Let's Party!

The kids got out of school last week, and I go back to work on June 7 (womp, womp). So one day last week I was thinking about the 3-day weekend - although right now every day is the weekend for us - and decided I wanted to have a Memorial Day party. My intentions were 100% selfish - I didn't want the kids begging to be on their Kindles all day, but I wanted Paige to be able to sleep in her bed {grin}! Well, our weekend ended up being really jam-packed and fun.

Brent decided Friday to take Drew to the lake with our friends (the same lake we went to last year for Memorial Day weekend). He knew I wouldn't want to go with Paige and that Drew would have the most fun as the other kids who would be there are her age. It was such a great plan. I was able to do a lot of work on reorganizing our playroom, spent extra time with Trent and Paige, and didn't stress about being away from home. 

We had to compare pictures of our sleeping charges. {grin}

Brent and Drew came home in time for me to go TO A MOVIE WITH ALLISON! My first theater movie of 2017!!! We saw Beauty and the Beast FINALLY! Even though I'm sure everyone who wanted to see it has seen it, review to come this week.

And Monday, we had a great party! We ended up with about 50 people here between adults and kids. We had 2 kiddie pools and our bounce house set up, and all 3 kids' rooms and the play room were DESTROYED. Everyone brought an app to share so we had a crazy amount of food. My mom, mother-in-law, and sister cleaned my kitchen before they left which might have been the best part! And of course I took ZERO pictures, boo.

This week our summer nanny, Morgan, will be coming over a little so she and the kids can start getting used to each other and learning each other. I'm not worried about it since I work from home, but I do think Paige is going to have the biggest adjustment. I don't want to whine talk too much about this because I know how amazing my company is for a 24-week, 100% paid maternity leave, and I know I have a pretty sweet set-up, but I am going to miss being the one to do everything for my baby. I went through these same emotions every time I went back to work, and I will go through them again with Paige starts 'school' in the fall, and I'm sure I'll blog about it then, too!

I think I'm going to take the big 2 to see Captain Underpants on Friday - I know, I know - and hopefully, we can come up with a few more fun things to do before I start the daily grind again. 

Man for a post that was supposed to be about a Memorial Day party, I kind of went all over the place, huh?

Celebrating Brent

Brent's birthday was last week, but we had Trent's school play and his First Communion, so we chose Saturday late afternoon/evening/night to celebrate. He wanted to go on the square in our town with friends and just eat and have drinks. My parents agreed to watch the kids {AND PUT PAIGE TO BED!!! MY FIRST TIME TO NOT PUT HER DOWN!!!}, so out we went!

Documenting his birthday just as much as me being OUT OF THE HOUSE!

This was the 21st birthday I got to celebrate with Brent. So awesome.

Our friend, Mike, bought everyone tequila shots which we all dutifully took.

Then he bought himself and Brent a shot of Makers.

#NoWeDidn'tTurn21

I couldn't stay out too late due to milk issues, but I got a picture of everyone.

I got home about 8:45 and Brent ubered home WAY later but had a great time!

Had so much fun with my love and our friends! Now onto Trent's birthday - he keeps saying he wants to have a slumber party - I'm not sure I'm ready for that, eek!

Currently

Current Book

Kristen gave me this book on Christmas Day, but I was nervous to read anything dark since I was trying to avoid post-partum {hahahaha}.

Current Song

Kiss Me by Casey Donahew - 

Drew requests this song in Brent's truck, and I DIE watching them sing it together.

Current TV Show

I read this book years ago and recorded it a few weeks ago. Excited to watch it!

Current Drink

Moscato D'Asti - I am obsessed - it is bubbly like champagne but sweet!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

I know this is going to sound super weird, but I am seriously obsessed with Paige sucking her thumb. It's embarrassing the number of times I stare googly-eyed at the monitor to see her sucking away, ha. I always wanted a thumb sucker {Brent and I both were} and a blue-eyed baby and was batting 0 until Paige started sucking her thumb. I love that it's a built-in self-soother that can't get lost!!!

Current Outfit

I co-led Trent's Field Day at school, and we created t-shirts this year!

Love our little school.

Current Celebrity Crush

An oldie but a goodie...see Current Movie for details

Current Mood

Excited because school is almost out!!! 

BUT...sad because that also means I'm about to go back to work.

Current Anticipation

Trent's First Communion was Saturday, and I can't wait to see the pictures that were taken!

Current Wishlist

Another month off work.

A new summer wardrobe for my post-baby body #3 {it changes every time}!

Current Film

I'm back! So FOR REAL, Allison and I are going to see Beauty and the Beast Sunday!

And we will go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie because we've seen the other 4 together. And then book club is planning to see King Arthur because half of us are obsessed with Charlie Hunnam, ha.

Current Picture

5 Month Comparisons

Love these 3 nuggets so much. When I look at these pics, the first thing I think is how skinny Drew looks. I still think Paige favors Trent the most right now with their fat, round faces and chubby cheeks. Most people say Paige looks like Trent or Brent, but a few {very few} say me. This time around I see a little more of me than I have in the past. 

Grow Baby Grow {Paige} - 5 Months

We are having a blast in our house with little miss Paige. She is such a ball of sunshine, and I could eat her up. The last month she has continued to grow up too quickly and has 100% lost all newborn-ness and is just amazing. She still is mostly an easy-going baby like Trent but has a little bit of sassiness like Drew. She is just the best!

Stats:
Weight: ~15-15.5 pounds
Diapers: size 2 in disposables, all snaps down and 1 snap open across {I finally started with cloth!}
Clothing: 3-6 months
Nicknames: Paigey, Smooch, Sweet Pea, Love Bug

*Paige is sleeping in her crib now for bedtime and naps! We started this right after 4 months. Brent laid down the law that it was time, and I knew he was right. She is unswaddled, in a sleep sack, and sleeps on her stomach. She wakes typically twice a night to nurse. Some nights it's more or she'll have a 2 hour party, but luckily that is not too often.

*Her bedtime is typically between 7:00 - 7:30, sometimes a little earlier or later depending on her last nap.

*She is hit or miss for nap lengths. Sometimes it's 2+ hours and sometimes 30 minutes. Right now she nurses to sleep or gets rocked to sleep mostly. Since she can transition between sleep cycles, I'm content to keep this up. Depending on how long her naps are, she naps 2-3 times/day.

*Paige quit the pacifier on her own. She just all of the sudden acted like she didn't know what to do with it, so I stopped giving it to her and she didn't mind. In the last few days, she has started sucking her thumb. I LOVE it. Brent and I were both thumb suckers and I always hoped I'd get one. It is the cutest thing ever.

*She is very talkative. She blows A LOT of raspberries and makes a ga-ga sound. She laughs a lot. Drew was very stingy with smiles and laughs for a while, so I'm eating these up. She loves to be tickled, raspberries on her tummy are starting to be funny {she was very skeptical at first}, and she definitely loves Trent and sometimes loves Drew. Drew is a little too enthusiastic with her attention! 

*She's rolled front to back several times in her crib and has also done back to front once or twice. She's the latest of all my kids to roll.

*Paige LOVES to sit up. She's really close to being able to sit independently, and we practice on this a lot. I timed her today and she sat for a minute several times before tumping over. This is the youngest any of my kids could sit.

*She is definitely interested in food and watches us eat. Makes me feel bad to eat in front of her! I am so excited to try food next month with her! I love me some baby-led weaning.

*Paige loves to read. She is starting to enjoy her Jumperoo and is really good at grabbing things. She spends a lot of time in the Bumbo and I just give her spoons, spatulas, whisks, and she loves it. She is really getting into texture - she likes to touch different things and will rub her fingers over them a lot if they feel weird or make noise.

*She loves to be sung to. I can almost always get her to stop fussing if I sing 'You are My Sunshine'. It melts my heart when the big kids sing 'our' songs to her - Leaving on a Jetplane, Moonshadow...

*The bath is still not a fun activity, so 99% of the time Paige showers with Brent or me or I get in the bath with her. I had to bathe her in her little pink tub last week, and she was whining the whole time she was in there and by the end was screaming {the whole bath took less than 5 minutes}. Later, when I took the tub out so Trent could shower in there, she started whining again just looking at the pink tub. Ha!

*Paige is getting better in the car. I would say we're 75/25 with her liking it vs. crying. This is where singing really helps! She also likes the windows rolled down and sometimes the Rain app on my phone. She has also sucked her thumb here a few times.

*No teeth yet. Trent got his first one at 4.5 months and Drew got hers at 7 months. Lots of drool and gnawing on things.

*Nursing is going great. She eats typically every 2-3 hours, but a lot of times this is nursing her down to sleep. I'm curious to how our nursing will have to evolve when I go back to work.

Loves her feet!

When Drew was 5 months old I was returning to work the next day. So thankful I still have 2.5 weeks with her although I'm sad my leave is almost over. I know how lucky I am to work for a company that gives this much maternity leave, and I'm also so blessed to work from home - we're having a nanny again this summer, so it isn't breaking my heart to go back to work since I'll be home with the kiddos every day. I am just sad that I won't be the one doing everything with/for Paige. 

My Main Man

In our house today, we're celebrating Brent! He turns another year older, and I hope he's another year happier. I saw this quote the other day and thought it summed up some of my feelings on my love pretty nicely:

The reason why I like you? There is no reason.

There should be no reason.

If you love someone because of a reason when that reason is gone,

your heart will change too.

I like you without a reason. I like you because you are you.

That really spoke to me because Brent is just a great person. There are a lot of great qualities about him, but at the end of the day, he is my better half, the yin to my yang. Simply, he is my lobster.

What are some of his great qualities you ask? Great question!

He is a loyal and good friend. When anyone needs something, he is there. He helps his uncle on his land all the time. He helped a friend and neighbor build some shelves for his garage. He moved plants for his mom. He doesn't do things for people to get something in return, he just does it because he cares.

He is funny. He is always ready to laugh with you (sometimes at me you) and have a good time.

He is patient. I don't think anyone could be married to me without an excess of patience. It takes A LOT to get him worked up.

He is steady. Brent is a mountain of steadiness. Postpartum 3 times? No worries, he's there. Trent's being especially challenging? No worries, he's got it covered. There is almost nothing that worries him which is perfect since I am the opposite.

He makes me feel good. I was talking to my parents and sister on Sunday about how unhappy I am with my body. But then I told them that over our 20 years together, Brent has never said one negative thing about my shape or size. Skinny, fluffy {I'm not fat, ha}, toned, soft, tan, anything, he loves all of me and makes me feel that love.

He has made my dreams come true. One word is enough to describe this: Paige. {grin} But past her, he supports all my crazy ideas and helps me make my dreams a reality.

So there is no one reason I love Brent. I love him for who he is. Who he is is pretty damn awesome.

Happy birthday, my love!

The Best

I had such a great Mother's Day it took me an extra day to blog about it, ha. I can't really explain how great it feels to know our family is complete and not have this constant nagging feeling that something {someone} is missing but knowing your husband isn't quite there too! Now - we are 100% certain our family of 5 is complete, and it just makes everything that much better.

I had lunch with my parents {yes, we let our dad come along} and sister. I don't know when the last time is just the 4 of us were together. I'm not sure my dad didn't regret a little being there as we talked about bras, stripper clothes, breastfeeding, our body insecurities...but I'm sure after living in a house of all girls he's used to it!

Our original foursome, LOVE

My sister is such a role model as a mom for me

This was also Brent's first time to have all 3 kids by himself. While Paige napped, he blew up our little pool for the big 2 and they had a blast. I got several videos from him of their shenanigans and it was precious.

Sunning

When I got home we continued to mostly spend the day outside and play! My in-laws came by for a little bit, but I didn't get a picture because Paige was DONE and I had to put her to bed.

My heart walking around outside my body

The End of the Road

You would think all things associated with me having our last baby would have come to an end...but nope! We still have a few more 'last' firsts in our future. {grin}

To likely end a tradition I started with Trent, yesterday I donated my hair! I don't know why I decided to tie childbirth to hair donation, but I did it after Trent, and then I did it after Drew, so of course I had to do it after Paige.

The before - seriously the longest my hair has EVER been in my life.

I was SOOOOOO sick of it!

Back view - kind of hard to see against the t-shirt

11 inches of hair! {and that's not counting what got cut in the styling process}

And AFTER! I love it! It feels so good and light and wonderful.

I also think I look younger...or maybe that's wishful thinking after starting my day at 3:00 AM due to someone who will remain nameless...ahem...Paige. 

Trying to look less dorky when I take a selfie...don't think I succeeded! 

I imagine this is the last time I'll have the patience to grow my hair out that long again - it was nice having a goal with the kiddos but that was a bit of torture, ha!

Show & Tell Tuesday: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Man I had a lot of fun with this topic! Super fun to think back onto my childhood and my favorites. I thought about TV, movies, toys, fashion...you know all the important stuff! I was born in 1980, so comment and share your favorites too! I'm sure there's a lot I'm not thinking of too!

Books:

Let's start with my favorite topic! Babysitter's Club! I loved me some BSC!

Sweet Valley Twins {not High}, Judy Blume books, 

R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike,

I read EVERYTHING by V.C. Andrews {and it was so not appropriate!}

Toys/Games:

Barbie was BIG! Patty and I would have fashion shows, and I had the ice cream shop, and we could play Barbies for HOURS.

I also loved Cabbage Patch kids. We had books, the board game, a premie doll.

I remember the Christmas Patty and I got our first dolls. We didn't know for many years the trouble my mom went to so we would have these on Christmas morning, and instead of appreciating them, we both burst into tears. Patty thought hers was a boy because her hair was tied back, and I didn't like that mine had red hair. What brats! Ha!

Care Bears! I remember all the movies and Care Bear Cousins... so fun! 

We didn't have a Nintendo {womp, womp}, but I played it at Allison's {my movie date} house.  

We played a lot of Sorry, Guess Who, Battleship...we were big into board games!

Anybody remember this screen?

Movies/TV:

Every time I spent the night at Allison's we watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

I loved Rainbow Brite! I had the doll and a Starlite doll too. 

I watched A LOT of Nickelodeon!

LOVED She-Ra! For many years both Patty and I rented The Secret of the Sword which is the movie about He-Man and She-Ra and she was bad and didn't know she was He-Man's twin and he rescued her. Anyone remember that? 

TGIF! Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Just the 10 of Us, My 2 Dads, The Cosby Show, Designing Women, Golden Girls, Cheers, A Different World, Family Matters, Murphy Brown, Saved By the Bell... 

The other movie we rented at EVERY birthday party! 

It's cookie time!

Fashion:

Keds! I loved these green Keds so much!

Bangs, bow, shrimp earrings, one piece romper my mom had made for us...NERD.

I always wished I could have dressed like Punky Brewster, ha!

This is all the stuff that popped into my head right away. I would love to hear what you remember about your childhood!

Life Updates

A lot has been going on lately that I wanted to blog about - none of it quite enough to do individual posts, so this'll be a hodge podge assortment of stuff. {grin}

Paige is sleeping in her crib! She's unswaddled and sleeping in a sleep sack! She's napping at least 50% of the time for more than an hour! This is totally the point in motherhood where I stop stressing a lot. I hate swaddling, I had the short baby sleep cycles, I hate teaching a baby to work through that, I hate when everyone isn't where they're 'supposed to be'. I am just on cloud 9 for where we are! I will miss snuggling with her during her naps, but I am definitely much more productive, ha. I also crave structure and knowing my babies' personalities in the newborn days, and I feel like that's totally where we are. Everyone is sleeping where they are supposed to, Paige is SO predictable now {hallelujah!}, it's just the beginning of the really good stuff. Now if we could just get her sleeping through the night...

I am feeling really good. This seems to be where my postpartum lets up. With Trent, I stopped taking Zoloft right around 6 months PP. With Drew, I noticed the anxiety was pretty much gone by the time I went back to work {at 5 months PP}. Sleep is definitely one of my triggers and once the baby is going to bed earlier, is sleeping in their crib, etc. I can just breathe. I don't think I'm quite ready to reduce the Zoloft yet, but it's so exciting to know it's probably not too far off.

I go back to work in 4 weeks. I am not necessarily ready to go back, but given I must work, I can't complain over 24 weeks off at full pay. We hired a nanny for the 3rd summer in a row, and I think this one {her name is Morgan} will be amazing. It's going to be such a different experience going back to work in my HR role compared to when I was in Audit. I will still see the kids so much during the day, and being able to continue to nurse Paige and not have to pump will be so nice.

I took the kids to my in-laws' apartment. They sold their house and are building a new one literally 7 minutes from us, but they're living in an apartment until it is ready. The big 2 went swimming and had a blast. Although it seems like they forgot a lot of what they learned at swim lessons last summer. Good thing we got them enrolled this summer!

Something really cool is happening Thursday...but I'm not going to say what it is just yet. Come back Friday to see!

Randoms

• We registered Trent and Drew for swim lessons through our community rec center. I'm excited to build on what they learned last year...but am also glad to not be repeating our first day from last year!
• Guess who started at Stitch Fix? This lady!!
• And guess who is sleeping AND napping in their crib? NOT this lady, ha. Post to come soon about this once we've really mastered it...
• I have 2 books downloaded from the library and NEITHER one of them is a Nora Roberts book. #proud
• This time last year we had our first OB appointment for Smoochie. So glad we have Smoochie on the outside now!
• I am using my passport for identification at Stitch Fix. Sad that it is 9 years old and has 1 stamp... We have chosen to have kids instead of travel. SOMEDAY we'll travel!
• The kids LOVE the song Shut Up and Dance with Me and also the Minecraft parody Shut Up and Mine with Me. Can you picture Drew and me {with Paige in the Ergo} walking around the grocery store singing 'These diamonds are my destiny. Whoa oh, shut up and mine with me.' over and over. Do you think the other patrons enjoyed it?
• I saw this quote and thought YES! 'Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you'd most like not to lose.'  -Neil Gaiman
• We need new pans - ours are super old {think wedding gift} and probably toxic given I was clueless about that stuff when we got married. Anyone have a good suggestion for pots and pans that won't break the bank {I so wish I could buy all Le Creuset} but good quality and non-toxic?
• Did I mention that all 3 kids will be at our school next year? We got a scholarship for Trent, so we can keep all of them there! I am so excited Trent gets to finish his Montessori cycle but also excited for 1 drop-off and pick-up! Paige starts in the Nido {Italian for 'nest'} class in the fall, and it is the cutest room. Ever.

That was a lot of randomness, huh? {grin}

April 2017 Book Review

When you see my first collage, you're going to think 'For real, Allena? MORE Nora Roberts?' But stick with me because I read 2 other books that were really good and 1 of them has a strong possibility of being my favorite book of 2017!

My April Nora Reads {I promise to do better in May at not reading so many NR books!}:
Public Secrets - The life of a girl whose father is a rock star. Her little brother is murdered in a bungled kidnapping, and this shapes a lot of her life. I really liked this one - it seemed different than a lot of other NR books!

Angels Fall - A woman who survived a violent event can't settle anywhere as she tries to recover emotionally. She decides to spend some time in a small town, Angel's Fall, and...witnesses a murder. Unfortunately, when she reports the crime, there is no evidence anything happened and no one believes her. This one was good, and I was surprised at who the bad guy was!

Montana Sky - 3 half sisters who have never met learn when their father dies that they have to live together for a year to inherit his ranch. Cheesy but not bad.

True Betrayals - A woman who has believed her mother died when she was 3 finds out that she's alive but did time for murder. She moves to her mother's horse farm to see if they can have a relationship. This one wove in events from the past with things currently happening - it was pretty strong and kept me interested.

Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer - Don't laugh too hard, but I loved Twilight back in the day. I know, I know - not great literature by any means. Well, I saw that Stephenie Meyer wrote a new version of Twilight as if the genders of the main characters {well, really, almost all the characters} were reversed. So instead of Edward the vampire and Bella the human, it's Edythe the vampire and Beau the human. The plot mostly follows the original story, but it was definitely fun to read this version if you can remember we're not talking about the best story ever.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld - This is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I loved it! The writing was great, the characters were great, the plot was different enough {but followed the bones of the original} to make sense...it was great!

Cancel the Wedding by Carolyn T. Dingman - This book...LOVE. Olivia's mom died a year ago and left instructions to scatter her ashes in her hometown - the hometown/childhood she never talked about and never visited. Olivia decides to take a road trip {and her niece tags along} to try and figure out why these were her mom's last wishes. I loved Olivia, loved reading about the struggles she was going through and how she resolved them, loved her relationship with her sister/niece, loved finding out her mother's story {which is heartbreaking}, loved her love story... I rarely buy books unless I have already read them and could see myself wanting to read them again. I could easily buy this book and re-read it. If you like anything I have ever recommended before, please read this book!

I've already got some books reserved and some others I want to check out in May...and so far, none are Nora Roberts books! Happy reading!