Yet Another Edition: Conversations with 4-Year-Olds

Chloë:  Mom, when I turn five can I get some animals for my birthday?

Me:  Sure, what kind of toy animals would you want?

Chloë:  No, not toy animals.  REAL animals.

Me:  Like which ones?

Chloë:  How 'bout a pig.  A chicken.  A duck.  A guinea pig.  A horse.

....and how about a baby giraffe?  I'd like a baby giraffe.

Me: Wow, you want all of those?  Where will they stay?

Chloë: In the hay.

Me:  Where will the hay be?

Chloë:  In our yard.  Also, a cow.

Me:  Wow, that sure is a lot of animals.  I don't think we have room for all of those at our house.  

Chloë:  Okay.  I'll get rid of one.  The chicken.  I don't want the chicken.

.....but can I still have a baby chick?


This conversation kept going a bit more...but I'll end it here...because, in the end, this conversation wasn't going anywhere!

"Booties" (pronounced: BOO-deez)

I have very little problem with feeding Ella in public.  I have a nursing cover so it's really no big deal.  No one is being flashed.  It's quite discreet.  And I'm feeding my baby...if you have a problem with that then go elsewhere.  That said, my 4-year-old seemed to be embarrassed by it.  Here is a conversation we had at the neighborhood park a couple weeks ago:

Chloë (about to climb the monkey bars):   Mommy, will you come help me do the bars?

Me: As soon as I'm done feeding Ella.

Chloë:  MOM!  No one wants to see that!!  

Me (shocked she even cared/noticed):  Chloë! I have a cover.

Chloë:  No one wants to see your booties! (what she calls 'boobies' ...I'm guessing she picked this up at preschool?)

I nearly fell off the bench...I was so surprised she even had an opinion on the whole thing...let alone cared who "saw my booties".  Hilarious!

Anyways, we had a little talk about it and she hasn't been bothered (or at least mentioned it) since, so I guess she's okay with it.  I just have no idea how she became so modest in that department.  On another related note- one Saturday (weeks after the above conversation took place), Myke was in the bathroom shaving.  We had a kid birthday party we were about to go to so he was getting ready.  He had his shirt off while shaving and Chloë asked if that was what he was going to wear to the party ("that" being jeans and no shirt).  Joking with her, he sold her it was.  Her response:  "Daaad!, No kids want to see your booties!".  She was mortified he might attend the birthday party topless.  We were rolling on the floor!

Nursing cover (for those who don't know what I'm talking about)

Weekend

Rub-a-Dub-Dub 4 kids in a tub

It's Monday--back to the grind!  It's rest time right now so I'm actually getting a free moment to sit down, relax and reflect.  We had a really nice weekend- nice weather and some quality time together as a family.  I tried to not make too many plans so we could keep it a low-key weekend.  Myke loves a weekend with no plans...he likes to go with the flow and do things as they come up whereas I like to have plans so I know what the weekend looks like...and sometimes it's a challenge to go with the flow with four kids.  If you have a plan then you can be packed and ready for it.  I'm not a sit-at-home type of person, but I'm trying to enjoy staying around the house and relaxing more lately.  I guess I'm forced to a bit more now since it's more of a challenge to get out and about with so many little ones.  

So we actually did have a really nice weekend staying around the house.  The only outing was for a family photo shoot we had on Saturday morning.  We had to be up, dressed and purdy, fed and out the door by 8:30am.  Somehow we made this happen.  Mainly thanks to Myke.  He is an expert at the morning routine and can have all the kids up and out in no time.  I don't know how he does it!  

After coming home from that we just enjoyed being home the rest of the weekend.  We did some yard work and played with the kids outside in the afternoon and then had friends over for dinner Saturday night.  The kids all had a blast and got to stay up late playing with their friends.  Sunday we walked to a neighborhood yard sale where Chloë and Myke bought 2 skateboards ($5 each), then just hung out outside playing soccer and having a water fight with some other neighborhood kids.  We really love this neighborhood.  We are slowly but surely meeting the neighbors and everyone is very welcoming and friendly.  People are always out walking their dogs and kids are running around, skateboarding, riding their bikes, etc.  I didn't think kids could do that alone anymore...but here they do, which we love.  

Speaking of neighborhoods, after dropping my mom off at the airport last Tuesday morning, Chloë, Ella and I drove through Pacific Beach to visit our old 'hood.  Well, Ella had never been there before since emerging from the womb, so it was a first time for her.  We drove by our old condo.  Chloë asked who lived there now and wondered if they had any food (obviously she was hungry).  We parked down by the ocean and walked around a bit, stopping by our favorite Thai place to get take-out to take home for dinner.  

Chloë gazing at the ocean

Ella and the Pacific Ocean

Thai Village- YUM!

Thai Village friends 

(we used to order take-out from here every Sunday night)

Chloë the monkey-girl (Shane her buddy in bottom right)

Ella ready for our family photo shoot

Easter egg tree

Chloë filling up her cup to splash the 10 year old boys in the water fight

Ella lounging outside watching the action

Sunday afternoon popcorn snack

The temperature was in the high 60s but somehow the pool was almost 80 degrees so Myke and Chloë went for a dip.  He couldn't convince the boys to get in though! (or me!)

On Our Own

Well, the last of our live-in parental help staff has left the building, leaving Myke and I staring at each other with "here goes nothing" looks (i.e.: a look of fear and bewilderment).  For real though, I know we can handle the strain of raising four little ones...it will just take some adjustments and A LOT of flexibility on our part.  For instance, tonight after feeding the kids dinner we decided to all pile into our bed (I'm SO glad we finally got a Cal-King sized bed!) and let the kids watch a show.  Usually, I try to limit TV watching to MAYBE one show per day for Chloe and less than that for the boys...but I'm going to let that slide for awhile.  It was fun for the kids and Myke and I got a chance to talk for a few minutes!  It was relaxing!   I know that doesn't sound like anything HUGE.."woahhh, she let her kids watch a show in bed...big whoop"...it's just a small example.  I need to keep things relaxed around here as much as possible. Mainly to make sure I don't get overwhelmed.  Remember, I haven't slept more than 3 hours in a row in 5 weeks now.  I have 3 in diapers.  I have 3 under 2.  I have 1 sassy 4 year old.  Gotta love it :)  

While losing the extra sets of hands will be a big transition for me during the day, I know it will also be a big transition for the kids.  Eli has been more clingy over the past couple months with all the changes, new house, new baby, visitors in and out, etc...but he has always had a lot of hands to hold him during the day.  Now it will just be me for the most part.  And my hands have 3 other kids to hold, feed, clothe, 2 other to change diapers of, etc.  I can't do all of that while simultaneously holding Eli, unfortunately.  I wish I could.  I can already tell I'll be battling "mom-guilt" on a regular basis as I learn that I have to let things go.  Luckily, we have lined up some help on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Just from 8:30am-1:30pm, but it's going to be so nice!  Chloë has gymnastics on Tuesday mornings, so it will enable me (and Ella) to take her to that, I can schedule all the kids doctor and dentist appointments during these hours and not have to drag along all 4 kids every time, I can run errands (maybe eventually all by myself!), etc.  I also hope to use at least one of these days per week to take each child out for some one-on-one.  The boys especially don't get a lot of that.  They are so often paired together and go everywhere together.  I want to try to change that.  Looking forward to that especially :)

I need to go to bed before Ella wakes up to eat again.  So I'll close with some recent photos, as usual:

Happy St. Patty's Day!  

me & mom (@1981?)

Mom & the boys (@2013)

At JW Tumbles class- we did a free trial class on Monday

They LOVED it!

Smiles from Ella - (almost 5 weeks old)

my girls

Myke the "SuperDad" walking all 4 kids and the dog home from the park

Eli & Owen ready for their run.

Yes, I started running this past week.  I'm 5 weeks post-partum and still 20lbs over my pre-prego weight.  And I have a knack for sweets that I just can't kick.  Need to run to off-set that...at least

it off-sets it in my mind!  How many Peppermint Patties can I eat if I run 1 mile?  Probably 1 bite.

Chloë checking out the lizard that was in our house last week!

This is after our very involved mission to get it out of the house.

The mission involved two broom, blockades, and plenty of gasps from Gramma!

Happy One-Month to Ella! :)

First "real" bath (non-sponge bath)

1/12/13

Our little sweetie pie Ella-Bella is 1 month old today!  She is just the sweetest little baby so far...THANK GOD!!  What would I do if she wasn't?!  I'd be a mental case probably.  Myke and I are still waiting for the ball to drop and for her to turn into a fussy infant.  However, for now we're just counting our blessings and so relieved that the transition from three to four kids hasn't been TOO crazy, so far.  THAT SAID, we still have my mom here in town and she is Super-Gramma (I haven't had to load or unload my dishwasher in a month...and that's one chore I especially despise!)...so I have YET to be completely on my own during the day with all 4 kids.  One week left of the luxury of a live-in grandparent...then we'll see what the reality of 4 kids four and under is REALLY like!

My Dad was out here to visit for a week and flew back home yesterday.  His visit seemed to zip by so fast--and I realized it's because all the other parents were here visiting for AT LEAST two or three weeks, at the minimum.  I feel like I barely had time to chat with my Dad.  That week went way too fast!

Anyways, Ella has been a joy to have.  She only fusses when she is ready to eat or is tired.  She's a champion nurser and a good sleeper.  At night she wakes up, eats, gets changed and then back to sleep.    I'd love for her to do longer stretches between feedings (waiting for the 5 hour stretch to become more frequent!) but I'm not complaining.  She is starting to smile more and more and loves looking at her siblings, especially Chloë.  Chloë LOVES to hold Ella and asks to all the time.  Owen also is really into her lately and wants to hold her.  Eli, as I said before, was a bit more reserved at first but has been showing a lot more interest in her over the past few days.  He even held her for the first time, I think it was yesterday.


Some Photos:

A chilly day on the Carlsbad Seawall

Eli did not want to stop running around to get his photo taken!

Mom & Dad (aka Grandpa & Gramma)

My Dad with Ella 

After dinner on Grandpa's last night in town-

We went to Borrelli's Italian Restaurant

Kid's eat free on Monday nights.

I'm sure they love when we walk in the door!

Ella 

Owen holding Ella this morning

Owen's first real haircut

3/13/13

Sister snuggles

3/13/13

(before Owen's haircut)

All Aboard!

My parents took Chloë on a train ride last week.  The Coaster is actually a public transit train that runs to various locations in San Diego...but it's no dinky trolley, it's the real deal!  It's a double-decker train and runs on the same train tracks as Amtrak.  There is a stop not too far from our house here in Encinitas and my parents thought Chloë would enjoy the adventure.  She definitely did!  I dropped the three of them off in the morning and took a few pictures as they boarded. It was chilly and drizzling up here so we were a little worried that it wasn't the best day for this outing.  However, they headed south down to Old Town, San Diego where it happened to be sunny and nice out.  They got off, walked around and did some sightseeing, and had brunch.  Chloë enjoyed pancakes followed up with ice cream on this adventure!  Gotta love grandparents!

Waiting for the train- Leucadia Station, Encinitas

Choo-Choo!

Bye, Mom!

Pacific Ocean view from her seat...

March Madness

Owen loves his baby sis!

I definitely don't have the time of day to post blog entries...but here I am posting a blog entry.  My "To-Do" list is growing and growing as I seem to have less and less free time to myself to get things done (I know, surprise, surprise, right?!).  It took me over a week to find a quiet moment to call our health insurance company and switch the kids to a new pediatrician in our area.  Such is life with 4 small kids, I guess!  Even when I have live-in help here I can't get everything done...I'm scared to see how things will go when all the grandparents have left the building!  Only two weeks until that becomes a reality!  I know I have been more than lucky to have had the extra hands and help for so long.  We haven't even lived in our home by ourselves yet and we've been here for two months now.  It sure will be quiet around here after the last grandparent leaves....(and here we thought it was the 4 kids that made it loud!).

The boys saying BYE to Pop :(

Myke's parents headed back home to the east coast this past Friday.  His father actually moved in to this house with us back in December!  So we literally had not lived here without him until now!  It's kind of weird to not have him here.  He was a great help and we miss him already.  He would be up and making everyone breakfast, he was our live-in handyman, he would do grocery store runs, took the boys to the music time at the library on a regular basis, took Kyla on walks, and I think he was a first-name basis with the employees at our local Home Depot.  We miss you, Pop!  We miss you, too, Mom-Mom!  Maureen (Mom-Mom) felt like she was a burden due to her broken ankle and inability to help in the capacity that she wanted to be able to...but she was definitely not a burden at all.  She was the resident laundry-folder, child-dresser, book-reader, and baby-holder.  If you have a pulse, we'll find you a job around here!  There is no sitting around doing nothing here at the Hines household!  That said, I'm sure Thom & Maureen are enjoying the peace and quiet and ability to relax back at home in Philly.  

The girls all tucked in!

(Chloë WISHES we would leave Ella in her bed overnight!)

Ella looking like a baby doll - 20 days old

3/5/13

Chloë in the foam pit at gymnastics

Gramma & Ella

Pool time this past weekend- warm weather!  

More fun in the sun

smiles :)

Riding the train at the Carlsbad Outlet Mall