Weekends

We had a great weekend last week.  Saturday, we went to church, which the kids were very good, and then we had dinner at Enrico's in Dublin.  It is a little Italian restaurant, that mostly does pizza.  It is soooo good.  I've never been in there when the little, old Italian couple has been in there working.  Their daughter is the waitress.  It was fairly busy on a Saturday night, and I was a little worried that Emma would fuss, especially since she hadn't eaten since 4, and it was already about 7.  But she did really well, and let us enjoy dinner.  It was such a relaxing evening!

Sunday, we went to Josh's graduation party.  The girls had a blast!  Uncle Alan showed them his bees. (He has bee hives where he raises bees to make honey.)  And they saw baby mice, and they tried to catch bugs.  And the grand finale was that Laura caught a frog.  She loves catching frogs.  She ran up to a table of teenage girls and showed them her prize.  Hilarious!  I think one of the girls about jumped from her seat.  Last summer Laura had a bug box that she used to keep the bugs and creatures that she captured.  But at the end of summer it cracked and broke, so we have been looking for a new one this year.  I finally found one this week, but it's not as good as last year's box.  The lid screws off, which is hard for Laura.  Last year's box had a lid that just popped up and down.  I think I'm going to keep looking.  Laura can't wait for the lightning bugs to be out in full force.  We have only seen a few so far this year.  Little Hannah found a playmate at the party.  There was a 3 year old little boy with whom Hannah played ball.  It was cute!

Emma went to her 2 month doctor appointment this week.  She did really well.  She is 11 lbs, 11oz and 23 inches.  Matt said she only cried a little when they gave her shots.  She did run a fever later that day.  But it was gone by the next day, thankfully.  She just melts our hearts with her little coos and smiles.  She loves when Matt or I talk to her.  I have yet to capture her little smile on my camera yet.  One of these days I will get it!  She has done so well at daycare too.  She is such a happy baby.

We spent yesterday at the pool with our friends, the Moores and Gary.  It was an awesome, relaxing day.  Laura and Hannah had a fantastic time at the pool, jumping in the water, splashing, squirting guns, and playing with noodles.  Laura loves playing with Maddie, and as usual she didn't want to go home last night.  Even little Emma did good at the pool.  She wasn't really fond of the cool water, but she napped on and off in the stroller and was pleasant.  Matt, Robert, and Gary made us a delicious dinner to top off the evening.  We kept saying it felt like we were on vacation!  It's always nice to have a weekend like that. 

Back to Work

I am disappointed that I never got around to post while I was on maternity leave.  There were so many fun things that we did and funny conversations.  But of course, I don't remember most of them - the whole reason why I am writing this blog!  Oh well.  I can say that I enjoyed my time with the girls immensely!

Little Emma is growing like a weed.  She will go to the doctor next week, and I am anxious to learn her progress.  At her 1 month appointment, she weighed 10 pounds.  She is such a good baby.  She went to daycare for the second week this week, and she is doing great there!  It helps that her teacher, Miss Laura, is amazing.  She is the same teacher that had Hannah in that room, and I love her.  Our one struggle with Emma has been car rides.  She does NOT like riding in the car.  We had to go to Logan in April, and she screamed most of the way down there and part of the way back.  Needless to say, we have not attempted any other trips out of town.  It has helped in the last couple of weeks that we finally found a pacifier that she will take.  I tried several different kinds before I found one.  So if I am not driving alone with the kids, I can turn around and stick her pacifier in to calm her.  But otherwise, I pretty much have to let her cry, which is extremely stressful.  I'm hoping that this is a phase that she will outgrow eventually.  On the upside, she is smiling and cooing when I talk to her, and I love it!  It just melts my heart.  She is such a sweet baby!  She loves to have her sisters around her too.  When we go to their rooms at daycare to pick them up, she usually smiles when she sees them.  Laura is super proud of her.  It takes us forever to get out of daycare because Laura stops every person that we pass and asks, "Do you want to see my new baby sister?" 

Hannah is doing great too!  We did eventually get past the rough bedtimes.  One night late in April, she finally let Matt lay her down for bed.  It was such a relief!  Now either Matt or I sit at the end of the girls' bed while Hannah falls asleep.  It's usually about a fifteen minute endeavor, which is good in my book.  Hannah is so affectionate towards Emma.  She is constantly kissing on her face and talking to her.  However, Hannah continues to be extremely independent and at times aggressive.  She still hits often and occasionally bites her friends at school.  Matt thinks they might have it coming, since she has a few big boys in her class :)  Hannah is the smallest kid in her class, with maybe the exception of one other little girl.  She must get that smallness from my mom or Matt's dad!

Laura is a wonderful big sister!  She helps me so much with her sisters.  Whenever Hannah can't get a toy or needs a snack when I'm busy with Emma, Laura takes care of her.  It's so sweet!  She is such a nurturing kid.  On the other hand, Hannah tends to dominate her.  Hannah will take a toy from her or push her off a chair, and Laura really doesn't fight back at all.  She just screams for me to help her.  Matt and I joke that Hannah will be the one protecting Laura when they get into school.  Laura has said some funny phrases lately that are ahead of her time.  For instance, when I'm telling her to do something she doesn't want to do, such as pick up her toys, Laura will grumble, "Mom, I wish you would stop ruling me!"  I just can't wait till the teenage years!

Both girls still like to dress up like princesses and dance around the living room.  They do this often.  I'm glad it's getting warm now so that they go outside and play.  They enjoy their swing set and sandbox, and they even played in their plastic pool last weekend in the heat!  We are looking for to a great summer! 

We have a little garden in our yard this year that Laura and my dad planted.  Laura enjoys watching it grow.  She is such a good planter, which is no credit to me.  My dad taught her how to plant flowers.  So when I planted the rest of the flowers one week, I just dug the holes and laid the flowers in them, and Laura filled them all in with dirt.  I was so impressed! 

We went to the zoo a few weekends ago for Chelsea's birthday.  It was our first trip to the zoo with all three kids.  I definitely cannot do that alone!  I carried Emma in the sling, and Hannah rode in the stroller.  And Laura walked of course.  But it was quite a job keep track of everybody.  They had a great time with their cousins.

Mothers day weekend we went to my aunt's house, and Laura got to ride a horse with her.  She has done it before but not for a long time.  So she was very excited.   She rode for quite a while and loved it!  Hannah, at first wanted to do it because her sister was, but she quickly changed her mind.  When I lifted her up to get on the saddle, she said, "No.  Too big."  She just watched Laura from a distance.  So cute.

I went back to work two weeks ago - to a new job!  I now work at Wright Law Co. as an attorney.  I love it so far!  I work four days a week, so that gives me an extra day with the girls, which makes all the difference.  It adds so much more balance to our lives. 

That's about all that's new in Adams land!  I will be better about writing these posts.... hopefully!