Will Someone Please Stop Time?

I seriously have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that in less than 48 hours Bear will be THREE! I wish he would stay my sweet, kind hearted two year old forever.   Multiple times a day he tells me, "Mommy I love you......because you're so pretty."  He gives the BEST hugs and melts my heart with his tenderness.  A couple of weeks ago I was still in my pjs and it was late afternoon.  My unshowered and undone hair had a hideous blue bandanna in it. 

 Bear looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you look pretty with that blue thing in your hair.  Bug, don't you think Mommy is pretty?"

Bug: "Yeah, super pretty, way prettier than Daddy."

Being a mom of three under 5 is VERY challenging, exhausting, and chaotic, but I LOVE MY KIDS SOOO MUCH. They make my life full of crazy joy.

A very generous friend gave us a toddler bed about six months ago.  Knowing Belle was on the way, I was not ready to let Bear move into a big boy bed yet, because I wanted to assure he would still take his nap after she was born.  We had been storing the bed in our garage with the promise that Bear would get it when he turned three.  He has been thrilled about the idea and it finally came to fruition for him.

 I made this rag quilt for his big boy bed and used some of Bondy and my old jeans in it.  I included the pockets so that Bear could store his "friends" in them.

 When I checked on him he was sleeping soundly with his "Hoppy" on his face.  Thirty minutes later he was asleep on the floor.  Hopefully he'll get the hang of not rolling out.

 Bear was an AMAZING potty trainer.  In fact, he potty trained himself before he was even two.  I have kept a diaper on him at night since he was still in a crib and couldn't take himself potty at night.  When his last diaper ran out, we put up his bed and celebrated with banana splits.

 Adding some marshmellows....

 Um, that IS a smile. 

Our Contribution to Husker Nation

Belle's 3rd Month

 Just wanted to post a few pictures of this precious girl's third month.  We adore her, and even when I feel like I'm getting my trashed kicked as a mother (which has seemed like a lot the past few weeks), this girl's smile makes it all seem like maybe I'm not doing as bad as a job as I sometimes think. 

At three months she loves the following:

Looking at and chewing/sucking on her hands.

Waking up about every three hours at night to eat.

Being bounced in my arms on the edge of the bed when she is ready to go to sleep.

Talking and smiling at any one who will talk and smile to her, but especially Daddy. 

Sleeping on her tummy and sometimes waking herself up when she rolls over.

She HATES when I touch her nose to clean it.  She cries as soon as I start and stops as soon as I stop.

Valentine Photo Outtakes

Valentine's Day

Not that I'm totally biased or anything, but this just might be the cutest little Valentine ever.

 I made her leggings, heart onesie, and her ridiculously huge tutu headband. I know it's all a little over the top, but if you wished to have a baby girl since you were like 7, and finally got one after two boys, then you understand. :)

 Bear showing off his completed monster tee.

The boys with their Valentine mailboxes. 

 They are singing rock a bye baby to their boxes in this picture.

 Our friend invited us to their home school Valentine Party, the boys would not participate in the games, but when it came time to deliver Valentine's and decorate cookies there was no stopping them.

Snow Snow Snow

 Winter finally hit here.  This past Saturday we received 8-12 inches of snow and Bondy actually got a chance to use his snow blower. My dad was practically kicking Bond out the door so that he could take it for a spin as well.  The snow was so heavy that the tree in our front yard had branches (that normally Bondy could maybe touch if he jumped) almost touching the ground. 

 My dad LOVES the snow (that's a true-blooded, Canadian for you) and was smiling all day.  Here he is checking how much snow we had gotten by mid-day. 

Little Monsters

I love how the boy's Valentine shirts turned out using this tutorial from "Make It and Love It." I added arms and fingers to Bug's shirt but still need to add some fingers to Bear's. 

Bug had a Pajama party at Preschool today but was embarrassed to wear PJ's so we made a deal where he could wear this shirt with some of his gray cotton pajama pants.  He informed me that they had a pillow fight and he won.