2 Months with Three

It's been two months since Piper's birth and my initiation into the motherhood of threes. 
I remember when I was pregnant and scared with Scout that countless people told me to chill out because it doesn't get hard until there's three.
"Hey, two is exciting. Three is a different story." 
And they were totally right. 
Two was bliss and three is bliss with an equal side of chaos. 

But first, a quick update on the kids. 

Jude started Kindergarten this school year and is doing so incredibly well my heart could burst. He's obsessed with all things Lego's and asks multiple times a day for the Lego City Fire Station we volunteered Santa to promise him for Christmas. He also started indoor soccer right around the same time and although he doesn't quite get the concept that the whole thing is a competition, that's almost what I love most about it--just my perfectly happy boy running (and often skipping) around the court happy to kick the ball and give it to someone else and cheer for the other kids whether they're on the same team or not. He also loves his new baby sister and teasing his newly crowned middle sibling. 

Scout is constantly talking, singing and playing some sort of instrument. She's known for going 0-100 at any given moment, usually because of a dog or a baby or Winnie the Pooh. "WOOOOOAAAAHHHH DOGGIE! AIR-PAY! (airplane) DADDY!!" and such. And when the non-stop singing doesn't stop when it needs to (church) and crackers are shoved in her mouth to serve the same purpose as duct tape, she spits out a "ank you" and continues on humming loudly. It makes me so happy that she's just this little tone deaf humming bird around our house, putting anything around her neck that could resemble a scarf and standing up on anything that could resemble a stage, and just being a perfect mix of affection and fire. Two is so much fun. And so freaking frustrating. She loves her baby sister way too much and is often found hugging and kissing her with so much terrifying love that I swear she may inadvertently kill her. Piper doesn't seem to mind. 

Piper has been smiling for the last few weeks and just loves her siblings, even when Scout sits on her back during tummy time. She's a beautiful and easy baby that loves to nurse and sleep and smile. She's even started sleeping through the night. If that first postpartum month wasn't so hard I swear I'd have 20 more if they could all be just like her. I'm one lucky mom and the magic of having a newborn hasn't lessened with it being my third. It's just as heavenly as ever. She's nearly doubled her birthweight, and although she doesn't have any dimples like the other two and her eyes are this weird mix of blue, green and brown, we've accepted her with open arms. 

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Recently, some friend think I've had enough time to become some sort of expert on the subject and have asked what it's like having three. For those on the cusp of becoming parents of three themselves, I've left out a lot of the struggle because, you know--fear-- and have been more candid with the others who still have time to save themselves.
No, it's not that bad, but I admit it is harder than I thought it'd be and everyone's emotions are running higher than anticipated. 

Here are just a few things I've learned and been subject to over the past 2 months: 
-I laugh on the inside when people assume that the baby is the cause of all of the stress, when it's actually the other two acting out due to having their attention cut by 33%.
-Your standards for cleanliness will have to be lowered, if only just a little bit. Otherwise, the pent-up anxiety will drive you to insane sprints of cleaning that just leave you in hopeless tears on the freshly mopped bathroom floor your son just missed the toilet and peed on. 
-You will resent anything that needs mincing. When your baby demands to be held, your two year old is starving and your 5-year-old thinks this is the perfect time to tease the 2-year-old, ain't nobody got time for that. So just skip it. Or give it a few whacks with a butcher knife and call it good.
-Have a really interesting answer in your back pocket to the question of whether you're done having kids or not. You can't just say you don't know because people demand a follow up. 
- Leaving the house is terrifying because the older two know your hands are full with the third and will take any opportunity to scatter in random directions, and usually toward a busy road. 
-But, if you confine yourself and your little ones indoors, their stifled energy results in mutiny. I've come to appreciate the concept of "sister wives." 
-With each kid my milk supply has increased exponentially. This time around I'm convinced big boobs are completely overrated. Why would I want volatile goodies that go from saggy, half-deflated water balloons to red and painful explosive firehoses, when I can be perfectly happy with the easy-going chest of a 12-year-old boy. 
-I've never been more tired in my life. And as an on-and-off-again night nurse, that's saying something.
-Depriving someone of sleep is a form of torture, designed to not only mess with their ability to function physically and mentally, but to essentially break them down to a state of insanity. I haven't had moments of insanity, yet, but I've had moments where if someone asks me for so much as a turn of my head Dr. Banner ceases to be Dr. Banner. 
-And when you're essentially up 24/7 around the clock taking care of people, you can't have too much ready-to-grab-and-eat stress food, i.e. homemade muffins, chocolate, cookies or pie. Seriously, this beautiful flying unicorn of a lady dropped off a giant Costco pumpkin pie a few days after coming home from the hospital and I devoured that thing in two days BY. MYSELF. Her name is forever etched on my heart. 
-Also, having those foods your kids can help themselves to proves handy in keeping them alive when you've once again dropped into a near death-like sleep while nursing the baby on the couch.
-I hope more than anything that those moments when I'm nursing and nature's not only calling, but also refusing to stay on its side of the dam because, you know--birth--and everyone follows me into the bathroom, with the baby and boppy still on my lap, are completely erased from their photographic memories. Please, oh please, oh please. 
-You may all of a sudden age 60 years and forget easy things, like a time when six hands weren't clawing at you for 10-12 hours a day, when you last shaved your legs, went grocery shopping, what day it is, your kids' birthdays, how jeans feel, or how to keep an idea going until the end of your sentence.
-You may even get to a point when your heart could burst for joy because of all the beautiful and wonderful kids you now have to love while simultaneously resenting that they require any effort on your part to stay alive. 

I'm getting there, I promise. I'm not 100% yet. But I'm getting there. Inch by inch. Day by day. But the best advice I can give for adjusting in those first few months is to let things go, order in your groceries, arrange playdates and ask people to take your older kids for a few hours, buy a few new coloring books and packs of crayons, have a few takeout menu's handy, teach your kids to do chores BEFORE your baby arrives, and to just suck it in. Which is such a dumb saying and I hate it so much, but really. Soak in the moments. Because during all the hard I've been reminded over and over again to stop wishing away this day for the next because this very moment is the one I've dreamed about my whole life. Good or bad, I'm living my dream. And honestly, how many people can say that? 

Here are just a few of thousands of favorite moments snapped over these last two months:

 

Balloons

These two, man. Sometimes they just kill me. 

These were taken in November while playing with balloons from Adam's birthday. 
Jude loves making her laugh, and she loves him for it. 
They've both reached the stage in their relationship where they're definitely more territorial and jealous of one another and of the attention they get from me and Adam, but all-in-all, they cherish each other.
And I'm glad I can capture moments like these to look back on while he's shaving the hair off her Barbie dolls and she's trying to date one of his best friends. 

2016 and Good Memories

The start of this new year has me going through old photos from these last 12 months. And realizing that I haven't shared a good 90% of some really great ones (in my own opinion), I'm taking the next few days to throw these babies up here. 
Mostly of babies. And our visit to PA a couple months ago. 
And us too. I think it goes without saying that I love my family, but I really am infatuated. 
Of course, we have our days, but there are far more sweet moments than sad or angry ones. 
They are my heart and soul and bring me joy and warmth daily. 

Here's a few today, and some more tomorrow. 

 

Sisters. 

"Wow--it looks like a Christmas tree!"

Scout met her Great-Granianna for the first time. She either smiled or made this face. 

Love that every time we visit my parents Jude gets to go to Grandma's Sunday school class! 

She's in a sticker phase right now. I love it so much. 

Thought I'd leave this sexy piece of man for last. 

*smooches*

Disney Land (Part I)

Last month we spent a week in California at Disney Land and California Adventure for a family reunion with Adam's family! It's been many, many years in the works and this was such a blast of a gathering for all of us Stevens', especially since it was my first time at the parks. (My summers were spent in the Adirondacks and knee deep "mowing" the lawn with these --ask me how many scars I have on my ankles. Ask me). 
Living in the relative middle of the country now definitely has its perks when it comes to flying from one coast to the next. It was usually a 12-hour day flying to go see whichever of our families we didn't live immediately next to and now it's a solid 6 hours tops. And it's beautiful. The kids were darling little champs--mostly sleeping the whole time--and I also realized that from now on when we're gifted with the opportunity to upgrade we will be without question offered a mini-van and NOT a Mazda-6. 
It's cool. 
I found that driving a brand new Dodge Caravan, with its sexy-smooth leather and automatic doors, actually tempted me to throw my next $20k into becoming even more of a 1980's-mom jeans-happy-family cliche. 
What made me feel that way in the first place?--Matching Disney t-shirts. 
*sigh*
But I digress...

Jude took a little bit to get used to the masses of people, loud rides and larger-than-life characters, but once he sunk his teeth into some chocolate and nearly choked me to death more than once in little-man terror, he got relatively used to it. 

Look at this kid! Talmadge wasn't even afraid at all to go on Splash Mountain. His aunt, on the other hand, was screaming like a little girl and asking to be let out next to the dancing rabbits. 

He then put her to further shame by going on Tower of Terror and LOVING it. 

mmm..that's a good looking group.

Scout definitely enjoys being outside and was such a good little girl sleeping in the stroller and joining me to meet up with Mother Goose every two hours. (explained below) 

And THIS is when all of their wildest dreams came true. 

Is sleeping babes not the best site ever??

Can I just say, aside from the most delicious corn dogs ever (I don't even like hot dogs), hot beignets, Ghirardelli milkshakes, or the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, my absolute favorite part of the whole parks experience was the Child Care Center. Every time I needed to nurse Scout I would walk in and be greeted by wonderful elderly ladies dressed as Mother Goose guiding me into an adorable room with wooden rocking chairs to feed my precious babe. It was a beautiful, beautiful experience. And I spent more time there than I should have.
It was magical. 

Jude wasn't so sure about the parade at first, but once he realized that the floats weren't actually coming after him and were just rounding the corner very slowly, he was cool with it all. 

And that's Part I! We were exhausted after just one full day at Disney Land and took a day in between to hang out at the house and swim. 

My idea of the perfect vacation is a careful balance of play and doing absolutely nothing but lying on a couch with re-runs and takeout. 

And I was perfectly careful.