My Hands are Full

We were looking forward to going to Easter Church service today but Tom is feeling pretty sick. He went to the doctor on Friday and found out he has a sinus infection, double ear infection and a virus. Poor guy!! He was able to get antibiotics so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

I spent the week telling the boys not to play on the top bunk... I come upstairs and Tom is taking pictures of Drew jumping off his bed. This is why Dad is the fun one and I'm the one they come to when they get hurt!

We sometimes have to wake Reese up from his naps. If he sleeps longer than 3 hours he has a hard time going to sleep at his 8:00 bedtime. At least he is usually in a good mood after his nap :)

Claire is still doing GREAT! It seems she is either sleeping, eating, or smiling at us. She has started to "talk" some and you can tell she is really excited to communicate. If she's anything like me, she'll probably like to talk a lot. That's okay, I've been praying I'll become a better listener and Claire will probably give me plenty of opportunities to practice!

Thanksgiving Already?!?!

Looking out our back window this morning we were surprised to see a flock (gaggle?) of turkeys. I counted 13 of the birds hanging out in our yard then 7 more came out of the woods to join in the fun. The boys thought it was pretty neat. This picture was taken after they spotted us in the window and we frightened them away. Sounds like an exciting Saturday morning doesn't it?

Reese is sick today. He has a fever and VERY messy diapers (you can probably guess what I'm talking about). We feel so bad for him! Drew is being very sweet and helping us take care of our sick patient.

Claire loves sleeping in her car seat. She is 9 weeks old and I'm still letting her sleep in it during the night. I just can't bring myself to switch her to her crib when she's consistently sleeping 8-10 hours straight. The doctor said it's fine but I'm still hoping she'll learn to sleep in her crib before she can't fit in her car seat anymore!

Check Up

Claire had her 2 month check up yesterday. She is 24 inches long and weighs 12 lbs. 2 oz. Poor girl had to get 3 shots today. When the nurse was taking her measurements Claire was fussing a little. Drew jumped out of his chair and sternly told the nurse, "Hey! She doesn't like that!" The nurse had to reassure him that she wasn't hurting Claire but just checking to make sure she is healthy. It was good to see a protective streak in Drew already. Any boy who wants to date Claire in the future had better watch out!

Ohio Weekend

First things first... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMI!!!

I couldn't have been blessed with a more wonderful sister-in-law! We love you!!

We had a great time in Ohio this weekend. The highlights were: getting to meet Levi!!, hanging out with the family (both the immediate family and extended group!), playing in the snow (mostly Tom and the boys, Claire and I just watched).

Thanks to Mom & Dad for a wonderful weekend and for letting us all invade your normally peaceful house with our chaos. We really enjoyed our time there!

The boys "helped" Grandma make a birthday cake for Tami.

Uno Anyone?

Reese officially has a new favorite toy - a deck of Uno cards. He's been carrying them around like a security blanket for the past two weeks. He has no clue how to play Uno but he is really good at putting the different colored cards in their respective piles. First thing in the morning, when he wakes up, the first words out of his mouth are usually, "I need my cards." I know what you're thinking... I'm such a mean mom since I don't let him sleep with the cards but I'd hate to see him wake up with a blue "Draw Two" card stuck to his face :)

It's hard to remember all the funny things the boys say throughout the day but every once in a while they'll say or do something that is hard to forget. Drew, for instance, proudly informed me that he can blow his nose really well by himself. Always ready to see their new tricks I excitedly asked him to show me. He put the tissue to his nose and blew but somehow all the snot ended up all over his hand! We both laughed. I'm sure it will go better next time.

Reese helped us realize that sometimes, they do actually listen to what we say. When Tom got home from work last night he walked over to say "hi" to Claire. Reese then told Tom, "Stay out of her face, Dad!" I can't imagine where he heard that from... :)

Well, it's time to get packing to head to Grandma Gheen's house. The boys are SO excited!

Never a Dull Moment

Well, if anyone has the secret to raising Godly kids who make wise decisions we are ALL EARS!! I started making dinner tonight while the boys headed to their basement playroom (which we thought was pretty kid-proofed). I had been in the kitchen about 5 minutes and noticed the boys were being really quiet... I have learned from past experience, that is a bad sign! I went to check on my mischievous boys. They immediately looked guilty but I had to talk with them to figure out why. Aparently, they took a light bulb out of a lamp and threw it against the window. Then I saw the shattered glass all over the sofa and floor. Thankfully the boys were not injured... this time. Our thoughts: why?! how?! What were they thinking throwing a light bulb against the window?!!!

When Tom got home we tried talking with the boys about their decision. We got done with, what we thought was a serious talk, when Andrew completely changed the subject making it clear everything we said went in one ear and out the other... how do you reason with a 2 and 4 year old? Parenting is definitely the toughest job either of us have ever had!! Thank the Lord we know prayer works and we are more committed then ever to praying for our kids!

She Found Her Voice...

My sweet little girl has discovered she can cry. After almost 8 weeks of her quiet, laid back personality I was getting spoiled! Yesterday she cried every time I stepped out of her sight. I had to carry her around most of the day since whenever I put her down she'd scream. This is a huge change from the little girl who would simply grunt to let me know she was hungry. Today she seems to be back to her quiet self but I'm not holding my breath... yesterday she got a taste of how effective crying can be and I'm guessing she won't easily forget it :)

The boys have Sarah Mailand here to babysit/play with them this afternoon. I can hear them downstairs having a great time!! In a little while we are heading into Safe Records Center to let the boys ride their bikes around the warehouse again. We'll do anything we can think of to give them the chance to wear off some energy!!

Long, hard weekend

Everyone was sick this weekend... except me. The kids have all had colds for the last week or so and Tom started feeling bad toward the end of the week. We tried to do a few things to get out of the house... we went to McDonald's to play and went into Safe Records Center so they could ride their bikes around the warehouse. Everything seemed harder than usual because the boys were grumpy and complaining constantly. We are still adjusting to life with 3 kids and this weekend really put our patience to the test! The highlight of the weekend - by far - was when all the boys went down to the basement to play music.

I had to miss play group today (don't they look like a great group of gals?!) because I don't want to expose all my friends' kids to my sick kids. I really miss going. Many weeks it's my only opportunity to have some adult conversation with my friends!! Thank God we are going to Ohio this weekend!! It will be great to see the family!