M - 6 months ex-utero

Alternatively titled… Six months with three kids ages 3 and under

“To hurry through one’s leisure is the most unbusiness-like of actions.”  

~ G.K. Chesterton

It is super hard to believe that it has been months since M was pitocin-ed into this world. She is such a joy and a little trooper and so easy going (unless she's hungry). 

Her big sisters love her a lot. I was letting E hold M and R started freaking out because she did not think she was going to get a turn. 

R has especially taken to M. R wants to have M right on the floor and she will say "Hi baaaay-beeee" or "Its OooK, M. Its oooookay!" 

A few weeks ago R was calling M - Mon-keee which was super funny even though R has pretty much gotten the hang of M's name. 

M is rolling over a lot. Not much into trying to sit up but usually she kind of rolls to one side. She still likes a good rock in the swing but prefers the exer-saucer, mat or just sitting in her bouncy seat so she can take in the views of the big people. Today M took a nice long, fun, giggly swing on the swing set. I think I know where she'll be spending her summer afternoons. 

At work M enjoys naps in the cool, darkness of the bathroom (in her carseat or bouncy seat, mind you) with the fan on. Not much of a consistent afternoon napper (which I take the blame for). She's has not slept through the night yet but has gotten close a few times. 

I am THRILLED that in her first 6 months M has had a total of 6 oz of formula. Yes. SIX. I have a good stash of pumped milk in the freezer that I have not even touched but you know… it is liquid gold, right? I've been letting her try bananas and sweet potatoes occasionally and tonight she got cereal and sweet potatoes. Our highchair on wheels is getting the boot because it is DESTROYING the floors so a strap-in chair highchair is on its way. 

To me she still seems so little and I pull out an outfit for her to put on and she does not fit in it because it is a 0-3 month. I cannot understand how she got to be six months old! I am sure I'll be saying the same thing in another six months!

Wisdom of Chesterton - On Excessive Floss Use

"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony"     
~ G.K. Chesterton

One night I had to leave R to her own devices because M or E was having a crisis. Well when things were a little too quiet in the bathroom after her teeth had been brushed I discovered she took it upon herself to get her floss. She has now joined the ranks of the flossers. BUT clearly a 2 yr old does not need THIS much floss. Instead of freaking out and scolding her, I almost started laughing and told her to give me the floss and go read a story. 

One roll of floss in the can.

Wisdom of Chesterton - Grateful for Cousins

"When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude."     
~ G.K. Chesterton

As I mentioned we took a bit of a hiatus to the southern hemisphere of the Carolinas for a little R&R with Lee's side of the family. I'll admit packing up the car and kids and driving is super high on my priority list challenging. But we believe in doing work around this family so Papa and I took one for the team and committed to going {okay we committed a few months ago}. We could have gotten ourselves committed to a mental health institution after the terrific car ride down but that would not have been fun now would it? 

Anyways, enough complaining whining via cross through script. 

Family. Cousins. Games. Food. Playgrounds. Long walks. 

Just to name a few of the nondescript particulars (hey there's a fancy-dancy oxymoron) about this weekend that we are grateful for and we know we cannot and will not take for granted. 

E had a blast with her cousins per the usual. 

R played a lot by herself because she decided 5:15 was a fantastic time of day to get up… even though she was in a room WITHOUT WINDOWS!!!!!!!! She and Papa had some good papa-daugther bonding time. 

M was spoiled ROTTEN by all her aunties and Jibbe and cousins. 

Our girls are at the lower end of the age totem pole but when the Kibbe cousins unite you'd think that they were all from one family. #cousinlove

If I did a top five places where I'd like to buy a vacation house (when I win the lottery) would totally add Old Field to my list. It was quiet. Safe for the kids to ride bikes. Great pool. Fun times. 

Wisdom of Chesterton - Smallness of Baby Feet

"The essential rectitude of our view of children lies in the fact that we feel them and their ways to be supernatural while, for some mysterious reason, we do not feel ourselves or our own ways to be supernatural. The very smallness of children makes it possible to regard them as marvels; we seem to be dealing with a new race, only to be seen through a microscope. I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it. It is awful to think of the essential human energy moving so tiny a thing; it is like imagining that human nature could live in the wing of a butterfly or the leaf of a tree. When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that a deity might feel if he had created something that he could not understand."     
~ G.K. Chesterton

No M does not have really have 6 toes : )  

Isn't it so true how miraculous and marvelous babies are? I mean especially new babies. I think that one of the reasons why babies have the ability to grab anyone's attention. Even if it is just to seek a peek as we walk through the aisles of the grocery store.

I try and do the girls footprints every year around their birthdays. M was squeaked in on 12/31/13 but not for lack of trying to do it sooner. Who knew a 6x6 tile would be on backorder for WEEKS. I had to go out of my way to get to a different place and out of my way to pick it up.

I definitely like the cleaner solid background. Clearly my artistic skills are lacking 

Wisdom of Chesteron - Fairy Tales and Birthdays

"When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale"     
~ G.K. Chesterton

Today is R's 2nd birthday! Her fairy tale was made of "cheeeee balls" and juice boxes for her snack/party at school.

I made the Kibbe go-to-breakfast of special occasions… Waffles! I seriously contemplated taking some extras that I had cooked and frozen out of the freezer but I stepped up and brought my A-game to the day. (Note: putting warmish butter into coolish milk/egg mixture causes the melted butter to seize up a bit. Is this was is supposed to happen in the recipe?!?!? I mean I get the physics part and I understand why it happens but it just does not SEEM like the recipe would want it to happen)

Waffe anyone?

Well I managed to not make a HUGE mess with the waffle iron like I did here. 

Pretzels totally offset the "cheeeee balls" nutritional content, right? 

I think the bottle of cheese balls were about half the size of R but she toted those things into school so proudly this morning and drug them halfway up to E's class and back down to her room. Her little BFF at school (not even exaggerating) ran up to her and was trying to give her a present and R would NOT let the cheese balls out of her grasp. It was super super super cute. He was desperately trying to get her to take it and she was totally not understanding what was going on. Oh toddler love!!!

After dinner, we had cupcakes and R opened a few more presents today, on her "actual birthday" as E has reminded us 50000 times : )

I was leaving the driveway this morning thinking: 2 yrs ago today I left for work with one 21 month old and came home from the hospital a cold, windy, 36 hours later with another character in our family's fairy-tale.

Wisdom of Chesterton - Afresh

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective."     
~ G.K. Chesterton

So I'm going a bit abstract here on the pic but stay with me here people. First, R's tray a la chili night + a broccoli just for kicks. Good thing we give her a clean slate not just every day but EVERY meal because we are good parents like that.

Now onto me me me me ME!

So this New Year's I decided that I wanted to be less of a complainer. I pretty much should not complain about ANYTHING. We have family and friends and hear stories of how people have it rough and tough and sometimes down right I-don't-know-how-you-survive-on-a-daily-basis.

With that in mind I don't want to be a complainer. I have too many things to be grateful for. Now that does not mean I won't tell you the straight up if one day the girls happen to drive me particularly crazy. I'll try and be more factual about it rather than complainer-ish - now that's a fantastic word - about it.

Also on my micro-list of things I want to focus on this year are… 1. not letting the girls get me emotional charged when they are emotionally charged (aka if they are yelling or not doing something they are supposed to, I am focused on taking the calmer not frustrated with them approach) AND 2. eating better so I can get back down to my pre-pregs weight. Yeah it is probably on everyone's list.

Here is the kicker that relates back to the quote… I have been starting 'afresh' every day with a brand new… okay I am going to rock out this day and not be a complainer and not freak out at the girls and not eat 3 chocolate candies (okay maybe one). Regardless of what happened the day before, if I did a good job or not, today is a new day.

Wisdom of Chesterton - Loyalty

"We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty"     ~ G.K. Chesterton

So getting M to use a bottle was a bit challenging the other day. Getting breastfed babies to use a bottle can be a process of teaching. One time M fought it, one time she took it with no problem but Papa is going to be responsible for M for a few hours in a few weeks while I'm working so M needs to be on the bottle-taking train ASAP.

Sunday I went running and I came home to a frustrated M and Papa because someone was screaming at the bottle. I got M calmed down - she likes sitting in the bouncy seat while I take a shower? (yeah I don't get it either) - and then I sat on the couch with her and the bottle and we had a little heart-to-heart that went like this:

M - {whimpering at the bottle}
Me - It is okay; its the same stuff (I had pumped)
M - {screams a little}
Me - {smiling trying to make eye contact}
M - {gnaws on bottle, makes silly faces}
Me - M, it is okay. You aren't cheating on me

Fiercely loyal? M, I am flattered. Yeah we are in this whole motherhood boat together. So does that make me the captain and M (and E and R) the sailors?

After a few more minutes of fighting the bottle M took the bottle without too much of a fight. We'll be having bottle practice times every night for the next few weeks!

While I'm on my M soapbox, she is so cute and getting so so so big! I cannot even believe it. She can be super smiley and coos when you make eye contact with her. She loves it when I say, 'Did you make a stink'? She thinks it is super silly and that gets big grins out of her!