the post I did weeks ago but forgot to hit publish (story of my life!)

James goes to a STEM school so they are very serious about their technology - which means that all of his homework is on the computer. Its nice because he will never forget his homework or a book at school but its weird when your 6 yr old has to sit at the computer to do math homework. It feels wrong that he isn't using a pencil and paper for math. But as he tells me, paper and pencil is old school.

Madeleine is still trying to convince Dash to let her dress him up but he is not having any of it. Dash will however take all the snuggles she is willing to give him.

James is playing basketball this season and by some crazy luck of the draw all of our games except one are at 815 in the morning - which makes for a really early Saturday morning. But when you play your friends team it means we can go get brunch afterwards!

Madeleine had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for one of her friends - and it was her first time ever going there (And my first time in years). She was not impressed, can you tell from her face?

The kids have actually been playing really well together lately (knock on wood). Matthias just loves to hang out with his brother and sister - no one else can make him laugh like those two.

Whenever I am in the kitchen, Matthias loves to play in all the cabinets. It always looks like a bomb went off.

This kid figured out that if he leaned on the rocking chair he can push it around and he can get places quicker.

Madeleine doesn't like going to basketball practice. Her boycotting skills are on point for a 4 yr old.

Matthias' favorite game is when the other two will build block towers and then he gets to knock them over. This will entertain all of them for a good 30 minutes.

Madeleine started dance class a few weeks ago! She is so excited about it. She has been asking to do one for awhile now but it took me awhile to find a studio that both messed with our schedule and wasn't crazy competitive.

These two are best friends.

Obligatory basketball picture for the season.

A couple of weeks ago we went to The Discovery Place and the kids had a blast. It is a really great hands on kids museum.

James' basketball team finished first in their league for their regular season and now has made it to the championship game in the tournament. We've been having amazing weather so on a beautiful Sunday afternoon the coach organized a pick up game for them at the park. We really lucked out this season with such a great group.

We had a fun and easy birthday party for Matthias last weekend. The kids helped my pick a Spring theme (since its been so warm and everything is already starting to bloom - yay allergies!). We did little aloe plants for all the kids to take home and dirt cups for the treats. James and Madeleine loved helping me make the dirt cups!

We hardly took any pictures because it was just so fun. There were probably 20 kids of all different ages and they all played so well together! We have been really blessed with such amazing friends who are honestly just the nicest group of people with the nicest kids.

Matthias got a cupcake and he did not even hesitate - he took it down in about 2 minutes flat. It was impressive.

And now he is 1 and well on his way to becoming a toddler!

Matthias

My darling Matthias,

One year. One year of sweet baby snuggles, big blue eyed stares, smooching chubby cheeks and feeling your dimpled fingers curled around mine. One year of watching your big brother and sister learn how nurturing they can be and enjoying how loving and sweet they are with you. One year of watching you return their crazy attention, incessant kisses and protective helpfulness with adoring looks, squeals of happiness and delighted wild waving of your little hands. One year of falling more deeply in love with you each day as I watch you slowly become the individual person you are.

I have to now admit that I started messing up with you even before the pee dried on the pregnancy test. All those prenatal classes I took with your brother and sister? I only made three during my entire pregnancy with you. I didn't even crack open a pregnancy book or skim an prenatal article. With you, I pretty much forgot I was pregnant until the 37^th week when I started begging you to come out. We didn't decide on a name until after you were born and I didn't even know your middle name until your social security card came in the mail (for some reason I thought it was Luke!). Sadly, there were games to attend and birthday parties to throw and apples to pick, and homework to check so I never got the chance to properly take the time to enjoy being pregnant with you. For that, I am sorry.

You have always just come along for the ride, strapped in my trusty carrier or sleeping in your car seat. It’s possible you came to believe the car seat was your actual home during those early weeks. I nursed you (and still do!) but I didn’t do so with the same intensity I did with your brother and sister. This year I nursed while helping James with his homework, or watching Madeleine perform her latest spin she learned in dance class and a few time while holding a puke bucket for one of them! Maybe, just maybe that all that organized chaos was a good thing though because everyone who has met you can't help but smile and comment at how laid back and happy you are, just watching and laughing as the world goes by. Your sweet, quiet demeanor and your big blue eyes pull in anyone who looks your way.

Things change, little one. I am not the mommy your brother or sister had when they were babies. 

Instead, I am this one. I’ve had almost 7 years of fevers, runny noses, night terrors, potty training, wet beds, good night kisses, lap reading, and teacher conferences. I’ve been around this block, attended this rodeo, and learned a thing or two. All those clichés have taught me this: nothing is as simple as it seems, especially parenting.

You, my dear third child, may seem neglected. It may seem you’ve lost out when it comes to new baby clothing, perfect baby toys, and constant cleanliness. Yes, I’ve kept you in a wet diaper far longer than I would have with your brother or sister. But you are not neglected. I think of you constantly. You are my growing baby and I am so aware of that fact, it fills me with sadness every night when you go to sleep. That’s one day less you of you as my chubby-cheeked, brown-haired, diapered baby. We move one step closer to you as a child, running away from me and toward your life. When you were 6 months, our pediatrician had to actually reminded me (repeatedly) about making sure I was putting you down enough so you could explore. Doesn't he know how fleeting this time is? Doesn't he understand that once you start running there is no slowing down? As I watch your older siblings grow so independent, I just want to hold on to you tighter and longer. So no, you don't get to explore as much as your brother and sister did. Instead you get more snuggles.

So I am taking this moment to remind you that even though you might not have the perfect, coddled, bubble-wrapped babyhood I gave your older brother and sister, you do have my rapt attention. And I now have more patience and more practice at this parenting thing, even if it doesn't always seem to be the case. Please remember that even though you are probably, as I type, picking dog hair from your sippy cup and eating day-old cheerios off the floor, those things are superficial. The way I feel about you isn’t. 

Last, but not least, I want you to remember this: children who grow up eating dog hair are less likely to develop allergies. Plus, floor Cheerios boost immunity. 

Love always, 

Your (frazzled, overwhelmed, but always loving) Mama

Holidays are over and so now we are trying to get back to our regular schedule... except a certain ten month old is going through some sleep regressions and wanting to stay up later and later. He is teething which isn't helping I am sure, but it is also hard to put him to bed when he is in such a goofy fun mood. He is coming into a personality that is taking on a slightly stubborn and strong-willed turn (dare I say like his siblings), that some days it is only late night giggles that I can get him to snuggle with me anymore instead of crawling around and seeing what he can find to get into.

The week after school went back, it snowed about 5 inches. Which is enough to shut down the whole city for 5 days. Yep, the kids went back to school for less than a week and then got another long break. I am all for family bonding and all that jazz, but after more than 20 days home I was not mentally prepared for another 5 days! Thankfully John stayed home too and helped wrangle the kids. James was most upset that his basketball game was cancelled but two days of sledding and snow ball fights with friends helped that.

I didn't get any pictures of our sledding or snow angels but that's ok - it was fun and cold and wet. A good reminder why we love living in NC where it will be in the 70s a week after it snows!

After two days of playing in the snow, the kids were over it. It was mostly melted and gross - and since it was still a snow day we all got to have a lazy day full of food and board games.

And Matthias got to hang out with John while he "worked" from home. Poor John didn't get too much done with all of us home!

Every night we read to the kids. With James, he would pick two or three books and we would snuggle in his bed and read. Then Madeleine came and when she was little, we could all still snuggle in James' bed but as she got older, she wanted to pick her own books and read in her own bed. So then we would have two different story times in two different rooms. But then it became a fight of who was going to get read to first. And then it was we all want to read all the books together but then someone's foot would be touching someone else's foot or someone is breathing on me. So let's add a baby into the mix who doesn't like to sit still anymore... and story time turns into a frazzled circus. But I do know that the kids look forward to it and are devastated if it doesn't happen. So even if they don't get the books they want or sit where they want, at least they get something. And I love when they all want Daddy to do the reading and not me... so I can sit back and just watch.

Did I mention sleep regression? Yes? Sorry, I forgot because I am tired from staying up too late with this guy. Also, his new best friend is Dash. Dash is so amazingly good with him. I have a million pictures of these two just snuggling and loving on each other. It's painfully obvious that Dash did not live in a house before we adopted him because of some of his quirks but he is still so sweet and gentle when it comes to the kids, especially the baby. And Matthias cannot get enough of Dash.

Dash was rubbing his head on Matthias' belly and Matthias was cracking up over it. I mean, COME ON! How sweet is that?

And Duke loves him! I knew Duke missed Bronx probably more than we did (if that is even possible) but I don't think I realized how much until Dash moved in. This little guy was meant to be ours.

Last Post of 2016

Between Halloween and New Years Eve life gets a little crazy. Well, calling life crazy is an understatement. It might be have been crazy before kids but now with three young kids it is like trying to herd a dozen cats all hyped up on catnip while trying to balance on one foot and look like you know what you are doing. But as I sit here and think about the past two months, it went by way too fast. I have tried to be more in the moment with the kids and not take so many photos this past year but its hard though when I realize I don't have a picture of this or that and just have to hope that the memory won't fade. We even went to Ohio for a long weekend a few weeks ago and I have no pictures to show for it. I just need to take a deep breathe and know it was worth it in the moment.

During the holidays, we always try a few new recipes. Now that Madeleine likes to help in the kitchen its more messy but much more fun too.

The start of Thanksgiving break! Everyone was still smiling ;)

James had a school fundraiser at a trampoline park - he had a blast with his school friends.

My Thanksgiving sous chefs!

John told the kids that they had to go catch the turkey for dinner, so they got their nerf guns and spent a good part of the morning hunting turkeys. James was not thrilled when they came back inside and he realized the turkey was already in the oven.

Madeleines picture of our family. Its one of my favorites.

Madeleine made her "throne" to watch TV. She's a ham.

I started outsourcing some duties and Madeleine was excited to take the job.

Baby's first official head bump from trying to pull himself up.

Santa Claus!

This little man LOVES his baths. I truly think they are a highlight of his day.

So because our house isn't busy enough, we adopted a 1 year old border collie mix from the SPCA and named him Dash Flash. He is the sweetest dog with tons of playful energy. We are still working on some manners but he has already come a long way in just 2 weeks.

Dash is full grown and his little 30 lbs makes Duke just look massive. John's brothers call Duke a hippo and now I can see why!

Dash also loves bath time like Matthias. He loves to try and catch the water as Matthias splashes around.

Christmas is not compete without Christmas cookies! We have a tradition with friends where we make our Christmas cookies with friends but this year Madeleine came down with a stomach bug so we had to miss out. The kids were bummed but from a mommy point of view it was sort of nice just to make cookies with just us this year.

Christmas Eve snuggles! It took Duke a few days to warm up to Dash, but now they snuggle and play and its been really good for him to have a friend again. He has really missed having another dog in the house. And since he outweighs Dash by over 70 lbs, he can still hold his own when they play.

So there's this app on my phone where I was able to add in Santa into our picture! I had a friend text it to me on Christmas morning and just changed her name in my phone to Santa Claus so the kids thought that Santa sent them a picture of him delivering their presents from the night before. They got a huge kick out of it.

Here's the picture I was able to add Santa into. Pretty cool, right?

Christmas morning was wonderful, so fun to watch the kids open their presents and play - and then we stayed in our pjs all day and just relaxed and ate too much.

John and I looked back through past Christmas morning pictures, and in every picture for the past three years James is putting together Legos and Madeleine is in a new princess dress. They are consistent!

James got scrabble junior for Christmas and it was a huge hit. We love board games in this house and have played the ones we have to death so it was fun that we got a few new ones for Christmas.

Every year, between Christmas and New Years John has off from work. It is my favorite week of the year. I look forward to it so much every year because it is our family time where we can just be together and do whatever we want or nothing at all. The kids love it just as much as I do and we all take advantage of this week to just recharge as a family before we get back to the schedule of life.

Right now I am watching Ohio State lose to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. It is a huge disappointment to us Buckeyes, but probably even more because John, Steve, Stephen and Will are all at the game right now. Whoops!

This is who I spent my last night of 2016 with and I could have asked for a better way to end the year.