When we discovered Andersen was on the way we knew that a vehicle upgrade would be somewhere in the not-too-distant future.  While both of our vehicles still run great (despite their age of 10 years), neither is ideal for carting around three kids.  The Honda doesn’t fit three car seats in the back and the truck leaves no room for anything else inside the cab (like a stroller), not to mention the constant bickering having the oldest two right next to each other.  “Mommy, April’s foot is in my car seat!”  “No Abe!  No thank you!!”  Sigh.

Last year’s medical bills prevented getting a “new” vehicle before Andersen’s arrival, and then we wanted to wait until he was born to ensure there weren’t any medical surprises… like a trip to the NICU at two weeks old.  I’m very thankful that little hospital stay didn’t axe entirely getting a mini van this year, like I thought it would at the time.

On Easter Sunday I got an email from a friend in our small group that one of their neighbors was moving to India next week and needed to sell their 2007 Toyota Sienna, the very make and model van we had been wanting.  It was very low mileage and the price was right, so I emailed them right away.  On Monday we looked at it and drove it.  On Wednesday we had a mechanic check it out, and on Thursday morning we closed the deal and bought it!

We have now had it just over a week and I LOVE IT!!  It’s so nice to have with the kids.  Look how far apart they are!!  Isn’t it fabulous?!  Abe loves being in the third row and can now buckle himself in all on his own (in the truck the seats were too close).  April is excited to have her own window, which I never knew bothered her.  [Aside: She wants to have her window open all the time, but that is now banned until she's a little older.  On our way back from church on Sunday we had her window open; I turned around just in time to stop her from tossing her shoe out.  Oh, so THAT'S how those random shoes end up on the side of the road!]  Andersen, well, he doesn’t like the van anymore than the car or truck and mostly just screams anytime we go anywhere.

It also has some upgrades that are nice and I’m not sure we would have paid for if we had bought it new.  Like leather seats and both sliding doors are automatic power doors.  The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t ding if you leave the lights on and I wish the back hatch was automatic as well.  But I love having the radio controls on the steering wheel and many other luxuries that I had no idea I was missing out on.

We’re very excited about our Swagger Wagon – we feel that we got a great van at a great price!  Now we just need to sell the truck…

Well, our little stinker is three months old already.  Wow, where did that time go?  Two major accomplishments for him since his last month birthday.  About a week and a half after turning two months old the gunk that he had had, almost his whole life, was finally gone!!  So very excited not to have to suction my little man any more or wonder if he can breathe.  Also glad that the gunk wasn’t allergy related, which is what we were starting to think it may have been.

His other accomplishment came on April 2nd when he learned to roll over, from belly to back.  He did it for the first time in his crib and then twice more during tummy time.  I’m a consistent three for three on missing each of my kids first (non-fluke) roll over.   See video below.

Andersen is super strong and always on the go.  It’s not uncommon for me to set him in his car seat, only to turn one second later and see him like this (see picture->) trying to get out.  In fact, he’s so strong that he’s rocked it over a couple of times like that.  Geesh.  He’ll do the same thing in the swing, so that ended any sleeping in either place at night time.  He is definitely a man on the move.  If you lay him on his back his legs are in constant motion; put him on his belly and he’ll turn himself around and scoot all over the place (using just his legs though; no arms or hands).  Bizarre to watch, and the constant kicking I recognize from before he was born.

He smiles regularly now, which is a ton of fun, and coos and talks a lot too.  He is such a doll, and while I know I’m partial, you can’t help but love him.  At only three months old, he already knows what he wants, and that is clearly Mommy.  He is without a doubt our “high needs” baby, who wants to be held, but not by just anyone; he almost always wants me.  Daddy is okay sometimes too, but often I still have to be around.  Take tonight for example. We were all outside enjoying the cool evening when Abe and April wanted to ride around the block.  Since Mike is somewhat crippled (majorly sprained his ankle last week), I left Andersen with him on the steps and I walked with them.  Andersen screamed the whole time I was gone, getting more upset the further I got, and the instant I was back in sight, he calmed down.  It is sweet and special to be so wanted and known by one so young, but it’s also extremely exhausting, especially when you have two other kids that need you too.  But, he’s learning to love for a life time, and I certainly want to cultivate that the best I know how.  I was reading a blog today and something this woman with nine kids wrote cut me to the core:

“To become a mother, I had to learn how to care about someone more than I did about myself, and that was terrible.  But who I am now is something more terrible:  the protector who can’t always protect; the one with arms that are designed to hold, always having to let go… don’t blame yourself for thinking that your life is hard.  You’re suffering now because you’re turning into a new woman, a woman who is never allowed to be alone.  For what?  Only so that you can become strong enough to be a woman who will be left.”

I continue to cherish these years as they breeze by so quickly, while still recognizing that there are many long days mixed in.

OUR SLEEP ISSUE:  I separated this section out because I figure a lot of you will want to stop reading now.  I’m sure our sleep issues are boring to the masses, if you even made it this far.  If you aren’t a grandparent, I’m impressed!

Sleep especially has been a huge challenge with Andersen.  With only a few exceptions, he’s been sleeping with me in the chair these entire three months.  Yes, I enjoy the cuddles with my sweet baby, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t desperately missed sleeping in my bed, next to my hubby!  Once the gunk was gone, I started working on getting him to sleep in the crib/bassinet.  Bassinet is an absolute no-go, so we’ve given that up.  We’re having more success in the crib, with the big stepping stone happening the night he turned three months old – 8.5 hours (not continuous) in his crib!!! Yay!

It pretty much boils down to this:  At about two and half months I learned that he was a belly sleeper.  You see the problem here since everyone in the medical profession drums into you early on not to lay them down on their belly.  I’ve found there are typically two reactions that I’ll get from people regarding this.  The first is, “I put all of my babies to sleep on their bellies and they’re fine!  They change how they’re supposed to sleep every couple of years anyway.  Don’t listen to them; just do it!”  To you people I say this- I have done my research and there is no denying that there is a tie between belly sleeping and SIDS.  Read this article,  “A Quiet Revolt Against SIDS”; yes, the article is seven years old, but the fact of the matter is, I still haven’t been able to find any expert, even the lenient ones, that can deny a link between the two.  The percentage of babies dying from SIDS changed significantly since laying babies on their back, so don’t be so quick to dismiss it.

The other reaction is pretty much the same one I have, which is I never did it with either of my kids.  Both Abe and April slept on their belly, but not until they were able to roll over to their belly themselves (for April, this was at 3 months).  For a couple weeks I’ve been in angst about what to do.  However, the older Andersen gets, the less safe I feel about sleeping in the chair with him.  He’s bigger and moves more now and we’ve had a couple “close calls” with sleeping in the chair.

So, I’ve broken the belly rule just a bit with Andersen.  He can roll over, but not yet from back to belly.  Meaning, I’m laying him down on his belly, not his back.  I’ve borrowed an AngelCare Monitor from a friend to remove my angst with this; it will alarm if he stops breathing or moving (it’s super-sensitive).  Call me crazy, but that’s okay.  I don’t need anything else to tack onto our list of craziness this past year and a half; not if I can prevent it anyway.  Once he can role from back to belly, I’ll give the monitor back.  So, we’re far from being on a schedule or sleeping through the night, but we’re getting there.

It seems that yet another Easter will mark a growing-up milestone for one of our kids (last Easter April took her first steps).  Abe took the training wheels off his bike!!  He’s been riding his bike with training wheels everywhere for a year and a half now.  Part of me had been dreading this step as I envisioned a bunch of falls and injuries.  However, last November one of our friends gave us their balance bike (just like a bike but without pedals and gears).  Abe didn’t show a lot of interest in it until recently, and suddenly, he got the whole balance thing down.  The transition then to his pedal bike was quite simple and involved no accidents!  I think this was huge, not just for my momma heart watching, but also for his confidence and desire to keep trying.  He got stopping down easy; took him a bit longer to figure out how to start on his own smoothly, but he improves every day with that.  We ventured past the sidewalk in front of our house a short distance this Friday when we went to a friend’s house and he did great!  I doubt it will be long before he’s an old pro and trying tricks.  Gulp.  Check out the video below.  (This was recorded on Easter Sunday.)  Way to go Abe!!  We’re so proud of you.

Our Easter morning began perfectly on time, which constitutes a small miracle in my book.  We were headed to church for the early service since I was volunteering in the children’s program.  Amazingly, I didn’t have to wake anyone up and we got ready without any negative hustles or “fights”.  A couple pictures later and we were even out the door on time, something that rarely happens since Andersen has arrived.  At church I had the distinct joy of telling the Easter story for the kiddos, ages 3 through kinder.  They decorated their bags and after service there was a nice brunch and an egg hunt for the kids.  So much fun.

We then headed home and I set up the egg hunt I had planned for the kids, ending with their Easter buckets.  For the last three or more weeks we’ve been learning the Easter story by using the Resurrection Eggs.  It seemed only fitting to work that into their egg hunt.  So, starting in the kitchen, I asked each kid a question about the story.  After they answered, I then gave them a clue where to find their first egg.  Each consecutive egg after that had a piece of paper inside with another question and another clue, with the last egg telling them where to find their buckets.  Both kids did awesome.

In their buckets they got a variety of things, including their swimsuits for the summer and some pool toys.  Since it was warm and sunny out, the next logical activity was to play in the backyard with the sprinkler, hose, and kiddie pool – so fun and relaxing.  Then, after rest time, we played out front with our bikes and trikes.  (That was when Abe hit a big milestone!!  See next blog entry….)  It was such a wonderful and relaxing day, a great way to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.  Thank you LORD for such an amazing and undeserved gift, the gift of life!  More pictures.

Even though my parents visited over Christmas, they were chomping at the bit to come back.  Unsurprising since there’s a new kid in town!  They flew in late, but both still came over to meet the little guy.  Abe and April were sleeping, but they were so excited to see them the next morning.  They love it when they come visit.  They also love it when they stay at a nearby hotel so we can eat breakfast there and go swimming.  In fact, it’ll be weeks (maybe longer) before we can pass by the hotel without them talking about it.

Mom and Dad came the Friday before Palm Sunday, so they were here for most of Passion Week.  (Dad had to go back a couple days earlier since he had to preach Good Friday and Easter Sunday.)  It was fun to see Andersen take so quickly to my dad especially; evidently he approves of being his namesake. =)  Because my parents were here for Passion week, there were some Easter activities thrown in.  It’s so fun to watch the kids enjoy things like resurrection eggs, coloring eggs, and egg hunts.  Again, we kept things pretty low-key.  A little shopping, some eating out, but mostly just chilling during the day and cards at night.  Go here for more pictures.

Both kids had a lot of fun; it’s a very hands-on place geared perfectly toward the ages of our kids – well, at least the two oldest.  (Andersen slept almost the whole time until I made him wake up, fearful he would be awake the whole drive back.  He ended up sleeping almost the whole day, evening and even through the night.  Must be going through a growth spurt.)  The kids didn’t balk when it was time to go, but they could have easily spent more time there.  I don’t think they even went in the art room to paint or work the grocery store, which was pretty neat.  Guess we’ll just have to go back again some time!  Go here for more pictures.

In sharp contrast to last year, where you could hardly find one blue bonnet to crouch behind for a picture, they are out in abundance this year.  Yay for rain!!  And as a result we (finally) have our first family picture of the five of us!  Yes, the dog is missing, but it’s enough just to try to get kids this young to cooperate without adding the complications of the mutt.  Plus, he would have needed some work to be “picture worthy” in appearance; had he been groomed nicely I may have attempted it.  Go here for more pictures!

[Quick comment on April's dress:  Yes, I realize it's the same one she wore for last year's pictures.  However, I love it and it's special to me (since it was the flower girl dress from our wedding), so since it still fits, I'm going to get as much mileage out of it as I can.]

Overall he’s doing great. He still is pretty mucousy (is that a word?) which is a bit of a bummer. Hopefully that will clear up soon; possible it could be related to the high allergens in the air. Because of this I haven’t felt it fair to implement any sleep training, meaning we’re still sleeping mostly together in the chair. I’m hoping to end that real soon. Bad habits die hard though, especially when a loss of sleep is involved.

He is starting to be a lot of fun. Having longer awake times and interacting with us more, including lots of smiles. We all love this, Abe and April especially. It’s been so nice that we’ve had a couple weeks of good health so I can let them enjoy him; keeping them all separate is no fun for any of us.

We tend to think he is our fussiest baby. This could be that it is just more pronounced because he is the third. Mainly it just seems that in the evening, after the other kids go to bed, we have a period of the grumps. He also seems to be a big mommy fan, which is typical of this age. But that makes it difficult for me to get any exercise sans kids.

I still can’t help but stare at him, amazed that he is here and overwhelmed at how blessed we are. We love you Champ so much!

Well, yesterday morning that all changed.  Whether I was ready for it or not, she was.  Once she got up, I changed her diaper like normal and got her dressed.  We then headed to the kitchen for breakfast.  Before she was even in her chair she started crying/whining, “Change my diaper!  Change my diaper!”  A brief check and it was neither wet nor dirty, but she was still INSISTENT that I change her diaper.  So I took it off and told her to sit on the potty, which she did, and went.  I then put her diaper back on.  After two more times of this I finally stuck a pull-up on her.  I am not a big believer in pull-ups either, but we were headed to our Bible study and I wasn’t going to send her in undies; I wouldn’t do that to those wonderful teachers!

Low and behold, she stayed dry the entire time at our study and even used the big potty on the way out!  Wow!  We went home, ate lunch, another successful potty, and did rest time.  (I should take this moment to mention she has mostly given up her nap.  At two years old.  I blame Mike for this since his mom says he did the same thing.  So uncool.)  She stayed dry during rest time and I finally relented to undies, realizing that, ready or not, we may be potty training.  She stayed dry THE ENTIRE DAY!  No accidents.  Only one poop in her pull-up earlier.  I want to add here that Abe is her biggest cheerleader and that is so fun to watch.  “Way to go April!!!”  He gets so excited for her.

If I still had any lingering doubts that she was ready, they were squelched tonight.  I put her to bed like normal, with a diaper on.  I wasn’t even going to go there yet.  However, she woke up crying at 2:45am, “Change my diaper!  Change my diaper!  Go poop in potty!”  Sure enough, a quick trip to the bathroom and she went potty (just pee; she sometimes gets her terminology mixed up).  And her diaper was completely dry.  Looks like I am going to have to go buy her some two-piece jammies to ease night time potty trips.  And yes Sweet Pea, we will change your diaper – permanently.  Way to go April!

Disclaimer: Tomorrow is another day.  When she gets up I am going to automatically put undies on her.  However, if she starts to fight it, I won’t hesitate to throw the towel in.  Again, I refuse to fight this battle because I know I can’t win it.  I will put any training updates here, so if you are just dying to follow our “potty progress”, check this entry.

UPDATE 3/9/12: April woke up Thursday morning (after the middle of the night potty break) completely dry. In fact, all yesterday we didn’t have even one pee accident!! Last night she went to bed in undies, slept through the night, and woke up completely dry! Rock solid bladder, just like her brother. Awesome. I think we may venture out in public today.

The one struggle we have been having is in the poo department. They are typically running-to-the-potty-but-just-don’t-make-it-in-time accidents. Thankfully they have been very solid, no mess accidents. I know she’s not scared to do it; I think she just forgets she doesn’t have a diaper anymore. Here’s hoping we get it figured out before the poops get messy! I’ve upped the reward; we’ll see if that works…

And we just had a poop in the potty!!
And then a poop in the undies…
And then two pees in the big potty at the bounce place!
And then a sudden fear of the big potty and we had to go home… (This is why I wasn’t ready to potty train yet. She is doing the same thing Abe did with the big potty fear. Not that I can blame her…)

UPDATE 3/10/12: Having a great day so far. She used the potty in the middle of the night, woke up dry, used the big potty at Costco, and pooped in the potty at home!! You go girl!!

FINAL UPDATE 3/17/12: I say final because there really is no reason for any further updates. The girl is fully trained, even at night. We will still have the occasional didn’t-quite-make-it-in-time accident, but even those are becoming rare. So glad to have another easy potty training experience and to have only one kiddo in diapers!! Woo hoo!