Two down...

One down...

Two to go!

And yes... that flesh & green blob in the bed? That's Shayla, sleeping with precariously perched pillows ( ohhhh alliteration! ) just above her head. I should have taken a picture of her, placed lovingly amongst the laundry. She slept the entire hour while I folded at a furious pace.

Oh, and I sang while I folded, too. She didn't seem to object too much, other than an omnious rumble from the diaper region. Actually... that might have been an objection.

Things here are really settling down. I took the kids to the park today - twice! They enjoyed the morning visit so much that we went back after dinner. It was really nice weather, and even Shayla got out for some fresh air. I slung her to the park and back, and she slept the entire two hours. The evening visit was a bit much for me, personally, but the kids went down for bed after bathing without a single peep.

As of this morning, I am down 21 lbs from my highest pregnancy weight. I have lots - and lots - and lots to go but I'm not really concerned. I've started tracking, if not actually attempting to stay within, WW points. I'm not eating terribly healthy but there aren't THAT many points over. Today was day 3 and I'm really feeling good about it. The hardest thing to give up will be my nightly pb&j. It helps get me through the night, hunger wise. Nursing makes you REALLY hungry.

I've also started a personal goal of drinking ALL of my water a day in addition to the coffee in the morning. I have two cups of coffee ( 3/4 of each cup, but they are BIG cups ), and then I start ticking off each of the 10 glasses of water I need to be drinking. The first day, I barely hit 10. Today, I'm sitting at 11 and will attempt to drink a bit more before bed ... when I have my hershey kiss. Sends me off to sleep sweetly :-)

Robby is growing like a weed and I cannot stop to blink or he matures even faster. He's really being a great big brother to Mila right now, and she's blossoming with his tutelage. She conquered one of her great fears today - the bridge at the park. It rattles, it moves, it shakes. And today... Mila climbed onto it with Robby and they walked across. Seventeen times. And then she did it by herself, and even went so far as to climb up the rope ladder on the side of the structure! Robby cheered her on and congratulated her when she got to the top...

And then stole her shovel. ( He is, after all, five years old and her brother. Life isn't perfect here :-)

Shayla continues to nurse, pee, poop, and sleep with amazing regularity, if not exactly when desired too. She shifted her awake period from 3am to 6am, and fell back to sleep today with enough time left for me to climb into bed. At 6ish, though, she was WAILING away while I got a glass of water. Down the stairs came protective big brother, squinting in the sunlight.

" Why is our baby crying? " he demanded. " Is she okay?"

I sent him back to bed ( no easy feat with the sunshine pouring into the house... the kids room has blackout curtains but once they've left their darkened den... the house is awfully bright come 6am ) and he actually fell asleep. I followed him up moments later and dropped myself into the bed.

When I woke up two hours later, my house smelled like fresh coffee and dishsoap. One of the best ever smells in the morning - the smell of Hubby having done the dishes and made the coffee. It's the greatest morning routine ever :-)

Now that I'm done...

Now that I'm done working on this :I really need to start working on these....

It's snowing. Again. Still.

Tonight, 15-20 cm of snow is expected.

Craaaaaaaaaap.

Tomorrow, Alex and I are taking Baby Shayla for a weigh in. At least, I'm planning on it if it isn't a freaking blizzard outside in the MIDDLE OF MAY. WTF, weather... just... wtf?

Shayla continues to be a pretty easy baby. Breastfeeding is getting better. She latched on like a monster the first few days and really damaged me. I won't go into it, but it was seriously, massively unpleasant for a bit there. Today though, I have a moment of " OMG " and then nothing. I'm hoping that's the end of the soreness... and if I recall correctly, it should be :-)

Mila and Robby are adjusting, though its a rocky road with Ms. Mila. Thankfully, my parents are here and have really picked up the slack with getting the kids run around and to the playground etc. It makes a huge difference in the day if both kids get to do some running around. Thankfully, the membership to the Y makes that much easier. i can't wait for summer camp to start but at least there is the indoor playground. Ya know, since its STILL FREAKING SNOWING OUTSIDE. Makes it rather hard to go to the outdoor parks.

And yes... I'm bitter. Very bitter.

Tomorrow will also be Shayla's first day in cloth! EEK! I really can't wait! I'm so excited! I'm not sure what I'm going to do about weighing her in cloth - might just stick a sposie on her for the trip itself, since I'm not that experienced with cloth yet.

HOOOOOOOOORAY!

Mothering Three

Mothering three children is a feat all of its own.

There are more children than I have arms. Someone must wait, or settle for snuggling a sibling and half of mom's arm.

I cannot *quite* get up to do simple things fast enough. Thankfully, Mila is becoming potty independant. She cannot clean or rinse the potty, but she can get her pants down and go without an accident.

I cannot get to the phone fast enough, nor remember to put it back on the charger at the end of the night. This is resulting in many, many, many missed calls.

Breastfeeding an infant, and eating dinner aren't possible yet. Neither is cooking lunch for a 5 year old, a 2 year old, and nursing said infant. Especially when said infant refuses to latch deeply in any position other than upright football hold.

Jealousy is a bitch. Let's leave it at that!

Dreary, happy day.

I'm sitting next to a drafty window, watching the day dawning cold and sunless. The sky is an ugly concrete color, matching the mortar in the brick wall across from me. My only view is this wall, the rock filled lot below it, and a slice of sky.

My heart sings with joy.

Two years and a few months ago, I sat in this chair holding a brand new Mila. We nursed through a colorless dawn that day too, with snowflakes falling softly and silently from the dame slice of concrete sky. The same view, the same joy of that day fills me now.

Snuggled into a white flannel blanket is my third child - a daughter again. Motherhood has blessed me again, and my heart sings with happiness that simply overrides the dreary day. Shayla Nikole and I sit here - just as her sister and I sat here - waiting for discharge. Soon, I will bundle her into a pink outfit, snuggle a pink hat onto her head, and protectively buckle her tiny, squirming body into the same carseat that took Mila home. The nurse will wheel us down to the door and Shayla will meet the outside world.

Good morning, world! Are you ready?

Shayla Nikole Kaganovsky
7 lbs, 20 inches
12:30 pm May 11, 2009
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Warming up!

The weather here is finally improving! With it, I'm finding a desire to go OUT and be OUTSIDE. I find myself craving long skirts and sandles ( the hippy thing again! ) And most of all, I find myself craving long days at the park, watching the littles play happily on slides. Sitting on a blanket in the sun.

Six months of snow is a rough price to pay some days. Waking up to snow in late April is depressing. But waking up, slipping into lightweight clothes and into the sunshine...

Its about damned time!!!
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