Michaela and Jenna and Alec.

Today is a breather-day post: everyone's going to slow down for a few minutes and I am going to catch you up on what all of my kids- my THREE kids- are up to. Because the whole purpose of the blog originally was to let people far away know what they were doing.

Michaela.... is transitioning nicely from her long-term substitute teacher at school to her real teacher, who came back last week after back surgery... is thrilled that Brownies have started up again... loved her friend birthday party this Saturday at a bead store, at which they each made a beaded necklace complete with a silver charm... has become addicted to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday nights and gets tears in her eyes each week during the reveal... attended a basketball skills clinic on Saturday morning and loved every minute of it... does great on her weekly spelling tests IF she can focus enough to study well... is back to singing in the church kid's choir... could argue that the sky is green and the ocean is pink and wear you down so that eventually you'd agree with her... is an amazing help holding Alec so I can shower or make breakfast or just breathe... is as energetic, bubbly, and Tigger-ific as ever.

Jenna... has decided that having a new baby brother is as good a reason as any to suddenly start talking to people... is eager for soccer season to be over in two more weeks and will not be playing again... wants to take swim lessons at the YMCA so she can learn to swim without any assistance... loves holding Alec and then announces, "Okay- I'm done!"... went on a field trip to a local apple orchard today with her preschool and had a great time... could eat her weight in watermelon every day... has become a master of explaining why she couldn't possibly help me clean up her room, and will pick items up and put them away with her TOES just to prolong my agony... has picked out $45,976 worth of American Girl products for Santa to deliver on Christmas... loves to dress up for school in her "fancy clothes"- skirts and leggings and shirts, along with necklaces and bracelets on each arm... is as sweet and gentle and loving as ever.

Alec... is absolutely delicious and snuggly and beautiful... is drinking from a bottle every day, sometimes filled with breastmilk and sometimes formula... is growing like a weed- he hardly looks like a three week old baby... makes fabulous baby grunting noises... is a total faker in the crying department- he'll cry and then just stop... is sleeping well at night (for a four hour chunk last night!!!) when given a formula bottle before bed... has much more relaxed and happy parents than Michaela did... loves to be warm and swaddled... is NOT sleeping in our bed at all... is the easiest, so far, of our three babies... is getting more used to his crib... is getting more and more awake and alert each day... is making great eye contact and looks like he's starting to think about smiling at us... right now has dark blue eyes that remind me of Jenna... is as great a gift as we could ever imagine.

I love my kids. All three of them.