Bear Towel

The day before Leif was born I realize that he didn't have a towel yet. For some reason this truly bothered me. So off to Wal-Mart I went to pick out supplies for a towel. I had determined that I was going to make him a fox towel, I was pretty excited about it but when we arrived there were NO orange towels. SO back to the drawing board.

 At this point I decided to start looking for towels on clearance. Then I came across these brown ones. Perfect for a bear! I was totally in love with the texture. I came home and in 15 minutes, we had a towel! I love quick projects like that. 

I used one bath towel, one hand towel, and one off white face cloth. For the eyes I used felt and for the nose I used a piece of leather. I {love} the little nose. 

 At this point I was so in love! I asked Duke if he wanted me to make him one too since we call him Bear but he is pretty attached to his Dinosaur one. 

It's obviously too big for Leif right now, but he'll grow into it. 

What a cute little man!!!!

Mom Life

This stage of life is a bit tricky. I am feeling fan-freaking-tastic. I do not feel depressed at all which is so beyond amazing. I feel like we are getting into a groove, a routine that is semi working. Jakob is studying for his CFA exam which means he leaves at 7:00 in the morning and doesn't come home until 7:00-7:30 every evening. At first I assumed we wouldn't make it through this but you adapt and we have a pretty great schedule. 

The hard part about Jakob being so busy, means that I have to do a lot of things on my own, with three kids. Here is what my last two days have looked like. After the morning rush of getting Duke out the door and E off to school Leif and I zipped to get the oil changed in Missouri. While I wasn't looking forward to this and I ended up trying to drive through the exit door, I will actually look forward to all future oil changes. The dealership had a children's toy area that was pretty awesome and they served you food, from off of a menu. I got a smoothie... for free. They also washed the car. Score! After I finished with the oil, we went to Wal-Mart and Costco and then flew to the school to pick up E. While we were waiting for the bus I pumped some milk so I'd have milk for our next adventure, swapped and folded laundry and made snacks for the kids for the car. As soon as Duke got off the bus we jumped in the car and headed out to Topeka to get Leif's birth certificate so we could get his passport. Such a long back story, but yes... we had to drive to get it. Then I couldn't find parking, so I had to haul the three kids a block and a half to get to the office. And drive an hour and change back. It was a long day. 

The next morning I attempted to get paperwork in order for kindergarten kick-off and for Leif's passport. Jakob had set the necessary documents in a "safe place" and we couldn't find them. So after an hour and a half of searching I went to Costco to get Passport photos. Then I went to E's school to get papers printed off. Picked up E and headed home to wait for Duke. Got Duke and went to the post office to get more documents for Leif. Went to E's new school to drop off forms, she then needed to have an interview which we were supposed to do last week that I didn't know about. We then went to sign forms at the insurance office. Needless to say I am over paper work, flights, and passports. And while I may seem like I'm complaining I am actually SUPER grateful that I was able to do all of this with my kids. That they were able to cooperate and listen and help me and while they were not perfect, they were good and that's all I needed! 

Life is busy and it won't stop just because I want it to. We've got this!!!

Sunny Days

There is a pretty big difference between being 21 and having a baby and being 27 and having a baby. My body is a champ, healing has been a breeze, but that tummy fat just isn't going away. And while I realize it has only been three weeks I also realize that I need to be more active, SO we loaded up the kids and took Leif out for his very first walk. 

We didn't go far but it felt nice not to just be sitting on the couch!

The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect!

Manfred was my favorite though. He found a stick and carried it back like this the entire way! I am loving these sunny days! Crossing my fingers to have a few more weeks like this before it gets too hot!

First Bath

 After three long weeks we were finally able to give Leif and official bath, and boy did he need it. 

 He's a pretty big fan of water and getting his hair washed. He just melts as you rub his head and let the water run through his hair.

 Once the initial shock was over he just wiggled and kicked away. 

We sure do love this beautiful boy!!

Siblings

It took me three weeks but I finally got some sibling photos of the kids!! I am actually pretty pleased with how they turned out! Here are some of my favorites!

 Winner winner!!

I may have to frame this one as well! 

 And my favorite outtake. I was trying to get them to laugh and so I shouted "BOO" and it scared all three of them. It made me laugh though! I can't believe I get to be their Mama! I'm so blessed!

Let Them Be Little

We had just come home from the dentist and the kids were playing with their balloons. E started twirling in the living room and I couldn't think of anything more free. Twirling just brings be back to being 5 years old. So here are way too many pictures of E twirling, and Mama trying to capture the innocence. Can I please just freeze time?

I sure to love this girl!

Rainy Days

It has been raining here in KC for the last 10 days. I'm starting to feel as though I live in Seattle. And while most days it's just sprinkling today it was POURING, so naturally we headed outside to play in the puddles! 

E wasn't a huge fan this time around saying she was super cold. 

Duke could have stayed outside all evening! Nothing beats puddle jumping!

Mama-Son Date

Little Duke has been having a bit of a hard time. He is so good with Leif and very undertsnading when Mama needs to feed and take care of the baby, but I could tell that he was missing his Mama. He would cry for no reason and just kind of break down. All of the changes plus his Apraxia has made things a bit difficult, so Daddy kindly took the baby and big sister and Duke and I had our very first Mama-Son Date! 

We went to Chic-Fil-A and it was a simple date where we snuggled and talked. He played in the play ground and we had a whole hour and a half just to ourselves. I sure do love this little man and I am so proud of him. He works hard every day to be understood, to be heard, and he does a great job being paitent and using his words. He is an amazing little and big brother and is a great helper with the baby singing him songs and rocking his bed when he cries. I'm looking forward to our next date! You are so loved Duke Manfred!