How to earn the title of World's Best Aunt

 Adjusting to being a mother of three has been an wonderful experience and one for which I am abundantly grateful.  However, I'd be lying if I said it was easy.  Amidst the C section recovery, the sleep deprivation, and the never-ending housework, addressing the needs of three little ones has been overwhelming.  Words cannot begin to express my appreciation for the help of my mom and sister. 

 

We call Leanne the "World's Best Aunt" and it's easy to see that she was born for this job!

 While Josie is making great strides in the gross motor category, it is still her biggest area of delay and she needs a lot more physical assistance than most kids her age.  Because I'm not supposed to be lifting more than 10 lbs, Aunt Leanne has been kind enough to hang out here with us during the day to be available when Josie needs help.  But she does so much more than the "heavy lifting". 

Aunt Leanne helps Josie get dressed and use the bathroom.  She encourages Josie to finish her meals.  Aunt Leanne has even devised her own method with the flash cards to help Josie learn her sight words and Josie loves every minute of it!

Leanne is Josie's biggest cheerleader during her therapy sessions.  She observes the techniques used by the therapists and she practices them with Josie later because she knows repetition is the key to skill mastery.

And while Leanne is a fun aunt who loves to sing, dance, and shower Josie in love and affection, she can also be quite the drill sergeant.  Josie's physical therapist would be so proud of Leanne for refusing to carry Josie down the steps.  Instead, she assists her by holding her hands and encouraging her to walk.  She even retrieved the stool and had Josie get into the car independently!  That's an impressive display of skills and abilities, Ladies!

 So how do we express our gratitude to the World's Best Aunt for all that she does to help?  Well, we indulge her gourmet palette with delicacies that are so delightful that that her niece has been nicknamed after them: fish sticks (Catfish with Ketchup).

We also treat her to her favorite beverage at Starbucks: a double chocolaty chip Frappucino:

After exiting the drive thru, we heard a little voice from the back seat yelling "iced coffee...Frappucino...iced Frappucino!"  Teach 'em young, right Leanne?

And we can't forget to ensure Leanne has a fully-stocked supply of her favorite breath freshening products because oral hygiene is of utmost important to Leanne.  And the reason that we can't forget is because she leaves reminder notes:



After all she does for us, the World's Best Brother (in-law - even though this distinction is insignificant to Leanne) wouldn't let her down.

It's the little things in life that bring the biggest smile to Leanne's face!

 

Leanne, thank you for all of your help this month.  You truly are the World's Best Aunt!

Aunt Leanne Blogs: Adventures in Babysitting

hi everbody

aunt leanne

babysit

kids

josie

cafish

ketchup

nickname

pop

mind

that

is

ilove

you

 flased cards

words

say

no

help

from

you

swing

sea

basentment

ssteps

that

it

love eveeboby

meryrran

she

good

for

me

girls

behaive

lay

leg

I

like

her

lydia

peak

boo

good

for

me

smilles

huges

kisses

she

best

baby

 



Well, this just about sums it up...

The result of the obligatory Father's Day photo shoot is an accurate reflection of our life these days - juggling an armload of chaos, laughing through the pandemonium, realizing that as long as we have each other, nothing else matters.  We're figuring it out as we go, drawing on past experience, and not sweating the small stuff.

The only Y-chromosome sporting member of our family deserves a lot of credit for keeping things sane, balanced, and fun!  The qualities he possesses that drew me in and convinced me he would make a wonderful husband, make him an even better father.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

 

Happy Father's Day, Travis!  We love you so much!   

Party of Five: An Update

It's 2pm on a Saturday and I am the only family member not enjoying an afternoon snooze.  There are clothes to wash, dishes to unload, thank you notes to write, paperwork to organize, phone calls to return, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...but I opted to update the blog.  Why?  Because I received the sweetest card from my dear friend, Diane.  In that card, Diane congratulated us on the arrival of Baby Lydia and she told me that she's disappointed that I haven't been feeling well and she hopes I start feeling better so I can update the blog more frequently because she enjoys it so much.  Wow!  She dishes out a Catholic guilt trip that rivals my mom's!  I'm only kidding (insert uncontrollable giggles here).  Her kind words meant the world to me and they reminded me of how much I truly do enjoy blogging so Diane, this update is for you!

So how are we adjusting to life as a family of five? 

 

Quite well thanks to my mom and sister.  You see, they've come to spend the whole month with us to help with the adjustment and that's especially important because I had a C-section and I'm not supposed to be lifting more than 10 lbs.  They make sure I've always got someone around to lift the older girls into their car seats, stroller, toilet, bath tub, etc.  In addition to providing the best childcare available, my mom has also been happily helping with laundry and cooking which means I can focus on recovery and taking care of our sweet bundle of joy.  Words cannot express my gratitude to my mom and Leanne!

How are the girls adjusting to their new baby sister? 

 

Josie is relatively indifferent.  She points and says "Baby Lydia!" and she carefully warns "gentle hands" when reaching out to touch her, but overall, Josie just goes about her business and ignores the baby.

What about Little Mother Hen?

 

As you may have predicted, Merryn relishes in her role as a big sister.  Every morning she asks "Where's Baby Lydia?" and she makes a beeline for the bassinet.  She is constantly talking about how she's going to teach Baby Lydia about letters and numbers and walking and using the potty...which would be easier to do if that darn infant would just stay awake and pay attention!  When Merryn does get a glimpse of Lydia's blue eyes in an open position, she immediately capitalizes on the opportunity to love on her, play with her, and of course, drill her with flash cards...

Are there any issues with jealousy?

 

I'd be lying if I said we hadn't seen an increase of Merryn in "Thelma" mode (Thelma is Merryn's ornery alter ego.  For more details, click HERE).  As much as she dotes on her baby sister, Merryn takes all the necessary steps to ensure that she's receiving adequate amounts of attention throughout the day.  For example, here is my attempt to photograph Baby Lydia for a birth announcement...

Oh Thelma!  You've gotta love her!

 

How's Aunt Leanne?

 

Aunt Leanne is doing great!  She maintains that Baby Lydia is her best birthday gift.  That's right - Aunt Leanne recently celebrated her birthday and in true postpartum, sleep-deprived, frazzled-mother-of-three fashion, I forgot to bring my good camera to her party.  But I captured the moment with some sub-par cell phone shots as we gathered to enjoy some pizza, cake, and ice cream and celebrate the world's best aunt!

 

 Overall, we're doing really well and are so grateful to have another sweet baby girl in the family.  Lydia is doing her best to make sure the transition from family of 4 to family 5 is as smooth as possible with her delightful temperament.  We appreciate all of the well wishes and kind words from our beloved blog followers.  We will do our best to update you again soon!