A day of firsts

I did three new things today! Unfortunately I didn't have the camera to document them... Here they are, in the order they happened:

1) I learned to make bread! Laurie H. invited me over and showed me how to make her incredibly yummy herb bread. My mom never made anything that required yeast, and so I inherited her fear of cooking any form of bread. But thanks to Laurie's instruction, yeast doesn't seem quite so scary! I feel so domestic now...

2) I made my first 911 call. After I came home from Laurie's, I parked in the garage and worked on unloading the car. Charlotte climbed out of the front seat and must have hit the lock button before she closed the door. So my purse, keys and TREVOR were locked in the car! Fortunately it was not hot (unlike the previous 3 days), the car was in the garage and Trevor was sound asleep. I was only mildly panicked, so I first called our roadside assistance service, and they told me to call 911 instead. Minutes later, the fire truck arrived at our house (fortunately without sirens) and 3very nice firemen worked to get my baby out. They actually couldn't open the door by the usual technique of hitting the unlock button, so they had to use their slick tool to fish my keys out of my purse on the passenger seat and press the keyless entry button to unlock it. Trevor slept through the whole thing, and Scott and Charlotte got to play in the fire truck. So in the end, I was the only one bothered by the whole event.

3) I took all three kids out to dinner by myself! Actually, Trevor slept the whole time, so it was really only like taking out two kids and a stroller. But we had a successfull, fun dinner and everyone was happy! YEA!!!

Finally!

I have been told that girls tend to potty train sooner and easier than boys... Not in our house! Charlotte has been very defiant for the past several months every time we suggested using the potty. She would announce, "NO! I am NOT going pee pee in the potty!" I haven't really pushed it, and my friends told me I would eventually find SOMETHING that would be worth it in Charlotte's mind to give it a shot. Well, I think I found it: Chuck E Cheese. Today she willingly sat on the potty multiple times with the promise of a trip to Chuck E Cheese once we get rid of the diapers. After one accident, we had a major breakthrough... She finally "went pee pee in the tiny potty!" (That's what she kept telling me) She was VERY proud and wanted to call Daddy and Grandma to share the news. She was hoping that one event would be enough to earn the CEC trip, so we had to chat about how this needs to be a regular thing now.

Here are some shots and video from the VERY exciting day!

Name the Baby Game!

Many of you have asked if Trevor looks like our other kids when they were babies... I'll let you decide! Here are a few baby pictures of all three. I'll post a comment with who's who:

Dinner Disasters

Yes, I have LOTS more interesting things to post right now, including Easter, Charlotte's birthday, and 1-month-old Trevor, but what new mother of 3 has time? It used to be that if I had a choice between blogging and sleeping, I would choose the blog 75% of the time. No longer. Not that sleep is a frequent option these days... But today I post in hope of soliciting some advice and suggestions from my friends.

Dinner time has become a huge challenge in our house. I have been pretty good about having dinner ready at 6pm, and Drew makes a good, solid effort to get home close to that time so we can eat together. The problem? What is SUPPOSED to be an enjoyable, uplifting family activity usually results in tears and frustration because Scott and Charlotte either won't eat or won't stay in their chairs or both. Are we alone in this struggle?

So I have debated about what we should do... We first ask both children nicely to stay in their chairs and eat, which they ignore. Then the threats and bribes come next. Rarely does anything work. So what is the alternative? Do we not force them to eat and just let them eat when they feel like it? Do we allow them to do "drive-by dinner" and wander around and only come to the table when they want to take a bite?

What rules have you come up with for dinner time and how do you enforce them???

2 weeks home with Trevor

Trevor is now 2 1/2 weeks old! The kid is an eating machine and at his 2-week check up was already up to 9 lbs! I am really not excited for him to be getting big so fast. Many have asked how we are adjusting... Well, as can be expected, I am exhausted. However I can't complain at all about the recovery from the c-section. I feel great! But the real challenge now is managing 3 kids . This became very apparent to me one day when I FINALLY got around to brushing my teeth at 1pm. Getting myself and 3 kids ready for the day is something I still have to figure out.

Charlotte doing better adjusting to the new baby. She is now going to bed and getting dressed or changed without too much drama. Hallelujah! Although as soon as I start to feed Trevor, she has to be right there, sitting next to me. Her new favorite game to play while I nurse is "Mommy is a Park". Here's how it works: Charlotte climbs up on my lap and slides down my legs. Sounds fun, huh? It is really just a variation of a similar game Scott used to play when Charlotte was a baby. He called it "Top Mommy" and he would climb up and sit on my shoulders.

Here are some of my favorite shots during the past couple weeks: I love Trevor's thoughtful poses. I'm sure there is really a lot going on in that little mind as he sleeps!

Scott really does LOVE his baby brother! It is so cute to watch him hold and talk to Trevor.

Dad has come by a few times after work to hang out, watch basketball games, and take a nap with Trevor. I think I have this exact same picture with Grandpa holding Scott and Charlotte at the same age!


Charlotte always wants in on the action, whether I am feeding or changing Trevor.

And here's the first bath!

Thank goodness for Daddy!

Drew took the week off work just after we came home from the hospital with Trevor. THANK GOODNESS! Without my mom around to help, I really needed him to take care of Scott and Charlotte so I could continue to recover from the c-section and worry about the baby. So to try to make the week exciting for Scott and Charlotte, we made a little calendar and came up with fun things to do each day. Drew was truly Super Dad that week, keeping the kids entertained and being EXTRA patient with them as they at times struggled to adjust to the new baby... Here are some of their adventures during the week.

Fairytale Land, or as Charlotte called it - Candyland:

Miniature Golf at Sunsplash:

Bubble baths are a HUGE treat!

Petsmart - Who knew the birds were SO hilarious!

Chuck E. Cheese - Always a sure winner!

Classes at the Little Gym: