Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my husband of 4 years, and my sweetheart for life!

Who knew we would be where we are today only 4 short years ago, but I am excited to see where the rest of our lives will take us!

I love you!

Evan's Birthday Party

Yep, that is SEVEN girls with Evan!!

(5 cousins + 2 sisters = 1 lucky dude when they are teenagers and have friends)

(easy to decorate when the theme is balloons!)

(hard to keep decorated when the theme is balloons!)

Despite the downers of a cold and rainy day and Evan having a pookie tummy, we had a lot of fun celebrating Evan's 3rd birthday on Saturday with a balloon theme party! Thanks to everyone for making it so much fun!!!!!

12 Weeks

Avery & Brynn are 12 weeks old today. As I read back what I just wrote, it's a little hard to fathom - for a few reasons:

1. Holy cow, it's been 12 weeks!

2. If I were returning to work, today probably would have been my first day back.

3. Looking at reason #2 brings up a whole world of emotions about "officially" being a stay at home mom (SAHM).



So, with that, here are some of my thoughts about being a SAHM vs. being a Working Mom:

1. I am grateful to my husband for being able to stay at home with the kids. There is no way that I would have this opportunity without his support. Keep in mind, a lot of the decision to stay at home was made for us when we found out we would have 3 kids (daycare is EXPENSIVE), but there was a big part of me that really wanted to stay at home. Looking back, I am grateful the decision was "taken out of our hands."

2. It's a lot of work. There is no break. It's 24/7, and extremely demanding. To be totally honest, there are a lot of times I think it would be easier to be at a job. (Except for managing schedules and commuting and traveling and on and on...) Hence, for the time being, I am staying at home.

3. The guilt doesn't go away. When I went back to work after Evan was born, I felt so guilty about leaving him with "strangers." Now that I am at home, I feel guilty when I do laundry or dishes or anything other than spending every waking moment with my children. But the reality is, those things have to get done and if I actually spent every waking moment being 100% attentive to my children, I'd go crazy, and they wouldn't learn to be independent.


4. Who am I now? I would say I was a career driven person, I was happy with my last job, I was happy with where my career was headed, and I felt like I had an identity other than "Mom: butt wiper, diaper changer, meal preparer, kleenex-er." [Don't get me wrong, being called "mommy" is one of the greatest things on this earth]. I guess my new challenge (and I love a challenge) is figuring out the "new me" and how to balance that with being a wife and a mother. It's the same as every new stage in my life, I was a different person in the working world than I was in college, likewise in high school, etc., etc. Different because of my priorities, my goals, and what I find important.

5. What are my goals? When I was working, I had expectations and goals I needed to meet. That largely determined how successful I was. Well, what are the expectations and goals of motherhood? How are they determined? By society? By your children? By your family? By yourself? I understand why a lot of mothers feel like failures, because at the end of the day, it sort of feels like dinner should be on the table, the house should be clean, the kids should be happy, and you should be out of your pajamas. And when those things don't happen (most of the time in my case), you feel as if you have failed. So, I suppose my next challenge (remember, I like a challenge), is setting realistic goals.
[I should clarify that I have never been in my pajamas by the time Dan gets home from work, however, throwing on sweat pants and a t-shirt and wearing no makeup is a frequent thing now]

6. When do I go back to work? This is a question I often ask myself. I won't go into depth with all my thoughts on this (especially since this post is much longer than I thought it would be), but I am excited about the possibilities. It's one of the unknowns that I am looking forward to discovering (if you know me well, you know I have a fear of the unknown, so this is big), whenever the time is right and the opportunity presents itself.

7. Lastly, THANK GOD all 3 children nap at the same time! I have achieved at least ONE of my goals! I wasn't sure it would be possible, but I have managed to get them all sleeping at roughly the same time. If I didn't, I would never be able to have a blog. :)

Giggle goo

Brynn has the cutest giggle I have ever heard. Just like her smile, catching it on camera is a bit hard. She is so darn inquisitive that every time she sees the camera she gets a serious look on her face and just starts studying the camera trying to figure out what it is!

(Yea, this face)

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Avery can roll over. She has on a couple of occasions. I even have photographic and video proof! It was hilarious both times it has happened. I'm not sure she really knew what to think. It was certainly not on purpose, and I'm not sure it will happen again any time soon - but here it is for your viewing:

The 1st time was the day she turned 2 months old:

(look at that head & neck control by the way - she is our little tummy time rock star!)

Here again at 9-1/2 weeks:
(This particular time it happened about 3 times before I finally grabbed the camera, and I was pretty happy she did it again for me! You really only need to watch the first 20 seconds or so to see it)

Mini-celebration

We had a little mini-celebration for Evan's birthday tonight! We went to my... er.. I mean... Evan's favorite restaurant for dinner - Mexican! He enjoyed his birthday cupcake after we got home. My little boy is turning into such a little man!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Today my little boy has turned 3, yes, THREE. It has gone by in a blink of an eye! I remember being very excited when Evan turned 1 - I couldn't wait to let him eat his first cupcake! I was very anxious when he turned 2 - he was officially passing the baby stage into boyhood. The truth of the matter is, I was pretty sad the entire month of his 2nd birthday. Now that he has turned 3, I'm not entirely sure how I feel (A little scatter brained since I have a couple more things on my mind...), but mostly I have been very reflective. There have been a mixture of challenging times, learning opportunities, and some of the most rewarding moments of my life!

I look at our kitchen table and I remember when he could walk right under it without it touching his head. I remember the day he ran into the table and he was so shocked that he did it a second time not realizing that he had grown too tall to walk under it without ducking. I remember the day he could see on top of the table without pulling himself up onto his tippy-toes. And now, he is head and shoulders above the table and sits next to us at dinner time reminding us to pray. He has an opinion, and likes to share it. He is a fabulous big brother. He loves to read. He loves to say the alphabet and challenge us to what sounds the letters make. He is funny. He is our little 3 year old!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Evan!

2006

2007

2008

We're Singing in the...

...crib!


Try to ignore my voice in this video and focus on the cute reactions from Brynn & Avery! When I sing to them before nap & bed time they try to sing along with me. It's much cuter in person, of course, but here is a little taste:

This picture is worth a THOUSAND words!

Batting Practice

Who knew it could be so amusing to watch your babies discover they have hands and can use them!

Tummy Time!

Tummy time has been an important part of our household lately...
Avery has been doing awesome!
Evan likes to cheer her on...

Brynn has had a harder time because her head is so big compared to her tiny little body!!
Avery decided to cheer Brynn on!

Success!! It's hard work, but with a little support from her siblings, Brynn is getting the hang of it!!

Yea! Go Brynn!!

Our little reader

For anyone who got my 2 Month Update email and do not have facebook - this is the video I was referring to of Evan "reading". If you did not get my email (or don't remember), Evan has been memorizing the books we read to him, and this particular day a couple weeks ago he decided to read his book!

Identical or Fraternal?

I have been asked this question a lot. Are the girls identical or fraternal? The easy answer is: we don't know. The longer answer is: they could be either, but most likely they are fraternal. The even longer answer is: There are only a few ways to know absolutely for sure without doing DNA testing. If they are a boy & a girl - they are fraternal. If they had the same amniotic sac or placenta - they are identical. I think there is another way to know, but it's escaping me right now. Even if they have separate sacs & placentas, they still could be identical. I have also read that some fraternal twins can look so much alike, they look identical & some identical twins may not look alike at all. (I thought it was strange, but that's what I read)

Avery and Brynn had separate sacs & placentas - since statistically there are more fraternal twins than identical, that is why we think they are most likely fraternal. Right now I don't think they look too much alike... until you get them sleeping... side by side...


Can you tell them apart?



Eventually I will probably want to get a DNA test done so I know for sure; but for now, I am happy just watching them grow... in some ways more alike, in other ways much different!

Crazy week @ Storyland!

Evan goes to daycare 2 days a week right now, and this was Crazy Week!

Monday was backwards day. Dan told me Evan was the only one that remembered to dress "correctly". He took Evan to get his haircut after he picked him up and he got some "Dad, you DO realize your child is wearing his clothes backwards?" looks!! 'Cause, ya know, Dad's don't usually notice that kind of thing...





















Wednesday was mis-match day, but really, what shirt would actually match those bright orange pants?!? (Which happen to be Evan's favorite pair)

Our Easter Celebration Weekend

We had such a great Easter weekend, first I took Evan, Avery & Brynn to a local park on Saturday for an Easter Egg hunt (yes, by myself - was scary, but boosted my confidence). We arrived a little late to find any eggs, but Evan was totally cool with playing on the playground. I got a little freaked out when he decided to get onto the equipment in the most unsafe way possible (in my mommy eyes), and slide down the biggest slide, ever (again, mommy eyes)! But Evan never ceases to amaze me - he did great (of course - silly, mommy for being worried)!

There was a Bumble Bee and an Easter Bunny at the park - Evan went right up to the Bunny, shook his hand and gave him a hug - but when it came to the Bumble Bee - HECK NO! He wouldn't go near him. He wasn't screaming afraid, but he just wouldn't go near him. I'm pretty sure it's because of the Bumble Bee song we sing - he just didn't want to get stung!

After the park Aunt Stephanie & Cousin Avah came over and we dyed Easter Eggs - I was very impressed with how good the kids did! Even the little ones had fun playing together on the play mat!

We wrapped up the weekend on Sunday celebrating at Grandpa & Grandma K's. We had a relaxing day full of yummy food and family time! And of course, hunting for Easter Eggs!!

And finally, how cute are these little ones:

Evan's Artwork

At least it wasn't the wall...

The beginning of a... wonderful? thing!

I have been debating for quite some time about starting a blog. Do I really want my life to be so public? Well, I guess the answer is yes. I like to read a few blogs myself, and a blog is such a great way to keep friends and family posted on new and exciting things in our lives - only if they want to! Please bear with me as I get used to posting and blogging in general, I never know how much time I'll have on the computer - and my brain is on the fritz after having 3 children! All that on top of being mildly crazy to start with!! :)

So, welcome to my blog!

Get the name? The Krew - with a "K", get it?? So clever, am I!