Life around here seems to be flying by! Little W is almost 3 months already and soon the holidays will be upon us. Even though most days seem to go by quickly, I try to take some time to hear, see, or think about the little things that have made me smile or laugh throughout the day.
Little W hates riding in the car. The older two love to listen to music while we're driving around town and his screaming has been getting in the way of their enjoyment. There are days when all three are screaming in the car and it goes a little something like this: W: "WAHHHH!" N: "W, stop it. Mom make him stop. Do something!" J: "AHHH!" (in a very whiny voice followed by crying). Needless to say most times I dread getting into the car. On this particular day, however, we made it to preschool and back both times with no crying or whining from anyone. I was almost holding my breath as we turned into our neighborhood hoping it wouldn't be ruined right at the last minute. It wasn't and it made me smile.
Oh, the little things!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Those eyes say a lot...
When trying to come up with a name for my blog, I thought about what people say about my kids. For over three years I've repeatedly been told "I've never seen such beautiful big blue eyes." Given that all three of my kids have them, I thought it was a perfect fit.
Before they ever uttered a word, my kids spoke to me. Their eyes say a lot. In those first few weeks before they can see much of anything, they've sought out my face and turned towards my voice. Between three and four weeks they've seen my face and given me an adorable big grin. They've shined in pleasure when being talked to or played with and clouded over when they're sick or in pain. Those big bright eyes have been red and droopy when they're fighting sleep and darted back and forth when they're scared. It's amazing how much those big blue eyes can tell me.
Unfortunately with our newest addition, those beautiful blue eyes have shown signs of pain and panic all too much. Little W began to cry intensely shortly after we came home from the hospital. We had assumed he'd follow in the older kids' footsteps and have reflux, so we treated it early and some of the "reflux behaviors" quickly subsided. The screaming did not. We gave it a reasonable amount of time and decided there was more to it than the reflux. The panic and pain in those eyes was heartbreaking.
The pediatrician suggested eliminating dairy from my diet since he always seemed to have an upset stomach, runny nose, horrible baby acne, and eczema. After a Saturday night of six straight hours of screaming, I started my new diet. She told me it would take 7 to 10 days for the enzymes to be out of my system and an additional 7 to 10 days to get out of his. Slowly, but surely, things started to improve. The baby acne and eczema began to clear, he was less stiff, and the screaming almost completely went away. There are several other foods or spices that seem to bother him that I've taken out of my diet as well, but the dairy seems to have been the main culprit. Thank God we figured it out early. We felt so helpless and bad for the little guy. Once it all cleared out of his system he was a new baby.
The pain in those eyes returned a few weeks ago. He had caught a cold from his big brother and shortly after begun to scream when eating and being laid down. I suspected an ear infection and was right. It cleared with the round of antibiotics and a few days after he went off, he started showing signs again. The way he looked at me with those sad and cloudy eyes told me something was wrong. We're now onto ear infection number 2 in as many weeks. I'm hoping this isn't a sign of things to come. The poor little guy needs to catch a break!
As a mother, I've learned to look into those beautiful blue eyes to see if they're telling me something that I'm missing. My mom always said she could tell a lot of things by my eyes and now I'm finding the same in my own children. I guess she was just letting me in on a little secret long before I knew how powerful the eyes of a child really can be.
Before they ever uttered a word, my kids spoke to me. Their eyes say a lot. In those first few weeks before they can see much of anything, they've sought out my face and turned towards my voice. Between three and four weeks they've seen my face and given me an adorable big grin. They've shined in pleasure when being talked to or played with and clouded over when they're sick or in pain. Those big bright eyes have been red and droopy when they're fighting sleep and darted back and forth when they're scared. It's amazing how much those big blue eyes can tell me.
Unfortunately with our newest addition, those beautiful blue eyes have shown signs of pain and panic all too much. Little W began to cry intensely shortly after we came home from the hospital. We had assumed he'd follow in the older kids' footsteps and have reflux, so we treated it early and some of the "reflux behaviors" quickly subsided. The screaming did not. We gave it a reasonable amount of time and decided there was more to it than the reflux. The panic and pain in those eyes was heartbreaking.
The pediatrician suggested eliminating dairy from my diet since he always seemed to have an upset stomach, runny nose, horrible baby acne, and eczema. After a Saturday night of six straight hours of screaming, I started my new diet. She told me it would take 7 to 10 days for the enzymes to be out of my system and an additional 7 to 10 days to get out of his. Slowly, but surely, things started to improve. The baby acne and eczema began to clear, he was less stiff, and the screaming almost completely went away. There are several other foods or spices that seem to bother him that I've taken out of my diet as well, but the dairy seems to have been the main culprit. Thank God we figured it out early. We felt so helpless and bad for the little guy. Once it all cleared out of his system he was a new baby.
The pain in those eyes returned a few weeks ago. He had caught a cold from his big brother and shortly after begun to scream when eating and being laid down. I suspected an ear infection and was right. It cleared with the round of antibiotics and a few days after he went off, he started showing signs again. The way he looked at me with those sad and cloudy eyes told me something was wrong. We're now onto ear infection number 2 in as many weeks. I'm hoping this isn't a sign of things to come. The poor little guy needs to catch a break!
As a mother, I've learned to look into those beautiful blue eyes to see if they're telling me something that I'm missing. My mom always said she could tell a lot of things by my eyes and now I'm finding the same in my own children. I guess she was just letting me in on a little secret long before I knew how powerful the eyes of a child really can be.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Introduction
"You sure have your hands full." If I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that in the past ten weeks, my kids would have a nice addition to their college savings fund. This is saying a lot, as it is a pretty rare occasion for me to be out and about with all three of them at once these days. Gone are the days where going to Target, Wal-Mart, or the grocery store simply involved putting a kid in the seat and meandering through the store plucking items off of the shelf from my list. In fact, if I took all three of the kids to the store now, there wouldn't be any room in the cart for anything but kids! I know this, because I've tried. I would have earned a few dollars on that trip!
Life with three kids three and under can be summed up into a few words: busy, chaotic, exhausting. It's easy to put into words the way I feel most of the time, but at the end of the day, in the few quiet minutes before I catch some sleep, I think about how lucky I am to have these three beautiful gifts and am overcome with love and gratitude. I may not always have fashionable clothes on, my hair done, or my house in perfect order, but I do have three little kids who have kisses, hugs, or a smile for me no matter what I've done that day.
Since life is so chaotic and busy these days, I wanted to take time out to reflect and document what happens in our everyday life so that someday, when I'm missing these days, I can look back and enjoy the memories. The days may seem long at times, but the weeks, months, and years seem to fly by too fast. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride!
Life with three kids three and under can be summed up into a few words: busy, chaotic, exhausting. It's easy to put into words the way I feel most of the time, but at the end of the day, in the few quiet minutes before I catch some sleep, I think about how lucky I am to have these three beautiful gifts and am overcome with love and gratitude. I may not always have fashionable clothes on, my hair done, or my house in perfect order, but I do have three little kids who have kisses, hugs, or a smile for me no matter what I've done that day.
Since life is so chaotic and busy these days, I wanted to take time out to reflect and document what happens in our everyday life so that someday, when I'm missing these days, I can look back and enjoy the memories. The days may seem long at times, but the weeks, months, and years seem to fly by too fast. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride!
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