It's hard to believe we're already halfway through January! January is always such a slow-moving, cold, dreary month after the rush and fun of the holidays-- it's been hard to get back into the swing of things, especially knowing there could be a baby coming any day now! Life feels crazy and unsettled as we impatiently wait for Baby #4, and I just keep asking myself, "What will life be like with FOUR kids?!?" With Jon already working 2 weekends a month here, and then for the next four months he'll be flying out to Chicago for an implant course every 3rd weekend-- I'm getting some serious jitters just wanting to get it all over with (plus some temperatures above 25 degrees would be a welcome change)!
Here's Miss Leah's beautiful long golden locks-- the source of many, MANY tears whenever we have to wash or comb it. She loves having long "princess" hair and only ever wants to wear it down like Sleeping Beauty, but hates that long hair requires some semblance of personal hygiene. Lately I just haven't had the energy to fight her about combing and fixing it-- and it was just getting rattier and more and more tangled the longer it grew.
I finally decided all those tears were just too frequent and too much to deal with and she would just have to have a haircut! In this picture she looks pretty happy-- but when we first got there she was NOT HAPPY. She screamed and cried and didn't want to get it cut, but ultimately I won.
We ended up cutting about 6 or 7 inches off, and Leah decided it was okay to have her hair cut after all. We only had to bribe her with lunch at Chick fil A afterwards!
She looks SOOOO cute!! And older, too! Thank heavens for haircuts-- it is so much easier to brush everyday, wash when she has a bath, and even when she doesn't let me fix it, it doesn't get nearly as tangled just wearing it down. I should have done this months ago!
I made some homemade play dough the other day and my kids have been obsessed with it. Especially Leah-- she loves to cover her toys and princesses in play dough and it's kept her entertained literally for hours. It makes a HUGE mess all over the floor and table because the little pieces get everywhere, but if it occupies her so I can get other things done-- who cares??
She and Zach spent a whole Saturday morning making all kinds of creations, and this was Zach's play dough monster. Creepy, right?
During Leah's play dough time I've been busy getting things ready for this baby! It's been weird how all of a sudden the "nesting instinct" hit me right after Christmas, and since then I've been obsessed with checking things off our list. Jon built a new dresser for Leah and the baby to share, we cleaned out Zach's closet so we can fit baby stuff, cleaned out Lucy's closet to fit more baby/girl stuff, cleaned out the downstairs "extra" bedroom area so it can eventually become Lucy's room, washed storage bins full of newborn clothes, washed and cleaned the infant car seat, reconfigured the seats and car seats in the van, and Lucy (our resident fashionista) picked out the baby's first outfit home from the hospital. I think we are ready. These kids are sooooo excited!
The girls at Jon's work brought in all of these diapers and wipes and a really nice gift basket with tons of clothes and baby items-- which I thought was SO nice of them and was totally unexpected. That took care of the lack of diapers! We should be good for a month or two.
There was a really nice girl in my ward who also offered to throw me a baby shower, and I got so many fun girl clothes! I told her I didn't need a shower, because it was my third girl-- but she insisted and I'm glad she did, because it really is fun to get new clothes (that haven't already been through 2 babies) and have special outfits that are this baby's very own. Lucy went through and arranged them all as soon as I got home.
The other big project we've been working on is trying to make our laundry room more manageable. I literally got to the point that I couldn't even do the laundry-- our washer and dryer are so bulky, and the laundry room so small, I couldn't fit between the wall and the unit when the doors were open because my stomach was so big! There was also only one shelf to store things on-- above the washer and dryer, which again I couldn't reach because my stomach is so big! Although it was only a temporary problem, we found a permanent solution by stacking them and scooting them both into the corner.
That made room for these storage shelves at IKEA which hold 10x as much stuff-- and now there is so much more room! I can easily switch the laundry without having to bend over, and there's even room to spare to fit laundry baskets. Hallelujah!
Lucy has suddenly become a baker extraordinaire! My mom left a Food Network magazine here over Thanksgiving that was full of easy baking recipes, and Lucy has gone to town! It's amazing how mature she is-- she just reads the recipes, I help her find all the ingredients, and then she just does it. She's made several different kinds of cupcakes, garlic cheese biscuits, and on Sunday she made us this yummy pumpkin bread. I told her anytime she wants to take over dinner duties, I fully support her!
The kids recently had a 4-day weekend thanks to the MLK holiday, and although we tried to get out and do some fun things before the baby comes, unfortunately Leah came down with a terrible cough Friday. She was pretty much quarantined until Monday, when she seemed to finally be feeling a little better and we headed over to the Wildlife Experience in Parker. It's a museum run by Colorado University and is full of cool animals and their various habitats.
The animals and displays are all pretty life-like and some of them move and make noise, so Leah (and even Zach) were freaked out by them and didn't want to get too close. Once they realized the animals weren't going to jump over the railing and get them, they could finally focus on learning about them and helping Lucy with the scavenger hunt. They all really liked it.
Naturally since Sonic is just down the road from the museum we had to swing by for Happy Hour and half-priced slushies and mozzarella sticks! Yum!
Later that night we met the cousins for some pizza at the newly opened MOD Pizza in Castle Rock. We'd never been, so it was fun to try something new. Lucy definitely liked having her very own pepperoni pizza!
I got the "Dominic" which had red onions, tomatoes, and chicken sausage-- but I liked Jon's a lot better. It reminded us both of Brixx in Pinehurst with the super thin crust, but better because you get to order at the counter instead of sitting down and ordering.
I think any 4-day weekend that ends with cousins and pizza is pretty much a recipe for success. Now we are back to twiddling our thumbs and waiting for this little lady to make her eagerly anticipated arrival ((hopefully)) this Monday!!
