July flies by

I have not posted in a looooong time because of our renovation.  We broke down our computer when we moved to my parents, so I had no easy way to down load and organize pictures.  So I will try and catch up.  The renovation post will come soon too.  We lived at my parents from July 18th-September 25th.  We are so lucky and blessed that they welcomed all 7 of us (dogs too).  And they were so super helpful.  Mom spent more hours holding a sleeping Fiona than I can count.  And Dad and Nick did a huge chunk of our renovation, including all of the painting.  We owe them so much!

But on to some recent happenings.  We went to a cafe where you get to interact with monkeys. Part of my did not like it, but the guy obviously really cared for his monkeys and they were never forced to interact with guests.  Unfortunately, a kid pulled the tail of one and it barely bit him, no open skin, but the mom was a lawyer and the place has now closed.  The girls really enjoyed it.  The monkeys had an enclosure in the cafe.

But there were also scheduled interaction times.

 Zoey was not sure at first, but the monkeys loved her.

And she came around.

We celebrated mom's birthday!

The girls went to a camps at a local gym.  It was partially science based, but mostly play and craft time.

We did a lot of swimming in my parents' pool.  Here is Sam jumping in.

And Zoey jumping in.

Zoey went to a friend's birthday party at Little gym.

We also got thumb guards for her.  The dentist said she is right at the border between braces for sure and preventing the need if she stops sucking her thumb.  She has almost completely stopped now.  It was a long battle for sure.

We went to a really cool playdate where you put alkaseltzer in film canisters with paint and the paint exploded onto the paper.

And here is some of Fiona from July.  She is not always a huge fan of pictures.

She started smiling, but they were so brief that I could never catch them.  Here is one, but of course it is blurry.

Here we are playing up-down, which she loves.

And Nana with Fiona.

Happy 4th of July (and Fiona is one month!)

Here are some recent pictures.  I thought it was hard to get pictures with 2 kids, 3 is such a challenge!

 

Sleeping babies in milk comas are so sweet.

This is how Fiona prefers to sleep when I do not swaddle her.  Swaddling helps her stay asleep better, but makes her very angry.

Sometimes she just does not want to do the whole picture thing.

And sometimes she is fine.

 

Here she is on July 2nd, her one month panda shot.  Hard to believe it has already been a month.  These first 8 weeks are such a paradoxical time.  They are amazing and awful at the same time.  I love the snuggly baby time and all the firsts for Fiona, but I hate the feeling of being overwhelmed.  I think Fiona may be our neediest baby.  It is hard to walk by the sink full of dishes, trying to do laundry one handed, and trying to balance baby needs and big kids needs.  And Nick stays pretty busy with his two condensed classes and meetings, so I have to do a lot one handed when Fiona insists on being held.  She also loves to cluster feed.  The other day I had to cook dinner while nursing, the things we do when we have to :)  These weeks seem so slow and so fast at the same time.  The nights in which I get only 3 hours of sleep sure seem long, but it feels like I just blinked and she was a month old.  I want to savor them, but I also want them to be over so life can be more normal. But I really try to enjoy what I can since I know this time is the last, and just push through everything else.

 

 

Here is a comparison of our three girls.  I think Fiona is between Sam and Zoey in face shape. Sam was very rounded and Zoey was more oval. 

The big girls are doing better, but they were really testing the limits, which is really tough when sleep is in such short supply.  They do love their sister and mostly are very helpful.   We were all getting a bit stir crazy since we have been mostly staying home.  We have had a lot of family time watching world cup, America's Got Talent, playing board games, and playing Wii. We have also been venturing out a little more recently, not any crowds yet, but playdates at parks or homes with small groups.   

Our first was a water wall one, the girls had a blast.

And a sharpie tie dye one.

We also went to a friend's sailing club for a celebration of the 4th.  The big girls and Nick built boats.  There was a lunch and a water slide.

 After lunch, they raced the boats.  Zoey's ended up sinking, which lead to many tears. But overall, the girls had a great day.  Nick even took them back for fireworks, which was a late night, but well worth it.

 

I hope everyone had a great 4th.  Here are our 3 firecrackers.  

 

Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day.  Since Fiona is still so young, we had Nick and my dad pick up take out bar-b-que and ate at my parents.  It was a nice, relaxing day.

Here is Nick and his three girls :)

 

My dad and his granddaughters, Fiona was not in the mood :)

 

 

Fiona is now 3 weeks old.  It feels so short and so long at the same time.  The newborn time is so intense, and she does not like to be put down, which makes it hard to get much done.  And the nights were really rough for a bit, but she is mostly better, although she can still refuse to sleep in the bassinet.  But the days also fly by.  Hard to believe she is already 3 weeks old.  I went today to a lactation group.  She was weighed before and after a feed.  She  is up to 8 lbs 13.8 ounces and she took 3 ounces on her feed.  She is a champion feeder, often cluster feeding and feeding to fall asleep.  But I let her since she is so young.  She gets really mad if she wakes up ready to eat and I change her diaper first.  She also lost her umbilical stump and has had a few baths.  Here is her first.  

 

She is hit or miss on tummy time, sometimes she cries, the other day she fell asleep.

 

Here are some other pictures I took recently.

Fashionable Fiona.

 They finally pored our foundation and are supposed to start framing the addition tomorrow!  We were so excited to see the cement truck.

 

The girls enjoyed watching the pouring.  

Sam did my hair in pigtails recently. 

 The big girls have their moments for sure, but they are mostly really sweet and helpful and love holding their sister.

And this week, they are at space camp at Space Center Houston.  It is a blast (pun intended).   Sam came home full of facts and is now planning to be a rocket designer.

 Zoey was so proud of her space suit.