Update :)

I thought I should update this blog in real time for once because I keep forgetting things that are happening now since I am trying to catch up on the past.  So here is a little rambling of updates for anyone who is curious, and for me to document and remember the crazy things that go on around here!

Oliver is doing really well.  He is getting all sweet and chunky.  At his one month apt he weighted 12 lbs that means that he gained 3 lbs in 3 weeks, haha.  Then at his 6 week apt (2 month, my doc just does it early) he weighed 13.5 lbs which like a true Newman baby is in the 95th percentile.  He is a pretty good baby, easy going most of the time.  He does like to be held a lot which I am fine with.  He is FINALLY starting to smile (7 weeks) which is really fun and makes getting up with him much more worth it :) He is also starting to coo which is super super cute! Sleeping at night is going ok.  I had my other kids sleeping longer by this point but I was also better at putting them down drowsy and awake and keeping them on a routine.  I feel like that is so hard with number 3 because we are always running around places.  I am ok with it this time around though, it seems I have become much more chill with each baby I have.

I think I will move him to his room soon, but I do wish he was sleeping in longer intervals before I do.  I just feel that if I have to walk all the way to the other room I am going to become more awake when I have to get up and may have a harder time falling asleep.  I haven't decided yet but it will probably happen soon.  Maybe he will sleep better in there.  I am also worried that Mason and Lily are going to wake up if he cries since they are right next door.  Mason is a pretty light sleeper.  Lily is a deeper sleeper but anytime after 6am if she wakes up it is all over and she is awake.  Oh how I miss my kids who used to sleep until 8!

Lily is turning into quite the little Diva.  She loves to dress up like a princess and most often wants to wear pink in any fashion.  She also always has to have shoes on and accessories (wands, head bands, necklaces etc)  She also changes her clothes at least 3 times a day either because a. her clothes get dirty (she doesn't like to wear anything that is dirty, even if it is a little spill or just water) or b. she wants to try on a different princess dress!  But she also loves to play in the dirt and wrestle, what a funny combination!

She is obsessed with "her baby", Oliver.  She loves to give him hugs and kisses and hold him any second she can during the day.  She also love to give him "squishy" face by squeezing his cheeks together.  I have to watch her because she is getting more rough with him.  My favorite things she says about him: "look mom, he's a baby!"  "she is a baby, she is so cute" "this is my brother and she is so cute" "I love her" It cracks me up that she still refers to him as "she and her" but she knows that he is a boy... "Its a baby boy, she is so cute!"

This morning while I was feeding Oliver in my room she came up from downstairs and she had on her orange fairy costume with a white crazy skirt underneath and a white veil on her head, 2 different shoes and her wand.  She came in and told me she was a pretty princess Ariel and starts going "ahhhhhh"  "ahhhh" just like Ariel in Little Mermaid.  Oh my goodness she is so cute.  Some other funny things she says often:  "umm no thanks" (if I offer her something to eat or ask her to clean something up) "oh sure" "oh thank you so bery much" "oh my GOSH" "oh gross, so yucky"

She loves to steal things from Mason and push his buttons in every way possible to get a reaction from him, and let me tell you it works like a charm!  But amazingly counting to 3 seems to work each time, not sure how that happened I just tried it one day.  Sometimes when I ask her to do something or give something back she says "I don't want a time out"  oh goodness child, you won't get one if you are nice and listen to your mama :)

Mason has turned into a chatter box.  Lots of times it is cute, other times it is not.  I think I have a hard time because he has a hard time trying to explain his thoughts. "um mom, well um, that thing um, mom, um I like that, um thing, mom, mom, mom um mom...."  If I don't answer and acknowledge what he is saying he will say mom mom mom mom over and over again to the point of driving me crazy.  Or he will repeat something he wants or something he wants to do over and over again until I acknowledge him "mom I want to go to the park" "mom lets go to the park" "mom I said we should go to the park"

It is cute when he is telling a story of something that happened that day or when he is telling some make believe story while he is playing.  If he is excited then he is very expressive and funny, I love watching his imagination grow.  He is really getting into drawing.  A lot of times he will draw random shapes and ask me what it is.  He thinks it is fun when we show him what things look like.  Just recently he is trying to draw specific things, like animals, cars and people, which is really cute.  He always loves explaining, in explicit detail what he is drawing haha.  He is really sweet too because he likes to draw or make things for  other people.  Example if he is drawing or painting he was to draw a picture for himself, me and Danny and sometimes other people (not Lily though, haha)  The other day he wanted to draw a picture for each of his friends which I thought was really sweet.

He is doing really well writing his letters, and he can write his name all by himself.  He really loves the preschool we are doing with his other friends which is nice for him.  We did decide to wait a year for Kindergarden.  For those of you who don't know the cut off date for New York is December 1st instead of September 1st like in Utah and most other states.  That means he could go to kindergarden this fall and he would only be 4!  If we lived in Utah his birthday is after September so he would have to wait anyway.  After lots of thought and prayer we decided it will be best for him to wait a year.  Academically he would be fine, emotionally and socially is where he would have issues.  He is super attached to me lately (especially since I have had Oliver) and he does not do well in large groups and around here kindergarden classes have at least 20 kids.  I think it will be better to have him wait a year and learn things so that he can go into kindergarden being more mature and really confident.

To help with the clingyness issue we are sending him to a real preschool.  I had wanted to avoid this because I am too cheap.  But for him he needs a place to separate from me and places he is comfortable (i.e. church and going to friends houses for preschool) and also get used to larger groups of people and responding to authority from people he doesn't know as well.  It will be hard for him at first but I know he will love it after he gets used to it.

Mason has been SOOOO clingy since Oliver was born, it is sort of driving me up the wall, if anyone as any advice for that I am all ears!  I think I am having a hard time because Mason's love languages are physical tough and quality time and those are the 2 love languages I have the hardest time reciprocating!

Danny is doing really well, he is loving his calling as the Young Men's president.  I think it is the perfect calling for him even though he is gone a lot.  He is also excited to do some fun races including the warrior dash which will take him through some obstacle courses, mud holes jumping through fire etc!  Everything continues to go well with his job which we are grateful.  Right now he is making some cars for a family pinewood derby our ward is having next week.  He is so fun and creative, he made one for Mason and another one for our family.  Mason loved working on it with him :)  And Danny is so great and patient as he teaches Mason and Lily to do things themselves.  He is amazing!

I am doing pretty well.  I finally, FINALLY! go to stop taking the blood pressure medication which is wonderful.  After only 2 days of being off it I feel a million times better, but I also think that has to do with the wonderful weather we have been getting and vitamin D :)  The house is still a mess all the time and I always have moments where I feel like everything is falling apart but I also feel like we are doing a little bit better and getting into a routine as a family of 5.  I am hoping I can do a little better at keeping the house tidier and making dinner on top of paying attention to the kids and working on photography.  I am excited to start taking pictures for clients again once spring blooms (it is in May here in NY!) but I am glad I still have a couple more months to get myself in order.

Alright that is all I can think of for now, sorry no pictures but I am sure I will catch up on all of those in the next few weeks.  My goal for this year is to stay on top of the blog instead of catching up all the time because it sure makes it a pain at the end of the year and making the blog book if I get too far behind :)

Nigh Night!