Who needs a napkin when you have...hair.

(this picture has nothing to do with the post, but I thought it was cute.) Spence is watching cartoons at the dentist--looking a little nervous.

Spencer doesn't do the typical wipe on the levis or sleeve, or even wipe his hands on his socks. No, No, No---instead he likes to wipe his hands on his head. I have noticed that his hair always had crumbs in it and I couldn't figure it out for a while until I caught him in the act one day. Which is weird because he is always the one asking for a napkin. I guess the napkin is good for sticky hands, but not as effective for crumbs.

Hey, We're here too

Helping Daddy dig Mommy's garden

My 3 chickies

Oh how I love them

Helping daddy clean the van. Cam wasn't too excited to help clean and weed--so Chad had to explain that we work hard first, and then we play hard after .

Sitting on the front porch watching an excavator dig up a dead tree across the street.

Gotta have a snack too.

Slowing Down

A wonderful Daddy sitting on the kitchen floor, holding his baby girl and talking to his wife. All on a beautiful Saturday morning with tons to be done outside.

Each child teaches us something new, and we have figured out that Abby is teaching us to slow down. Which is good for me. I am a "get stuff done" kind of gal. Whether it's projects or cleaning I always, "have things to do." I have said those exact words to Chad and the boys countless times. Cam and Spence were babies that would lay on the floor forever, so I could do my thing. And now that they are older they are such good buddies and entertain each other so well, it has allowed me to "get stuff done". Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my boys, reading books, playing games, doing kid crafts etc. But I always HAD to get the house clean, or do this and finish that. Well, little Abby Kate is teaching me that I don't HAVE to have a perfectly clean house, and things can be done later and it's ok if it also takes longer.

Chad is also learning this lesson. Last Saturday morning he had a long list of things to do outside. It was a beautiful day and he was really in the mood to get going, but Abby fell asleep in his arms. The Chad of old would have held her for a few minutes, put her in the swing and started his day outside. Or the Kami of old would have told him to put her in the swing. Instead he nuzzled his baby girl for an hour and a half. It was wonderful. Chad and I talked and talked while I oiled the kitchen cabinets (Well, I can't slow down completely).

Time goes by too fast, even though I wish it that way some days. I am grateful for a baby girl teaching me to slow down and enjoy.

One Month

My friend from work (whose name also happens to be Abby) took pictures of her little girl every month on the same couch next to the same doll. I especially loved looking at it when Gracie turned 1 and so I wanted to do the same thing. I wish I would have thought to take a newborn picture as well---because our little girl has grown and changed so much this last month.

Love the "kissy-fish" face

Abby turned one month last Thursday. It's been one heck of a month that's for sure. She is a good eater and the best sleeper I've had (she still sleeps a ton during the day and at night she goes down between 9-10, wakes up at 2--we just have to plug the bink and put a blanket around her chin and she goes back to sleep until 4-4:30. I feed her and she goes back down in her swing until morning 6:30-7:30.) If we could get rid of the 2 am bink I would be in heaven, but I will take it like it is. I have done the 12,3,6 am feedings month after month with the boys so I am getting much more sleep than I am used to--it's lovely. She likes the binkey and oh she loves to be held. If she is awake she likes to be held out so she can see around or on my knee looking at me while I talk to her (that's my personal fav). She hates Baby Magic rubbed on her head--get used to it little girl, your 6 yr old brother still gets his head and face rubbed down with it. She goes cross-eyed all the time and does the "kissy-fish" lips as seen in the picture. The hour before bed she is really fussy and her eyes get red-rimmed and watery and her left eye closes half way.


We love our little Kater-bug. I am especially loving dressing her in the dresses mom sewed for me when I was a baby. It will be fun to compare pictures. I will have to post some of the side by side comparisons. Abby wore a dress on Sunday that I wore at 3 1/2 months and I wasn't able to do the button at the neck. I was a little one--or Abby's ginormous.

As a side note: Since I typed this a few nights ago--the little love has decided to show that she isn't such a great sleeper after all. In fact, last night she was up every hour from midnight until 7 am. oh that was fun.

Funny Boys

When I was taking Cameron to school on Friday I was singing to a song on the radio. Apparently Cameron doesn't like my voice--or he just wanted to hear the "real" singers. In his sweetest voice he asked, "mom, could you please just sing in your head--thank you."

Abby was awake so of course both boys were right in her face, giving kisses and hugs and talking to her. I said, "Oh Abby, you have the best big brothers in the world." Spencer followed up with, "And Abby the best Mommy in the world. And the best Daddy in the world." What a sweetheart.

About an hour later I was in the kitchen getting Spencer a drink and Abby spit up--big time. It splatted all over the floor. When I was reaching for a paper towel, I heard throw up noises and sure enough Spencer was dry-heaving. I said, "don't you dare puke." All he could say was, "GROSS." I've cleaned enough puke in my days and I would have been ticked to have to clean more because of baby spit-up.

Her Majesty...and random pictures

Oh, how our family is in love with this little girl. The boys bow to her and say "your wish is my command, your majesty" or they salute her and say, "yes captain". No truer words were spoken.

Can you just smell the Baby Magic????

This was taken when she was exactly 4 weeks old. Oh how fast they change. She is looking at her Daddy and of course Cameron isn't far away. The boys love it when she is awake. I tell them they wouldn't love her awake time the hour before bed or at 3:00 am.

The boys playing with their bounce-back balls they got for Easter.

We noticed the boys were ornery during the day and had dark circles under their eyes. Bedtime was the same as always, but Chad noticed light under their bedroom door one night a couple of hours past bedtime. He opened it to find both boys awake reading books. On the one hand--woohoo. On the other---grrrr go to bed.

I'm so glad these two are such good buddies. A new baby has changed their world, but they are handling it ok. (Cam better than Spencer--at least Spence doesn't take his frustrations out on Abby.)

If Abby is around the boys are not far away.

mmmm, comfy.

Thank goodness she loves the swing.

We flew kites the Saturday after we brought Abby home. It was nice to get out and let the sun hit my face.

The boys thought this was hilarious.

Nat Saves Spring Break!!

Everyone needs a Nat!!! What's a Nat you ask? Nat is Natalie and she was my LIFE-SAVER this week. The kiddos had Spring Break and it was wonderful. I was nervous about keeping the boys entertained ALL DAY long with a new baby. It ended up being an extremely enjoyable week, not having to time naps/feedings with carpools and pick-ups. We just let Abby do her thing and she was a good babe.

My goal was to do one fun thing with the boys everyday.
Monday--Nat came over and made egg-free Snickerdoodles (the only cookies they will eat) with the boys. Then we all went to Wendy's for lunch and ran some errands.

Tuesday--The boys got to invite a friend over and Nat came over and helped make individual pizzas and rice krispy treats. Then we turned the boys loose and we were able to snuggle the babe and talk.

Wednesday--Our only Nat-free day. We went to Kristi's new house. Since it was empty the kiddos had a blast just running around. The big girls wiped out the shelves and drawers in the kitchen and Andy rewarded our hard work with sub sandwiches. Abby's feeding schedule allowed a trip to Old Navy on the way home....which was depressing---Nothing feels/looks good when you are still carrying 20 lbs of baby weight. I just considered the trip as motivation.

Thursday--Chad stayed home from work to recover from the 1 hour of sleep he got the night before because of the lovely 5 hour stay I had in the ER--darn bleeding (everything is all good thanks to a little purple pill that stops bleeding.) Thurs was sunny and beautiful and Nat took the boys to a movie. Oh they were in heaven.

Friday--Best day ever!! Kris, Shell and their kiddos, Mom, Nat, and 2 neighbor girls came over for the day. We had KFC, Pizza, Pepsis, leftover Easter candy...yah Kami is really going to lose baby weight with that diet. The kids have never played so well together--we are inviting the neighbor girls to every cousin get together we do. The kids were so good the grown-ups were able to actually talk uninterrupted FOR HOURS. And believe me, that never happens. We talked and passed the baby around and little Caleb just loved being with us and was a little angel. The day FLEW by and even when the sisters left Cam and Spence played outside for another couple of hours with the neighbor girls. I loved that the weather was beautiful and the kids can be outside and NO DANG VIDEO GAMES.
Cameron came inside once and had a huge grin on his face---I said, "Cam, are you just having a ball out there?" He answered, "oh yah, I'm having a BIG ball." So funny.

It was a great week, but I think the boys are ready to get back to the routine of school--not sure if I am. As long as the weather stays nice it will be all good.