Happy Belated St. Patty's Day!

We are just getting over the stomach flu-fun fun! The boys seemed to bounce back quicker than I did. I thought I would show off some shots I took the other day. I said I would post some after pictures of their haircuts so here we go.

I was looking back at pictures of the boys in this same shirt (thanks Mark and Linda). They were having trouble just sitting up. J. is a lot smaller than they were, but he is now cruising around the coffee table and couch and pulling up on everything so much that he doesn't crawl very much any more he just stands up and hangs out. I am sure that it helps that he has 2 big brothers to watch get into everything. By the looks of this picture, he may need his haircut soon too.

Last but not least is Harper on St. Patty's day. He is on the couch he is not allowed on and on the pillows he is not allowed on. He is also not wearing green. I should have pinched him. He has such a rough life!

Speaking of rough life, I have to admit it I have it pretty sweet. Classes are going well and I am having fun and starting to relax and Andrew is sitting here rubbing my back. I think the hardest thing I had on my task list today was to work with the boys on learning "Rocky Top". I found M& Ms work well. It is a hard life. Don't get me wrong I got a lot accomplished today (changed sheets for the 6th time this week; 3 loads of laundry; cleaned a bathroom; meals nad snacks; unloaded the dishwasher with clean dishes twice; so many diapers I lost count; a trip to Target and Costco; 2 times playing outside, once with friends down the street; and plenty of hugs and kisses along the way-and several disciplinary moments) but I must say that is my crowning achievement for the day. Good 'ol Rocky Top-whoo!

Hair Cuts and Pulling Up

The older boys finally got their haircut yesterday. This was before:

This was during. They loved it! You never would have guess that the last time they got their hair cut it was a horrible, horrible mess-both them and us. They are still talking about the Jeeps they got to drive while they got their haircut. It was hard to see those pretty red curls fall, but the tangles were more than I could handle in the mornings when trying to get them ready. I will have to take a picture of the after, they are asleep right now. It is such a hassle to take all 3 of them anywhere that I was just ready to go and they wanted their suckers.
As for the standing up, that is all the little man wants to do. Yesterday I picked him up from the nursery and he was standing there at the gate like a big boy. No desire to let go and we are so okay with that! He also figured out his walker so he is all over the place and has figured out if he rams into the gate he can knock it over and be on his way. He is into everything and I thought 2 were bad! The bad thing is he has two examples to show him everything. In fact, he is standing here beside me playing with Harp's collar. Now if he could only just sit down without screaming or falling. I can't believe he is almost 9 months. He is on his way to the laundry room so I better go catch him.

Started my first official class today with a partner (I am still working on the rest of the choreography but after doing it 3 times -yes all 3 hours 3 times Mon.- it should not be as tricky as I thought). We had 8 wonderful people there this morning at 5:15. I still can't believe they are going to pay me for this. He is back in the laundry room so I guess I need to sign off.

Working World

So, I am back in the working world. A friend told me about a position available for Body Pump at a local gym. It is really close to our house and the only reason I did not join when I was looking for a gym was that it didn't have classes. They are now adding classes in their new aerobics room and were looking for teachers. So, the boys and I packed up with a few days notice to a Les Mills Module to get trained in Body Pump. J. will not take a bottle so everyone had to come with me. It was a physically demanding weekend as well as a mentally demanding weekend with family in tow and learning the choreography. We all survived and will definitely remember the weekend- right, sweetheart?

There is not a much to do in Stanwood, in fact there wasn't even a hotel to stay in there. So, the boys spent a lot of time hanging out in the car. It did not help that our instructor was not the best at time management. We worked about 8-9 hours those three days with a half an hour breaks and 10 minute breaks here and there. J. learned to crawl just the week before so he got a lot of practice and learned to pull up onto things.

They (the big boys) got to throw rocks in the water (as well as getting their feet wet). They spent some quality Daddy time.

Needless to say Andrew did not have a very good weekend, but I passed and now the work begins (for me). I will be doing a 5:30 a.m. class with a friend on Mon. and Wed. and then we are alternating Saturdays between all of us. It has always been a little dream of mine to do this and the opportunity kind of fell into my lap. I can't believe they are going to pay me to work out. Andrew gets a free membership too so he will now be able to reap the benefits from his challenging weekend. It is just awesome to know that God is in even the details of our lives. He knows are hopes and dreams and most of the time he fulfills them in ways that we could not even imagine. Thank you, Andrew, for enduring the weekend and believing in me. Thank you, God, for being my everything.

Thanksgiving Recap

So, I am a little behind. I should have posted this a while ago. We went to our friends' house-Brenda and Eric for Thanksgiving. After dinner, the boys (they have 2 boys) needed to get out some energy so they did what any boys would do- they wrestled. Andrew calls this the "call out." He is now planning his attack, and hopefully try not to jump on Drew.

Then, he leaps and Brenda caught this at just the right time. He got some air- he definitely has some ups. (It has been a long time since I have said that. It makes me miss my coaching days).

We had a great time and will have some great memories. Thanks Eric and Bren.

Mother of the Year

I went to 2 different stores and had several phone calls with Aunt Darcy to get the "perfect gift" for James. Joya loved this toy so Darce thought James would love it as well. It is supposed to promote crawling and eye hand coordination. Well, it might do those things but not for J.

He does not like his so much. He did it the first time we started it up and so we put it away for a while thinking he is just overwhelmed. Well, I tried it again this week and the result was the same. So I did what any mom would do and turned the thing off so I could go get the camera. I may not be winning any mother of the year awards any time soon. Sorry Darce, for all the time you spent looking for this on the internet and the phone calls from me, but I think this may be a toy that may just have to be put on the shelf for a while. Drew and Gavin love it so maybe we will play with it while J. is asleep in the mornings. Thanks again for trying!

7 Months

I was negligent on posting for his 6 month so I HAVE to post for 7 months.
He is such a pleasant baby. He is very sweet and has such a contagious smile. I don't know how many times we have had total strangers tell us how cute he is. He is funny in that he tries to catch your attention so he can smile at you.
He loves watching his brothers. He also recently discovered how to bounce. We got out the bouncy seat and he bounces non-stop (as long as you are watching) for as long as we keep him in it. He is also rolling all over the place. He has give up trying to crawl because he has figured out he can just roll wherever he needs to go. Today at church he even tried to pull himself up from seated. He landed on his face but I was amazed at his trying. He is not very graceful at getting onto his belly from sitting but he is getting better-he is doing it on purpose now instead of just falling over and hoping for the best.
He is a good eater. He loves everything we have given him. He is cutting his front teeth right now so he wants to gnaw on everything. He is not nursing very well because he is afraid he might miss something and sometimes just wants to talk to me.
I asked Andrew what he had to say about J baby and he said, "he is just fun." He also said that he liked just getting to spend time with one and focus the attention on just one. We are having to be careful because I think we have a little bit of spoiledness on our hands. He is happy and content to just sit on your lap and play with your hands or watch his brothers-including his gray furry one.
We are so blessed to have him in our family and love to get to know him more and more and realize just how unique he is and what a little blessing he is in our lives. I know I was a little disappointed when I found out he was a boy, but I can't imagine my life without him. All I have to do is look into his eyes and knew that God had a plan when he brought him into our lives because I just love him more and more everyday. He completes our family and I now know that I am a blessed mother of 3 beautiful boys (and a gray furry adopted one).

OCD

We all know Harper is Obsessive Compulsive. Here are some pictures that prove his issues. Our wonderful neighbors from TN (notice I did not say old neighbors, Mark and Linda) have always given Harper a "baby" for Christmas. This is a stuffed thing with a squeaker in it. He does not rest until the squeaker is out as well as all the stuffing.
We gave it to him this Christmas while we were opening gifts to give him something to do. Big mistake we forgot that he wants us to hold it while he destroys it so he continually puts it on your lap but gives you the evil eye until you throw it back to him. Look at those beady, bulging eyes.
He is pretty intense during this whole process. As you can see it makes a mess, but at least it keeps him occupied. Along with his obsessions is the couch. He loves to sit on the couch and sleep. He is now sitting beside me giving me the eye because I am on the floor and not on the couch with him.
The last time we had him at the vet they told us he is a little over weight. That is an understatement. He is huge! He is also out of shape. Andrew tried to run with him this weekend and he ended up limping home and slept the rest of the day due to exhaustion. I would not know why he is over weight? He only has two little ones feeding him on top of his regular food that he obsesses over. In fact, just today he had two cupcakes-yes 2 almost whole cupcakes. The boys could not finish their cupcakes and wanted to put them in a bag for later. While I was getting them the weasel (Andrew's term of endearment for him) stole it right off the table). It doesn't help that his head is the perfect height for the table. He does not have to jump at all and can do it without any noise. The only noise I heard was, "N0, puppy. Mommy, he ate my cupcake" from Gavin. So, I told him no and said he was not obeying Mommy by getting food off the table and I turned to get the bag for Drew's cupcake and he proceeded to nab Drew's cupcake again the only noise heard was "Harper!" 2 cupcakes! At least they were made with applesauce and not oil.

Well, I am hearing, I am poopy Mommy in the monitor and they are supposed to be sleeping so I better see if this is true.
One last thing about Harp is that he is a much better dog with the boys than I ever could have imagined him to be even with his quirks and tubbyness he is a pretty good dog overall. He finally gave up and is sitting in my spot on the couch looking at me with his sad eyes.