The joy of the 3rd child

(Can't find this picture again to flip it, sorry)
When asked about having the third kid, most people told me that it is hard because you are finally outnumbered. That is true, bue since most of the day it is just me, I've been outnumbered for 2 1/2 years now. What no one mentioned to me is the joy of the third baby. Just now do I finally feel like I know what I'm doing and so I am not stressing over everything. I should have been to that point with Ben, but he was a boy and was so different from Charlotte. Time goes by so quickly that it helps me to remember the little joys of a baby. She is a doll. When she smiles I see her gums. Whenever we go places I always get comments on what a cutie she is. Anyway, the joy of a third child is the number of people that can love her. It is not just Doug and I that love her. There is Charlotte and Ben as well. They enjoy her so much. Anna smiles at Charlotte all the time. Charlotte loves to spend as much time as she can trying to make Anna laugh. When the kids hear Anna on the baby monitor, they run up to lay down next to her and talk to her as she fully wakes up. She is a mellow, happy little baby. We are blessed to have her in our home. Our days have gotten a lot busier since she was born, but they are full of smiles and joy. She can roll over both ways now and scoots around backwards and in a circle. She has learned to blow rapsberries (by the way, have never understood that term) and I know I have no chance of her going back to sleep at 5 in the morning when she makes that noise. Tries to grab my cup every chance I get, and usually adds some curdled milk to the drink. She is reaching for everything now, and thinks everything is for her. Favorite toys are my toothbrush (will be buying a new one) and spoons.


There has been great fun going on at the Burke household. Charlotte and Ben both started gymnastics. The classes are at the same time, which is nice and a pain at the same time. Charlotte has now "mastered" a cartwheel. She is glad to show anyone who asks. They really enjoy the class and I am too because I have absolutely no expectation of them learning how to do anything. Charlotte is in preschool now too. Ben is so sad. He misses her every time she goes. It's hard to let Charlotte go, even just to preschool. I cannot believe kindergarten will start next year. Lehi library has the cutest storytime and I think I enjoy it more than the kids.

We went to the zoo courtesy of my aunt last week. We never made it during the summmer and I will never go when it is hot again. This time it was cool and not busy because everyone was in school. And, all the animals were out and about because they were not dying of heat. We saw the cutest baby elephant and giraffe. And, as usual, their favorite parts are not the animals, but the 2 minute train ride and the carousel.




A few weeks ago they went to the fair with Bonnie and has such a blast. They rode almost all the rides and even managed to make Bonnie feel pretty queasy. Their favorite ride was the Tilt A Whirl. Doug forgot the camera on this trip though! And cannot find Bonnie's on our camera. Baby is fussing, will update later.