Two-monther

Happy TWO months to our sweet little man. He looks so much like Grey to me and putting him in his old clothes gives me crazy deja-vu. When I told Jared he is a blue-eyed G, he responded that he will be "unstoppable." Apparently Jared's big blue eyes got him out of a lot of trouble growing up. And got him lots of girls... Awesome.

He is a happier little guy now that he is on his reflux meds. He has started smiling and cooing. The kids love it and will sing & talk in silly voices until they get a good smile out of him. We all adore him! He loves his changing table and baths. He is a momma's boy but will actually take a bottle unlike my other kids. Although he seems to want to take it from just me. Hmmm... He does not like his car seat--which is a real problem with preschool drop-offs and pick-ups daily.

Having three kids isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone terrified me--when I was pregnant already of course!!! But I do have to wake up each morning and decide what has to be done and what can hold off or not happen. There is no way to get everything done. And I am tired. So if I start speaking nonsense to you--just know I am very, very sleep deprived. But I am working out again and I finally feel more like myself being able to do that each day.

2-month stats:
weight 13 lbs 2 oz (80%)
height 23.5 in (75%)
head 15 5/8 (45%)
(almost identical to Grey at 2-months)

Crushes

Grey has a little crush on a girl, Tennyson, in his class. One of the first days of school he came home to tell me that there was a girl with a beautiful voice. He said he liked to listen to her talk. It is so sweet and innocent! She ended up being in the after-school cooking class we put him in and every time I go in there to pick him up they are sitting next to each other.

Last week I went to go pick him up after school and he came running up to me excited and showing me a piece of paper. He said he wants to call her so she can come over to play with him. Apparently he asked Tennyson's DAD for her phone number. Hahaha. That poor guy didn't see that coming with his four-year-old daughter. She wrote her name on the back for him. So cute!

I have loved watching him in the school/social setting. He is so confident and just loves playing with everyone and having fun. It is awesome to see his personality develop.

And on a side note--look at my cute boys after church. Grey likes to match Cole and asks me to put him in his sweater vest.

And we roasted s'mores in the rain one evening. I am proud of my girl-scout skills. I built the fire myself!

Firefighters

Our first visit to the Firefighters Museum:

Practicing on the 911 phone:

Dressing up and playing on the fire truck:

8.27.11

And Happy 27th birthday to the best sister and friend I could ever ask for... and the newest, cutest little mommy. I'm thinking 3 more years to plan the 30th birthday sissy travel time!!!

Love you lil' sis peepiters!!!

Lentil Skillet

I got this recipe from a friend and tried it out the other evening for a quick, meat-free dinner. I changed a few things from the original and it is a great base to add whatever veggies you have on hand. Next time I will probably add some chopped spinach as well. We all loved it. Grey even asked for it for lunch the next day.

1 onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced or shredded
1 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
1 zucchini or squash, diced or shredded
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 - 1 cup water as desired
salt & pepper to taste

Saute the onion and carrots in a small amount of olive oil until softened. Add lentils and rice and saute for another minute. Add zucchini, tomato sauce and broth and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils and rice cook through. Add more water for a thinner consistency. Serve with a squeeze or two of lime juice and cilantro.

Starting School

Grey started preschool on Friday! He was supposed to be in the morning class so that Jared could help with drop-offs and I could run errands with only two kids while he was at school. I found out two days before that they had put him in the afternoon class and there was no hope of changing it. It gave me a little panic when I found out. I had barely wrapped my head around hauling three kids out once every day to and from the school. Now I drop him off, hurry home to get Elise down for her 2 hour nap, wake her up and head out to pick him up again. I will get the hang of it--I am just not excited about it.

We aren't off to a great start, so I am hoping things start looking up. On Friday (the first day) the teacher talked to me because another boy punched him in the eye. And today I got a phone call from her just after I finished my lunch that he was throwing up and I needed to come pick him up. I hurriedly woke up both napping kiddos and rushed over to get my sick G. He was passed out on a big pillow in the room. We made it out of the school after one almost disaster. Luckily he kind of sort of made it to the bathroom....

Anyways... in honor of Grey starting school, I took him for a little Mommy & Grey date to Dairy Queen the night before. He picked out a blizzard with m&ms. I had him choose a lunch before he went to school the first day and he chose whole-wheat pancakes, pears, kiwi and edamame. Funny and random. Unfortunately he came home starving!

He is so handsome and definitely looks so grown-up! It is a strange realization that I will never have my boy home with me again. It goes way too quickly. I finally enjoy him and want to spend time with him and I have to send him to school!

Two-weeker

Hard to believe sweet Cole has been with us for two weeks--and especially hard to believe I gave birth two weeks ago! Other than being tired and my leaking eyes, my body feels so great! This recovery has been awesome. Now just four more weeks to get the dr. okay to work out. It is nice to be on the third baby. Jared & I have our system down and it is so much less stressful and worrisome. Let's hope it sticks.

Cole is such a delight! He hardly ever cries--mostly just grunts and barks. I have soaked up every possible minute snuggling and kissing his tiny lips and nose just in case this is our last baby.

Jared went back to work on Monday and since then, I have survived taking all three kids on a trip to Sunflower Market and Target, a picnic at the park, sitting at a Labcorp for an hour to get blood drawn for Cole, and filling out paperwork at Grey's new school. I only lost my mind briefly a couple times! The real trouble is always the toddler--Elise already has spunk and it is coming out in full force now.

Grey's comment about Cole today: " Mom, I just love him so much that you need to stop feeding him. I want him to stay small because he is sooooo cute!"

I will definitely keep feeding him, but we are all so in love with this little guy!