A Pat On The Back

Yesterday we planned to take a trip to IKEA today. We got up and got ready this morning with the goal of getting to IKEA and shopping and then eating lunch in the little cafe. I was pleasantly surprised when everything went according to plan. I like having a plan and following it. The kids were great and behaved wonderfully! By the end of our shopping time they were getting hungry and a restless. The line for the cafe wasn't too bad, but all the seats were taken. I stood by with Levi in my arms and the older kids, the umbrella stroller and all our items (including a rug) filling up the double stroller. I watched for the first sign of someone finishing their food to pounce on a table (yes, I was that person..). A family left a ton of trash and very dirty table behind so after finding a place to park the stroller I got  the kids in their chairs and started to clean up someone else's mess. Jordan got all the food and brought it to us, and then of course Jayden needed to go potty. So I ran him to the bathroom and when we came back I had him take off his coat. As I was going to put it in the stroller another family who had no chairs was trying to stand by the table I had the stroller parked near. I apologized for my stroller being in the way and told her if I could find another place for it I would move it, but there just isn't anywhere for it to go. She complained to her husband that I was hogging two spaces and after he apologized to me they left. Not gonna lie, it took a lot for me to just shut up and go back to my table. As I stood and ate my food I noticed a man sitting alone at a table full of drinks and cinnamon rolls. We ate our food and again the kids were doing great, so we got them the ice cream cones we had been bribing them with all day. A woman sitting near us complimented us on how well our kids were behaved. She told us that "we run a tight ship"...

Before I had kids I kind of knew I would be a strict parent. It annoyed me when kids misbehaved and didn't obey their parents. I can't stand when kids are disrespectful to their parents! I would watch other parents with their kids and make mental notes on things I would do and wouldn't do. Since we became parents at 21 years old, I feel like we have something to prove to people. It's been a struggle for me because when someone praises us for doing a good job it boosts my pride a little bit, but when someone looks down on us for the way our kids are behaving it knocks me down twice as much. 

Back to IKEA... as we were cleaning up our mess and getting the kids ready to go the gentleman that was sitting near us stood up and shook Jordan's hand. He told Jordan that he had to congratulate him on how well behaved our children were. He has 4 young kids of his own and knows what a handful they can be and just wanted to tell him we are doing a good job. Then he gave Jordan a pat on the back.

It felt so good for a complete stranger to acknowledge all our hard work. Parenting is hard... Discipling is hard.. Keeping our word is hard... But today just showed me how it will all pay off!!

4 Months Old

Levi will actually be 5 months old next week, but I waited to write this blog until after his 4 month check up.

Well his weight gain continues to be a slow process. I thought we were in the clear and then I took him back to the lactation consultant and he only gained 2 or 3 oz in 2 weeks. That was 6 days ago. When I took him to the doctor today he had gained another 4oz in 6 days. So I was super encouraged. I've been supplementing about twice a day to give him more calories and try to get his weight up. The dr and lactation have encouraged me to supplement after every feeding.

This has been a big month for Levs. He's cut his first two teeth (just like his siblings, right at 4 months), he's been rolling like crazy and he's tried rice cereal a couple of times.

 4 Month rocking chair photo

(I was super good about taking Gabriella's photo every month... 

and poor Levi I'm just now starting at 4 months!)

 check out the teefers! :)

 First time actually trying rice cereal 

(Jordan was helping our neighbor, so I took the picture and fed him at the same time.)

Obviously, he's not really a fan.. ha!

Second time around Jordan fed him and he still didn't like it!

The doctor suggested trying rice cereal to help give Levi more calories, but he's not a fan at all. So we're not pushing it. I'm not in a hurry to get him on solids anyways. 

My baby is not a newborn anymore. Makes me sad. I love that fresh out of the womb newborn baby stage, it doesn't last long enough. :( I'm not ready for him to grow up. I love every time he falls asleep while I'm holding him or nursing him, the sweet little coos and gummy smiles. 

Here Comes Winter!

Sunday night we watched the weather forecast and they said the HIGH for Monday would be 10 degrees... yes TEN DEGREES. That's freaking cold! :) So I decided to not take the kids to the library for their usual music and movement class and we stayed home in our warm jammies all day.. until about 4:30pm when Jordan came home and the kids were so stir crazy that I couldn't take it anymore and we all got dressed and went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner. (Side note: You may ask, "What does a vegetarian eat at Chick-Fil-A?" and I will tell you.... a milkshake and fries! haha no, not the healthiest meal... but oh well!)

 This is what subzero temperatures looks like. 

 The kids love the Christmas window decorations

By Wednesday it was much warmer out (in the 30's!). So I bundled up the older kids and took them outside to make a snowman. They loved it! We built his a body and then added twigs for his arms, rocks for his eyes and a carrot for his nose... he didn't have a mouth. :) The kids keep peeking out the window to make sure he hasn't melted.

My favorite part about being a mom is making memories with my kids. I'm learning that it's not about just putting an activity in front of them and saying, "Here, go play with this for awhile." But when I get down with them and play, they love it! Christmas time is so easy to make memories, but it's about making the opportunity to do it.