Is 3 the new 2?

Photo from Pottery Barn Kids

It seems everywhere I go lately, I hear people talking about whether or not to have a third child. Right now I seem to be surrounded by people who are having their third. I always imagined I would have a large family—I am the oldest of three and my husband is the oldest of five. But I have to admit... these days I feel like I have my hands very full with my two girls. And sometimes, just sometimes, I see a glimpse that life might be getting just the teensiest bit easier. I have loved every minute (well, almost every minute) of the craziness that has been my life while raising my girls over the past almost 4 years. But do i want to do it again? 


Then there are all the reasons people will tell you not to have a third: You'll be outnumbered, you won't have enough time to give each child the attention they need, paying for college will be challenging, the world is overpopulated. All valid points.  


But I just can't help but think that my little family is not yet complete...


And then there are the reasons to have a third: Another sibling for my girls to grow and laugh with, someone to help teach the older children that they are not always the center of the universe (an important lesson), another baby to snuggle and fall in love with, and I always hear that you will never regret having another child, but you might look back and regret not having one more baby.


So what do you think? Is two the perfect number? Or is three the new two? Do you have three children? If so, what was the transition like from two to three? Are you thinking about having a third... or even fourth? 

Turning a negative into a positive

Those of you who have been supporting us with orders or just following our blog will know we are quite a small team here at Love and Life Cards and usually spend our blogging time sharing our card updates, having a general laugh over parenting life, or sharing fun tips and ideas we gather together. That's why this feels a rather odd blog entry for us this week. We have had a tiny development with our site and wanted to share it with our friends and maybe ask for a bit of help. Please note, the names in {} have been changed in order to keep this a clean blog. 


Earlier this week...
Sona:  I've been meaning to ask you, who's the {Donkey} that's been giving us bad ratings on our cards?
Elizabeth:  What bad ratings? You can see that kind of thing on our website?
Sona:  Yeah, looks like someone has gone through each of our cards and given it a 1 out of 5 star rating.
Elizabeth:  No, that can't be, there must be some other explanation.  I'll check with the IT guy.
IT Guy:  Yep, some {Donkey} has been going through and giving you guys a 1 out of 5 star rating on each of your cards.
Elizabeth:  Can we see who it is?
IT Guy:  Let me trace their IP address....yep it's {a REALLY large personalized stationery company}!
Elizabeth:  Sona!  You are not going to believe this - {a REALLY large personalized stationery company} is going through each of our cards and giving us a bad rating?  Is that illegal?
Sona:  Are you kidding me?  {a Really large personalized stationery company} knows who we are?  It's probably not illegal, but definitely unethical. It must mean we are doing a good job if we are on their radar!
Elizabeth:  I guess I should call our lawyer.
Lawyer:  No, it's not illegal, technically they could feel that way.  Holy Cow! {a REALLY large personalized stationery company} knows who you are?  You must be doing something right!


I guess it just illustrates the kind of people we are...
we laugh at ourselves, A LOT
we think lack of sleep is a privilege of parenting
we think friends and family are the most important things in the world even when they drive you to distraction
and we think that another company giving us some bad ratings is a bit of a compliment.


What do you think about giving false negative reviews to business competitors? Unethical or just part of the business? 


And please, if you do see a design you like, we'd appreciate some genuine stars.

Listen Up Boys

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and we all know that you have not organized anything yet so here are some inside tips on what to get your better half.  We have researched various surveys but feel we would focus on our demographic, moms with kids under 4.  Some top gift ideas are:

An hour of alone time - how romantic!
That's alone time just for her, not together.  Time and time again, gifts ideas from moms with young kids won't cost you anything.  Moms sound nearly desperate for some time to go for a run or take a yoga class, have a hot uninterupted bath with a glass of wine, or even to actually get through one whole magazine with a hot cup of coffee.

Spa day - sounds like a heaven!
You can get some great deals on Coupon sites, and if you are really clever you can get one of your friends to do the same for their wives so the girls can have a day out together. 

Cook a meal - no TV trays allowed though!
Go on boys, give us the night off from the kitchen, set the table and actually have a proper conversation over your culinery masterpiece.

Write a letter - or an email if you must!
If any moms are like me, tired and too busy to really look after themselves than maybe this is the gift for you.  Remind her why you love her, even after the wrinkles, gray hair and post baby weight!

Unfortunately, there is bad news for those with over 4's, apparently at that point, we want to bring back the romance so be prepared to book the babysitter, the restaurant and take us out!

Mini monet valentine

Lucie told me she wanted to make her own Valentines this year for her whole class like we did last year. Now, last year there were a total of 6 children in her class which meant a total of 5 Valentines to make. The Valentines were cute little puppy dog cards and fun to make together, but each card probably took us 20 minutes to put together and that was after I had already pre-cut most of the paper! This year the class is 12 children, plus 3 teachers, plus a few other friends. And we are traveling this coming weekend so I had to break the news to my girl that I just don't think we will have time to make all of her Valentines this year. But then I had a brilliant idea... why not Mini Monet a Valentine? Luckily, Lucie loved the idea of painting a picture to use for all of her Valentines. She decided on making a heart with watercolor as a medium and quickly got to work.  

Below are our two favorites from Lucie's paintings:

We used the more colorful of the two hearts on the front of the card with the "Happy Valentine's Day" message. Then we used the little blue heart and signature from the other painting on the back of the card and voila!

Front:

Back:

Lucie loves how they turned out. I love that the cards are fun and original AND that I won't have to be up until midnight next Monday night with a glitter and a glue stick!