Teenagers, Halloween and missing the grandparents

Ava, I feel like we have skipped ten years with you and we are raising a teenager.  Just this week you have locked me out of your bedroom because we didn't have red juice and told me you didn't want to talk to me.  But then you bring out the sweetness and push your little brother in the swing or give Carter a hug after he hurts himself. 

She told me she was pretending to be a fireman, see the boots and hat?

Carter has motivated me to finally decorate for Halloween.  Let's be honest, I have plenty of places for my money to go besides seasonal decorations, so I have just never gotten around to decorating the outside of the house.  But after frequent questioning "Why don't we have spider webs for the outside of our house?"  "Why isn't our house scary?"  "Can we please get a big spider for outside?"  I decided just to break down and get some spider webs and a giant big blue spider.  He also conned me into a skeleton for our front door.  I think he shares his father's love for garish seasonal decorations! 


Another story for the grandparents:  This week Dawson was sitting in his high chair fussing for his food.  Carter looked at me and said "I think he misses Grandma and Bo."  I think he may be missing them himself, because he also asked "Why can't Grandma and Bo stay at our house?"  

The Kids

Excuses, Excuses.

One of Ava's favorite excuses right now is "I can't.  It's raining."  For example, we are walking out the door and I want her to use the restroom before we leave.  "I can't.  It's raining."  Time to wash her hair in the bathtub.  "I can't.  It's raining."  I've thought about using this on her the next time she asks me to make lunch or dinner.  "I can't.  It's raining."  I doubt that would go over well.

The love of a son

I am blessed with a sweet amazing four year old boy.  But twice today he has leaned in to give me a hug or kiss and has bashed me in the face HARD with his skull.  At one point I was certain he had given me a bloody nose, but luckily for me, I just hurt that bad!

Baby Boy

Dawson is growing so fast!  This weekend his first long anticipated tooth popped out.  He is also pulling up to stand and crawling everywhere like crazy.  Although Hi Da is his favorite thing to say, we have also heard Mama on occasions too.

Thank you so much to Grandma and Bo who did a wonderful job taking care of our bunch.  Mike and I had a great time in Vegas.  It felt incredibly luxurious to be able to cater to ourselves for a couple of days, instead of juggling the needs of three demanding babies.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to our favorite Doctor!

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, and find great use for your new throwing hatchet.

10 months

10 months old.

Man, it's been way to long since I've seen one of my boys in this jacket. 

Over the past month you have become such a different baby.  You are pretty much eating strictly table food right now.  I think this is the main reason why your spitting up has calmed down.  You are sleeping reliably through the night (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!).

You will wave to us.  You have a definite first word: Dada.  Your first phrase:  Hi Dada.  When Daddy comes home for the day, you are all over him.  Yelling Hi Dada over the chaos of your brother and sister definitely gets you some attention!  I have also heard you try to meow like a kitty.  You were pretty smitten with the little cat that hung around our cabin in Hocking Hills.

Nowadays, this is what we see:  a crawling little boy determined to explore his world.  You also love to stand up (holding onto furniture or hands of course).  You have even let go, determined to stand with no help.  As one can expect, that did not go well. 

Your hair is growing longer and longer.  You typically nap once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  On Sundays we have been taking you to church, but unfortunately it is right in the middle of your naptime.  You screech and yell and holler and then the last five minutes of church you fall asleep on my shoulder.

We love you baby.  Just don't grow up too fast!

Saturday Hike

Hiking day today!

We decided to shirk responsibility.  Mike needed to mow and do lawn work, I had bathrooms and vacuuming that were screaming my name.  But we decided to go for a hike instead, and boy am I ever glad we made that decision.

Here are the pics:

Mom head hugs.

Our kids are tree huggers.  Or at least we want them to be.

I'm a sucker for a good leaf picture.

Back story in case you were scratching your head:  It was December 2006.  Mike and I headed out Museum Center for a company christmas party.  For some weird reason I was feeling incredibly tired.  Then we started looking at a photography exhibit.  There was a picture of beautiful fall leaves in a stream.  I started crying because it was just so....beautiful.  (And by the way, I'm not a frequent crier.)  Then we found out a couple days later that we were pregnant with Carter.  That explains a lot, we should have known!

Fairy in the forest

This little boy is 100% team Dad.

Family in the Forest

I can't believe that both older kids hiked an entire mile.  There was quite a bit of whining and complaining at the end, but they pulled it out.  It's funny how they were too tired to walk another step, but we had little "races" and that motivated them to finish the last quarter mile. 



Baby Wearing Babies

Our favorite game right now?  Well besides "You be the bear" is "I need a baby carrier/dog carrier." 

Take one scarf and baby doll and voila! Instant baby carrier. 

Or puppy carrier.

Right now I'm gearing up for my kid-free VACATION to Las Vegas! So Grandma and Bo, you had better brush up on your scarf tying skills!

Our Food Adventure

Recently we have begun to change the way we are eating.  We have cut out all processed foods, focusing on eating more vegetables and only whole grains.  I have to say, we all feel better and Mike and I have both lost a little weight in the four weeks we have done it.  Here are some of our favorite meals so far:

Farmer's market stiry fry with broccoli, yellow squash, carrots, cauliflower, shrimp and some kind of bean that I already forgot the name of!  With a little brown rice it was heaven!  The kids didn't love it, but they did pick out the veggies they liked and ate the brown rice.

I also made a homemade spaghetti sauce:  tomatoes from my garden and the farmer's market, onion, eggplant, basil and a little honey.  The kids ate it up with whole wheat spaghetti.

Meme, you laughed at me but we made Kale chips.  They were good.  Between the kids and I we ate an entire bunch of kale in one sitting.  Mike wasn't in love with them, but the batch that he tried was a little burned.

Ava helped to make (and eat) Kale chips.

Baby verdict:  kale chips get two thumbs up!

I think the biggest change for Mike was meatless dinners.  Although he prefers a dinner with meat, he has ate my meatless concoctions and enjoyed them.  Even the ones with onion, squash, and peppers!

Tonight I served salad (!) for dinner.  Mike ate it, and even said he liked it.  Later on, he told me "Wow, I'm really stuffed."  What a huge change from the man I met ten years ago who would eat 80+ wings in one sitting!   

I have to say there have also been major successes with the kids  Carter did eat some lettuce and avocado, but mainly picked the eggs out of his salad.  Then for dessert he asked for applesauce!  I'm so proud of that little boy!

It's been a learning process for me, because really I know very little about the actual act of cooking.  I know how to open a jar of spaghetti sauce and dump it over noodles, but I've never made a homemade sauce.  Or homemade granola.  Or homemade tortillas (they were to die for!)  On the downside:  I feel like I'm cooking/cleaning up the kitchen all the time.

Thank you, grandparents for putting up with this very non-grandchild centered post.