. It's hard to get him to be quiet now! Gavin has been quite the handful lately. (Seems to be a common theme around here from the change of routine.)

He is so mischievous with his teasing personality. He loves to play in the water and "washes" things in the bathroom sink all the time. Awhile ago he decided my phone needed to be washed. It was so hard to be mad because he was so excited and proud that he was helping. Thank goodness my phone revived itself the next day and works just fine!

While feeding Logan, after the snowstorm the other day, Gavin escaped outside with his new bucket. With no pants, short sleeves and sandals. Thanks to the fence, our neighbors didn't see my half-naked son playing in the snow and call child services on me. ;) Oh boy...

I told Chase the other day he needs some more boy time with Gavin since he's quite intrigued with my makeup. This was his first attempt at mascara.

He has a robot shirt that he loves and was so sad when it was dirty and in the wash. He found it in his drawer a few days ago after getting the laundry done. He was so excited to find it and hugged it, saying, "ank ew Mommy! Keen! ank ew Mommy!" It made my day.

I need to find a good way to cut his hair. He used to love it and now hates it with a passion. So I only got the back cut the other day. Still trying to figure out how to get the top and front done now.

Oh Gavin, you make me want to pull my hair out and hug you at the same time.

Loads and Loads of Cement

Ever since moving in we've wanted to expand our back patio so we could fit a picnic table and, eventually, a pergola with benches and a swing. That area has been a weed/junk pile for the last two years and I was sick of it! So after getting a fence we figured we might as well pour the patio so we could enjoy our yard more.

That weed patch didn't seem nearly as big as it turned out to be. It was a much more involved job than we planned on, but thanks to Chase's Dad and help from mine, it's done and I love it! Never thought I would think of cement so fondly. :)

Lauren and Gavin had a ball playing in the sand, which subsequently, meant it was ALL over the house. I think I finally swept up the last of it! We still have a half-yard of sand leftover sitting in the driveway. Any takers willing to haul it away?

And Then She Was Five!

Lauren's birthday snuck up on us this year (not like we've been busy or anything. :P) We decided to get her a new bike since her DI special wasn't working out so well anymore. A little KSL searching and we found a good one for a good deal. I was nervous that she wouldn't like it because it's blue, but I didn't realize there are seashells on it, and since she's been into mermaids lately, she loves it!

The day before her birthday she told me she wanted a mermaid Barbie, pink, rainbow cake. Sheesh. With some Facebook advice and ideas I think I pulled it off.

Grandma Christensen took her to Beauty and the Beast a few weeks ago as her present, which she loved! Grandma Adair also took her out on her first "Birthday Date", which she loved as well!

I know five years really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things... but to me it seems like a lot!
Sometimes I forget that she's only five, still little, and I expect that she should know more than she does. But on the other hand... she surprises me at how much she catches and notices.

Lately we've been telling "Jesus Stories" at bedtime. She likes to tell the baby Jesus story about when He was born then I tell her another Jesus story from the scriptures. One night we had the discussion about how Jesus died and was resurrected then went to live with Heavenly Father. I told her that would happen to us too...I guess that was a frightening concept realizing that she was going to die (oops). I tried to convince her it would be a long time before that would happen and it was a good thing to go live in Heaven. I think she's okay with the idea now... I hope!

She's been doing great in preschool. She makes friends easily and everyone seems to like her. We went to register her for kindergarten (!) and they gave her the assessment to see how much she knows. The little stinker was either distracted or just didn't want to cooperate because the teacher said we'd need to work pretty hard on letters and counting this summer. Coming home afterwards she sang the whole alphabet, counted to 20 and wrote everyone's names in the family. Go figure!

She's testing my patience again. She can't seem to decide if she really wants to be a "big girl" or be treated like a baby. I can't figure out if she's just tired, figuring out how far to push the limits or just trying to get more attention. I think it's probably a mix of all three, I think. We've had several complete melt-downs the last few weeks that put me on edge. Please tell me this too shall pass, right?

We decided she will be great at Debate in high school. She is great at negotiating, arguing and trying to get out of things. She's too smart for her own good!

She has been so attentive with baby Logan. Every time he cries she is right there by him, trying to make him happy. She is his favorite and saves his biggest grins just for her. She is an awesome big sister, even though she can torment Gavin to no end! Lauren and Gavin are best buds that either play wonderfully together or they tease each other to tears.

We sure do love you Lauren! You've kept us on our toes from the day you were born and will continue to do so I expect!

Newborn Pictures

Made it to March!

Welcome to the world Logan! March finally came and so did you! Logan Chase was born Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:43pm, weighing in at a teeny 6lbs 6oz and 18.5 inches long.

Thankfully labor this time was "easy" as far as labor goes. Only 5.5 hours this time which is phenomenal compared to the other two! He was ready to come, he just didn't know it!

So far there hasn't been any sibling jealousy, they both love him! Lauren and Gavin have both been bouncing off the walls for the last two weeks from the excitement and change of routine. I'm hoping they calm down soon. :)

Logan is a sweet baby. He has some lungs on him though! If his tummy is bugging him he has no problem making it known. He also has his days and nights backwards. But the funnest thing is that he full-out laughs, giggles and grins in his sleep.

Boy are we all so glad you're here!

 

Logan with Kaden; two of the four new grandbabies within a month!