April

I just uploaded some pics tonight and figured it was high time to stop procrastinating and write a blog post!  It's not that I don't ever have a free minute (the kids are pretty good about taking naps at the same time most days, thank you God!), but I have all these other things that I'm always trying to do during nap time.  Suddenly I've developed all these new interests, none of which I probably have the time to pursue right now.  And honestly, my thoughts are so scattered and totally unorganized that I don't even really know where to begin.  It's like I've forgotten how to blog.  Maybe that just tends to happen with the more kids you have?  There are so many things that I could and would love to write about (each child is in a totally different stage and doing his/her own remarkable things), but it's just hard to narrow it down.

So tonight I'll just write shortly about our littlest darling (at least the one who tends to act the most darling at the moment, as she's in the easiest stage!).  Molly turned six months old yesterday (I hate to even say that.....I have just loved her as a baby and it's going by so fast!).  I can't even describe the way I adore this chunky little thing.....she is just my little doll.  She has turned into a laid-back, fairly easy baby (although she didn't start out this way!), and the only time I struggle with her is when I'm carting her around to do errands all day long while the boys are in school (she can't seem to take a decent nap in the car, so she's very fussy by lunchtime).  But at home, she takes great naps in her crib (and will actually go to sleep on her own, which takes a lot of stress off me!) and she is content doing almost anything.

Right now she loves grabbing anything you hold in front of her face.  She'll stay busy for a while just grabbing toys, and she loves her jumperoo and exersaucer for that reason.  She loves to chew on fingers (and the kitchen table), but she hasn't figured out how to put her toys in her mouth after she grabs them.  I guess I should be thankful!

She can ALMOST sit up on her own, but she will fall over to the side after a few seconds if I don't balance her.

She eats baby food and cereal here and there- when I'm motivated enough to get it together while I'm getting everyone else's food ready.  It's still too early to tell what her favorites are, but she definitely prefers sweet potatoes to green beans (I'd have to agree with her).  I'm trying to do more veggies than fruits, hoping this might result in a two-year-old who will actually eat vegetables (we haven't experienced one of those yet).

She loves looking at faces- one night I was holding her up in front of the tv watching Dennis Miller on the O'Reilly Factor, and she was beaming ear to ear as she was watching those men talk.  I think she thinks they're talking straight to her.  And most of all, she LOVES her brothers!  It's hard to explain, but she gets giddy when they come near her (especially Grant, it seems).  She squeals and laughs and blows bubbles.....it's like she's trying to play with them and she thinks she's just as big as they are.  Those are my favorite moments these days, watching the boys love on her and just listening to her squeal with delight when they even come near. 

Goodnight!  No promises but hopefully more to come before another six weeks goes by!

PS.  For some more pictures of the kids, see Facebook....I just added pictures from March last week.

Amazon woman

I took Molly for her 4-month checkup last week.  A few days leading up to it, I was thinking that she seems very tall for her age (not like I can really remember how big the boys were at any given age).  Sure enough, she's 26.5 inches long, putting her in the 97th percentile.  Of course it's impossible to make estimates as to her height at this point.  And she was actually closer to 4.5 months old when I took her, so she could have grown a little in those two weeks.  But her doctor told her that girls in the high 90s, percentile wise, will likely be in the 6 foot range.  No!  Of course I know it's nothing to worry about (my goodness, she is healthy and I know that's all that really matters), but I just hope she's not four inches taller than Drew when they're adults (he was just a little below average at his two-year checkup). 

She didn't get any of her shots.....with Dean's new job, we have less-than-stellar insurance.  It covers $500 of well child costs per year, which probably isn't too bad once kids reach age two and don't get as many shots.  But Molly's 4-month shots alone (not including the actual doctor's visit) would've cost over $600 at the pediatrician's office.  So I'll have to take her to a clinic to get all of her shots this year.  I assumed it would probably just be a prorated amount that I'd pay (like, maybe $150 instead of $600).  But I asked a friend in a similar situation (whose daughter is almost two), and she said that the clinic gives all these shots for FREE.  I cannot believe this....no wonder they cost so much for those who can actually pay (or whose insurance pays)!  I feel a tiny bit guilty getting something like this for free, but I guess I should think of it as our tax dollars finally doing something for us!

A few pictures of Mollyboo at 4 months:

All three kiddos watching Wipeout one night:

Stylish little lady:

 She's not nearly as easy to hold as she used to be!

Smiley girl:

She'll sit and play in her jumperoo for a few minutes at a time now.  And she loves chewing on her fingers. 

Some pictures

 One Saturday Dean was fixing something in his car, and Grant grabbed one of my recipe books, laid it in front of him, and started "working" on his big wheel (pretending like he was looking at his "manual" for direction every so often).

Drew will often hold up something and say "Mommy, take picture my ah-yah" ("ah-yah is his blanky).  Then he says "me see!"

I still swaddle Molly every night (at over 4 months old).  I don't swaddle her too tightly anymore, but she settles down so much better that way.  She usually sleeps until about 5am now (although occasionally it's earlier).  But she doesn't sleep well during the day (I can't remember the last time she slept over an hour at a time).  But it's difficult getting her on a consistent nap schedule when we're out three days per week taking the boys to school (and picking them up). 

The boys wrestle with each other during the day, then with Daddy when he gets home:

We pulled out the jumperoo last week for the first time.  She likes it, at least for a while.  It doesn't seem like she should already be big enough for this!

Drew is so silly....every time he eats a piece of pizza, he eats it backwards, starting with the crust.  Every time!

See this little plastic bag?  It's just a ziploc bag that he filled with Valentine cards and other things, then carried it around for a few days.  He and Drew are constantly filling bags, backpacks, lunchboxes, and other containers with toys and other stuff.  They don't play with the toys, they just cram them into the container, carry them around, and dump them out again.  I hope this stage ends soon! 

We found the Volkswagen Star Wars commercial from the super bowl on You Tube.  I knew the boys would like it.  Grant is all about Star Wars right now!  He wanted to watch the "Dark Thader" commercial over and over again.

They boys love jumping off the coffee table (in our formal living room) onto either the couch or their beanbag.  At night before bathtime/bedtime, they're either wrestling with Daddy or doing something like this.

 This particular night, Dean recorded them on his phone and they wanted to see the video replayed.  Grant tries really hard to cross his arms (I guess he thinks it makes him look bigger), and so of course Drew tries doing the same thing! 

Our life in one word: CHAOS

Oh my goodness!  Life is so crazy right now.  I would love to blog every couple of days (there are always memorable and funny things that happen, especially with my crazy boys and their antics), but I guess it's just not going to happen right now.  When the kids go to sleep, I have about 25 things I'd like to do before going to bed, not to mention other things that just need to get done (laundry, cleaning the kitchen, getting somewhat prepared for the next day, etc.).  I only get pictures uploaded about every ten days, and by that time I don't even remember the context of many of them!  Aah!  Anyway, here's a rundown of what's going on in early 2011 in our house:

- Molly is four months old now and is such a joy.  She's my little companion wherever I go....I just adore her (of course- she's my child!) and can't get enough of her.  Well, actually, I guess that's not totally accurate....she doesn't sleep well during the day (another reason for the lack of blog posts), so by the evening she's really fussy and we're all ready for bedtime!  But for the most part, she's smiley and adorable and loves getting attention from her big brothers....her face lights up when they come near her.   

- It's been a hard winter!  We've had lots of really cold days that have made it impossible to be outside.  And that's tough when you have two little boys who drive their momma CRAZY fighting and making messes inside.  I know they're just boys and I'm really trying to not let the messes bother me.  I'm not a clean freak (our house is hardly ever dusted or mopped), but the clutter just gets to me sometimes.  But I'm really trying to work on this, so I don't spend their childhood scolding them for basically just being normal little boys.

- Our dear pastor, John-G, died of cancer on Jan 27.  We've only belonged to this church for 2.5 years, but we loved him and learned so much from him.  He was an amazing teacher and an incredibly down-to-earth guy.  He was a New York City police officer before he decided to go into ministry.  He was only 48, and he and his wife Kim have four kids (their youngest boy is seven).  It just makes me so sad when I see the kids who will finish growing up without their dad.

- The kids and I have been exploring neighborhoods and finding fun parks where they can play- our days are much more fun when we get out of the house.  Sometimes I'll let Molly sleep in the car and we'll just drive around while the boys watch a movie.  It's a break for me, because I love driving around different neighborhoods and finding new places where we can explore.  We'd have so much fun if every day in Texas was 70 degrees and we could be outside all the time!

- We joined the YMCA at the end of January.  Today was my first day to go (two weeks later!).  I haven't worked out since Grant was born, so I am desperately out of shape.  I went to a kick-boxing class today, which was quite fun.  I'm also wanting to try pilates and step aerobics. 

- The boys are good friends now.  Drew is talking a lot more, so they can actually have real conversations.  It's really cute to watch (except when they argue.....then it's not so fun!).  They wrestle and chase each other and they do a lot of pretending together.  It's fun to see them actually acting like real buddies now.

- I hate cooking!  It is so hard trying to get something made for dinner right in the middle of a frustrating afternoon.  And Molly is usually incredibly fussy that time of day.  AND I'm never prepared ahead of time, so I always end up looking in the fridge at 1pm and wonder what in the world I'm going to make.  If it didn't cost so much money, I'd suggest we go out to eat three times a week!

Pictures hopefully coming soon!

MONTHLY update? How sad!

Okay, well I guess my computer is telling me that it's time to go to bed.  I uploaded some pictures from the camera tonight and was actually planning on writing something.  But now my computer is beeping at me.  So I guess that means I need to go to bed and do it tomorrow instead.  Every day there are so many funny and memorable things that happen, and I'd love to have time to blog every night (I do keep a Word document open and I write many of them out as they happen, just for my own record).  But I guess putting together coherent blog posts a few times per week is just not going to happen with all these crazy kids! 

So more tomorrow (or three weeks from now)....