July 29, 2013

Hinckley Reservation.

So!  My ankle.  Yeah... I sprained it.  ish.  Nothing too crazy just missed a step and twisted it all to hell.  Sleep deprivation is most assuredly to blame and not my own klutzyness.  AHEM.  Anyways I've been babying it since it happened including all day Saturday when we all stayed home so that I could rest my foot.  Then Sunday morning everyone in my house was in a foul mood.  The kids were picking at each other and everyone was whiny and bored.  I looked outside at the beautiful, sunny and 60's weather, and decided "eff this noise.  My ankle will be fine.  We're going outside somewhere pretty!"

Hinckley Reservation
ROCKS WATER.
The last time we were at Hinckley Reservation we were training for Peru.  So... yeah.  Awhile ago.  Then we were doing serious hiking - up to Whipps Ledges and through the surrounding hills.  This time we started at the spillway:

Hinckley Reservation
I apologize for the suckiness of the pictures.
Hinckley Reservation

Which is PERFECT for little kids.  Lots to do, water that's not that deep or with that great of a current, ducks to chase, bathrooms, lifeguards, and you can see the entire area from basically anywhere you sit.  Perfect:

Hinckley Reservation

Although next time I will make sure that the kids have their bathing suits on BEFORE they go near the water.  Wading in 60 degree weather for an adult does not involve getting soaked from head to toe:

Hinckley spillway - next time we will make sure they have bathing suits on BEFORE they are anywhere near the water! #metroparks #summerincle #happyincle

Not so much for kids.  Heh.

Anyways after a picnic lunch my ankle was feeling pretty decent (ibuprofen FTW!)  so we headed to the ledges:

Hinckley Reservation
Hinckley Reservation
Hinckley Reservation

The kids loved it.  They like hiking and the woods in general but throw in the option to CLIMB ROCKS and it's just about the best time ever.  The dude literally climbed over every single rock in his path:

Hinckley Reservation
kindof like an iguana.
And when he saw some guys actually rock climbing he was all "THAT GUY UP THERE.  CLIMB ROCKS. OH WOOOOOOW."

Hinckley Reservation


They were also pretty into the little caves / crevasses in the rocks and thinking of all of the things that might be in there:

Hinckley Reservation
Both of the big kids were troopers - walking the entire hike themselves.  We want to go back sometime when my foot is in better shape so that we can take them all the way up on top of the ledges.  Until then, though, this was a great introduction to the area. And a really nice day out with our family:

Hinckley Reservation
I posted this pic to FB yesterday with the caption: "Just taking out 4yo, 2yo, and 6week old rock scrambling.  NBD"  I"m hoping people got the sarcasm because this was a Really. Big. Deal.
The dude was asleep before we even left the ledges area:

Hinckley Reservation
And the girl hasn't stopped talking about it since.  Yay for getting out and about with our family again!

July 28, 2013

Six Week Celebration.

So yesterday the little guy was Six Weeks Old.  And I feel like I should have some kindof celebration.  We survived!

Untitled
I can sortof see the light at the end of the tunnel that is the newborn phase and we are all still (kindof) standing!
Untitled
Kindof.  I do dumb things when I'm this sleep deprived.
But still.  THREE kids!  THREE.  And it's all ok.  I might even eventually stop using caps lock every time I write/think THREE.

IMG_1234
Notice how there are not one, not two, but THREE kids?
So how about a list of things that have made it possible to get this far.

1.)  Our CSA / People who brought us food.  Food is something I SO have not figured out yet.  Finding the block of time required to cook something has been... a challenge.  Literally the first time I was able to do it was nearly 4 weeks after this guy was born:
Untitled
The first thing I cooked post-partum.  I took a picture I was so proud.  Baby Steps, right?
Luckily we have an amazing support system of friends.  The meals they brought us saved us from a fate of perpetual takeout and woe.  And because of them I was able to feed my visiting in-laws without having to figure out grocery shopping.  Yeah grocery shopping?  I'm still not so much on that.  Two kids, no problem, THREE, OMFG HOW THIS IS BAD HEAD SPLODY.  So luckily we have a CSA:
Smoothies!!!  #summerincle #siblings #yum #snack #freshforkmarket #csa
Smoothies - highlight of the CSA according to the kids.
Which means that even if I don't make it to the store (ever) we still have fresh things around.  Last year I was all creative and tried to cook everything to really show off the flavors and highlight the CSA items in the perfect manner.  HA.  This year I'm more in a place of "Yay we have food!  Throw it in the oven, the kids are starving"

Untitled
Roasted red potatoes, fennel, and onion.  Basically everything roast-able that was in our bag chopped, tossed w/olive oil, salt, and pepper, and thrown in the oven until done.  YUM.

2.)  The Mei Tai.  Someone doesn't like to be put down.  Ever.

Kids
Hint:  It's the small one.
And while I have not completely drank the attachment parenting kool-aid I'm doing the baby wearing thing ALOT more than I did with my other two.  Household chores?  Only possible thanks to this little contraption:

Me and my boys at Taste of Tremont. #tasteoftremont #tremont #happyincle #summerincle
The combo of him needing to be held so, SO much, the double stroller not fitting in our car with all of the carseats, and the other two kids.. existing... well... I went ahead and upgraded the Mei Tai to an Ergo.  I'm hoping when this little guy outgrows both the Mei Tai and the Bjorn* (Matt's preferred method of wearing.) we have something that works for us both.

IMG_1110
YEAR OF UPGRADES, BABY!
3.)  My mom.  Yeah.  I don't even know where to start.  She has been so awesome.  I really don't know what I would have done without her this last six weeks.  And the fact that I don't have a picture to insert here says everything - it's so normal for her to be with the kids that I don't even think to photograph it.

Untitled
The Dude at a PARK.  He is obsessed with PARKS.  The other day my mom made me breakfast and then took him to the park while I fed a baby and let my ankle rest.  Seriously.  My mom is awesome.
I hope in 30 years I"m half the grandma that she is.

4.)  Summer Camp. So I signed my daughter up for this little preschool summer camp program for the month of July thinking it would be really good for her.  That by July she'd be sick of hanging out with babies and need some interaction with kids her own age.  I was totally right about that:
IMG_1096
But what I didn't realize was how good it would be for me.  And not for the reasons I would have thought, either.  See getting out the door with a newborn is hard.  Getting out the door with a newborn and a 2 year old is really fucking hard.  Getting out the door with a newborn, a 2 year old, and a 4 year old is damn near impossible.  At least for the first few weeks sliding into months.  But with this camp I had to get everyone (including a 3 week old baby) dressed, fed, ready, and out by a set time every day.

What can I say. Kid's got style. Also is this the beginning of the hat phase? @loribeth45 @mouthy_broad  #fashionista
Some of us dressed much more stylishly than others.
I HAD to negotiate the THREE carseat thing.  And the getting up early enough after being up all night nursing a baby thing.  And well, all of it, really.  And now I've done it so many times that I can do it in my sleep (or in this sleep-deprived state).  And yes it takes a loooong time and yes it's HARD but it's not impossible.

All of this is hard but none of it is impossible.  Good to know.

5.)  These Guys.

Taste of Tremont! #summerincle #happyincle #tasteoftremont #tremont
Enough Said.

*Oh the Bjorn.  We loved the Bjorn.  It was good stuff.  And then sometime between our first kid and now they came out with all of this nonsense about how wearing them forward facing isn't good anymore.  Which, fine.  FINE.  We'll not do that this time.  I really do try to stay on top of the latest recommendations by doctors and such but the more kids I have the more I realize that no one really knows anything.  Seriously don't even get me started on Peanut Butter or the Pertussis vaccine.  Way to tie parents in knots, American Association of Pediatrics!

July 18, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Reading.

So.  I know that these themed-by-day posts are kindof a lame excuse for actual blogging.  I mean couldn't I just do this nonsense on Instagram or whatever?  But!  I'm trying to get the juices flowing again.  Trying to remember how to do this here blog thing.... 

Baby steps, right?

Anyways I took a photo of the kids today that just begged to be compared/contrasted with pictures from years past.  Observe:

It started with this:
Reading bedtime stories to her puppy.
"Reading" to her dog, Oct 2010.  So she was 19 months old.
Then it became this:
Reading to her baby brother.
"Reading" to her baby brother, April 26, 2011.  So she was 25 months and the dude was 13 days old.

Then there was this:
We love reading!
"Reading" together, October 2011.  She's 2 and a half, he's 6 months old.

And now it's this:
Untitled
Reading to her brothers (and an audience of stuffed animals), this morning, she's 4, the dude is 2, and the little guy is 5 weeks.
I love it! And I love how very close she is to actual reading.  Pretty soon that light bulb is going to go on and then there will be no stopping her....

July 17, 2013

Wordless Wed: Inside vs Outside.

IMG_0436
May 31.
Mei tai. #babywearing
July 10.
IMG_1123
I like the whole baby wearing thing....

July 16, 2013

A Month of Baby Steps.

So on Saturday littlest guy was 1 month old:

One month old!!!! #itgoessofast #newborn #mrvictor
And the past month has been... well... it's been alot.  I don't even know where to start.  My motto for surviving this newborn time has become "Baby Steps."  Baby steps towards figuring this 3 kids thing out.

Happy Independence Day!!!!  Also three happy kids in matching outfits! #4thfuntimes #fourthofjuly
Three kids in matching outfits for the fourth of July.  I have better photos of this with my "real" camera but haven't had a chance to edit/upload them yet.  So the instagram version will have to do for now... baby steps.

Baby steps back to the up and go lifestyle we used to have (or even getting out the door at all).

Chillin in the hot sling while his siblings play at the park.
Tree climbing!  #summer #outside #latergram

Baby steps towards holding a thought in my head that isn't when the baby ate last or what the kids will need next.

Angry baby burrito. I'm thinking he's not going to be rocking the swaddle for too much longer... #newborn #babyhaze #babyburrito #swaddle
Angry baby burrito.  We don't mess with swaddling him anymore which is a bit sad.  I love me a baby burrito.

Baby steps towards being able to do more than just maintain.

Chilling with his pooch. #dog #newborn #babyhaze #love #hound
The dog could not care less about the baby.  She sniffed him once and was all "Right.  One of these.  Call me when he gets into a high chair."
Baby steps towards restoring some kindof of normalcy to our household.

Good morning from my wide awake little guy!  #newborn #wakingup #love
Creepy-eyed kitty photobomb!
Baby steps to some kind of routine that includes sleep.  And naps.
Sleeping baby is SERIOUS. #newborn #babyhaze

Baby steps to being creative again.

Untitled
My Flaming Desire sock that I picked up again after a looooooong hiatus.  A round or two of complicated lace is perfect for those days when I really need a WIN.
Baby steps towards feeling like a human being and not just a sleep deprived milk-machine.

Me and @scarymommy . Had a great time at her book signing!
Meeting Jill Smolker aka Scary Mommy at her book signing.
Baby steps into blogging again.

He just had a little bath and now SMELLS LIKE WONDERFUL. #newborn #babyhaze #LOVE

So instead of trying to flesh out one of the many blog posts I've started in the last month I thought I'd just get something, anything up in this space.  Even if it's just a bunch of regurgitated instagram and random photos that were on my phone.

Untitled

Baby steps, right?

Hi. #newborn #babyhaze #love
I will be back.  Just give me time.  Until then you can follow my nonsense on twitter - I'm pretty active there all things considered...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...