dress up

These boys love to play dress up. The favorite costumes are Sully and Batman (or any of the other capes and masks). These boys are too fun. Sometimes they are in character all day (Batman only eats mac and cheese for lunch - for example), other times they want to wear their costumes just as their clothes...

Matix asked that I take a picture of him in this pose. Silly.

bath time baby

Since Lullaby can sit up by herself now (fairly well), she thinks she needs to do it all the time. In the car seat she is always straining to sit up, and never lets her head rest back. In the tub, she does the same thing. She can't just have a relaxing bath, she is working those muscles the entire time. Silly girl. Can you tell from the pictures how much she is straining? :) And the rolls. I love how chunky she is.

Plus, check it out! She is getting some HAIR on her head (other than the little mullet thing she has going on in the back)... HOORAY!

So far it pops up right on the top like a Kewpie doll, adorable. I can hardly wait for the piggy tail days! I can't really tell what color it will be though. It looks like it might be a reddish-brown? But who knows really, Hawken came out with black hair and now he's a blondy...

Lullaby

Little miss Lullaby Loo... Oh you are so sweet. You are the world's most perfect baby. I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have you. Lullaby is almost 5 months old already. She is growing by leaps and bounds and has been following in her brothers' footsteps in reaching many milestones on the early side. She is sitting alone, although still a bit wobbly. Lullaby smiles and coos and "talks" all the time. She is rediculously ticklish and her laugh is just edible.

She eats rice cereal now, even though I am pretty sure she hates the taste of it, smiles the whole time because she likes the social aspect of it all. She takes 3 naps a day, and the middle one coincides with the boys' nap (hooray!). She doesn't sleep through the night, but with all the growing she has been doing, it makes sense that she would need to refuel more often. :) When she gets upset, it is very easy to calm her down. Her brothers are always ready to help. They hold her hands and kiss her face and sing her songs.

Lullaby, you are the sweetest little thing. I love you like crazy and I am so proud to be your mommy.

Matix

Matix, where do I start with this kid? He has such a BIG personality. He knows exactly what he wants and has his entire day planned out the minute his eyes pop open. He is more sensitive and emotional than any child I have ever met too. If things don't go his way, even if they slightly deviate from his plan, he loses it.

He has great ideas and will help anyone that needs it. He shares very well, even when we don't prompt him to (most of the time). He loves life and being the biggest brother. He loves to role play and will tell you exactly what you're supposed to say and do for your part. He says he is going to marry Anna when he grows up, and Emmy, and me. He loves to watch movies with bad guys in them, so he can fight them and save the princess (and usually ends up kissing them...).

Matix loves to watch over Lullaby, and takes such sweet care of her. I love you Matix man. You are one of a kind and I love every minute of being your mommy.

Hawken

This little Hawken man has my heart wrapped up in his little fingers. He has been growing by leaps and bounds and is always amazing me.

I love that he still wants me to hold him and carry him, while Matix tells me, "Mommy, I'm hurting your muscles. I'm getting too bigger for you to hold me." Hawken comes in every morning and loves on me and tells me he missed me. When he goes to play outside in the yard, he tells me, "Don't be sad mommy, I'll be home soon. I love you mommy.", to which I answer, "No, I love you baby." and he says back "No, mommy, I love YOU." which we play back and forth and back and forth.

He is such a crazy little boy too. With a great imagination and no fear. He loves to climb up on anything and everything and jump off, just to do it all over again. He tells stories about lions and monsters and breaking all his bones and then tells me in a comforting voice, "It's okay mommy, I just pretending." I love you Hawkers. You are too much fun and I love being your mommy.

time out nap

Matix has begun to question nap time... HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?! I am not ready for him to not nap, plus the 2 times he didn't nap, he was very cranky that afternoon and evening, so I know he still needs them, whether he wants them or not. The other day he kept talking in his bed, and since he shares his room with a very sleepy Hawken, I had to take him out. I told him he was on "time out nap" on the couch. He had to lay there and be quiet while I watched him, since he was being too naughty to sleep in the big boy room. Well, it took all of 10 minutes and he was SOUND asleep. Hooray! I knew he was tired. Such a stinker!

Since this time out nap incident, he has been really good about naps, although he stills tries to barter for 5 more minutes playing... Plus Matix is so smart, I can reason with him when he is cranky later on. "You're getting upset now because your body needed more sleep. You need to take nice long naps so you will feel happy when you play." I know he understands because he will tell me later on after a good nap, "mommy, my body feeling really good." Or after a shorter nap and he is cranky, "I didn't get enough nap. My body's feeling really bad. I should go lay down more."

new playground

So we have been on the hunt for new playgrounds... Georgia, lately, has been pretty cold, so we don't play outside everyday. But on the nice days, we soak it up. The boys love finding new playgrounds, naming them, and telling me their favorite parts on the way home. This particular park is next to one of the libraries (there are a ton of libraries by the way, one is just down the street - we can walk there!). We call it "library park", I know, we're very creative. :) Anyway, this park has a few cool features. The boys favorite part, by FAR, is the built in musical instruments. These noisy bells are SUPER loud when you bang on them with a stick, and each color makes a different tone. Very cool.

There are also drums and chimes. I love it. We have been to only a handful of other parks so far, but I am very pleased with what we have found. They have all been kept up very nicely and have different areas to accommodate different ages of kids. Love it. Good job Georgia.

crazy Matix

What is wrong with this picture?

Look closely...

It's barely 40 degrees outside and LOOK WHAT MATIX IS WEARING, or NOT wearing. :)

Shortly after waking up from naps, and changing from pull-ups into underpants, (yep, STILL in pull-ups when they sleep), I couldn't find Matix... Hmmm... He is so sneaky!! He got outside and was playing in the FREEZING cold weather in only a shirt and underpants. Crazy boy! He loves his backyard WAY too much! :) Caught ya!

Now that's better!

Christmas 2011

Let's be honest. As far as Christmas morning went, it was all about these 2 little boys.

Paul, my dad, Lullaby and I were all there too, but the gross majority of the gifts were for Matix and Hawken... as it should be. I always remember Christmas being magical. Not just because of all the gifts but because of the family. This Christmas, my dad joined us, and it was wonderful to have him here.

Christmas 2011 came and went REALLY fast, but it was still really nice. This was Lullaby's first Christmas too, and our first being a family of 5. Crazy. :)

table

Paul and Hawken built this little table for the playroom, we love IKEA. The room is really starting to take shape, although, I always get new ideas of how I want it...

I think these may be two out of three pictures that I have of Hawken when his leg was in that splint. Not a very happy time, maybe I was picture taking depressed. :) Anyway, the boys love their new playroom. Hopefully I will get it finished soon and take some pictures... maybe entice a few friends and family here to visit...?

no more swaddles

Oh how I love this baby. She is absolutely perfect. Yesterday I decided she needed to learn to sleep without being swaddled. It made me a little sad to think that she is growing up so fast. But, she can roll over too well now to be swaddled safely. I am worried that she will roll into a position that she can't breathe well in, and with her arms pinned in place, she might not be able to get out of it. Lullaby has always been a good sleeper (not through the night yet though) until her cold and then teething started... then learning to roll both ways (tummy to back and back to tummy)... Anyway, I figured it would be better all around if she could sleep (and soothe herself back to sleep) un-swaddled. Well, since she is the perfect baby, of course she mastered it in less than 2 nights. Good job Lullers! I started a Bachelor marathon just in case, and now I am hooked, hence me still being awake at midnight... I could have had a good night's sleep too. Poop.

Proof that Lullaby can sleep un-swaddled. This is from a week or so ago, she passed out watching the boys run back and forth, laying on my tummy up and holding my hand in the playroom. I love her.

Paul update

It's Wednesday evening... 6:47 to be exact. All three kiddos are SOUND asleep, thanks to a warm day and TONS of outside time and a long walk to the store down the street and apparently tryptophan in my milk for Lullers. :) Today is Paul's LAST (hooray hooray!) 24 hour shift for his OBGYN rotation. He has had four 24 hour shifts in the last seven days. Yeah, I know. Crazy, right? Not only has he had these, but also his regular office shifts. Fair warning to anyone coming for an OBGYN rotation in Georgia: don't let your medical student spouse come unless you like never seeing them, or you want to pretend you're a single mom. I have not liked this rotation as much as the ones Paul had in Miami. In 3 more days, Paul will be DONE with OBGYN though, and these 6 weeks have finally come and gone. :) It wasn't all bad though, he is rotating with a really nice student/friend which makes it better. Plus he has been able to participate in quite a few births (natural and c-section). I think that seeing new babies being born is special, even though I don't quite care for the guts and blood and stuff like that, Paul doesn't seem to mind. OBGYN is NOT on the list of what he wants to be though (thank goodness), mostly because of the hours and (understandable) crankiness that comes along with it. I am so proud of Paul and all his hard work and dedication. He works a lot harder than he needs to, because he really wants to gain experience out of each of these rotations. I love you hubby, and I'll see you in the morning!! Hooray!

my dad

My dad came here for the weeks before and after Christmas. The boys were in heaven with their grandpa here. Thanks dad for coming out. We had so much fun.

Kisses for grandpa.

On your next visit dad, I challenge you to ANOTHER game of "darn" and I really think I might actually win... one of these times.

hats and mittens

It's cold here. We have had a few days of less than 30 degrees. No thank you. The boys love to wear hats and mittens, but don't have anything that fits them really well. So I made a few things. Hats that won't fall off and mittens that go partway up their arms to keep their wrists covered too. No close ups because they are far from perfect, but they fit well and the boys like them. The pictures were just from when I made them, they didn't go outside in their jammies, I promise. :)

Lullaby got a hat too, I made it too small the first time around. :) I think she looks a little gangster...

Sakina

Paul took the boys out the other day to run errands, and left Sakina at home. Poor Sakina sat like this, looking at the door the whole time they were gone. She really loves her boys. :)

simple

Aren't kids good at pointing out the beauty and fun in the simplest things? I have been taking time lately to really watch these kiddos of mine. They are fascinating. Really watching them and trying to see what they see is amazing. The other day I found them here. On the stairs. Doing... nothing. Just existing and loving it. Matix had a broken necklace that he was dragging up and down the steps below him, listening to the sound of it.

Hawken put his pretzels in this big bowl and was sitting eating his snack. He likes to use big bowls whenever possible. Why? Who knows, but to him, it makes his snack time special.

Then later they watched... and I watched them watching. There was nothing really going on, just enjoying the view. It was too early in the morning and too cold to play outside, but they didn't mind. They talked about the bugs, and birds, and people they saw. They watched the neighbors leaving for work. Hawken stood on tip toes so he could see. Matix had his cars clutched tight in his fist.

They are completely entertained with the simplest things. Figuring out what life is all about, I guess. I love being able to watch them grow, and be a mom and really see this life from an entirely different perspective. I had a good day.

Hawk b-day again

Hawken's last birthday surprise. Lee and Stacy saved their gift for Hawken until they got to see him in person. He was so excited for MORE presents. Thomas the train outfit (they still love dressing up) and hat, train whistles, a puzzle and book. His favorite part of the whole gift was the 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed book. He loves it. (I think that's one of the reasons they were inspired to make their video)

Thanks grandpa and grandma for the gifts. I love them. :) Love, Hawken!

fun

Two of the things the boys love to do in their new big backyard... Digging holes and racing their bikes down the sloped driveway as fast as they can.

I really should get a video of the bike races, they go CRAZY fast, and giggle the whole way down. Too fun. Here they are making the long trek to the top.

Bradley

I love this picture of Bradley. He makes the BEST faces, and smiles a lot too, although those are even harder to catch. :) But I caught this face, a classic Bradley face. He is VERY into his cars, and was making little noises (driving noises maybe?) I love it.

Lee and Stacy

Lee and Stacy, being the rockstars that they are, drove all the way from Arizona to Texas to drop off Dale and Vanessa's things that were in storage (they just built a house and will hopefully get to stay in one place for a while), then continued on driving to Georgia with some of our things including our DOG! They actually got here first and unloaded everything and began cleaning the house before my dad, Jolie and Bradley got here (and WAY before we got here).

I wish I got a picture of Stacy Energizer Bunny Berg in the kitchen, arms held high to show off her amazing skills. She was unpacking and organizing things every moment of every day. I don't think I saw her sit down more than once, and that time she was dressing Lullaby, so I don't think it counts as resting. :)

Our kitchen is pretty big and she had everything put away and OCD organized before they left 3 days later. She also repacked the things that were to be in storage here, labeled boxes, played with kids, cooed at the baby, went shopping, cleaned the house, arranged the furniture, organized the boys clothes... the list goes on and on and on... :)

Lee was equally helpful, although I think he did end up sitting down for a few viewings of Speed Racer (thanks to Bradley). He built the boys beds back up, broke down boxes, hauled trash, pulled up posts, built a makeshift fence to close off the driveway, turned on the water for the house, played with the boys, got to meet his newest grand baby, built the play set, installed the washer and dryer, HIS list goes on and on too. Here he is NOT posing for the camera. I swear I have more pictures of the back, sides and top of his head than anything else. :)

They stayed until Tuesday morning and flew back to Arizona. It was a sad good bye, but since we have the room now to have guests... they can come back any time they want! :) Hooray!

Lee and Stacy, thank you both so much for making that ridiculously long drive out here, for all the WONDERFUL help, for the good company, and the huge sacrifice of time you gave to us, again. We love you guys!