Eight Weeks

Oh what a week. Jim traveled for work again this week and due to my dad's surgery and the snow we got this week, I was at it alone. The anxiety set in full force on Tuesday afternoon - I really doubted that I could do this. As I posted last week Ryder is not like Brody or Addisen as a baby...he has what I have found on the Internet called 'The Witching Hour", although his is hours! If you looked at my search history on the IPad you would find A LOT of searches on crying babies. I had a lot of tears on Tuesday imagining my evening with a baby that wouldn't stop crying and no one to save me. My parents are the best, even though they had their own schedules and obstacles, they arrived at my house at 10:45pm on Tuesday night, just to let me know I wasn't alone. They stayed until Wednesday night and got to witness the witching hour! I'm happy to say that I am now sitting here in the final hours and we made it. A few meltdowns by all of us, but overall a success. I have now seen the sacrifices that our whole family has to make as we work to make sure everyone gets some time. Addisen and Brody had to have shorter bedtime routines and books read at a level that could be heard over Ryder's crying...and Ryder had to wait a few more minutes before someone could console him...but we all learned that we would survive.

This brings me back to my New Years resolution....I thought about it a lot this week. Be thankful. I'm thankful for the unconditional love of my kids. How Brody tells me that he loves me when I am feeling like I'm not so good at this motherhood thing, how Addisen shows me that she is nursing her baby just like me when I feel like crying and how Ryder surprises me by peeing on his head while I am changing him...proving that I can juggle one more thing.

I love my kids...in the end I hope that they can look back at their childhood and remember the fun moments and not so much of the "losing it" moments! In my moments of thankfulness I took a moment to look at each of the kids, their smiles, their sleeping faces, their personalities that just compliment our family. I am truly blessed with this family and I'm doing the best I can....I love these babies!

Jim and I went into this little shop in Rockford last weekend and found this outfit for Addisen (extremely marked down!).  Gosh, I wish I could dress her up like this every day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my cheeks to yours!

Ryder had an eventful week. I forgot to write last week that he rolled from his stomach to back 3 times last Sunday! I don't think he knew what he was doing...but he did it! Then on St. Patricks Day he smiled at me for the first time (outside of the gas smiles). It was great! I have been working hard each day to see them more and more!

We went to the Cottage and Lake House show last weekend in Grand Rapids.  There were a few good things to see there - the most impressive was the inside sandbox for the kids!  They played in there for atleast a half hour before I had to drag them off (even pretending to leave so Addisen would come!).