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The second half of our vacation was spent in Bremerton at my in-law's.

They have a boat.

So...

We saw sailboats,


a bridge,


and a beloved mountain.


Cinderella innertubed,


Sleeping Beauty floated,


the Little Prince looked cute,


and Prince Charming kneeboarded.


And I? I got sunburned.

Oh, yes. After thirty-*mumble, mumble* years, I still haven't learned my lesson.

My arms look like lobster claws, and my chest looks just as bad. My face and scalp were protected by my hat, and, for some reason, I had decided to wear pants on a scorching hot day.

Have you ever tried nursing a baby with flailing arms and dragon claws while sunburned? It's not pretty, my friends, not pretty at all.

And, of course, it was too hot and humid to wear long sleeves.

If I'd had any with me, that is.

Six Months Ago Today...

Today, the Little Prince is 6 months old.



















He's my last baby; my last child.



















My only boy.













My bubba.

The Sweet Spot

The Little Prince has a sweet spot.

It's not his cheeks.
(His cheeks are so chunky that if you're standing directly behind him, you can still see his jowls.)













It's not his thighs.
(Obviously, but I had to throw in a picture of them. Just look at those thunder thighs!)













It's not even his feet.
(Please ignore the spit-up on his pants and simply enjoy the cuteness of baby feet!)













It's his ears.

When he's tired and nursing, trying to go to sleep, but fighting against it with his entire body, all I have to do is rub my finger around and around his ear. His body instantly goes limp, his eyes roll back while his eyelids close, and soon, he's blissfully asleep.

I Don't Want to Blog!

I've (obviously) been ignoring this little corner of my life lately. I think I'm just going through a "phase" right now.

That, and I'm busy.

Always busy.

Though, who isn't?

Most of my day is spent entertaining my kids. And keeping all three of them alive, and in one piece, and un-squished, and fed, and happy, and polite, and...

and...and...and...

And there is no end in sight.

May 1st marks the beginning of another term at school for me. May 28th marks the end of preschool for Cinderella. After that comes summer break for Prince Charming, potty training for Sleeping Beauty, a trip to Texas, a visit to Bremerton, one to Seattle, shifting of bedrooms and belongings, and back-to-school shopping.

Always, always busy.

While I'm going through my "phase," I'll leave you with a little update:

Cinderella: officially registered for kindergarten.
Sleeping Beauty: officially sleeping in a big girl bed.
The Little Prince: sick with his first head cold.
Prince Charming: wondering where he's going to have a job next year (stupid funding cut!).
Me: 10 more pounds to go.

Thanks for sticking around! You guys are the best!

By 8:45 am

By 6:45 am, all the kids were wide awake. Therefore, so was I.

By 7:00 am, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Prince had had their diapers changed and had clean clothes on; Cinderella was still in her pajamas.

By 7:30 am, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty had eaten breakfast (a bowl of oatmeal and half a doughnut each).

By 7:45 am, the Little Prince had spit up the entire contents of his stomach three times.

By 8:00 am, the Little Prince had spit up again, then nursed. Cinderella finally had her clothes on.

By 8:10 am, the Little Prince had spit up yet again, and had his onesie changed because it was soaked through.

By 8:15 am, the Little Prince had a major blowout.

By 8:30 am, the Little Prince was sitting naked on his changing table after 10 wipes had been used to clean up him and his changing table.

By 8:35 am, the Little Prince was in the bathtub while I fended off help from his sisters.

By 8:45 am, the Little Prince was once again clean and nice-smelling. He nursed well (again) and was as happy as could be.

Until about 9:45 am when he proceeded to spit up once more.

Ultimate Blog Party, 2009

Welcome! Thank you for partying with me!

If you stick around long enough (just until the end of this post), I'll have a game for you to play. There will definitely be a winner, and a prize, but we'll talk about this more in just a minute. Let me introduce myself first.






Hi! I'm Hillary, aka H.K., aka Not the Queen.






I live in Washington State, have been a SAHM for 2 years now, and was a teacher (though I didn't have my certificate). I am currently working on getting my certification in math education. I am a math nerd and a grammar snob. I love to make cards, cook/bake, and camp. I went to an all-girls' school in high school, then on to WWU to major in Sociology and minor in French.

Was that random enough for you?

This is my family.



Prince Charming. Not the most dashing picture, but he's hunky, trust me.










Cinderella. She's a cheese. She turns 5 on Sunday.












Sleeping Beauty. She is the biggest goof, and not very photogenic at times. That's her brother's hat on her head. Sleeping Beauty will be 2 in May.









The Little Prince. He is my big chunk-of-love. He was 10 pounds 11 ounces when he was born. He'll be 4 months old at the end of the month.





Well, shall we play a game now?

This is an extended version of Two Truths and a Lie. Each section (in the block quotes) has two truths and one lie. If you've read my blog before, some of these are gimmes. But, since my blog is teeny tiny, I'm not too worried about that, and neither should you be.

If you want to play along, just leave your guesses in the comments section. Let me know which one of each group you think is the lie.

That's it!

For the prize, well, I mentioned above that I like to make cards. I will make the winner an entire year's worth of cards. Holidays, birthdays, anniversary, etc.

How does that sound?

Are you ready to play? Okay. Here we go!


Starting with dentistry and orthodonture:

I had braces twice.

I've never had a cavity.

I wore my retainer in college.

Moving on to travel:

I have never been to Mexico.

I won a trip to Disneyland.

I went to the Caribbean for my honeymoon.

Heading into haircare:

I have never colored my hair.

I have never permed my hair.

I have never plucked my eyebrows.

Detouring towards education:

I have taught English.

I have taught music.

I have taught science.

And ending with musicality:

I have taken singing lessons.

I have taken piano lessons.

I have taken guitar lessons.

Okay! That's it! If you want to know the answers, check back in at the end of the party. I'll get a hold of the winner when the blog party is over, so make sure I have a way to contact you if you don't have a blog.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit here! Come back again sometime; I love to entertain!

Party Hearty!

Oh! And the prizes! These are my faves: USC 58, 41, 28, 76, USC 11, USC 45, USC 16, 106, 71, USC 2, 75, 19, 21, 22, 75, 122, and 65.

Wordless Wednesday--Father and Son

(The burp cloth was made by the very talented Kailani.)

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For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom, or PMKU.

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Also, I'm pretty crafty. Go here if you're interested in something handmade by me.

Wordless Wednesday--Practice Makes Perfect

Practice...


...makes perfect.

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For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

He/Him/His

I have a son (a son, a son).

He's a boy (a boy, a boy).

He's a he (a he, a he).

He's a him (a him, a him).

His things are his (his, his).

Is this terrible of me? Sometimes, in my mind, I forget the Little Prince is a boy. I find myself thinking she/her/hers.

I KNOW he's a boy. He LOOKS like a boy.

But sometimes? I slip. I think I'm just conditioned with the she/her/hers. I have been, after all, a mom to girls for the past 5 years.

I hope this gets better soon. He's three months old already, and I'm still having issues.

(he/him/his) (he/him/his) (he/him/his)

Baby Blah's

As much as I love my kids and enjoy every stage of their development, I'm just not a baby-baby kind of person.

Yes, baby-babies have cute feet and sweet-smelling heads. Yes, they are tiny and helpless and so dependent. Yes, I even get immense satisfaction from nursing my babies, and I love watching their little eyes droop closed into a milk-induced coma.

But, the fact of the matter is, I don't go ga-ga over babies.

I have little desire to hold other babies. I don't insist on ripping off their socks to experience the euphoria that is baby feet. I don't get that fluttering feeling when I see little tiny babies.

I just don't! Of course, it's different with my own, but they're mine. We have a connection.

Oh, sure, I think other people's babies are cute. I really do. And I'll hold another baby without having to be asked twice. I just don't melt into a puddle of goo over them.

That being said, I honestly can't wait for The Little Prince to grow up.

I enjoyed Cinderella's baby years because she was my first, but I always anxiously awaited the next stage to see what she would do and how she would develop.

I enjoyed Sleeping Beauty's baby years even more because I knew what was coming. I knew to enjoy every minute of every phase she went through because I knew it wouldn't last.

With The Little Prince, however, I'm tired of babies. I am so looking forward to him sitting up and interacting and exploring. I am so looking forward to him realizing he can play with his sisters. I am so looking forward to him crawling and walking and eating and talking.

It's not that I necessarily want him to grow up quickly; it's not that I'm not enjoying him right now as he is.

I am just so excited to see the person he's going to become.

I am so excited to see his little personality develop. I am so excited to see how he interacts with his sisters. I am so excited to have a little boy in the house and see how he differs from the girls.

I feel like I should want him to stay a baby forever. He's my last one. (And, yes, we've taken measures to ensure he's our last one.) I feel like I should not be looking forward, but only looking back and regretting that I'll never experience any of this again.

But I'm not. And I don't really want to. I know I'll miss these days. I know I'll probably miss having a baby someday.

Then again, I might not. I might just enjoy my children where they are too much to miss where they were. We'll see.

Three Months Ago

Three months ago today, I woke up early, kissed my girls goodbye, and went for a quiet drive with my husband.

Three months ago today, I lay in the hospital with an IV in my arm, chatting to my husband, my doctor, and my nurse. Expecting a routine induction, I was eventually told I'd most likely be facing a c-section.

Three months ago today, despite the odds being against me because of circumstances beyond my control, I finally gave birth "normally" to my son.

Three months ago today.

Wordless Wednesday--Go 'Hawks!

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Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more photos.

Momma Needs Some Sleep

Please let this be a growth spurt!

Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!!!

Please?

I have had two nights in a row of the crappiest sleep. The Little Prince has woken up every 1 1/2 hours to nurse for the last two nights.

This, of course, means that I have woken up every 1 1/2 hours to nurse for the last two nights.

Suck.

Add to this the fact that last evening one of the cats puked on my down comforter (and I sorely missed its fluffy warmth) and I am a grouch.

Double suck.

So, now I'm sleep-deprived, grouchy, and stressed out because I CAN'T PASS THIS STUPID TEST FOR SCHOOL!!!

Suck. Suck. Suck.

Momma needs some sleep.

And maybe some caffeine.

Some Cuteness To Get You Through the Long Weekend

Wordless Wednesday--Driven to Boredom

So, I didn't take this picture myself, but I think it's hilarious!

The Little Prince looks completely bored and flabbergasted that Daddy is playing Wii.
Again.

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For more photos visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Two Months and One Week

The Little Prince turned 2 months old last week, and I have been so remiss in posting pictures of him or telling stories about him.

So, without further ado, here is The Little Prince at 2 months old:




Isn't he a cutie?

So far, he's a good baby. He's getting a bit difficult to put down at night, but once he's down, he's down. He still wakes up several times during the night to eat (he's a big boy!), but he goes back down so easily.

He outgrew his 0-3 months clothes at 5 weeks old, and is already heading into size 2 diapers. I'm not sure how big he is, but we go into the doctor tomorrow. I'm guessing he's at least 15 pounds already.

We've had a few peeing mishaps in the last 2 months, but not nearly as many as Prince Charming and I expected we'd have.

The first one was in the hospital. He was in the warming bed after being taken off of my chest, and the nurse had turned her back to attend to something else. Next thing I know, everyone is screeching, and I see this jet of liquid spewing from the table, over the rim, and onto the floor.

It was spectacular!

Prince Charming got the second one, and I got the third one during a bath on the kitchen counter. I was reaching over to the sink to rinse the washcloth, and I all of a sudden felt wet. Sure enough, The Little Prince had peed off of the counter and onto my clothes.

That's about it, except for one time in the bathtub, but that's to be expected.

Thank you to everyone who gave me insights on having a little boy! Everything's been a bit easier knowing that whatever is going on is normal, especially Twinmommy's forewarning; without that one, I would have been shocked and wide-eyed over what I was seeing. But instead, I took it (and am still taking it) like an old pro.

I'll try to remember to update more often, but as Twinmommy so eloquently said, Facebook is taking over my blogging mojo (not that I had much to begin with, though).

Information Processing: Christmas

Yes, I know Christmas is done and gone. Yes, I know it's been over for almost two weeks. However, I am just now processing everything, so bear with me.

We spent our first Christmas at home this year. We had told our families that we wouldn't be coming back over before we even found out we were pregnant again. Of course, when we knew we were expecting the Little Prince, it just solidified our decision.

Christmas with our families is always a very busy affair. It includes a minimum of four present-opening sessions, lots of driving, and an exhausted royal court by the time we come home.

We really wanted to simplify this year.

And we did.

Almost too much for our first Christmas at home.

Of course, there wasn't really anything else we could have added.

We had lots of snow, which is always nice.

The decorations were simple (we don't have many), the tree was a hand-me-down artificial (we had no money left in the budget for anything else), and it was just the five of us.

We went to church Christmas Eve where we spent most of our time wrangling bored kids in fluffy dresses (there was no children's church).



















Christmas morning, the girls woke up around 7:30 (yay!) and everyone congregated in our bed.















The girls checked out what Santa had left in their stockings while I made breakfast. Then, we opened presents. Well, the girls opened presents. Prince Charming and I rarely exchange gifts. Instead, we just ordered a Wii Fit the other day.

The "Belle dress" was Cinderella's favorite, hands down.















Sleeping Beauty got a new pull toy. It's a dog. She didn't quite get it, though.



















And The Little Prince? He slept through it all, smart boy.















That's it. That was our Christmas. No busyness, no driving, no family.

We saved all of that for New Year's. Stay tuned...

Birth Announcement

Announcing the arrival of the Little Prince!

Born November 26, 2008,

at 11:02 pm,

measuring 20 1/2 inches,

and weighing a whopping 10 pounds, 11.3 ounces.

My royal court is complete.