Dairy-Free

Right before my sweet little Third baby turned 2 months she started having a little bit of blood in her diapers. Negligent Mother over here thought "oh no big deal". I know that is usually a sign of a food allergy, but the girl is one of the happiest babies I have ever met. She never cries and is definitely thriving in the weight-gaining department, so I figured a little blood in the diaper wasn't a big deal. Then I took her to her 2 month check, and her pediatrician thought the blood was a big deal. My Mom (who works for an allergist) also thought this was something to be concerned about.

Thriving.

Anyway, after a few weeks with the blood happening occasionally I stopped eating all dairy and nuts. She hasn't had any blood in a week, so I'm motivated to keep up the diet, and she has an appointment with the allergist next week.... hopefully we'll get some answers. I'm hoping my sweet little girl is okay- she seems pretty happy.

But Mommy needs to complain a little.... after being sick for 30 weeks of pregnancy it seems a little unfair to have to cut out all the delicious foods that I struggled to keep down for 30 weeks. Plus a breastfeeding Mama is starving all. day. long. When I decided to cut out dairy I was pretty sure it was the end of the world. Peanut butter M&Ms. Ice cream. Milkshakes. Cereal. Cheese on EVERYthing. Those are just a few of the things I knew I could not possibly live without. This is dramatic, but dessert is my weakness, and I'm an emotional eater.

There is a reason I never take pictures of food, but don't these look yummy?!

After I gave myself the "be reasonable" pep-talk about all of the people who have much stricter diets for much longer, and this really isn't a big deal.... I decided I'd look at this as a diet, so I could lose my baby weight from the last 3 pregnancies (isn't baby girl so sweet to give me this opportunity?!). I'd love to report that I've lost all kinds of weight and have learned self-control, but nope. It has been good, because it has forced me to meal plan better, so that I always have dairy-free meals planned, and I've learned that rice milk on cereal is delicious, but I have also learned about all kinds of dessert substitutes.... Did you know that Oreos don't contain dairy!??!?! I don't even want to think about how it is possible that those chocolate and cream cookies have no dairy, but they are in my pantry, and they are yummy. The other night my friend, Miesha, came to my rescue- she is also a dairy-free breastfeeding Mama... except I think she has cut all allergens, and I don't think she complains about it. She brought this Heavenly little bag of dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips with an insane price-tag. We used those and coconut oil for butter, and we made some fantastic chocolate chip cookies that I have been inhaling ever since. We also enjoyed some margaritas. So I have really learned no lessons, except that being dairy-free isn't so bad after all.

Baptism

I never posted about Third little girl's Baptism that occurred a month ago. Life is so busy, but I definitely don't want to forget her special day. Her Baptism was absolutely beautiful, and we got to share it with so many wonderful friends and family. We had a joint Baptism with one of our friends from Church, whose adorable baby boy is just 2 weeks younger than our lady.

We asked our dear friends Lauren and Patrick to be the Godparents of our Third little girl. The Officer and I were in CCM with them in College, and Lauren and I were roommates for a few wonderful years. I still remember very fondly the first double date that we went on with this amazing couple. Their marriage is beautiful, and they are incredible parents to two young boys, so we knew they would be perfect Godparents. I know they will be praying fiercely for our little lady as she grows, and be great Catholic role models- plus it means they are forced to remain friends with us for the rest of their lives- and now I can give Lauren a guilt trip any time she doesn't answer her phone ;)

We did the Baptism in the Old Rite, which was beautiful and means the Godparents hold the baby the entire time. I don't think they minded....

After the Baptism we had a fun reception full of so many family and friends. Our little girls are very loved, and I hope they always know that.

My Mom of course was there for yet another Baptism- she has been to so many Sacraments over the years for her 29 grandchildren. She and my Dad are awesome Grandparents. My sister D came just one week after moving back home from across country, and we are so happy to have her and her family nearby now!

It was such a joyful day to welcome another little girl into the Catholic Church, and I hope she grows to appreciate this incredible faith.

I hope we can help get these 3 little souls to Heaven some day. Thank goodness we also have so many friends and family praying for them!

My baby essentials

One of my dear friends is expecting her first baby, and I'm so excited for her! She mentioned that she might want some baby registry ideas, and I decided to run with it and bombard her with my lengthy "must haves" list. I love seeing what other people find useful for their kids and getting new ideas. Our house is really small, so I always try not to have too many things and definitely nothing big. Disclaimer: these are obviously just my preferences, and every baby is different and likes different things. So here are my top 15 baby items (and lots of baby pictures):

1. Swaddle. An absolute must-have for Mik newborns. All 3 of my babies have been excellent sleepers (like sleep through the night at one week old excellent sleepers), and I give all credit to this amazing product (and good sleeping genes from their Mommy who loves sleep). SwaddleMe. Go buy one immediately.

It might look like a straight jacket, but she loves it (and is already getting too big for it)

2. Pacifiers. I know this is one of those heated topics of parenting these days- did I tell you about the time the Officer and I got shamed and had to be "trained" by a nurse because we wanted to give Third little girl a pacifier when she was only 3 days old?!?!- Yea, well we gave her that pacifier and haven't looked back since. I know some parents don't want to use them, and some babies don't want them, but all 3 of my girls have loved them for sleeping (And my older girls dropped them very easily before they were 2- the thumb has not been so easy to drop for Bug). There are all kinds of pacifiers and kids all like different things, but these are the ones that all 3 of my girls have liked the most (and keep in the easiest as babies!).... Nuk pacifiers. My babies don't leave home without them.

Belle loved sleeping with her pacifier and Puppy

3. Clip to attach pacifier to car seat, because yes, pacifiers are that important to my life. Must. never. lose. pacifier.

4. Nursing pillow and nursing cover. So I am a high-maintenence breastfeeding Mama. This is the pillow that I have and love. I always like to be covered when breastfeeding in front of people..... again with the heated parenting topics. That just makes me more comfortable, and I have a very curious 3-year-old who likes to ask "why" to EVERYTHING, so it helps keep her questions about breastfeeding to a minimum age 3 appropriate level.

Bug preferred her arms to be out of the swaddle

6. This seahorse. For no important reason, other than the fact that my girls like it.

Belle and Bug have always been best buds

7. Diaper sprayer. Because we use cloth diapers (love BumGenius!), and for me that is the most important accessory if you are going to cloth diaper. (added bonus: it's great for cleaning out toddler potties which are just the worst things ever).

9. Bouncy seat (or reclining highchair, bumbo, or jumperoo when they get a little older), because babies like to see what's going on around the house.... especially when there are wild toddlers they can watch all day. I don't know if I can really call ours a bouncy seat, because mean old Mommy Mik doesn't believe in ever replacing batteries, so ours has not turned on for years, and I'm totally content with that.

Bug rocking the umbrella stroller

10. Strollers. Plural because I have a stroller problem. Different situations need different strollers. Last week I was at Lowes buying a vanity, and the employee was helping put it in my car.... he could not fit it in the back of my van because I had literally 4 strollers in the back. FOUR. I have 3 children, and I was driving around town with 4 strollers. Yes, I have a problem. I promised the Officer I would be giving one of them away, but here are my 3 that I will always keep. A nice, cheap umbrella stroller. Never underestimate the small, light, cheap umbrella stroller. Ours came free when we bought our carseat. This is the double stroller I have after a recommendation from my sister, and I love it. It's a very reasonable price for a double jogging stroller, and I have zero complaints about it. Then of course my little snap n go stroller, that I can easily put the carseat in for quick in and out of the car trips- it is perfect for babies (and I just learned worked well for flying with an infant when you want to carry on a carseat).

This stroller is perfect for carrying children and pumpkins

11. Changing table. The Officer REFUSES to change a diaper sitting on the ground, and I want him to be happy while he's changing all the diapers ;) It's also nice because the diapers are very easily accessible for the toddlers when I ask them to grab me a diaper for the baby 35 times a day. Any will do just fine, and I love ours all the more because it was another excellent hand-me-down from my generous sister Michaela (just like almost every baby item I own).

12. Forehead thermometer. Here is the one I have. I thought this was unnecessary before I was a Mom, but fortunately one of my sisters bought it for me. Just trust me on this- buy it.

13. Baby carrier. I always think that I will use these more often than I ever do, but they are nice to have sometimes (and some babies want to be in them always).  My babies always love them, but again lazy Mommy Mik never feels like putting them on, and my babies are usually pretty happy sitting in a seat. I haven't found the perfect one yet, so maybe fellow Moms can recommend their favorites to me.

14. Don't forget all the other basics, which I have no specific recommendations for- crib, pack n play, carseat, 7 million baby wipes....

15. A camera- that takes video- Babies grow SO SO SO quickly, so please take 90000 pictures and videos a day and don't be ashamed of it.

Any must-haves that I have forgotten or not learned about yet???

Cleaning with children

Cleaning. I have never really enjoyed cleaning, but now the thought of a nice Saturday morning spent deep cleaning my house all ALONE sounds pretty nice. You know that popular meme about cleaning your house with kids???

So so true. I'm living with two toddlers and a newborn, so I'm looking around my house wondering if it will ever be clean again. I've cleaned the house as a Mom of babies, and I've cleaned the house as the Mom of toddlers- each of those are sort of challenging, but cleaning as the Mom of a baby AND toddlers is pretty much impossible. My only cleaning goals in the last few weeks have been doing dishes, vacuuming, and wiping down the bathrooms. That's it. Last week I spent 2 days trying to vacuum and mop the teeny tiny main floor of our house. My first attempt was never finished, and my second attempt took most of the day. Here's what my morning looked like:

9:00am- The toddlers have just finished breakfast and the house is already a mess, so I begin telling them to put away all of their toys so that we can vacuum while the baby is awake.

9:30am- remind them to stop playing with the toys and actually put them away while I nurse the baby

10:00am- "pleeeeeeaaaaase stop dancing and put those blankets back in your room while I burp the baby."

10:20am- I hurry and get the vacuum out while the floor is clear for the next 45 seconds

10:30am- the kitchen is vacuumed, but the baby needs her poopy diaper changed IMMEDIATELY

10:40am- resume vacuuming

11:00am- dining room is vacuumed, but now the toddlers want to do a craft since I'm forbidding them from taking out a single toy until I finish vacuuming. "No, you may not use playdoh because I just vacuumed there! Yes, I will get the crayons out for you."

11:10am- resume vacuuming

11:20am- stop vacuuming to help the recently potty-trained 2-year-old use the bathroom. AT LEAST she didn't pee on the floor- that really would have slowed down my vacuuming. 

11:30am- resume vacuuming

11:35am- stop vacuuming to pick up the crap... I mean toys... I found under the couch 

11:40- resume vacuuming. so close to being done.

11:50- stop vacuuming to make lunch for the toddlers.

12:00- use the hose to vacuum along the floor boards, under cabinets, in the corners.... it needs to be done, because I skipped it last time.

12:10- give crying baby a pacifier and beg her to just wait 2 more minutes and then I will feed her.

12:15- done with vacuuming! just in time to nurse the baby while the girls eat pb&j

12:45- Baby is fed, burped, and content, but now the toddlers are done eating lunch and I need to vacuum under the table again (and wipe jelly off of everything that was within reach of the 2-year-old)

1:00- downstairs is vacuumed, and I guess I will spend their naptime mopping (or I'll probably collapse on the couch and mop another day when my kids are adults). Nobody will eat food or wear shoes ever again in this house! 

Just in case this post was making anyone think they didn't want (more) children.  They are definitely worth a messy house.

It only took me 4 hours to vacuum three tiny rooms.... good thing I have a small house. At what age can my children start vacuuming?? 

The Real Babymoon

I've been living my real Babymoon for the last 13 days. It's been my honeymoon time with my sweet new baby. Our 3rd little bundle of joy (another girl!) was finally born on July 12 at 6:18 pm, and I'll write a post with her birth story soon, but for now I've just been enjoying my little baby moon. I don't have a blog nickname yet for our sweet daughter, because I just need to get to know her better.... if I had to give her a nickname so far it would be "sleepy head", "poopy pants", "angel baby", or her Daddy likes to call her "Third" (shout out to Orson Scott Card and anyone who has read Ender's Game).

The Officer with his precious Third daughter

The last 13 days truly have been a honeymoon. For the past 13 days I have been expected to sit around and nurse and burp a (pretty easy) newborn. Seriously, that's about it. The Officer has taken care of Belle and Bug all day every day (the much more difficult job right now), and all of our kind wonderful friends from Church, College, and the Officer's work friends have been bringing us dinners almost every day. Our families are wonderful, and someone is always willing to hold the new baby girl so Mommy can get a little nap or shower. Yes, all Moms know the negative sides to the postpartum time, but so far this one hasn't been too bad, and I am oh so very grateful. My physical recovery has been really easy this time around (way way way easier than the first). Also, I guess it took me a third child to realize how very quickly this newborn phase passes, so instead of stressing and worrying about things as much as I did as a first-time Mom, now I'm snuggling and holding my little lady before she does the unthinkable and becomes a toddler!

There are few things in life better than a newborn asleep on your shoulder

The first 2 weeks of her life have really been bliss. Our sweet third daughter has been a very easy baby so far. She sleeps a 7 or 8 hour stretch each night (I know I'm spoiled), and is pretty happy most of the day. To make up for a long night of sleeping, she eats almost all day. So I spend most of my day attached to little lady, which right now I'm not complaining about.

Three children under the age of 4 is definitely going to be a busy life. A life full of joy, but a very very busy life. The Officer has been off this whole time, and the thought of him going back to work next week makes me want to cry. What will I do without SuperDad?! He has been taking care of the big girls and allowing me to spend almost all of my time just taking care of my newborn.  I have been thoroughly enjoying all of this bonding time with my youngest, but having her attached to me at all times will not be ideal when I also have to meet the needs of 2 demanding toddlers. So my little honeymoon with my newborn officially comes to a harsh end next week, and then it will be back to reality. It will definitely be tough next week, but good thing my reality consists of 3 adorable little faces.

Mom to three little kids is a piece of cake right??? I just need to read books all day