North Pole Afternoon Adventure

North Pole here we come!  We were fortunate to be able to travel on the Polar Express this weekend up to visit the North Pole (aka Ashley, Mi) for a few hours.  The town did a great job in hosting the North Pole visitors.  We enjoyed reindeer feeding, a horse drawn buggie ride, lunch in the hobo kitchen where they gave each kids a wooden handcrafted truck, and chance to explore the front of an old fire engine.  The weather was a little cold and misty, but the kids didn't complain at all!  The day even ended with Santa presenting the "first gift" to one of the kids.  He was one good looking Santa.  Check out the picture below!

Fun Run Fundraiser!!

I was so excited Brooke's first fundraiser at school didn't include having to sell something.  Brooke is selling tins of candy for girl scouts, and making like $0.90 per sale versus the $6-$7 cost of the item.  I understand the girl scout organization needs someone to make money to cover the saleries for the people running the organization, but I absolutely despise going door to door selling stuff!  Needless to say, I totally loved the idea of the Fun Run at school.  The school even boasted they made more $$ in this fundraiser than they did selling candy and stuff all last year.  Yeah!!  Here are a few pictures texted to me by the other (better moms) that were able to make the event.  Darn work.

If you want to add anything to the donation, here is Brooke's website!  I think its open until the 23rd of Oct.

https://secure.eventsonlinenetwork.com/events/getmovingcrew/pledgeprofile.php?gmc=5428c34bd7bc4

That's one way to say it

"Turn around like we aren't best friends, but really we are.  This way I can put your necklace on you."

Fort Fun

We had a very busy Sunday, which included a quick stop to the park (too windy so we abandoned that plan), stop at Home Depot for stain for the deck, exploring around Target, lunch at Panara, and then off to the Flat Rock Riverview Festival.  The festival was actually the original plan at 10:00 a.m. until we learned it didn't open until noon, and had 2 hrs to occupy our time. 

We then spent about 2.5 hours at the festival enjoying unlimited bounce house fun, a lumber jack show, and a few craft booths. After the festival we finally let Nathan go home for a much needed nap.  Unfortunately for Nathan, I didn't want him to sleep to long to insure he still went to bed good.  (Which right now he magically does.)  

When he was woken up from his nap, he needed a little cheering up from his big sister and brother, who decided to build him a little tent.  Please notice the very sleepy looking Nathan, and the very trying Brooke & Tyler to cheer him up. 

Happy First Day of Kindergarten!

And we did it!!  We have spent the last month (really 5 years) prepping for this exciting day, and answering questions upon questions.  What color will the seats on the school bus be?  What will happen if I stand up on the bus since there are no seatbelts?  What if I forget my teacher's name?  These were just a few including the normal ones of trying to understand where to go.  I have also tried to tell anyone that would listen (teacher, principal, secretary, etc) about her egg allergy.  And continued to remind Brooke she must always ask her teacher before she eats anything which wasn't given to her from mommy or daddy.  She helped me pack her lunch which includes a sandwich, strawberries, grapes, veggistraws, dried fruit, apple sauce, animal crackers, fruit snacks and a container of milk and a waterbottle of apple juice...hoping this is enough to last her through lunch and two snacks!  Also, with a friendly reminder to eat her sandwich first...we will see how that goes.  We had her practice opening her thermos, lunch container, lunchbox, etc...including added extra cuts to each of her packages to help open easier.  It will be fun to hear how it all went. 

Fortunately, we were able to arrange for Brooke to be in class, and ride the bus with her ballet buddie, Kate.  I know due to the excitement of getting to hang out with Kate all day has significantly helped in keeping her from thinking about all the fears of change kindergarten will bring.   This morning she was all smiles with excitement as she put on her backpack, and walked onto the bus hand in hand with Kate.  We were even blessed with the house of the bus stop stating they keep their garage door open so the kids can all stand inside way from the weather! Brooke will also go to the after school Champions program today, at which we have remindered her Kate is not going, therefore I am anxious to hear how this goes for her.   

I will try to post a blog follow up with her stories from her first day.   I am excited to be moving on to this next step in our lives! 

Happy First day of school!!

Family Pictures!! Whew...glad to have this off the to do list!

We made it through another round of our "Annual Family Pics".  Whew.  I would love to once again do the more free-lance versus posed pictures, but these are just easy.  Plus they print them within 15 minutes, so all the work is done!!  The really fun part of the pictures is the Trader Joe's next door to shop at while the pictures are being printed.  Trader Joe's even upgraded to two different size kiddo shopping carts, which was perfect for Brooke & Tyler.  I should have gotten a picture of this too! 

Here are the "selected / printed pictures".  Fortunately the kids were in smiling moods, and the photographer was quick with the camera!!

Here are a few of the attempts at the family picture.  The photographer actually took about 10 or more to get the one above.  Brooke kept on being pretty "floppy" as shown in the first shot. 

Here are just a handful of the more candidate shots of the kids.  (Plus a boring profile picture of me for work.)

And finally we get to the point when the kids are done with pictures!!  The trick is always start with your favorite backgrounds / outfits, and go from there.  Didn't want you to think all shots were so cute.  (Okay maybe these are cute too, but from more of the "ha ha your kids do that too" kind of way!)



The different ways we hear things...

Tyler - "Mom I want you to eat breakfast with me."
Me - "Sorry buddy, I need to finish getting ready for work.  Brooke can eat breakfast with you that what big sisters are there for."
Brooke - "But mom I am 5 not 4!"
Me - "I know you are 5, when did I say you are 4?"....

Oh....

Just like his big bro

Tyler watched one of the neighbor boys ride around the block holding the handle with only one hand.  He decided to try this as well.  Some how he managed to tip his tricycle over on top of himself.  He is totally our son.  Then of course Nathan began picking up his hand and holding on with only one hand. (I missed the picture of this.) 

Nathan found this little bike in our garage, and was so excited.  You should have seen the way his face lighted up.  We had picked up the little bike when Brooke was around 2, but she never got the hang of it by the time she out grew it.  However, Nathan is all boy, and I can tell will be getting good use out of this throughout the summer!

In My Abundance of Free Time

Since I don't have time to do laundry, update the blog, or keep the house clean.  I have decided to increase my time working on sewing projects.  (Yeah, exactly don't ask why...maybe engineering isn't really my calling in life, but I know this wouldn't pay the bills!)

I have started having a great time making pillow cases.  Not only are the super fun to make, they are super easy!  Just Google "Burrito Pillow Case" or "Rolled Pillow Case".  Its really easy and a lot of fun to make.  

Note: I am aware (or was informed) Spiderman and Batman are not allowed to hang out together... well I guess they will need to learn a new path, since Tyler really wanted these. :)

Then since I did so good at the pillow cases I decided to start another more complicated project.  Above is the first picture with most (1 is missing) fabric cut out.  Now for a reason to come back to checking the blog again to see what I am making....I am sure to be doing a lot more Google YouTube searches to try to understand all the stiches they call out in the directions! 

Nate, Nate 15 months Old

I think I have been afraid of the blog, as I haven't been able to catch up.  Either way, I am going to forget about catching up, and just do random posts when I can. 

Nathan spent his 15 month birthday at the family cottage this year.  He is a sleeping "rock star".  It's going to be a sad day when we decide to break him of his binky at night, as he is by far winning the award in the house on sleeping.  Normally about 12 hours at night very rarely waking and taking a 2-3 hour nap depending on how long you will let him sleep.  I think he just enjoys his quiet time in his bed, as you will check on him, and he is just lying there playing with his two (or 5) binkies.  Probably also needs his sleep to re-charge him as he is growing so fast.

There is also no stopping him on climbing, running, etc.  He has decided if his brother or sister can do something so can he. 

However, he still needs to work on increasing his vocabulary.  He has found he can get his message or point across by pointing, and saying "uh oh".  We also think we have heard him say "Hi Daddy".  Either way, he loves waving at strangers, and seeing their smiling surprise faces.

We will be getting his offical status in a few weeks from the doctor, but based on a recent visit to the office (Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease...boo) he is up to 28 lbs.  Also, he fits perfectly in Tyler's summer clothes from last year (2T). 

Well that's all for now!! Back to work.

And Another Catch Up Post!

I think I have been avoiding the blog as using cell phone pictures is SOOO annoying!  However, I don't want everyone (all 3 of you) to stop checking for updates, and then lose my whole fan club.  So here are the latest.  Nick & I have also been talking again about that computer purchase...we are just too busy to find time to actually place the order.  Also, the question is desktop versus laptop, as Nathan is now sleeping in the office, so when would I ever use a desktop? 

The blog starts with some fun "green day" pictures.  I do love having everyone in green!! (I am sure Shelly was grooving on her new dress too.) 

Then we move to a quick snapshot of Nick working on the basement after our minor flooding event.  Which I am happy to report is 95% behind us with only all bit more of trim to repair.  A few sign pictures, and picture of Clayton, Brooke, Emi & Tyler.  I can't explain how excited my kids were to have the visitors for the weekend.

Then we move to Nate, Nate's one year pictures.  At least he likes eating cake more than Shelly's food!  Nathan is up to 25.6 lbs (75%) and like 31.5" (90%).  He also moved straight to sippy cups without even looking back.  Hard to believe we are finished with bottles for good!  Nathan is still doing in a quick nurse before bed time, but I have officially stopped pumping at work.  Wow, I get a whole hour back a day!!!  We also finally moved him out of his baby bucket to a big kid car seat (facing forward even).  I think he is more confused why he doesn't get to watch is brother & sister in the car.

Well, I guess that's all for now!  Please don't give up on me.  Eventually we will get that new computer!

Little man is 11 Months Old

Yeah Nathan is 11 months old!  As you can guess, I am both excited and sad my little man will be 1 years old.  (Regardless we need to get a new computer as I am tired of using the not so good pictures from my phone, and want to be posting the great pictures from the camera.)

Nathan is up to 9 teeth, all 8 in the front and one molar poking through on the top.  Also, in exciting news he has finally been upgraded to his own room (the office), and has magically turned into the best sleeper in the house!  His new honor also has something to do with the fact his brother and sister are currently failing miserably at this skill.  Nathan really is a light sleeper, and now that he is in his own room he isn't seeing mommy and wanting that one more snuggle, or being woken up by a crying sibling in the middle of the night.  He may wake once or twice throughout the night, but normally just helping him find his binkie, and a short snuggle does the trick.  No more nursing every 3 hours!  He is doing three 5 oz bottles at daycare, and a 6oz bottle at bed time.  Plus some occasional nuring in the evening, and morning. 

He isn't walking yet, but boy does he love the stairs.  Even if no one is up stairs, he knows you will come running to get him, so uses this as his reasoning to start climbing. 

He is also doing better at his babbling, and repeats momma, and dadda really well.  And he loves to give "Hi Fives"! 

Well before we know it his first birthday pictures will be up! More excitement to come.

Introducing Charlie the Bear

Let me introduce you to Charlie "Tyler's I go poopy in the potty bear!".  We haven't been pushing Tyler too much for potty training, but have been reminding him for the past year we will take him to the big mall to build his own bear when he is no longer going in his diaper.  Well this past month the light just switched on, and he is a dry, dry, dry little man.  He loves also showing his sister the skills of being able to pee while standing, fortunately she understands she doesn't get to try it!  Ok enough about the potty, you just have no idea how excited we are to not have to change his diapers any more!!  This really is more of a prize for us!  (P.S. we are guessing the name comes from his buddy at daycare, Charlie.)

31 Months Old Woo Hoo

Not being able to use the good pictures from my camera and having to relay on just my camera phone is going to drive me crazy!! 

31 months old and finally using the potty!! I couldn't be more excited to not have to change those diapers!  We aren't even close to perfect, but any time we ask Brooke to go he is more than happy to cut in line to go first. (This is how we were able to encourage him!)  Way to go Ty Ty.

Baby Lyla and her new quilt (and owl hat)

Looks like its going to let me type on this post!  I am super excited to finally have finished my first quilt, and give it to this beautiful little baby.  Lyla's parents decided to wait to determine if they were having a boy or girl, so it made it that much more difficult to find a color pattern. 

I did most of the work on the quilt at the family cottage over the summer with my mom teaching me along the way, and completed the finishing steps just recently.  I think it turned out very nice if I say so!

10 Months Old, and the sneaky guy found the stairs. The instant he found them, there was no hesitation working his way up!

Workaround: Take Pic on Phone, email to work, paste in PPT, convert to JPG. Must be the engineering in me. Tyler's shirt says "Chick's Dig Super Heros". I would agree!

This blog is going to be very boring with only title updates! We hope to invest in a new computer soon. Thank you for your patience.

Broken Computer - Home Computer only beeps, and my work one only lets me type in a title!

9 Month Stat Comparision...

Brooke:
17 lb 13 oz (50%), Height 26 1/2" (25%)

Tyler:
21.5 lbs (50%), Height 28 1/2" (50-75%)

Nate:
23 lb 6 oz (95%), Height 30" (90%)

Also, I read Tyler's 9 Month notes, and it looks like he was pretty much eating as much as Nate is, and close to sleeping as little.  Also, Nate is up to 7 teeth!!  4 on top, and 3 on bottom.

He is still drinking about 3 4oz bottles per day, and nursing about 5 times!! He takes his bottles at 9am, noon, and 3pm, and is nursing at 6pm, 8pm, 12pm, 4am, and 7am. He is one hungry little man. He is also eating foods at 9 am, and 6 pm. He is taking two naps at daycare (8-9am and 12-2pm) and I will let you guess how much he is sleeping at night based on his nursing schedule above.

2014 Here We go! 9 Months Old!

 

Well our little man if officially 3/4 of a year old!!  As you can tell by the pictures below he is still just a happy, happy little guy.  We are starting to increase his meals from 2 to 3 per day, of which he loves his fruit the best, and tolerates his vegges.  He still isn't great at finishing his bottles of milk during the day, or nursing during the day, but great at nursing at night...go figure. We (I) are trying hard to reduce feeding him at night which is currently 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m, 5 a.m....so sleepy!  Last night was the first night he actually went from 7:30 p.m to 1:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.  I would have been so refreshed if it wasn't for the fact Brooke decided to wake me every 30 minutes between the hours to 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

 

Nathan is also pulling himself up like a pro, and done with the whole army crawling thing.  Look out this little man can move.  He also will make a straight line to go somewhere, regardless what is in his path.  Our main concern is Brooke & Tyler think its funny to teach him about the stairs!  He tries to take a few steps while holding on to your hands, even though we really aren't trying to encourage walking!

 

I will get his official stats in a week and will post the numbers.  (12-18 month clothing are fitting him the best.)



2013 Catch Up!!

Okay, its that time to quickly catch back up before I get too far behind!!  Fortunately for you, unfortunately for me, I don't feel right about just starting with today's pictures, and not going back to where I left off.  I will keep the writing short to not bore you too much, but here is a quick summary of our lives over the past few months!

 

 

The entertainment of the circus....

 

Nathan learning how to stand, and Brooke's fall craft.

Tyler's 28 month shots!

Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, OH.

Thanksgiving festivities...

Nathan's 8 month shots!

Our silly, silly elf PJ and all his hiding spots through the month of December.  The kids made sure to be on extra good behavior as PJ travelled back to the North Pole with his Christmas magic each night to give Santa the daily report.

Brooke's 53 month shots, Shelly's 8 year sign picture, and the Christmas stockings ready to go!

Tyler's 29 month shots, Christmas cookies, and a fancy "hand" wreath.

Christmas Eve, Eve party!

Christmas Eve Party.

Christmas Party!

New Years Eve nap & tea party!

Cheers!  Now on to a fabulous 2014!!