LMIT and bug obsessions

LMIT= Little mothers-in-training.

I've got two of these.

Maddie and Faith are seriously the best big sisters Abrie could have ever dreamed of. They are everything a big sister should be, and I can already see the bond between the THREE of them forming and becoming that much stronger. They have a bond with each other in two's-- Maddie with Faith, Faith with Abrie, and Abrie with Maddie-- and they are also so bonded as a unit of three. It's so neat. I don't ever get tired of watching them. Faith is my little helper. She wants to do everything with me. She is the one that wants to help give her 'Beeba show' a bath every night, and it reminds me of how that was Maddie's favorite thing to do when Faith was a baby. Faith has a comfort thing now where she strokes Abrie's head with her cheek and sniffs her head. It reminds me of her cousin Donovan's comfort thing with ears. It's so cute to see Faith with her Beeba. Maddie is extremely doting on her baby sister. You can tell she is the big sister to two little sisters, and she constantly tells us throughout the day that she loves her little sister Fafe and her baby sister Breezer so very much.

They both practice with their dolls throughout the day. They mimic everything that I do, and tell me that "we want to be good momma's like you, Momma." They get out the baby tub and washcloths and bathe their dolls. They turn on the fan and put their dolls to sleep. They sneak my nursing shield, and "feed" their dolls. It's funny.

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Maddie and Faith are bug-obsessed. I love that they are not scared of all creatures, even though I am! The other night we went out to catch lightning bugs, and instead they found a "wriggler" (a worm.. or a 'ssssss' to Faith!). Maddie picked it up, and they split it in two-- one half for Faith, and one half for Maddie. I nearly vomited when they did this! They put their own halves in their own tupperwares, and wouldn't you know the darn things were still wriggling the next morning when they went to check on the appendages. They have also had a lightning bug named 'Rufus Brownie' and a dead ladybug named 'Hercules' as pets. And, today they were in heaven with the tremendous amount of frogs that were found at the pool. Maddie was sporting a frog on her shoulder, and Faith wouldn't stop asking the kids for more peeks at the little things.

It'll be neat to see the three sisters in action one day! In the meantime, I am enjoying every second watching their dynamics grow.

Constein family reunion

It has been almost 3 years since the last Constein family picnic. Well, one in which we had been there. 

I remember I was pregnant with Faith, Maddie was barely 19 months old, and we were still living with Nene in Lancaster. It's crazy how quickly time flies. Now, Faith is here AND Abrie is here. We've added to the Constein gene pool! And, there are so many more Constein great-grandkids that hadn't been there either those 2+ years ago. 

The girls had a blast with their relatives on Sunday. It's always fun to see so many generations together.

Cherries and clothes piles

Took the little women to Weaver's this afternoon. It was a little too overcast to go up to the pool, and the girls had been wanting to go pick some fruit for awhile now. All of the rain has pretty much ended the strawberry season, so we decided that cherries would be a lot of fun since we didn't pick those last year. Maddie wants to go back to pick raspberries, Faith wants to go back to pick blueberries, and Dan and I want to go back to pick white peaches. So, hopefully we'll still have more fruit to pick this summer!

They had a blast. They ran from tree to tree trying to find all the cherries low enough that they could reach and pick. It was so fun watching them. I took my Breezer in her carrier and she slept soundly the entire time. We love going into the little market there, and they ate their cookies with Dan and I on a little swing outside by the goats and chickens. It was a fun time.

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I set out three little piles of clothes every night. An outfit for my Crannie, an outfit for my Beebster, and an outfit for my Breezer for the following day. I have done this every night since bringing Abrie home from the hospital to make dressing them a little easier the next morning, and every night I look at their little piles sitting there on the couch and still find it surreal to think that we have been blessed with these three amazing little girls. I love looking at the neat little outfit piles that sit there on the couch. I am reminded all the time through the most subtle things that I have been so very blessed. 

Father's Day weekend

Dan barely ever has an entire 4-day weekend to himself. Those precious 4-day weekends that come twice a month usually dwindle down to a 2-day weekend or even a 1-day weekend with working his days off half the time. But, this weekend was awesome. A 4-day weekend combined with it being Father's Day weekend meant it was a fun time.

Despite the ugly weather for two of the four days, we had a great weekend. We ended up going to Hershey last minute on Friday, had a birthday party for a little girl from Maddie's dance class on Saturday, and went to Nene's to celebrate Father's Day with everybody. Needless to say, the girlies had an awesome 4 days.

We never figured we would be able to do something as exhausting as going to an amusement park so early on in Abrie's life, but we definitely accomplished it thanks to Abrie's personality. The girl is something else. She is our little darling. I tell Maddie and Faith all the time to thank their baby sister because it's usually hard to do so many things with a tiny infant that they have still been able to do since her birth. We haven't really missed a beat since having our little Breezer. She doesn't seem to mind all the commotion of going from here to there, which wouldn't have ever been possible when Faith was Abrie's age-- or even Maddie for that matter. Abrie just slept almost the entire time we were at Hershey, and when she woke up she was so content to watch her big sisters having a blast and sit with either Dan or myself. We're wondering now if maybe a trip to the beach or other little day trips will actually be possible this summer with our three sweet girls. 

Veronica's birthday party was so fun. Veronica is Maddie's shy friend from dance class that also loves the Beebster. Faith was literally the 8th girl in that class. They loved her. So, she was invited as well which I thought was so sweet. They had a blast! It was supposed to be at French Creek, but because of the horrible weather, it was at Veronica's house. They had a clown who did balloon art and face painting which they just loved. They had a pinata too and got little treat bags. They were in heaven. The best part is that they just play so well with their friends Veronica and Ciara (another little girl from dance). Abrie slept the entire time until the last 30 minutes or so and then was sitting there with us just watching everybody.

And, on Sunday we gave Dan his video and then went to Nene and Grampa's house. These girls love every second spent with their family. Their bond is intense, and I love when everyone is together. We had a wonderful cookout, and a wonderful Father's Day. Moments together are priceless for me. 

Cook-off and BMT graduation

Fun, fun, fun Saturday at Nene and Pop Pop's (Beebster now says 'Pop Pop' for her beloved Grampa instead of 'Bop Bop') house. 

Grampa put out the challenge once again of his infamous "cook-off's" and so Dan and Paul made our dinner last night. Dan grilled his chicken skewers (minus the bacon-- supposed to have been bacon wrapped chicken skewers, but we forgot to get bacon at the store on Friday) which the girls and I love, and Paul made jambalaya which was really good. Grampa made his famous Godiva brownies for dessert, Tia Rosa made pasta salad and thai cole slaw, and Maddie, Faith, and I made cheesecake cranberry bars also for dessert. Needless to say, everything was delicious and nobody was officially declared a winner! These cook-off's are always so fun, and Maddie and Faith had a blast. It's neat to get them involved now in making stuff for whenever we go over to Nene's house, and they told me today at lunch that "Grampa is the best baker ever because his brownies are soooo delicious... but, everybody won first prize because we're all great chefs".

I'm curious to see the bond between Abrie and her Nene and Grampa as she also grows older, and the bond between her and everybody else as well. Maddie has always been a Nene's girl, and Faith is all Pop Pop. Man, the Beebster loves her Pop Pop. She tells us he is one of her best friends! The Beebster spent forever yesterday afternoon jumping on her Pop Pop and trying on his glasses, and then putting them on his face upside down. Quite funny! And, Maddie has always had a strong bond with Nene ever since moving back from Shreveport and living there for 2 1/2 months. I still remember the 4-5 times daily that Maddie would go and point to Nene's stereo in the kitchen and request "La Mucura" and "Timida" (her all time favorite Mexican songs at 18 months of age) and she and Nene would dance and dance. I'm sure Abrie will be equally bonded with both Nene and Grampa as her older sisters have always been as well. 

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I had set my BMT graduation (of sorts) for this past Friday, June 12th. My graduation from "Learning to be a Mother of Three" BMT graduation. I can not believe that Abrie turned 7 weeks old on Friday, and that I successfully have completed 7 weeks with my three girls. 

I'm still learning every day how to let go of the pangs of guilt and feel confident in knowing that my three little ladies have gone to sleep each night knowing how very loved they are. That is all that matters to me. I love this business of having three beautiful girls-- three best friends. There will never be anything that could ever top this feeling.

Tasty treats with Ze Fronk

Fun day.

The little women (the "big" girls.. baby girl was napping) helped bake a dessert this afternoon for tomorrow's planned cook-off. We tried something new. Maddie insisted that they were going to make popcorn, and Faith wanted to make an African style peanut soup from the Sesame Street cookbook. Ha. They agreed on cheesecake cranberry bars though. It was complicated enough that there were plenty of ingredients and it took about 40 minutes of them getting very involved. We made a huge mess, and overall it seems like it was a success. They seem to be quite good, but we'll see tomorrow. Maddie is excited for Dan to grill tomorrow, and of course, they are both super, super excited to go to Nene's house!

Faith hasn't been taking naps for the past few days in the afternoon. I swear she holds her poops until I put her down for a nap, and then declares she needs changed! Anyway, Maddie likes this because it means Faith joins her for "quiet time." The past few days after 2pm (when their quiet time is over), we've been playing "school." Faith is at the age now where she loves it just as much as Maddie. They get SUCH a kick out of being the students, and Momma being the teacher. They bring their flashcards to me, and then Maddie asks for recess. They have their science lesson, and Faith is now singing the ABC's. It's too funny. They've gotten attached to a show called "Word World" that I let them watch when I'm feeding the Beeba at 12:30pm. I like it a lot though because of the letters and words it shows them, and Faith has developed a strong interest in letters now. And, it's good for Maddie because she's sounding out her letters and figuring out the spelling of words. 

We went swimming this afternoon too. Needless to say, all three of my lovely ladies are passed out and it's only 1 minute past 7pm. Maddie and Faith just love being in the big pool, and Abrie is quite content to watch and then snooze. The littlest woman just loves watching her big sisters. Of course, they get so darn close to her face that she tends to go cross-eyed (they think she can only see them if they're literally 2 centimeters from her face!), but boy does she love them. She recognizes their voices just as much as mine and Dan's. It's so neat.

It's funny too because now Faith has been calling Abrie, "Beeba Show." I don't know if she means "Beeba likes to watch shows" (she's already drawn to the colors of the TV even at 7 weeks of age.. crazy!) or what, but she calls her that non-stop. Ironically, Maddie always called Faith "Bee-yah Sheck" as in "I want to check Bee-yah's diapers." They sound extremely similar. 

Garden party

Despite the ugly weather today, we had a fun morning at the museum's garden party with our girlies.

I remember Maddie seeing the billboard that advertised their garden party last year, and she was begging to go. I didn't realize that there were a lot of free activities to do there, and so we never went last year. But, this year we'd been promising them both that we would go. And, so we went both yesterday afternoon and this morning. And, they just loved it.

There was plenty to do: they did the bouncy jumps, the pony rides, the tractor ride that Faith so desperately wanted to ride (of course, the "bluuuuue" one!), got their faces painted, and played a few little games. When little Beeba had to eat, they amused themselves with some funny dance move that Maddie invented that Faith then thought was hilarious. They kept running back and forth doing this, all the while laughing hysterically. It was a great time!

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I remember when Faith was a baby, I used to pretend that Faith was a "monster" and chase Maddie around holding Faith like an airplane. Maddie loved this. Now with Abrie, the girls love it when I pretend that it's "Beeba/Breezer storytime" and Abrie sits on my lap facing both of them and "tells them stories." They keep asking for "how about the 2nd story... how about the 3rd story.. do you have a 4th story?" It's so cute. Abrie loves it because she loves seeing their faces and hearing their voices. That is her favorite thing at this point; she sits there so stoically enjoying all of our voices. And, Maddie and Faith love listening to her so-called stories and dreams and hearing her "voice."

My big girls love their baby sister, and their baby sister just loves them. It's so neat to watch the three of them, and I know I'll never grow tired of it!

Speaks for itself-- the joys of sisterhood