Four? How 'Bout No More!

Someone told me the other day I needed to have another kid.  She heard I had three and told me I needed to even the score by having another.  I think she meant well...and perhaps she was kidding (she wasn't), but she mentioned that there were three siblings in her family and her sister always complained of being left out as she was the middle child.  I had to stifle the urge to roll my eyes.  ...At least I hope I stifled it!  I'll admit, when we were in the throes of deciding on #3 I did fret over the middle child blues I'd heard all about, mostly because I had been told I should fret over it.  But a middle child is a middle child, is a middle child.  And let's do the math...adding one more simply means you are that much more outnumbered and then you have to get really serious about that bigger house or car...or savings account! Also, having another kid to "even the score" is a very bad reason to have another kid.  You best be sure you want a number four or a five or eleven because, if you didn't know this yet, kids are crazy and can zap you of life, bless their little hearts!
And even with four kids there is often still someone left out, so adding another just adds more guilt.  :)  Well at least that's how I see it.  Plus I hate even numbers.  I like odds.  (I can just hear my father in law saying something like, You like odd all right. ) What it comes down to though is the family dynamic, the parenting and the kid.  This:

is our middle child.  Abigale Joy Hermanstorfer.  A three year old full of life, love and exuberance, who in the above picture appears to be updating her Facebook status on her toy phone in a most stylish fashion. Every day she tells me I'm her best friend and that I'm beautiful.  Every morning she gives me the best hugs and smooches.  She never fails to shout from wherever she is playing or reading: MOM! ....I love you.  She is my sidekick, a partner in crime.  She is a fantastic big sister to her little brother and she is a wonderful (and patient) younger sibling to her older sister.  She is hilarious and amazing and I'm not worried about her being a middle child.  This girl makes herself known.  You couldn't forget about her if you wanted to, which ya don't because she's so squeezable.  I'm not worried she will be over looked to be honest with you.  She is quite charming and you definitely remember her after meeting her. 

The moral, the gist, the point...each kid brings their own things to the table.  The question is, what as a parent and as a family are you going to do with it?  Abby will be fine sandwiched in between two amazing and adorable siblings that have their own lovable, squeezable things about them.  I'm not worried one bit.  

 

It's Time to Get Organized...

I find myself thinking this thought more and more lately.  Beyond the little things around the house to make life easier, now that we are getting settled to into life with three kiddos I find myself thinking that as Cooper gets older and older it will be time to form a plan of action.  Because folks things are about to get crazy up in here.  We have one kiddo starting kindergarten this fall and that adds a whole new dimension to life in this house of 5.  I am excited for Hannah and this new chapter because she is going to LOVE school!  But it also changes things for all of us. 
One of the things Adam and I find ourselves discussing...often...is what in the heck will get through to these kids!  I know they are just kids and they will in fact BE kids, but that doesn't mean they should be off the hook for basic manners and kindness.  (The lack of this has been really getting to me lately)
Our Abby hates having people mad at her.  She gets in even the smallest bit of trouble and her heart is broken.  Hannah on the other hand...well let's just say she's a tougher nut to crack.  So I've struggled with finding a system that motivates and gets attention while also getting them to use daily the basic things we try to teach them and that is consistent.  Enter this blog: JandAandCo.  I like a lot of what she writes.  I completely identify with her when she talks about moving out of the years of survival and into a routine and enjoying each other as a family.  We aren't 100% there yet, as I am still up 3ish times a night with a baby and often one other kiddo causing me to be a zombie some days, but we are slowly moving in that direction.  On one of her blogs she mentions this idea: Token System which I love. 
We had tried something similar to this with Hannah for awhile but didn't have a clear cut system for what you could earn/cash them in for.  I like that this has several different points for things.  It will take some time to get in the swing of remembering what you earn for what and what you can cash them in for and our system varies a bit from the above but not much.  In just the half day I've been using it I've found it rather refreshing to be able to say in a clear and matter of fact way, whether an action or reaction earned or lost a coin and see the immediate regret or joy on their faces in recognizing it.  Given that the rewards are things like; getting to stay up 10 minutes past bedtime, earning 5 minutes of softing at bedtime, extra books, movie time, Kindle time, etc...I think it will work out rather nicely.  Hannah does really well when she has a clear cut goal laid out for her.  I actually sat her down and went over all she could earn and lose tokens for and what she could cash them in for and she's been super excited.  There's even been a couple times this afternoon where she came to me and mentioned she should have a token taken away for being loud while brother was sleeping or for bothering her sister when she asked her not to.  Well then! 

There will be kinks to work out I'm sure but if we can get this system down I think it will help aide in some of the basic manners and kindnesses becoming second nature versus, me repeating them like a broken record.  Fingers crossed.  After all, one of our goals here is to grow little people that others genuinely enjoy being around because they are pleasant and polite.  :)

Renaming

I've renamed the blog...still trying to decide if I'll stick with it or not. 
Other name considerations included:
Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Deal With It! (I'll let you decide if that's directed at Mother's or Kiddos.)
Motherhood: I seem to Have Misplaced My Handbook

Other suggestions welcome. :)

Random things that turn into little moments...

I'm kind of hit and miss when it comes to writing down the cute little things the girls say or do...and then I try to remember them all at once and that just doesn't work out so well...but here it goes:

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Today as Abby was giving good morning snuggles in my bed, we heard geese outside the window.  She stops midsentence and says: Oh!  What a lovely song they are singing for us Mama!
And when they had flown away she asked if I thought they would come back and sing for us again since it was such a beautiful song.  This girl astounds me.  Honestly lately her comments and thoughts on music leave my heart warm and my mouth open.  haha  She reminds me of a tiny August Rush! (If you have not seen this movie, SEE IT!  It's a truly beautiful movie!) This girl hears the music in everything.  There have been several times she will stop in the middle of whatever she's doing and look at me and say: Do you hear that music mama?  So I will stop and listen....I will hear other noises but no music.  I will usually point out that the sound I hear is...a lawn mower or a bird or whatever it is and she will tell me that I'm not hearing then.  She's actually told me several times that my ears are broken if I can't hear the song she's hearing.  She can find the beat in whatever it is she hears and can hear a distinct song.  Honestly even just writing this gives me goose-bumps.  This girl's heart and soul is made of music.  While picking radishes this morning I could hear her from inside the house singing a little tune about how she could not believe her eyes, these beautiful radishes that she was picking.  hehe 

Sunday we had a nice day being lazy.  Well by the end of it I spent a great deal of time planting more things in the garden since the weather has been so awesome, but we took the afternoon just to hang out and be in the backyard.  The girls played in the sandbox together and made sandy pies in the playhouse.

Adam snoozed on the blanket and Cooper crawled around and just hung out since outside is his favorite place to be.

It was perfect.  It's these moments that make my heart happy.  It's these moments for the last couple years when we'd sit outside or all be together as a family made me sure someone was missing.  And now that we have Cooper it feels just right.  It feels like this was the thing that was missing.  I'd sit outside and watch the girls play and think to myself that it wasn't quite right.  And now it feels perfect.  :)

Cooper is getting so fast too.  He's getting rather brave and adventurous.  In the last month or so when I put him down on the big blanket he'll crawl around and kind of go off into the grass but never too far.  Yesterday I put him down and ran inside to get water.  When I came back not even 30 seconds later he was more than halfway across the yard kneeling next to a potted plant his hands all up in the dirt.  :) 

 

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We bought some smoked cheese last time we were at the grocery store that Abby absolutely LOVED...yesterday she walked up to Hannah to take a picture of her and says: Hannah, say smoked cheese!!
Hahahaha That girl makes my day.

 

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When kissing Ab goodnight she took my face in her hands and said: I love you so so much and I will miss you...but I guess I will see you tomorrow.
Man I love these kids!

 

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Hannah has been working really hard at karate.  I am so very proud of her.  And I'm really impressed.  I am noticing more and more that Hannah has very perfectionistic expectations of herself which I get...I truly do but it's hard to see this in your 5 year old daughter.  It will drive her to be great at things, but it could also keep her from doing something because she is horribly afraid to fail at it.  But I have seen her make such HUGE strides in karate.  Her confidence is growing and it's been cool to watch her help some of the younger students.  She's gotten knocked down many times going against someone a little more skilled than her but she gets back up and keeps going and I can see sometimes that it's a hard thing for her to do.  She is really driven and the teacher helps by commanding respect from her.  Last Thursday she earned her orange belt.  She was the first in the class to earn it, out of those that have been regularly coming.  I am really so proud of her and how hard she's trying and working.

  She seriously has the memory of no kid I know.  The other day at lunch she told Abby that they were going to give me the day off so they needed to do everything so I wouldn't have to.  Over the span of 10 or so minutes she proceeded to tell Abby near word for word literally every rule or do and don't we've ever given her and the reasons why.  I turned around and said: Aha!  I knew you were listening!  She looked a bit sheepish after that.  :) haha

She really has a good heart that wants to help and serve. 

 

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These pictures here just make me laugh.  Adam and Hannah took a morning to go fishing.  (Hannah was SO excited!) And Abby was sad and felt left out (it was seriously heartbreaking.  She spent the morning with her tiny face pushed up to the window as Daddy and Hannah left saying, Wait!  But I'm not ready for you to go yet!) So Abby Cooper and I went on an adventure to get the best popsicles we could find since the weather was so warm and just kind of wander about wherever Abby led.  We end up here in the hat and sunglass section where Abby proceeds to crack me up.  She kept coming up with all these hat and glasses combinations and deciding none were quite right.   haha

I really do have very cute and quite phenomenal kids. 

 

6 months Cooper...except more like 7.

Well here we are.  Cooper James is almost 7 months old!  Aaah!  Are you kidding me!?  I have been thinking for a month now, for record's sake I should really get on and blog his last appointment and well check and his milestones and...and...annnd here we are now a month later.  This guy:

can be summed up in one word:  Determined. (Also, doesn't he have adorable little legs!?) He is determined to move and go and be and he will work and work until he reaches that goal...although I do think he will always be striving for something.  This kid is going places...literally. 

He is quiet and reserved but he has a fantastic light up the room and melt your heart into a pool of butter smile and laugh.  He's taking it all in.  HIs sisters can make him laugh just by looking at him.....

I'm not really sure why!  Just look at them.  So serious.  Not sure what he sees in them that's so funny....

 

  :)  He LOVES being outside.  You take him outside and he'll just hang out for hours.  He's crawling, oh yes he is!  But that's not good enough (As you can clearly see in the above photo.) At his 6 month well check he was about 28 inches long and...an unspecified weight.  17...18 pounds...I'm gonna guess one of those.  He wouldn't sit still on the scale.  He wouldn't LAY still on the scale.  Even when he was down his head was up and off of it so...the number never landed.  He's growing, but he's still a skinny little peanut.  I believe he's trying to work on teeth...at least for his sake something better pop through because the last two days his gums have been slightly bloody.  :(  Teething is sad.  There's no nice way to put it. 
He likes being sung to.  I've sung him some pretty weird songs and gotten him to smile pretty good.  (Bohemian Rhapsody anyone?? Oh yes it's a favorite of his.) He likes books...but mostly for nutritional value at this point. 
He is SO easy to put to sleep!  Oh my goodness...am I going to regret typing this?  Will I be jinxing myself??  But no seriously, this needs to be noted because this kid when it is sleepy time will let you lay him back in your arms, allow himself to find his thumb (oh yes they are best buddies) let you rock him for a minute or two and then turn to look at his bed as if to say; seriously...just put me down already Ma.  It's possible the rocking is more for me than him...allows me to smell all that wonderful baby goodness on the top of his head.  :)

Also...as a side-note I just randomly noticed that a lot of my photos lately have laundry baskets with laundry in them either waiting to be put away or needing to be folded. Honestly...that's just how we roll right now.  I've got four laundry baskets going at all times and sometimes I don't think even that's enough!  I mean it was ridiculous before but now!  Pffaw! ...
 As a side-note to my side-note I never would have thought there would come a day when I would have to have a specific wash load for "pinks." Trust me.  It really is that bad.  It's more like pinks and ridiculously bright colors.  But I seriously digress so back to the main topic here...

So there you have it.  There's 6 er...almost 7 month Cooper James.  (He really is cute!  Don't you just wanna squeeze him!? I mean I do!)