Happy Mother's Day!

I'm blessed to call these three my kiddos and to be their mommy. I hope I can be a great momma to each of them and not mess them up too much. :)

I love you Dylan, Kaylin, and Clara!

Easter 2011

Easter this year seemed a bit rushed and hectic partly because I have three kids 5 and under but mainly because on Saturday (the 23rd) my mom, Kaylin, Clara and I went down to Orange County for my sister's baby shower. We flew down early Friday and came back Saturday evening. So a quick trip there and back (and unfortunately I did not take my camera so I don't have any pictures. I will have to get some from my mom or sister to share. It was a fun time of seeing friends and family.) Because I was going to be gone right up until Easter, I put Tim in charge of Easter plans, baskets, eggs, etc. (He did awesome--as usual.) Here are some pictures of our day:

Checking out the Easter goodies.

Clara with her gift in her mouth (of course).

Victory over the egg hunt.

The girls (notice the matching sweaters).

Aren't they just too cute? Even with Dylan's tongue hanging out.

I'm sorry if i'm bragging, but my girls are beautiful. (And their dresses matched but we didn't get any clear shots because our battery died, which means we did not get any family shots. Boo.)

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

first kisses

Just a cute sisters pic that I had to add.

Clara loves to put everything into her mouth, including us! I like to think that she's giving us kisses.

Kaylin wanted one too!

She's so tiny!

6 months old!

I wanted to give some stats to remember my youngest at six months old. (There's a lot of detail here that some may not care to read through; it's mostly for me to remember all the little things).

She's by far the smallest of the three and every time we are out and about I always get the comment, "She's so tiny!" And she is. But also, so cute.

See:

At six months Clara weighs just 11 1/2 pounds and measures 24 1/2 inches long. about the size of an average 3 month old. (In comparison, Kaylin was around 17 pounds at six months.) She fell off the weight chart a couple months back probably in part because she continues to spit up in copious amounts. She hasn't started solid foods yet (she did try a taste of bananna but was tired so she reacted by refusing the spoon and crying). I'm not going to start her on any solids until I first talk with a lactation consultant because she will get more calories by staying on a breastmilk only diet.

She is still not rolling over, although it's probably not her fault and more due to lack of floor time. She has started sitting well and enjoys it (thankfully) but still needs to be surrounded by cushions for protection. She loves reaching for anything and everything she can get her cute tiny fingers on, and if successful in grabbing, the object goes promptly into her mouth. (She is by far our most oral baby. Kaylin never put anything in her mouth and Dylan did for some things. But with Clara, it's EVERYTHING.) She started saying dada back when she was 5 months and has now mastered lala and baba and other similar sounds but i'm still waiting for mama. I think we're close. Compared with her brother and sister at the same age, she is ahead with language but not quite as verbal as Dylan. Kaylin was a fairly quiet baby. And giggles are mostly reserved for her big sis. Although she will laugh when I blow raspberries on her tummy or sometimes when we play peek-a-boo. She smiles a lot though, and it's beautiful and it lights up her whole face.

Her hair has finally started to lay flat (around the same time Kaylin's did) although when she hasn't had a bath in awhile, and i'll be totally honest and admit I usually only bathe her about once a week, if not longer, her hair starts sticking up again. And along with all the comments we get about how tiny she is, we always get a comment about her hair. And how it sticks straight up. Well, not so much anymore, now it's just, "Wow, she has so much hair! How old is she?"

I think I see two little slits in her mouth and if that means teeth then she will be the youngest to get teeth out of the three. Kaylin was a whopping 13 months before she got ANY teeth and that was a major pain. Dylan was 9 months. I'm just worried that the little bites that she takes now when nursing will really start to hurt when the teeth come in. I'm not looking forward to that.

Some other things about our sweet Clara:

She loves to be held (of course) and is not afraid of strangers yet.

If someone smiles at her, even a stranger, she smiles right back.

She's been doing sit ups since she was 3-4 months old. Well she comes really close anyway.

She's mellow and observant.

She's the only one with blue eyes in our immediate family.

She has four [strawberry] birthmarks: one right under her belly button, one on her back, one on her scalp, and one under her left knee, which has faded.

She seems to look like both Kaylin and Dylan but we get more comments that she looks more like her brother.

Can I just say that I love my sweet little Clara Lou and that I just want to eat her up? Cause I do!

Cuteness X 3

I had posted some of these on Facebook a while back but thought I'd add them here too because they're just so darn cute. I mean just look at those faces! They are from a quick trip to the park about a month ago.

Sisters

Clara's first time in the swing. I think she enjoyed it.

Swingin away

I love this picture of Kaylin! Such a big smile and a happy girl!

Our year so far...

Okay, it has been way long since I've posted. I started this post back in February and am just now getting around to finishing it. (It'll post saying February but really, we all know it's April.) I really must be the worst blogger ever. Anyway, I had originally meant to do a little update on how I am doing with my New Years resolutions so I'll get to that first. I think I've only had marginal success, to be honest. (And really, who ever actually accomplishes their resolutions anyway? At least that's what I'll tell myself.) And as the days quickly pass, my effort slowly lapses.

I did really well with reading for a bit and read probably five books, but it's been a bit since i've last picked one up.

I was going to the gym pretty regularly, but then had like a three week break and just this week resolved to get back and get this weight off! (And speaking of weight loss, any of you with three kids have a really hard time losing the weight the third time around? Since the initial weight loss after the delivery i've probably only lost three pounds with three months of exercise. Frustrating!) As for the half-marathon, yeah, not so much. I am still trying to plan for a 10k but nothing has been set in stone yet. Some days are better for time management and of course, some days are lousy. The kids are watching less tv, for the most part, but I'm watching about the same. Reminder: cancel cable! And darn you Biggest Loser and Parenthood and the Office...I was doing a bit better for awhile getting up early but haven't in a while so I need to continue to work on that, and for that to happen I need to go to bed earlier. And the worst one is that I still am not reading the Bible/doing daily devotions because, again, I'm not getting up early enough. I really need to work on this one.

Here are some random pictures:

making silly faces

Trip up to the snow to go sledding

Auntie Karen and Uncle Aaron were able to join us!

Clara being cute and laughing at Kaylin

Tim and I going out for our anniversary dinner (which we had to rush through because Clara cried the entire time!)

Dylan helping daddy mow

Okay, I think my new resolution should be to blog more...

2011

Happy New Year! Sorry no pictures, just some goals and, of course, resolutions for the upcoming year, in bullet format:

• Be more intentional with my time
• Learn how to sew
• Read for at least 30 minutes everyday
• Watch less TV and have my children watch less as well
• Play with my kids more
• Exercise three times a week (to prepare for a half marathon)
• Go to bed earlier
• Get up earlier
• Spend time in the Word everyday
• Pray intentionally
• Spend less time online
• Be more creative with food and meals
• Keep in better touch with old friends
• Make new friends
• Write letters
• Stick to a budget
• Handmake 90% of our gifts this year

An ambitious list, I know, but one that I hope I can begin to accomplish this year. How I organize and spend my time will really predict how successful I am and that is why using my time better is first on the list because it really trickles down and influences most of my other goals. (Although there's really no order to the list.) If I get even a few of these I will be happy and I'm sure i'll add more and refine it as the year progresses.

Some of the things we're looking forward to in 2011:

• Kaylin turns 5 and will start Kindergarden
• Dylan will start preschool
• Tim and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage
• Clara turns one
• I turn 30 (gasp!)
• I plan to run a half marathon with my mom
• My sister and her husband will move into the area and have their first baby
• A family trip to Disneyland

Happy 2011!