So much to blog, so little time

I'm finding it difficult to blog these days. Could it be because of the holidays were insane, I have a newborn (who is fussy) or the fact that all my kids are sick right now? Humm, perhaps all these reasons and more.

If I had the time I would want to write about how Ryan is turning 2 next month. I would want to share all the adorable things she says like:
Giving Ashley the nickname Dolly which the whole family is staring to use.
Naming herself "Super Cape" as her super hero name when she dresses up in super hero clothes (i.e. mask and cape).
Telling everyone "happy day". 
Saying her one and only knock, knock joke that goes like this: (she says) knock, knock....(you say) who's there?....(she says) Orange Who?

If I had the time I would want to blog about how Ashley is now 6 weeks old, that she is our fussy child who only sleeps in the swing or car seat and requires being held all the time.  I would also want to mention she has her first ear infection which might be contributing to the crankiness and I would want to talk about what an adorable baby she is when she's cooing and smiling.

If I had the time I would tell you about how Carter started soccer, that he loves nurf guns and always wants to play angry birds, cut the rope, talking Ben and hockey on his Dad's phone. I would tell you what a great big brother his is.  I would share how he says he's going to be a great big brother to Ashley, but sometimes he hits Ryan (as if she's already a lost cause).

 I would tell you about all our Christmas activities like hosting Christmas Eve for my family at our house, how excited Carter was to put out cookies/milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, the Christmas celebration with Kyle's family in Evansville and all the fun things we did with Aunt Robin, Uncle Rio and cousins Wilder and Montana when they were here.  I tell you about our poor Christmas photo shoot and how every picture best describes how crazy and insane the holidays can be with 3 little kids.

If I had the time I would tell you it hasn't been easy, we're slightly overwhelmed and very tired.  If I had the time I would say all of those things don't matter because we are so in love with our family and we are so excited to see what 2012 has to bring.

What do ya know, I guess I do have the time.....

Christmas Program

Carter's class had a birthday party for Jesus and a little Christmas program. It was adorable!

While in their classroom, they sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate cake.

Then the parents were asked to head to the chapel while the kids got on their costumes for the program.  Carter was a wise man.  The kids played bells, sang songs and told the story of Jesus's birth.

(class shot: Carter is 3rd from the right)

 The kids were great and you could tell the whole class was excited to perform for us. 

Bravo, Jr. Explorers Class, Bravo!

What a great way to start the Christmas holiday! 

how about some new pics

Wanna see new pics?  Here you go!
Ryan loves to pose for the camera and loves to dress up with accessories.

Ashley is just starting to give us happy faces.

Carter can't take a normal picture these days.  He is either making funny faces or doing crazy moves for the camera.

 Getting all 3 kids to sit and smile for a picture is impossible at this point.  We have fun trying, though!

2 week update

Little Ashley is 2 weeks old today.  She is a great baby who is rarely fussy.  Ashely is a big eater and is now 8.5 lbs.  That's almost a pound over her birth weight!  She is also a good sleeper.  Ashley can sleep for 5 hours straight sometimes.  I've been told that 5 hours is considered "sleeping through the night" for breastfed babies.  The problem is this usually doesn't happen at night!  That is something we'll need to work on over the next couple of weeks.

The rest of the family is adjusting to our new addition quite well.  Ryan calls her Dolly and it's so adorable when she wants to hold Ashley.  She usually holds out her hands and says, "come here", in a sweet little voice.  Carter is always telling me he will always be nice to the baby and will never hit her.  Then he proceeds to remind me how he hits Ryan sometimes and perhaps that's not a very nice thing to do.  He is actually a very caring big brother to both of his little sisters.

Mom and Dad are tired (as to be expected).  The older kids are requiring lots of TLC right now because they are sick with colds and ear infections.  Nursing Ashley has been a challenge and has caused a lot of physical pain and emotional stress on me.  I have high hopes that we're about to turn a corner after a positive meeting with a lactation consultant today.  I also have a doctor's appointment today to discuss medication and options for my arthritis.  Unfortunately my symptoms are coming back and are difficult to control.   

She's here!

Our little lady is here!  Ashley Kristine Meek was born Tuesday 11-22-11 at 5:08am.
It was a very quick delivery (4 hours from beginning to end).  She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.  Ashley has a head full of dark wavy hair and looks alot like her brother.

We came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving to a house full of people and good food. Grandpa and Grandma Meek, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Amy and cousin Grayson were all here to welcome our little girl. It was great to have the company. We are thankful that Grandma and Grandpa took Carter and Ryan back to Evansville with them for a couple of days so we can rest and spend some quality time with Ashley before getting back to real life.

The older kids seem to love their little sister already.  Carter is fascinated with her.  He loves to hold her and kiss her.  He is quick to give her his prized possession, Monks (his stuffed monkey), whenever she crys.  He says it makes her feel better.  Ryan likes to tickle Ashley, pat her head and give her kisses.  There hasn't been any jealousy yet.  Hopefully this is an indication of good things to come.

and the clock continues to tick....

I don't have much to update on baby #3.  We are 10 days out from our due date and I was hoping to have the baby by now.  I guess we got a little spoiled with Ryan coming so early.  I've had quite a few contractions over the last two weeks and even a couple of "false alarms".  On Saturday, we were timing contractions for two hours and several were only 5 minutes apart! We really started to think that maybe it was time. Unfortunately they fizzled out. 

All of these contractions and the growing struggle to be comfortable towards the end has made me a little grouchy lately.  It hasn't gone unnoticed.  Carter asks me on a daily basis if I'm in a "bad moot" or if I'm frustrated. I think everyone in the house is ready for the pregnancy to be over and for the baby to be here....well, except for Ryan...she is having way too much fun these days putting stickers all over my huge belly. 

Here's a recent picture of our 2 kiddos.  Hopefully my next post will show all 3!

Trick or Treat!

The kids were very excited for Halloween.  We picked out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa Meek and cousin Aidan.  Then we carved those pumpkins with Aunt Lisa, cousins Morgan and Mitch, and Papa Big over fall break.  Ryan was a huge fan of pulling out the guts and Carter liked picking out the design for his pumpkin.

For Halloween, Carter dressed up like a fireman.  We bought his costume in early October so he logged lots of hours in the outfit before it was actually time to trick-or-treat.  The costume included a super soaker fire hose backpack that he loved!

Ryan was orginally going to be a butterfly but Dad thought we could do better on her costume. We switched her to a pirate at the last minute. Daddy was right. The pirate costume was much better.

The kids enjoyed handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.  Carter was very generous in giving out candy.  When he was in charge of the candy bowl, I think each kid got at least 3 to 6 pieces.

Carter was excited when it was their turn to trick-or-treat.  Ryan was less then interested.

We were able to calm our angry pirate down and Daddy took them around the neighborhood. 

Our neighbors, Anna (3 yrs old) and her mommy, joined us in our trick-or-treating outting.  The older kids had a blast running from house to house.  Ryan enjoyed hanging back in the wagon and hitting up a very select number of homes.

It was a fun Halloween night and a great month of October. We hope your Halloween was spooktacular too!