Been a while

Well, it has been a while since my last posting. My babies are growing up so quickly! We have been really going, going, going. The weather is improving and if it is not raining, snowing or below freezing, we live outside. I have a slew of equipment next to the door that I can drag out quickly in order to keep everyone happy and safe. Blankets, bumbos, shovels, trucks, cars, gardening gloves (one of our current favorite activities is to look for "baby plants" under all the leftover underbrush from last year), etc. I am actually starting to like my house more the less time I spend in it. Let me clear that statement up; we LOVE our house, but with three children on the move it has become somewhat smaller than we remember it. While Elias and Bebe are not yet crawling, they can seems to get around quite well.

Jonah loves to run and drive trucks and is very hindered by all of our baby gear. He looked at me the other day and said, with disgust in his voice, "Mama, I can't move in here! There is too much stuff!" My response was simple, "I know buddy," because what else could I say?

So, we go outside and we love it. The babies have taken to eating grass and dirt, but at least it doesn't have any growth hormones, antibiotics or pesticides on it (like we have time to do anything with our lawn) so I figured it's better for them than most of what we can buy in the grocery. We eat our meals outside and Jonah even pees outside (why fight it when he can do it all by himself and doesn't complain).

The slightly strange part is that we are reinventing the front porch. By that I mean that our backyard is only accessible through the basement and it is way too difficult to get three kids and gear down the steps, so we just go out the front door and sit on the sidewalk. That does make Jonah's peeing a little stranger, but all of our neighbors have little boys too and don't seem to mind. Also, it makes it nice because when I pull up at home I can leave the car doors open and just take whatever kid out that is not sleeping and leave the others in the van. The awake ones play in the front yard and we don't even have to open the front door! Perfect!

So, life is good with these three. Nathan has been extremely busy with work and we have been winging it just the four of us for a while. We are really starting to figure out how to make that work and everyone is seeming happier and happier everyday. The twins are really bonding, it seems, and love to play together. I find, strangely, that two 7 month olds are easier than one in many ways. The play together, talk, laugh, and just in general need me much less than a singleton.

Jonah is really excelling in school and has turned into quite the young man. He loves to help now and is getting more and more considerate and concerned about the babies. He is very into "protecting" them now, unless they are screaming then he switches to "make them be quite" and usually he succeeds! The twins love their big bro and always stop crying to try and figure out what the heck he is doing, which is usually something he calls his "applesauce dance." I have no idea where that came from or even what it is, but it is some form of movement that makes the twins look at each other and stop crying.

Sleeping is also improving. Elias gets up once or twice a night (because I let him) and Bebe maybe once. I could cut them off, but I get too uncomfortable and I really dislike pumping. Plus, they are so dang cute and cuddly. Jonah has been getting up on his own to pee at night now and sometimes ends up downstairs in our bed to get warm under the electric blanket, but will go right back to bed if carried back to his room.

To wrap it up then, we are doing great! I could not have imagined loving a situation more. These kids are amazing and, as cliche as it may sound, we are blessed. That is just the truth.

Thanks for reading,
Emma