Studerbaby#3 gender reveal

Of all the discoveries during Screen Free Week, the best, biggest, and most wonderful was our third Studerbaby's gender reveal.  We had our appointment on Tuesday morning and Brandon and I were all jittery nerves in the waiting room.  We got into the ultrasound room and watched with unreasonably proud hearts as our baby kicked and the technician declared, the baby weighs 11oz; that's perfect.  Finally she asked, "If I can tell, do you want to know the gender?" and we both hesitated for a moment until B said, "Yes."

For all 19 weeks of the pregnancy, I have felt it was a resounding boy.  I have been combing through boy's names and imagining the three kids all together playing and it was always with Grey, Gem and a baby brother.  Brandon was not so sure and wobbled between the two.  And then, we found out...

and I was overjoyed.  A wave of excitement and gratitude washed over me and all I could think was, "a baby sis for Gemmi."  Having sisters was possibly the most grateful childhood memory I have and I am so happy that Gem will get to have a sister to confide, laugh, and learn with as the two of them grow up together.  Now when I imagine my three kids together; it is with my two daughters (ah!  my two daughters!!) holding hands and serenely following around our wild, running boy.

After B got home from work, we got the kids together and told them we had something exciting to tell them.  When Brandon paused after saying, "Our new baby is a....." Grey got a big smile on his face and chanted, "Please say a boy!  Please say a boy!"  B and I gave each other a quick, worried glance before he said, "A Girl!"  Grey's face look defeated enough that my heart broke a little for him and then he said, "Well, Okay."  He laid down on B's shoulder and I told him it was alright if he wanted to cry a little.  He declared, "No, I don't have to." and has now since been telling everyone "Now we'll have two crazy little girls!"  He has also seemed to realize it will still just be him and Daddy doing 'boy' things together with no other intruders and that seems to give him a nice consolation.*

Since he's been practicing writing his letters, we had him write down the word "Girl" on cut-out paper hearts to tell our immediate family and then we went to their houses and Dad's work to hand deliver Grey's note to them that night.  Despite the fact that the grandparents all know we are having another baby and would be thrilled if we were having either gender - they're reactions were all amazing and hilarious.  Of the six family members we told; 4 of them thought it was a boy (Chum, Gigi, Pappy, and Uch).  Only my mum and Mimi thought it was a girl (but not even they were sure).

Kayla found out just a day ago, as she has now returned from Italy from her honeymoon (a post on her amazing wedding forthcoming).  We got to chat via facetime yesterday and per usual Aunt Kitty style, she had happy tears about it.  hahhha.

It was so nice to find out during Screen Free week when we were intentionally avoiding over-sharing.  I am no stranger to sharing everything in our life (hello, blog readers!!) and so this was a moment that we got a chance to enjoy and keep this secret for a whole week before telling everyone.  It was somehow a little more magical by not letting the whole world now right at that moment (even though it was tempting) - it was just ours to enjoy for a little while.

So now we are busy manically searching girls names and sorting through Gemmi & Sophia's hand-me-down clothes to prepare for this new baby girl.  Gah, a baby girl.  We all just cannot wait to meet this baby.

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*a few weeks ago, Greyson and I watched that video of the little boy finding out he would be having another sister together.  Afterwards, we talked about how it wasn't very nice the way the boy was acting and talking about his own sisters and girls.

Grey decided that he definitely would NOT do that if we found out we were having a sister and that he would just say, "That's alright that we having a sis."  We talked about too the good things about having a sister instead of a brother (like being the only boy with Daddy and that he already has a sister and how much fun it is to play with her).

I think talking about the possibility of it being a girl (and not exactly what he may have hoped for) was really good for his age.  Grey was visibly disappointed at first, but we had already talked about it feeling a little sad if we were wrong or having a girl instead of a boy, so he already had practiced the words he would say which would also start the process of feeling better about it.

We also regularly do a lot of talking about speaking nicely to and about our family and friends and how lucky we are to have people that love us.  So although he was disappointed after the immediate announcement, his rebound time was amazing and I am so proud of him.  He is such an amazing big brother; our girls are so very lucky to have him.

first day of trout 2014

The first day of trout is an annual holiday at our house and the girls and boys split up to follow through our traditions for the weekend.  Greyson and Brandon slept over at camp on Friday night and I woke up to this text pic when the boys were ready to hit the creek in the morning.  (Greyson's chest waders are from Oakiwear).

As the boys spent the morning on the creek, the girls; Gigi, Gemmi, and I, headed to lunch and then off to the nail salon to get pedicures.  This was Gemma's third trip to the nail salon; although her first time there she just slept the whole time (hah).  She was very excited to pick out some pinkish-purple toe nailpolish and then gleefully dipped her toes into the pedicure tub.

Gem sat nicely for her toe polish and the pedicurists were so patient and sweet with her.  Gigi and I both got our pedicures wrapped up and it was another successful Girls version of the first day of trout.  With no sisters or daughters, Gigi gets a chance to spend a full-on girly time after years and years of spending this weekend every year in a fishing camp with a bunch of dudes.  Even if someday Gemmi decides to pick the boys over us - Gigi and I love our girly version of this holiday weekend. 

After our girls afternoon, we headed over to camp ourselves to check in our boys; Brandon, Greyson, & Pappy and to spend some time in the sun too.  Grey was still sleeping when we first arrived, but woke up and was so excited to be the big boy at fishing camp, telling us about all the fun he was having and making it clear that he knew he was the expert in the field of fishing over his Mumma and Sister.  His excitement and grown-up-ness about it both a joyful surprise and sad realization that our little man is growing up!

We all made our way to a fishing hole a ways down the creek all together and the boys got their lines wet and the girls cheered them on. 

Pappy Butch and Greyson

It wasn't long until Brandon hooked a big palomino trout and while trying to call Grey over to help, it got off the hook.  We all got to see it when it jumped out of the water and I said to B, "Make him do it again so I can get a pic!" To which he looked at me with a look of exasperated confusion as making a fish do anything is impossible - hah!  By the grace of outdoor karma, a few minutes later, Bud snagged the same big palomino and this time Grey was ready to reel in the fish while B netted the trout in the river.  

 

My husband was over the moon about this outdoor moment to share with Grey.  Greyson was overjoyed and so proud of the big fish he caught with his Daddy.  Look for a blog post from Brandon's proud perspective on The Hunting Daddies blog in a week!

18.5 inch palomino trout!

After the awesome catch, Grey was even more happy when his cousin Reid arrived for the weekend.  These two had a blast the rest of the weekend running, playing, and fishing.

fishing cousin mania!

After a little while, Gemmi and I headed back home while the boys spent another night at fishing camp.  It was the best fishing season yet, as far as Greyson's ability and excitement goes - and a clear sign that it will only continue to be a huge holiday on our family calendar.

Screen Free Week Prep 2014

National Screen Free week is nearly here (next week!) and I have been busy thinking and preparing for the week ahead with no screens for my family.  We participated last year and I was so worried before we began that the kids would be out of control and the week would be horribly long and difficult.  And then we did it and I was surprised to find that the kids hardly noticed and I was the one that struggled the most with screen free week.

Here's the cold, hard truth:  as a stay at home Mum with very young kids, there are large parts of the day that are unbearably boring.  Don't get my wrong, there are parts of the day that I delight in the kids sharing or playing some amazing imaginative scenario.  Other parts of the day, I'm cooking, cleaning, organizing, and planning.  And definitely parts when I'm part of the play too; reading, participating, and helping.  But there are also staggering moments that are endlessly mind-numbing.  Like when I've watched this child do the same flip off of the same couch armrest 36 times already and yet still I get, "Mum, watch this."  Oh, I know, I know.  Someday I will miss their constant need for my attention, alas, that fact does not decrease the mundane-ness of the moment right now.  So, in these moments of sheer boredom, Mumma scrolls.  She scrolls through facebook, instagram, pinterest, and other blogs.  I just need a distraction.  Isn't that the sum of life these days?  Distraction.

I'm not saying I'm proud of this - I ain't.  like at all.  But I'm just coming clean here and giving some more background for why we participate in Screen Free Week in the first place.  It's less about them right now (especially since they're too young to care about texting/facebook/instagram, etc).  My kids miss Netflix movies and tv shows during the week - and they forget about caring about that after Day1.  Mum on the other hand, my screen free week is a wake-up call just to how much of my life is distracted by screens because it's easy, it's available, and it's distracting.

So, going into our second year of Screen Free Week, instead of scared, I am excited!  Not only for myself but for the kids too.  I know this week means earlier bedtimes as the kids are more tired, I know it means more creative juice pumping in my own brain, and I know that being severely conscious of my own screen distractions makes for many more moments of awareness and intention in my day.

I am probably most excited at my book list I have organized for myself to read during the week.  I have been shamefully out of reading on a regular basis (except reading The Fault in Our Stars in a single day - this is why I can't read fiction outside of vacation!  I become consumed.)

I have lined up some books that I've been reading the past few weeks: Same Kind of Different As Me  and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business  And my new reads: Thinking, Fast and Slow and Bossypants. And I also am awaiting to arrive in the mail: Cold in July which will be out in movie theaters this summer.  My Dad said he'd read it after me and we'll go see the movie together.

I got the kids some new books too. Rosie Revere, Engineer and The Tiger Who Came to Tea for Gemmi and some new chapter books to read to Grey during Gemmi's naptime:
My Father's Dragon: The Bestselling Children Story , Anna Hibiscus, and SuperDuper Teddy .

I've also mapped out in my planner to make an effort to focus on different parts of the Earth during the week.  Mostly because the kids are just interested in all things earth related these days.  So we'll be talking about the ocean, the rainforest, trees, bugs, and the weather for the week.  I'm using my current screentime to look up science and craft projects that align to those topics as back ups for the week if anyone gets bored (ahem, Me).  And we'll be having no lights at night - something the kids like doing anyway that makes evening and bedtime more fun; using candles instead of lights.

I recently read this quote from Kim John Payne (Author of Simplicity Parenting) that inspires me for both my kids' and my creative process in the upcoming Screen Free Week (and beyond?):

"What our kids see on a screen is someone else's creativity.  It is not their own.  Our children are growing up into a world where they will more than ever need to be innovative, adaptable, and above all, creative.  Having the courage to question the new normal of screen saturation in our kids' lives and allowing our homes to be low or no screen environments will give them the hugest advantage in their lives to come - because it gives them the space and time to transform passive consuming into active creativity."  

To get the kids talking about Screen Free Week, we created this list together of things we can do instead of TV/Movies next week.

If you're asking yourself, "Geez, Tab, if you love Screen Free week so much, why don't you marry it?"  (haha, or do it all the time, rather).  The answer is that we need to start somewhere.  I do love a week of recognizing our screen dependence and how it impacts our life.  We learned last year, for example, that if the kids don't watch tv after 5:30pm daily, bedtime is easier and we've repeatedly implemented that in our regular life through the year.  We are anxious to see what we learn this year and hopefully move toward a more creative and less passive screen consuming life little by little.

Are you planning on going Screen Free next week too?  What will you be doing?  Do you already live a low screen lifestyle at your home?  Any tips?