Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl!

Tweety Boogers

Well, my youngest is now three months old and doing great! She only wakes up once during most nights, eats every 3-4 hours during the day, and sleeps for 45 min-2.5 hours for naps...sooo nice!

But, the one thing that I hadn't settled on up until recently was her nickname. See, for those of you who know me, I have this habit of shortening names...Kristi is Kris or even K, Amy is Ame (sounds like 'Aim'), Sarah is Sare, Marie is Mare, and so on and so forth. I followed this trend with my own kids...Kieran being Kier and Bubba, Rory being Ror (sounds like 'roar') and baby girl...but Cait...well, not too easy to shorten her name and I do not want to call her caitie. So, just thought I'd see what names came naturally as she was around for the first little while, and was quite suprised at some of them. But, I've settled on some...so here, in no particular order, are my baby girl Cait's nicknames (and a few pics too!):

Tweety/Tweeters

(think these came from 'sweety' but ended up without the 's')

Goobers/Boogers

(I know, I know...boogers? It just comes out...and sounds cute too!)

Boo

(we used to call my little sister 'boo' so this one comes naturally)

My sweet, sweet boy...

My son is truly the most amazing, funny, smart, gorgeous, imaginative boy I know. He makes me proud to be his mom every day. I cannot believe that he is five years old already. It truly seems like it was only yesterday that he was my sweet, long skinny beautiful baby...and now look at him. He is growing up so fast, and to be honest, lately I have felt like I'm missing out on alot of his life. I've been so busy with Cait, and all that comes along with a newborn, as well as just trying to get us through this time of transition as a family, that we haven't had a whole lot of one on one time.

So, today I just snuggled up in bed with him and just listened...for over 45 minutes. He just could not stop talking--telling me all about his friends at school and the 'bad decisions' they make...and how he sometimes makes bad decisions too...telling me a secret that he hasn't told anybody else, and just loving the fact that I was listening to him...and only him.

I must say that it was a hard time for me. Not to sit and listen for 45 minutes...I absolutely loved that. But, you should have seen his face...his eyes were sparkling and if he needed to go get something, he would look at me and tell me I couldn't leave...that he'd be right back. The reason it was so hard for me was because although I knew that these past three months have been tough on us as a family, and that I haven't spent much quality time with the older two as I usually do and love to....I was truly hoping that they hadn't really noticed. That it hadn't affected them that much. But, after today, I saw...that it had. And it made me sad. Even though I truly believe that accepting a new sibling into the family is really one of the greatest gifts I can give my kids--I was sad that my son has felt disconnected from me.

And then later, when I asked Kier and Rory what their favorite part of today was...Kier answered, quickly and with his eyes sparkling again, "Talking to you."
And I cried. And I'm crying now. But, it's a good cry. I finally feel reconnected with my baby boy...and that fills my heart truly to overflowing.

I love you, my sweet, sweet boy.

Steel Cut

I love Saturday mornings. My hubby is usually not in a rush to get up and go (until at least 8:30), and the older two are usually happy to watch shows for an hour or, as was the case this morning, build a fort in their room until Mommy and Daddy finally get up. Our baby has been an amazing sleeper lately! Example: she went to bed at 9:00 last night, woke up at 3:30 to eat, then right back to sleep, up at 6:30 to eat, then again, right back to sleep...and then woke up at 9:00 to eat, and was up, with smiles and giggles to start the day. My favorite way to wake up.

And so in my mind, a lazy morning requires a nice, relaxed breakfast to keep the mood going for as long as possible. Most mornings, we are not able to eat together as a family, as daddy is out of the house by 7:00am most mornings. So, Saturdays is often the one morning that we can not rush as fast into the day, and I definately milk it all I can!! ;)

So, this morning, I decided to start us all off with a grapefruit--a big deal, seeing as my 3 year old is in the stage where everything that's put in front of her is, amazingly, something she doesn't like. But, she at least tried a couple bites, while daddy and kier gobbled 3 up between the two of 'em. Then, onto the main course...steel cut oats! (hence the odd title). I heard Dr. Oz talk about these on Oprah awhile ago...how good they were for you, but couldn't remember the name for the longest time. Then, the other day while grocery shopping with the kids, I came around the corner and there, in a huge display of a new 'blue menu' items at the superstore, was big tins of Steel Cut Oats--and there I was...saying out loud to my kids and anyone else who was listening, "Steel Cut!! That's what it was! Steel Cut Oats!" So, I bought a tin and we finally tried them this morning. They were pretty good....for oatmeal.

You see, I've never been a fan of oatmeal--the consistency and taste mainly. But, I've decided that from now on, I will eat and try things, even if I don't think I'll like them--especially if their good for me. And, these are supposedly very good for you...

"Steel-Cut Oats are whole grain groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into two or three pieces using steel discs. Golden in colour and resembling mini rice particles, they are as nature intended – nothing added and nothing taken out. Grains are essential to a healthy lifestyle and form the foundation of the food pyramid. Steel-Cut oats are inherently full of nutritional value and are high in B-Vitamins, calcium, protein and fiber while low in salt and unsaturated fat. One cup of Steel-Cut oatmeal contains more fiber than a bran muffin and twice as much fibre as Cream of Wheat."

Well, that's the news here. Tell me what yoru favorite day/time of the week is and why. It's always fun to read about the special moments happening in your homes!

Just 'cause...

I love these kids!!

Haven't had the chance to blog in awhile, but love this pic of my kids and thought I'd share it with y'all!

The older two are so used to posing for pics that they have their 'cheese' smiles all ready...we're still workin' on Cait...but, she'll catch on soon.

Hope you are all well, and I hope to update with some fun posts soon. Have a great evening!