three.

Parker, my sweet little man, you turned three this week. THREE. Oh my, I cannot believe we are here. I cannot believe three years have passed since you were born. 

 You are 37 pounds and you are 43 inches tall. The doctor was in disbelief that you grew 7 inches in a year! She said normally children grow 2-3 inches...You, my big boy grew seven! 

You are one happy little buddy. You love life and laugh often. 

You love cuddles and kisses (I love them more).

 You are full of life.

You love being naked. Hilarious as it is, finding tee-tee in various spots...not so funny.

 You love your sister! It sure does fill Mommy's heart with joy!

 About to scream! This is a very normal scene

 You were so excited to have everyone celebrate you. We had two parties: one with family and one with friends. 

 Your laugh is so contagious. I love the sound of it more than anything in this world.

 That smile. It gets me. Oh how much I love that smile.

 You love your people. 

 You are sweet and sensitive. very sensitive.

When we tell you 'no' you get your feelings hurt. 

 You are all boy. You love cars, trucks, planes, tools, and dirt.

 I've never seen anyone love sweets the way you do. Well, nobody except your sister!

You were so excited about your cake. You picked out your candles with me and were 100% sure these were the only ones that would do.

 You blew out all your candles perfectly.

 On your actual birthday, we had friends come over to play and got some yummy doughnuts for everyone!

My precious boy, how could I possibly put into words how much I love you? I am so so happy that God gave me you. You are such a light in my life. I am so thankful for you, my sweet, loving buddy.

Alli Kate-1 Month

My sweet baby girl, Alli Kate:

Well, here we are. You are ONE whole month old. 

You weigh 9 pounds 6 oz. (50%) & are 22.5" long (98%)

Since I didn't update with weights before now, I'll do it here:

2/12 7 lbs 6 oz (birth weight)

2/14 6 lbs 14 oz

2/21 6 lbs 13 oz (billy was at 15 and I was told to nurse, nurse, nurse)

2/28 7 lbs 12 oz (gained an entire pound in a week!!!)

What an easy baby you are. I think I've heard you cry no more than five times in one entire month! This is definitely a blessing that I am not taking for granted.

I'm so proud to say that I've successfully breastfed you for one month! =)

You are hungry anywhere between every 45 minutes-2 hours during the day and occasionally go 3 hours at night. It is such a different world compared to formula feeding, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Sometimes I feel sorry for your sister and brother because I have a patience with you that I never had with them. I truly love and cherish each and every second with you....middle of the night or middle of the day! 

I hear constantly that you are so beautiful, which you are if I do say so myself! 

We are having you sleep in a rock and play by our bed at night. I don't think I'll be able to put you in your crib anytime soon! I just don't think I could stomach being more than two feet from you.

You love sleeping on your tummy on my chest. Nothing soothes you faster. You absolutely do not like your paci anymore. You liked it for about a week and quickly preferred to comfort nurse, which is fine with Momma!

You are still asleep most of the days and all night (except of course while nursing). You might be awake a total of 2 hours per day.

Your brother gets concerned if he cannot find you and will exclaim "oh no, baby gone". When I show him where you are he seems so relieved. 

Sister absolutely adores and mothers you. She talks to you constantly. You are her 'best friend'.

I love having three.

You make life just that much sweeter.

I back searched the blog to find pictures of Blakely and Parker at one month to compare =)

Here we have Alli Kate:

Blakely

Blakely

and Parker

I'm pretty sure it is safe to say they are all going to favor Clint.

grace.

I never thought I would say this in a newborn stage of life, but life is sweet.

I came home from the hospital Valentine's day, in pain. Got struck with a terribly sore throat one week after that. Mastitis two days after that. A horrible, terrible no good very BAD cold that has now lasted two weeks. Cough, infection, nose, throat, fever, chills...the whole mix! And I can emphatically tell you my life is sweet. amazing. & wonderfully full.

I did NOT feel this way when either Blakely or Parker were almost 3 weeks old. I seriously struggled with both Blakely as a newborn and with Parker, more so. Definitely more.

Life is just good. Different. Full. My heart is just content and full of joy. Sure, evil is still plaguing me every single day, it's just my mind that is different this time around. Such a strange and foreign feeling for me. I have never been so content staying home with the kids. I feel absolutely no urge to figure out what I can do beyond raising babies.

It is in this-feeling full. Feeling that life is good-that I see grace. Total grace. Unbelievable and amazing grace.

 I'm breastfeeding this time around. I never even imagined how much more demanding breastfeeding is to formula feeding. I think maybe it is helping me though in my connection with her.

 Maybe it is maturity. Maybe I've learned somewhat how to let go of my silly expectations. Maybe it is just God.

 Either way, I am SO grateful for my eyes opening to just enjoying this day. I'm grateful that I can take it ONE day at a time. I'm grateful that I am viewing and enjoying my 4 year old, my 2 year old and this newborn as the BLESSINGS that they are.

 God is good. His goodness is everywhere. Yes, evil and sadness are everywhere too, but I'm done with murmuring under my breath grumbles and complaints of the latter. I just want to sit and soak in this goodness.

 I want to accept the yuck in life and move on. I am convinced that there are 1000 blessings to every single complaint.

The more I count God's graces, the more they fill my mind. Big things, small things, sad things...they are all made good through God's goodness.

 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. -Romans 1:19-21.

 His loveliness is everywhere.

 Take a look at this perfection...

 Why in the world has it taken me so long to get here? Please, dear Lord, keep me here.