fun in the sun

We had a fun weekend in the sun! Saturday we went up to the big pool with Dana and Madeline while the daddy's played golf and today we were there again for Jaycee's birthday party. The girls had a great time swimming and playing with their friends. The cookie cake wasn't too bad, either :) Hopefully they'll actually sleep in tomorrow after their busy weekend...I'm crossing my fingers.

what i'm loving right now

I thought I'd write about some things I am loving right now....it will be fun for me to look back on this later and remember what was going on in my world this summer. Here I go, in no particular order:

1. Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. I admit it, I am addicted! Who ever knew that I would willingly watch a show starring Tori Spelling. Whenever I watch it, I find myself cracking up at how crazy and quirky she is. Sometimes she reminds me a lot of myself.

2. Floating in the pool and reading a book during naptime. I dread the day that Emma gives up her nap for good. Having three girls sleeping at the same time is a huge blessing!

3. My Hooter Hider, Co-Sleeper and Peg Perego Centro Stroller...three things I didn't have the last two times around that are making my life much easier with this one. How did I live without them?!

4. Having rational conversations with Emma...it amazes me everyday how grown up she has become.

5. Listening to Madeline talk in her adorable baby voice and being amazed at all of the new things she is saying.

6. The way Claire looks like a caterpillar when she is swaddled at bedtime...and looking at her big blue eyes when she is actually awake.

7. Boot camp classes that kick my butt and leave me sore for days...and Yoga/Pilates classes to help ease the pain afterwards.

8. All things vegetarian...I am slowly phasing meat out of my diet and I am wanting to eat veggies like crazy.

9. Home shopping parties (Pampered Chef, Jewelry, etc.) that really never offer anything that I want to buy, but are a great excuse to have a night out with the girls to eat, drink and socialize.

10. Quiet summer nights at home with Ryan, enjoying each other's company after the girls have gone to bed. If only the hot tub wasn't broken :( It's about time we called the pool guy to fix it.

11. Getting back in touch with long lost friends through Blogger and MySpace. It's funny how something as huge as the internet can sometimes make the world seem like a much smaller place.

dress like a cow!

Oh, the levels we stoop to! As a mother of preschoolers, Chick-Fil-A has become my hangout. The other day they had a "Dress like a cow, Eat free chicken" day, so Maria and I took the kids for lunch. The kids dressed up, we all ate for free and Maria and I got in a few good hours of girltalk while the kids played and chased a giant cow around the restaurant all day! Nothing like sitting with girlfriends in the AC while the kids can run around unattended and play!

what's new with the girls

Claire is six weeks old now and is getting way too big already. We went to the Dr. last week and she was almost 12 pounds! I went through her drawers this morning and had to get rid of some of her first outfits that she has now outgrown. It was sad knowing that I would most likely never have a need for those tiny outfits again. If Claire had it her way, she would sleep all day long. If she is awake for more than an hour at a time, she's not very happy about it. I torture her in the evenings and make her stay awake for a few hours so that she'll sleep for me at night. Her nights are pretty unpredictable. Every now and then I'll get about 8 or 9 hours of sleep out of her and then there are nights like last night when she was wide awake from 3am to 5am and just wanted to play. She was so cute, I was almost tempted to stay awake with her, but then I remembered how exhausted I would be in the morning, so I let her lie there and entertain herself while I slept!

Madeline has four loves in her life. Kung Fu Panda, Chuck E. Cheese, Disney and my friend Dana. She walks around asking for one of these four things all day long. All I hear is "Yeah, Kung Panna" or "Mommy, I go Stinney (Disney)" or she'll chant "Chuck E. Cheese" over and over again. Everytime we get in the car she is beside herself with excitement because she thinks that we are either going to Dana's house, to the movies to see Kung Panna or to Disney or Chuck E. Cheese. Imagine her disappointment when she realizes that we are just going to the gym or to the grocery store! I can't believe how much she is talking now. She really can say almost anything and understands everything we say to her. She's becoming more of a big girl everyday...now we just need to get rid of those diapers!

Emma is still in school for the summer. She goes two days a week and I am convinced that her sole purpose for going is to chase the boys with her girlfriends. All I hear about when she comes home is what boys were at school that day and which ones she sat with at lunch. Boy, does she take after her mommy. Boy crazy already. We have been spending a lot of time in the pool this summer and she is such a good swimmer..she loves to do all kinds of crazy jumps in the water and is trying to learn how to dive. She is loving being a big sister...she dotes Madeline and Claire all day long. So sweet!

like mother, like daughter

So last night, the girls had made a total mess of the house and after I asked Emma to pick up her toys for the tenth time in a row, she looks at me, rolls her eyes and says, "Um, could you run that by me one more time?". Ryan wonders where she gets her attitude from...couldn't be from me ;)

nine years

Today is our nine year wedding anniversary! In some ways I can't believe that it has been that long but at the same time I can hardly remember not being married to Ryan. Either way you look at it, I know that we have been incredibly blessed. I love the fact that Ryan and I have grown up together and I love the life that we have made with each other. I honestly can't imagine a day without him. This first nine years has flown by...it's scary to think that in another nine years we will be almost 40 and we will have a TEENAGER and two on their way to being teens. Time just needs to slow down! I'm not ready to be old. Happy Anniversary, Honey. I love you.

growing up so fast

Emma had her first stint as a cheerleader last weekend! She attended a workshop on Saturday at her dance school to learn a cheer dance and then they performed at the Miracle's baseball game on Sunday night. It was way too cute! Emma and her friends Madeline and Victoria were the youngest girls there, but they have been dancing with Miss Dawn for so long that she thought they were ready to try this out. Each little girl got paired up with an older partner to "lift" her in the air during the routine. Emma's partner was seven, so needless to say she didn't get lifted very high :) Emma was a little too good at it....she's always had a thing for shaking her hips. Fine now, not too good in about 10 years! We've got our work cut out for us. Of course I had tears in my eyes the whole time watching her. I just couldn't believe that my little girl has gotten big enough to be down there on that field in this huge stadium performing in front of all those people. Where has the time gone? Emma loved every second of it and has decided that shaking her booty is way more fun than taking tap or ballet, so it looks like those days are over for us and she will start taking cheer dance classes in the fall. Afterwards we stayed and watched the game and the girls had fun playing in the stands with their friends and eating some junk food. All in all , it was a great summer night!

pulling my hair out

....and it's only 8 am!!!!!!! Today is gonna be one of those days. The girls woke up at 6 as usual
(thanks to the neighbor's dogs barking outside their window...ugh!!!) and it has been one thing after another ever since. The girls started their day fighting over what show to watch and the arguing has been continuing ever since.... over glue sticks, pennies-you name it. There is constant screaming and fighting going on. Then Emma decides she wants some of daddy's protein shake with her breakfast, which is fine until she leaves her full cup in the middle of the kitchen floor which then gets kicked across the room by Ryan walking by and there is chocolate shake flying everywhere. Then I make eggs for the girls (pretty much the last remaining option in my empty refridgerator) and I make the mistake of putting emma's orange slices and eggs on the same plate and now the eggs are "ruined" and Emma refuses to touch them. Did I mention that I really need to go food shopping and my fridge is EMPTY leaving me no other breakfast options???????!!!!!!!! I tried drying the eggs off and switching them to a different plate, but she wasn't fooled. So, there is a mess in every room, my baby is crying, my daughter is starving and I woke up with a pounding headache to top it all off. And as I sit here writing this, Madeline has decided to see if her glue stick would make a good lipstick and is applying it all over her face. Ugh. There is so much prayer needed to get through mornings like this. Ironically, while I was at the pool the other day there was a single dad there with his daughters and while he was sitting by the pool with us moms, he made a comment that this "stay at home parent thing" was the way to go and we had it made. The other mothers were rolling their eyes and saying it wasn't all it's cracked up to be while I had a temporary mental block and was thinking, this IS the life. All I could think about what how I had a great workout that morning and then spent the rest of the day with my precious girls soaking in the sunshine and swimming in the pool while Ryan was stuck in an office. How quickly the tables turn. Now I am reminded that sometimes a little space from the chaos would be nice! I really am blessed to have these girls and to be able to stay home with them, don't get me wrong. But some days it's definately more challenging than others. Thank goodness for the daycare at the gym to give mommy a much needed break (no wonder I work out so much) and a playdate today with Maria and the kids to get us all out of this house!!!!!!!!

beastie boys

As I was in my spinning class this morning, working out for what seems like the hundreth time this week a song by the Beastie Boys came on and I was instantly reminded of my brother. Tim had this annoying habit of always singing along with the radio at the top of his lungs, always way off key. I could just remember being in the car with him as he would belt out that song and it was enough to make me smile while remembering how much I miss him. At least it took my mind off of the torture my legs were going through! I love you, Tim.

one month

Today Claire is one month old! It feels like it was just yesterday that I was in the hospital :( She is getting so big already...she's got to be at least 11 pounds by now and is starting to outgrow some of her first outfits. How sad! This month with her has been so great. It's been far better than I could have ever expected it to be with three little ones. Before she was born I kept reminding myself that God does not give us more than we can handle and I'm so glad that's true. I never could have imagined that only a month after having Claire, things could be this calm in our home. Praise God for small miracles!

Claire has started smiling at her sisters when they talk to her. Emma wants to hold the baby all day long and Madeline asks to hold her and then is ready to get rid of her after about ten seconds (her typical attention span). Emma and Madeline are so close to each other and it's so fun to watch them together. Ryan and I were talking last night about how we can't wait until Claire is "one of the girls" with her sisters. Don't get me wrong, though. I don't want to rush it. I keep wondering what Claire will be like when she is older. Emma and Madeline are total opposites and I wonder who Claire will be more like. Emma is so serious and calm and inquisitive. She can sit for hours and read books or color and "do projects". Madeline is wild and crazy. She always wants to be the life of the party and can't miss a beat. If she had it her way, she would be held upside down and tickled all day long. Emma is so girly and into boys and make up and princesses. Madeline's world is all about Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Emma is fair skinned with blue eyes and straight hair. Madeline's skin is dark and she has brown eyes and crazy curly hair. Where does Claire fall in all of this? I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

We met some friends at the pool today and it was eventful as usual! Madeline single handedly closed the pool down when her swimmy diaper didn't exactly do it's job if you know what I mean. Luckily for us we were just heading home for nap time. Not so lucky for all of the poor people just showing up at the pool and hearing that it will be closed until tomorrow. It was definately one of my most embarassing moments as a mommy! But hey, accidents happen.

worst blogger ever?

So, I am officially the worst blogger ever. To my credit, the laptop was broken for a few days...other than that I have just been lazy and busy. We had a great week with Gramma and Grampa here. They spoiled us rotten...cooking for us nonstop and helping take care of the kids. They even watched the girls so Ry and I could go on a date one night. We went to PF Changs and then did some shopping! It was so nice to get out and spend some time alone together. All in all, having them here was a huge blessing.

The 4th of July was Gramma and Grampa's last day here, so we spent the day at Ryan's parents house with them. The girls had fun swimming with daddy and Grandpa, though Grandpa threw Emma in the water a little too hard and she did a huge belly flop which traumatized her just a little bit. We have to be extra careful with Madeline around the pools these days...she has absolutely no fear of the water and just jumps right in. Which is great if she has her water wings on...if not, she sinks right to the bottom. She hasn't figured out yet that she doesn't really know how to swim. Thank goodness we have a baby fence around the pool or we'd really be in trouble. Ryan got sparklers for the girls and a bunch of fireworks. The girls stayed up late to watch the fireworks and they had so much fun. After each one that Ryan set off, Emma would run up and hug him proclaiming things like "My dad is wonderful" and "I have the best dad ever". For the first few fireworks Mad kept yelling, "Do again daddy", then she got freaked out and sat in the car the rest of the time...go figure.

Claire is getting so big already. She will be one month old tomorrow. Time is flying by....it's so sad. I want to savor every moment because I know how fast it goes and I know (hopefully) that this is the last time I will have a newborn. She is still as sweet and good as ever. She has started breaking out with infant acne and mommy the perfectionist is not happy about this. I have been googling to see what I can do about it and apparently I just have to wait it out. Ugh! Someone at the gym today told me that since I am nursing it could be caused by me eating too many nut products. So.....no more peanut butter in my protein shakes for a few days and I'll see if that helps at all.

Well, this has been way too long of a post. I guess I am making up for lost time. I'll try to post some new pics soon.