Finally

Ethan's lower right first molar finally came in. I'm hoping he stops being so crabby! I can't wait until he gets all of his teeth!

6 Weeks Old

Six weeks all ready! That means my maternity leave is half-way over. Ugh! Riley still loves to be held ALL of the time. If she's sleeping and I set her down, she wakes up almost immediately and starts fussing. She loves to be in her baby bjorn and she'll sit in the swing for 10-15 minutes before she wants to be picked back up. She's not exactly an easy baby. But we still love her to death! Out of the three, Ethan was the most difficult, then Riley and then Mia. Mia was actually a really easy baby. Right around 6 weeks is when Ethan started having fussy periods in the late afternoon. I hope Riley doesn't do this, but I guess we'll see!

Poor Riley is never left alone!

Hanging out on the sun-porch.

Trying to get a picture of our three angels.

Our three little ones.

I don't want her on my lap!

I'll be nice for 5 more seconds.

Another Tooth for Mia

Wow! Two teeth in a week. Poor girl! Her upper right lateral incisor came in (the tooth next to her front tooth.) She's taking it really well and hasn't been too irritable.

No More Bottles!

No more "nigh-nigh babas!" We were going to try and wean Ethan and Mia completely before Riley was born, but that didn't quite work out. And with having to adjust to Riley, we decided to give them some extra time. But, today is their last day! Wish us all some luck!

Riley's First Smile

Riley smiled for the first time today. Well, she's been smiling in her sleep, but she was actually wide awake. I think she was looking over my head, but I'm going to count it!

The above picture is her first time in the swing. I can't say she loves it. She prefers to be held! I hope she learns to like it! The twins loved their swing. It was a lifesaver at times. Ethan and Mia wouldn't leave her alone in it, so the swing is in her soon to be bedroom. I don't like the thought of closing the door and leaving her where I can't see her, but I don't have an option!

You Should See the Other Kid!

We unfortunately made our first visit to the ER. Ethan was playing outside at my parents' house and was chasing after our dog. He tripped and fell into the 3-wheeler and hit the foot pedal. Thank God it missed his eye! The nurses velcroed him into a papoose to do the stitches. He screamed at the top of his lungs for a good 15 minutes. Poor boy! He had 3 stitches put in. The swelling is finally starting to go down, but his shiner is getting worse. I really hope it doesn't scar!

On a happier note, Mia's top right tooth came in! Yey Mia!

Mia's New Habit

Mia has a nice new hobby. She now enjoys pooping in the tub. She went almost 16 months without doing it. She's pooped in the tub the last four baths. Poor Ethan!

16 Months

This last month has flown by. We're happy that spring is here and we can finally go outside. Both Ethan and Mia LOVE it outside. They could literally spend hours out there and I wouldn't hear a peep from them. They both are learning to walk on the uneven grass. It was kind of funny at first. Ethan biffed it a few times before he figured out how to do it. Mia is still figuring out how to walk on the grass. She is much more cautious. My parents have had our cat, Rusty, for the last couple of months. (Mike was sick of changing the litter box.) We've had her back now for a week. Both Ethan and Mia are extremely interested in her. They tend to follow her around the house. Rusty doesn't enjoy this! We've started putting Ethan and Mia in time out. We give them three chances and if they still are doing it, they go in their crib for a minute. It's exhausting! Mike is much more consistent with it than I am. They tend to act up when I'm feeding Riley (I'm pretty sure this is on purpose), so it's hard for me to put them in their cribs. I'd say this age is one of my favorites so far. They're so fun to watch. They're both so observant. I have to be careful when I do certain things like opening the dishwasher and freezer or opening doors because they watch every little thing. I really don't want them figuring out how to do these things!

There isn't a lot new with Ethan. He still talks jibberish. He has almost completely stopped saying all the words he knows except for mama and kitty. This has me kind of worried, but the doctor told me it's completely normal. He's still as curious as ever and loves any kind of tool or gadget. His favorite place besides outside is our downstairs. There are so many things he can get into. We're redoing our fireplace downstairs and he has a blast getting into Mike's tools. I'll bring the kids downstairs during the day when Mike is working and we usually get kicked out within 15 minutes. Ethan always goes for Mike's wii controllers and Mia always pulls the DVD's off the shelf. Ethan's first molar on his lower left side finally poked through today. I'm hoping to get a break from all of these teeth! Ethan has been throwing a lot of tantrums lately. When he gets mad, he screams at the top of his lungs. He likes to test Mike and me. He knows he's not supposed to do something and he'll make sure we're looking at him and he does it and then smiles.

Mia has really gotten good at walking in the past few days. I'd say she walks 90% of the time and crawls the rest. She still is pretty wobbly and holds her right arm up and her left arm in front of her. She looks like she's going to ballroom dance. She always has a smile on her face when she's walking. She's so proud of herself! Mia has said a few new words. She now says, "thank you" (it sounds like daint du), "don't", and "kitty." She loves telling her brother, "don't." I usually say it to him first and she copies me, except she yells it. It's pretty cute. She's starting to throw more tantrums. When she gets mad, she likes to bang her head on the floor 3-4 times. She gets really frustrated when she's walking and she falls down. She screams and then bang, bang, bang. Mia also likes to test us. She knows that I don't like it when she bangs the remote on my glass coffee table. She'll bang it hard a couple of times and look at me. I tell her not to do that, and then she'll take the remote and bang it softer on the glass and look at me.

You might be wondering what happened to my coffee table. Ethan broke the glass out of my end table so I decided to take the glass out.

This is fun!

First time eating peeps! They're so-so.

First time trying peeps. Not a big fan at all!

Checking on Riley.

He figured out how to unlatch the screen door on the porch and was out the door in a matter of seconds.

Ha ha. I blocked the door with the chair. But, he pushed the chair out of the way five minutes later.

Peek-a-boo!

Playing in the screened-in porch.

Look at those teeth!

You'll notice my breast pump in his right hand. He likes to play with it. Yeah, it's a little weird but I don't care. It keeps him occupied for a few minutes!

Happy One Month Birthday, Riley!

Riley is one month old today! There isn't a lot new with her. She still loves to be held and usually wakes up when she is put down. It's funny how fast they learn this. She doesn't care for the vibrating chair much. I'm going to break out the swing. I'm hoping that she likes it! The problem with the swing is that Ethan and Mia aren't going to leave her alone in there. I'll have to put it in our room and shut the door. I have a baby monitor in there, but I still like having her where I can see her. She is starting to look me in the eyes now. I'm guessing she'll start smiling soon!

Riley and Dad.

Hanging out in Mia's crib.

Wide awake.

Hanging out with Dad.

New Tooth for Mia!

It's been a rough couple of days here. Both Ethan and Mia are teething. Mia's upper left tooth finally broke through (this makes number 3!) She woke up crying last night but other than that, she hasn't been a bad teether. Though, I'd say she's more feisty and clingy than normal. Ethan is a different story. He doesn't deal with teething well at all, which surprises me. He can hit his head and the sound alone makes me cringe, but he doesn't flinch or cry. His left lower first molar should break through in the next couple of days. I hope it happens soon! He's extremely irritable and hasn't been sleeping well at all. He's been waking up at night for the past few nights, and he isn't taking his normal naps. He also has been screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing multiple fits each day. I bought some teething tablets for them. I've got to trick them and hide the tablets in food. Otherwise, they clamp their mouths shut and it's impossible for me to get the tablets in. The tablets seem to help a lot. Wish us luck!

I had to go in for my work evaluation today and Mike had all three kids. He said Riley was going ballistic because she didn't want the bottle (all she wants to do is breastfeed), and Ethan and Mia were throwing a fit. The Culligan Man decided to come at that time. Both kids love going downstairs. Mike decided to let them follow the Culligan Man downstairs while he settled Riley down. Mike went to check on them, and he overheard Ethan speaking jibberish (his language) to the Culligan Man. He must have thought Ethan asked him what he was doing because he replied, "oh, I'm putting salt in the water softener."

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a good Easter! Mike became a Catholic on Saturday (we're proud of you!), so we decided to host Easter this year. All six of my brothers and sisters came along with my parents, Mike's parents and brother, and my niece and nephew. The more the merrier! We dyed some Easter eggs and the kids had fun finding them! Ethan and Mia slept through the Easter egg hunt, but they had a blast playing with the plastic eggs when they woke up. The Easter bunny left them some summer outfits along with some candy. Their favorite candy so far are the Reese's Peanut Butter eggs. Ethan found an empty wrapper, brought it over to me and started saying, "uh uh uh." I caved and gave them another one! They haven't tried the peeps yet. I'm curious to see if they'll like them. It was Riley's first Easter and I'm glad our families could spend it with us. Thanks everyone for the great food and memories!

My niece, Janai, and Riley.

Ethan and Mia in their Easter outfits.

Trying to get a good picture of Ethan.

They're finally both still!

My princess, Mia.

My sister, Amber, and Mia.

Ethan getting a flobee haircut.

Grandma Krause and Riley.

Grandpa and Grandma Schmidt, Ethan and Mia.

Riley's first Easter.

Trying to get a good picture of Mia.

Me, Mia, Ethan, Cousin Janai, Cousin Noah, Aunt Jenna, Uncle Nathan.

Mia checking out her peeps.

Mia looking at her Easter basket.

Ethan looking at his Easter basket.

Ethan checking out his peeps.

My Due Date

Today is my due date! It's hard for me to believe that Riley is all ready 3 weeks old. I thought it'd be fun to compare baby pictures, so I posted some baby of Ethan and Mia around the same corrected gestational age. A lot of people have said Riley and Mia look alike. What do you all think?

Riley

Riley

Riley

Riley

Ethan and Mia, 2 months old

Ethan and Mia, 2 months old

Ethan and Mia, 2 months old

Ethan and Mia, 2 months old

Ethan & Mia, 2 months old