"I'm not lucky, I'm just that good..."

So, Eric told me that the title of my "luck" post should have been, "I'm not lucky, I'm just that good." I really hope it didn't come off that way. If you were offended by that post, please forgive me! Honestly, one of the reasons I keep a blog is because I love to share information that has worked for me. Things that have made my life easier or better, and believe me, Babywise has saved me with my kids. It takes the guesswork out of knowing if your baby is crying because he's hungry or crying because he's tired or crying just for the sake of crying. But, I didn't want to come off sounding like my babies never cry and are good all the time because really, they aren't. Who's kids (especially unpredictable newborns) could be that perfect? Not mine, especially with an imperfect mother like me! So, please know that the post below had the best of intentions.

Easter Cookies

We made these Easter cookies last night to give me a chance to talk with my kids about the Atonement and Resurrection. It is always nice to have moments where I can teach my children and share my testimony. Here is the recipe if you want to try it next year:
You Need 1- cup whole pecans 1-teaspoon vinegar 3 egg whites pinch of salt 1-cup sugar zipper baggie wooden spoon tape Bible EASTER COOKIES

Preheat the oven to 300 (this is important-don't wait 'til you're half-done with the recipe)

1. Place the pecans in the baggie and let the kids beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read John 19:1-3

2. Put the vinegar into a mixing bowl. Let each child smell the vinegar. Explain that when Jesus was on the cross and He became thirsty, He was offered vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30

3. Add the egg whites to the vinegar. The eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life so that we could have life.

Read John 10:10-11

4. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand and let them taste it. Put the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23:27

5. So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

6. Beat the egg whites with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3

7. Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto a wax paper cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus body was laid to rest.

Read Matt. 27:57-60

8. Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off.

9. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the door. Explain that Jesus tomb was sealed.

Read Matt. 27:65-66

10. Go to bed. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight and that Jesus followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20-22

11. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. the cookies are hollow! ON THE FIRST EASTER, Jesus' followers were amazed to find His tomb empty.

Read Matt. 28: 1-9

When I told Hayden that he'd have to wait until morning to have a cookie, you would have thought I was the meanest mom ever! He did not want to listen to another word I said after that. Luckily, I bought a treat at the store to entice him to listen to why we had to wait until morning. I anticipated the fight about waiting until morning. Who makes cookies with their kids and then makes them wait to eat them! Sheesh...

Luck

I have had a few people tell me how lucky I am that I have had good babies. They all have slept through the night by 8 weeks, they have good temperaments, they are happy and content and don't cry very often. Yep, I'm lucky. But often I think that it's not just luck.

I have some opinions when it comes to newborn babies and I feel like for the most part, my ideas work. When I was a new mom with Hayden, I had a lactation specialist tell me to just feed the baby whenever he wanted and to let him sleep whenever and wake up whenever. Let him determine his schedule. Thinking back to this, I am amazed that anyone would think this way. I wouldn't let a toddler determine when they slept or ate. Why should I let a newborn? I read a few books and took an approach that I felt like would work best and I put Hayden on a schedule. I fed him every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day (full feedings-making sure they got at least 3 oz. or nursed for 15-20 min.), KEPT him awake for an hour after I fed him, then I laid him down to fall asleep on his own. (I didn't let him cry it out. I would go back in and comfort him and give him his binkie, but ultimately he fell asleep on his own.) And low and behold, he was sleeping through the night (9 hours) by 6 weeks! I have done this with all three, and it has worked all three times! (not with Crew yet, but we're close!) This schedule makes it so that when they are awake, they aren't tired or hungry. They are content and happy. It totally works! I think that children thrive on a schedule, regardless of age. (the book the schedule is base on is called Babywise)

It takes some effort, for sure. Newborns want to sleep all the time, and they fall asleep when they are nursing and it's hard to wake them up. In my experience, when I have had enough sleep, I can handle a lot more than if I'm exhausted. I am more patient and I enjoy being a mother more. There's my two cents.

April Fools!

The kids woke up on April fools day just thinking it was like any other day, but they were wrong! Little did they know that I had planned a full day of pranks. The first ones began at breakfast. (Thanks to my good ol' family Fun magazine, I had a lot of ideas!) I put a few drops of red food coloring in the bottom of their cereal and poured the dry cereal over it. Then when I poured the milk, it turned red! April Fools!

Then I asked them if they'd like some orange juice. I got them both a cup of juice out of the fridge, but the juice wouldn't come out! (it was orange jello made the night before) You can see that Hayden did not like this prank one bit. He was really thirsty! Maya seemed unaffected by the whole thing. You can drink jello, right?

My next prank got a big thumbs up from Hayden. I blew up balloons and instead of tying a knot in them, I closed the ends in the doorway so that when he opened the door they blew all over the place. He thought that was SO funny.

They got gummy worms in their sandwiches and apples, too. Lots of pranks!

St. Patty's

We had the leprechauns visit us at Grandma Salway's house because we were there visiting while Eric's brother's family was in town. Hayden made a trap (found HERE) a few days before so that he could catch a leprechaun. Every one knows that if you catch a leprechaun he has to take you to his treasure, but if he falls for your trap, but still gets away, he has to leave a part of his treasure behind. The kids set up the trap with bait (pennies) leading from the front door to the trap.

When they woke up, they found that they had leprechaun kisses all over! The milk was green, there were gummy worms in their cereal and shoes. What a silly leprechaun!



The leprechaun did fall in the trap and left a bunch of gold coins and lots of green and gold goodies. She also left a note saying,"Nice Try! Signed, Linda Leprechaun." We'll catch a leprechaun next year, for sure!!

Crew's first month

Crew has been such a good baby! I realized today that I am not taking nearly enough pictures of this cute little guy. Probably because the ones I do take don't turn out how I want them. (Heidi, help!?)

He is still tiny, but growing fast. Here is a picture of him at 10 days old in his winter outfit. It is HUGE on him! He looks like one of Maya's dolls.
He LOVES his swing. He would be content spending every moment of the day in there. The first time I put him in there, his eyes got huge and he made a scared face and it took him a good couple of minutes before he decided that he was ok with it. Maya will sometimes go and put the swing on FULL speed where it is swinging high and fast, and he gets that scared look again. He still doesn't cry, and that's the amazing thing!

Here's Crew's cousin, Cayden, born exactly 3 weeks after Crew. They look a lot alike, I think! I am excited for them to grow up together being the same age. It's so great to have cousins close to my kid's same ages.


Being a mom of three is, um, different. I was feeling brave and I ventured off to the grocery store. I put Crew in a sling and told Maya she could walk if she stayed close to the cart. I was feeling like a great mom-able to handle this like a champ, until Maya decided to put masses of snacks in to the cart faster than I could take them out. Then she ran to the other end of the store and gave me a look like, "Just try and get me. I dare you!" So I told Hayden to stay by the cart as I ran holding the baby sling in place and yelled at Maya to come here. Then she decided to dodge me going back and forth, around me, under me. "Fine!" I said, "We'll see you later."
Then the fun was over for her and she came and took my hand and walked with me to the cart. I had to put her in the cart after that because that is the punishment for running off, and she was NOT happy about that, so she screamed the whole rest of the trip. Yep. I looked like a great mom.

I waited for a few days before I decided to go out by myself again with all three by myself. When we did go, we went to the library, because honestly how bad would the kids (MAYA) be in the library for 20 minutes. Um, really bad, it turns out. Crew was in his stroller being his good ol' chill self and Hayden was being the sweet boy he always is and Maya was busy taking her shoes and socks off and hiding them in the book shelves and putting 5,000 random books in the stroller and climbing counters and SPRINTING to the front of the library exit (which leads to the street!) about 5 times. I wanted to climb under the tables. I could just see the librarians saying to themselves, "Doesn't this Mom know this is a library? She needs to keep her kids (MAYA) quiet!" I will think again before taking all three to the library. Probably won't happen any time soon.

But really, I am loving being a mom of 3. It's like Crew has been with us all along. I can't imagine life before he was here. How did I ever get along not knowing this little angel? Life is good.