Mom and Paternity Leave

It was so nice and definitely needed for my mom and Dan to be home with me and the kids for a while. Thankfully my mom was able to stay for about a week and then Dan had two weeks of paternity leave. It gave me much needed time to rest, try and catch up on sleep and also to look after my other two littles! I was so worried about them! But they were well taken care of. 

My mom sent this picture to us the morning after she arrived and we were already in the hospital! Those smiles were a reassurance that everything was ok at home! We left in such a rush the night before that it was comforting seeing those calm smiling faces! 

While we were in the hospital my mom took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. Its their favorite place and somehow my mom got talked into going there with them! 

Since we didn't spend a lot of time in the hospital we ended up having an extra day at home with my mom! It was so nice to come home to a clean house and happy kids. 

We spent a lot of time cuddling on the couch. 

Playing dolls and Barbies before bed 

There was also a lot of looking at baby and wondering what in the world is going on at our house. 

Dan took the kids to the park a lot and fed the ducks a lot. All so the house could be quite for naps and also so that the kids didn't spend their entire day on some sort of electronic.

June made Kate soup!

Kate's first bath. She hated it! That dang umbilical cord that can't get wet, really hinders a proper bath! 

The mail person came and June helped deliver the packages to our house. 

And of course making friends at the park. 

Kate's first night in her bassinet! She sleeps great in there and stays all bundled up through the night! Or really every two to three hours when she wakes up hungry. 

Kate in her little onesie that Grandma Lancaster gave her for Christmas! And yes, she is seriously adorable!! 

Daddy and his girls. June and Dan are also in their matching bear shirts. That happened a lot over paternity leave too. 

 Owen has been a lost soul since Kate has been born. This kid needs schedule and needs regularity. It being such a crazy two weeks the poor little guy has been struggling with sleep, regressing in being potty trained and just throwing tantrums left and right. But since Dan has gone back to work and we are working on getting back on track he has HIGHLY improved. Thankfully the potty issue is working itself out and we are working on the sleep department. He fell asleep on our bed one afternoon after he refused to take a nap. This never happens and even though I was extremely frustrated with him on this particular day, I couldn't help but lay by him and hold his little hand for a while. I just really love him. 

June was at school and I needed to run some errands so Dan took Owen to the play place for a bit to play. I then met up with them later to play!

Just the fas, hanging out watching a movie 

This little smirk of his just about does me in! He loves going up to her and touching her head and saying  "Oh Kate, Cute! Cute Kate!" 

My mom had taken June to go shopping and Owen wasn't napping so we went for a walk. It felt incredible to get out! My body wasn't super strong at this point, so we didn't go too crazy far, but it still felt good to get out!

Me and my girls 

And my entire world! 

And just a lot of pictures of Kate. I can't help it!! 

We got June some new rain boots and a friend gave us a bunch of clothes that were too small for her daughter. So June was trying on all the clothes. She came out to me like this and I laughed out loud. Especially when she started striking poses! 

And more of Kate 

My view while nursing Kate. They could wrestle for hours! 

They have the most random relationship! They fight constantly but yet when they are apart they miss each other and always ask when they will be home. They play together all the time, but make each other so mad! I love it and hate it! Hahaha classic siblings! 

Snuggles with Daddy 

Good night kisses 

And more of Kate! I am so in love with her chicken legs. 

While my mom and Dan were constantly going and keeping the kids happy, I did a lot of sleeping! It felt so good and it was amazing to know my other two babes were being taken care of and I could really focus on catching up on sleep and taking care of Kate. 

Now Dan is officially back to work. Like officially! We are doing great and working on finding our groove! My biggest fear was getting everyone up and ready to get June to school on time, and today we totally rocked it! I've managed to get Ranger to the groomers and get groceries bought and also played at a play place. I've got this. I know there are bad days to come, but if I can find the balance than we are good. 

I'm still trying to figure out my time management between the kids. June has been struggling a bit with how much time I spend with Kate but not with her. It breaks my heart! So we are working on that. Someone once told me that its the toddlers and little children that need the attention, not the newborn. It's hard because I want to soak in as much as the newborn phase as I can, but I also want to be with my other littles. It's a hard balance. I'll find it. I'm confident in myself, but for now we are just doing what we can and going day to day. It's working and I'm proud of myself! 

Dan

Today Dan officially went back to work after two weeks of paternity leave. Thankfully it is Friday and Dan gets home around lunch time, so really we just got to dip our toes into the water a bit, to see our life now with three kids. All in all it went rather well. Dan was up and out the door by 7am, which is quite different than the later in the morning wake ups we have been used to for the past couple weeks. I even managed to get the house clean, get everyone ready and do a Target run before we met Dan for lunch. We survived people. Total baby steps.

But I will talk about all that in another blog post. This post I want to write down my thoughts of my husband from these past two crazy weeks.

I cannot not thank Dan enough for all he has done through this pregnancy, labor, and now settling in as a family of five. I am so fiercely in love with this man that I get to call mine forever. He has been there for me and the kids non stop! He completely took over the kids, keeping the house clean, keeping food in the house and making sure that everything ran smoothly, like getting June to school and gymnastics, even though he wasn't getting much sleep either!

Dan has been by my side through every pain, complaint, and struggle that I have gone through. He continued to sit up with me each time I fed Kate and rubbed my back as I sat and cried because nursing was so beyond painful that first week. He made sure I was getting sleep when I could and taking the other two kiddos out of the house so it was quiet. He was just as tired but never complained or said a word. He just never missed a beat through out paternity leave and I just hope he knows how much it meant to the kids and I. How he made me laugh even when I'm crying basically everyday because my body hurt from all the recovery.

He is my rock. He makes everything better and I just hope that I am  the wife who deserves his love and pure awesomeness.

He is simply the love of my life and I can't thank him enough.
       I love Dan.

January Randoms in February

I knew this was going to happen. I kept putting of January's randoms thinking I would have time and now all of the sudden we have a new baby and it's February. Things got a little crazy and therefore January's Randoms are now in the month of February. My bad. 

I have a lot of randoms too from the whole month. So it's a big picture overload! These are Dan's favorite kind of posts. 

A random day at Target. I NEVER EVER get these kinds of carts. They are big and so impossibly hard to steer. But I was feeling really ambitious in letting the kids ride in one. It was a mistake. I hated it, but the kids loved it. 

Playing at Coo Coo's. This was so brave of June to go down one of these slides. She was so scared but then ended up loving it! I was so proud of her for facing a fear! 

Little OD took a giant ball out of one of the bouncy houses and refused to let it go. So he just carried it around with him. 

Train Ride

June totally hit the jackpot on one of the little games they had there. She was so proud!! 

Fashion shows and dance shows are a regular thing at our house. 

A lot of baking brought to you by Dan and the kids 

A little tea party for two 

After my shower the kids love to go in and write on the glass

FHE coloring 

Owen was down for a nap, and we had fresh cookies for an after school treat and few rounds of Cooties! We sent our Cootie pictures to Daddy! 

The weather has been AMAZING this month which means a lot of walks to the park! It's been heavenly! 

Parenthood at its finest! 

June changing her dolls bum and a random guy just hanging out in the tree... 

Birthday Parties and playing with our little friends 

Because of the crazy warm weather our rose and flower bushes have been blooming like crazy. I always love when they end up mixing colors. 

Our puppy Ranger turned 6! So crazy!! We had a little birthday celebration and we got him a few toys! 

They love under the table. They play under there all the time at breakfast and lunch. We do have a rule though for dinner that they have to stay at the table with the whole family sitting there. 

Lazy Sundays watching a movie all together 

More walks to the park 

And celebrating more birthdays! 

Owen. This kid kills me. I sometimes have no words for how much I love him and how he will be the one to turn my hair gray  

More baking 

We had a FHE on Temples one Monday night, so we made toothpick and marshmallow Temples. 

Owen ate his. And more. 

Our finished products. June went for the double decker look! She did awesome. I kept mine simple and Dan went all out and actually constructed a Temple. He was really into it and I was super impressed and I just love him so much for things like this. 

When June is at gymnastics with daddy, Owen gets the bath to himself and he loves it!! 

Owen has been doing this thing where he asks me to sit on the floor and then comes and cuddles into my lap. I don't ever deny him of this because this kid is NOT a snuggler. I'm lucky to get a hug from him, so I take these little moments and soak them in as much as I can. 

Playing at more play places. They were playing so cute together this day. 

The night before my water broke, June and I had a little girls night out. It was so much fun just spending time with my June bug. I get a lot of time with Owen while June is at school, but with June I rarely get just that one on one time with her. So we went out and got pedicures and had dinner. 

The people at the Salon were EATING HER UP!! Oh man they could not get over her cuteness. And I admit she was being pretty adorable about the whole thing. 

She even asked the lady doing her nails "Um, excuse me, I'm a bit thirsty. Could I please have a drink of water?!" They about died. It was so fun! 

We then headed to dinner! It was a blast just spending time with her. I love this little lady so so much!! 

That sums up the start of our year! Its been low key just waiting for baby to arrive!