a whole month already?

*warning: prepare yourself for photo overload!*

I can't believe it, a whole month has already passed since Titus was born.  It's been a busy 6 weeks with lots of family and visitors and learning and adjusting to being a family of 5.

Titus is a sweet baby and is so loved by his big sister and big brother.  They always want to be near him, kissing him, talking to him and holding him. He loves to smile at them, and we love to see his toothless grin.  Every one of those smiles is gold to me...a sharp contrast from the screaming.  He has been a bit colicky, so evenings are a little rough around here and there isn't much sleep happening at night.  But, hopefully that won't last too long and we'll all begin getting a little more rest soon.

He is definitely growing well...at 6 weeks he weighed 13lb 7oz and was 23.5 in long! He has gained 5 pounds since birth!

Bubbe & Zeyde (Michael's mom and stepdad) stayed for about a week after Titus was born.  They were a huge help with the kids and with meals while I was resting and recovering.  Then Grandpa and Grandma (Michael's dad and his wife) came for a few days.  The kids loved having them here.  They also made it possible for me to make it to church just one week after Titus was born....there was no way I could have made it out of the house with all 3 kids and have been dressed and presentable in public so soon!

Claire, Titus and Bubbe

The 4 Brueseke boys

Claire and Grandpa

Then a few days later, Nana and Poppa (my parents) arrived.  Poppa helped us out with some projects around the house - a new garbage disposal (yay!), some painting, a new bathroom vanity/sink, and started some grass growing in the back yard.  And Nana helped out with the kids and the LAUNDRY...which I had been completely neglecting.   We did have a little fun too - we took Titus on his first trip to the beach.  Although, he didn't quite enjoy it like we had hoped...he pretty much cried the whole time. :(  

After about a week, Poppa had to leave for a business trip, while Nana stayed another week and a half to help me adjust to life with 3 kiddos.  I loved getting to spend this time with my mom and she was a huge help to me.  I think she might have enjoyed spending time with her grandkids too :)  Poppa then came back for a few more days before they made the long roadtrip back to to Nebraska.

It was so great having family here to help us through the first month.  I was able to rest a lot, the kids got the extra attention they needed, and the house didn't fall apart....we are incredibly blessed and so, so thankful.

Nana and Titus

Claire helping Nana play Sudoku

Poppa meeting his newest Grandson

Here's a few more pictures of what we've been up to for the past 6 weeks:

Brothers

swimming

lovin' on babies

multi-tasking

Mama and her boys

hard to believe Claire and Boden were once as little as Titus

my parents brought my old guitar for Boden to play - he LOVES it!

playing at the park

this is how moms lose the baby weight...we don't get to eat! 

Daddy and his babies

Frozen Yogurt Bar

Bathtime

apparently Claire is more interested in texting than in the story book

a little chutes and ladders

Bubbles!

It's still so wild to me that we have 3 kids!  They are such an amazing blessing.  Thank you Lord!

The "Meggie-Van"

Once upon a time I said I would NEVER drive a mini-van...In fact, I think I was still saying that up until about 5 months ago.  I was confident that I would sail through motherhood without ever driving a mini-van, SUVs will do just fine right? When I was in college I used to say this (why I was thinking about mini-vans in college I have no idea) and my roomate always joked that one day I would get a mini-van and she would get me license plates that said "MEG E VAN".  I should have known to never say never :)

We have a 7 passenger Durango that I intended to drive for many more years of hauling kids around.  But I wasn't necessarily intending to need to have 3 kids in carseats at the same time.  When we found out about the impending arrival of #3 we started looking at how we were going to work it out in the Durango.  Boden is on the verge of being able to move up to a booster seat weight-wise, but I feel pretty strongly that he needs to stay in a 5pt harness at least another year.  Getting 3 seats across in the back of the Durango was proving to be a challenge, and climbing up there to buckle them in a challenge as well.  There's the option of using the 3rd row, but that creates a few more challenges.  In order to get to the 3rd row, one middle seat has to fold forward (so no carseat on that seat), and in order for that one to fold, the middle seat can't have a carseat in it either because it prevents the side seat from folding.  So, that means 2 carseats in 3rd row.  Challenge 1 - no LATCH hooks in 3rd row.  Challenge 2 - seatbelts in 3rd row don't "lock" allowing the seat to be tightened adequately.  And finally, Challenge 3 - even if I did get the seats installed in the 3rd row tightly, when the 3rd row up, it's impossible to put anything larger than an umbrella stroller in the trunk.  Not gonna work out well with an 18 month old and a newborn.... and  I love my Phil & Ted's double way too much to not use it.

So, all that to say - we have now ventured into mini-van land!  I was hesitant and kinda had a bad attitude about it at first.  I really didn't want to do it.  But, then when we really started looking at them and test driving them I was quickly sold.  They were just made for moms.  Every detail is well thought out for families with kids. And Boden was so excited to have doors that slide "just like Addie's!"

We went back and forth debating between a Honda Odyssey and a Toyota Sienna.  I think we test drove each one 3 times.  In the end, we went with the Sienna and I'm so happy with our choice.  It's crazy to think it, but I can actually say "I love my mini-van!" lol.  We've had it less than 60 days and already put 4000 miles on it!

Here's my favorite things about it:
 *Automatic sliding doors! This is probably my favorite thing about the van.  No more worries about banging into other cars while getting kids in and out, and I can open/close the door with the button on my keychain.  I'm thinking this will come in even more handy when #3 arrives and I'm juggling an 18mo old, a newborn, a toddler, stroller, and diaper bag.
* Boden can climb in and out by himself - Lifting a 35lb kid up into his seat was getting harder and harder the more pregnant I get.
*Tons of trunk space even with all rows up.
*Built in sunshades on all the back windows.  Even with tinted windows, sometimes the sun is still right in their eyes.  These were great on our roadtrip out to VA.  (we've had the stick-on kind before, and ours always fell off after a few months)
*The 2nd row seats are on a sliding track that allows us to move them closer to the front row, if we need more room in the back, or slide them further back for more leg room/space in the 2nd row when not using the 3rd row.  This was also a huge selling pt for us for the Toyota over the Honda - the 2nd row seats in the Sienna can slide forward, allowing kids to get in the 3rd row, even with a carseat installed on it.
*Back up camera - so helpful to make sure no one is behind me when I'm backing up my big 'ole bus!
*This particular van also has a blue tooth feature that allows me to use my phone hands free - and also allows me to stream music/podcasts from my iphone wirelessly.  So great on roadtrips.

We really love our new van, just like every one of my friends who drives one told me I would.  I kind of laugh now when I talk to a mom who says she'll never drive a van...not that everyone will, but they certainly aren't the enemy I once thought they were. Be careful what you say "never" about! Guess I better see about those liscense plates....

8 Months

I absolutely cannot believe it's been 8 MONTHS since Claire was born! The time has gone by so much faster than I could have ever expected. We've been having lots of fun getting to know Claire's personality, watching her grow, and probably my favorite thing as a mother so far - seeing her interact with her big brother.

This is the standard "Claire face":

she makes this face all the time, especially when she's concentrating on something - trying to pick up a toy, or figure out how she can get to something across the room. Which she is pretty darn good at by the way. She started pulling herself around, kind of an army crawl about a month and a half ago, the same week she started sitting all by herself. Now she's starting to get the hang of actually crawling, but hasn't perfected it yet. That doesn't stop her from scooting, rolling, pulling, and sliding all around until she gets what she's after. She's a very determined little girl.

Claire is such a happy baby - she has her moments, but for the most part, she is so smiley and happy. My favorite part of the day is the morning. Even though I'm exhausted when she wakes me up at 5:30am, she is so happy and "talkative". She jibber-jabbers, giggles and smiles until we are all awake with her. And when her big brother walks in, she squeals and kicks her feet. She loves him so much and he is her world right now. Even when he's tormenting her by trying to check her eyes with a magnifying glass, pick her up by her head ("like the lions do", he said), or pull her around the room by her hands "teaching her to crawl" - she just thinks he's amazing. And he thinks she's pretty amazing too - he is always wanting to help her do something or teach her something. As a mother, this brings me so much joy. I pray each day that they will continue to love each other and take care of each other as they grow up.

Claire is also a great eater. We started feeding her purees a little earlier than we did with Boden because she was always trying to grab our food out of our hands or screaming at us while we were eating. So far, her favorite is avacado by far and the only thing she seems to reject is broccoli. She'll eat it when it's mixed with other veggies, but not alone. She really loves picking up her own food - banana chunks, cheerios, etc. Usually about half of it makes it in her mouth and the other half I find in the highchair. :)

It's been hot here in St Louis so we've been frequenting the neighborhood pool a bit lately too. Claire LOVES the water! She splashes and giggles and then tries to drink the water. oops. Boden is loving the pool too. He's more independent in the water this year - using his floaties and sometimes a raft. Thankfully this year he's developed a more healthy fear of the water- last year he had absolutely no fear of it and would just jump right in regardless of having a life vest on or not or if anyone was in the water to jump to! He started swim lessons last week and is having fun with that - blowing bubbles, and learning to float and kick.

We are just loving being a family of 4 and we are thankful everyday for our beautiful, healthy babies!

It won't be long...

It won't be long before those little footsteps I hear after naptime, running across the hall to shout from the top of the stairs "I'm awake!!" are just a distant memory, rather than a daily occurrence. It won't be long before the little boy who wants to be attached to me all day long is telling me not to kiss him in front of his friends. And it won't be long before the little boy who wants me to read books over and over and over again is off at college, studying something important I'm sure.

Tonight I stood outside Boden's bedroom door, trying to comfort him as he called out to me, frustrated because I wanted him to go to bed so I could work on checking things off my to-do list, folding laundry, and putting away dishes from dinner. He kept saying "mama, I want you", "mama, come cuddle me" - and it hit me at that moment...it won't be long before these days are gone. So I put down my laundry basket, left the dishes un-done and the to do list un-checked and cuddled up with my little guy. As I lay there all scrunched up in his toddler bed, listening to him breathe as he fell asleep, silent tears falling down my cheek, I couldn't help but thank my Heavenly Father for this most precious gift. One that I too often take for granted.

Some days it just hits me like a ton of bricks - the days I often wish away, will soon be over. And I will want them back. I look at Boden and I can barely believe he's 2 1/2 yrs old. It's gone by SO FAST! I was trying to remember what it was like before he could talk, but I couldn't. I can't imagine what it will be like to look back when he's 5, 10, 18 yrs old. I don't want to forget a minute of it.

Lord, thank you for the beautiful little lives you have entrusted to us. Being a mother is more challenging than I could have ever imagined, but also more amazing than I could have dreamed. Thank you for moments like tonight that remind me how precious these days are. Help me to find joy in each day and to never overlook the blessings each day brings. I pray that you will give me strength, wisdom, grace, and knowledge as I raise them to know you and love you. Amen.