From the Mouths of Babes

Some mornings I just can not move fast enough. This morning I was two steps behind everything my kids needed wanted me to do. And man were they needy this morning.

"Mommy I need more milk."

"Mom I want Craisins in my granola."

"But Mom I wanted the BLUE bowl!"

"Dakota's scratching at the front door Mom."

"Can I have more honey on this yogurt?"

"Lijah's saying poopy Mommy."

"Ben wants his cup Mom."

"MOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYY my hands are sticky."

The effort it was taking me to hold it together and not SCREAM at the kids to just sit in silence for one bloody minute must have been pretty obvious because as I was pouring the second round of milk I heard the Squirt quietly plead on my behalf, "God give Mommy patience."

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, but God answered that little prayer and we all survived breakfast.

The Third Child

I post much less frequently nowadays than I used to. Maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't. I've developed a theory that places blame squarely on the shoulders of the third child.

The third child throws all kinds of kinks into my life and daily routine that the presence of a second child did not. I'm not saying that my third child, Blue Eyes, is the issue. It's just the third warm body in general. Some days it's the Blue man, somedays it's Sweet B and many days it's Squirt.

But this is not a mommy rant. This is a post about the ways that my life is in fact richer and more wonderful because of that third child. Because for whatever reason, most people in our nation stop at two. I guess no one wants an only child and 2 is the bare minimum required to prevent that situation? One child is A LOT of work. Two children is exponentially more. But three? After 13 months of experience, (insert snorts of laughter) in my humble opinion, three children is only a bit more work than two.

On any given day my children have two playmates at their ready. In our home, the oldest two are the always the first ones up and they keep one another company while I have a chance to caffeinate. They entertain one another in the car almost as often as they annoy each other. Generally speaking, by the time you are able to incubate and birth a third human being, your first child is at least two and a half - possibly three years old. This is a wonderful age for being able to entertain a baby while mommy heats up a bottle, packs a diaper bag or reads a book on the couch. Four is an even better age. Don't judge, but the Squirt supervises Blue Eyes a lot while I run to the other end of the house to do whatever it is I need to get done. It's really nice to have a little tattle-tale on hand sometimes.

Back when I had two children I was under the impression that I could control all children at all times. I had two hands after all. And when B Daddy was at home we went man-to-man and generally kept the insanity-factor below ridiculous without much strain. Once the third child entered the picture, I had to let go of the tight grip (both literally and figuratively) I had on my kids. It was official, I was outmanned, out-armed and out-done hourly by the three rascals. It was actually HUGELY freeing for me. I've admitted defeat in some areas. We cannot do anything quickly. I have a gym class that starts at 10, the gym is 15 minutes away and we try to leave around 9. Which means we start moving towards the car at 8:30.

I do ONE possibly TWO "things" (activities a non-toddler-parent adult would consider a productive use of time) a day because it's exhausting to do any more with three littles. We spend a lot of time at home and I've learned to love it here.

I also can't watch all of them all the time. When we're out playing in the neighborhood and I find Blue Eyes eating chalk after losing track of him for a minute or two - I'm completely unfazed and grateful it's not poop. When I leave our dog outside after we come in for dinner and a neighbor returns her to me, we share a chuckle when I exclaim, "you can't expect me to keep track of all my kids AND the dog."

I'm convinced however, that while the work is not exponentially increased by the third child, the JOY is. Had we stopped at two children, I think I would be under the impression that our boy was the way he is and our girl was the way she is because those were the only two possibilities resulting from the combination of mine and B Daddy's DNA. Our first two are in many ways complete opposites. I find it SO beautiful and amazing, so "wow God - You truly are Creator God who is not limited" that we have this third child who shares a sex with our first child and the laughter of our second and yet is uniquely his own creation. That FLOORS me.

We laugh harder and more often as a family now than we did when we were four. My heart is filled to bursting almost every day at the love I witness between siblings. Our floors are crumbier, our dinners are WAY crazier and our understanding of our own limitations and need for God's grace is much deeper thanks to the third child.

Simple Pleasures

It's been a good day. We've stayed at the house all day long - which 2 years ago would have made me feel like a complete failure at life as well as driven me insane - but today it has been awesome.

A few things of note:

- The kids slept in. 7:20 for Sweet B, 7:45 for Squirt, 9:00 for Blue Eyes. It was glorious.

- I had a neighbor over for coffee and a play date and actually enjoyed multiple conversations that were not interrupted by screaming or whining.

- I gathered two eggs from the hens this morning. B Daddy and I started an egg count since the hens really started laying in ernest this week. We're up to 11 eggs since Sunday.

- I've walked past a wooden hot dog lying on the floor of the dining room for at least 5 days now without stopping to pick it up.

- Squirt and I read the book that sparked my decade-long love affair with archaeology this morning. It was one of those moments where you realize your life is SO FREAKING blessed you want to hit pause and marinate for a while.

- I found a sippy cup at the bottom of the kids' laundry hamper a few minutes ago. I prayed it was full of water. It was not.

- The kids were playing so nicely with one another after lunch I couldn't bear to break up the fun at nap time. They are only just now asleep (3pm) and that means they surely will not be ready for bed at 7:30. It was worth it.

- Tonight is Friday which means our new tradition of picking up a $5 pizza and doing something fun with the kids. It looks like rain, so we'll probably roll the coffee table off the rug and have a picnic and watch a movie in the living room. You know I love to cook, but I also love not cooking.

Happy Friday! I hope you enjoyed some simple pleasures of your own today.

Baby Talk

It's the last day of April and I've only managed to post 3 times this month...what in the world? Life is full and I guess getting on the computer is the last thing I want to do at night or nap time (unless I'm getting on to troll Pinterest, cuz that, that I have plenty of time for.)

Blue Eyes turned 1 at the start of the month. His first year flew by so quickly! He is an (almost) constant delight. A happy mister who loves to climb, eat, snuggle with Mom and wrestle with Dad. I completely ignored his big day on the blog. A blunder I will now rectify. We did in fact host a fete for the man here at the house with our family.

I've managed to maintain the tradition of making a video for each kid with highlights from their first year of life. Here it is - warning: watch only if you're really into our kids. :)

Around the Homestead

The arrival of spring always beckons me outdoors with an eye towards improving our little homestead. This year has been no different and over the past few weeks we've spent our Saturdays sowing, gathering, digging and dreaming in this slice of suburbia.

We planted a veggie garden out front, which has become something of an annual tradition. B Daddy built a lovely raised bed for us and between it and some odd and end containers we are the proud caretakers of 5 tomato plants (four started from seed - fingers crossed they thrive), 4 string bean plants (also from seed), 3 pepper plants, 3 cucumber plants, some lettuce and carrot seedlings as well as rosemary, basil, mint and cilantro. The kids enjoy watering everything and harvesting mint leaves daily. We shall see if I have enough tomatoes to keep us away from grocery store tomatoes this summer...that's the goal!

This past weekend we embarked on another DIY endeavor in the backyard - a treehouse. It's quite obvious that B Daddy and I are more excited about the prospect at this point in time than the kids are. I have been Pinning and researching treehouse structures like mad. B Daddy texts me in the middle of the day with new thoughts on zip-line extensions and ladder options. In my head it's a glorious hideaway and adventure base for the kids - I hope it's well-used and well-loved in real life.

Spring also means the girls are laying again! Well - Hester is laying. I hope the new chicks follow her example soon. Check out the size difference between her egg and a "large" grocery store egg - incredible.

And thanks to those of you who took the time to comment or email me about the college post from last week. I was so encouraged by your thoughts and perspectives. The treehouse project is how we are using our new found "fun" money this month! ;)