What we've been up to

Katelyn is growing and growing. I had to put away most of the 0 - 3 month clothes because she is so tall! She is still such a happy baby, as long as you aren't too slow getting her food. Then she lets you know exactly how she feels. She is sleeping consistently from about 10 until 5 or 6, so I really have no room to complain.

Jared is working to adjust to a lot of changes. Preschool being over means he's spending a lot more time at home. Not only that, he is having to contend for attention from both of his sisters. It's been a lot of changes in a short amount of time, but he is doing great. He loves to feed and hold Kate and to play with Megan. He's been spending more time on the computer, especially at www.starfall.com and he's getting to be a good little reader. He has decided that he is ready to have his training wheels taken off his bike, so that will be our adventure next week.

 I am really enjoying having Megan home this summer. She is such a big help with Katelyn. She feeds her, burps her, rocks her. She picks out her clothes every day (sometimes multiple times a day), and she insists on folding all of Katelyn's laundry when she folds her own. She loves being a big sister. When she isn't helping with the baby, she is playing barbies and devouring chapter books.

I am adjusting to having three kids. In some ways, it's easier having Megan and Jared home for the summer. Like I said before, Megan (and Jared, to some extent) is a huge help with the baby. And it's really nice to not have to get up so early to get Megan ready for the bus. We've been taking the mornings nice and slow. It's been great. We've had a little trouble finding ways to balance the older kids' desire for friends and fun activities (they always want to be DOING something or GOING somewhere) with the baby and my desire to stay home and take it easy. But we are finding ways to make it work.

The Best Laid Plans

I had been planning on a nap today. I fed Megan and Jared, and got them settled with some quiet activities. I fed, burped, changed, and rocked Katelyn. She had been awake for quite a while, so I expected her to fall right asleep.

She had other plans.

No nap for me, but I'm not really complaining. I mean, LOOK at that face!

More Pictures of Katelyn

So, as I was organizing some pictures today, I realized that I hadn't posted a bunch of pictures of Katelyn from her first few days. I am such a slacker!

Washcloth Pockets

I've been meaning to post about these since I made them for the kids for Christmas (okay, so since I started them and messed them up and Charlotte finished them for the kids for Christmas. I'm so spoiled to have such a talented sister, aren't I?) but the days sort of got away from me.

I got the idea from this blog: http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2010/09/my-first-and-probably-my-last.html. Megan and Jared love, love, LOVE them and they really make bath time easier for everyone. No more dropping the bar of soap, no more trouble getting a lather worked up. Just good, clean fun in the tub.

I pretty much just followed Stacy's instructions from her blog post. I made two pockets (using one washcloth) before getting stumped with how to add the decorations to the front. Instead of a face, I wanted to use some cute premade appliques, but I couldn't figure out how to attach them. Charlotte sewed them onto the two pockets that I had already made, and then she made two more, sewing the appliques on BEFORE sewing the sides of the pockets closed. That was a whole lot easier.

Summer Crafts

I read lots of blogs. Lots of cooking blogs (not that they inspire me to cook anything, lol). Lots of photography blogs (I drool at the beautiful images). Lots of craft blogs (ha! scissors and glue are sooo not my friends!). For the most part, I am completely content to just read the blogs. But now summer is here and Megan wants to do crafts. She constantly wants to create new things, to turn boxes into stages, toilet paper rolls into flowers. She LOVES it all. And, although usually she is happy to just do her own thing, occasionally she wants me to help her with projects.

Here's a little secret. It completely. stresses. me. out.

See, the problem is that we have different priorities. We do things differently. We see things differently. For example, today she wanted me to help her make some little mini folders for her Barbie's "preschool". Now, in my mind, you should make all of the folders exactly the same, uniform. But to Megan, each folder should be sized in relation to the doll that would be using it. Making 10 different folders really grated on me. To an irrational degree.

But we persevered. Barbie folders are made. No tears were shed and no bad words were said. Tomorrow we tackle making wall decorations for Barbie's classroom.

Portraits of Katelyn

Megan loves drawing portraits. She has drawn a couple of Katelyn over the past week.

I love the detail in the blanket in this one:

And I love the facial expression (especially the one eye open, one eye closed) in this one:

A Little About Miss Katelyn

I can't believe just how quickly the days have passed! Katelyn is two weeks old today, but it seems like just yesterday I was still pregnant and whale-like. Before Megan was born, I would hear people talk about how each baby has it's own personality, it's own likes and dislikes, but I didn't really believe it. I figured that all babies were the same until they got to toddler-hood. Now I know better. One of my favorite parts of having a new baby is getting to discover just what he or she likes.Each one is unique. Megan had a fussy time, every night around 6 pm for an hour or so. Jared never cried unless he was hungry (which was a LOT, lol). Megan loved the swing. Jared hated it. Megan loved to be swaddled up like a little burrito. Jared wanted to be free to kick and move around. Both of them wanted their pacifiers all the time. Megan spit up everything (actually, I think she gagged on everything). Jared rarely spit up at all. Megan didn't like to cuddle - she wanted to be turned around, watching what was going on, even while eating.

It's been fun to figure out what Katelyn likes and doesn't like. She doesn't mind being swaddled or not. She will take a pacifier when she is starving, but not at any other time. And, she won't take the kind of pacifier that both Megan and Jared loved at all. She likes the blue, round kind that they gave her in the hospital. She loves the swing. She doesn't like being left alone, even at this young age. She wants to be close to people - you don't even have to hold her, just stay close (Jared loves having the job of sitting by her). She is a good eater and doesn't spit up much. She really only cries if she is hungry or needs to burp. She is pretty mellow, letting her sister and brother hold her and feed her and burp her. She loves the bath (but not the getting out part). She is starting to get her days and nights straightened out.

We are really enjoying having her home with us. The kids are so excited to be a part of helping care for her, and they can't wait until she's big enough to play with. Actually, Jared has decided not to wait until she is big enough. The other day, he was playing Star Wars (alternating between being Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker) and she was Princess Leia. He kept busy fighting off imaginary Storm Troopers with his blaster and light saber, keeping the Princess safe.

She's a Bike Rider!

Megan has been struggling to learn to ride her bike for quite a while now. She's been soooooo close, mostly just lacking confidence. Since Grandma has been here, they have been working hard every day. This morning, everything just clicked. She's been zooming up and down our cul-de-sac all day long.

Megan's Last Day of First Grade

Today was Megan's last day of First Grade. When I asked her how she felt about school being over, she said that she was both happy and sad. Happy that summer was starting, that she would have more time to play with friends, more time to spend with her new baby sister, not have to get up so early, and most importantly, NO HOMEWORK. Sad that she wouldn't see all of her school friends, and sad that she wouldn't be in Mrs. Kell's class any more.

I am so glad that she has had a great school year. She has gone from being able to sound out words/reading the sight-word list, to being a fluent and prolific reader. She LOVES to read - pretty much anything she can get her hands on. She has done so well in all of her other subjects as well. The biggest change that I've seen has been in her self confidence. She wants to do so many things, and she knows that she CAN do them. She isn't afraid to jump in and try.

The year has flown by. I can't believe how fast it's gone. It seems like only a little while ago we were just starting this year, and now it's over!

Jared's lost his first tooth!

Jared finally lost his first tooth this afternoon. It's been ready to fall out for a couple of days, but he wouldn't let anyone near it (trauma from the whole string and door episode, maybe? :D). It fell out in the car on the way to dinner. He was so excited. Tonight while he was saying his prayers, he prayed that the Tooth Fairy wouldn't forget to come. I guess he's been a member of this family long enough to know that the Tooth Fairy need divine help.