none: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

May - C Lu's first FULL month

Well, May certainly has blown by and there's been lots of "happy chaos" to fill each moment!

Let's start with Griff...

This guy is cool as a cucumber about finishing preschool and moving onto PRE K!

Here he is all ready for beach day at school.

***As a side note, I sent this pic out to our families and several members texted back, not with the typical..."oh Griff, so cute"...or "what a studly beach boy" that I was expecting. Instead they were very concerned that he had actually hurt his arm. I have no idea how they even spotted that white bandage on his arm in a tiny phone picture but none the less we alarmed some people! Ha! No worries though, Griff's arm is more than fine. He is just into wrapping it in some bandages I found and playing doctor. And I would hope a real doctor would do a better wrap job! Ha ha!

Griff and I got to have a special morning together on his last day at school! It was so fun to go with him and play games, read stories & make crafts! He had a blast & I had some tears (all the moms did). I am starting to realize that when your kids transition from phase to phase that mommies have to too! We get just as attached to the schedules, people in our kids daily lives & comfort level we feel in a routine. So, it took a few days for me to embrace that this next phase of life for Griff (& us) is going to be just as fun and familiar as the last one was and in no time at all we'll be dropping off Beanie at God's Gifts...but the two years here went WAY too fast!

Here's Griff with his teacher's Ms. Jones and Mrs. Stabile and his buddies John and Matt. The people at this preschool are truly what has made it such a blessing to us these past two years and we are so thankful for sweet teachers and friends!

On to Beanie:

Isn't he just a sharp dressed man??!! He is wonderfully almost 2. My girlfriends and I have been doing a lot of laughing/crying over our toddlers who are equal parts adorable & pains in the tush! And I am positive God made them that way so parents can make it through this phase. He's like a mini tornado every waking minute but his hugs, kisses, adorable language & chipped tooth smile make it hard to stay frustrated. He's really coming along on his chatter, even if only Ryan or I can understand it & he's just such a big boy all of the sudden...wanting to be just like Griff with his car, gun & dinosaur sounds.

Ah, to be a little boy!

And now on to our precious little "May Flower".

May has been been BIG.

She smiled at us for the first time...so beautiful!

She crossed state lines for the first time...to Michigan we will go!

She grew out of any chance of wearing 0-3 clothes and size 1 diapers!

It's so hard for me to not to focus on just how hectic things are around here to really enjoy this time and how this will probably be the last 1 month old baby I will have at my house. BUT I know that's just more wasted time, so I am working on pushing those thoughts out and loving these milestones I have the privilege of seeing her through.

Crozi Lu...

You are mostly adorably pink, but can you blame me? I've had two boys!! You babble, are fussy at night, love snuggling and snoozing with dad & I and you have a very high tolerance for your brothers and all their "lovin"! I adore waking up in the morning and seeing your sweet face in the basinet next me and feeling your little body snoozing on mine. Do you know how much fun your hair accessory drawer is? A blast! And putting your nursery together has been a dream (maybe not for dad...he got stuck with all the painting, but he loves us both so he did it!!!)! I'm still pinching myself over you!

Love you so much little girl.

And you also love all your "guy friends"! Here you are just hanging out with Paul & Noah!

So to sum it up....

We're having fun. We're getting little sleep. We're feeling overwhelmed. We're feeling the love from 3 precious peanuts. We're trying to sneak in a few "mommy & daddy moments" and have had some success (Happy 7 years to us!! We had a great date night to celebrate!)! We're finding a new normal and it's chaos, but like I said, it's happy chaos (and of course sometimes not so happy!!) and that's the way I like to operate or that's the way I always have so I guess I'm just going with it!

And now it's onto June....

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Adjustments and Perspective at 1 Month

It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since sweet Crozi Lu has been with us. It feels like yesterday and forever ago all in the same breath. A few things are for sure though, we can't imagine life with out her and also our life will never be the same.

We love our baby and we love all the joy, tiny pink outfits, sweet baby coos and snuggles, the way it makes Beanie constantly say...search for...and try to snuggle his "bay bay" and just being the 5 of us. We feel like a complete family and that is blissful.

In the last month we have been absolutely wrapped in love from friends and family! We are so very blessed, from the congrats on facebook to the meals lovingly prepared and dropped off, we feel very taken care of and we are so appreciative (please know that even if you may not yet have received a thank you note or birth announcement, I am working on them, slowly but surely:)!!) God has really taken care of us through "our people" and we are humbled at the love in our lives!

Muffins from the sweet Auntie Gayle Bailin...aren't they so cute!!

Please don't get me wrong, we are loving our baby and absolutely over the moon for our new life BUT there has been a lot of adjusting in the last month too...

These two are taking it really well all things considered. Here's a shot of them snoozing in Beanie's crib we took the other night. It's their newest scheme, G sneaks out of his room into beans and they sit in the crib and play until they fall asleep. We were so surprised the first time we walked in and found them both asleep in here. It's pretty cute actually (but don't tell them we think so) ha ha! We have had a few ups and downs with the boys but mostly nothing but love (up close and personal love) for their sister.

It's also been a lot of adjusting for Ry and I. We fall into bed exhausted every night, barely getting a goodnight out most nights. In the last month we have had a baby, got an offer on our home but decided to stay here for another year or so, had to say good bye to our sweet doggie Maci & adjust to our new life where we are playing zone defense on our kids instead of man to man...and speaking of basketball, the Bulls lost in the first round which has been a huge bummer to us all since we had gotten into the habit of watching the games together as a family. Beanie excitedly points to the TV and yells ba ball and Go Bullllllll and Griffin has a pre game and during game outfit he changed into for every game. We had so much fun having a "family interest" and Griffin still asks every night if the Bulls are playing...it's going to be a long off season:)!

In regards to Maci, we loved having you as a part of our family for the last 7 years. We got her like 2 weeks after our wedding so she was a founding member of the family. Just looking at this picture of her brings tears to my eyes trying to fathom that she isn't around anymore but with her condition (she was very sick with skin issues that we couldn't get pinned down) it was the best thing for her and us. I think and pray for her daily and miss her little (huge) ears, wiggly nose & polka dots. The stories we have about you Maci will be told for years to come and we love you always.

So NOW, it is time to focus on the blessings at hand, and that is these 3 little "things". They make life extremely FULL right now. Full of chatter...with Griffin who never stops talking or asking questions and Sawyer who is just starting to talk (we love how he says, "oh no!"), full of chaos, full of food on the floor and dirt everywhere, full of little boy injuries, full of messes everywhere, full of giggles, full of snuggles, full of times we are really becoming a family...life is just very very FULL and we are blessed through it all to be living it. After we said good bye to Maci I was so sad, yet felt a joy too because this life takes getting through the good and the bad together to build up & strengthen our relationships and I am so blessed to do life with my amazing husband. Being with him on easy street and through rocky roads just makes me love him more and more. And also each one of these little things has me amazed and in awe of God's plan that started on a semi blind date and now looks like this....

Wanna know the best thing about having 3 kids. PERSPECTIVE. We have it. We aren't all worried over the little things and although we get stressed and feel overwhelmed, we know (or are at least more aware) "this too shall pass" and we will get through this stage and the next. Someday we will sleep again...someday the frustrations of this phase will pass and be replaced by new ones but we know for now, to the best of our ability we gotta enjoy!

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

Psalm 90:12

Dear Crosbi Lucille,

Here you are at 1 month. Can you believe how well you can hold your little head up already. Your day is mostly sleep, eat, fuss & snuggle but the thing you do best is make everyone in our family smile. We each love and adore you very much. Just 1 month of you has us longing for the many months ahead to spend with you and trying to savor these sweet moments we have now. You are eating great still and sleeping at night fairly good considering how new you are. I love wearing you in your carrier and doing household work and taking you out and about. You are such a hit everywhere we go!!

Here's a little photo sequence captured by Ryan, poor Crozi:(...

Playing so nice on her blankie made by Great Grandma Lucille (who she is named after)

Then she got ahold of her own hair...

and this caused quite the tears:(

So that is about a month's worth of updates. We're still kicking, it may not always be pretty but we are at least still going. Hopefully this pic above is what our nights look like from here on out so we are closer to functioning regularly with each passing day!

Sweet dreams!!