A Gig ‘em, and an unexpected sleepover…

"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long."
-E. E. Cummings

Life with three kids is interesting.  It’s crazy, hectic, and there’s almost never a moment to relax or focus on anything other than children.  But seeing the three of them together, sitting side by side, makes it all worth it.

We were so close to getting a picture of Isla smiling this week, but not close enough.  Here are some of our failed attempts.

The Aggies pulled out a close win against Arkansas this weekend, barely winning in Overtime.  The extra game time was good for James as it gave him time to practice his Gig’em thumb.

It’s hard to keep the kids inside, and now that summer is over we don’t feel the need to.  This week a simple game of catch on the play set turned into James launching bowls of sand off the top.  If this seems like a confusing turn of events, then you don’t know James all that well.

One of our neighborhood always does a great job decorating for the various seasons/holidays that come around.  This weekend she put up her Halloween decorations, including orange lights, ghosts, and pumpkins.  The kids were excited ever since the first decoration went up and they talked me into walking over and seeing it.  James ran most of the way back to the house claiming he was scared of the monsters, but he was laughing as he said it which wasn’t very convincing.

Grandma and Grandpa came back from Florida this week and we were happy they were able to come over to eat dinner and see the kids.  Isla had one of her best nights yet, and the evening took an unexpected turn at the end when Ashlyn decided she was going to leave with Grandma and Grandpa.  She ran upstairs, got her things, and off she went.  Poor James was confused didn’t understand why his sister was leaving, but he was excited to pick out all the books before bed.

Baby books claim that baby fussiness normally peaks at 6-8 weeks.  Isla is right at the 8 week mark, and it seems like the past few days have been better.  I’m not saying she’s a bundle of happiness yet, but we’re getting more play time and less crying and that’s a good thing.

Smiles, swimming, and bouncing…

"Why?" x 1000
-James

Baby fussiness peaks around 6-8 weeks so we’re hoping there’s some light at the end of the tunnel with Isa.  We love her of course, but if she’s awake she’s typically crying unless we’re walking her around the house.  I’m typing this while the older kids are playing in the bath, and I can hear her crying downstairs.  It’s hear breaking at times, but that’s part of being a parent I suppose.  We’re starting to get some brief periods of happiness though, and we’re looking forward to whatever has been bothering her to end. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Ashlyn and James are able to make a game out of pretty much anything.  One of their favorites is jumping up and down in puddles after it rains.  We enjoy this too, as it gives us an opportunity to do even more laundry (because a load of day at least isn’t enough!).

We were able to get one more swim in before the warm weather ends and the kids made the best of it.  Their swimming abilities have increased with their bravery in the water.  Both kids will swim out to the deep end of the pool and Ashlyn will fly off the side of the pool with abandon.

Sunday came around and we started off the day with breakfast with PePa.  While we cooked Ashlyn did her best to entertain her baby sister.  We’ve still seen zero jealousy from either of the older kids, they’ve so far either ignored her or tried to help her stop crying.  Fights will being as soon as she’s mobile, but for now we’ll enjoy the relative peace while it lasts.

Sunday was also fall planting day in the garden.  Mom careful tilled up some rows for seeds and the kids proceeded to spread the seeds everywhere but the actual rows where they were supposed to go in.

With three kids all born in or around summer we knew that many outdoor birthday parties were in our future.  So we bought a bounce house instead of dealing with the inevitable rentals and we inflated to make sure everything worked before Ashlyn’s upcoming birthday party.

Every child goes through the “why” stage, and kids are no exception.  Ashlyn went through it, but I don’t recall her adopting the word to the extent that James has.  Where Ashlyn would ask why and accept the explanation, James will ask why and continue to ask why until he’s either bored or satisfied.  He’s just a curious creature,

Ducks and half-smiles…

"Don't quack like a duck, soar like an eagle."
-Ken Blanchard

Author’s note:  This  will be a bit shorter than usual.  A major project kicked off at work and that unfortunately kept me heads down most of this weekend.

This is what dinner looks like with James around.  He’s everywhere, all the time, and his curiosity can be both entertaining and frustrating in turn.  Ashlyn is not a big help in this regard, and she’s usually right there helping to him in trouble.

Isla is pretty fussy as far as babies go.  Our best guess on the culprit is gas, and this has made it difficult to capture the elusive social smile.  The term “flash a smile” is very appropriate here as it comes and goes so quick that I so far have been unable to get a picture of it.  Our camera is filled with pictures of her right after she smiled, but I was able to get a the half smile on the right below.  It’s creepier than anything else, but it’s the best I’ve been able to get so far.

With the cool front that came through this weekend we thought it would be a good time to get the kids out to the pond to see the ducks that have taken up permanent residence.  James is tall enough now to reach the pedals on his tricycle and it was fun to watch him pedal around.

While Ashlyn was finishing up with the ducks, James went back up to the path.  Since he wasn’t by the water, we weren’t paying close attention to him.  That was a mistake, and Ashlyn’s bicycle paid the price of our lapse.