I'm Back!

So it's been a while.  And after a few tough days with Finn I decided I needed a way to release the stress at the end of the day, and then I remembered... oh yeah, that is one of the reasons I started blogging.

To catch up... we now have a beautiful 6 week old baby girl, Camille Suzette.  We were having the hardest time coming up with a girl name.  If she had been a boy, I'd had that name picked out for a long time: Dashel James.  I'm still in love with that name.  And in all honesty, am kinda mourning the fact that most likely there won't be a kiddo of mine to own it.  But we decided on Camille because we just both liked it.  And Suzette is a combination of my name and my favorite Aunt's name.

I have found having three kids to be easier than I thought, BUT having the ages that I have are a bit overwhelming.  Finnley and I are butting heads a lot - she is in a whiny, fit-throwing, constant question-asking stage which I have sadly let get under my skin.  I'm working really hard on my patience with her.  Trying to look at things in perspective, remember that although she is the oldest... she is still 3.

I could probably work with her better if I wasn't at the same time dealing with Lawson being 2.  He has the normal 2 year old fits, gets into everything he shouldn't... acts his age.  My biggest problem with him is I find myself yelling at him a lot because I don't catch him doing whatever it is he is doing until last minute.  Then it is just a gut reaction - but I would really like to teach myself another way to react to his actions - some do require the higher volume to distract him before he gets hurt, but most of the time I could just calmly redirect him.

And again, I could probably be more successful at catching his actions before it got to the last minute gut reaction stage, if I wasn't constantly feeding, changing, rocking a new born.  Camille is actually a very easy baby.  But she is very clingy (which I consider a good thing).

So, although I'm trying to help correct their behavior - fits, fighting, whining..., I think I need to put how I do things as a priority.   I've been pretty stressed and hormonally imbalanced for the last few months, and I think that has been the norm, and they are learning from it.  Maybe if I teach myself to speak calmly, react slowly, patiently listen they will start copying that example.  I do not need 3 little mini versions of my stressed out self!

Is it a boy or girl?!!

So just because I decided not to find out what gender the baby is doesn't make me any less curious to know!  One reason is because in all honesty, I would slightly prefer a girl (and mostly because I don't want to let Finnley down - haha! - she has been calling it a girl for months!).  I've thought girl from the beginning, but now I am seriously starting to doubt my own prediction. 

OBVIOUSLY, I'll be happy with either - there are bennefits to both - and of course, not any downsides to either.  So I guess I'll stick with the "as long as it's healthy" response and wait in anticipation!    

But of course... to keep myself occupied, I have taken a few of the silly gender predicting quizes!  Here are the results... pretty split down the middle (a.k.a. not helpful!).

According to the Chinese Gender Birth chart:
It's a girl! (Chinese Age 28 at Lunar month 6)

According the the quiz at Parents.com:

It's a boy!

                          

According to the quiz at JustMamas.com:
58 % chance of having a girl 

 

According to the quiz at BabyMed.com:
Congratulations. You scored 7 out of 9 on the Girl side. Your responses indicate that this could be a GIRL!!!

According to old wives tales:

I like sleeping on my right side, so it's a ... girl!

I had bad morning sickness, so it's a ... girl!

My hands are constantly dry, so it's a ... boy!

I'm not particularly craving citrus, so it's a ... boy!

I am having slightly worse complexsion, so it's a ... girl!

I am stumbling and not very graceful, so it's a ... boy!

My face is fuller (but that could be from the weight gain?) so it's a... girl!

I'm craving nothing but sweets, so it's a ... girl!

I don't have bad mood swings, so it's a ... boy!

I'm carrying low, so it's a ... boy!

Thankful Thursday - the 9th Anniversary Edition!

Today is all about how thankful I am for my husband and family.  Today marks Lawrence's and my 9th anniversary since we started dating way back in 2002.

Quick history:  Lawrence and I met while working at Roller Skate Land in Santee.  While I was working the front door with Lawrence (I strapped on wristbands and he worked as security) our boss jokingly would tell us he was putting me up there so Lawrence and I could "connect".    

We spent a lot of time talking about "boaty-boat" (I was on the SDSU crew team at the time) and Dragon Ball Z (in case you didn't know I can be quite the nerd) and joking with our good friend, Michael who also worked the front door with us.  We also spent a lot of time talking on AIM til really late at night.  It was a lot of fun.

And here we are today, still having fun.  We have a beautiful growing family, and we truly love and respect each other.

My favorite thing in the world, above hearing my kids tell me they love me... is hearing them tell Lawrence they love him.  It melts my heart every time. 

I love how much he loves them!  It makes me smile every time he tells Lawson he is going to give him kisses until he is in high school, haha. 

I feel unbelievably blessed by this family we have created together - and the fact that we are about to add one more is exciting!   

So I am thankful for Lawrence.  I am thankful that I found such an awesome, loving, funny, honest, and respectable man to call my husband.  

I am thankful that he is so supportive of me and my dreams.  

I am thankful that he listens to me when I need to vent.  

I am thankful that he is such a hard working provider for our family so that I can stay at home with our babies.  

I am thankful that he brings such positivity to our life together.   

I am thankful that after nine years I still look forward to him getting home.

He inspires me to be a better person.

He encourages me and my relationship with God.

He makes me laugh daily.

He is a FANTASTIC daddy to our kiddos.

Nine years ago I could not have predicted that we would have such a happy little life together.  We may not have a lot, but we are blessed.

Lawson's 2nd Birthday!

Our boy is 2!!!  

Weirdly I've kinda thought of Lawson as a two year old for a while.  Not because he is super advanced or anything, but because he has always been BIG! This past year he has just evened out - he is actually wearing the same clothes he was fitting into a year ago.

In the past we have rented out a whole play-room for their parties, but that was mostly because in San Diego we had a lot of close friends and family.  And although I miss the big celebration with everyone, it was kind of nice having a laid back birthday for both Finnley and Lawson this year.

Lawson had three days of birthday festivities!  The first was on the Friday before his birthday - we planned a little birthday party for him through our play-group.  At first it was going to be at a park, but we had to change it last minute because of the weather.  So we went to a fun jump house instead!

 The following day we had our family birthday time.  Finnley and I woke up extra early to go get Lawson balloons and doughnuts!

We spent time relaxing at home together, and then after lunch we had cake and had him open presents!

 Poor Finnley wanted to open Lawson's birthday presents so bad!  Luckily, my Papa (their great Papa) sent an un-birthday gift for her!

 The next day we spent time with their Aunt Krissy, Uncle BJ, and Bama at the swim school Aunt Krissy works at!  It was a lot of fun... even though Lawson ended up destroying my camera by throwing it in the pool.  Luckily the memory card was saved!  

 I think he had a pretty good lil' birthday celebration!  And I found that it isn't all bad to have a birthday so close to Christmas - for me, it was really nice to focus on his birthday instead of Christmas for a few days!

Lawson's Grow-Along Lion! (2 year old edition)

Lawson is 2!!!  Happy birthday to our little boy!!!  Life has been more crazy, fun, and exhausting since we first met you two years ago!

Newborn Lawson

1 Month Old!

2 Months Old!

3 Months!

4 Months

5 Months!

6 Months!

7 Months

8 Months!

9 Months!

10 Months!

11 Months!

1 Year!

 He's 2!!!  haha!

Blogin'

So my blog posting might be a little more slow for the next week or so. 

One of the reasons for less post is because my mom is in town and we are busy having fun getting ready for Christmas.  I am so exhausted by the time the kidlets go to bed that getting on the computer is the last thing I want to think about.

And the second reason is because Lawson threw my camera into the swimming pool and it is now broken.  Usually the pictures I take are the inspiration for reminding me what to write about.  I'm hoping to get a replacement before Christmas morning... if not, I'll have to do the old fashioned disposable camera...

Meet Gabby the Elf!

Our family now has a new scout elf, Gabby.  If you haven't heard of Elf on the Shelf yet: a scout elf's job is to watch the boys and girls and report back to Santa (that is how Santa knows whether a child should be on the good or bad list).  

Our family received our elf from my aunt and uncle - and Finnley is loving it!  She is fascinated that this elf is watching her, and loves telling Gabby about all her good deeds!  

The moment I picked her out of the box Finnley had decided it was a girl elf (because she "had eyelashes").  So I decided she needed some accessories so that everyone knew she was a girl... 

At first we went to Target where I knew I had seen some skirts for the Elf on the Shelf dolls (apparently Finn is not the only one who decided eyelashes meant is was a girl elf).  I found the skirt, picked it up, looked at the price... $13!!!  Really?!  

So I decided to make my own - I had left over felt from making our Christmas Story Book anyway.

I want to add a few jingle bells and maybe a cute little trim to her skirt... but overall - I say she looks nice.  

I had also seen that many of these scout elves have adventures at night (you must move the elf every night to prove that it is alive and left the house overnight to see Santa).  

This was Gabby's first night-time adventure in the Mayfield house:

I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy our Elf on the Shelf as much as the kiddos!

Wordless Wednesday #2