More is more....

People often say "less is more" - but in the case of this growing little family, more is definitely more. It is more work. More tiredness. More juggling. It's life on steroids. But really, what it really is, it's more love. I am not going all hormone-emotional on you, friends. I am also not trying to sell you this "big family" idea. It's just that my heart has been feeling SO full since Freia was born, it feels like it's gonna explode any minute now. And not like it wasn't already filled with love before she arrived....it's crazy, that capacity that we have to love and to love even more, beyond what we thought was possible.
 

I still can't really believe we are a family of 5, but it is every bit real. The laundry pilling up and the three car seats in the back of our car are the very proof of that reality ;)  I have three little girls....how lucky I am to be able to write these words....A couple weeks ago for Father's day we had our first little escape as a family of 5 - drove south of the Bay to Mount Diablo. It was totally unplanned, we left on a whim, hit the road and made up our day as it went.



We stopped when being in the car was too much. We picked flowers. We sat in the shade of a tree and ate cupcakes. We stopped to look at the horses - oh the sparkles in the girls' eyes. Take that, shake it up with a couple meltdowns and spilled drinks at lunch, and you'll get the kind of perfectly imperfect day that we love so much. It's not always  perfect and it's not always easy. We're all tired, and we're still trying to figure out how to deal with all that "more". But we're a team and we're going to figure this out together. And when I see the girls loving on their sister the way they do, I forget about all that extra tiredness and juggling and the tantrums - all I can see is  the oh-so happy days ahead of us.

A family picnic

What are some of the things that define you as a family? I mean, what are the things that you always do together? Maybe it's hiking or or going to brunch on Saturdays? Maybe it is singing out loud in the car or going to Church on Sundays? For us, picnics are one of those things. I have a picnic bag at home filled with the essentials, always ready the next  adventure. The best thing about picnics is you can make them as fancy or as simple as you'd like, and you can set up a picnic blanket wherever you'd like. You can have a million dollar view without paying a dime for it. 

My uber-talented photographer friend Alicia came out from New York to visit us mid-June, and I asked her if she would mind coming with us on one of our little picnics and snapping pictures of our family of 5 - make a little family photo session out of it! A rare treat since I am usually always behind the lens. So I filled our picnic basket and off we went!
 

We went to the "kite park" - beautiful open spaces right by the Berkeley marina overlooking San Francisco and the Golden gate bridge. We call it the Kite park because it is always very windy and tons of people come here to fly kites - there is even a kite festival there every summer and I can't wait to check it out.

It's our special spot. We often come here on Sunday evenings to have a picnic and fly our kites. Sadly, there was barely any wind the day we took the pictures! Madeline was so sad she couldn't fly the new kite we made together from leftover wallpaper :) But that little girl is determined, and so, we HAD to try anyway!
 

Since Alicia is originally from Sweden, we also made a couple of flower crowns that turned this picnic into a little mid-summer celebration. And I told the girls that when they wore their flower crown, fairies would come  out of hiding to see them - but that they had to look very carefully to see them since fairies are so fast. Obviously  ;) They were mesmerized and I had so much fun watching them try to spot fairies. Childhood memories in the making.
 

And as we ate the cake, we watched the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge. I mean, moments like these are just pure perfection. I know that often we dream of an amazing vacation on a faraway island with a pool overlooking the sea. But this, really my friends, this is the real deal. Life really doesn't get any better than this - a a pretty picnic blanket and little girls chasing fairies.

Horseback riding for the first time :)

Leaps and bounds

Freia one month old.

A month. It might as well be a hundred years. Freia has only been with us for a month, and I can't even remember what life was like before she got here. So much has changed and happening in the past month. And I am not just talking about adding another person to our family. It feels like our entire family has changed since she arrived. Leaps and bounds for all of us.

First smile

e went from having this tiny little family that sleeps and eat all the time, to a baby girl that is getting more and more aware every day. We even got our first smile a few days ago :) The sweetest, cutest little smile. My heart just melted that day. The girls have embraced having their little sister around - I guess embrace is not the right world.....they ran to it! They had been waiting for their little sister for so long.

And the minute she arrived, it's like they already new about how to be the wonderful little sisters that they are. Well, we had to teach them a thing or two, like "Don't step on your sisters head, Olivia!" or "Madeline don't you put that lollipop in your sister's mouth!"....little details you know ;) But overall, all that love, they already had it ready for her. Such nurturing little girls I have.
 

And I, well, I've been learning to balance having 3 little girls. Which, to my surprise, is much easier than I thought. I am growing in my role as a mother, learning to be present when I need to and let go when necessary - which happens a lot nowadays. The girls have gained so much confidence since Freia arrived. I watch Madeline in the morning as she walks out the door in the morning carrying her lunch box, and I am amazed to think that in the fall she'll start pre-school. I swear she was still in my belly yesterday. Time gets blurry.
  And Olivia - she started writing on her own! The other day I found her at the table - she had picked up a book and decided to copy the letters in it...all on her own! Such a big girl. So we're encouraging her that way. Can't believe that in the near future I'll have a little girl that can read and write.

Of course the past month hasn't been without it's challenges - physically as I've had some post birth issues, minor issues but still tiring. How tiring? Well, so tiring that indeed I forgot how to write my own daughter's name when I took some pics to celebrate a 1-month birthday - see pic below :D Oh. And I posted the picture on facebook without noticing it...until my friend Carlin called me up on it. The shame. Ha! This woman needs sleeps, guys. And I am not the only one - big changes in the house means that everybody is more tired...and mmmm, let's say, a bit fussy. Tantrums much? Yes, Olivia, you do have to eat your food........
 

So what do we do? Well, we slow down. Take a deep breath. And try to focus on what the things that matter - our time together. Especially 1 on 1 time. Last weekend hubby took Olivia on a big girl date, and while Freia was sleeping I made paper princesses dress with Madeline. We had such a blast. Having more to balance has made me rediscover how important every minute that I spent with my kids is.
 

So we're tired, yes. And sometimes things get challenging. yes. But in the end, being challenged is the only way to grow, right? We rise up to those challenges, and our lives get better for it. I am so so SO glad that we decided to add another child to our little family.

Sure, things were easy and comfortable before that, and we could have chosen to stick with  it-  nothing wrong with that. But I feel so good having one more little person to love and care for and watch as she grows. Turns out, I had a lot of space left in that little heart of mine. And then some :) Seems like that little heart also grows leaps and bound with each sweet little girl that comes to our life.
 

Princess Madeline singing Let it GOOOOOOOOOOOO!