Life with 3 kids
So it has been years since I've last blogged, but in an effort to stay off other forms of social media, I've decided to start journaling my life in my blog.
Some of the things I'm going to talk about are just life as a mom of 3 kids, pictures of our everyday lives and all that. I'm also going to be talking about more serious topics that I personally face and deal with on a daily basis such as, living with a spouse who suffers from depression, anxiety and severe migraines, feeling insecure in my body after having 3 kids, how I keep on top of all the things in my life as a mom from managing our food budget to keeping our house tidy and also what I'm feeling spiritually in my life journey to perfect myself and other religion topics.
I am not a skilled writer by any means and this will most likely not be eloquent, but very raw. So to start things off:
LIFE WITH 3 KIDS
My third child, Calvin was born just 2 months ago. I also have 2 daughters, Jaelyn (6 next month) and Evelyn (3). It's currently August and the gang is all home. Jaelyn starts full day Kindergarten next month and Evelyn will start a 2 day a week preschool next month as well.
Adjusting to life with 3 kids has been a huge challenge! Let me just say that life with 2 was hard, but no where near to life with 3. I had a really good handle on life with my girls and had my life pretty much in order and in a good swing of things. I'm a very organized person and I need to be in control of things. I'm realizing I'm sorta a control freak (maybe I'll blog about that later). Calvin threw a huge wrench in things.
Calvin was born on June 3rd; a couple weeks before Jaelyn was out of preschool. My husband was able to take 6 weeks off from work. Which was just amazing! The first 6 weeks were tough, but manageable with Kevin being home. He was able to play with the girls and run errands for me, which gave me unlimited amounts of time to feed/burp/rock and change Calvin. Calvin never slept much during the daytime hours which made things difficult, but it was what it was. Kevin had the girls and I dealt with all things Calvin.
When Kevin went back to work was when things got really hard. On top of little to no sleep (which I literally cannot handle well) I was trying to navigate how to be a good mom to all my kids. Calvin required almost all my attention! I was finding it hard to stay positive and happy when I so badly just wanted to sleep, take a shower and spend quality time with my daughters. (luxuries I did not have anymore)
Now you may be thinking that newborns sleep ALOT and that there is ALOT of downtime. Well this has not been the case with any of my 3 kids. All 3 have been really hard newborns. They don't sleep much during the day no matter what I try. They are the "as soon as you lay them down they wake up" kind of babies. (Later around 6 months with my girls I was finally able to get them to sleep better) I was really hoping lucky #3 would be our "easy baby" but as our luck would have it, he's just like his sisters. Go figure, right?
My days feel so cluttered and disorganized. And so does my house. And my brain. And my life. Yep, that's basically what life has been like recently.
My girls have hit the dreaded summer boredom phase. And if you don't know what that is or what that looks like, here it is. Jaelyn teases Evelyn unceasingly which gets an immediate response or yelling/scereaming and or crying. Then, I kid you not, every 10 minutes one of them is asking me for a "snack" usually one of the sugary variety. And then because they are bored, they get out literally every toy we've ever owned and make a mess in the tv room, leave it there and then make a mess on the table and leave it there, going from room to room until every room in the house is a complete disaster. All the while I'm nursing Calvin or trying to get him to nap which almost never is successful, but consistency is key right?
I often feel like I'm drowning in a sea of kids toys, dirty laundry, dishes and diapers with the sweet ring of yelling, screaming and crying in the background. It's just chaos! I so desperately want to get out of the house, but that brings on a whole new obstacle that I'm just not brave enough to face quite yet, unless absolutely necessary!
Do I get a shower everyday? NO! Do I get dressed out of my pajama's? NO! Do I get to run a brush through my hair, put on makeup or brush my teeth consistently? NOPE! Life right now is all about survival and that means putting my kids first and making sure they are happy and healthy. (Don't worry I do take time for myself after they've all gone to sleep at night)
In a nutshell life with 3 has been a game changer. I've had to learn to be okay with not being in control of everything. I think that's been the hardest part. I can't clean as much or as often as I used to. I can't shower or go to the bathroom when or as often as I want to. I can't take all 3 kids by myself to places like the lake like I used to. I am overwhelmed and outnumbered! So kids you win for now!! But don't worry. If this all sounds complainy, it's not meant to be that way at all. I'm a fairly optomistic person, but I still struggle with life at the moment. Just hoping to give a raw and honest perspective.
If you happen to see me and my kids outside of our natural habitat (our home) you'll find I have showered, gotten dressed and put makeup on, and that my kids look relatively presentable, but know that this is an exception to the general rule. This is not an indication that I have my shiznit together! Fake it till you make it, am I right?
Even though my life right now is a mix a emotions and chaos, I'm trying to find a balance that works for my family. Sometimes this means in the 20 minutes Calvin naps, I spend a little bit of time coloring with my girls instead of getting dressed for the day. Or when Calvin wakes up, I let him cry for a minute or two while I finish up folding a load of laundry. Or when Calvin decides he's just not going to nap, I strap him in the baby bjorn and we walk up the street to the park even though none of us girls has brushed our hair, Evelyn's still wearing pj's and I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday. It's not pretty or perfect, but it's our life!
Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Some of the things I'm going to talk about are just life as a mom of 3 kids, pictures of our everyday lives and all that. I'm also going to be talking about more serious topics that I personally face and deal with on a daily basis such as, living with a spouse who suffers from depression, anxiety and severe migraines, feeling insecure in my body after having 3 kids, how I keep on top of all the things in my life as a mom from managing our food budget to keeping our house tidy and also what I'm feeling spiritually in my life journey to perfect myself and other religion topics.
I am not a skilled writer by any means and this will most likely not be eloquent, but very raw. So to start things off:
LIFE WITH 3 KIDS
My third child, Calvin was born just 2 months ago. I also have 2 daughters, Jaelyn (6 next month) and Evelyn (3). It's currently August and the gang is all home. Jaelyn starts full day Kindergarten next month and Evelyn will start a 2 day a week preschool next month as well.
Adjusting to life with 3 kids has been a huge challenge! Let me just say that life with 2 was hard, but no where near to life with 3. I had a really good handle on life with my girls and had my life pretty much in order and in a good swing of things. I'm a very organized person and I need to be in control of things. I'm realizing I'm sorta a control freak (maybe I'll blog about that later). Calvin threw a huge wrench in things.
Calvin was born on June 3rd; a couple weeks before Jaelyn was out of preschool. My husband was able to take 6 weeks off from work. Which was just amazing! The first 6 weeks were tough, but manageable with Kevin being home. He was able to play with the girls and run errands for me, which gave me unlimited amounts of time to feed/burp/rock and change Calvin. Calvin never slept much during the daytime hours which made things difficult, but it was what it was. Kevin had the girls and I dealt with all things Calvin.
When Kevin went back to work was when things got really hard. On top of little to no sleep (which I literally cannot handle well) I was trying to navigate how to be a good mom to all my kids. Calvin required almost all my attention! I was finding it hard to stay positive and happy when I so badly just wanted to sleep, take a shower and spend quality time with my daughters. (luxuries I did not have anymore)
Now you may be thinking that newborns sleep ALOT and that there is ALOT of downtime. Well this has not been the case with any of my 3 kids. All 3 have been really hard newborns. They don't sleep much during the day no matter what I try. They are the "as soon as you lay them down they wake up" kind of babies. (Later around 6 months with my girls I was finally able to get them to sleep better) I was really hoping lucky #3 would be our "easy baby" but as our luck would have it, he's just like his sisters. Go figure, right?
My days feel so cluttered and disorganized. And so does my house. And my brain. And my life. Yep, that's basically what life has been like recently.
My girls have hit the dreaded summer boredom phase. And if you don't know what that is or what that looks like, here it is. Jaelyn teases Evelyn unceasingly which gets an immediate response or yelling/scereaming and or crying. Then, I kid you not, every 10 minutes one of them is asking me for a "snack" usually one of the sugary variety. And then because they are bored, they get out literally every toy we've ever owned and make a mess in the tv room, leave it there and then make a mess on the table and leave it there, going from room to room until every room in the house is a complete disaster. All the while I'm nursing Calvin or trying to get him to nap which almost never is successful, but consistency is key right?
Actual footage of my house right now. No room is unblemished.
I often feel like I'm drowning in a sea of kids toys, dirty laundry, dishes and diapers with the sweet ring of yelling, screaming and crying in the background. It's just chaos! I so desperately want to get out of the house, but that brings on a whole new obstacle that I'm just not brave enough to face quite yet, unless absolutely necessary!
Do I get a shower everyday? NO! Do I get dressed out of my pajama's? NO! Do I get to run a brush through my hair, put on makeup or brush my teeth consistently? NOPE! Life right now is all about survival and that means putting my kids first and making sure they are happy and healthy. (Don't worry I do take time for myself after they've all gone to sleep at night)
In a nutshell life with 3 has been a game changer. I've had to learn to be okay with not being in control of everything. I think that's been the hardest part. I can't clean as much or as often as I used to. I can't shower or go to the bathroom when or as often as I want to. I can't take all 3 kids by myself to places like the lake like I used to. I am overwhelmed and outnumbered! So kids you win for now!! But don't worry. If this all sounds complainy, it's not meant to be that way at all. I'm a fairly optomistic person, but I still struggle with life at the moment. Just hoping to give a raw and honest perspective.
If you happen to see me and my kids outside of our natural habitat (our home) you'll find I have showered, gotten dressed and put makeup on, and that my kids look relatively presentable, but know that this is an exception to the general rule. This is not an indication that I have my shiznit together! Fake it till you make it, am I right?
Even though my life right now is a mix a emotions and chaos, I'm trying to find a balance that works for my family. Sometimes this means in the 20 minutes Calvin naps, I spend a little bit of time coloring with my girls instead of getting dressed for the day. Or when Calvin wakes up, I let him cry for a minute or two while I finish up folding a load of laundry. Or when Calvin decides he's just not going to nap, I strap him in the baby bjorn and we walk up the street to the park even though none of us girls has brushed our hair, Evelyn's still wearing pj's and I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday. It's not pretty or perfect, but it's our life!
Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Calvin always cries when Evelyn holds him.
Enjoying some Evelyn snuggles
Time outside with my girls while Calvin naps
Silly selfies with Jaelyn
Breaking my back carrying Calvin around in the baby bjorn
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