Birthday Plans

Have you heard?

This girl is about to turn two soon.

(t was not warm enough for her to wear this outfit today.  She found it on the floor and had to wear the "bug dress."  Eventually I layered it with sweat pants and a long sleeve onesie and she went about her merry way.)

Back to her birthday.  I've been talking to her about her birthday and trying to see what she would like for her family birthday party.  So far this is what I got: she would like tacos, chocolate milk, cake, and a santa tree.  

Yup, she asked for a santa tree.

So, it sounds like we are going to have a taco bar and cake of course.  But does it make me crazy for considering getting one of our small trees out of the garage and decorating it with pink beads and feathers for her birthday?  Yes, Mike and I do in fact have three artificial christmas trees.  Exactly zero out of three have made it back into the attic.

Blue Seersucker suit in size 5 T for three bucks?  I'll take it.  I love this little suit.  If you remember we also have a very similar suit in size 12 months that Carter wore for his 6 months pictures.  I can't wait to dress the kids up for Easter!

(Notice the red spots on his chin and forehead?  Yup, he still won't stop picking at them.  Band-aids and liquid skin don't let in air so they won't heal.  But when they aren't covered he picks at them.  That dog cone is looking better by the second.)

Littlest guy has started batting at the bunny on the papasan seat. 

Mike is upstairs with a migraine, I hope he feels better soon.

That wraps it up for now!

In a Funk

Boy, oh boy am I tired of winter/sicknesses.

It seems that everyone in the family is coming down with a cold right now.  Mike and I woke up with sore throats, Carter is coughing incessantly, Ava has a runny nose and Dawson sounds congested.  We just got over all this junk last week!  Sorry, but I needed to have a little pity party for myself.  Sicknesses makes the kids grumpy and prone to temper tantrums, which in turn makes me grumpy and prone to temper tantrums.  (Not really, but you know what I mean.)  But in two more days it will be April, so hopefully we will be leaving all this behind. 

Poor Guy, he wasn't feeling good.  Plus those cheeks are to die for.

So instead of having fun adventures this week, we stayed at home today.  Probably tomorrow as well.  Although looking on the bright side, I get to go to the grocery store tonight!

Hopefully we will all be feeling well soon.

Tidbits

I'm ready for the fish fry!

Here are the latest little tidbits from our family:

• The kids went to their first fish fry last friday.  Carter tried the fish, but Ava did not.  Luckily cheese pizza was also on the menu. 
• In the restroom at the fish fry Carter was telling Mike about the "spots" on his face.  (The spots are the three seperate scabs that he picks at incessently.)  He told Mike "look at my spots.  They're my leprechauns.  Don't wash off my leprechauns!  The leprechauns don't like that."  Apparently he had the men laughing pretty hard in the restroom.
• Ava is such a little instigator and is getting smarter by the minute.  She blew a great big raspberry (and a lot of spit) right into Carter's face.  Mike told her "We don't spit in people's faces.  Please don't do that again."  So she looked at him and walked over to Carter and did a great big fake sneeze right into his face.  Boy, are we ever in for it when she gets older.
• Mike and I had a wonderful night out at Jay's Seafood and The Dayton Philharmonic.  Thank you so much for the great night Mom and Dad!  I was able to have two of my absolute favorites:  King Crab legs and peanut butter pie!  Also a huge thank you to Aunt Margie for watching all the kids:  Brendan 8, Riley 5, Carter 3, Avery 1 and Dawson 3 months.  I think she earns the golden Auntie Award!

It was such a busy weekend, we were all exhausted on Sunday.  We are looking forward to the upcoming quiet restful weekend.  Carter is on spring break this week from preschool, so we are looking forward to some adventures this week including the Cincinnati Art Museum for Wee Wednesdays.  Wish me lots of luck!

Murphy's Law for Moms

Everyone knows Murphy's Law; whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.  I'm finding out that it also heavily applies to motherhood.  Here are some current scenarios that demonstrates this:

• If there is going to be a big loud thunderstorm with loud driving rain and hail, it will occur during naptime, as soon as you get all three children sleeping.  Why thank you so much universe, I really wanted to spend my only quiet time of the day comforting three crying scared children! 
• Your preschooler will pick the WORST possible times to have to use the restroom, especially when you are lugging an infant in a car seat carrier, a handful of library books, a diaper bag and a toddler out of the library.
• If you are out to dinner at a restaurant, all THREE children will choose this time of day for their daily constitutional.  There's nothing more fun than changing two poopy diapers in a dirty restaurant bathroom!  Really helps you work up an appetite.
• The minute you tell someone that your baby is sleeping wonderfully they will wake up every hour on the hour. 
• If you as a mother of a three month old baby decide to put on a half way decent shirt (as in not a t-shirt borrowed from your husband that he has worn since college) your baby will spit up on you, even if it has been two hours since their last feeding.  And it will go through the burp cloth, down your shirt, jeans and onto your socks.  Take that Mom!

I'm sure there are a hundred more examples, but these are my most recent experiences.  Life with a bunch is never dull, that's for sure!

A post about Nothing

What have we been up to?

A whole lot of nothing, but yet enjoying every second.

All three kids have been on steroids and antibiotics, and baby Dawson is still on them.  The weather has been gorgeous, so we have been outside soaking up every second.  We visited with the Grandma, Bo, Jay and Tiff on Saturday.  We visited Meme, Grandpap, Nana, and cousins Brendan and Riley on Sunday.

Today we are recovering from the weekend, and as soon as the kids are up from nap we are going to go spend lots of time outside.  I even broke out a short sleeve shirt and my flip flops.  Oh, how I have missed my flip flops!

(All these pictures were taken on St Patty's Day)

This girl loves her some baby Dawson.

Carter loves riding his bike, a christmas present.  Would someone please convince him he no longer needs to wear mittens outside?

Fresh air and sunshine for littlest one too!

I'm so happy that spring is beginning to make an appearance.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Or as my Mom's family calls it, Happy Irish Christmas!

We set a leprechaun trap last night, and he did not disappoint!

Wallets and fruit leather (which I told the kids was candy)

The Leprechauns brought Dawson a blue puppy dog towel.

(I don't know why but I think Dawson looks like Aunt Margie in this picture.)

My wee three.

Thank you Meme for Dawson's St Patrick's Day outfit!  He looked so handsome today.

I love making holidays special for the kids.  They had a ball yesterday painting the box to make the leprechaun trap, then finally pasting it with stickers and rigging it to the shelf.  We also celebrated with shamrock shakes!  Huge bonus:  today was a gorgeous day so we were able to take a long walk and spend time outside riding bikes and running off some energy.   

A swimming preview

Here's what my stylish boys will be wearing this summer at the pool:

My little Twinkies



Baby Blue

Need a Dawson fix?

Well, you are in luck.

And I will leave you with three more words:

PRE-CARTER JEANS!!!



Bottom's Up!

Yesterday after nap the big kids woke up with a 101.4 and 101.9 fever. 

So it was tylenol all around and Bottom's Up!

The sleep deprivation has continued with multipe get up times during the night for nebulizer treatments, tylenol and hugs for coughing kids and of course to feed a little baby.  I actually had this thought in my head when Dawson woke up me this morning:  if I could stay overnight in the hospital I could sleep all night long.  For as long as I want.  I could even take naps there. 

Pretty sad that I'm dreaming of a vacation at a hospital.

So wish us good luck this weekend!  We're going to try to get some projects done around the house along with take care of sick kids.



Laugh a minute

With young children, there is always a challenge.  Once you think you have a handle on life they figure out something else to get into, pose another challenging behavior or in this case ask off the wall questions.  Here are some questions I've been fielding lately:

• How can I take off my nipples?
• Why do volcanoes erupt?
• Why is the ocean blue?

And funny conversations that are hard to explain:

Carter:  Mommy what are you doing?
Me:  Going to the bathroom and feeding dawson
Carter:  You can feed dawson milk in the bathroom.  He will fall into the toliet.
Me:  Well, I wasn't going to do that.  I was going to go to the bathroom and then feed dawson.  Oh, forget it.  (As Carter runs off laughing silly mommy! don't feed dawson in the bathroom!)

I also love the "NO" stage of toddlerhood that Ava is going through right now. 

Me:  Ava, do you want a glass of milk?
Ava:  NO!  (as she simulatenously reaches for the glass.)

Me:  Ava what is your favorite color?
Ava:  NO!

It's just a laugh a minute around here.

On the road again

Are we totally insane to even contemplate a ten hour car ride with three kids under three?

As long as everyone looks like this, we'll be totally fine.

A rare Ava sleeping in the car moment.  She will fight car naps with the zeal of a prize fighter.

(Pictures taken on the way home this weekend.)

What do you think?

Dessert

Mommy, Mommy come here! 
I made you zert!

Inwardly I sigh but instead I say "Oh Great, show me what you made."

Here's what I know:  his dessert contains water, hand lotion, cardboard toliet paper roll and contact lense solution.  I'm sure there are some additional "secret ingredient."  Anyone want to come over for a little dessert?

By the way, the cup went straight into the trash as soon as he wasn't looking.

Also, this baby?

I could eat him with a spoon.  The sleeper he is wearing is size 9 MONTHS!  He can still fit into 3-6 month pants, but not onesies or sleepers.  He is a long kid!  I love watching my kids grow. 

Weekend Excursion

This weekend we took the kids to visit Grandma and Bo's House.  Which, I must say is a pretty big feat to take our bunch on a five hour road trip.  The ride there was amazing.  Everyone slept for the first two and a half hours and then were happily content in the car (even Dawson!) for the last two and a half hours.  I had a great weekend because Grandma and Bo watched the kids while Mommy and Daddy visited a winery for dinner.  Thanks Bo and Grandma!  We also visited the Cleveland Children's Museum.  Here are some pictures:

The look on his face says it all:  Woah.  I am on TV.

The sand box was a huge hit with Carter.  Not so much with Avery though.

We also had to pry this kid off the fire truck.

Avery enjoyed playing with the dolls.

Grocery shopping too.

I think Daddy enjoyed the water table as much as her!

Baby Dawson slept a little, enjoyed his bottle, and played with Bo and Grandma for awhile.

We all had a great time.  Now the ride home was a different story.  Certainely not the worst trip we've ever had, but boy was Ava MISERABLE.  She cried/whined about being stuck, wanted out of her car seat, threw everything on the floor then expected me to go and get it, and tried to wake up her little brother. 

We also popped over to Sidney to wish Brendan a Happy 9th Birthday on the way home (also to mooch some pizza and cake.)  We hope you had the best birthday!

Now we are recovering.  A day to rest and get back on schedule.  And for me?  Loads and loads of laundry.  Thanks for having us Bo and Grandma, we had the best time! 

Three Months

Dawson baby you are three months old now!

On February 15th when I took you for your two month check up you weighed 13 lbs 10 oz and were 24.5 inches long.  That puts you into the 97th percentile for height.  Maybe you inheirited some height genes from my side of the family?

(For comparison's sake, Carter was 23.5 inches long and 14 pounds 9 oz at his two month check up.  What a chunker!)

This is one of my favorite outfits on you.  There is no denying that you are a "junior."  The green shirt almost makes your eyes look green!

Lately you have developed a very definitive bed time.  Around six thirty you start fussing and the only thing that will soothe you is pajamas, a night time snack and your bed.  Before realizing this, I put you to bed one day at 6:00 thinking you were taking an evening nap.  You slept all the way until 11 when I woke you up to feed you before I went to bed! 

How do you do this to your toes?  It looks so uncomfortable, but I see you doing it all the time!

The thick dark locks of your newborn days are long gone.  Instead they have been replaced by a thin patch on top and thicker hair on the bottom.  Every day I wonder if your hair will start growing like Ava's or if you will stay bald for awhile like Carter boy.  Only time will tell.

We love you Dawson baby!

To my kids

Dear Children,

As Frank Costanza would say "I've got a lot of problems with you people."  So here is the rundown:

Carter:  STOP PICKING AT THE SCAB ON YOUR NOSE!!  I'm really tempted to get a dog cone to put on your head until it (finally) heals.  Either that or duct tape your hand into a fist so you can't pick at your nose.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Avery:  Your table manners leave much to be desired. Throwing/dropping your bowls/cups/spoons on the floor is not a fun game.  Also, I'm pretty sure that Daddy would like you to stop biting him.  Get it? Got it?  Good.

Note to self:  Really cute picture of baby smiling, but need to work on getting his whole face in the picture.  I just love him smiling so much I had to share .

Dawson:  It is IMPOSSIBLE to nurse and suck on your fingers at the same time.  So please stop screaming and crying at me because I have to pry your little fingers away from your mouth during meal times.  Also, we've started calling you the vomit comet because the spitting up is OUT OF CONTROL.

So if we could all work on these areas it would be much appreciated.

Love you much,

Mommy and Daddy  

Although as my wise Uncle Bobby told me Little kids little problems, big kids big problems.