Happy 6th Birthday, Kaitlyn!

Happy Sixth Birthday, Kaitlyn!!  This has been one crazy year for you and you handled it all better than expected.  This year you gained biggest sister status, moved to a new house, and started kindergarten all within two months.

Kaitlyn, you are one of the sweetest, yet sassiest girls that I know.  I see so much of myself when I look at you.  You are shy and reserved in new surroundings, but can become wild and crazy once you are comfortable.  You enjoy school and it is no surprise that your favorite class is art.  You love everything related to it (which probably explains the 8 different art sets that you got for your birthday and Christmas).  You are an awesome big sister (most of the time) and have a big heart.  I've loved watching you mature this year and can't wait to see where this year takes you.  

This year you birthday fell on the last day of school before winter break.  That meant that you got to party all day.  A special breakfast in daycare, lunch with Gram and Papa Chuck, class holiday party, cupcakes in daycare, presents, and dinner with daddy's family.

First time having someone join her for lunch at school

Dinner at Jalapenos

Presents from Grandma Kathy and Papa Dave

Make up set from Madi

Presents at home from Mommy and Daddy 

 

 For the first time ever, we had your birthday party after Christmas (next year we will have it after New Year's) at an ice skating rink.  This was your first time skating and did awesome!!  By the time left, you were skating without a walker.

"Even though the horn doesn't look like the one in the video, I still like it."

Candy filled cake per request

Happy S I X T H Birthday!!!  Your daddy and I are so so proud of you and love you more than we could ever put into words.  

Jack David - 6 Months

  

Weight: 16 pounds, 1 ounce.  20%

Length: 26.25 inches.  29%

Head: 17 3/8 inches 70%  He's got a big noggin, just like the rest of the Bogles.  But, hey recent studies suggest that big headed babies are smarter.  

He seems so big, even though he is only in the 20th percentile.  Maybe its because he is the exact same size that Kaitlyn was at a year.  At 12 months, she weighed 16 pounds, 1 ounce and was 27 inches long.  (Madi was only 17 pounds at a year.)  I guess we just don't make big babies.

Sleeping: Bedtime usually begins around 8:30 or as soon as I get the girls in bed.  Jack typically nurses to go to sleep at night, but occasionally I'm able to put him down awake.  
He still isn't sleeping through the night, but instead of constantly being irritated by it I've decided to try to enjoy the extra baby snuggles.  (Especially since he's our last baby.)  I'm hoping to start sleep training him after the New Year and our schedules go back to normal.  

Eating: Nursing is still his preferred method of eating.  However, he is doing much better with taking a bottle.  We started him on rice cereal at the beginning of December.  I was surprised with how much he liked it.  (Kaitlyn hated it, but then again she never was a big fan of baby food. Madi didn't really care for it either.)  He has also tried a few veggies.  Sweet potatoes, carrots and avocados.  He loved the sweet potatoes and carrots, but gagged on the avocados.  Since then he hasn't really liked any veggies, so we're back to rice only.  

Clothing:  3-6 months.    

Diapers:  The blowouts are much better, so he's still wearing a size 2.

Eyes:    Brown.  They're lighter than mine or Kaitlyn's, but they're definitely brown.

Hair: Blonde

Milestones:  He celebrated his first Thanksgiving, which was promptly followed by his first bad cold and fever.  Since then he has visited Santa and experienced Crown Center, twice, and celebrated his first (of five) Christmas.  He recently started waving.  I'm sure it's unintentional, but there have been a few times that it seemed to be on purpose.  
He is so close to sitting up unassisted.  He can do it for short periods of time, but if he leans too far in any direction he has a hard time recovering.

Likes:  He still loves his swing (though he's almost too big), baths, mommy and daddy, his sisters, milk, being held, being talked or sang to, playing on the floor, and his feet.  He also likes to hear his own voice and will screaming or "talk" loudly.

Dislikes: Jack does not like dirty diapers, wet clothes, being hungry or tired.

Sisters: They're still crazy about him.  They are always messing with or trying to be next to him.  They are right by his side trying to make him happy if he cries.  Kaitlyn can't stand it if he cries.  She wants us to immediately take care of him.  Madi is a little more used to it and just gives him lots of toys or tries to make him laugh. 

2017 Christmas Ornament Swap

Happy Wednesday!  I totally meant to get this written yesterday, but nap time was filled with laundry and cleaning attempting to clean burnt carrot water (I was steaming carrots for Jack) out of my favorite sauce pan.  Today's nap time hasn't gone much better.  Madi and I spent 20 minutes picking up everyone in the cul de sacs recycling.

This was my first time participating in an ornament swap.  I love Christmas and love getting new ornaments, so this was a no brainer.  It's also kind of nice to get a package in the mail just for me.  (There's lots of packages arriving for everyone else.)  I was paired with Danielle from A Sprinkle of Joy.  I have been following her for a little while on Instagram and her blog, but it was nice to get to learn a little more about her.

Danielle sent me the cutest piece of cake ornament, two ornaments for the girls to paint, and two pairs of softest socks.

The girls had so much fun painting their ornament. 

Thank You!

Life

Day in the life posts and baby updates are some of my favorite posts to read.  I've written plenty of baby {kid} updates, but never a day in life post.  I think it's time I should.  Our daily life isn't all that interesting.  However, I think it will be fun to read this in a couple years and see how much our life has changed.

Here's our day in 12 photos.

Date: November 17, 2017 

Kaitlyn: 5 years old

Madi: 4 years old

Jack: 5 months

6:11 a.m

My alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., but I couldn't get out of bed.  This was one of those mornings when Jack thought it would be fun to get up every hour during the night.  I would have loved to have slept longer, but the first daycare kid gets here at 6:40 a.m.

6:32 a.m.

Even though we were up all night, nursing and rocking, I still needed my morning pumping session.  To save time, I do this while I get ready for the day.

6:45 a.m

Coffee (because I was up all night), orange juice (because I'm fighting my first cold since Jack was born), and water (because breastfeeding requires copious amounts of water.)

8:37 a.m

Mornings are pretty hectic in the daycare until the big kids get picked up for school.  It's so loud when they're all here and most mornings I can't wait for them to leave.  This was one of those mornings.  This little girl put up quite the fight, but we managed to get everything done just in time.

10:15 a.m.

Just playing a game of Frozen Memory with Madi.

11:03 a.m.

This is how I prep lunch most days. Jack is a really good baby and will play on the floor most of time.  For some reason, around 11 every day he won't let me put him down.  Thank goodness he finally likes the Lillebaby.

1:15 p.m.

6 out of 7 kids are sleeping and I can finally get some things done.  Most days naptime is filled with cleaning up lunch, folding laundry, cleaning the house, pumping, and occasionally catching up on my shows.

1:48 p.m.

I only had 3 loads of laundry today.

2:16 p.m.

Jack has been out of newborn and 0-3 month clothes for a while now, but I'm just now getting around to sorting and packing them up.

4:48 p.m.

The big kids are home from school and The weather was fairly nice today, so we all headed outside one the big kids were home.

7:37 p.m.

I  {usually} cook during the week, but we often get something to eat on Fridays.  Tonight we went to Minsky's for dinner

10:19 p.m.

By the time we got home from dinner, we were ready for a break from the kids.  This is my least favorite time of the day.  At least one kids fights bedtime every night.  Tonight it was Madi.  Bedtime is supposed to be 8 p.m., but we usually relax a little on the weekend. This picture was taken almost two hours after I put the girls to bed and after numerous threats to have something taken away.  

Our life is far from perfect, but its perfect for us.  There isn't much I'd change expect maybe the bedtime battles and the nighttime waking.  I could definitely do with would those.   Here's hoping that tonight ends a little better than this Friday night.   

Christmas Q & A

Happy Tuesday!   It was weekend at the Klinginsmith house.  4 out of five of use are recovering from being sick for the last week.  Today I'm joining up with The Blended Blog and answering some fun holiday questions.

1.  Real or fake tree?  Fake.  I'm not opposed to a real one (I've actually never had one), but it seems like it would be a lot of work.  I love the smell, but don't want to clean up the needles.  Also, I love being able to have our tree up for over a month.

2.  Favorite Christmas cookie?  Chocolate crinkles and my Grandma's press out cookies

3.  Home on Christmas morning or travel?  Home. Santa visits our house.  I wish we could stay home and relax all day, but at least we get the morning.

4.  Clear or colored lights?  Both. I like the clear lights on my tree and colored lights outside.

5.  Send Christmas cards?  Yes!  I love sending and receiving.  

6.  Favorite Christmas present received?  Kaitlyn!!  Her birthday is five days before Christmas.  Becoming a mom just days before Christmas will always be my favorite present.

7.  Favorite Christmas present given?  Not sure I have a favorite.

8.  Stockings or no stockings?  Stockings are must. The question is who fills them, Mom or Santa. I always thought the they were filled by the parents, but Kaitlyn recently informed me that they are filled by Santa.  

9.  Christmas PJ's?  The kids always have matching or coordinating PJ each year. At least one pair comes from our elf, Sally.  

10.  Favorite Christmas carol?  Mary Did You Know.

11.  Favorite holiday tradition?  Every year (usually on Black Friday), we go to Crown Center and Union Station.  The kids love seeing the lights and playing outside on all of the toys. We always visit the toy store, Santa and the big Christmas tree.

12.  Early shopper or last minute?  I really try to be an early shopper, but it seems like there’s always something I need to get last minute.

13. Favorite Christmas movie or show?  Home Alone, Polar Express, and Christmas Vacation

14.  Favorite holiday beverage?  Eggnog, hot chocolate, and peppermint mochas (I drink the ones from Caribou all year.).

15.  Cookies and milk for Santa?  I didn't get to believe in Santa when I was little.   I've always felt like I missed out on some of the magic of Christmas.  I've made sure that my kids get to have this little bit of magic.  That being said, we always leave milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. The type of cookie varies from year to year.

Jack David - 5 Months

Weight: Just under 15 pounds. 

Length: 25 inches???

Sleeping: Jack is still not sleeping through the night.  In fact, his sleep is worse than it was last month.  I never really believed that there was such a thing as a four month sleep regression, but I do now.  Jack went from waking 1-2 times a night and occasionally sleeping all night to waking 3-4 times a night almost every night.  I've tried everything that I can think of to help him sleep better, but so far it's not working.  He is getting better at self soothing, so hopefully that leads to better sleeping at night.  Jack still doesn't have a nap schedule, but I try to get him sleep at least a little while the other kids nap.  Usually that means napping in the swing, but twice this week he actually napped in his bed.

Eating: Nursing is his preferred method of eating.  I've had a bit of a problem getting him to take a bottle lately.  He flat out refused for two or three days.  After switching bottles (he likes the ones that came with my Medela pump) and several days of offering it to him, I finally was able to get him to drink from one.  Then I skipped the weekend and here we are back to square one.  Today was better than yesterday, so here's hoping that I can get it resolved this week.  I donated most (759 oz) of my frozen breastmilk, but still have about 200 ounces that milk bank wouldn't accept.  

Clothing:  We made the switch to 3-6 months.  They are still pretty roomy, but definitely fit better than 0-3 months clothing.

Diapers:  Size 2 fits the best, but he has lots of blow outs up the back.  I've tried a couple different brands and some are better than others.  He's still too small for size 3 (and we have a ton of 2's left), so I'll just have to deal with the blow outs for now.  

Eyes:    Brown.  They're lighter than mine or Kaitlyn's, but they're definitely brown.

Hair: I was completely wrong about this one.  I was certain that his new hair was coming in brown like Kaitlyn's, but it's not.  Looks like we have another blonde in the family.

Milestones:   Jack is fairly mobile.  He can roll both directions and has started spinning.  He is so close to sitting up unassisted.  He can do it for about a minute and then he falls over.  His back is getting stronger every day and it shows when he's in the sitting position.  He can blow raspberries and is grabbing everything (including things he's not supposed to).

Likes: His likes haven't changed much from last month.   He still loves his swing, baths, mommy and daddy, his sisters (especially Madi), milk, being held, being talked or sang to, sitting up, and playing on the floor.

Dislikes: Jack does not like dirty diapers, wet clothes or being hungry.  Other than that he is super happy.

Mama:  Doing good.  My shedding is finally slowing down and new hair is starting to cover my bald spots.  (At 3 months post partum, I looked like I had a receding hairline.) 

Sisters: They're still crazy about him.  They are always messing with or trying to be next to him.  It's cute.  Well, most of the time.

Halloween 2017

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays.  What's not to love about it?  There's decorations, special crafts and parties, costumes, candy, trick or treating, and it's the official start of the holiday season.  This year Halloween was a little different.  There were several things that we would have like to have done, but before we knew it the month was over.  We didn't make it to the pumpkin patch or Boo at the Zoo because of the cold weather.  We didn't carve a pumpkin.  (Something that we have yet to do with the girls even though we plan to every year.)  We didn't have themed costumes for the kids. 

However, there were several things that we DID do.  Our house was decorated inside and out.  All three kids had costumes and got to wear them several times.  We made it to Trick or Treat Village at the doctor's office and trick or treated Gram's house.  We had special food and made several crafts.  And we went trick or treating with Grandma Kathy and Papa Dave.  Our new neighborhood was an awesome place to trick or treat.  There were a couple hayrides, firepits, popcorn machine, and even a house with adult beverages.  All this on a night that was freezing with snow flurries.  I can only imagine what it is like when the weather is warmer.   We're already looking forward to next year!

Trick or Treating at Gram and Papa Chuck's house

Gram

Our first footprint craft with three kids.

Graham cracker ghosts for snack in daycare.

Halloween night before trick or treating.

Happy Halloween.  Now bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!