Um…Words can’t describe…Words can’t accurately describe…the absolute, never ending chaos…the extreme exhaustion…the total feeling of being overwhelmed and completely lost all at the same time…the amount of laundry (HOLY CRAP there’s a lot of laundry)…the daily category 5 hurricane that hits our house over and over again…Words also can’t describe the love I feel for all three of these little precious treasures, especially when Landri randomly says, “I love you Mommy,” or in a rare moment of stillness, Rex lets me hold him and rests his head on my shoulder, or when little Ty Baby falls asleep snuggled in my arms…But yeah…words also cannot describe the INSANITY they cause!!!

The timing of Ty’s birth was pretty darn good, especially compared to Landri (who arrived during football season) and Rex (born at the end of Scott’s spring break). With Ty, as it turns out, Scott has his three week summer vacation starting this week, so it was more or less a seamless transition from hospital to home with his help.  Although, as the days go by, I’m quickly learning that “vacation” really isn’t a reality – it seems like he needs to go to work almost everyday for something. But, throw in his parents and my mom, and I’m feeling a little less stressed about tackling these three awesome little kiddos over the next couple weeks.  Okay that’s a total lie. The help is AWESOME but I’m still a wreck.  Here’s a great example. I brushed my teeth on Friday morning when I woke up…but it was late Sunday afternoon that I was able to brush them again.  Time literally just escapes me now!!!  I’ve also had several meltdowns, just saying.  And I have even made my first few outings with all three kids both alone and with Scott, and while it was a bit hectic and things took a little longer than usual, it wasn’t too bad and we survived. Part of that is probably due to the fact that Ty is an amazing baby who sleeps pretty well and is super easy. So speaking of that…(HUGE KNOCK ON WOOD)…Ty is so far a dream baby.  All of you parents with tricky little sleepers are about to HATE me. This little dude will basically sleep through the night – or at least pretty much has in his first few days of life. I either have to wake him up once in the middle of the night to eat (and then he passes right back out), or if I let him sleep until he wakes, he makes it at LEAST every 3 hours, but often chunks of 4 or even 5-6 hours, so I’m getting a decent sleep myself. I hope I didn’t just jinx it by bragging on him, but seriously, he’s been ridiculously amazing in the sleep department.

Oh! I never talked about the kids meeting Ty for the first time! We ended up having them up to the hospital and it went way better than I expected! Landri was THRILLED to meet her “new baby,” and Rex actually paid him a little attention (which honestly I wasn’t expecting).  Here’s a video. Landri basically was, and still is, very excited about her new baby brother and Rex likes to pet him. But just like Lenny in Of Mice and Men, Rex doesn’t realize his own strength, and sometimes his “pats” are more like hits, haha.

Since being home from the hospital…

She’s still pretty into him. She will help as much as she can (bring a diaper, grab his dropped paci, etc). She loves to hold him and surprisingly does a decent job.  I still need to hover over her though because she is easily distracted and if she’s holding him, she may take her arms out from under him (oops!). I obviously trust her more with Ty than Rex, but I still wouldn’t even leave him on the floor with her alone. She’s almost accidentally kicked him in the head about fifty times while bouncing around like the hyper little toddler that she is.  There’s not always a ton of self awareness going on, haha!

He loves to find Ty whether he’s in the swing, his bed, my arms, etc and shouts “Baby!” repeatedly.  If Ty is in his cradle in the pack n play, Rex tries to scale the pack n play which is terrifying because as soon as Rex gains a few more pounds, I think he will have enough weight to topple it down backwards on top of himself.  If Ty is in the swing, it’s in a room with glass doors (so Rex can see him, pic below) and Rex bangs furiously on the glass, again shouting, “Baby!” repeatedly.  Rex also thinks (like Landri did to Rex) that burping the baby is a license to hit the baby repeatedly. And like Landri, Rex is fascinated with Ty’s eyes and likes to try and poke them with his always dirty, grubby little fingers.

The hardest part is Rex I think. Well, and that there’s three of them!  But Rex is getting so wild and crazy that he needs constant supervision so it’s hard to deal with a newborn and catch Rex as he’s climbing onto the couch, about to launch himself off the top to the tile floor four feet below.  Also, going somewhere (like a park) seems impossible because Landri and Rex will run in opposite directions and most of the time, it’s just me – so that’s out. Throw in the summer heat and a tiny baby and I waved my white flag before even pulling out of the driveway! But even at home, I’m struggling to find things to engage Landri and Rex together. If you have any advice on 3 under 3, hook me up!  Or even just 15 month old boys!  I will gladly listen!!

And thank you all also for all of the facebook posts and messages, texts, calls, and emails.  We appreciate all of your love and support so much!  Please forgive me that it may take me a while to catch up with everyone!  We love yall!