Here are some pictures of our weekend!

Isaac helping build the mailbox at Pop-pop's:

4 Generations of "Kenneth" men:

Grand-pops and Grand-mom:

GG Thorn:

GG Jim and GG Cathy:

For Easter we joined the Taylor's at their country club for the Easter Brunch/Buffet. It was an enormous amount of food and was quite delicious! It was fun to have everyone together on Easter!

Kayla loves to dye the eggs!

We had several egg hunts... the kids did a little one with the Taylor's at the country club, we did some inside the house and some more outside the house! Isaac couldn't shove candy in his mouth fast enough! The joy on their faces and the squeals they let out when they found an egg is priceless and a special memory for me! For the 2nd year now we hid their Easter Baskets inside with clues to find them, a tradition my parents did for me that I always loved! It was fun to search for them with the kids! Another tradition from my childhood is the "Resurrection Eggs". The kids loved finding them and hearing about what was inside! Kayla remembered them from the year before, so that was fun to hear her knowledge of them.

At 2 Isaac is:
Learning how to put his shoes on. He isn't too interested in learning to get dressed on undressed yet.

He can buckle the top buckle of his car seat.

He can open and close the fridge to get his own milk and then later put it back (however, he can't open it while holding his milk, so he has to set the milk on the floor and pull with all his might!!)!

He knows and can name all the different kinds tools and all the different kinds of trucks. In books he searches for those 2 things (tools and trucks) and is delighted when he finds them! In general, he loves to read and will sit and listen to us read his books and Kayla’s books too! He loves to point things out in them.

He is starting to speak with multiple words strung together. Right now it’s probably only 2-3 words together, but I can see that very shortly there will be a time when he’s stringing more together. His vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds daily!

He loves to help daddy with any house project. He's able to hand David tools when needed and loves to get in there and help too! He's quiet patient and can sit and stay focused on these projects for a long time! He has a pretty good attention span!

He loves to color and open and close the caps of markers! He loves playdough.

He loves animals and dinosaurs, although Kayla monopolized the toys of those. When she lets him play with them (they are hers and she stores them in her room) he is quite pleased!

He has the most amazing eyelashes, they are just so beautiful! His right eye has started to change color recently.... there is about 1/4 of his blue eye that is now hazel. We'll see what happens to his eyes in the months/years to come!

Sometimes, especially first thing in the morning and before and after naps, he loves to snuggle up with me. Otherwise, he likes to sit next to me, but if I try to put my arm around him he takes his hands and moves it off of him!

He has recently learned how to actually give a kiss, noise and all! Previously it was an open mouth pressed up to our cheek! I love the new kisses!

He typically goes down for naps and bedtimes so easily. Love it!

He eats next to nothing. He refuses to try new foods. We always offer him what we are having for dinner, but he politely declines. If we put it on his plate he'll try to hand it back to us. If we refuse, he drops it on the floor. A few times we have "forced" him to eat what we eat.... not giving him anything else to eat until he at least tries a bite of our food. He refuses and there is always much crying. Eventually he just goes without dinner. While I know he won't starve, I hate doing that to him. On some levels, I think if we did it for several days eventually he would be hungry enough that he would eat what we were eating. Or, at least I think he would. But it's hard for me to do this day after day. His staple foods are peanut butter crackers, peanuts, almonds, dried mango's, bananas, cereals, applesauce, yogurt, fruit leather strips, occasionally chicken nuggets or hotdogs. He's never ingested a piece of beef or pork, not that we haven't tried. He also won't eat pasta. Soooo very frustrating. We are looking forward to the day when we can reason with him. Until then, I'm at a loss.

He is very compassionate. If Annika is crying he will immediately get a concerned look on his face and run to her side and say "shhhhh" and try to pat her gently. It is so very sweet. Here is a picture of him spending some time with Annika on her play mat, giving her a hug and a kiss!

He still sleeps with his lovey (we have 2 now... so he has one while the other is in the laundry!). Typically it stays in his crib, but if he is sad when he wakes up, it comes downstairs with us for comfort!

He loves to play with Kayla. She loves to tell him what to do, and often she’ll “set the scene” for him (Isaac, pretend you are the dog…. Isaac, pretend we are firemen, etc) and they play so nicely together. Of course, as soon as he decides he’s done playing, she tries to force him to play and he grabs her hair with his fists and yanks. To her credit, Kayla does not usually retaliate to this.

He has really sensitive eyes and almost always needs sunglasses when we go outside!

He loves to bake with me. He loves to stir, add in ingredients, etc. I need to make an effort to allow him to help more than I do. I feel like my time is always so short and so I quick make things, but I need to try to find times to include him as well.

He sings along with me at his nap/bedtime songs... his little singing voice is quite adorable. Although I am sure most people (myself possibly included!) wouldn't understand many of the words he sings along, the tune and general ideas and main words are getting across!

He loves to play pretend, especially with kitchen stuff. We often have tea parties at home, and he loves this area at the museum!

He pouts or cries when he is scolded. He is in general a pretty good/obedient child, but when he is naughty he sure gets sad about being disciplined.

At his 2 year check-up he was 27.9lbs (25-50%) and 36 in (75-90%) with a head circ. of 48 1/2cm (25-50%).

He is truly a sweet little boy and we love parenting him. He has recently thrown some big temper tantrums, and I know the "terrible twos" are coming... but he is a pleasure and a joy to our family. I feel so blessed to be his mama.

On his birthday he was actually a little sick, fighting a high fever for a couple of days. He opened a few presents right around his birthday, but then we waited until his party to open the rest! We got him a train table (which we acquired for free - score!) and made the theme of his party Thomas the Train. We had a cookout with family and a cookie-cake (one on his actual birthday and another at his party! This is because he does not like/eat cake?!). He got a bunch of trucks and a bunch of train things for his birthday and he LOVES to play with all of them!! He also got a water table and a Cozy Truck for outside, both which we have been enjoying!

Birthday Dinner ice cream:

Opening gifts:

Lining up all of his new trucks!

Enjoying cookie-cake:

Would you believe this is the best family picture we got on his birthday?!

At 3 months Annika is:
*Wearing size 1 Pampers Swaddlers
*Wearing 0-3 month onsies and NB pants or swimming in 0-3 month ones!
*Nursing typically 6-7 times a day.
*Typically sleeping through the night (nurses around 10pm and sleeps until somewhere between 6-8am for her next feeding). Of course this isn't always the case, but amazingly it is the norm!
*She sleeps in her bassinette (no more bouncy!). She made the transition really well too. We are still swaddling her. We took the little vibrating part out of the bouncy and have it in bed with her. When we lay her down we put it on (in theory to make the transition from the bouncy easier). Sometimes if she wakes up in the middle of the night stirring I can turn the vibrator on and it settles her back down!

It's beautiful outside, the neighborhood kids are playing outside, and I decide to venture out too. I know playing outside with 3 is hard, but I also know it's important, so I go out knowing it's going to be interesting, but my kids will have fun.

Kayla is running around with the neighbors dog, holding the leash (basically dragging the dog)... going in one direction. Isaac is in the other direction, taking things out of our garage. Annika is sleeping in my Peanut Shell carrier. I am talking to my neighbor friends. All is (mostly) good.

Isaac brings me a package of batteries from our garage (?). And a big bucket of sidewalk chalk, the bucket which he has just broken the handle of. There is a small trail of chalk across our lawn from our garage to where I am standing. Isaac is now in my neighbors garage (one of the ones I'm talking with). He is trying to grab the real (china) tea set. He dumps the chalk all over the floor. He grabs their gas container. He takes off his shoes. He now has a dirty diaper.

Annika wakes up and is happy but needs to nurse shortly.

Isaac is back in our garage pulling things out.

Kayla is now inside the neighbors house, with their dog.

David calls at the time he's typically home and is instead just leaving work.

Isaac won't help pick up the chalk, I can't easily because I have Annika in the carrier. Thankfully Kayla stops to help.

I am trying to have a conversation.... my only adult conversation of the day (of the past 2 days, make that). But I’m so distracted by my kids and what they are doing that I'm not able to complete a sentence. Nor listen to what they are saying, because I’m having to keep looking out for my kids and can't see them so I have to walk away to find them.

I guess ultimately my goal was accomplished: we got some fresh air, activity, and the kids enjoyed being outside. I was the one left physically and emotionally exhausted. I guess the problem was that there was something I wanted to do in addition to playing with my kids (have a conversation with my friends). If I had just been paying attention to my kids I wouldn’t have been so frustrated. That seems to so often be the case: if I pay 100% attention to my kids, the kids are happy and all is well. But whenever I try to do something for myself (even little things like go to the bathroom, fix and eat my own lunch, try to talk to neighbors, clean) that is the time my kids choose to misbehave, fight or be mischievous. Yet another day where I realize that motherhood is the most selfless job.

The last year brought much more change than we ever expected. It was a whirlwind of a year! But through it I have seen the faithfulness of God. I have seen His provisions. I have seen how His plan is better than my own. I have seen the body of Christ support our family. I have seen how blessed I am by both sets of our parents, and how blessed we are to have 3 beautiful and healthy children. However, I am praying for a much less eventful year this coming year!!

At 2 months Annika is:
*Just transitioning out of NB diapers into size 1 Swaddlers.
*Outgrowing newborn sized onsies and sleepers and nicely fitting into most 0-3 month stuff (NB pants still fit great, though! Looks like another of my kids has the "long torso" gene).
*At her 2 month appointment she was 10 lbs 5oz and 23 in long.
*She is typically nursing 7 or 8 times a day, which ends up being about every 3 hours during the morning/afternoon, more like 2 hours in the evenings, and usually once during the night (sometimes she is going from 10pm until 6 or later in the morning... those are the days we only have 7 feedings.... if she is up at 3 or 4 then we have 8).
*When she is up during the night to eat she is now settling easily afterwards (as opposed to her first month when sometimes we were up for an hour or more trying to settle her back down).
*She's still sleeping in the bouncy chair in her bassinette in our room. I'm hoping to transition her to actually sleeping in the bassinette over the next month, but since she is sleeping so well in it it's hard to want to change!
*She sleeps swaddled up still!
*She's turned into more of a spitter-upper this past month than before. I thought I was going to get lucky this time, but no. We go through many burp clothes in a day (at least 1 a feeding) and I've started to put her in bibs because she was soaking her outfits.
*She is smiling all the time and cooing at us (I love this video of her)!
*She still seems to sleep most of the day, being awake for an hour here and an hour there.
*She is starting to roll onto her side from her back. We are a ways away from actually rolling over, but she is starting to get the idea of it!
*She's a very content baby.
*She has a cute dimple on her left cheek and has captivating blue eyes.
*She still loves to lie on the floor after a diaper change and look at her surrounding!
*She'd rather be held than not!
*She seems very easy going most of the time and is a true pleasure!

My bright eyed beauty!

You can see her dimple in this picture!

How she sleeps: in a swaddling blanket and in the bouncy seat inside the bassinette next to our bed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pursing her lips at me!

Happy girl sitting in her car seat on the counter... safe from her siblings and right by me while I'm working in the kitchen!

Tummy time!!

I used to want to have the perfect picture of Kayla to scrapbook.... after having Isaac I was hoping for the two to be smiling in a picture. Now, I'm happy if all 3 are in the picture at the same time (they are so hard to get to stay in one spot for more than 2 seconds!)!! In these pictures, 2 out of the 3 are happy!! I’ll take it! :)

We have been blessed by our friends in the neighborhood, by my MOPS group and by our small group at church. We had a "Meal Train" set up for us and were brought several meals a week for the month after my mom left us. What a blessing it was not to have to plan or shop or cook and yet still have something delicious to eat!! God has really blessed us with community!

It is a huge transition, but overall it's going well. The nice thing about babies is that they sleep so much that she often she doesn’t impact our day very much. Mornings are tough. I want to get the most sleep possible, so I'm staying in bed until I hear the kids wake up. Usually I hear Isaac crying/calling for me, so I go into his room and get him. Otherwise, Kayla's instructions are to not call for me (before Annika she used to call, "mommy, I'm ready, I'm awake"). I told her that I wouldn't be able to come to her, so she can't call for me. Instead, when she wakes up she can play in her room with her toys, or if she doesn't want to play and there is an 8 as the first number on the clock, then she can come into my room quietly and see if I'm awake! She has been pretty good about that, and most mornings I go into her room and get her (sometime she tells me she's not ready to be done playing yet!). But it is hard to figure out how to get everyone up, dressed, fed/nursed and out the door by 8:45 to get to preschool on time. It is hard because Kayla doesn’t like to be rushed in the mornings, Isaac is still dependant on me (to change him, dress him, clean him up from breakfast, put on shoes/jacket, etc) and because Annika’s nursing schedule is so random. Some days we are there on time and all happy (though it is rare!). Some days we are late (usually only 5-10mins, though) but all happy. And some days we are late and I am frustrated with Kayla’s lack of listening skills, crabby attitude and slow movement in the morning. It’s still a work in progress.

One of the toughest times for me is when I'm nursing Annika. It's hard to enforce rules when I'm sitting down occupied. Sometimes they play really well together, and sometimes not. I am still trying to figure that out! I am doing my best to not yell, but really, I feel like that is all I can do when they don’t listen the first (or second) time. Unfortunately, their TV time has increased because it’s so much easier on everyone when I have them watch something while I’m nursing. Then there is no fighting, no need to yell and everyone is happy! Sometimes I feel guilty about how much they watch, but honestly it doesn’t really matter! It’s not like we are watching hours a day, it’s not like we are watching TV instead of being active, and I do my best to make what we watch somewhat educational (most of the time!). I did my best with Kayla to not have her watch any TV until she was 2. But it’s harder to keep that rule with Isaac because Kayla likes to watch things, so he watches more than she did at his age. I still try to keep their total TV time down to 1 hour or less a day, and typically this is broken up into 2 or 3 different times of day. But some days it’s more and it’s for the best (my sanity!). So… yeah. Judge me, if you must! But spend a day in my shoes before you judge!! :)

The other tough time is getting everyone out the door and anywhere. It’s a task to get everyone dressed and shoes on and snacks and drinks prepared and diaper bag with diapers packed and Annika into her car seat and then holding the car seat and rocking it because she is crying and putting my shoes on and Isaac’s shoes on and his jacket on and Kayla’s hair brushed and the list goes on. I am thankful that Kayla is able to completely take care of all of her own needs, and is able to open the side door to my mini-van and buckle herself into her car seat on her own. It’s tough enough getting Isaac and the baby in the car and it seems like someone is always crying about something!

We have also changed how we do bedtime. Before Annika, David would take 1 kid and I would take the other (we’d take turns on who had who) and then we’d both head downstairs together. When Annika was first born we continued to do this and whoever had Kayla also took Annika. But so often Annika was fussy during that time and was screaming and making it very difficult to actually read to Kayla or talk to her over the screaming! So, we’ve started putting them down together in Isaac’s room and reading them their books together and singing songs together in his rocking chair. Then Kayla heads to her room while Isaac gets settled in his crib, and finally she gets settled in her bed. One of us will stay downstairs with Annika (me if she needs to eat during that time) while the other puts the 2 down. This has gone over really well with the kids (when we sing songs in the chair Isaac says, “hand” to Kayla so they hold hands, how adorable!) and has gone really well for us too!

Kayla has done really well adding another kid into the family. She is enjoying the roll of big sister again and loves to hold Annika and is a really big help to me. She hasn't really shown any negative signs/behavior or regression with the new addition.

Isaac, on the other hand, is having a tough time. He loves Annika very much. He is so protective of her - if she is ever crying he'll say, "baby!" and then "sh, sh, sh" to try to calm her, or gently pat her; it's really cute. However, I think he is suffering now that he is not the only baby anymore. He has always been the easiest kid to put down for naps or bed. Sometimes he'd even point to his crib while we were reading books or singing songs because he was ready to go lay down. Now, when we try to lay him down he clings to us for dear life and is sobbing if you try to leave the room. If he was able to see us (if we stayed in his room, or he could see us in the hallway) he was fine. But if we went out of sight he acted like we would *NEVER* ever come back again. It was really quite heartbreaking to hear him cry like this. He was also waking up crying in the middle of the night, after not doing that in nearly a year. Finally, after nearly a month, we seem to be on the other side of this (thankfully). After many discussions with David and I trying to figure out what was up and find some solutions, we are attempting to baby him as much as possible, carrying him more often, kissing him on the head more often, calling him baby Isaac again... and then we are leaving his door open and continue to sing songs as we walk down the hall. Somehow the combination of these things as well as time has helped him transition. I hope we are over the worst of it!

I really love having 3 kids, and while there is more work and more chaos and sometimes more stress, there is also more love and more precious moments.

I will try to update the blog again in a few months about how the transition continues!

At 1 month Annika is:

*Wearing size NB Pampers Swaddlers and fits in newborn clothes. She can wear 0-3 month clothes too, but they are far too big on her still!
*At her 1 month appointment she was 9lbs 6oz and 21.5 in long (which is great because we had some issues with her gaining weight for a few weeks... including a time when she had to sleep in a billi-bed because her levels were high).
*She is nursing every 3ish hours during the day.
*She'll often nurse at 10pm and then sleep until 3:30am, giving us a nice long chunk of sleep. Sometimes she'll go right back down and sometimes we are up for 2 hours trying to calm her down.
*She is a very content baby, loves to lay on the floor after diaper changes and gaze at her surroundings!
*She enjoys being held by Kayla and is constantly "giving" high-fives to Isaac. Both kids are so cute and so gentle and so protective of her. I LOVE it.
*She is smiling and has a really cute dimple!
*She is still sleeping most of the day, only being awake for an hour here and there.
*She has a fussy time at night between about 7:30-9:30 typically.
*She spent the first couple of weeks sleeping at nights snuggled up in bed with me. Now she sleeps in the bouncy seat which is on top of her bassinette (the bassinette that she doesn't like to sleep in yet!). She sleeps all swaddled up!
*She'd much rather be held than put down.
*She hates being in her carseat!
*She is a very relaxed baby and a joy to our family! We love this sweet little girl!

Tanning under the billi-bed:

I love the wrinkled skin look!

So peaceful!

Bright eyed and alert!

I love how she folds her little hands like this:

First bath!

She's stolen Daddy's heart!

She (clearly) did not want a photo shoot right now:

Clearly adding another child to our family didn't buy me any extra free time... instead it bought me more to blog about! And I still want to post things, keep our friends and family updated, and also be a record for me. So, my New Year resolution is to write less but post more.

Here are some much belated posts. I'll do my best to stay on top of things going forward, we'll see! I hope to post her birth story, an update of her first month, and some thoughts about our transition for a family of 5 shortly as well!

Boone
Pumpkin Farm
NC State Fair
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Preschool Christmas Party
Welcome Annika Joy!
Christmas

On Christmas morning we opened our stockings first. After breakfast we took pictures of the kids in front of the tree, then carried our presents from the living room to the family room and opened them there. Opening gifts took several hours because they wanted to play with their new things. When Kayla opened her new dinosaurs, she looked at me and said, "Mom, is it ok if I got and play in my room for awhile?!" and then disappeared for about an hour (and this was one of the first presents she opened!). It was enjoyable to watch them open and then play! We spent the day relaxing at home and enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner prepared by my mom.

The 2 days after Christmas we celebrated with the Taylor's. We had another yummy Christmas dinner on the 26th and opened a few presents that night. Then the kids had a sleep over at the Taylor's and we came back the following day to open presents. It was nice to have Christmas spread out over several days!

It is also making me doubt my ability to know and trust myself and my feelings. I really, truly think I'm in labor when this happens. So, am I going to know when I really, truly am in labor? With Isaac, I had contractions on and off all day, but couldn't tell if they were real or not. They weren't terribly painful and they weren't consistent. I didn't know I was for sure in labor until 4pm and he was born at 6:08. Not a lot of time. They say subsequent children can come faster than previous ones. Of course that is not always the case... but what if it is? By the time I know I'm for sure in labor I may have less than 2 hours. Did I mention we live 35 mins from the hospital, and that is if there isn't traffic? Heaven forbid it happen during rush hour! I feel pressured to know exactly when I am in labor so we can get in the car and get to the hospital ASAP. I do not want to have this baby in the car, in an ambulance or at the fire station (like David's boss' 3rd child!). I do not want to have to drive so fast that we are pulled over on our way (as Kayla's preschool teacher was during labor!). So, all of these episodes of false labor are really throwing me for a loop. Will I know when it's real? I am afraid that I won't know... or at least that I won't know until it's too late!

I've had people ask me if I plan to get an epidural with this baby. I had one with Kayla, but did not for Isaac. I don't know how to answer that one. Especially since I'm not even sure if I will make it to the hospital in time! So, I guess the answer is, we'll see. With Kayla I was hoping not to have one. But, a long labor, slow dilation and back labor changed my mind and I got one and am glad I did. When I got to the hospital with Isaac I was begging for one, but there wasn't time. And of course, he was born shortly thereafter and I was really glad that I didn't get one with him. I'd been able to manage the pain until the very end (really just the pushing stage was unmanageable, at which point I would not say I was coping well.... however, that's also the worst part, and also the last part, so...). So, I guess we'll see. This unknown is also a bit scary for me!

I am starting to get really excited and really anxious to meet this little one. My love for her is growing daily and I know that my heart will explode the moment she is born, and I just can't wait for that!