Before and After

So, before we bought our house, I showed you pictures.
And, when we listed our house for sale, I showed you pictures.
Now, I'm going to show you both those pictures again, side by side. Who doesn't like a good before and after picture? I sure do.
To go along with these pictures, I will share some good news. We signed a purchase agreement on our house. The closing date is January 31st and the buyers will be renting from us until then. Now we just need to find a new place to live!
Now, behold the before and after pictures.

Swimming With 3 Littles

When we went house hunting last weekend, we stayed at a hotel with a pool. We knew Mason wanted to go swimming (we live a block from the city pool, so he asks to go often), but we weren't sure we could handle all three kids in the pool at once. After all, they can't swim!
Tyler suggested that just him and Mason go swimming and I could do something else with Elliot and Finnley. I thought that would certainly be the easiest option, but we agreed it would be nice for the girls to get to enjoy a new experience. We did all kinds of new things with Mason, I'd hate for the girls to miss out on certain things just because it was more difficult for us.
With little thought and planning (and purchasing) we figured out a way for everyone to enjoy the pool.

• We bought a floaty ring. That solved the whole being outnumbered aspect. One kid in the floaty, one in each of our arms. The kids rotated, so everyone got a turn to ride in the lady bug.
• We bought a life jacket type thing to put on Mason. I'm not really big on the idea of giving him a false sense of security, but when you are outnumbered, safety wins. Two year olds have minds of their own, for all we knew he could have been running around the pool area, slip and fall in. Luckily, there was no running, and he never wanted to float by himself, so it really was just precautionary.

• We came to the pool prepared. 5 towels, my camera, and our floaty... It was important to remember everything on the first trip, once those kids are in the pool, it isn't any fun to haul them back out before they are ready to leave.
• I also got our room ready for when we got back. I knew when we returned to our room, it would be time to get ready for bed. So, I laid out a couple towels to change the gals and set out three sets of jammies.

It is really crazy how much more work adding two extra kids to your family can be. Must be the whole being outnumbered factor. We struggle a lot still, it often seems like there is at least one child unhappy, but we try our best. Being prepared for things like this really helps and reduces stress and anxiety.

When we left the pool, I had Mason walk back to the room with his legs still in the ladybug floaty and held on to the sun shade part. He was trying to run to the edge of the pool, but I just yanked on his leash sunshade, so no incident there!

Now that we've conquered swimming with three, we are eager to do it again, and Tyler came home with two more floaties the other day. Perhaps we will just stick them all in their own floaty and take a nap in the beach chairs. Kidding.. probably.

An 8 Month Comparison

 As a reminder, here was 3 months:

8 Months

Yes, for real. They are 8 months old. The past month has been super busy developmentally for Elliot and Finnley.

Around 7.5 months Elliot started crawling, the same day Finnley got her first tooth. The next day Elliot started pulling herself up?!?!? A day after that Finnley started crawling. Just a week or so ago Elliot poked out her first tooth. And somewhere in between there Finnley also pulled herself up, but doesn't do it as often. They now each have two bottom teeth, crawl everywhere, and are constantly trying to pull up on anything and everything. Chaos!

Elliot started babbling, "Ma ba ma ba ma ba.." and of course a day or two later Finnley started saying "Ma ma ma ma.."

These gals are HEAVY. Especially when you carry both at the same time. Finnley is 20.2 pounds and Elliot is about 1/2 pound behind.
Elliot and Finnley eat and nap at the same time. They rarely nurse alone (unless we are in public, I don't tandem then) or nap without one another. 2-4 naps a day, quality affects quantity. We are up around 6am and bed a little after 6pm. They wake in the night 3-4 times average.

You may think I'm crazy, but I'm so excited for them to start walking. They are already wanting to so badly. It will just be a lot of fun. (Quote me on this is 5 months)

I love how they are starting to interact with one another. Holding hands, laughing when the other is laughing, grabbing eachother's face.. all that fun stuff!

How about some more pictures?

 Elliot

Finnley

Finnley

Elliot

Elliot, Finnley

Elliot

Finnley

Finnley, Elliot

What Can I Say, We Have Our Hands Full

Or so that is what everyone says when they see us out and about with the kids. "Wow, you sure have your hands full!" Hear it all the time. It is true. Literally. Especially this week. Those darn babies and their growing teeth. They do NOT want to be set down. I'm so happy my husband is done with school for the summer. If he wasn't home during the day, I'd be pulling my hair out. I am pretty lucky!

Dad & Elliot

We just got back from a weekend of hardcore house hunting. Well, it felt pretty hardcore anyhow. Just so you know, getting in and out of the car every 15 minutes with three kids who need buckled into car seats isn't too fun. Two of those kids hate riding in the car and the other one kicks. I love looking at houses, but I'm glad to take a break.

Mason pushing Finnley

House hunting? Why yes. I do believe I forgot to mention that we are moving. Again. Tyler got a job as an assistant women's basketball coach at a college in south-central Iowa. A great start down the path towards his dream job. The kicker is.. it pays very poorly. He will also be substitute teaching in the area.

We spent our weekend, when not house hunting, in a crappy hotel. The pool was nice and so were the beds. But the floor right inside our room was drenched (like walking through a puddle) from the air conditioner leaking. They basically threw out a loaf of bread and a jar of jelly for the "continental breakfast". And, it just had an overall musty scent in the air. You get what you pay for?

So, now you kind of know where I've been lately. Here and there, with my hands full. I have a handful of posts I have started but lost steam on or been called to bed by a crying baby. Perhaps one of these days I'll find a way to balance it all. Perhaps. In the meantime, try not to miss me too much should I disappear randomly!

Siblings

Baptism and Bedtime

It has been a while since I've published a post. Lately, at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit down and write. I don't know what it is, but the past week these babies have been waking constantly through the night to nurse. Could be teething or growth spurts or tummy aches or something else. What I do know is that I'm so ready for bed when I lay them down, and usually end up joining them right away.

This past Sunday, Elliot and Finnley were baptized. We had a little family get-together afterwards.
I love family get-togethers. It is fun to see everyone, especially when you don't get to very often.
I also love my mom and her hostess-ing abilities.
The kids were all entertained by people other than me, bonus! Mason absolutely loves playing with his cousins, Jacob and Abigail. They are a ways older than him, but that doesn't matter. He's been asking me this week where they are. Unfortunately, the answer is 250 miles away, so we won't see them as soon as he is hoping.

Also, in case you wanted to know, it was 108 degrees here today. Pretty crazy considering it was snowing just over a week ago!