Life As A Stay At Home Mom

Well I have been a stay at home mom for officially 7 weeks now. Although, I don't really count the first few weeks since Brett was home and we had the craziness of the holidays. Those first few weeks were tough and really flew by.  I would be lying if I said that I've loved every minute of staying home.  There have been plenty of tears and a few "what was I thinking?"s.  This job is the toughest job I have ever had. I knew going into it that I would be busy and it would be tough, but I wasn't prepared for how tough it actually is. There is no down time. There is no break. And you are constantly putting the wants of the kids before yourself. When i was working I decided when I wanted to do things and took breaks when I wanted to.  I even ate a whole meal of my OWN food. It seems if I'm not sharing my meal with the kids I'm eating their left over hot dog as my own. If I'm not running Riley to and from preschool I'm keeping Harper out of he pantry and off of tables while taking care of Cole.  On top of all the craziness Riley decided that she would start to cry every morning that I drop her off at school. We are going on 8 weeks of crying and sometimes screaming and running after me as I leave. Just now we are seeing some improvement. She will go a few days without tears and then we are right back to square one on the fourth day. It really sets the tone for how our day goes. I've learned that my hopes of having a cleaner house has gone down the drain. Maybe in a few more months when I'm a little more organized. I'm lucky if I get breakfast and lunch picked up some days!  The amount of laundry that I do seems to have tripled but I don't seem to get it done as fast. I try to do at least one load a day but that doesn't always happen. I rarely put on makeup these days. I'd rather spend my time taking a shower before Brett leaves for the day. It helps if we get out of the house once a day. This usually consists of preschool runs and then Friday play dates or trips to the library.  But really the more time I spend at home the more I enjoy it. I have noticed that things seem to run better when it is just me home during the days, but I definitely look forward to my alone time (with my pump) every evening when Brett gets home. I'm hoping by the spring I will have this whole stay at home mom thing figured out...just in time to start spending some time outdoors!

Cole Carlson: 7 weeks

I'm a little late posting Cole's one month update so 7 weeks will have to do. Cole is such a great baby and is a constant reminder that God truly knows what we need in our life. Brett and I thought we'd only have the girls but I can't imagine our life without our little boy. Although we have sacrificed a lot for our family of five there isn't anything I'd change.  I know that I always would have wondered what we'd missed out on if we didn't have our little Cole. Brett and I are so excited for our future with our girls and boy. Our experiences as parents doubled with the addition of the possibilities of football and hockey games and all that having a boy brings! So, here is what Cole has been up to these first 7 weeks of his life:

• He weighs in at 8lb 3 oz most recently. He's 20 1/2 inches long. 
• He is finally outgrowing his newborn clothes and is wearing mostly 0-3 now. 
• He still does the "newborn stretch" when he arches his back and draws his legs up when you pick him up. I can't get enough of it. 
• He is eating about 2.5-3 ounces of breast milk every few hours. Some days he's eating an ounce here and there when we are busy running around. He is the slowest eater. We tried breastfeeding but he would want to nurse for an hour or more at a time and I found it so stressful with trying to take care of the girls too. So like with the girls I'm pumping and it is working for us. 
• Up until this week he wouldn't really take any nipple other than the ones that go on the little bottles of similac formula. He will now drink from the advent bottles that we have. 
• He is sleeping pretty well. He's usually up between 2:00-3:00am. And then again between 5-5:30 am. 
• For the first 5 weeks he was only pooping every 4 days or so. Now he's pooping four (or more) times a day!
• He is smiling! And cooing! He has the cutest little smile. He loves to look at himself in his little mirror and smiles all the time. 
• He always stops to listen when I sing him songs. I like to believe that he recognizes them from when he was in the womb. 
• He had his first round of breathing treatments last week as he had a little cold. 
• He loves to be swaddled or bundled in a blanket and your arms. He is also now sleeping in his crib in his room and has been doing great. 
• He is rarely ever crying. He only cries if he wants changed, is really hungry, or has a little tummy pain. 
• His hair is lightening up some but it is still very brown. His eyes are still pretty dark but they are definitely blue. Part of me wishes that he will inherit some of my hazel genes. 

Harper Grace: 1 year 8 Months

Harper Grace is now 20 months old. She is still keeping us on our toes! She's a nice combination of sugar and a lot of spice!

• She weighs 22 pounds. She is wearing 18 month clothes and size 4 shoes. 
• Her hair is growing so fast. We can now get it in a ponytail in the back. It's still light brown. 
• Everything she does is done with great enthusiasm. She truly has a love for life!
• She loves to eat, or snack all day long. She has figured out how to open the pantry and seems to help herself to whatever she can get her hands on. She loves sweets and thinks that she should eat them for every meal. 
• She loves her big sister and copies just about everything she does...something Riley is learning isn't always so much fun. 
• She loves her little brother. She is constantly wanting to hug and "burp" him. We are constantly on the look out for her around him because she is not very gentle. 
• She is taking one afternoon nap when she doesn't fall asleep on the way home from dropping Riley off at preschool. 
• She is talking up a storm. She currently has an obsession with the word butt and thinking that everybody is stinky. She loves the word "no!" And screams it several times a day. 
• She is very hard to discipline. She thinks everything is funny and doesn't ever feel remorse. Only once when she hit her brother did she cry when put in timeout. 
• She is quite jealous of her brother. It usually only shows when I am alone with the kids and I need to feed Cole. She will often point to the swing or bed and repeat "baby" over and over trying to get me to put him down. 
• She is still sucking her fingers. I don't think she will ever give them up!
• Her favorite toys are her dolls. They never seem to have their clothes on, but she loves them. She does not like to share her toys. 

Cole Carlson Murphy

I'm way behind on my blog...mainly because this little guy: Cole Carlson. Born 12/6/12. 6 pounds and 18 inches. As good of a baby he is he sure gave me a hard time when coming into this world. Unlike the girls he took his sweet time and made me work to get him in the right position to deliver. Now that he's here we are in love.  Pictures to come...