The Luckiest No Matter What!

One of my biggest mom struggles is how to give individualized attention to all three of my little boys.  Living with three kids under three, it can be difficult, on the daily, to feel like you had special bonding time with each child in a meaningful way.  Sometimes it's all I can do to dress, diaper, and feed all of them (those things are taking FOREVER right now by the way).  Each one of my boys is special and unique and different.  Each one has talents and struggles and experiences a variety of feelings and emotions in any given day.  It is SO important to both Josh and I that we spend one-on-one time with Nolan, Judah, and Carter.  It is SO important to both Josh and I that we can foster a sense of confidence and self-worth in each boy as well.  It is SO important we let our boys explore and practice and experience things that they are interested in.  We want also, especially for Nolan and Judah since they are twins, that each of our ...

Because I wasn't great with my blog over the last few months, I wanted to get some things down here about Carter so they are not lost :) AUGUST (Carter was 3 Months) -Pavona family cottage trip -Goes up north for Aunt Ashley's wedding -Starts sleeping in crib SEPTEMBER (Carter was 4 Months) -9-3-15~ laughed out loud, like a belly laugh as I was making toot noises. He also rolled over from his stomach to back that day.  -9-9-15~ My dad got him up from a nap and said Carter was on his back... that would've meant that he had rolled over, but no one caught it! -9-12-15~ Caught Carter rolling over on video! -Starts sitting in Bumbo -Baptism OCTOBER (Carter was 5 Months) -Trip to Uncle John's -10-31-15 was a bumblebee for Halloween NOVEMBER (Carter was 6 Months) -11-3-15~ has solids for first time... over this entire month, he doesn't like most of what he eats except for apples and bananas and peas (what?!) He does not like baby oatmeal,...

The fact that I've been such a bad blogger is sad because some of precious little Carter's story is going to be missing.  Rather than try to back log things, I'm starting fresh and hoping to keep up much better in 2016 than I've been doing the last few months. Carter is eight months old and bringing a ridiculous amount of joy into our family.  What I Learned About Carter Pavona: Carter does not want to be eight months old, he wants to be 2.5 like his brothers.  He wants to run like them, eat like them, play like them.  Because of this, he is not the typical eight month old that I became accustomed to with Nolan and Judah.  Carter is crawling all over the place; he can easily crawl up stairs.  He has also been pulling himself up to stand on EV.ER.Y.THING.  His body can not quite catch up to his determination and so he definitely "humpy dumptys" a lot.  He is huge and his muscles cannot accommodate his chub when he tries to do things he shoul...

Time goes so fast.  As I sit and watch Nolan and Judah play with each other; I still see them as infants.  I feel like I just took them home from the hospital on one hand, but also don't remember my life without them on the other hand.  They are doing, saying, and experiencing so much!!! What's up with Nolan: Nolan Gerard is such a paradox.  He is thoughtful, but impulsive... aware of how others are feeling, but completely unaware of what's on the floor when he walks... he has an incredible memory, but no patience to learn...wants to do everything by himself, but is more scared then ever of things like the dark or heights... Stuff like this goes on and on with him.  One of my favorite things about him lately is how great he is at being thankful.  My boys know to say 'please' and 'thank you' but it's about immediate small things.  Just lately, Nolan is able to say things a little more deeply like, "Thank you Mommy of making dinner."  or...

I am a goal-driven person.  Period.  (Actually, more like-exclamation point)!  For as long as I can remember, I have always made a New Year's resolution. It was another excuse to start fresh, re-focus, reflect, and plan ahead.  I always strive to be better because I know there is always work to do :)   When I sat down this year to think about what my resolution might be, I started reflecting the way I always seem to, by asking myself WHERE CAN I IMPROVE?  That is then followed up with all these other negative questions to myself:  where am I falling short?  What am I NOT doing?  What do I suck at? Question like that go on and on and on.   I inevitably end up with an extremely long list of things I'm 'bad' at: I don't read enough, blog enough, work out enough, pray enough, spend time with Josh enough, call friends enough... I am not caught up on ordering pictures and putting them into albums, I haven't done of good job of te...

One week ago, we said goodbye to our first house.  I know moving away from Lanier Dr., our quiet little dead-end cul-da-sac, will be sad; we'll miss our neighbors, our huge yard, the deck, the little updates Josh's dad helped us do, and our big basement, but throughout this process of slowly moving to our new house, I've not been too upset. In fact, I am overjoyed and grateful.  This was always the plan: to buy a smaller starter home that would get to be too full because of our growing family that we would want to move somewhere else.   I remember buying the house when Josh and I were 23, engaged, and so unsure of what our life would be like.  We had many plans, many hopes, and many dreams. For a few years there, when we were struggling with infertility and miscarriage, I thought the plans of our family being 'too big' for this house were gone. So when I've sat, during nap time, in my bedroom, having to be completely silent because one child is sleepin...

YAY! A family of five! Nolan and Judah turned TWO on May 7th.  If you haven't done the math yet, that's a short four days after Carter was born.  It was also our first full day home with Carter from the hospital.  The day of their actual birthday, we had a lovely time as a new family of five.  Nolan and Judah ate some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we sang happy birthday, opened presents, played all day, and ended with their favorite meal- spaghetti and some dessert for dinner.  Now, it was a little insane, but we had a birthday party for Nolan and Judah on Saturday May 9th.  Carter was 6 days old. Waking up that Saturday morning, I wanted to smack myself for thinking of such a DUMB idea.  What were we THINKING?!? I could barely walk after my C-Section, we have a brand brand new baby, our house is a mess, and did I mention we have a brand brand new baby.  But I rallied remembering that just because these things were true did not mean m...