hugh @ 3 months...

i think he's winkin atcha in this next one..

my baby boy is 3 months old already. actually like 3 1/2 months by now...but better late than never!

-he's well acquainted with his hands & likes to bring them together. he also likes to eat them. he's just starting to use them to bring toys to his mouth but it is a LOT of work!

-his skinny little neck is finally getting strong enough to hold up that big melon for several minutes at a time

-he's discovered sitting up right, and he'd prefer to not recline anymore, thankyouverymuch

-he's not a snuggler...not even when he's sleepy. he wants to be held so he can watch his big sister & brother, or the fan, or the wall...anything but the dreaded chin on the shoulder hold!

-he went in on tuesday to catch up on some immunizations & weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs 4 oz!

-as you might guess, he likes to eat. 2x each night still! we'll be working on this once i'm certain he's recovered from said immunizations.

-size 2 huggies lil movers, although i'm upping that to size 3 for the next shipment. i think he is also gonna need some special night time diapers if he keeps up this rate of eating...

-size 6m+ clothes...

-he loves his big brother & sister...if he's fussin and g or luci starts to talk to him he usually settles right down

-his social awareness surprises me for his age. he's already more interested in looking & smiling at me or seeing what his siblings are up to than nursing (oh so adorable but annoying at the same time), and is fighting sleep to stay up & hang out.

-he's got stinky lil fists, but he's starting to leave his hands open more so hopefully that sinky lil phase is coming to an end!

-he goes to bed around 7p and is up for the day between 6:30 - 8am usually. he eats between 10p-midnight, then again usually between 3a-6a for another feeding.

-some days he has great consolidated day sleep (one am nap, 2 pm naps), other days he takes 4 naps of 45 minutes or so.

-he's still sleeping in his miracle blanket but can get himself totally out of it if i give him enough time to fuss.

-his sleep routine consists of a diaper change, white noise, a dark room, swaddling, and then usually i rub his belly while humming a song. he usually fusses while i hum with it escalating until i finally leave the room. then he fusses another 5 minutes and is off to sleep. oh, and if i'm home alone with all three kids insert a holler or two...come on guys, it's your brother's turn to sleep...please be kind to each other OR HEY! i said be KIND and be QUIET! DO YOU HEAR MY WORDS!!! just depends on the kind of day we are having. obviously i strive for the former! i pray for a lot of patience & calm...and He's blessed me with ample opportunity to practice said virtues!

-he's a total spitter. like spit up everywhere at least 2x each feeding. burp cloths aren't usually big enough to catch it all...and it is usually projectile. usually in my hair, sometimes in my ear, almost always down my shirt...pretty much everywhere. i go through multiple shirts a day, and rarely mange to wear just one pair of pjs at night. all of this despite the prevacid! fun times!

-all in he's just a joy! this is the most relaxed i've been with an infant, and it is just nice. even with the sleep deprivation!

ps. anyone do a count of the times i used the word usually? ahaha...i guess it is a reflection of my knowledge that with 3 small kiddos at home there aren't very many hard & fast rules!

i go pee on potty

G is starting to be curious about the potty...he definitely can tell us when he has 'poops' in this diaper, and he's made several statements about using the potty...
"My turn? I pee in potty?"
"I be like sissy. I use potty?"
"Can I see it? Can I see poops?"
"I see baby Hugh's poops?"
And I happen to be running low on diapers but I did have some Pull Ups on hand...so we decided to give it a go. We got out our little potty & he happily sat there. I suggested maybe he read a book while he tried to make pee. He readily agreed & Luci ran off to "get you a magazine, GusGus.". Gus was more than happy to sit & read my Real Simple. Clay & I were cracking up...

Oh, and you might not be surprised that despite a good effort we never did get any pee in the potty.

Hugh's Baptism

Way back on January 15th Hugh was baptized. We were lucky enough to have Hugh's Godmother Aunt Baylee fly in...while movers were coming to her apartment to move her cross country, mind you, as well as Grandma & Grandpa Pierse, and Uncle Todd the Great & his wife Aunt Krista the Great. Uncle Todd (my Mom's brother) & Aunt Krista have a new baby niece that lives in Austin & they were sweet enough to make the big drive & share their weekend time with us as well! It was really a gift to have them here for such a special weekend.

A friend of mine created the invitation for me...click here to head on over to her esty.com shop. She also did our Christmas card if you were lucky enough to get one of those! ;)

Hugh wore the same gown that his big sister & brother did.

Our fam. Pretty tough to get us all looking the same direction these days.
My oldest & newest loves.Hugh's Godmother Aunt Baylee (my baby sister ;), with Luci & me

Clay holding Hugh with Hugh's Godfather Nigel...also known as the best man in our wedding ;)

Grandma & Grandpa Pierse

Hugh's official Godparents - Aunt Baylee & Nigel
Uncle Todd the Great & Aunt Krista the Great with the kiddos.
The whole crew...the Atkins Family, The Halvorson Family, and the extended Pierse Family along with Deacon Tommy.
Uncle Todd the Great was fast friends with all three kiddos!

Thanks very much to Krista for taking lots of wonderful photos...she's an amazing outdoor photographer but isn't used accustomed to photographing crazy children...making me extra grateful that she agreed to take us on! Learn more about her here.

noteable quotes...

Gus...

"I do it. I big strong boy. I do it."

"I do push ups, I big strong boy."

"I carry it. I big strong boy."

"You big strong boy, Mama. (then laughs). You big strong MAMA, Mama!"

"It's my favorite! I got at Target!"

and the best of all...last week at church...while the Deacon was reading a letter from the Archbishop to a silent congregation..."I AM being quiet Dad. Dad, I'm BEING quiet!"

Lu...

"Gus, you be Dad. You work for the airplanes. I'll be Mom. I work for the kids."

"Mom, my ear isn't working. It's not right. There is a bell in it. Do you hear it? Do you hear it Mom? (No Lu, I can't hear it. Only you can hear it.) Here, come put your ear on my ear. (I obliged as I couldn't give her a satisfactory explanation as to why I couldn't hear it) Can you hear it now?"

"Just one more baby Mom. Please? A sister this time."

expressions

sad peas

silly peas!

surprised peas

happy peas

mad peas

Valentine's Day

According to my Lu, "Valentine's Day is a VERY special day." So, we tried to make sure the kiddos enjoyed a VERY special Valentine's Day. On Monday night Clay & I crafted little heart valentine's for them complete with brand new Hello Kitty chap stick attached...chap stick that Santa meant to leave in their stockings but forgot ;) After that it was off to school parties where they exchanged valentine's with their little classmates, decorated cookies & ate tasty snacks all washed down with juice boxes (a big treat in our family). Clay went to Luci's party and was the only dad there...good job Dad!! And after school they checked the mail & opened their Valentine's Day package from Grandma & Grandpa Pierse where much to their delight they found among other things, new sunglasses!

M'girl loves her a card so we made extra valentines for our friends in the 'hood. That night we set about delivering them, complete with some brownie cut out cookies in the shape of hearts - the kids had fun walking in the dark! All in it was a very fun day!

And a funny note...Gus calls his chap stick "goo". As in, "where my goo go?"

4 1/2!?!?!?

time is marchin on my friends. hugh is already 12 weeks old. i still need to post about his baptism and write a letter to g for his second birthday. other than that i think i'm mostly caught up. oh, and finish hugh's birth story.

so the lu was officially 4.5 years old on january 25th. since her birthday is in the summer we decided to bring treats into school on her half birthday. i cannot believe my girl is going to be FIVE this summer. seriously. five years ago seems like a lifetime ago (ha, it was! hers that is ;), but it also seems like i blinked and here we are five years later. how oh how can it be that she'll be heading to kindergarten this fall. seriously, i'm going to need to be sedated that first day she gets on the bus. and you think i'm kiddin, but i'm not.

she chose to bring chocolate chip cookies, and i was lucky enough to make them dairy free so i could have a few. or ten. again, you think i kid. i wish! yes, this photo is in the van on the way to school. cause i thought of it just as we were leaving...more than a few minutes late.

g has hit that fun 2 year old stage. he spends much of his day looking like this. "i MAD, mama, i MAD! i mad RIGHT.NOW." (insert foot stomp after RIGHT and again after NOW)

and here is sweet hugh. gus has started calling him huey all on his own. not kiddin this time. he happened upon that nickname all on his own. we aren't encouraging it. but it is sorta cute when gus says it.

i swear he smiles, i just have a hard time capturing it!

muddy puddles

just had to ruin a good thing

i'm not sure who murphy is, but i hate his/her law. and if i wasn't so tired, i'd probably link to wikipedia's entry on murphy's law. but i am too tired.

the night after publishing my last post, the same day in which i told two friends how well i was doing, the boys decided to send me back over the edge. all three kids have been up multiple times a night since my last post. hugh is back to eating 2 or even 3 times a night. i'm hoping it is just a grow spurt. he's getting out of his swaddle (at 2 months!??!?!) and i'm at a bit of a loss on how to keep him from waking himself.

last night was particularly not fun.

10:00p: i go to bed
11:20p: hugh is up to eat
11:50: i'm back in bed
12:22a: gus cries out. "i havin hard time fallin sleep, mama. i stand up. rock a minute?"
12:40a: i'm back in bed
3:30a: hugh is up to eat
3:55a: i'm back in bed
4:15a: gus cries out. "more cup mama, peease?" luci comes in g's room. asks if i can wash her dresses tonight so they'll be clean in the morning because she doesn't have any dresses to wear tomorrow. i tell her sure - even though my intentions of starting a load of laundry are slim to none.
4:25: i'm back in bed.
5:00a or so: thunderstorm wakes me up. i drift off again at some point.
5:30a: luci comes into our room, asks to sleep with us. the thunder & lightning are scaring her.
6:00a: gus cries out. "more cup, peease? what's dat noise, mama? medicine pease mama?"
6:10a: i'm decide to sleep in luci's bed. i pray for at least another hour of sleep.
7:30a: hugh is up for the morning, followed seconds later by luci.

tired yet? i am.

gus has ANOTHER virus or infection or some ailment that has lead to ANOTHER fever and MORE night wakings. somehow when i hear his little voice asking, "help me, mama" i'm WIDE awake within seconds, off to comfort.

ugh. hoping tonight is better.

hugh @ 2months

my giant babies have heavy heads...what can i say?

sweet boy was 2 months old on 1.17.12!

he's a big one...14lbs & 1oz (93%) and 24 inches tall (87%) already with a 16.3 inch head circumference (80%). he's right on track with his big brother & sister so far.

in the last few weeks he's started to go to bed between 7p and 8p...which means mama is well on her way back to sanity. all i need is that bit of alone time...to watch tv, read, blog, surf the net, shower, do laundry or kitchen or meal planning chores...you know, the fun stuff ;) actually though, my favorite thing about it is that now on the nights clay is home we actually get a bit of time together. i miss him during those first few all consuming post partum months.

anyway, enough about me.

so...let's see. hugh LOVES his big sissy & brother. and they love him too. hugh likes the sound of his name and will usually coo back to anyone who talks to him. he likes his fist, and i just caught him batting at a floating bird today. big boy ;) he also has a little fishy wind chime mobile thing that hangs down over his changing table in his room. he likes to hit that too. he loves the mobile in his crib, and is pretty content to hang out & watch things if he's got a clean diaper & a full belly. he's in size 2 huggies and size 6 months clothes.
he was the gassiest of all my babies until i stopped eating dairy products. like ANY and ALL dairy. like even hidden dairy way way down in the ingredients list & called by some unrecognizable name. i know because he is in pain the next day or so every time i feed him. stinks for me, but i'm tellin ya, he's like a whole different baby when i'm dairy free. so a dairy free i shall be (just heard the lu's voice in my head saying, 'hey! free & be! that rhymes!)

he usually goes down by 8p, up anywhere between 11:30p and 3a, usually just for one feeding. sometimes up 6aish for another feeding, but often not until 7a or later. i can't complain. he's on prevacid still and that combined with no dairy for mama seems to be suiting him. he sleeps best swaddled tightly. he often naps during the day in a loose swaddle in his swing downstairs. usually one or two am naps (two if the first one gets cut short), and one or two pm naps (again depending on the length of the first). naps usually develop after consolidated night time sleep (that we are just now getting to) so i'm not too worried about the consistency of them yet. that'll hit around 4 months.

he likes to eat (see 14lbs above), usually every 3 hours or so, but sometimes every 2 1/2, sometimes every 4. just depends on what we have going on as a family, if he's sleeping, how hungry he acts, etc. can you tell how much more relaxed i am this time? i remember with luci thinking that she would explode or something if i didn't feed her every 3 hours. i literally reached internal crisis mode at that 3 hour mark. not so much anymore.

poor third child...or lucky third child ;)

i recently found this woman's blog and this particular post articulated my truth more eloquently than i ever could have.

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/29/one-two-three-4/

if you have time, you should read it.

all in all he's a sweet one. low maintenance & chill...at least when i'm diary free. is it me, is it him, who knows. well, maybe i know ;)

gah-ha.be.big.man.

was what my sobbing 2 year old said today has we dropped him off at our gym's childcare. literally, he was crying, but repeating over & over 'gah-ha be big man" (gah-ha = gotta) through his sobs.

last time he went with just dad & i told him it'd be a fun 'big man day' (cuz hugh wasn't going...just the big boys) and he could go play & be big & strong like his dad. he was all for it that day. i'm not sure what or if anything clay elaborated on after my declaration of the gym = a big strong man, but apparently it stuck with him. cause his own self encouraging mantra of 'be big man' was repeated several times this morning through lots of tears. luckily he was a happy camper when we picked him up two hours later.

and just a fun photo of my big man on the front loader that he got from grammy & grampy for his birthday. he's a big fan...and he'll be an even bigger fan when he can pedal it!

thank you grandma

our grandmas have gone above & beyond in the last two months.

my mom was here for 5 weeks after hugh's birth, then clay's mom was here for 2 weeks, went home for around 2 weeks, and then came back for 10 days while clay was gone with the navy.

she was a tremendous help & good company, as always.

we can't thank you enough.