Life with Three under 3.

Hope is two. She will be three in November.
Olivia is 15 months. We thought she and Griffin would be 14 months apart. Turns out they are 13.
Griffin is almost two months old. I couldn't ask for a better baby. All of my babies have been great.

A few pictures of our life...our new normal...our lovely crazy...

This is a sleeping Griffin. Please compare this early photo to more recent sleeping pictures further down this list. He's getting bigger!

This was taken during our process of packing up toys. We are trying to sell our house and our realtor said we need to pack up more toys. The girls got in one more play time. I don't know why Hope likes to pat Olivia on the head. She does it a lot.

 

 Olivia can put those shades on top of her head and walk around. It is pretty funny to turn around and see her entering the room like a cool dude.

 

 Olivia sleeps in this pack and play now. We removed the crib to open up some space in this room. I plan to tear down this bed before a house showing. I'm hopeful that will help people see that the room isn't that small. Still small, just not that small. It's funny to see babies looking out a window.

 

 Luke wasn't really sleeping. Capturing a moment...

Olivia sometimes gets to play with toys in her bed. Lots of times it happens because Hope opens the door when Olivia is sleeping, Olivia wakes up, Hope laughs and is excited to play with Olivia, Hope gives Olivia a toy, and the two of them play until I come to get Olivia out. I have had firm discussions with Hope about entering this room when Olivia is sleeping. Now most of the time Hope enters only after I say something like, "It sounds like Olivia is awake!"

 

 Some sleeping pictures for size comaprison.

 

The girls love to play together. Hope talks a lot, runs, cries, 'reads', sings, plays, pretends, imagines, and helps a lot. Olivia grunts, yells, laughs, cries, crawls, and WALKS. Hope is a big girl and walks on our walks through town. We have a double stroller, but that's not good enough with three little ones. So, Hope walks with me and holds my hand when we cross the street. She resisted walking in the beginning. Yesterday I put Griffin in a carrier and left room for Hope in the stroller, but Hope wanted to walk instead. She does such a good job with everything. She helps Olivia get a drink from the refrigerator, or more food during meal time without being asked. 

 

 Hope takes a nap on Mommy and Daddy's bed in the middle of the day. I move Griffin's bed out, and Hope's pillows/blanket in. Olivia stays in the bedroom for nap time.

 

 We put a dresser in the closet. We needed to move it out of the front room, so this is where it landed. This dresser has clothes for Olivia and Griffin. The other dresser (seen in the picture above) holds clothes for Hope. In these dressers are clothes for summer, fall, and winter for the next year.

 

 This is a common sight. I sit in that black chair with Griffin multiple times during the day for 45 minutes at a time and the girls play around me. It's so fun to take every book down from the shelf to have a book party! It's also great to take all the toys out of the basket to find the two miniture kangaroos. It's also great to do this before 10 am, and to clean it up at 9 pm.

 

 Some days I have to fold laundry during nap time. Some days I take a nap too. This room is also a play area while I sit with Griffin.

 

 Hope's book party! I'm not sure why she has no clothes. She often decides she does not want her clothes. Notice she is still in a diaper. I'm not ready to push potty training right now (though I tried quite a few times before Griffin was born), but I think I will be soon. I think Hope is ready too. She knows what it is all about, but she really doesn't want to. I mean she REALLY doesn't want to. Maybe the next time we try she will act a lot differently.

Yesterday I changed four diapers in 10 minutes. Olivia was the repeat offender.

 

 Olivia is playing with a tape measurer in the bathroom. She has a sippy cup in the bathroom. I concluded that Hope gave her that drink.

 

 Hope thought it was a new fun play place underneath the counter in the kitchen. I agree. I think I'd like to play there if I were little. She decided to have a book party under the counter. Olivia joined in. I'm not sure why Olivia has no clothes. Well, yes I am. It was after bath time and we hadn't gotten to the pj's yet.

Sometimes Griffin sleeps while the girls are napping, other times he doesn't. On days that he is awake during nap time I power through the day with very little time to myself. When the girls go to bed for the night, usually I would get some time to myself while Luke watches Griffin (if G isn't nursing), but it's then that I get ready for bed and lay down. To everything there is a season...He's a sweet little guy.

 

 It's so great that Luke usually does bath time.

 

 Lots of days we will take a walk from 10 am to 11:30 am. Sometimes we will walk with Daddy after supper.

 

 Another sleeping picture for size comaprison. This was taken at church.

I submit this in an effort to give you an idea of life at 122 Jones Street since July 7, 2012. I'm not sure how it compares to yours or other busy moms, but it is what it is. I am overwhelmed at times, tired a lot, but not exhausted (yet). I often feel like a triage nurse, assessing the crying babies to see who needs my attention immediately and who can wait for a bit. I pray that even though I am spread thin at times, that my kids will know my love for them and see my joy in their presence.