Validation

Allison left me this little note the other day when she was having some quiet reading time:

And for those who can't read preschooler phonetics, it says "Mommy, I am so happy you stay home (hoem) everyday (evreday). Love (she drew a heart) Allison."

If that's not validation, I'm not sure what is.

Who's she look like?

I'm sure I'm not the only mother of more-than-one who gets this, but I get asked all the time who we think Lindsey looks like: Carter or Allison. Both Brian and I have been seeing Allison in her and sticking to it.

Then I started looking through photos last night. What do you see?

Newborns:

 

 In my defense, they all look alike as newborns, pretty much. Right? I think this is why were first said that Linds looks like Allison and were sticking to it. But look at these...

And almost/about 4 months old 

(and I chose 4 months because I, true to third child form, don't have a great picture of Lindsey in the last 6 weeks.. oops. Note to self: take more pictures).

 

 

  

She looks like Carter! Maybe its the chub... and the bald... I mean they all looks like siblings: all the kids have got my eyes and my distinctly shaped "Allison" chin from my mom's side (Allison is a surname on that part of our family tree), I think they all have the same nose and same shape of lips...

But, I admit my mistake. Lindsey doesn't really look like Allison. She totally looks like Carter.

Where did May go?

Anyone else feel like May was a complete blur? Here's a little bit of what happened at our house in May...

The kids started swimming lessons (and love them!)...

Brian and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (no pictures... love you anyway, honey!)

The weather turned GORGEOUS so we got out the kiddy pool...

and landscaping tools (this root ball took HOURS to dig out and much have weighed 50 pounds!)

tried to be live in the moment of the third child and remember that we don't want her to wonder why there aren't very many photos of her...

And then apparently we blinked, and the month was over.

What was your May like?

Chores, Charts and Rewards... oh my!

As a mom of littles, the constant state of not-so-neatness in my house pretty much crushes my soul. And when something's gotta give, the first thing I let go is the house. Until Brian and I go crazy and clean it on a Saturday morning... and when I say "Brian and I" I mostly mean Brian, cause he lets me sleep in on Saturdays. And then I feel bad becuase he works hard all week and its hard to feel peaceful in relaxed in cluttery chaos.

As parents of littles, Brian and I want to be teaching kids about work, contributing to a family and the importance of saving up for things. Plus our kids are old enough to start helping with chores and I do NOT want to end up with kids who refuse to pitch in becuase they've never been asked or taught to do so. We needed a system...

So, here it is. I found the idea and free printable of the cards on Confessions of a HomeSchooler. I couldn'y find a pocket chart the right size at a price I was willing to pay, so I made my own from felt and vinyl. Each kid has two lines on the chart. Most are everyday jobs (stay in bed until 7 am, get dressed, brush teeth, make bed, put dirty laundry in hamper plus Carter sets the table and Allison helps with dishes after dinner), but a few are sometimes jobs (dust living room, vacuum 1 room, clean the plat room, clean bathrooms). The sometimes jobs are jobs Brian and I help them with during the week and on Saturdays. With the kids having tasks to do, picking up and mild cleaning actually gets done, instead of trying to do it and having it promptly UNdone.

When they kids complete a job, they get a reward card in the slot. Cards are collected and banked at the end of the day, then at the end of the week, the "Mommy-Daddy Store" opens and they can spend their reward tickets on treats and prizes. We're stocked with candy, toys, games & books (yay for clearance hunting!) and experiences (like a trip to our favorite ice cream shop, or the zoo).

We intentionally priced things we KNEW they'd want (the Ariel Barbie and the Imaginext toy) out of one week's reach so that they could also learn to save and work towards earning something. This was our second week working with the system and so far it seems to be a big hit.

They were both pretty thrilled to earn the prizes they were working towards this morning, since they didn't have enough for them last week. So far I think the only tweak we need to make is to raise prices in the "store" a bit. :) And hopefully this is a system that can keep working without huge efforts on my part, except for trolling for great deals on stuff to stock the store with... oh darn!

Milestones

Apparently no one informed Lindsey that growing up is verboten. She is supposed to stay my itty bitty baby forever!

However this week:

Lindsey "turned" 4 months old...

(so cute and chubby! I made these leggings... had to make them twice becuase someone was too chubby for the first pair...)

and rolled over for the first time...

(no picture yet, but hopefully I can get it on video... although she usually does it when I'm not looking...)

and tasted solid foods for the first time...

(mmm... smashed bananas! Jury's out in this photo, but tonight's tasing got RAVE reviews.)

and SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT for the first time!!! This one I'm not so sad about. If she could repeat it a few times I might be able to sleep a whole night too. :)

*sigh* Next thing I know, I'll have blinked and we'll be celebrating her first birthday...

Little Miss Lindsey

In January I took Lindsey to get her portraits done. Nothing special, just JCPenney. I wish they were special... but a few shots turned out cute. Wishing they were special makes me jealous of my cute sister Emily, who not only had fabulous hair that I envy, but also has a great photographer for a sister-in-law... AND she lives near her. The pictures of her cute baby boy are always fabulous. *sigh* I mean really, go look at her blog. The top bar picture? Shonda. The Valentines and 7 month pictures? Shonda. Newborn pictures, family pictures, engagement pictures... Shonda, Shonda, Shonda. So jealous...

Anyway, these pictures were definantly not what I had pictured in my head for newborn pictures, but I probably waited to long for the one I wanted. Oh well... I can't figure out how to grab the pictures to show on here... if you want to see them, check my facebook page. In the mean time, you get this...

Which is at least as cute as anything that the photographer at JCP got (even though its not a portrait kind of picture). Plus she's smiling, which she would not do for her "real" pictures.

And this one...

We definantly have another finger-sucker on our hands. I'm looking forward to the end of my binky-chasing days too, acutally. Lindsey will quite happily gnaw on her fists, but I'm thinking she'll be really happy once she finally uncurls those fists. Few more weeks, right?

Other than that, Linds is happy, chatty (our house will never, ever be a quiet house I'm pretty sure!) and generally conent, as long as she's being held. 'Cause if she's not being held, its pretty hard to protect her from the onslaught of her siblings' love.

This is them giving Lindsey space. Normally they're about on top of her if I leave her vulnerable.

By the way, I'm about ready to buy a DSLR camera body... I have some great lenses from the film SLR we have, so I just need a body... anyone have a recommendation for a good camera? I don't expect to do a lot of photography, I just want better picture of my kids than my point and shoot will take. And maybe, with a little practice, I would take my own kids' portraits and be happy with them...

The Best Way to Nap

Sunday afternoon naps are back at our house... and this is, by far, the best way to enjoy them.

Conversation of the day

Me: Um... Carter, why are you wearing a skirt?

Carter: Because Allison just gave it to me and I put it on.

Me: You know that boys don't really wear skirts, right?

Carter: Well, I don't want to talk about that right now.

Cute, funny kid.

Little Helpers

I know two kids who are getting pretty excited for their baby sister to get here. They've been practicing lately...

Hopefully their helping will be a little more helpful than me and Ben's attempt at helping when Emily was born... that MIGHT have ended with a dropped baby...

Blackmail

Beacuse I firmly believe that I'm not fully doing my job as a parent if I'm not collecting plenty of embarassing material to use on my children in 15 or 20 years...

Doesn't Carter make a pretty princess? :)

September

For starters, what happened to September? Out here in NY September seemed to have a bit of an identity crisis (it thought it was July... 85 in September is just unacceptable!), and then it was just over. We did manage to do a few things around here, however.

First, I got my house mostly deep cleaned. I never did manage to tackle a major mop of the floors, and the master bed and beth got generally neglected. But the rest of the house did get a nice clean. And I managed to get Carter's room painted, with Brian's help. I'll take pictures of both kid's rooms when they are (hopefully) completely done later this month. I didn't get my craft room (aka the girls' new shared room) painted, but the color is picked and I think Brian and I might tackle that one this next weekend or on Coloumbus day (which he has off... silliest holiday ever). So, yay for goals mostly getting done!

I took the kids apple-picking again this year, which they thouroughly enjoyed. I can't believe how big they've gotten in a year.

And I potty-trained Carter this month. Yes... I am that crazy mother who decided to potty-train her 2 and half year old. But he was ready, and he took right to it. He is largely accident-free and will tell me when he needs to go... I'd call that venture a success. And now I have a few months of no diapers!

I finished a few sewing projects for Allison: a jumper using Manhatten fabric (pattern is Simplicity 2574 ) and a fleece jacket (McCalls 6430). The jumper is cute, but too big. The little jacket is about perfect, and fills a gap in her fall/winter wardrobe too!

I got inspired about our living room, and how have a whole vision for a make-over. Its involves a different furniture arrangement, new couches, and a new TV, and a new cabinet to hold our DVDs and components. Apparently I don't get inexpensive inspiration, so for now I'll go with a new paint color, slipcovers and maybe a TV on Black Friday. Do you think Black Friday could put me into labor? Becuase that would be kind of awesome.

I love this pallete for the living room, except without the dark greys, and add in cranberry. My carpet is cranberry, I'm going to go a light grey-beige on the walls, chocolate slipcovers on the couches and light blue and green accents. Still hunting for the perfect fabric for window treatments to pull it all together.

What did you do this September? And what are your plans for October?

My October? Paint the girls' room. Finish projects to finish the kids' rooms (roman shades, theme-y painted canvases and bean bag chairs, off the top of my head... I know there are more!). Paint the living room. And halls and stairwell. And I should probably get started on Christmas sewing and crafting projects... hopefully the nesting instinct kicks in hard. :)

Today

Wanna know what we're up to this morning?

Potty training. He's ready... I'm not. So far, so good... Wish me luck!

Today I...

Today I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Today I told my almost 4-year-old that I was cancelling her birthday party.

Today I ignored my 2-year-old when I knew he was awake and finished with his nap.

Today I refused to make dinner. Or put the kids to bed.

Today I wanted to run away.

Today was not a good day on the mommy front.

Maybe tomorrow will be better...

Yesterday

Yesterday morning, I had an ultrasound and we all got to find out the gender of baby #3. It was a pretty amazing machine, but a REALLY squirmy baby... which is why the picture is a little unclear...

Baby's profile with hand near the face. :)

Yesterday evening I went shopping... cause thats what you do when you find out... buy baby a new outfit, right? Or two or eight...

...

...

Its another girl for us! :)

By the way, if you love the cuteness that is Gymboree, I asked one of the employees at my store if they had any 0-3 month fall/winter things in back (read: old stuff marked down cheap), and they brought me out a big ol' pile of things to pick through. You just have to ask and they're usually happy to pull stuff for you if they're not too busy. Everything I got was marked under $7 per peice.

Impromptu recital

Here's how Carter and Allison decided to entertain themselves before dinner tonight.

Cute, huh? I had a splitting headache, but I'd much rather have this kind of noise in the background than them screaming at each other, ya know?


Did you like Allison's bow? Or how Carter throws the spoons ("drum sticks") because he's so excited that its his turn to dance? Pretty darned cute...

Right now...

Right now my kids best friends are over to play. We are so lucky that another couple in our ward are our child twins... their oldest 2 are each a matter of days younger than Allison and Carter.

Right now Carter and James and Bridget are having fun in the playroom. And here is what Allison is doing...

Pouting. Refusing to go play becuase I told her she should. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...

On a side note: negotiating the sharing of train engines between two 2-year-olds takes a special kind of diplomacy. :)

Things a 90 degree day might entice you to do...

cut your hair 6 or 8 inches...

allow your children to play out in the pool for hours and hours and hours... (I'm pretty sure Allison was out there for 4 hours yesterday, and Carter got in 2 and a half after his nap)

yes, Allison is about to pull him down the slide here...

while you sit in the shady garage with ice water and magazines (and still get sunburned!).

Here's to the cold front that suppose to come through tonight and take us down 10 or 15 degrees!

Lately

Lately, since I've been battling morning... er... late afternoon/evening sickness (my nausea hits between 4 and 4:30 every afternoon like clockwork), I've haven't been doing much with my kidless evening hours. Not much blogging, not much projecting, and not much photo-taking during my better hours either. Luckily Brian's picked up some of the photo slack for me. Here's some of the happenings at our house lately...

Brian and the kids happened to be at The Home Depot during their mother's day kid's building workshop. Both kids came home completely thrilled that they got to build a little planter by thenselves (Allison painted hers at home after the fact). Carter asks to go to Home Depot every time we pass by now becuase "I want tap wiff da hammer." We're planning on taking them to another one soon... Lowe's has a bi-planes clinic this weekend. Sounds like winner activity to me!

The day after Mother's Day our local Walmart had leftover roses sitting in buckets near the extrances. They let Allison take one home for free, and she spent the next several days being a "getting married princess". Adorable, right? She knows that brides have veils and flowers. I think she's already planning her own wedding. Oy vey...

On a similar note Brian has now learned that if he wants to bring me flowers for some reason, he's better pick up a small arrangement or single rose for Allison too, or he's in trouble. :)

Allison is obsessed with windchimes and asks to buy one everytime she sees one. So I grabbed an ugly, cheap one and let Brian dismantle is and build a "new" windchime with Allison. She loved it. That girl is crafty/project obsessed!

Allison found the laundry baskets in the hall early one morning and decided they looked like a good bed. Isn't she cute? And can you tell she's perfected her picture smile? She used one basket fr her bed and one with her stuffed animals and dolls... then insisted that Brian take photos. Cute kid...

Costumes, Choreography & Body Image... Oh My...

Allison has been taking a ballet class at a local dance studio just down the street and around the corner from our house since last fall. She has loved every minute of it. She's been very excited about the idea of dancing on stage for an audience ever since I explained the recital concept to her.

Yesterday we got to see the girls' costumes and try them on for size. Luckily Allison's just fit, in spite of the growth spurt she seems to have had in the last six months. Unluckily, I don't think I'm very happy with the costume choice. Its cute, and its over the top, but I don't think its appropriate. The leotards they picked are halter top style. For three-year olds. And I just don't think its appropriate.

I think that dance studios very often over-sexualize little girls at very young ages in both costume and choreography. Last summer as I was looking for a dance studio for Allison I worried about making sure I found one that wouldn't do this to her, or any of the other little girls dancing with her. The world is harsh enough... dance studios don't need to be helping 3, 5, 8, or 10 year old girls feel like they have to grow up too fast or be "sexy" to have worth.

The choreography for Allison's class is very cute, and very 3-year-old appropriate. There's not a ton of real technique involved, but they're three... the think the fact that Allison knows what first position and plie are is pretty good I think. I wish the studio did as well at preserving/honoring the innocense of their 3 and 4 year olds in the costuming. I mean... I don't really expect her dance costumes to be sleeved, but a halter top?


So now, I'm thinking about looking for a different studio for Allison to dance at and it has me all sorts of worried. There are so many things that I want for her: I want her to enjoy dance. I want her to dance somewhere where she can be taught good technique so that she has options... so that she can be a "real" ballerina as long as she keeps wanting to dance.


I'd like her to be trained at a "serious" classical ballet studio, rather than a competition team driven dance studio. I want a studio that will preserve and protect the innocense of little girls. I feel like at classical ballet studio, I'd have to worry less about inappropriate costumes or choreography. But they bring with them a whole different worry. I don't want Allison dancing somewhere that will attack her body image from a young age or ever. And that is my worry about a serious classical ballet studio. I don't want Allison to ever be told that she can't or shouldn't dance because she doesn't have the right body. I don't want her to ever think that she needs to diet or look different to be good enough. It is hard enough to grow up with a healthy body image... I don't know a single woman who needs any help thinking up ways she'd like to change her body. And I want to sheild Allison from that as long as possible.


So where do I go? What do I do? Take her out of dance entirely because I'm so scared and worried? Stick with the current studio and alter her costumes until I start having problems with the choreography too? Find a serious studio and keep my eyes open for body image issues? Find a little not-so-serious ballet studio and hope for the best?


I'll tell you what I'd LIKE to do. I'd like to clone the director of the studio my sister danced at through high school and bring her out here to start a studio. It was excellent classical ballet (with tap & jazz instruction too) with beautiful choreography, lovely costuming (that parents got to see and "approve" before-hand!) and no pressure for dancers to have the "right" body. I want to find that studio here. But I feel like, if it exists, its a needle in a haystack. And now I'm so terrified of picking the wrong place. It feels so silly, and yet, with how these things I'm worried about could affect Allison, it feels like it matters so much.

A Hello to...

ballpoint pen on my freshly painted wall!

Grrrrrr!!!

And it won't come off! Magic erasers are just taking off paint, not pen. Guess I'll just have to paint over it...