Hazelnut Farm

We pulled out the old Baby Bjorn and headed out on a family journey to the Hazelnut Farm.  It was good for all of us to get out of the house, breathe some fresh air, and get some exercise.  The Hazelnut Farm is so relaxing. I love it there. 

Lucy found her personalized trail, "Lulu's Loop."

Pete has taken over bath duties (and a lot of other duties, God bless him).  He adds a personalized touch to the shampoo.

Life is pretty exhausting right now, but when I am able to take a step back every now and again and look at our beautiful family, I am so thankful and feel truly blessed.

Still surviving

We continue the transition to a family of five and are getting used to being on our own.  By no means to we have the system down yet, but we were already used to crazy, so we are just adding a new bit of crazy to the routine.  We have even taken a few outings and have managed to make a simple dinner or two on our own.  As you can see ... Sofie loved the instant pudding I made for dessert. :_

A trip to the park in between raindrops.  It is essential to get Lucy and Sofie outside.  I cannot wait until the weather gets better.  Of course, then it will probably get too hot and I'll be complaining again - it's always something. :)

Emma has been awake more during the day, but sleep at night is still a struggle.  I read in one of the baby books that I pulled out that exposure to afternoon sunlight makes babies sleep better.  I hope it doesn't matter whether or not they are awake.

Oh, sweet Sofie!  While Lucy has gotten more and more mature, Sofie has reached new levels of tantrums and irrationality.  She can still be the sweetest, funniest girl ever, but, man, she can drive you nuts as well.  This too will pass, I keep telling myself.  Probably just in time for Emma to start the terrible twos. 

Lucy is just getting to be a big kid.  She can still have her crying spells, but overall she has gotten so much better and is a real help.  She is so sensitive and sweet.  I am excited for her to start preschool this fall.  She loves, loves, loves to learn.

I had the girls by myself for the longest stretch yet this afternoon.  While the baby slept, we played with pipe cleaners.  It was actually pretty fun.  I'm excited for Pete to get home though.

I love this family.

Week One - Survival Mode

Well, Baby Emma is now 9 days old and we are slowly, but surely adjusting to our life as a family of five.  As my mom said several times during the past week, "it is not for the faint of heart."  Sweet Emma has been a wonderful baby so far, even though she spent the first few nights with her days and nights mixed up.  The girls, well, they are adjusting.  Lucy actually loves having the baby around and seems determined to teach her everything she knows before Emma reaches a month old.  Every five seconds she says something like, "Baby Emma ... Have you ever seen Alice in Wonderland?' Then launches into a detailed summary of the movie.  Her other favorite is, "Baby Emma ... when you grow up I'm going to take you to the chocolate factory" or another place usually made up from her active imagination.  The difficult one is Sofie.  Sweet Sof is two and has managed to perfect every aspect that caused this age to earn the nickname "terrible twos."  She's interested in Emma, but definitely sees her as a threat.  She has hit her, kissed her, pulled her hands and feet, and tried to whack her with a shoe.  Every time I sit down to nurse I am in full protection mode.  It is exhausting.  I definitely could not have made it through the past week without my wonderful and amazing parents who stayed with us and made the transition home so much easier.  My mom stayed up with the baby so that I could get some sleep and still managed to run the house during the day.  She is amazing.  I love you mom and dad! (Dad you are amazing too!)
Anyway, on to the pics ... they are out of order, but I am too tired to fix them. :) 

Pete is the most wonderful husband and father.  I don't know what I would do without him.  He amazes me everyday.   I can't wait for him to be home full time in six weeks for the summer.  He FINALLY got to see one of his children born this time.  He watched the whole thing and was the first to hold sweet Emma.

And ... my parents finally didn't have to fly halfway across the world to witness the birth of one of their grandchildren.  This time it was simply a two-hour trip.   It was also fabulous to get to have the entire fam there.

Sweet Emma comes into the world.

Grandma Marge getting to know her fifth (and last) grandchild.

I can't believe I am putting this picture on the blog, but, why not?  Here I am getting wheeled out of surgery. 

A picture of the clock when the bells chimed that Emma was here!

 This is seriously how it is every time we sit down with Emma.  Lucy wants to talk to her and Sofie wants to make sure that she isn't taking her place.  I really hope that the novelty of Emma wears off soon because it is driving me nuts. :)

Our good friend Carolyn sent the girls a bunch of wonderful gifts.  The girls absolutely love their new wings, wands, puppets, and books.  Thank you Carolyn!!!!

And this, my friends, is how bedtime is currently working at our house.  Pete puts Sofie and Lucy to bed and usually falls asleep while doing so.  Sometimes, this is how he spends the whole night.  It is really sweet, but not so much comfortable.

Out of order, this is Lucy meeting Emma for the first time.  Seeing me in the hospital threw both the girls off, but they handled it pretty well.

A pic I took in the hospital.

Another meeting with Lucy and Grammy.

Sofie meeting Emma.  A sweet kiss.

Going home!

Asleep, as usual.  Although she is starting to wake up a bit more these days.

I think this one is from my Dad's phone.

This one is definitely from my Dad's phone.  I love this pic, but wish it wasn't blurry.  My girls and me.  I'm not going to lie ... it is a bit tough right now, but I can't put into words how much I love these little monkeys.  Pete and the girls mean everything to me and I feel truly, truly blessed by this family.  This COMPLETE family :)

 

Before signing off, here are a couple of pics from Easter of the girls playing with their bubble machine from Auntie Katy.  This little toy has been a life saver.

 

Happy Mother's Day!