Life in the fast lane

Some people would say that we had our children very close. Moses was not yet 16 months old when Heber was born. Moses wasn't yet walking either. I vividly recall carrying them both- Heber as a new baby in the car seat and Moses as a chunky toddler-who wasn't toddling. Yes it was challenging. Yes we stayed home a lot. Yes we had two in diapers. It was awesome!!!! They have no memories without the other. And they have a super sweet brotherly bond. 

This is Moses and Heber nursing their babies. 

In march we had our baby Gretel. She is 28 months younger than Heber. I am grateful everyday that I had Moses and Heber so close. They are now 3 and 2 years old. Yes it is a challenge to have two little boys jumping and playing while I nurse. But with a little schedule and some extra patience they do really well. I love watching them play together and I love the secret codes they have invented. 

I've had several comments about how busy I must be. They have NO idea!! At 730 am I feed Gretel. We are working still with nursing because she was born with a posterior tongue tie and it has made nursing a long process. We are having it revised again on Monday. So at 830 I put her down for a nap and right then I get Heber out of his crib since he's been in there happy and awake for a good 30 min. Moses usually is already up and dressed and reading books with me by then. We then make breakfast. By 930 it is usually all eaten and cleaned up. We have one hour- if all has gone well. I clean something or prepare dinner or read to my boys. At 1030 it is time to feed Gretel. I put my boys in Alone Time. They get to play in their rooms alone for one hour. Gretel and I bond a little and she's back in bed for a nap at 1130. The boys come out after Alone Time refreshed but hungry. I make lunch and the whole making/eating/ cleaning up brings us to 1230-1245. Heber then asks to play one more minute and the it's his turn for a nap. If we didn't do alone time then Moses will have it now. If we did then he plays while I nurse Gretel at 130. This is a hard one because Moses wants attention. I used to do a letter and a number with him but now I try to get him to read a book with me or color. At 230 Gretel goes down for a nap and I'm exhausted. Moses is too. We watch a little show or read or I try to get something done around the house. I am working on this part of our day because it isn't working out well for us. At 430 I feed Gretel and Zak gets home and Heber wakes up. I feel bad that Zak comes home and I'm tied up nursing. He then gets the rest of dinner ready. And we eat at 530. The evening is filled with family time and at 730 Zak gets the boys ready for bed at 8 and I feed Gretel. At 9ish she is asleep too. Geez!!! I feel like I have run five miles but I haven't seen the outside of my house. I love my children. I love being a mom. It is so so hard. But I know this is perfect. 

This is Gretel in an outfit we bought in Guatemala when we were pregnant with Moses. 

So it's been a while!!

Matthew and Megan just showed me how I can continue my blog with the app!!! I'm so excited for this to be an easier process!! 

As is the way of spending time with the Stapps, we had a project or two planned for our distinguished guests to accomplish. Matthew and Megan and even Lucy helped us rake and clean up our entire yard!!

Matthew and Zak had some male bonding of the typical Welch wrestling match- complete with tickling. Zak appearanlty couldn't hack the tickles-it turns out he gets totally furious and threw some almost not playful punches. For a Welch that only makes it more hilarious and fun to tickle again!! 

Easter was a blast!! It was fridged freezing- as it should be if you love in Wisconsin-but it was clear skies and no snow on the ground!! Zak and Matthew his the eggs and then gave the boys a briefing on what an Easter egg hunt really is. 

It took a little coaxing, but after a few minutes both Moses and Heber had this egg hunt all figured out. 

The grand prize was this box from grandma sue and a new pair of sandals. But the boys were so focused on eggs that they didn't even see the big boxes!!!

For lunch we went on a real walk around Appleton. It was awesome to be out in the chilly sunshine. We had a picnic on Lawrence university campus and then went to the paper discovery museum. 

Got to use my triple stroller!! That stroller spells freedom for me!!! 

Gretel was blessed at church right on Easter Sunday. She wore a dress that was made to look like the one that I was blessed in. She was a perfect angel during the blessing and that night even slept 8 hours!! That was almost the biggest highlight if the week!! 

We absolute loved having Matthew and Megan and Lucy at our house this week. We learned a lot from them and felt a lot of love together.