March Left Us a Little Lamb!

For us, March did not come in like a lion.  Since I had cleared my calendar of obligations for a couple of weeks leading up to Opal's birth, the first part of March was quiet and cozy with my girls and Will. We still had winter temperatures and snow, and that helped us feel extra cozy in our hibernation.  And, just as Opal's birth ended our hibernation, so too did the weather, which finally warmed up enough to allow for a few meals outside and sightings of the first spring violets in our yard.

I love the above picture of my four girls and Charlie.  Will was working late that evening, and eating outside became a party - no plates needed, and I was basking in the fact that I had all of my girls with me.  We had found a way to thrive, despite pizza boxes for plates and Opal not allowing me to set her down.  I am happy to say that several pizza box meals were had this past month, and in each scenario, Will was working late and either my friend or a delivery guy brought them and we enjoyed our pizza parties thoroughly.

The girls have played so well together this past month when they weren't fighting over whose turn it was to hold Opal.  Truly though, they have played together so well that my mama heart couldn't ask for more happiness than that.  In clockwise order from top left below: playing with their magnetic doll dress up set, putting on a dance show while jamming to Pandora, playing Barbies, and playing Legos.

After Opal was born the girls enjoyed lots of crafts given by friends and family, and Will even tried a craft of his own - super gluing a Barbie head back on one of Violet's broken Barbies.

Back in September, I had planned into our homeschool year an extra week or two off for when Opal arrived.  It really worked out great, and during the two weeks off as we all adjusted to Opal, the girls read lots of library books from the giant stack I had conveniently gotten less than 24 hours before Opal was born, did flash cards with my parents, practiced the piano and enjoyed cooking and baking projects.

Lots of games were played with both sets of Grandmas and Grandpas, stories were read with visiting aunts, and fun was had with visiting cousins...

...and visiting friends.

Memories were made in the below photos in clockwise order from top left: the girls and Grandpa T. making a snowman, the girls ready to eat some adorable Easter cookies from our aunt, the finished snowman with Grandpa T. and the girls, Violet ready to blow out a candle for Barbie's birthday, Violet holding a "blue haired doll" that she requested from her God mother as a big sister gift (and my cousin actually found), and finally, the girls celebrating Barbie's birthday with Grandma T.

It was so nice to have the flexibility of taking those two weeks off so that the big sisters could also be a part of our transition into our new life with Opal.  Violet had the most adjusting to do, and my mama heart ached for her and I both, as we learned how to be with each other in our new normal.  I had almost four years with Violet as my baby, and although Violet has nothing but love for her baby sister and her mama, she still had struggles with regression and melt downs.  Violet proudly tells people though that she is the reason "Opal got borned" because my water broke when I was fixing Violet's covers.  She also likes to tell us at times that she was the last baby I had before Opal, as if she is still adjusting to the idea of it all.  I am missing the free arms I once had to hug and snuggle Violet whenever she needed it, and also adjusting to just how big and independent Violet is becoming, especially when compared to her newborn sister.  In the top, left hand picture below, as well as the center picture below, Violet and I had some special time in her play tent reading stories on the first full day I was back home after having Opal.  I was so sleep deprived and in desperate need of a nap, but both Violet and I needed that time together in the quiet space of her little tent while Opal slept and I don't regret that missed nap for anything.

All of the big sisters have grown so much this past month.  Their anticipation of my needs, and ability to soothe Opal so I can finish my dinner or a shower before tending to her have really made me so proud of them.  I mean, they fight over who gets to help me (which really isn't as great as it sounds)!  Hence my well-used phrase of "don't be the opposite of help!"  In the next several weeks all three big sisters will be turning a year older, and I wish I could just slow down time.  As my hormones level out and real life continues to exhaust me and amaze me at the same time, my girls continue to grow.  Here Emma is below, sporting more lost teeth - two to be exact this past month.  Emma is still not a fan of losing teeth.

Oh, the hormones must be playing on my sentiments as looking at Emma's adorable toothless grin only magnifies the thoughts of how fleeting this time period really is.  Time to bring it back to real life with a home improvement project that was supposed to be finished before Opal arrived, but in true home improvement style, my house was a mess as things never go as smoothly as planned, and Opal arrived before it was finished.  Either way, the dresser install in the girls closet is now complete, and it has made a huge difference in the space and organization of their room!  Please note that I specifically had twelve dresser drawers designed into the dresser, just in case Opal joins them in their room one day - dresser drawers that can easily be divisible by three or four, as the size and number of our bedrooms are definitely not so easily divisible!  Maybe one day we will have all four girls bunked in one room, and we can turn the smaller room which is currently the nursery, into their play or study room.

The month of March will forever go down into our family history books as the month that Opal joined us earth side and I will say from here on out that March left us with a little lamb!