Whoever said going from 2 to 3 was going to be easy...

...going from 2 kids to 3 kids, easy?...um, nope.

Unless one or both of the older children are in school, it is definitely not easy to have 3 kids (with age gaps of two years in between them) at home.

In my experience doing daycare, I have found our days go by much smoother, and everyone is much happier, when Jackson and Jessica are able to enjoy the company of several friends rather than relying solely on one another for a playmate.

As you can imagine, playing with a "just turned 2" year old is not very intellectually stimulating for a 4 1/2 year old.
Jessica can barely speak a sentence, much less carry on a conversation; and, her imagination skills and motor skills aren't exactly up to par with Jackson's at this point.
This is why I am thankful for our daycare friends and age-appropriate playmates!

In my opinion, the biggest change going from 2 to 3 children is the increased level of difficulty to get the kids ready to go out the door.

On some days, it's next to impossible to get my three kids dressed, fed, and out the door (without any unnecessary drama or major meltdowns) in a timely manner.

One full hour.

I have found that if I allot myself one full hour to accomplish the "getting ready to go" routine, things go pretty smoothly.

Too little time + feeling rushed = 3 cranky kids and 1 frustrated mom.

The kids and I do enjoy our outings. And, despite the challenges we encounter getting ready to leave the house, we do make it out and about on most days of the week.

Lack of sleep.

Lia has her good nights and she has her bad nights... on the good nights, she gives us 4-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Nice.
On her bad nights, she's alert, happy, and pretty much just ready to party all night long. Although she's only had a handful of nights like this, it's been enough to officially drain all of her mommy's energy.
I'm tired. Yes. And, it will take a while to get caught up on sleep again, but it's all worth it.

This newborn stage that Lia's in now goes by so quickly; I'd trade in my sleep any night in order to fully enjoy this time with her.

Also, in Lia's defense, it is probably my fault when she turns into a night owl because there are times I don't do anything to keep her awake during the day.
While Lia is asleep, I sometimes feel it is easier to focus my attention on the two older kids.
So, in return, Lia then gets my full attention during the nighttime hours of her "sleepy days."

Jason and I have experimented with keeping her awake during certain daytime hours. So, when we want to, we can, evoke a good night's sleep.

A note-worthy tidbit about Lia: she is, without a doubt, our easiest baby.
Lia has a very mellow, easy going personality (so far anyway).
She seems to only cry on two occasions: #1 - when being taken out of a warm bath, and #2 - if her wait time for a bottle is longer than about 20 minutes from when she first starts showing signs of hunger. And that's all folks! Honestly, we go most days without hearing her cry at all.

Ok, so that's a little update about what is happening on our end.

Here are a few recent pictures of the kids...

These were taken first thing in the morning, so the kids are still in their jammies, and you'll have to excuse the blonde mess on top of Jessica's head...







And fyi - Lia does not wear a bib 24/7 (I just oftentimes forget to take it off her after her feedings).