It didn't hurt a bit and I even got a free toy.....

Well...minus the ER copay that is. It seems we can't make it one week without a doctor's visit of some kind. This time it was the ER with Alex. He decided to climb the chain link fence that lines our yard to our neighbor's yard. It's the kind of fence that the metal sticks up over the top bar and forms an "x". He caught his leg on the back side and the front. He ended up with 5 stitches total. The front was the worst one- there was a little piece of fat hanging out of it-pretty gross. He was really good for his stitches though, didn't make a peep. He was more excited that they had a Nintendo DS he got to play while we were there and they sent him home with a "free" toy. Here's some pictures of his "war wounds". Bring on summer :)

Things you wouldn't do with your first child...

As the chaos of raising 3 kids has taught us, you just have to become more laid back and relaxed about things. It got me thinking about some things that we have done with Sarah that NEVER would have happened when we just had Alex. Partly because we had more time (what is time anyways?) and maybe more because we just plain don't have the energy to spend on worrying every minute about every little thing......Ok, here's my list :)

With Alex we NEVER would have.....

- sprinkled fruit puffs on the carpet to eat because, let's face it, that is where they will end up anyways and sometimes you just need to put food in their mouths to shut them up :)

- accidentally left him outside in the exersaucer alone in the front yard for any period of time, let alone 10 minutes while you ran inside to get one quick thing and then just kind of forgot what you came in for and then decided you better throw a load of laundry in....oops

- let him wear opposite gender clothing because it is clean and it fits...Sarah does look pretty cute in blue even if it is boy clothes :)

- let him touch a restaurant high chair, let alone chew on the restaurant table....

- crawl around on the doctor's office floor because sometimes you just need to put them down when you have all 3 of them that need something....

- allow grandma to feed him chocolate cake well before the magical 1 year mark they talk so much about.....

- make a well balanced meal out of crushed up banana bread on the high chair tray and then put him to bed with bread in his hair....maybe we'll get to the bath tomorrow...

- give him anything that ever dropped on the floor.....pacifiers, toys, whatever

- let him chew on a baby wipe just for a minute, just to keep him quiet.....

Ok.....before you think we have become neglectful parents, I thought I would also list the things that we have done with #3 that didn't seem as important at the time with #1.......

- Let her skip naptime in her crib just to cuddle on the couch (note that this has backfired as now that is what she wants to do everyday :)

- Miss bedtime just so we can go to #2's soccer game :)

- Let her play in the bathtub until the water was barely lukewarm just because she was having so much fun splashing around

- Let her sleep in our bed for about the first 6 months of her life

- Let her brother push her so high on the playground swing that I thought she might fall out (well, not really) but the belly laughs were just way too sweet to make him stop

- Rock her to sleep on many many occasions (with Alex we were pretty strict on the cry it out method- we have become soft in our old age)

All in all I'm hoping the good has made up for the bad :) I don't think Sarah will be any worse for it all, maybe she'll be a laid back kind of kid. I guess this is probably why there are so many differences between first children, second children, third children, etc. Even though you try to parent them the same way, you just don't do everything the same, no matter how hard you try.

In a People House

Well...sort of....actually she is in a Barbie house. She was so cute peeking around the corners and through the windows I had to take a couple pictures. Enjoy!

Nothing says Happy Mother's Day like.....

A. A really pretty purple orchid plant
B. Homemade arts and crafts made by the kids
C. A lazy day at home hanging out with the kids
D. A brutal 3 am wake up cry of, "Mom, I'm going to puke"......(puking noises and a nice pile on our bedroom floor).....


Happy Mother's Day!

Out and About

Now that spring is here and the illnesses seem to have subsided, we have finally been able to leave the house! Here are some pictures of recent outings. Hope everyone is having a nice spring!