Songs

Each one of my girls has gotten a song.

Morgan: "M-O-R-G-A-N" (tune of the old Mickey Mouse theme song, not the new toddler one.)

M-O-R-G-A-N
Mooooo-OR-gan
Morgan Mangrich, (she's real cute)
Morgan Mangrich (drives me crazy)
forever you hold my heart real tight...tight...tight...tight
M-O-R-G-A-N
Mooooo-OR-gan
M-O-R- see you real soon
G-A-N- time to go to bed
M-O-R-G-A-N!

This song had many variations as I bounced Morgan around the house being silly before naps and bed time.  Morgan didn't really have any trouble going to sleep, she simply enjoyed being sung to in a fun silly way.  It is really a hard song to write out, but be glad I didn't video tape me singing it.

Maya: "Go to Sleep" (tune of go to sleep)
Go to sleep

Go to sleep 

Go to sleep little Maya.

Mommy loves you

Daddy cares for you

Now you need to go to sleep. 

Go to sleep 

Go to sleep 

Go to sleep little one. 

Go to sleep, go to sleep 

Mommy needs to sleep some too! 

I use to sing this song endlessly as I would walk/pace around trying to get Maya to sleep.  She has never been a good sleeper. Even now she gets up in the middle of the night almost every night and comes in our room.  She has stopped waking me and now just sleeps on the floor next to my bed.  I have to be careful not to step on her when I get up to feed her baby sister. One thing is for sure even though she still is NOT a good sleeper, "mommy loves her an daddy cares for her!"      (now please go to SLEEP!)

Mercy:"Mercy in the Morning" (tune of an old hymn or chorus I think the name is "Jesus"?)

Mercy, Mercy
Mercy in the morning
Mercy in the noontime.
Mercy, Mercy
Mercy when the sun goes down.

Mercy, Mercy
Happy in the morning
Crabby in the evening.
Maya should be napping
And Morgan just got home from school.

This is not really a bed time song.  And I am really not sure why This is the song for Mercy other than the fact that we need true MERCY these days!  I sing it during the day at very random times.  Maybe because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed needing to express my need for true mercy, or maybe it's because I feel like my day is consumed with caring for my daughter mercy (and the other two as well) feeling like it is all day with no break (morning, noon and night).  But whatever the reason it has become her song.   

Funny Maya

You never know just what a 2 almost 3yr old is going to say and Maya has been having a series of comical problems lately.  So let me share a couple:

Story one:

Morning conversation with Maya:

Maya, "mommy I can't find my tongue." 

Me, "oh no where did you last see it?"

Maya, "in the bathroom." 

She runs in there and yells, "oh no it went down the potty."

Me, "are you sure? Look in here." Pointing to the bathroom mirror, "and say AH."

Maya does that. Then jumps up and down. "I found it, I found it. My tongue isn't lost anymore."  

Story two:

Maya running down stairs right after being put to bed, "there's a monster in mercy's crib!" 

Me, "get back into bed Maya its just your sister." 

Maya,"but the monster is loud and crying and keeping me awake." 

Me, "Maya, is your sister crying?"

Maya, "no, it's a monster!" 

I go upstairs with Maya to find Mercy crying.  I pick Mercy up and take her out of the room. Maya says, "phew, thank you for taking the monster out of my room.  I will sleep now." 

Some day she will like her sister, I hope.  

Mercy Lynn: half a year old.

Mercy is now 6 months old.  

She loves when her sisters entertain her and talk silly to her. 

She enjoys watching them be all crazy running around the house. I'm pretty sure she is thinking about how she wants to join in most of the time.

She has her first tooth. Working on the second one I'm pretty sure.  

She is learning how to sit up and get up on her hands and knees (yikes!) 

She does not like baby food at all. Spits it all out, so really I have given up on that for now.

She loves to "play" with Jazz (our large dog) who regularly lays down next to her (almost think Jazz likes her tail and ears pulled) 

She sleeps well at night waking only once for a midnight (or 4am) snack. 

She loves to be held and is generally a very happy easy going little baby.  

"What are you looking at?"

Best Day off!

The girls are in bed and I'm sitting here reflecting on the day watching TV and well... writing again.

No School Today! I don't think I was ever this excited for no school while I was actually in school than I am for Morgan's No school days.

Today was a cool crisp sunny day open to so many possibilities...So...

Today We did...NOTHING!

AM: got out of bed around 9am made a yummy hot breakfast.
Then I sat in our family room in the basement with the girls all morning listening to them play. They had picnics, went to a castle, went on a "Mandy adventure" and many other creative play scenarios.
As the Morning went on the family room slowly turned into a mosh pit of toys.  I had to much fun listening to their laughter and stories I didn't even notice (well till later...)
Lunch came around and then naps for the little ones.  Morgan and I then watched Tinkerbell and eat peanut butter on a spoon. Followed by that craft you put little beads on a plastic thing and iron them together (name??not sure).  When Maya woke up we went back to the basement to play some more and watch another Tinkerbell so Maya didn't miss out.

When 5pm came around I realized I should make dinner so I went up stairs and left Morgan in charge down stairs.  Yeah... Day started to go down hill but it didn't mess with my mood.  Kids will always be kids and messes eventually need to be cleaned up.  When the girls started fighting it was time to enforce clean up. Telling Morgan it was time to clean was hilarious.  All I hear is "I work hard all week at school, why are you making me work hard at home?"  oh... playing all day watching TV and making crafts.... yeah working hard at home.  Maya just said, "ok", then turned around and dumped another bin.  Kind of reminded me of the story of two I think brothers actually who were asked to do something one said yes and didn't do it the other said no and then did it.  yup... that's my girls!

Anyway, Today was the Best Day!

Mercy actually got full naps. I didn't have to wake her once all day!  Maya enjoyed having her sister home and Morgan loved being in PJ's all day! Even through clean up we managed to enjoy our No School day!

Oh! I love No School Days!!!

hanging up my superwoman cape!

I don't know when I put it on but it became very clear recently, I need to take off my superwoman cape.  I was trying to keep a spotless sparkling house while being the involved creative mom. I was trying to be the yes friend who never said no.  The super fit and healthy mom, who made all the crazy healthy foods for dinner.  I was trying to be the energetic, understanding, fun, loving wife who kept all stress away from her husband.  I was trying to do my job and not ask for help.  I was trying to get up everyday and do everything when not everything needs to be done everyday.  I was trying to be the amazing "how does she do it" wife/mom/friend etc...  It did not work!  I ended up having no energy, being super tired, aching feet and even getting dizzy.  I ended up feeling  miserable, grumpy and warn out.  Anxiety was taking over.

SO, you might be thinking, What did you do?

I hung up my cape!   Super woman is amazing, but She is not me!

I am learning that it is OK if my house is messy.  It hurts in side a little when others enter it and it's not in good shape, but I have kids.  Having kids means there's a mess.  The more kids- the more mess.  And I have decided that if you can walk and hold something, you can pick up your own toys and clean up your own messes (for the most part).  This has created a battle between me and my girls trying to get them to clean up but it it doesn't get doesn't get done I no longer come to their rescue and clean up for them.  The mess gets left for them.  I do still try to have a clean kitchen before I go to bed just to start off the morning right the next day but letting the rest of the house go has been hard (yet good) for me.

I am learning that it is OK to have the TV on so that I can get things done.  Every now and then I do still have to clean the house, but it usually comes with having to have a movie day (yes a whole day...yikes I feel the judgment all ready).  Putting on PBS kids or Mickey mouse club house or some other kids movie (mostly educational...(ha yeah Felt the need to add that in)) so I can sweep and mop my floors, clean my bathrooms, vacuum, dust, pick up clutter, organize or maybe take a nap!  lets face it; a nap some times helps my mood when after a day of clean my house fails; they take a whole 5 minutes to undo my day's work.

I am learning that it is OK if frozen pizza or chicken nuggets are on the menu more than once a week.  My kids are getting fed and we are able to enjoy a nice dinner without the complaining more often.  Not to mention the time saver that they are.  Some times spending the time reading to the girls, coloring with them or simply listening to Morgan's day (and she talks a lot!) without being busy is more important than a complex healthy meal.  ... I add in carrot sticks or fruit cups! Some times I even add in fresh fruit.

I am learning that it is OK to drop my kids off a the drop in center at the YMCA for more than just the work out.  Some days I just sit in the locker room and play games on my phone for a while to try and regain my sanity before I pick them up.  They like it down there and I am a happier more attentive mom when I pick them up.  The times when I do pick them up right away I usually get the "can I keep playing please? I don't want to go home." anyway so why not let them enjoy their friends a little longer.

I am learning that it is OK to pick up the phone and call someone when I feel overwhelmed.  Some times a simple phone call to a friend or my mom makes all the difference.  Being vulnerable with those who are close to us can be so refreshing and freeing!  And some times when the venting is over you realize just how silly the whole thing was anyway and move on.  Much better than keeping it all inside.

I'm learning that it's OK to Complain to my husband.  Now that's not complain about my husband... BIG difference.  But he actually understand when I open up to him and talk about the struggles of being home with the girls and dealing with their schedules, wants, and needs.  Who understands better than him, after  being left alone with all 3 girls for 2 hrs. he usually asks me how I manage to get through the week.  My answer, "I have no idea. somehow Saturday always gets here"

I'm learning that it's OK to have others help with rides, drop offs and pick ups.  I am not a bad mom if I do not pick up or drop off my daughter every single day of school.  I am not a bad mom if I don't drive Morgan to ballet and sit around and wait for an hr. to drive her home.  The door is closed anyway, can't see a thing.  I'm sure my other two girls think I'm a much better mom if I take up my friends offer to take Morgan and I stay home where they can play and be free instead of being bored outside the ballet studio. (yup still justifying that one in my head)

I'm learning that it is OK to sit here and write this blog to decompress while the girls nap instead of trying to check off something from my to do list.  Even if the laundry is sitting in the machine waiting for me to move it to the dryer.  Not a lot of people read this blog, but writing it makes me feel happy.

So, good bye superwoman cape, maybe I'll borrow you for Halloween, but till then I think I'll just be me. The best Me I know how to be, mistakes, messy house, and all.

Potty Training: my parenting nightmare

Joys of Potty training my 2 1/2 +yr old daughter

~Spending 4 straight hrs filling her with liquids and having her sit on the potty every 5-15 minutes to kick start the whole process only to have this conversation the very next day:
ME, "want to go potty?"
Maya, "no thank you." then she ran off...saying, "did that yesterday"

~The mad dash to the bathroom every time you hear, "I got to go potty."
yup drop everything and run! (including nursing my 4 month old).
only to have nothing happen and have to change a poopy pull up 1 minute later.

~Making 10 potty runs during a meeting mainly because she is bored and wants mommy's attention.

~Hearing "I peed" through the bedroom door during nap time.  Running up the stairs to take her to the potty/get a dry pull up to find her running out of her room completely naked.

~ After switching to a sticker reward system hearing "I don't get a sticker" casually stated as she walks past me.  I ask, "do you need to go potty?" "no cuz I won't get a sticker there's pee in my pull up."

~ Watching her slip under the table at dinner then pop back up in her chair and say, "Sorry, I just pooped."

Yes...Potty Training.  Not my favorite, But I will be glad to no longer have two in diapers.

Surprise, no more toys.

After a week of epic battles with my girls over cleaning up their toys I decided to do it myself.

I took two bins.  One for Maya's toys.  One for Morgan's toys.  I then took all the toys on the floor and placed them in their perspective bins.  I then washed their sheets, made their beds, vacuumed the floor (long over due) and hung up/ put away their clothes.  This took me almost all day!

When Morgan got home she sat at the counter along with her sister Maya for a snack while I explained things.
I explained how I cleaned their room. Morgan looked at me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Thank you, I hate cleaning."  She was so happy until I continued to explain that all her toys are now in a bin. Not in her room.  She now has to earn her toys back by helping me around the house with chores of MY choice.  I also, explained that if she leaves toys on the floor and I pick them up they will go in the bin!  Maya, who was listening as well, seemed excited about earning toys from the bin.  Morgan was quite upset to loose her toys, but then jumped down from the counter and said, "I'm going to set the table so I can get a toy back."

Well I guess we shall see how it goes...

Mercy 4 months old and earrings!

"I love my new crib, room to stretch"

Mercy is now 4 months old!

She is way more alert and interactive.

She smiles and has kind of a silent laugh. Melts the heart.

She loves watching her crazy sisters.

She babbles a little and has learned to spit.

She outgrew her bassinet and is now in her crib.

She has started the first stages of separation anxiety crying when I leave the room. Though not for long.

"Dad save me."

Now that Mercy is 4 months old and has all her shots it was ear piercing time.
She was in such a good/ cute mood when we were there making things a lot easier.  She was all smiles with just a pause and quick cry when the earrings went in.  She cried for only a few seconds after each ear.  She was by far the easiest of the three.  And she looks so cute with her little pearls.

First Day of Kindergarten

Morgan has started kindergarten!
       Leading up to it we did the typical back to school shopping, picking out a lunch box, water bottle, and all the supplies on the list from her teacher.  Morgan picked out the first day of school out fit.  She picked out her first day of school hair do (oh that was a BIG DEAL!!).  Went and met her teacher, took the tour and sat through orientation.  We walked the rout to and from school a bunch over the summer.  I outfitted our stroller for the younger two so that it looks like something from "pimp my stroller".
      Then the day arrived.  We asked Morgan what she wanted for a special breakfast for her first day of school.  She choose mini quiches.  So Ben made her mini quiches.  After breakfast we took the million first day of school pictures.  Checked and rechecked her back pack for lunch, school forms, etc.  Then Morgan went to put her shoes on... yup... all the prep work and her tennis shoes did not fit.  (She ended up wearing crocks for the first week.) I guess there are worse mom fails.
     We solved the shoe problem, (glad I could use the "they are blue and match so well" reasoning) and off to school we went.  The whole family went and we walked there with other neighborhood kids.  It felt like a parade going down our street of all the back to school kids and their parents all carrying the "good cameras".  Oh we were no exception.  Ben had his iphone taking pictures the whole way, while I had the "good camera" doing the same.
   


We got to school and took several more pictures.  Found her classmates and where she needed to line up.  We took more pictures.  Out came her teacher and we took more pictures.  Then we had to say good bye.  I looked around and many of her classmates were crying or clinging to their parents and then there was Morgan.  She was all ready trying to meet and comfort the other kids.  Telling them it would be fine like she was the old pro.  (Love that girl!)  She was so excited and she is so outgoing it amazes me.  She then gave us several hugs and off she went in her line to enter the building to start her world of education.  oh and we took more pictures!

    I wish I could follow her all day long knowing every detail of what she does for the rest of her life, but the time has come to start letting go and place her in God's hands!  God can follow her and be with her all day.  I pray that she leans on God for comfort when needed and guidance even at a young age.  May God protect my baby as she grows up and gains her independence (even more).  May she make good choices, learn from her mistakes and know she is Loved.

Play Date Ground Rules

Play Dates: Kids love them and parents...well...

OK, so over the past few months the thing I have learned about play dates is they are Wonderful, Marvelous, Fantastic, and the Best; When my kid goes to someone else's house!!

When the kid comes here, it's hit or miss.

It's not that Morgan has bad friends in fact I like most of her friends, but kids tend to have ideas that I'm sure they know aren't ok at their home so they bring them to mine...

and right now I just have to say: "I'm sorry," to all Morgan's friend's parents who have let her come over for play dates. I can just imagine the things she gets your kids into, and the mess she leaves behind. Bless you for giving me a peaceful afternoon!!  

So, back to my rant: I have found ground rules need to be established for play dates!  I have, also, found it very hard to punish something that wasn't directly told was wrong, yet fell under the category of "you should know this".

My new Play Date Ground Rules: 

Rule #10: You must ask parents if play dates are ok and not just assume we have nothing better to do.
  
Rule #9: No play dates will be had if after play dates all I hear is how much you dislike your family.  

Rule #8: Snacks are a privilege and will not be given to kids who get in my face and yell. "Snack now!"

Rule #7: Don't expect to get your things back if you lend them to your friends.  It is not my fault you lent them your favorite doll after I suggested it wasn't a good idea.  

Rule #6:  you Must clean up after a play date and it does not matter who made the mess.

Rule #5: No you may not paint the surface of the desk and call it OK, because your

friend thought it was a good idea. 

Rule #4: No you may not go in our storage/laundry room and pull everything out. 

Rule #3: You may not use your baby sister as a doll because she is more fun than your dolls... (she is crying because she doesn't like that...)

Rule #2: you may NOT lock your 2yr old sister in your closet even if she is bugging you.

Rule #1: we canNOT give your friend a fish to take home even if they ask nicely.


So those are the new ground rules and I'm sure I am going to come up with many more as Morgan gets more creative with ways to get into trouble on play dates...    

Where does poop come from?

oh the questions of a 2yr old...

The other day Maya came running up to me with a very important question and with all seriousness.
"Where does poop come from?" 
Oh... how to answer that question without bursting out laughing.  So I said, "your butt".  She then looked around and saw the dog.  Went over to her and pulled her tail straight up pointed to the dog's butt and said, "poop's in there?"  Okay...  time for laughing!  there really was no stopping the laughing after that.

While playing out side in our back yard it started raining.  Maya looked up at the sky and then came running over to me.
"Can you turn it off mommy?"
"No, it is raining.  Mommy doesn't control the rain, unfortunately."
"Can Daddy?"

Another good one:
Why can't I eat that? (not really funny right...) well when she's pointing at the crumb pile I just swept up while asking, it adds a whole new dimension to the question.
"well no, because it's a pile of dirt" I say.
She looks at it and then replies, "but it's my breakfast and I am still hungry."
So there might have been a cheerio or two in the pile, and a few larger pieces of toast that fell. (Some how our dog missed them)  Lucky for me I talked her out of eating from the pile by giving her some pudding.  (yes half ended up on the floor, but the dog took care of that mess quickly).

Last one:
Morgan (5yrs old) was "reading" her new book about Disney princess weddings (yikes is an understatement) when Maya asked,
"Can I get married?"
"To whom?", I reply.
"Jazzy" she says boldly.
"well Jazzy is a dog" I start to explain when interrupted by "after I turn her into a prince!"

Mercy Lynn 2 months

Mercy Lynn:
- smiles so sweetly,
- makes some "coo" sounds
- holds her head up really well.
- loves tummy time and being held
- is an amazing sleeper.

Mercy Has now survived 2 months after joining our family.
I use the word survived because of the craziness of our house hold right now.
Morgan loves to hold Mercy often and I am convinced that this is why Mercy has such strong neck muscles.  Morgan, though she loves her sister very much, is a little rough with her and switches her from side to side while holding her.  We try to have her keep still with little luck.  Morgan has even on occasion attempted to pick Mercy up and walk around with her when I'm not looking. (hey, a person has to pee every now and then)
Maya is starting to like her sister as well.  Not sure what was better though.  She use to ignore Mercy and say things like, "take her back to the hospital," "I don't like Mercy."  But now she smothers her and gets in her face.  She piles toys on top of her and loves on her... it's sweet but poor Mercy!
Our dog is even at fault these days.  I have caught Jazz sleeping on the changing mat, squeezing in next to Mercy on her activity mat and (this is sweet) nudging me when Mercy is crying.  So even the dog loves her!

I have to admit that although it was a rough transition at the beginning we are finally figuring life out with three!  Three little girls to love and care for!  Three little girls who all need something at the same time! and Three little girls who are so amazingly peaceful when sleeping! (as they are while I type right now, how else could I get this done?)

Who Needs Sleep?

Anyone remember this song?

Who needs sleep?
(Well, you're never gonna get it.)
Who needs sleep?
(Tell me what's that for?)
Who needs sleep?
(Be happy with what you're getting,
There's a guy's been awake since the Second World War.)

Those Song lyrics never really meant anything before now and now with a 5yr old, a 2yr old and a new born (a month old) it pretty much sums up my life!  In high school the song was "cool" and in College I thought it was accurate for my life stage, but then I didn't really understand the meaning of NO SLEEP until kids!

My first born was a dream!  She slept through the night early on and took nice long naps.  I thought I was the magical parent that found the secret to how to get your kid to sleep.

Then God blessed me with my second daughter!!  Humble pie city!  This little one didn't sleep though the night until she was over a year old and she still isn't what one would call a good sleeper! She is up at the crack of dawn! (like 5am or so... maybe 6am on a good day) She is finally napping well at age two and staying in bed most of the night.  She still has a bad night of wakes ups at least once every other week.

So then we add in our one month old!  She is still yet to be determined on the sleep scale.  She is currently sleeping like a new born giving 3 hr stretches with the occasional 4 hr stretch, but I'm not calling her a good sleeper until I get that full night of sleep!!  and I know it probably isn't coming any time soon.

With all the different sleep habits my girls have I can still relate to this song on another level as well.  Remember the lines:
My hands are locked up tight in fists.
My mind is racing, filled with lists
Of things to do and things I've done.
Another sleepless night's begun.
Yeah.....Even when a good night of sleep for the girls starts my mind races with the to-do lists of tomorrow, of what parenting things I did wrong that day, and how can I get through another day as a mom of three.
So much joy in life, so many pleasures all around.
But the pleasure of insomnia is one I've never found.
With all life has to offer there's so much to be enjoyed.
But the pleasures of insomnia are ones I can't avoid.
It's hard to be a good mom when you're half a sleep!  My girls are even learning not to talk to mom until she has that first cup of coffee in her hands or things won't go so well...  We joke about getting a mood gauge on my coffee mug so they know when I have had at least half a cup.  Maybe I should just get caffeine via IV?
Well since sleep isn't coming anytime soon and life just gets crazier: here's to being the best mom I can be in spite of insomnia.

In Just Two Weeks

Mercy Lynn is now two weeks old!  She is eating well, sleeping mostly well, and putting up with all our noise very well.  She does not, however, like her car seat!  It has been a challenge getting around with her but thanks to some good friends of ours the MOBY wrap is quickly becoming extremely helpful!
My favorite Mercy moment from the past two weeks:  cuddling peacefully during nap time.

Maya the past two weeks has come around a lot! She wasn't too sure about Mercy when she first came home, but she has since held her, and talked to her sweetly.  She still prefers which ever parent is not holding Mercy, however, she will sit nicely with me and let me read a book or two while holding her baby sister as well.

Maya has also discovered the art of ignoring.  She is a pro at not listening or ignoring directions, warnings, reprimands etc...  She also, has the biggest pout face I have ever seen. I mean she can tear up her eyes on command almost!
My favorite Maya moment from the past two weeks: Watching her play with her little friend Kai.  They played so nicely together and I think Maya felt special having a play date just for her.

Morgan in the past two weeks... yikes now this girl knows how to live life in two weeks!!  She has had multiple play dates, picnics, parties, and more.  She had her last ballet class before her big recital coming up.  Preschool ended and they had their little graduation (see graduation blog post).  I tell you She has quite a social life for a 5 yr old.  I wish I could keep up.

My favorite Morgan moment from the past two weeks:  Its' a toss up between watching her learn how to old Mercy and her reaction to getting flowers for her graduation.  Her face lit up and she jumped up and down when receiving the flowers while wearing her new dress and pretty little graduation cap...

Now there have been several funny stories from the past two weeks in our world of crazy, but since it's been a world of crazy most of it has not been written down.  And as I sit here typing I can't even remember them other than I remember thinking "that's a great blog story" at the time it happened.   I guess it is true the first few weeks/months of having a new born truly are a blur in many ways!

So here's to two good weeks past and to hopefully more good weeks to come.

Morgan's Preschool Graduation

Today my Morgan graduated...from preschool.  

It's kind of funny; while sitting at the little graduation ceremony Ben leaned over and said, "this is the moment I know I'll be picturing when she graduates high school and is going off to college."

It's so true! I can just see the whole ceremony replaying in our heads 12 years from now.  All the little kids stumbling across the stage, the cute somewhat correctly sung songs and those adorable little hats!!  Not to mention all the answers to what they want to be when they grow up... my favorites were: 1. a bank owner, 2. a storm trooper, and 3. (Morgan's) a rock star.  others included police officers, firefighters, princesses, teachers etc...  It was fun watching the little ceremony and celebrating the end of the year with all Morgan's little classmates.

I know I complained all year about the stress of preschool drop off and pick up, but I think I will miss it a little bit.  Chatting with the other moms, watching the kids play, seeing all the fun projects they so proudly declare are theirs.  I'm sad to see the year end, but excited about the summer!  I still can't believe we are sending Morgan off to Kindergarten next year!!

Mercy Lynn Mangrich

May 10, 2013 Mercy Lynn entered the world and our family.

One more girl to add to the mix.  I couldn't be happier!
After a long (very long) hard pregnancy it was nice having a quick & fairly easy labor/delivery, thanks to an epidural that is. And thanks for the amazing nursing staff and our Favorite DR who was actually able to be there this time.

Bringing home girl #3 has been interesting, fun, and somewhat overwhelming.  Ben and I are now officially out numbered.  There have been many peaceful moments, but when the peace is broken everyone needs something all at the same time.  It is going to be a challenge figuring out how to show each girl they are loved equally.

Morgan is loving Mercy!  

She constantly wants to hold her and play with her.  Its a good thing babies are pretty durable.  I do enjoy watching Morgan love on her sister though. It is very sweet!

Maya is having a harder time.  

She has all ready said, "all done with baby", and "baby stay at hospital".  The first few days she wouldn't talk to me if I was holding or feeding Mercy, but she is coming around and warming up to the idea of another girl in the house.  It must be hard going from the baby in the family to a middle child.  I just want her to know she is loved, oh so very much!

Mercy is adjusting to life well.  

She is eating, sleeping and you know... all very well.  She seems to understand the craziness in our house is a safe place and she to sleep through quite a bit of it.  She is also very good at knowing just when mom needs to eat, or do something for one of her sisters as that is the very moment she needs to eat, spits up, or needs a new diaper.

life with three... so different than life with two or one.  I know we will adjust and that God will helps us through this transition.  I suddenly have a lot more respect for families with lots of kids!!  How do they do it?  And how do they survive it?  Please pass along your secrets.  

The waiting game for #3

Being 37 weeks pregnant is annoying. Not because of all the aches and pains or the lack of energy causing me to fall asleep mid sentence.  But because of the waiting game...  When is this kid going to get here?  Early?  on time?  Late?  I don't know why, but planning when there's such uncertainty drives me up a wall.  I am a planner and I like to control things so the lack of control gets a little maddening.  

Phrases I'm tired of saying:
"sure, sounds great, if baby's not here yet"
"depends on when baby arrives"
"I'll let you know after the baby is born"


So what am I doing while waiting?  Aside from going nuts at the lack of control I've been enjoying my older two girls as much as I can manage.
I am trying to get on the floor to have tea parties with Maya.  I'm trying to do fun crafts with Morgan.  I'm, also, trying my best to cuddle with my big girls during movie night (which is sadly more than once a week at this point).  The girls truly do help the days go by faster and help me remember why I'm doing this for a third time.

The other day Morgan made me a bead necklace and gave it to me saying, "It's because I love you.  I wanted to give it to you for mother's day, but I wanted you to have it while you are at the hospital.  Please don't forget it".
I cried! Then had to spend the next hour explaining to Morgan that sometimes people cry because they are happy.  I have been wearing it ever since.  It's not the prettiest jewelry I own, but it's defiantly up there in sentimental value!

As for Maya, she is a gem, but doesn't quite understand why mama spends so much time on the couch with her feet up.  She keeps pulling me down to the floor to play.  She is so hard to say no to when she looks up at me and says "please, mama, play with me".

I love my girls!  And I know I will love this third little one!
Now... Little one it's time!  Come out, mama wants to meet you!!!

Calling super mom!

Last night Morgan was sick and throwing up... I spent a lot of time cleaning up vomit and then trying to disinfect our house to host a bible study the next day.  Ben was trying to help out and we were both kind of sad this is how we were spending one of the few nights he didn't have class.  

The next day comes and I am getting the girls settled upstairs, cleaning up the kitchen and living room from our breakfast disaster and tornado of crumbs.  I forgot to change out of my crummy sweat paints and Tshirt and people start showing up.  I plop myself on the couch for our study only to end up getting up 10 or more times to get the girls this that and the other, or to stop the dog from steeling their snack.  (Luckily the throwing up had stopped so at least there was none of that.) After Bible study was over I try to make lunch for the girls, spill just about everything...apparently make the wrong sandwich for Morgan.  Maya wanted her apple not cut up and honestly I was so done! 

It wasn't that it was a harder day than usual, or even that bad; it was just one of those days that reminded me: Being a mom is tough....so what do I do?  I call my mom!  There's nothing that can make a mom feel better than to call and let out a little steam with her own mom.  Maybe it's because you know you put your mom through the same craziness when you were young and you suddenly feel guilty.  Maybe it's because even after 30 years she is still the one who knows you best...Or maybe it's because she has perfected the art of knowing exactly what to say before hanging up and I'm sure laughing and thinking to herself..."oh just wait and see what the next few years bring"...Whatever it is I'm just so glad a simple call to my mom can make me feel so much better.  

Just over a month ago not much was really different than the previous day described, only I was looking forward to an upcoming week where Ben would be out of town.  I picked up my phone and in came super mom to the rescue!  Only this time it was with a trip to help me out for a week.  

I don't know what I would do without my super mom.  I just hope some day I can be a super mom to my own girls, whom I love, even on those days I feel like I'm done.  

Valentines day Traditions

Last year we started a fun tradition which Morgan took it upon herself to remind us of.
We cut out paper hearts and made a fun trail for the girls to follow when they woke up in the morning into the living room.  There they found the valentines gifts from Grandma and a few things we threw in... This was then followed by a pancake breakfast.  Pink Heart shaped pancakes to be exact, topped with heart shaped sprinkles... yum!
This year Maya really got into following the heart trail.  She had to step on each and every heart until she got to the living room where she saw the fun surprise.
It's so fun having family traditions and watching the girls enjoy them and look forward to them for the next year.  Maybe the next traditions I start will be simpler...Then again who knows...

New beds

The transition into Bunk Beds has been interesting.  It has gone in stages.

Step 1: convince Morgan it will be fun to give up her bed and sleep in Bunk Beds. Her main concern  that she wouldn't have all her "friends" (stuffed animals  in bed with her, once she realized all her "friends" could come too she was happy about it.

Step 2: have Morgan help pick it out (with a reasonable price).  This was super tricky.  Morgan kept seeing pictures of bunk beds that has some how been decorated as princess castles (of course way out of our price range).  We finally settled on a nice sturdy affordable one from walmart.  It's plain old boring white.  Morgan and I decided we are going to paint some flowers on it to make it more "fun".

Step 3: Getting Maya to transition from a crib to a bed.  We actually started this before the bunk beds arrived.  We took the side of her crib off and placed a rail on it so she couldn't fall out but could climb out very easily.  The first night we sent her back to bed about 20 times... sigh.  It slowly went down to fewer times each night, but there were some night we gave up and let her sleep in bed with us just to get some sleep!!  Now she gets the idea and Bed time is going smoothly. (naps not so much but we're still working on it)

Step 4: assemble the bunk beds and take the crib out of the room: This process took less time than I though, but more tears.  It took a lot of work getting the beds together, my main job was keeping the girls occupied and making them feel like they were "helping" while Ben actually did all the work.  Where did the tears come from.  oh that was just pregnant me crying over how my girls are growing up.  I tell you transition and hormones don't go well together.  Maya did at one point come up to me and say, "OK, mama, I love you."  and you got it... just caused the water works to get worse.

Step 5: decorate the Bed.  Instead of painting the bed I had a brilliant idea of using some of their wall decal stickers to spruce it up some.  So the girls went to town finding fun places for all the flowers and butterflies.  Looks pretty cute, and way less work.

Step 6: First night in the bunk Beds.  Bed time didn't happen until about 9 or 9:30 due to finishing the beds and making the beds and getting all their "friends" in place etc... But believe it or not Maya was so excited about her bed (or super over tired) she stayed in it all night.  Morgan on the other hand was up and down that latter 10 or more times before she finally gave in to dream land.  I think she was just enjoying the fact that she had a new way of getting in and out of bed.

SO now they are in their new Beds!  Happy and all set...  I guess we are ready to find some space for baby mango #3 whenever he or she arrives this coming May.

Imagination

Today we had a new mattress delivered.  It's for when we finally put the girls bunk beds together, but that's really irrelevant to today.
Morgan and Maya's eyes were so wide at the size of the box at our front door (yes it came folded up in a box).  Morgan's first question, "is it mine?" (not even knowing what it was).
I opened the box, and pulled out the twin size mattress.
Since then our house has been full of giggles, pure joy!
The girls have been playing on the mattress and in the box in the middle of our dinning/living room.

Maya's ship sailing to far away lands (I stepped off just to get a picture) 

The mattress has turned into a flying carpet where Morgan and I flew to the moon and back.  It has been a castle and a princess bed for Cinderella and sleeping beauty; it's been a trampoline (only allowed while on the floor...) and oddly enough a boat where Maya and I sailed to see funny animals.  The box has been a bus, a slide (didn't work too well), a great hiding spot to scare our dog, and currently as I type a canvas getting filled up with many drawings (I'm hoping they stick to the box and not my walls... I should go check).

At any rate it simply amazes me just how creative my girls can be with simple things.  I have also enjoyed going on the ride with them, putting aside the house cleaning for the day, and the need to have the dinning room toy free (which we usually try to do and fail quite often).

I am hoping that once the bunk beds are up and the mattress in place that they can have just as many adventures with it as they are having today. (minus the trampoline!)

Fights and making up

Quick story: My girls were fighting, as sisters do, and I trying to get the dishes done told them to work it out! I then heard Morgan say, "Maya get floppy and dd and come sit with me and chat "  Maya apparently did just that.
A few minutes later I found them on the couch reading some books together.  **Proud parent moment!**