The Clegg Family: it's our season

So many people warned me that having 3 kids would prove to be hardest. 3 is the magic number, because with 3 (and any after that), you and your spouse are out-numbered. Your workload triples. 3 times the messes and laundry, 3 times the dishes, 3 times the worry, 3 times the exhaustion. But I feel that those people left out one very important detail. They failed to mention that Heavenly Father increases your capacity to handle it all by 3. A new routine emerges, making it possible to not only "survive", but to thrive! I am completely amazed at how much Nate and I accomplish each day. He and I make one heck of a team! How grateful I feel to be in such an amazing companionship.

Of course there are sacrifices. My house isn't as clean as it was when there was just 2. I have a laundry room that has been needing major re-organizing. Our Christmas Tree still sits on the front porch waiting to be dumped. I don't blog as much.. you've probably noticed! The little boys and I are in pajamas more often than we are out of them. I have nearly given up trying to stay on top of my old favorite Tv shows. Small sacrifices really, when you think of who we gained by giving those things up. I'll give you a hint...there are 3 of them, and they are very, very cute! :) We are just pluggin' away, busy with all the day-to-day necessities. We are well and we are happy. I love this season of life! OK! I will now try to briefly touch on some happenings over the past month:

New Year's Eve
Mom and Dad came to visit. Tessa and Scott joined the party too! We played board games and rock band. We held our own little fireworks show, all bundled up in blankets. We had a fabulous menu, and yes, I am tootin' my own horn! Pistachio-encrusted Salmon and an Arugula salad with grilled flank steak, lemon & parmesan mmmm. My biggest goal for the year is to plan & do one fun learning activity with the boys each weekday. So far we've made volcanoes, played with paint, practiced with scissors, did some melted crayon art & lots of other fun stuff!

New Year = New Recipes and Green Smoothies
Yup, we jumped on that green smoothie bandwagon. We love them! Everyone except for Asher anyway. And that stinks because he was the one I worry about not getting enough leafy greens. I even tried to hide his in a Jamba Juice cup, but there is no fooling that boy. I suppose it would have helped if the blender wasn't sitting on the counter when I tried that trick...I hope to find time to share some of our new favorite recipes.

Biggest Losers
That's Nate and I! But mostly Nate. He has lost 50 lbs since October. So proud of him! I entered a Biggest Loser competition at work that ends on March 6. I've lost about 14 lbs. I recently discovered that I really like Zumba...or any cardio dancing for that matter. Give me a good beat & it doesn't feel like exercise as much. I'm hating that Valentine's day is coming up...I don't trust that I will stick to my calorie goals for that day. Especially since we have dinner reservations at Tucanos. And, in my head, we have dessert reservations at the Sweet Tooth Fairy. ha!

Asher's Space Party
Asher is 4! It's all about space shuttles for this boy right now. He has a favorite shuttle launch video on YouTube that he watches WAY too much. We're so proud of him. He's a smart kid- knows all his letters & most of their sounds. We're working on writing his name & getting him comfortable with being a bit more social with people he doesn't know. He remains an excellent big brother- so laid back & patient with Collin and Seth. Most of the time with Collin anyway. And when he isn't, Collin usually deserved it. :) Asher has become a little tech-junkie. He gave his first prayer in Primary (sunday school for kids) & loved it- mostly because he is obsessed with microphones. I believe that people in the next county could hear Asher's sweet prayer.

Seth

Our little Sethie is now 4.5 months old! Holy cow!! He can roll both ways, which has proved to be both awesome and a bit annoying. (He likes sleeping on his tummy & will roll to his back in his sleep, wake up, cry...you get the idea.) He tried solids for the first time- avocado. He liked it..only after I mixed in a little banana. Given all his ear issues, Seth had a little same-day tube surgery on Wednesday. We are HUGE fans of tubes around this house & we hope that our littlest guy will start to feel better. He has a bad cold right now, but has already started sleeping longer stretches at night. Seth loves his jumperoo. He is at that stage where anything he grabs goes in his mouth. Dang he's cute!

Collin
Buggie is such a little ham. The things that come out of his mouth are just hilarious & grown-up sounding. On Asher's birthday, Collin kept reminding him to "blow out his camels." His response to nearly everything is "Sure!" On the way out the door, Collin is usually heard to yell, "Let's do this!" He comes up to me randomly throughout the day and says, "Hi! Nice tuh meetcha!" He loves his brothers and is especially anxious to help with Seth. Collin prefers veggies over meat & can be caught cleaning things without any prompting from mom. Lately he has had a hard time sharing & tells me there are "mon-ters" in our house. I won't even tell you how Daddy told Collin to get rid of monsters. Let's just say it involves bodily gases. :) Collin LOVES to dance to mommy's workout songs. He sings at the top of his lungs. We love it!