Weekend Recap

Saturday was another day spent in beautiful St. Clair. This time not only did we get some quality time with my Grandparents but my Mom and brother were there too. Unfortunately for us, it was the last time we would spent with Uncle Alex before he heads down to Georgia to play Junior hockey. We'll probably see him around Christmas, but nothing is certain so we wanted to cherish our time with him.

Although rain was coming and going we spent a lot of time in the river and enjoying the beach. You can't beat water and sand when you have a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 16 month old.

We were able to see a few of my Aunt's and cousins as they came and went, which was wonderful. The annual offshore boat races were gearing up for Sunday's race. We usually go in to watch the races but opted for more one on one time with my Grandparents, brother, and Mom. It's a good thing because during practice this was Max, the ENTIRE time. He enjoyed watching them but they were obviously too loud for him.





It was a really nice visit and we said our goodbye's after dinner.

Sunday we decided to take the children to the local county fair going on. Thankfully, the rides were not set up so we were able to dodge Noelle wanting to go on rides. Max and Noelle did get a pony ride, which was great fun for them. The animal barns were a big hit for all the children too. That was our weekend. Getting out as much as we can seems to be the thought process before our next little one comes in October. After having a new baby, due to a c-section, I need a bit of time to recover. The children are loving all our little adventures and look forward to the next one.

Wordless Wednesday

Great Monday

I might be jinxing myself here, but the pink eye seems to have not spread to anyone else in this household. Thankfully. Nursing Noelle and keeping the house and children sanitized were our top priorities for the weekend, until Sunday evening.


Aunt Ceecee came to spend Monday with us. She came in when the children were sleeping on Sunday. For the first time, in as long as I can remember, Max woke up with a smile on his face and sweetness resonating from his little voice as he said, "Good morning Mommy. I love you". What a great way to start the day! He happily walked downstairs to wake up Aunt Ceecee and was genuinely excited she was here.

In the past Max and Aunt Ceecee haven't been on the best of terms. Max has been a bit scared and overwhelmed by her presence and it has never been the most pleasant of times for either of them. The tides are changing now.

After breakfast Noelle had her hair cut. She has been wanting it short and excitedly told Aunt Ceecee exactly what she wanted. The result is adorable. She and I are both in love with it. It's the perfect haircut for her fine, straight hair. The best part was how she kept trying to find anything that has a reflection throughout the day, including my sunglasses, to admire herself.
We decided to hit up the Domino's Petting Farm which was a huge hit! Max was in awe of the animals, the tractor, the tractor, and did I mention the tractor?! How can you go wrong with adorable animals and children? Violette was a little put off by the hungry creatures, completely appalled at the loud noises, but intrigued at the same time. We had to jump on the tractor hay ride and Max absolutely loved it. Violette sat contently on my lap and pointed out the cows while saying, "moo's moo's". Max's face was intense, taking in every second and just loving it. Then we sat on a tractor as well.

And Violette posed:Our day didn't end upon leaving. We took the kids to McDonald's play place, which was lots of fun. After that Violette was more than ready for nap, falling asleep on the way home. Max, not taking naps any more, ran to the store with Aunt Ceecee and Noelle. I was able to enjoy the peace and quite while Violette napped. I watched TV and took time for myself. Meanwhile, Max and Noelle picked out gifts for themselves, Violette and the new baby. They were beaming when they came home, eager to play with their new exciting toys.

It was a really wonderful day. Tantrums were very minimal by Max, a huge day for us on that front. I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable day with the children and my sister. Max even told Aunt Ceecee to "come back soon" when she left! Success all around!

That point?

I thinking I'm inching towards that point of pregnancy. I'm not sure what it is, but I am just tired, always tired. Probably due to the multiple times a night I'm getting up with one, two, or three children. Even if it's just to calm them after a bad dream, I can't lay down and easily fall back to sleep. During the day I am finding it difficult to force myself to face the everyday chores. More often than not the laundry waits. Not to get too detailed, but I am on some medication that has an ugly side effect and that has me befriending the toilet more than any human should. If only I didn't have three little people as an audience I might consider it a nice break.

I have many more weeks left but at this particular point I'm whipped. The heat is adding to it, I'm sure. I hate the hot, hot, humid heat that has landed upon Michigan. The children won't go out to play in it, and I don't blame them. At the same time they want to go outside and ache for it, but the moment we slather ourselves with sunscreen and step out the turn right back around and complain, complain, complain about the heat.

Pink eye has settled upon our house too. That isn't helping matters. Noelle doesn't take well to being sick and this annoying irritant only intensifies her complaints. The goopy mess is not pretty and I understand her frustration with blurry vision, and crusted shut eyes. It's not fun. I do wish she would be a more passive patient. I'm not sure why I even expect anything but her demanding challenging self.

Violette has hit that age as well. An age that means Mom has to intervene more and more. She is such a cute little thing, but has a very evil streak running through her. She likes to hit and instigate fights with Noelle and Max. The children DO NOT play together well to begin with, then add a toddler that smiles and likes to walk up to hit a sibling on the head and then steal a toy, it makes for some days that never seem to end and are filled with endless shouting.

Although a bit of a trouble maker Violette is oh, so girly. She LOVES shoes, changing outfits, barrettes, and most things that Noelle has. For the first time we painted her toe nails and she is SO proud of them. They are sloppy, smeared and smudged, but she doesn't care. On top of her girlyness, she is adding more words to her vocabulary daily. The awkward pronunciations are adorable accompanying with a nod and "yeah" when I repeat the word to make sure I hear it right, is just precious.

Max is my biggest hurdle overcoming exhaustion. He's up SO early, early enough that Tom hasn't left for work yet. He isn't a morning person either. He wakes up loud and bossy and usually with screaming involved. I have to act quick before he wakes up the girls and my day begins on a sour note. I have tried being extra loving, cuddling him and showering him with love. That just makes him even more mad. He wants me near him, but not to close, and I can't look or talk to him. It's not a pleasant way to start the day. Because he gets up so early he is uber cranky for the entire day. He's in transitioning out of a day time (sniffle, sniffle) nap, but when he's up early he needs one. If he takes one getting him to bed is not easy and he is up late. One would assume that if he says up late he may sleep in a tad. No, that would be too easy, instead he's up early, only to begin another day in an awful mood. Noelle's transition out of a nap, around the exact same age, was much easier and more pleasant. Max and easy are not two words that seem to mesh well.

I don't want this rant to be misunderstood and thought as a bashing of Max. He is incredibly cute and has many times of sweetness throughout the day. When talking about the new baby he said, "The doctor will take him out and I will be so impressed. I will love him, hold him, and help you lots". He can make Violette laugh at the drop of a hat and has a new found love for me putting him to bed! One night we were reviewing the day and Max was talking about watching baseball with Daddy, "that boy had a wicked curve ball" he blurts out. He makes me chuckle often with his little phrases. Another example: when I wasn't feeling so well I rubbed my forehead and Max says, "do you want to curl up in a ball and cry Mommy?", concern was all over his sweet little face. Sigh, he really is a wonderful son.

I guess writing is therapeutic because I'm feeling more rejuvenated and ready to tackle some laundry and bathrooms. I guess that point in pregnancy hits every women and I just need to suck it up and move on. I still have a long way to go until little baby _____ is born.

No, the ____ isn't code for "a name has been picked but we aren't telling people". We are just blank. Neither of us love any particular name or agree on one. Again, we still have lots of time, but it's brought up daily so I'm sure we'll find something soon, or when we meet him.

Wordless Wednesday

Saturday In St. Clair

Sparkling St. Clair River, warm sun beating down from above, it was another glorious day Saturday and we took advantage of it. It never ceases to amaze me, the beauty of the St. Clair River, especially with the passing freighters. My Grandparents have a wonderful condo with a lovely beach on the river and that's were we spent Saturday.
The children were very excited to see their Great Grandparents. They loved exploring their new condo and watching the boats go by. Soon they couldn't stand the anticipation and had to go down to the beach.

New sand toys awaited them and they all had a blast. Violette was a bit skittish of the waves, but after a bit sat right in them and was irritated when they went away, grunting with dissatisfaction.

Max was his typical, fearless self. He starts his swimming lessons this week, thankfully. That boy needs to learn to respect water! While at water's edge we were able to witness a few freighters pass by us. The children loved being so close!

Here are some more pictures, because I took so many!

The trio was tired and went inside to cause more fun trouble around their Great Grandparents. We left shortly, as I could tell the kids were wearing them out and went over to my Aunt Judy's for a spell. I left the camera in the car for that visit, unfortunately.

We all had a wonderful relaxing visit to St. Clair and look forward to attending the annual Off Shore Boat Races, in two more weeks.

Couldn't Hold Out....

Today I had an OB appointment. During the routine ultrasound the doctor was able to clearly see the sex of the baby and because I knew that Tom really wanted to know, I told the doctor to go ahead and tell me:

I had a feeling from the beginning and it's nice to know I was right, since Tom was convinced we were having another girl. We do not have any names yet, and I'm sure it will be a long while before we agree on one.

I'm ready to go buy something blue and dig into Max's old clothes and start organizing things!

Another little boy will complete our family, 2 boys and 2 girls, we couldn't be more blessed and completely thrilled!

Holiday Weekend

Well it's been a nice long 4th of July weekend. Noelle came down with a fever Friday evening and carried it throughout Saturday, but that was a nothing major and we dealt with it as any parents would, multiple doses of children's Motrin!

Grandpa Roehrig came in for the day since we were grounded. Unfortunately, my camera was left unused during his visit. We played, ate some good food and just had an all around nice time.

When Grandpa Roehrig left we decided to put our new small fire pit to use and try our hand with some s'mores. Max and Violette were not fans of the melty chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker combination, but Noelle dove right in and loved them. The others were content just snacking on plain marshmallows. Although the children don't stay up very late, we thought it might be fun to let them try some sparklers. They loved them! Noelle loved posing for the for the camera as well.
Sunday was another day spent at home, spending time just as a family of five. The three kids wore their appropriate red, white, and blue ensembles and I tried to capture a nice picture of all three, but failed, or just gave up after a few tries.
We ate some very American watermelon.
Bought a slip n' slide which was great fun (despite having a sprinkler system the grass is brown, but we haven't been running it much).


Lit some small fireworks for the kids to enjoy. Violette was not impressed with some of the louder ones. The thought crossed my mind to take Noelle to some local fireworks. Sunday night we saw some from our yard that were fairly close. I tried waking her up and took her out to some chairs. She bolted back inside, mad as heck that I woke her up. Max, on the other hand was scared of the load booms going on and did wake up and enjoyed the show from our driveway. He was completely thrilled with the many colors and loud sounds that were coming from them. We tried to get him to enjoy a sparkler, but at night, in the dark, it scared him and he was reminded of his burned hand.
Monday the heat was horrible so we stayed inside loving the air conditioning. In the evening we got the slip n' slide out again. Violette was awake and enjoyed drinking the water and watching her siblings, along with a muted turn on the slide.



That is about it. This week we will stay inside avoiding this miserable heat wave, as it is just too hot for the little ones to spend much time outside.