COPPOLA: Life is Good.

Over the last month, things around the Coppola house have been busy, fun, loud, sweet, chaotic and happy. I just now realized that I hadn't blogged in a month and that's because my free time now includes holding, snuggling, feeding, and playing with a baby. In other words...there is no free time. But I have to say that life with Lia has been so much easier than I expected. It has to help that she is just the easiest baby. Maybe most babies are like her, but my other two demanded more from me. They were more difficult to soothe, they cried more often, and they wanted to be held all of the time. Lia, who is now 2 months old, is totally laid-back. She only cries when she's hungry or tired (or when Brynn "loves" her a little too hard.) She likes being in her swing, her rock-n-sleep, or on her floor mat. She doesn't quite sleep through the night, but she just wakes up once to eat for about 15 minutes and is right back to bed. At this point, I'm getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night...sometimes more. She likes her bath and LOVES her nursery. If we want to see her smile, we just have to put her on her changing table and she smiles right away. She eats 4 oz every 3 hours and is seriously packing on the pounds. She hardly ever spits up but poops at least twice a day. She's just a little extra bonus that we have in our family that makes everyone smile and has yet to bring real frustration or disruption to our family. We all are so in love with the little peanut.

Carter has adjusted really well and I don't think he'd say that his life has changed too much. He's now in 1st grade and doing well both socially and academically. He's completely obsessed with Minecraft which has been our biggest issue with him recently. We think that Minecraft is a great game to help with creativity, but that's all he ever wants to do. We have to take the iPad away from him often just so he'll play with Legos or go outside or do anything other than stare at that screen. He's playing football and Cary is his coach and it's going okay. Carter's not that interested in football - or sports for that matter - but he's not terrible out on the field. We've signed him up for basketball and boy scouts so he should have a fun winter. I'm so thankful for him and his easy-going nature. He's the kid I can count on to never do anything sneaky or be in any serious trouble.

Brynn has probably had the biggest adjustment with the baby, but she's doing pretty well too. We are definitely seeing more tantrums, but I attribute that to her being in school every afternoon and having to skip her nap. She's consistently a sweetheart in the morning and an emotional time-bomb in the evenings. Preschool is going well and even though she's the youngest in the class, I think she's hanging in there. We'll have her conferences in two weeks so I'll know more then, but it seems like she's doing just fine. She talks about her new friends, tells me all about school, sings me every song that she's learned, and tells me when she does something that she shouldn't have. I hope she always tells me what's going on at school because Carter never does! She finished gymnastics but will be in Brava this year with me. She loves singing, dressing up and wearing my shoes. She still plays babies quite often and copies everything I do with Lia...even talks on her cell phone about things that she's heard me talk about. She's getting to be more and more responsible and really can be helpful to me when I need her. She can feed Lia, bring me diapers and wipes, make her bed, pick up toys, etc. Although I love having her home with me in the mornings, I have to admit that I look forward to the afternoons when it's just Lia and I.

Cary had foot surgery two weeks ago and is hanging in there. He's walking with crutches and has slowly started putting weight on it when he's wearing his "robo-cop" boot. He tries to do as much as he can as far as being active and helpful around the house, but he needs to keep his foot up as much as possible too. The first week was a bit overwhelming for both of us, but the end is in sight. I know he'll be so glad that he had it done now, but at this point, he has no intentions of doing the other foot any time soon. I have to agree... :)

I go back to work next Monday and am both dreading it and looking forward to it. I've been off since June 1st so I feel very out of the loop. But I miss the kids and my coworkers and I'm getting that extra drive to get back at it and get stuff done. Maternity leave has been so wonderful and I've loved being at home to snuggle Lia, drive the kids to and from school, get dinner ready, and do laundry. I know going back to work will only add more stress, but I think it will be good to get back at what I love doing. Plus...it's just three days a week so I feel so blessed to have such a great schedule. I'd never give it up because I would never find something else I like so much with such great hours.

Today's been a good day. Dinner's in the oven, Lia's asleep in the swing, Carter and Brynn are downstairs playing with the neighbors, the laundry is caught up, and the house is sort of picked up. Life is good.

The kids at the park this past weekend....