January 2013!

January hasn't been too exciting, because all of a sudden it is a lot more work to go anywhere with 3 kids. All 3 carseats fit in the back of our little car, but it is a really tight squeeze and kind of a pain to try and get Finn's carseat in the middle. Halle is also very mischievous when we go out. One time we went to Target and while we were looking at some things she started dumping out a bottle of Elmer's glue and rubbing it on her face and hands saying it was, "Lotion." Then while we were trying to clean that mess up in the store, she started pulling stickers out of another book. After that day I said, "No more shopping with 3 kids!" We do still go out and do things it is just a lot less often. It has also been freezing cold this month and polluted air, so I don't really want to go anywhere anyway. 

 Finn making a funny face!

Tucker wanted me to take a picture of him throwing some bubble wrapping around.

Sheldon got a fancy new camelback with some Christmas money. We are looking forward to doing lots of hiking this summer. It's not actually a child carrier, Halle just fits nicely in the backpack. In an emergency we could carry her in it if we needed to.

 Tucker has started a joy school with some other kids in our apartments twice a week. He really loves being able to play with the other kids. I only have to teach about once every four weeks,so it hasn't been too much work for me. It has been weird for Halle and me to have time in the house without Tucker around. It's nice to have a little one-on-one time with Halle and we try to do fun things together. One day we made cookies and of course Halle gets to lick the beater!

We discovered an awesome place called Kangaroo Zoo this month. It's filled with all these inflatable toys and Tucker and Halle were in Heaven! Tucker would run around as fast as he could from one thing to the next and Halle did her best to keep up.

Taking a break from all the running and climbing.

 Tucker and Halle really do everything together. Halle has been sick all this weekend and Tucker doesn't know how to play without her anymore. He keeps teasing her trying to get her to play, but she has had a really high fever and ear infection and obviously doesn't feel like playing. I'm glad they can be such good friends.

Finn is starting to get some cute chubby cheeks and legs. I can't believe he is already 2 months! 

 Sheldon made a cool lego chair for Halle this weekend, but as mentioned she has been sick and only sat in it for a minute before she wanted a hug and to lay down.

 Tucker and I went grocery shopping together this weekend and Tucker really wanted some angry bird chapsticks. He told me, "Halle has chapstick, I need chapstick." I wanted to be a fair parent, so I got him some chapsticks. But he really doesn't use them as chapstick, he throws them around like they are his angry birds. It is pretty funny, I guess we really need to get him some angry bird toys.

 I woke up one morning to find Tucker and Halle sharing a chocolate pudding. Tucker always gets up early and searches our cupboards for any treats he can find. At least he is honest about it and tells us that he ate treats.

 These snow pictures are actually from December, but I just threw them in this post because I am organized like that. We've had a lot of snow this year, so much snow that when I went to buy Halle snowpants they were sold out every time I checked. Tucker loved getting pulled on the sled by Sheldon.

We were looking for a fun new activity to try with the kids and decided on bowling. It was a little more fun for Sheldon and me than the kids; the kids got a little bored of it after a while. Sheldon is a pretty good bowler, I can't remember scores, but let's just say I like to use bumpers. I think it would have been more fun for Tucker and Halle if they had smaller bowling balls.

For Christmas Sheldon got a bunch of chalk fabric and made the kids a chalkboard tablecloth. Tucker loves drawing what he calls 'chameleon eyes.'  It is really fun to play games on it and draw while you are playing and also keep score right on the table. My family also came up to visit over new years and I was too busy having fun to take pictures. But here is one with Tucker and Halle busy playing on Grandpa's iPhone  Tucker, of course, introduced Grandpa to angry birds :)

Christmas 2012

3 kids is really keeping me busy! I feel like I am busy all day, but at the end of the day when I look back at what I did it's usually just some laundry that doesn't even get folded. I do spend a lot of time feeding, changing diapers, burping, playing with kids and so on. So while it doesn't look like I get a lot of stuff done, I try to remember that keeping kids happy is a big accomplishment.

So waaay back in December we had a really good Christmas.  Halle had a really nasty cold/sinus infection (which she has again right now) so we took it easy and had fun hanging out at home. We did go over to Brendan and Dahlia's for an awesome Christmas Eve Dinner. They have a fancy infrared turkey cooker or something like that, which always makes a very moist turkey. Tucker was very excited to play some video games with Claytin, although he is still learning how to watch and play at the same time. He gets too involved in watching and forgets to push buttons.

Poor Halle, happy to just sit and play on the tablet with Grandpa.

 Christmas Eve, with all our presents set out. I made our stockings and our initials spell out SETH. I guess we should just name our next child Seth. I didn't get Finn's stocking made because we didn't know what we were going to name him until the last minute. Next year he will get a special stocking.

Tucker so excited on Christmas morning. He came into our room and told us there were lots of presents in the living room. We made the kids eat breakfast first, a special breakfast of lucky charms.

The kids all ready to dig into their stockings. Of course, Finn was just his own present to the family. I love how he fit just perfectly in his stocking.

Tucker is so speedy at opening presents it is hard to get him to slow down and get some pictures taken. Halle wasn't really interested in opening presents, just happy to check them out after Tucker had opened them.

 Sheldon got me some awesome shades and we decided he needed a matching pair, so now he has some blue ones. We also got Halle a doll and stroller, so she could finally have some girl toys. It was funny because we put her doll in the stroller, but she took the doll out so she could put her favorite monkey in. So she doesn't love dolls, but she does like pushing the stroller around.

Finn just hanging out. This week has been great, because he has started being so smiley and cooing all the time.

Tucker and Halle love building with their duplos. Tucker has started to come up with some really interesting creations. He also still loves destroying things that other people build.

Tucker and Halle are so nice to Finn. They love to read him books and show him their toys. Halle does smother him a little bit when she gives him hugs, but she has good intentions.

The Best Christmas Present: Finn William Mills

Life with 3 kids is definitely busy! Between getting ready for Christmas and trying to take care of 3 busy kids, I haven't had time to blog. But I'm so happy to officially announce the birth of Finn William Mills on December 3, 2012 at 5:02 am. He was 6 lbs 13 oz and 18.5 inches. Delivery was fast and went well. My water broke around 1:30 am, so we decided to head for the hospital since I had tested positive for Group B Strep and needed to receive antibiotics. My sister was so awesome to come over in the middle of the night and stay with the kids! Things progressed so quickly at the hospital the midwife just barely made it in time for the delivery. Sheldon told our nurse that with my last delivery the doctor didn't make it in time and she got really nervous and kept telling me to wait just a little bit longer. But luckily the doctor rushed in the door and Finn was born just a few minutes later! He was healthy, a good eater, and we love all his hair. 

It's so fun to watch Tucker and Halle interact with Finn. Tucker loves to show Finn his toys and sometimes he 'teaches' Finn things and carries on conversations with him. I love it when he tells me what Finn says to him. For example, Tucker told me, "Finn said, 'Sharks are scary and pigs get muddy.'" For a while, Halle always wanted to hold Finn. Now she likes to give him hugs, which really means laying on him, and try to put his binky in his mouth.

Stats for Finn's 2 week appointment:

Weight:  6 lbs 15 oz  9%

Length:  20 3/4"  53%

Head:  34.5 cm  9%

I was really shocked that his head wasn't huge! Normally my kids all have such big head, but there is still time for him to catch up. At first he liked to be awake from 11-1 at night, but now he is starting to sleep better at night.Here are a few pictures from the hospital and then some from while my Mom was here.

I love Finn's little hand, No Paparazzi!