Weekend fun - Lucy and Mama edition

Dear Nolan - 4 Months

Dear Nolan,

You are now 4 months old. Now would be a good time for you
to start sleeping for more than 90 minutes at a time. You love to talk, and you
have the cutest little coos and gaahs. Lately they’ve been accompanied by a
string of drool. You have found your hands, and love to chew on them.

You are a big eater. You eat at least every 2-3 hours. You
get very upset if you’re hungry and someone is not immediately there to feed
you. You are a chunky, smelly, baby with a little bald spot in the back.
Somehow, the camera never picks that up. You can be crying and screaming and
have just spit up everywhere, and I’ll take out my camera, and you immediately
stop and give me a grin. It’s actually kind of amazing how well you photograph.

Daddy has been staying home with you and Audrey on Fridays.
I asked him how you two were doing on a Friday morning, and he said “, Pretty
good. Audrey fell asleep this morning cuddling Nolan, but I had to break them
up because he kept trying to eat her head.”

You are truly a mama’s boy. Secretly, I’m kind of enjoying
it. It often causes me to walk around work like a zombie due to the lack of
sleep. But your cuddles and giggles make it all worth it. You are the happiest
baby ever (as long as you’re being held with a full tummy). I love you so much.

I’ll always love you anyway,

Your mama

Dear Audrey - 4 Months

Dear Audrey,

Wow. You are already 4 months old. You are still an over achiever and continue to sleep through the night. You try to make things as easy on your mama and daddy as possible. Sometimes you’ll be upset, and if we can’t get to you right away, you’ll just fall asleep. At your 4 month checkup we asked the doctor if there is a point that a baby could sleep too much.
Luckily, no; God must’ve just wanted to give us an easy baby.

You are rolling over and passing every milestone. You love
to suck on your fingers and haven’t used your paci for over a month. You have the most beautiful brown eyes and you like to watch your brother and sister. Lucy loves to share her blocks (legos) with you. Usually she gives you all the
people and she keeps all of the animals. You don’t seem to mind.

You enjoy taking warm baths and being outside. I love just
holding you on my side, as you hold your head up so well. Often times, you’ll
“help” me unload the dishwasher, change over the laundry or vacuum. You are
already becoming my little helper. You are very special to me and I love you
very much.

I’ll always love you anyway,

Your mama

Happy Birthday Nana!

After spending thurs/fri with her Nana each week, I ask Lucy if she's "nana's little buddy". Her response is "Nini (Lucy) Nana Yil ('lil) Buddy".

Lucy has been practicing her "happy birthday nana" song for about a month and we finally get to sing it! (She ran a test run last week for auntie T's bday).

So Happy Birthday Nana! You are very loved.

Love, Mama, Dada, No-no, Audrey, and your Yil' Buddy

Lucy's Busy Day at the Zoo

This afternoon we loaded up (which takes us a while) and went to the zoo.  Lucy had so much fun.  She kept running around saying, "Ni-ni (Lucy) more animals."  She let us know the names of all the animals and what letter each animal's name starts with.  Today's favorites included the penguins, polar bear, monkeys, elephants, and rhino.

The highlights were getting to feed a carrot to a giraffe and seeing a tiger way up close!

As you can imagine, it wore her out!  (Not pictured, Nolan and Audrey enjoyed sleeping in the stroller.)

Dear Nolan - 3 Months

Dear Nolan,


You are growing so big! You have the best little laugh and cutest voice. You just love to talk and smile. Your smile melts my heart and your laugh is contagious. I find myself just talking to you in baby talk for what seems like hours just to hear your little voice.



Your eyes are still blue, and I keep waiting for them to turn brown. You have such beautiful eyes and they always light up whenever you hear my voice. You’ve started to turn your head when you hear your daddy or I talking.


You only sleep well in two places. In your lamb swing or snuggled right up against your mama. Unfortunately the lamb swing only goes up to about 25 pounds, and I’m pretty sure daddy is only going to let you sleep in our bed for so long. So hopefully you can figure out how to sleep in your cradle or your crib sometime in the near future. But for now, you can continue to be my little snuggle buddy.


You still cry. A lot. Very loudly. You kind of sound like an alarm clock. Sometimes you will cry for absolutely no reason. And all of a sudden you will instantly go to laughing, and then back to crying and then to laughing again. I think that sometimes you’re just not sure if you want to be happy or mad.


You don’t like to be put down, unless it’s on your play mat. When on your mat, you will just swing your arms at the birds and just laugh when you hit one.


I love watching you grow each day. I’m so lucky to have you as my son.


I’ll always love you anyway,

Your mama

Dear Audrey - 3 Months

Dear Audrey,


Last week you turned 3 months old. And of course I’m late at posting your update. Lately, things just always seem so busy. I feel like I’m constantly working, washing bottles, folding laundry, changing diapers or feeding someone. At the end of a long day, my favorite thing to do is to just sit on the couch and hold you on my lap. You like to sit up and face me while holding on to my fingers. You have such a pretty smile that lights up your whole face. Then I’ll feed you and you’ll fall asleep. You make the funniest faces when you sleep. You’ll go from a worried face, to an angry face, to a full out laugh while you sleep. I always wonder what you could possibly be dreaming about. You still sleep the majority of the day and you’re starting to consistently sleep about 7 hours at night (your daddy thanks you for that).


You have some crazy hair days. You’ve definitely inherited more of your mama’s features. Your hair is dark and thick, but not quite long or heavy enough that sometimes it’ll stick straight up. Especially after a bath! Speaking of the bath, you love the water.


I always brag to people about what an amazing baby you are.You’re not at all fussy. When you’re awake, you’re happy. Even when you do cry, it is the cutest little whimper. Again, thank you for being so awesome. I owe you. Big time.


I’ll always love you anyway,


Your mama

Loving Life

Even though I'm sleep deprived, I just wanted to say how much I am loving and enjoying everything about life.

This was me earlier this week:



I successfully walked to pick up a pizza with all three of my beautiful children. While walking I decided...

I love where we live. The weather was beautiful and we are able to walk over to the nearby outdoor mall.

I love walking. A college friend of mine became paralyzed a year and a half ago and some of his posts remind me not to take something as simple as walking for granted.

I love our stroller. My aunt gave us this stroller and it is perfect for us. Sometimes Lucy rides in front and navigates. Other times we hook up the boogie board for her to stand on in the back. And sometimes she just likes to push her brother and sister.



I love my children. All THREE of them. I still can't believe that I'm the mother of three. Just two years ago I only had myself to worry about. As much work as it's been, I'd never want to go back to that.

And I love pizza. I know I should be eating healthier and trying to lose some more of this baby weight. But a nice pizza and a glass of wine with my husband is pretty darn nice.


Waiting for the pizza!


Had to drop in a few Lucy photos of us getting ready to go. Lucy likes to wear mama's shades!









Our walk over to the mall on Sunday to get a cup of frozen yogurt with daddy!

Me and my babies...

So this time around I haven't been able to snap quite as many photos as when it was just Lucy, but here are some of the one that are on my phone :)

Dear Audrey - 2 months

Dear Audrey,

You are 2 months old and such an easy baby. You eat well. You sleep well. And you have stayed very healthy. You are a happy baby, and you are growing so big! At your two month check up you weighed 10 pounds 14 ounces.

Daddy likes to hold you while he watches sports on TV. You enjoyed sleeping on his chest while he watched some of the winter Olympic events.  Daddy claims you like to watch action movies with him too!

You are definitely our little overachiever. You can almost sleep through the night at only two months old. You also can hold your head up for minutes when you lay on your tummy. Lucy and I love to lay on the floor with you while you do your "tummy time". You don't cry very much, but when you do, it is the cutest little wimper, with just a slight quiver. When you do cry, it's because you're either hungry, wet, or just want to be held. You are very easy to please.

You make some pretty silly faces that make us laugh.  There are times that your looks remind me of Lucy.  There are other looks that are uniquely your own!

You like to look around and take everything in.  Your eyes are usually on the move, observing and absorbing everything.  I think you are going to be very smart.

Thank you for your patience.  There are times when your brother is upset and your sister is active and in need of supervision.  During those times, we can always count on you to make our life a little easier.  You will sit in your swing and just the watch the action, almost like you're thinking, "you guys take care of things and then come get me when you get a chance."

We love your calmness and sweetness, your warmth and beauty.  You are such a blessing in our lives, Audrey.

I'll always love you anyway,

Your Mama

Dear Nolan - 2 Months

Dear Nolan,

My whole life, I always wanted to someday have a little baby boy. And I love you more than I would've ever imagined. The neatest thing is, you love me just as much. You have what I call "mama-radar". You can be fast asleep, and if I even attempt to move more than 3 feet away from you, you'll wake up and let me know that I'm not allowed to leave your side.

My favorite thing is to just snuggle you. You like to lay on my chest or on my arm. You sleep so soundly when someone is holding you. You've started to enjoy your swing, but you still would prefer the human contact.

You're still our lazy little boy. During tummy time, you prefer to just put your head down and whine until someone picks you up. You often fall asleep half way through nursing. Often, when we hold you, you won't hold your head up (though, you are completely capable of doing so).

Sometimes we refer to you as a little "butt". That's because you can often be a butt. You will cry and and grunt whenever you don't get your way. Daddy and I have to sleep in separate rooms (you with me and him with Audrey), because otherwise he wouldn't get any sleep. Often, you will nurse to the point that you take some of Audrey's milk, only to spit a good portion of it up. You're starting to get a little better, but you can sure be a pain in the butt sometimes.

You love to talk, laugh and smile. I've never seen a baby coo as much as you do. When I talk to you, we can have a whole conversation. You always laugh at my jokes :)

You are growing right on track. At your two month check up you weighed 11 pounds 5 ounces. You were still pretty short and had a fairly large head (72 percentile). Though, I guess that's not that big compared to both of your sisters!

I love your big blue-gray eyes. I love your excessive craddle cap. And I love your stinky farts. I love you so much, and I love watching you grow. 

I'll always love you anyway,

Your Mama

Nana's house - ready for spring

Lucy stayed the night at nana and papas house last night. Kyle and I have been so fortunate to have Steve and Susan watch Lucy on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the past 9 months. It saved us a lot of money in daycare costs. But even cooler than money is how close Lucy is to her grandmother. Lucy and Susan have built such a loving bond. I swear, Lucy thinks nana is the most amazing person ever (and she's right). Lucy is sad when it's time to leave (even if she's been there for two days!).

Here are some photos Susan sent me of their time together yesterday. I think Lucy is ready for this snow to go away and to put her shades on outside!

Princess Lucy

This morning Lucy and daddy made a princess crown!

I survived!

My mom (above) had been staying us since before the babies were born.
We gave her a few days off here and there, but I never had to face the reality of three kids by myself for an extended period of time. Until today.
I was a little worried when I had changed my sixth diaper before 8am. But luckily the kiddos took it easy one today. Here's the photo we sent Kyle while he was at work:


Luckily, Kyle called in reinforcements for tomorrow (Susan!).

I love this picture of Susan and Audrey:

Athlete Profile: Lucy Ring

Name:   Lucy T. Ring

Hometown:   Plainfield, IN

Age:   21 mo.

Nickname:  Goose
Sports:  Golf (putting mat in living room),                             Basketball (at Nuna's),
              Track & Field (chasing Frannie and                                Yoshi, or Reggie)

Favorite Letter:   W (dub-da)

Favorite Color:    Purple

Favorite TV Personality:   Elmo

Favorite Toy:   iPad

Favorite Team:    Colts

Favorite Food:    Cheese

Favorite Book(s):    I Wish I Had Duck Feet, Maisy, Elmo, many others…

Favorite Song(s):    Nana Loves Lucy (Nana original), Hush Little Baby,
                                Green Grass, many others…

Editor’s Note:    We love you so much Lucy.  You make us smile every day.