Home Day

It's been a week of needing lots of coffee thanks to a 5 month old who wakes 30 billion times during the night and two other boys who always seem to make their way into our bed and then take up all the room.
Although I do adore the cuddles given as they snuggle up.

And so today is a Home Day. Nothing on the agenda except coffee drinking, banana cake baking, cuddles and playing with two cute wee guys and maybe even a spot of crochet. Christmas is coming after all... Shee-oot!

Although it's a chilly day outside the sun is streaming through our living room windows and we are enjoying the feel of it's comforting warmth on our skin.

Sure there's housework to do and I'll be tackling that too, but at the moment - I'm not bovered.

Hope you're all having/have had a Happy Thursday!
X

Household Happenings

I was supposed to do this post for yesterday, for Friday "Lovings" but fell asleep last night before I could even start writing...

So now the children are in bed {all before 8pm - yesss} but oh me oh my what a mission.

Tonight I totally felt like I was going to lose the plot with the boys.

Luca, poor wee guy, has got a tummy bug and has been destroying the toilet all day.

I hate dealing with poos in general so I was not at all pleased to be dealing with his explosiveness...

Beni, now that he is in a Big Boy Bed seems to think it's a game to be put to bed, told very firmly to stay there and then for him to get out of bed, walk right up to us and wait for us to growl at him.

Then he runs off squealing with delight as we pursue him back to his bed *exasperated sigh*

It's just felt like a real battle tonight and probably heightened by the fact I am so tired and eager for them to all be in bed asleep... and my boobs are leaking everywhere because Max seems to be not-so-interested in them anymore. Hmph.

But all is now quiet, we have a nice chilled glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Austin has just confirmed that, yes indeed, we have three boys out for the count. Phew!

Anyway... I wanted to share some of the Happenings in our Household this week.

:::

Luca is cracking us up with some of the things he's been saying lately.

Quite randomly the other day while eating pasta for dinner he says "Mamma, when you spew up your pasta on yourself you will get told off."

"...ah, what was that?" I replied, not quite sure I was hearing correctly.

"When you spill your pasta on the floor you give a bad, bad message."

"Right..." What are they teaching him at school??...

Random indeed.

We awoke this morning to Luca coming into our room and declaring "We will go to the shop and we will buy a phone for me so I can play Angry Birds." Oh. dear.

Have you ever played the mobile phone app of Angry Birds? If not, don't do it!!

It's terribly addictive.

But Luca has become a true genius at it.

He constantly gets three stars (the highest) and smashes Austin's previous high scores out of the park.

Austin is constantly being humiliated and humbled by Luca's uncanny skills with this game.

We are in the middle of a heatwave.

In the middle of Autumn.

It's awesome!

All the boys are baring their torsos.

Like their father they love having their shirts off.

And I'm so fine with that.

Especially when they are as delicious as this.

Now I may be a little slow on the uptake.

I'm sure this is not a lightbulb idea for anyone other than me (!)

Austin and I, due to our extremely tight budget at the moment, have come up with a bi-weekly menu for our dinners during the week and weekends so that when we shop we are only shopping specifically for exact items and quantities needed according to our menu.

And I do believe it's working!

I'm quite excited about this because I am a lists and routine girl and this makes me very happy.

My days feel more manageable because I don't have to think "What shall we have for dinner?" or "What have we got in the cupboards that I can rustle a meal together with?"

I love having that already decided for me.

We like to get our groceries delivered.

This saves us much time and effort - online grocery shopping is from the Lord I tell you!

The funny thing is our boys get so excited about the fact that the 'Asda Man' is here.

They enthusiastically get right in there taking receipt of the bags of groceries handed to them at the door and take great delight in unpacking them and discovering the exciting things we have bought.

Loving the Brother Love.

I often walk into the room where Max is sleeping to find he's been 'gifted' some cars by his brothers.

You have to remember that cars are a commodity around here.

And they are not given away light-heartedly nor flippantly.

Can't believe this little man's on solids now - craziness!!

But he loves his food. Oh yes.

His eating and appreciating noises are really quite something.

I'm pleased to report I'm back out running.

For real.

Blisters on my feet and everything.

Check out these wicked sock marks. I thought I had suddenly got tanned legs but then realised it was just dust.

Loving children who can sleep anywhere.

Just give them their dummy and muslin cloth and together they work like an immediate sedative.

But this is what happens when the d&m are carelessly left lying around...

Proud big brother.

I'm loving watching the interaction between Luca and Max especially and watching the relationships between the three boys develop.

They are very proud and protective of their little guy Max.

...and he's pretty darn cute!

The multi-tasking Mamma.

Trying to convince one child to eat while balancing another on her lap.

When you bake cookies make sure you reward yourself with one fresh out of the oven with a nice strong cup of coffee in your favourite mug.

Heaven on Earth.

Friday's treat was a white & dark chocolate chip cookie still hot from the oven (I actually burnt my mouth on it) with a coffee in my favourite mug I got in Helsinki, Finland.

As you do.

Maybe I have a foot fetish

but I just can't seem to get enough of these little chubba bubba feet.

And don't even get me started on the chunky thighs...!

Deliciousness.

Totally.

Check em out.

This little guy rocks my world.

Posted especially for the grandparents to have a cry over...

Happy ROCKtober everyone! X

:::

Linking up here

Time Goes By

We have a wee chunkster on our hands.
A chubba bubba.
A bonnie wee lad.

A bonnie wee lad who is always HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY!

I took Max to get weighed with the Health Visitor this week and when she heard he's still waking 5 times during the night to feed she almost fainted...
I thought this was just normal for a 17 week old hungry baby and had resigned to the fact that maybe by about 7 months he might be sleeping through the night {it may be my third child but I'm still learning what's "normal"...!}

Anyway, she advised starting to give him baby rice before he goes down for sleep at night, try to fill him up a bit. So last night, at just under 4 months of age Max had his first taste of solids.

And it was a hit! He straight away was slurping at the spoon and doing the chewing action and swallowing.
Very advanced he is. Of course.

Last night he only woke four times for a feed. So I guess that's an improvement?.... Yeah. Nah.

Because he's becoming such a chunky monkey, he's starting to get too big and long for the hammock which we've had all the boys in from birth through to at least 6 months old.

Beni has been starting to ask to sleep in Caca's bed {his word for 'Luca'}. Just this morning he requested to have his nap in Caca's bed.

So with this in mind I spent the afternoon rearranging their beds and fixing up their room so it is now officially "The Boy's Room". The Boy's being Luca, Beni and Max.

And so this is how it's done - how to fit 3 boys into one small bedroom:

 Bunk beds are a necessity!

Luca has gone up to the top bunk so Beni can move in down below.

I love how everything on Beni's new bed is hand-made. Quilt and cushions by me and soft toys by Aunty T.

Max's new cot {previously Luca and Beni's cot}. 

The under-sheet is a piece of fabric Austin's mum gave me which is from when their children were little. Vintage late 1970's. Cool huh?

I want to paint the mismatching ikea drawers similar to the one here.
It's just a matter of getting the time and the paint.
Maybe when my baby starts sleeping through the night I might have the head-space for this...

I feel like I'm lacking a little inspiration for making the boys room look cool and "Boy-ie"... I know that's not a word but ya know wha' ah mean yeah?
It will never be a tidy room, but it will always be a happy room full of laughter and imagination and hopefully not too many tears.

There has been a lot of growth in the past four months. Max has gone from a teeny tiny newborn to a chubba bubba who is now on solids... ARGH!
And Beni has moved from sleeping in a cot to a proper Big Boy Bed.

Yes, time does go by so quickly and I'm busy trying to absorb every moment (be they good or... not so good...) with these precious wee guys that I can.

:::

You've got your hands full!

How many time have I heard this statement this week?
When I'm pushing a buggy (THAT IS FIXED, PRAISE GOD!) laden down with groceries and two children while I'm wearing the third wrapped firmly to my chest.

What can I say in response? I smile politely and mumble something in reply, having a wee chuckle along with them, when all I want to do is scream "Too bloody right I've got my hands full! AND they're all sick!"(cue breaking down into uncontrollable sobbing)

Fun times indeed...

Sickness still lingers in our household.
Not happy about this. At. All.

Today I took Max to the doctor because of high fever last night and difficulty breathing. Again.
Doctor was on the verge of sending him to hospital. Again.
He prescribed antibiotics instead but with strict instructions that if wee Max gets any worse to go straight to A&E. Again.

I'm pretty much over this whole sick children thing.
I'm pretty much over this entirely unnecessary sleep deprivation thing.

I'm strong, but not this strong.
I'm feeling a bit 'beaten' by this season.

I'm getting to the end of my tether and my children and household are suffering for it.
Not cool.
Poor wee dudes with their short-fused Mamma.

And yet I have to remain confident it will all get better. The boys' health, our beauty sleep, a happy home environment instead of parents who always seem to be swearing under their breath...

We'll get there, to the other side of this 'season', hopefully relatively unscathed.

I'm looking forward to that.

As well as getting some unbroken sleep for more than 2 hours in a row. That would be amazing!

So yeah, they're right, I do have my hands full, but that's just LIFE with 3 boys under 4.

It's a good thing they're so flippin CUTE and that they make me laugh as much as they do.

:::