Life with 3

There's so much going on right now. So many emotions but I just can't blog about it yet. Hope you all stick around and once this is all done I'll be able to share some posts with a bit more details.

The kids are all doing great.

M loves going to school and therapy. She's only been to an official therapy session twice and has the third one this weekend. But she loves going to play with Miss Linda. And last weekend was the first time she actually cried real tears about missing her bio mom with us. It's extremely hard to know how to help her when she is crying. We are very glad to see this progress in her. She has cried 2 more times through out the week. Our attachment, she and I, is always a work in progress. But it's much better then it was a month ago. And I see her actually wanting to spend time with me which is nice.

She is creative and so smart. She loves to help around the house and with the kids. I love having a helper around that I can ask to do something and know she'll do it. She is also very obedient for the most part.

L is a very on the go toddler who will be 2 next month. Her vocabulary is exploding. She is repeating so many things that all of us say. She is ready to potty train but I'm holding off on a potty training boot camp for now. But we still encourage her to use the potty when she wants to. Some days she uses it all the time and others not at all. She does wake from naps dry more often then not these days and was even dry through the night a couple times.

L is a cuddler. She loves to be held and would love me to just hold her all the time. She is also very smart, I can see it in her expressions. I can tell she understands so much more then people give her credit for. She has grown so much. She came home barely wearing 12 month clothes and now she's in 18 months and some 24 month pants. It's been amazing to see her change.

Isabel, it has been a joy to watch her become a sister. We've learned so much about her and are having to work on a few things with her (normal stuff) but she loves being a sister. She shares Dave and I very well now. She's also been pretty good about sharing all her toys. The special ones are in her room just like M & L and each girl is reminded occasionally not to touch the other ones special toys without asking. There is a lot of reminding but it works well. She has grown so much in 3 months. To see her imaginative play is so fun. And she's talking so much more and being more social.

Isabel is very loving. She cares so much about her sisters and doesn't like to see them hurt. She loves to be with them but also still needs and wants our one on one time.

Being a mom of 3 is tough but so worth it. I can go shopping with all 3 but choose not to because it is so much easier with just two. So I go while M is at school. Some days I'm too exhausted to get us out to do anything and Isabel has always been one who wants to go all the time so she misses that, and so do I. Dave and I miss having a tiny bit of time to ourselves but again, it is so worth it.

We have a bedtime routine down so that I can put them all down on nights while Dave is still at work. There for awhile I wanted to just let them run themselves until they passed out but I can't handle the noise if I did that. But they're good now.

Eating as a family of 5 is so much different. Not nearly as many leftovers and I actually have to plan more. Where most meals used to be just Isabel and I and I could just do whatever I found in the pantry I now have to have a weekly meal plan or we have to get creative. M & L have always eaten well. There are things they don't eat, like potatoes. They don't even really eat french fries. (Not complaining!) They all love broccoli. And they have helped Isabel learn to eat better as well. She's always been a good eater but is a bird when it comes to meals and would rather just peck all day then sit and eat a meal. We obviously don't let her peck all day but it can get tiring hearing her say she's hungry because she hasn't eaten enough at a meal. You'd think after a couple days of that she'd learn but she hasn't. Perhaps we're missing something.

Disciplining 3 is interesting. I feel like I have a learning curve with M since I've never parented a 6 year old. She lies but also has a very creative imagination so it's hard to know when she's just telling stories and when she's intending to lie. Found the proper consequence for telling a lie recently so we'll see if we can't help that. She is also obsessed with being a mom. At first she said when she was 13 she'd have a baby, now it's changed to 17. No worries, we are quick to correct her on that and make sure she knows that it should be husband then baby. This has also brought 'having a baby' in to her play which means in to Isabel's as well. Fun! The imaginative play is really interesting in our house.

L has started to talk back to me which Isabel never did. Isabel has an attitude but never talked back like L has just started doing. So I'm trying to catch that one quickly before it gets out of control. With L it seems like she'll start a negative behavior and then within a week to 10 days she'll add another one. She just keeps getting stronger willed and more stubborn. She keeps us on our toes for sure.

Isabel had a big problem with hitting and pushing when the girls first came home. It was really bad. She's better now but I've realized that she is very much like I was as a child. I would slap my friends arm in play and not realize I was hurting. I remember a friend telling me this when I was 10 or 12 years old. And I've come to realize that now Isabel often times (not all) hits but thinks she is playing. So I'm trying to teach her that we have to be gentle when we play. She doesn't realize she is so strong. And she's big. So many people have asked me lately if Isabel and M are twins. M is 4 inches taller and weighs about 5 lbs more then Isabel. Almost became a problem at church recently. I was checking in M and had Isabel & L with me and the lady insisted that Isabel stay in that room. I kept telling her she was only 3 but she thought I was referring to the number of children I had. Took her awhile to realize that I knew what I was talking about and needed to take my 3 year old to the 2 & 3 year old class.

If I don't do a load of laundry every day I fall behind. And I don't do a load every day so it feels like I'm always playing catch up. And it's always Dave and I's clothes that I do last for some reason. Trash! My goodness. If we don't empty the trash can every day it is over flowing. I had no idea 5 people could create that much trash.

I love life with 3. But it is exhausting.