3 months!

Vance celebrated his 3 month birthday last weekend. He was doing his two favorite things when I was snapping pictures- talking and smiling. I think he's going to give Abbi Kate (and me) a run for her money. We might just be in trouble....

...and my hands were very small.

"This is to remind you
When I am very tall,
That once I was quite little
And my hands were very small."

I busted out the watercolors this week in desperation to entertain Abbi Kate and Liam, and in the process, decided we'd make these cute little momentos. I went back and added the poem above after they were done. I'm pretty sure that I'll be bawling my eyes out in a few years looking at them.

Love my kiddos!

Pre-K Graduate and Awesome Big Sister

Abbi Kate's end of the year program was last week and afterward it was time for refreshments and play time. Once she saw Liam, she grabbed him and introduced him to all of her friends, and was generally pretty awesome with him, helping him keep up as they ran around.

This was AK's first week off of school and we're already going stir-crazy. Our plans for tomorrow include playing outside in the water and walking to our neighborhood tot-lot. My aim is to wear her and Liam out, without completely exhausting myself in the process.

She's signed up for Gymnastics 1x/week, but that doesn't begin until the middle of June. Liam starts speech therapy 2x week, and then summer camps aren't until the end of July. Ahhh!

Vance had his 2 month check up last week, and he's TINY! His official 2 month weight is a whopping 8 lbs. 3 oz. and keeps him at the 5th percentile (I know!), where he was at birth.

I'm exclusively breastfeeding, but Liam was exclusively breastfed at this point and both he and Abbi Kate weighed 11 lbs at their 2 month appointment. Vance has, however, finally grown out of his newborn outfits. So, he's growing... slowly!

No concerns from the doctor yet, so let's keep our fingers crossed he keeps growing. I hope to breastfeed for as long as possible (but at the very least, the first 6 months).

In other news, I ventured back to the gym today. That was painful- any good sports bra recommendations are appreciated. Ha!

bribery.

Liam is FINALLY potty trained- and trust me, it was no small feat. He's been going to the potty off and on since this time LAST YEAR, but we were never consistent with enforcing it and so, he'd cooperate when he felt like it and vice versa. With AK we just went a few days without diapers and had a few stickers handy and BAM, she was trained. We avoided bribery with Liam in the beginning because we knew he knew what he was doing, and could do it and didn't care if he did it or not. Yea, bribery won out. Just a few days of these bad boys and for 3 weeks now we've had a day/night trained little man! Yay, Liam!

Tea Party

A few days ago, Abbi Kate and Liam invited me upstairs to a "birthday party" they threw for me. I tried to explain that mommy doesn't have a birthday until September, and that I was in no need to rush things, but they insisted. They had moved a toy box out and put a blanket over it to make a table, and they'd even invited a few of their "friends"... So much fun!

8 weeks!

Vance is growing, growing, growing. So much so that he's FINALLY getting too big for his newborn clothes. Ha!

It's still early, but at this point he's looking like he'll be another blue eyed child. Shawn has hazel eyes, that at first glance appear to be solid brown, but have an olive green center. So, naturally, I thought I'd have these brown eyed (possibly tan?) kiddos. But nope. Although AK's eyes are a bit hazel in their own way (blue with flecks of yellow making them a different color blue than my own or Liam's), all my kiddos have blue eyes thus far. I know 8 weeks is early, so I'm still holding out for brown or a brown/green hazel. Don't get me wrong, I love my blue eyed babes, but a little brown would be fun too!

Picture Day!

Abbi Kate had picture day for her tap & jazz class she's been taking this year. She looked super cute even though I was nervous about getting her dressed for it. I played sports growing up, and rarely manage make-up on myself, so putting the lipstick and eyeshadow on her, and lathering gel in her short hair so that it would go into a "high ballet bun" was an interesting feat. But I survived, and as usual, she looked absolutely adorable.

Visitors.

Shawn's parents came for a week last week, and Mike (Shawn's first cousin) drove down and stayed for a night. We had a blast talking and catching up. We hadn't seen Mike since the fall and we haven't been to Tupelo since last summer. While his parents were here he and his Dad repaired and/or replaced two doors. I now have a back door I don't have to hit with my hip to close and a nice, new front door. We have hit a problem though- replacing the original moulding. As it turns out, not only is it an antique, but it's art deco and we can't find it anywhere around here (but we're keeping an eye on the local Habitat for Humanity Re-store)... and when we've found it online? $300 to frame a door! Yikes!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came to see Abbi Kate and Liam on Sunday, and the living room still hasn't recovered. Vance spent the day sleeping, eating and pooping- but overall I'd say he thought it was a fun day too, even though he didn't get any candy.

5 weeks.

Guess who's 5 weeks old?

I keep trying to soak in every moment with Vance, knowing he's absolutely positively my last child. Knowing how quickly time flies, I occasionally panic when I think of Abbi Kate going off to Kindergarten in the fall and am confused to find myself the mom of an almost-six-year-old along with an almost-three-year-old.

How did my babies grow up so fast?

I don't know, but I want to take in every moment. I will reference this, I promise, when Abbi Kate and Liam are screaming at the top of their lungs, arguing with one another.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the thought of them growing up. On one hand, they all continuously amaze me with their developing personalities and each day brings on a new level of hilarity. It's so exciting seeing the world through their eyes as they grow and learn new things. On the other hand, especially after having such a rough year in 2010, there are days where I just want to hold them, hug them, kiss them, and stay in a moment forever.

Today, Abbi Kate informed me that she is marrying a classmate of hers- Ian. She told me that when they get married, they'll have a blue and purple car, and that everyone will "absolutely LOVE it!"

Right now, she has a really good friend in her class, Nell. Nell actually only lives a few blocks away and has a sister, Sam, who is Liam's age. Abbi Kate loves her play dates with Nell, and it's fun to see Sam and Liam play.

As Liam chased everyone around the yard last week, with the girls running and screaming, I wondered how the dynamics will change once Vance can get in on the action. Will Abbi Kate be able to coerce them both into playing "babies" or "be-YUTI-shop" or will Liam have a partner in crime to terrorize Abbi Kate (something he loves to do at the most inopportune times, if you're AK)?

I suppose we'll find out soon enough...

Vance!

So, since my last post, I had a baby!

Vance Mills Richardson
6 lbs. 6 oz., 19" long