12/5 She's learning so much....
Hi Everyone,
Emme continues to adjust to our bizarre family :-) You should see the big grin I get when I come home from work...ear to ear, plus a get a big hug from Amelia (she's getting pretty heavy now that's she's almost 4 years old). She has improved her 40 yard dash speed (or crawl) now. She's not quite 4.5, but she's much quicker than last week. She pulls herself up and has actually started to walk with our help. Her eating habits continue to be great. I look at her and say "where do you put it all"...then comes bath time...oh that's where (her HUGE belly). ;-)
Bianca and I now have to tag team with the kids....we have two teams (Mama/Amelia vs Papa/Emme). I noticed recently that I have absolutely no spare time (I barely find time to run at 5:30am). Two kids definitely change your life (I can only imagine how it will be with maybe three). My hat goes off to my brother Matt and his better half Nicole, the Josifovskis, Hammonds, Ottos, Smiths, and Buths....I don't know how you do it. Kelly - you'll have to give me some hints since you had three boys and now have a baby girl...where does the time go!!!
Our sleeping situation hasn't been very successful. Before leaving to China, Amelia finally started to sleep in her own bedroom....well now she's back in our bedroom (sometimes even in our bed). We moved her toddler bed back in our room. Emme has been sleeping in our bed and we noticed that she sleeps much better. We have tried to put her in her crib and pack-n-play with no success. She can be dead asleep, but if you put her in either of those...automatic wake up call! Based on the fact that she was raised in a crib in an orphanage, she may have nightmares about being in them again. So in the mean time we'll do what we did with Amelia....around 2ish she'll move into a toddler bed in our room. We should sell our house and buy a one bedroom house...that seems to be the current arrangement.
On the Amelia front, she has been acting out more, not listening to us, and doing things she knows better. It's a big change to go from an only child to now having to share your parents. She's been a great big sister. She's so kind and loving to Emme.
Well here are some pictures and videos - ENJOY!!!!
Take care y'all! Go Gators!
Nov 2006 (Guangzhou, China)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7634272633585179936
Nov 2006 (Guangzhou, China - Sightseeing)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3328575279787037484
Dec 2006 (Jacksonville)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4862520839352109322
Emme continues to adjust to our bizarre family :-) You should see the big grin I get when I come home from work...ear to ear, plus a get a big hug from Amelia (she's getting pretty heavy now that's she's almost 4 years old). She has improved her 40 yard dash speed (or crawl) now. She's not quite 4.5, but she's much quicker than last week. She pulls herself up and has actually started to walk with our help. Her eating habits continue to be great. I look at her and say "where do you put it all"...then comes bath time...oh that's where (her HUGE belly). ;-)
Bianca and I now have to tag team with the kids....we have two teams (Mama/Amelia vs Papa/Emme). I noticed recently that I have absolutely no spare time (I barely find time to run at 5:30am). Two kids definitely change your life (I can only imagine how it will be with maybe three). My hat goes off to my brother Matt and his better half Nicole, the Josifovskis, Hammonds, Ottos, Smiths, and Buths....I don't know how you do it. Kelly - you'll have to give me some hints since you had three boys and now have a baby girl...where does the time go!!!
Our sleeping situation hasn't been very successful. Before leaving to China, Amelia finally started to sleep in her own bedroom....well now she's back in our bedroom (sometimes even in our bed). We moved her toddler bed back in our room. Emme has been sleeping in our bed and we noticed that she sleeps much better. We have tried to put her in her crib and pack-n-play with no success. She can be dead asleep, but if you put her in either of those...automatic wake up call! Based on the fact that she was raised in a crib in an orphanage, she may have nightmares about being in them again. So in the mean time we'll do what we did with Amelia....around 2ish she'll move into a toddler bed in our room. We should sell our house and buy a one bedroom house...that seems to be the current arrangement.
On the Amelia front, she has been acting out more, not listening to us, and doing things she knows better. It's a big change to go from an only child to now having to share your parents. She's been a great big sister. She's so kind and loving to Emme.
Well here are some pictures and videos - ENJOY!!!!
Take care y'all! Go Gators!
Nov 2006 (Guangzhou, China)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7634272633585179936
Nov 2006 (Guangzhou, China - Sightseeing)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3328575279787037484
Dec 2006 (Jacksonville)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4862520839352109322
posted by Journey to Emme @ 5:20 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:18 PM,
Truly Blessed said…
Hey Mike & Bianca,
I love seeing the great pictures of the girls (and their parents!).
You asked about how parents of more than three kids "do it"...the truth of the matter is, I dye my hair every 4-5 weeks -- under all this manufactured blonde, I'm greyer than grey...courtesy of my boys.
I have to tell you, having a 10 1/2 year age gap between the third and fourth kids helps a lot. But when I had three under six, it was all I could do to keep them alive until Eric got home! That may be an exaggeration, because those early years of the boys are a complete blur, so I'm thinking it's closer to truth than fiction.
You didn't really ask for advice, but I'll offer it anyway (since I'm a mature mother of four -- gasp!):
Don't stress about the small stuff, it's all about the girls now, and that's just as it should be.
Take at least one night a week for a date night for just Mom and Dad, that's incredibly important. It's amazing how much more secure this will make your children...trust me on this one!
Finally, you may have to give up some of your hobbies for a few years during these busy times, don't worry though, Mimi & Emme will grow up in the blink of an eye, and there will be plenty of time to pick up those old hobbies and try out some new ones later on.
It still amazes me that my baby boys are staring down their 16th, 14th & 12th birthdays...when in the world did Joe get to be taller than his father and who taught him to drive?
I think I was in such a hurry to get to the "next stage" (you know: preschool, kindergarten, all day school, etc.) that I don't think I fully enjoy the stages the kids were in at the time (when they were very little -- for the last six to seven years, my attitude changed drastically). I won't be making that mistake with Katie (wishing her childhood away just so my life will be "easier" or more convenient. So the house doesn't get picked up or she's not potty trained until her third birthday, or we have to have pizza for dinner three nights a week...it truly doesn't matter.
Enjoy those beautiful girls. They'll be grown up before you know it. Trust me, that's what happened to me.
At 7:18 PM,
Truly Blessed said…
Good Lord! I sound like a preacher in that last post. I DID NOT intend to preach at you!
So sorry!
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