Photo Shoot

How hard is it to get 3 little girls to all look at the camera at the same time and smile?

 

 

Yeah, forget it!

Family Update

So it has been a long time since my last post. Things in the Pacheco house have really picked up. In the last six weeks or so we have had several "firsts" that need to be shared and recorded.

First, and not super exciting, I started babysitting an almost 5 year old and a 6 week old. This is the main reason for my inability to sit down at the computer and blog about our family happenings. So far it has been alot of work but very rewarding in some ways. I bought a kindergarten homeschool curriculum to do with Sophia and the other child I am babysitting because I felt Sophia was ready for it and it gives us something to do other than watch TV while the babies are napping. The kids are so far loving it and they feel like they are mature older kids because they are in school. I am loving it too. I have fun doing the lessons and watching them understand concepts that I have taught them. Babysitting has been a real challenge but it has made me value my time alone with just my children more which has value all in itself.

Second, Sophia started preschool!!! She is doing really well interacting with her new friends from school and she's learning alot. Her teachers tell me that she has a smile on her face the entire time she is there. I know Sophia is amazing but it is nice to hear it from other people too. I got the priveledge to come and be a parent helper in her classroom last week. It was alot of fun to see her with other kids her age playing and just having a good time. I feel like we made a good decision sending her.

Third, Emilia turned 3 months old. She is still sucking her thumb and is working really hard at rolling over. She will probably do it here in the next couple of days. Auntie Erin came to visit over the weekend and we wanted Emilia to roll while Erin was here but she didn't quite make it. Emilia has been studying her little hands and feet, turning her balled up hands over looking at all her fingers. So cute! At her two month appointment she was really 10 weeks old and she weighted 9lbs 3oz. The doctor was a little concerned that her growth has slowed a bit but she is eating well and looks healthy so she is fine. She has the most petite little features so Tim and think she is going to be little. She has been an amazing baby. Since about 8 weeks she has slept between 8 and 10 hours a night.

 

 

Fourth, we had our first family camping trip! Over the Labor Day weekend we decided to head up to Red River to scope out places for our family reunion next year. I thought, "if we are going all the way up there we might as well camp." And so we did. We spent one night and the girls were super excited to sleep in the tent. It was kinda cold since it was September so we didn't get much sleep with the kids wanting to sleep with us in our sleeping bags but we still had a blast. Emilia slept the best out of all of us and she was the one I was the most worried about. In the morning we got up and the girls went fishing for the first time. I am not sure we were ready for fishing yet but at least they got an introduction. The trip was kinda rushed but now that we know it will work we are definately going to go more often next summer.

 

 

 

 

 Fifth, Tim and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on the 30th of August. How did we celebrate, you ask? Well, since it was open house night at Sophia's school we had a romantic dinner of purple grapes, macaroni and cheese, and oatmeal cookies. Though it wasn't the coolest way to celebrate our anniversary it was still fun. If it wasn't for our kids our marriage wouldn't have nearly as much meaning so I wasn't one bit dissapointed. Here's to another year....or twenty.

  So that what our family has been up to in the past six weeks. And as I am typing this I went to get Emilia out of her crib and she was on her belly!! First time rolling over 9-12-12.

Emilia is 2 Months Old

     2 months ago today Emilia came into our lives. She has grown so much. I don't know what she weighs today because her appointment isn't until the 14th but she is definately gaining weight. At one month she was 8lbs. Her face is filled out and she has adorable little rolls on her thighs and neck. Most nights she goes to bed around 10pm. She will sleep a 5 hour stretch and then a 2 and a half hour stretch then come in bed with me and sleep til about 7. Her fussy period at night has gotten a little better. We haven't used the carseat in several weeks.

     She is cooing alot and will carry on a "conversation" when she is in a really good mood. She is smiling alot and is on the verge of laughing. I love her happy moods when we can talk and smile at each other. She isn't trying to roll over at all but we are suspicious that she might be teething. She started drooling a bunch at about 6 weeks and she likes to chew on her paci. I think I can see some teeth in there but it's SO early I don't really believe it.

     Cutest thing Emilia has started doing? Sucking her thumb. She joins a group of thumbsuckers from my side of the family, inculding me! She has spent alot of time the past couple of weeks trying to get her thumb into her mouth. Her thumb was so darn uncooperative. Finally in the last day or two she has figured it out. It just melts my heart!

     We are sort of settling into a routine. I can pretty easily figure out if she is crying from hunger, being tired, or tummy problems. She is getting into a eat, sleep, play routine and that is making things alot easier. She enjoys being held constantly so its a little hard to get things done around the house when she is awake but I'm not really complaining because I know she won't be this little for very much longer.

     So, happy 2 months to Emilia! She has been such a joy to have with us.

My Amazing Girls

     Every day the girls do at least one thing that totally blows me away and makes me swell with pride. They are so smart its hard to believe they are mine. They learn so fast I can't even keep up. I feel like I should share thier lastest accomplishments with the world.

     Alyssa is potty trained! Yay, only one kid in diapers. I knew she was ready to start before the baby was born but I didn't want to stress her out by potty training and having a new sister so I waited about a month before we started. It only took her a few days to really get the hang of it. On day two she surprised me when she stopped playing outside to go potty all on her own. It's been about a month now and for the last three weeks or so she had been dry at night. The last four days she has gone without a diaper during the night. Yay!! Way to go Alyssa!

     Sophia's latests advancement has been really fun to watch. She is learning to spell, read some words, and write. Tim has been giving her sheets of paper to practice her letters on for several months now but all of a sudden she wants to spell things. She mostly asks how to spell the names of people we know. John the mailman, Jesse and Daniel her cousins, mom and dad, etc. She is also using phonics to sound out some simple words. So far she can sound out Pat, Don, Bus, and, of course, Dora. And the biggest word that she can read and spell all by herself? Happy. Don't you want to squeeze her? Go Sophia! Hopefully her enthusiasm for learning continues her whole life.

And little Emilia is smiling up a storm. So cute!

Period of PURPLE Crying

 The house is almost silent excpet for the sound of the fan blowing in Emilia's room. Twenty minutes ago however our house was the epicenter of noise and chaos. We are knee deep in what is known as the "Period of Purple Crying". Read about it here. I have heard of it described as the fourth trimester. The one where the baby adjusts to life outside of the womb. Several nights a week, from about 6 until about 10 or 11 in the evening Emillia cries.  Not non-stop crying but it it very difficult to soothe her.


This is our third Period of Purple crying so we are almost veterans. We have a pretty big toolbox for dealing with this crying. The key is to find the perfect combination of bounce, sway, shush, and way to hold her that makes her comfortable enought to fall asleep for a while until the next crying jag starts. When they going really gets tough and nothing will calm her we put her into the carseat and swing it. This is the most effective way to calm her but it is back breaking work because the carseat and baby combination somehow weighs more than a mack truck.


The PURPLE crying comes at a terrible time for our family. I am the best at keeping Emilia happy (except for maybe aunt Liz, but she can't be here every night) so I end up bouncing and swaying and shushhing her while poor Tim (who has worked all day) makes dinner. The older girls see this time as an oportunity to tear the house apart because both mommy and daddy are occupied so the noise level at this point is at its peak. I am sure the whole neighborhood can hear us yelling, "Get off the TV! Don't hit her! Get out of the bathroom! Stop throwing things! Who colored on the couch?" Emilia is at her worst too. Crying, crying, crying! Once dinner is ready one of the two of us has to bounce, sway, and shushh while the other eats and tackles the dinner time struggle that I call, "get in your seat, eat your dinner." We seamlessly move from "get in your seat, eat your dinner" into "get your jammies on". By the time we get to "get your jammies on" Tim and I are both exhausted and grumpy. The sound of Emilia's crying is starting to penetrate the depths of my brain and I just want to go to bed. First we have to get the older girls to bed which usually goes pretty smooth once we get past "get your jammies on" and "don't eat the toothpaste, brush with it". By this time of night Emilia is starting to settle down some and we are one by one getting everyone in bed. Finally, about the time Sophia finally stops coming up with reasons to get out of bed, Emilia has a big, long nurse and falls asleep for the night. Tim comes down the stairs for the final time and falls into his chair. Most nights he half heartedly tries to get me to stay up with him and watch a movie or play video games. I give him an apologetic smile and climb the stairs, lay Emilia down, and fall into bed.


With Emilia we were hopeful she wouldn't be a PURPLE crying baby but we were prepared for her to be. When Sophia was this age Tim and I were totally surprised by evening crying. It was a really hard time for me. I was adjusting to being a mom (something I was totally unprepared for and struggled with) and once a day my baby would cry uncontrollably. It was difficult for me to bond with her because I was hating all of the crying. I felt like there was somethig wrong with her and that there was something wrong with the way I was parenting. We blamed my breastmilk. I loathed breastfeeding because everyone said she was fussy because of something I ate. I know now that wasn't the truth. When her pediatrician off handedly suggested that I give her formula I jumped at the chance to stop breastfeeding. When she was alseep I would feel anxious the whole time about her waking up and crying. It really was a horrible experience and its all because I didn't understand what was happening. I don't remember at what point things got better with her but they finally did. When Alyssa was born and the evening crying started up I found the PURPLE crying website. I really changed alot of things for me. It explained that evening crying was normal, that is was common, there was nothing wrong with the baby, and there was nothing wrong with my breastmilk. I went on to nurse her for 15 months and we stopped because we wanted to, not because I was hating it. After about 4 months things with Alyssa had improved alot.


Emilia was 7 weeks old on Saturday. Just 9 weeks to go...

Emilia's Birth Story

     Our baby Emilia is six weeks old today. She has been such a joy to have in the house (even during her evening fussy time). The older girls absolutely love her and would probably spend the day kissing her and poking at her if I let them. While it is still semi-fresh in my mind I want to record the story of Emilia's birth.
     On June 1st the girls and I went to visit my friend Sarah and her daughter for the afternoon. I was 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant and completely miserable so I needed a trip out of the house to distract me. When the girls and I got home Tim and Sophia went out to play while Alyssa and I curled up in the recliner to sleep. While I was laying there I started getting some pretty regular braxton hicks contractions. This was no big deal because I had been having these for weeks and weeks. This time however they didn't stop. This was about four in the afternoon. While I layed with my little Alyssa in my arms I started to feel like this could be "it". My contractions started getting a little more intense.
     Once Alyssa woke up I started making dinner. Once I got up it started getting more obvious that these contractions weren't going away. I told Tim I thought it was time and so we discussed what to do. We decided to call Tim's parents, who were going to keep Sophia and Alyssa, and let them know it was time. We fed the kids and called the birth center to tell them we were on our way. During the craziness of packing the kids stuff and gettting them on thier way, preparing the house for a few day absence, and getting our own stuff ready Tim asked his sister, Liz, if she wanted to come with us to Taos. Of course, she said, yes so at 9pm we all packed in the car and headed to Taos.
     The car ride up was fun. Everyone was excited that it was finally time to meet our little girl. We still hadn't picked out a name so while we drove we threw names out. My contractions were pretty consistently six or seven minutes apart and they hurt bad enough that the bumps in the road were very uncomfortable. When we arrived at the birth center I my cervix was checked and I was at a four. This was a little disheartening because I on the way up we took bets on what we thought I would be at and everyone thought higher. So we went on a walk to try and progress things. It was a beautiful night in Taos.
     When we got back we did some things to entertain ourselves while things progressed. We played some cards, talked, had snacks, and just went with the moment. Gradually my contractions became more and more intense. I couldn't sit down during them because it hurt too bad. All of my pain was in my lower back. The midwife suggested different positions to try but they were all agony. The only thing that was tolerable was standing straight up. I didn't want to be touched or massaged or even talked to during a contraction. I was getting tired because at this point it was like 2 in the morning and I hadn't slept since Alyssa and I dozed on the recliner. After a while I started to feel like I had to have a bowel movement. This was a welcome feeling because it meant the baby was moving down and was almost ready to come out. After about and hour of my complaining over and over that I had to poop the midwives ran hot water in the tub. This was very welcome relief. I would suggest to anyone to try sitting in warm water during labor. I had maybe two contractions in the tub and suddenly felt the urge to push.
    My inital plan was to give birth in the water. The midwife told me that if I got out of the water she tought the baby would come right away. So, I got out and made my way to the bed. I layed in the bed and got comfortable and with the next contraction they could see her head. One more contraction and she was crowning. At that point I was in so mych pain I just wanted her out so I pushed just a few more times and before I knew it there she was, at 3:19 am on June 2nd. My first thought was that she looked excatly like her sisters. It was so relieving to be done and to be able to hold the little baby that had been growing inside of me for 39 weeks and 4 days. It took us several more days to finally decide on a name. Emillia Christine (because she looked so much like my dad, Chris) Elizabeth (because her auntie was there to see her frist moments here on earth and is a special person in all of the girls lives, including mine) Pacheco
Here she is at birth:

And at 6 weeks:

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Things my kids have taught me

     I was thinking today about how much Tim and I have grown since we met, both in number and as people. I was sixteen when we met, still in high school, and had alot of growing to do. Today we are a family of 5 and I credit alot of our growth to our children. So I wanted to mention a few things that my kids have taught me:


     1. Patience - I am probably still the most impatient person in the universe but before my children came along it was worse. When Sophia began entering the toddler phase I was totally unprepared for what that entailed. Everything she did drove me crazy. I spent more time trying to stop her from making a mess than I did embracing her curiousity. For that I feel lots of mommy guilt but now that I understand childhood curiosity the other girls will pass through toddlerhood with a more mellow mommy. Today I am able to watch Alyssa spill dish water all over the kitchen floor and not panic.
     2. Self Control - Children are unable to control themselves at times. A major part of parenting is helping children learn to control both thier actions and emotions. In order to encourage another person to control thier emotions you have to be in control of your own. This has been a major struggle for me because my own childish impulses can easily get the better of me, the worst of all my anger.  I still have days where being tired and burnt out cause me to yell all day long. While there is much room for growth, I feel like there has been some growth in this department.
     3. Responisbility - Before children I never felt a huge sense of responsibility. I would drop out of classes on a whim, quit a job for no real reason, spend money freely, etc... As soon as I found out I was going to be a parent I started to envision the life I wanted for my kids and the most fundamental thing I visioned was consistency from me. I wanted to be there for them and provide the things they needed every single time. This required me, 23 at the time, to start thinking more like an adult and less like a child. Something I found about being more responsible and less flaky was that I am more comfortable with myself. For the first time in my life I feel like I know who I am and I am happy with that person.
     4. How to have fun - There is no better sound in the world than Sophia and Alyssa making each other laugh. I can be such a fuddy duddy at times but the girls are constantly reminding me that life is supposed to be fun. I try to loosen up and join in any time I'm invited to play. After all the house will always be a mess, we have three kids, but the girls won't always be this small. There is something magical about being a child.  So, at least once every day I try to rub a little of that magic on to me by entering the girls world.


And here are these little monsters that have changed my life so much. Aren't they beautiful?