Some Days are Better Than Others...

As our adventure continues, I am finding that as in any other aspect of my life, sometimes things just don't work out the way we planned. No matter how much preparation, praying, or downright begging we do, sometimes God has a different plan. I am slowly learning to put my faith and trust in Him and, in the great words of the Beatles, "Let It Be". Much easier said than done, but I am trying my best. Here are some great examples of this:

Example #1
Last Saturday we attempted to attend Dave's cousin's wedding reception. We just love Matt and Katrina, and couldn't wait to celebrate with them. And yes, we attempted to bring the babies. I know, what the h#*@ were we thinking, right? Well, we really thought they would be okay. We knew there would be plenty of family to hold them and shower them with affection, and they've been to crowded places before (like the Brooklyn fair) and have been just fine. Apparently we were wrong. We went strolling in with three smiling babies and left with three hysterical and terrified ones. I could tell as soon as I started unbuckling Cameron from his carseat...he looked around with those big eyes, the lip started to quiver, and I knew we were toast. He screamed like a banshee and did not cease until we put him back in the carseat and hightailed it home. Evan was fine until he realized the lovely faces staring down at him were not his mommy and daddy...he was next to lose it. Our princess Sophia was the one exception...she is more than happy to partake in any situation that features her as the center of attention. However, majority rules so Dave and I called it a day after a whopping 10 minutes! My deepest apologies to the bride and groom. A special thank you goes out to my beloved sister-in-law Amy and brother-in-law Josh, as well as cousin-in-law Jess who helped us scramble the babies back into their seats and scoot out before causing too much of a spectacle. Better luck next time.

Example #2
Mommy confession time...the babies have not slept in their cribs for two months. You may remember back in the day when we were still doing the night feedings, night time was catastrophic to say the least. Dave and I were averaging 2 hours sleep a night at most, and the babies weren't getting much more. They would scream and cry in their crib until we picked them up, soothed them back to sleep, only to have them scream again when they returned. One particularly long night they fell asleep downstairs in their Fisher Price Rock n Plays. By the way, they are by far the one baby item we could not live without...seriously if I had to choose between them and the carseats, I'd make a conscious decision to never leave the house again. I looked over to Dave and said..."Just carry them up in them". They didn't peep the rest of the night. Ever since then we have enjoyed 9-10 blissful hours of sleep, because they sleep in their Rock n Plays (Jesus beds as Grammy Missy calls them). Well, beside the fact that our $300 cribs were going to waste, I felt it was about time to wean them back to their cribs. Before long they are going to reach the weight limit, and I wanted to get the transition over before then. After much Googling on the subject, I decided the best way would be to have them nap in their cribs during the day, then at night once they got used to them. Since Evan and Sophia have reflux and the incline of the rock n play helps alleviate that, I decided to use Cameron as my guinea pig. He managed to snooze about 15 minutes in his crib before waking up screaming. Back to the rock n play he went (I'm such a softie). Today I just sucked it up and put all three in for their morning nap. Want to know how it went? They had pity on their poor mom...I only had to run in a few times to replace pacifiers, and they have been sleeping for 30 minutes. Woo Hoo!!!!!! After a few more days of this, I am hoping to have them sleeping the night away in their cribs by next week. Wish me luck.

Example #3
It's no secret that Dave and I worry. A lot. A lot a lot. So our newest worry is Cameron. Although he was the first to smile and coo, he is the hardest to elicit one from. He will often "talk" and smile at his "friends" (the mobile) but when Dave and I try to get him to smile and "talk" with us, he clams up and looks away. Evan and Sophia are much easier...they give it up pretty regularly, but Cameron really makes us work at it. I know it's too soon to start thinking the worst, but we do anyway. Keep us in your prayers.

So I leave you now with some words (one word really) of wisdom that I am trying to live by: relax.

After what has become known as "The Wedding Incident"...Mommy and Daddy back home with much happier babies. I swear Cameron was smiling a second before we took the picture!

Cameron in his beautiful sweater Great Grandma Johnson made.

Evan in his.

Sophia in hers.

Thank goodness Grammy Denier lives 10 minutes from the wedding...we made a pit stop to feed them. Unfortunately, she wasn't there.

Awww....

Daddy works SUPER hard to get a smile from Cameron...

But it's all worth it!

We love Baby Einstein!!

Sophia shakes her stuff (well a rattle anyway)