Back To The Saddle

I got back into the saddle again today. It felt so good to spin without Piper. I missed her and all, but it works out better to have one person on the bike instead of two. I could keep up in class, which was nice, but my body sure feels loosey-goosey. This was done at 6:30am after only getting four hours of sleep last night. All I needed to do was walk around with my arms extended for the rest of the day to match my zombie brain.

Packin' Heat

Having three children has created a bit of a conundrum in the stroller department.  We have a Joovy Caboose, I bought off of craigslist, that holds a sitting child and one standing up.  It didn't come with the car seat attachment so there is no way to add Piper into the mix.  I decided to buy a Buggy Board  from Amazon.com so that Reade can ride on the back of our Graco stroller and Piper's car seat can snap into the front.  That means Blake is on his own, but I trust him enough to walk attached to my Mommy Hook.  This picture was taken on the way home from the park this afternoon.  I look like a homeless person who threw two kids into the mix.  Why on God's green Earth do we need that much stuff just to go to the park?  There wasn't even a diaper bag in the mix!

Sports Camp

Here is Blake at Sports Camp:

Here is the dialogue from my kids playing in the backyard the other day:
Blake: Hey Reade, let's go play Sports Camp outside.
Reade: Okay

They each get a ball and stand on opposite ends of the grass.  Blake walks up to Reade and repositions him.

Blake: Now cry.
Reade: Simply looks at Blake a bit confused.
Blake: Now cry Reade.  Cry because you're sad your mommy has left you.
Reade: Starts to fake whimper.
Blake: You are sad your mom left you.
Reade: Still whimpering.
Blake: (Yells) Now kick the ball.

Andrew from inside - "That is the saddest thing I have ever seen."

Free Riding

Blake is finally riding his bike without training wheels. You can't keep him off that bike now! Only one major, mangled elbow so far.

Patch

They said it couldn't be done!  Pumpkins are now growing at the Hurst household.  After years and years of trying, Andrew made it work.  He planted a bunch of different varieties so I am excited to see if any make it to full-term.

You can't tell from the photo, but the last picture has: sunflowers, cucumbers, pumpkins, and tomatoes.

Two Kays

Piper got to meet her great Nana, whom she is named after, for the first time.  This photo is dear to me and I will cherish those first moments for the rest of my life.  My visits with my Nana are always much too short and much to spread apart.

Two of my favorite people:

Lego My Eggo

I am in serious need of some organization for our newly acquired Legos. The Container Store has some great solutions:

New, Now Old

Here is something new:
The cutest, little ottoman I got at an estate sale for $1.00.  I am going to pick up some white duct tape to put across the tear and make a new top surface.

Now, for the soon-to-be old:
We picked up these adorable fruit picks at a Korean market.  Unfortunately, Reade stuck them all in the bananas.  Guess I will be making banana bread tonight.

Bottles

My baby takes bottles. I am a free woman. Andrew was able to feed Piper a bottle while I bathed the boys and our babysitter successfully fed baby while I got some time to myself. I hope we can keep this up.

Arms

Reade does some funny things:

H&M

I refuse to wear maternity clothes ever again!  Three children worth of the same clothes can get real old, real fast.  Andrew took the boys to see the movie Brave while I spent the two hours pushing a sleeping Piper through store after store in hopes of finding clothes that fit now and squeeze all that body fat back into the places where it started (oh, and tops had to be nursing friendly, hence why no tops made it  into my shopping bag!).  Anyways, it felt good to try on fun clothing.  It felt good to pretend I have taste.

These kinds of tops were everywhere, but unfortunately they aren't made for a nursing mommy.
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I bought these jeggings at H&M.  Yes, jeggings are so last year, but I am going to  eek out one more season.
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These were at H&M and I really should have bought them.  Maybe I will order them online to  add to the jegging look.
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Craving...

Things I am craving right this second (4:38am - baby finally fell back asleep so I get to crawl back in bed):

I would do anything for a maple bar.
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This print.
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A trip to Seattle or San Diego.
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Month One - Piper

At One Month I:
* Sleep, sleep, and sleep (day & night)
* Am totally fascinated with Blake
* Am interested and cautious when Reade comes around
* Have no shortages of kisses on the head
* Go to bed around 11pm and wake up at 1:30am & 5:30am to nurse again
* Like to start my day around 7:30am
* Prefer sleeping on mommy
* Don't like to be upright, but cradled in a pair of arms
* Spit up a lot and choke to where I spit up and empty everything I have eaten for hours
* Am dressed in pink even though my mom didn't think she would do that
* Definitely have captured my mom's heart in that "last baby" kind of way.

Someone loves pink dresses!

Goldilocks

Sat in this puppy today. Too small. Too uncomfortable. The search continues...

Solo

Flew solo today.  I miss Andrew, but the routine was back and I think everyone enjoyed that a bit.  I managed to get all three kids to the park for some fresh air.  Laundry is done and the kitchen is clean.  A good first day of being large and in charge.  There will be ups and downs, but having three kids is proving to be more fun than work.

Blake tied a duck on a string for Reade.  Too bad Reade lost it in the sand.

Piper and I got that public nursing thing down (covered of course).

Waving goodbye to the CalTrain.

Kraut Cake

I forgot to post a picture of Andrew's sauerkraut.  The onions are from the garden.

We fondued on Andrew's birthday.  It was great to introduce Reade into the ritual.  I felt like a queen on that night with a belly full of cheese and cake for dessert.

I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The kids helped add the coconut garnish on top.  (Shhh...the candles are in the shape of a 32).

Happy Birthday Andrew

You Are The Best!

4th-5th

The troops got home yesterday.  Andrew took the kids on an RV trip up to Bodega Bay for four days.  That gave me some much appreciated alone time with Piper.  Like mentioned earlier, we ate, slept, and watched 23 episodes of Mad Men.  My house is trashed again and the noise level is a bit louder than I would like, but it is familiar chaos I have learned to love.

Our 4th of July was super low-key.  No BBQ's, no people, just some sparklers the neighbors brought by:

Mad Woman

A Mad Men marathon is going on around here.  I didn't expect the show to be so gloomy about relationships.  It is one of those shows that overdoes the negative drama to try and "teach" everyone a lesson that they should (a) really not do what the characters are doing, (b) start today by righting your wrongs, and (c) don't have it as bad as the people on TV.  Geesh, lesson learned.  I wouldn't say I am hooked after watching the whole first season, but I am willing to waste a few more hours seeing if Season 2 peaks my interest a bit more.  It is fun to see my exact desk on TV!  I don't think a golf course in Berkeley is as cool as a top advertising agency though.

Tiny Diapers

 These beginning days of cloth diapering are my absolute favorite.  The diapers are so small and the messes in the diapers are so easy to clean up.  It is hard for me to use disposables because she poops every 30 minutes and seems to pee right on the new diapers the second I get it under her tiny rear end.  I don't mind the laundry one bit since the washer and dryer in this rental is a power house and gets them clean in a snap.  These are the moments when I am super thankful to have an indoor laundry.

Sauerkraut

Sometimes I think Andrew's sauerkraut fascination is God testing a pregnant woman's nose, but he is really passionate about making the stuff so I grin and bear it (with a bit of complaining).  I think I will follow up tomorrow with some pictures of the jars and jars of sauerkrat.

Dad and Blake picking some homegrown cabbage:

Andrew planted sunflowers all down our side yard.  I usually dislike sunflowers (I know, once again, who hates sunflowers???), but it has been so fun to look outside the boys' window to see flower heads bending in the sun.  Maybe I should stop resisting the man and actually learn from the guy!