Lions & Bears & Giraffes, Oh My!

Didn't see the tigers this trip but we had a lovely outing at the zoo yesterday. The weather was just gorgeous and the big boys all enjoyed their classes. Nico, of course, had to remind me why I hadn't gone out of my way to take him to the zoo before by wanting nothing to do with the animals unless it was to get in the cage with them so he could run free. *insert eye roll here*

Jonathan learned all about habitats during his class while I was roaming with Nico. I went on the docent led tour where we visited and talked about the habitats of the Flamingo, Koala, Kangaroo, Green Anaconda, Polar Bear, Anteater, Seal, Hippo, Penguin, and Lion.

Matthew and Christopher told me about the animals they saw on their docent tour but I'm still trying to get details of their class. I do know that they got to visit the Animal Rescue Center which is a special treat. Wish I could have done it. :(

After the docent tours, Christopher and Matthew met back with us at the playground, the natural habitat for boys. LOL

We had a nice lunch and then wondered over to ride the train. I still hadn't had a chance to see the new Grizzly exhibit so we headed over there and then started winding our way back out.

We got home about 4p and then I took care of a few things until Lucero showed up to watch the boys. Mark had scored tickets to the Sharks games, 3 rows from the glass. Good seats, too bad the Sharks didn't show up. We left when the score was 4-1 to relieve Lucero and also to spare ourselves the pain of watching the trainwreck.

Got Snot???

Unfortunately we do, in abundance. Nico has been stuffed for a few days now but today it's pouring out. I suction his nose and 2 seconds later, it's draining again. Poor babe. He's staying a pretty good mood despite it all for which I'm thankful.

Jonathan also has a bit of a cold and is blowing his nose every 3 minutes or so. He's even saying now that he doesn't want to go to game night tonight so I know he's not feeling too good. Of course, we have a field trip to take a zoo class tomorrow. I'm hoping everyone will be well enough for that.

And on top of it all, Jonathan has an infection near the roots of one tooth. The filling that is in there is rubbing on the nerve and caused it so he's on antibiotics for that and we are looking at the very real possibility of his needing a baby root canal. Poor guy. :(

Happy Halloween!

The boys all had a good time tonight. Nico was more interested in bubbles when I was trying to show him how it was done but according to daddy caught on very quickly to this whole getting candy idea. Of course, his most brilliant idea on how to get candy was wait to get home and snag it from his brothers when their backs were turned. LOL He's a right rotter that one.

So I had to wrangle them, I mean cajole sweetly using nothing more than a please, to get photos of them in their costumes earlier today. I had no idea we were going to end up doing Kuk Sool Wan for almost 2hrs but between us being way early (oops, Mommy looked at the TTh schedule instead of the MW schedule of classes) and then there was extra play time on top of it, we barely had time for dinner before getting them out the door. It was Mark's turn to take them out this year so I stayed home and passed out candy. After a few blocks, they came back in but Christopher decided to grab his cell phone and hit a few more houses. Still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he's old enough to do that. *shaking head* When the heck did that happen anyway????

So here are my boys:
Nicozilla (the costume even made the Godzilla sound effect!)





























Curious Jonathan















Optimus Matthew










Yu-Gi-Christopher

Officially the mother of a Teenager!

Well, in a few more hours. LOL It's so hard to think that just 13yrs ago I was in a hospital bed with the final hours of my first pregnancy ticking by quickly. I knew he was going to be delivered soon but I had no idea today was the day. I was really holding out hope for Oct 8 (my Grandma Kay's birthday and FIL's 40th birthday) but somewhere just after lunch, the dr made the call that things had now tilted and his odds (and mine) were better on the outside. I was terrified but there was that bit of excitement that I think all soon-to-be moms have of finally getting to see their baby. Once you know it's going to happen and there is nothing you can do, you start wondering what they'll look like and who they are. Well, I found out what he looked like that day:


And the day he came home:



and in the last 13 years I've gotten to see so many sides to who he is. I remember his baby smiles and his toddler tantrums. I remember watching him stuff graham crackers in his mouth so his uncle wouldn't steal them. I remember taking him places and his eyes lighting up with amazement and wonder. I remember his first time at Disneyland when he was 3½ and that special glow children get when going to the Magic Kingdom. His bravery when starting something new. His caring when someone smaller than him was upset. His giving nature when he had something and another child didn't. His love of animals that causes him to walk up to everyone with a dog and ask to pet it. His first days of school. My heart breaking when I dropped him off and how it would race when I picked him back up again as if it had been waiting to beat properly until he was home. As he's grown up I've seen his fascination with dinos and cars, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, and now it's Manga and Music. He can be moody one minute and the next giving his brothers his only cookie. His helpfulness and consideration, kindness and generosity, bravery and compassion, loyalty and laughter are all just some of the many wonderful sides of him.

Happy Birthday Christopher!!! You've come such a long way and I'm so grateful to G-d for letting me be part of your life, to guard you and to love you and to always be there for you. I love you!

If you give a toddler a pair of socks...

He'll want a pair of shoes to go with them.

If you try to distract him, he'll go over to where he knows they are and start throwing a temper tantrum til you give in and hand him a pair.

Chances are, if you give him his shoes, he'll sit down and try to put them on the wrong feet but look proud of himself for doing so but you'll cringe looking at them so help him put them on the right feet.

Then once he has his shoes on, he'll decide it's time to go for a walk so he'll take you by the hand and lead you to the front door. He'll start pointing and nod his head with a big smile on his face if you stupidly ask if he wants to go outside.

If you try to distract him, he'll take your pinky finger and bend it in unnatural angles until you scream for mercy while he leads you again to the front door. All while throwing a temper tantrum.

Soon you'll decide it is not worth the pounding headache that will ensue if you don't go for a walk so you'll put your shoes on while he looks on with an air of satisfaction, grab your keys, a bottle of water, and your 6yr old and head out the front door.

Now that you are out the front door, he'll decide it must be a walk, not a drive, and he must sit in the wagon where he can climb in and out while on the street so he can watch your hair turn grey. If you try to put him in the stroller instead, the neighbors will soon be coming out the front door asking you to please give him what he wants as their ears are now bleeding.

So you'll let him climb in the wagon.

And chances are, if he's in the wagon, the 6yr old will want to ride too.

So now YOU are going for a walk while they go for a ride.

So you'll decide if you are doing the walking, you'll walk to the produce stand to get some fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. You'll walk the mile there, laughing and joking with the kids and everyone's having a good time.

The nice farmer on the way will give your beautiful happy children a big bag of fresh peas to take home.

Then you'll end up at the produce stand and your toddler will climb out of the wagon and start running around like a maniac so you'll ask your 6yr old to watch him so you can get the shopping done. So they run around in the back up and down by the plants while you get your vegetables.

And chances are, if you have a family of 6, you'll buy a lot of fruits and vegetables. And just when you think it's enough, your 6yr old will beg for just one more item and look adorable and you'll say "ok" when he sticks the bag of grapes on the counter.

Then you'll realize there is barely enough room to stick the toddler in the wagon and the 6yr old will have to walk and you are now out of water. So you start heading for home.

And while you are heading home, your toddler will be busy trying to choke himself on grapes which he's never had whole before so you will be stopping every few steps to bite another one for him until you hand the bag to the 6yr old with the plea of "keep feeding him 1/2 grapes while we walk please"

Then you'll keep walking until your 6yr old lets out a shriek that let's you know there is something amiss so you'll turn around to find that your toddler is now squishing all the bananas while trying to pull one off for himself. So you'll grab one and give him half and watch as he leans back content for a moment so you start hurrying up trying to make it home before your luck runs out.

And chances are, as soon as you've thought of that, he'll decide he doesn't want to ride in the wagon any more and needs to get out RIGHT NOW!

And if you try to distract him, he will just keep climbing out while screaming his head off causing all the passing cars to slow down to see if you are actually killing him.

So you'll give in as the lesser of two evils and make him hold your hand while you pull the wagon with the other and the 6yr old walks beside you.

And if you decide that letting him walk is actually the lesser of two evils, he will make sure to try and prove you wrong as he throws himself to the ground with every other step in an attempt to dislocate your shoulder so you'll have to let go of him so he can go play in traffic and pick up rocks to choke on.

So you change your mind and put him back in the wagon and tell him to just stay there until you get home.

So he screams bloody murder and at this point you think your head is going to explode and you are ready to welcome the blessed silence that will follow that event.

But then you see your house and you pull up your wagon and your toddler stops screaming and runs into the house to see his other big brothers.

And chances are, as soon as you sit down ready for a long nap, he'll grab your hand and lead you toward the door because you see, he wants to go for another walk.


(Nope, I've never lived through this, never, ever, ever....oh....wait....this was last weekend)

First Day of School

Well, it started off really well. Only a few minutes behind schedule which I consider nothing short of a miracle. Matthew actually worked quickly and without me being all over his case (a rare, almost freak occurance...I'm hoping he's finally gotten the point that being homeschooled is a privlege not a right). Jonathan worked very well with me and I made sure he had frequent breaks to move around and break off concentration. He struggled a bit with the math as it was much more writing than he's used to (it was a lesson on writing out number words) but he managed to get through it. Christopher was steady as I've come to expect. It's so nice to be able to say that as there were times he was impossible to work with as well.

Nico on the other hand, well, he was not in the mood to let anyone do anything. After about 11a, he decided that he was tired but would not sleep nor did he want to do any art projects for more than a few minutes nor did he want to play with the new toys I brought out for schooltime. Stinker! LOL I was much relieved when he finally went down.

The only thing we did not accomplish today was music with Matthew and Jonathan. Jonathan's math lesson just took too long for him to do music and Matthew's music requires me to actively teach it so that didn't get done either. But, for a first day, I'm totally thrilled by the effort everyone displayed and the progress that was made. The schedule was basically adhered to until around 2p so a great success. We just wont' talk about tonight. LOL

Oh, and for one of our breaks I needed a few things at the grocery store for dinner tomorrow so we went into town and I got the three big boys signed up for Kuk Sool Wan and picked up their uniforms. It's a Korean martial art and the teacher there is absolutely fabulous. I've heard nothing but glowing praise for him from so many other parents. Christopher took a break from gymnastics over the summer and decided that he wanted to do something different and choose this. Of course Matthew and Jonathan had to follow suit so they've now quit gymnastics and now they are all signed up. I'm a bit bummed that Jonathan stopped the gymnastics as he really is a natural at it but I can certainly understand the lure of wanting to do what his big brothers are doing. So now Nico is my only one still at the gym. But with Kuk Sool Wan 2xs/wk, bowling 1x/wk, and soccer practices 2xs/wk, it's a bit nuts in the afternoons around here. I'm glad the kids are all active tho and having a good time. I actually think the Kuk Sool Wan will be very good for them as the teacher puts an emphasis on discipline and a strong mind.

Speaking of which, I'm also now on the board of our local AYSO. Insane, completely, but the insanity doesn't stop there, I made the mistake of calling around to see what I could do to help. :banghead: You'd think I'd know better by now. LOL

Well, I can hear Nico continuing to serenade Mark. Like getting me up at 4:50a instead of letting me sleep til 5:30a wasn't bad enough, apparently I don't get to go to bed at a decent hour tonight either. Ugh!

He was so cute earlier today:


The boys doing their handwriting practice (still trying to figure out how you practice handwriting while chewing on your pencil, tho you know, that explains so much about his handwriting LOL):


Jonathan being silly:


Hoping the big boys behave as well tomorrow as they did today. And please, oh please, let Nico settle down too!

What is with the shoes????

Everyone told me when I had kept having boys that I could be thankful that at least it wouldn't be so expensive in terms of clothes and shoes, wouldn't have to worry about bathroom time, etc like those with girls do. How wrong they were! No, my boys don't wear make-up but they will occasionally get a haircut that requires 20min in the bathroom getting it "just so" and usually requiring my help. Now they are bugging me for $100 Heely shoes and they want clothing that you can't find anywhere so it would have to be custom made for them.

Oh, yeah, boys are soooo much cheaper than girls. NOT!

How to homeschool with Nico

I get asked that question a lot by anyone who has seen Nico in action....How do you do it?!

It's true, he's a non-stop, always climbing, always looking for the next bit of trouble, but frequently charming monkey. Well, the answer to the question is -->

Katsup and Mustard (sometimes pudding, sometimes Jell-o, sometimes cornstarch and water, you get the idea). We just tried this yesterday instead of regular fingerpaints and while the mess is no less, I'm a) pretty certain it was cheaper using condiments than finger paints and b) it was totally edible since most things still seem to make their way into his mouth. He had a great time with it, kept signing more and pointing to his tray. I got a whole 30min of just having to occasionally reload his tray while teaching History to Jonathan. And the katsup and mustard cleaned off everything just as easily as finger paints do.

His other favorite thing is puzzles right now and building with blocks so we schedule time for those activities too and I'm currently browsing Amazon and teaching stores for more puzzles and arts & crafts books for new things to do with him. In the meantime tho, I just plan to buy stock in Heinz 57 and French's.

Boxing Day...

has come and gone. I'm thankful that a) Christopher and Matthew got some of their classes in last school year and b) not everything for everyone came all at once. I'd forgotten what it was like having a new full student and how much stuff they get all at once. 6 boxes for him alone!!! The UPS guy said I'd get a bill for his chiropractor. LOL I laughed and told him he should be glad the 7 boxes for the other two had shown up last week. He just gave me this look that said it all. LOL I'm thankful tho that I was able to get everything sorted, organized, and put away in it's new homes.

We have started slowly trying to get everything going according to schedule. Of course with the anti-scheduler it's been interesting but I'm even working on him.

Jonathan is excited but nervous too. It's going to take some time to get him up to getting everything a day. He's just not used to sitting still for that long so I've made sure to schedule him up some movement and break time hourly.

Matthew is on probation for staying home but he seems to be finally getting it and has been working the last couple of days. I hope that this new pattern continues.

Christopher is steady as always. It's nice to know that I can just tell him what needs to get done and rarely get any flack or have to ride him in anyway. It makes me hopeful that Matthew will eventually get there too.

The hardest thing for me, besides trying to convince Nico what a schedule is, will be getting up so early and actually start moving. I want to start making exercise and meditation a priority so that I can feel my best for my boys because they deserve nothing less than my best in everything.

So screwed

Today Nico learned a new trick, a lovely new trick, one that was inspired by Jonathan....He learned to climb out of his crib. Like having a high-energy, high-maintenance, highly demanding, stubborn, opinionated, non-sleeper was not enough....Now I have NO place to safely contain him!!! Look out world, here comes Nico the Destroyer! Nothing can stop him now!

And we're off!

Seems like we always are but yet again, we are gone for a long weekend away. We were going to go camping Sunday-Tuesday with my dad but my step-mom has been ill so they can't make it. Things are crazy at Mark's office right now so we decided to leave Friday late afternoon and come back Monday early afternoon so he takes less than a day off (he'll work from home on Monday after we get back). I'm soooo looking forward to this trip tho. The woods we are visiting are just beautiful. There is no internet, no cell phones, no tv, nothing except the banana slugs, the birds, and the huge redwood trees (okay, skunks and raccoons too but we try to ignore them LOL).

Smore's anyone?

How different they are

I know that my kids all have different body types and that personalities but today we decided to go through and get all their weights and heights and enter them into the percentile calculator and this is what we got:

Nico:
wt: 26.4lbs (56%)
ht: 33.75" (84%)
head: 19.75" (95%)

Guess I don't need to worry about his weight any more, huh?

Jonathan:
wt: 43.0 lbs (23%)
ht: 45" (24%)

Perfectly proportioned!

Matthew:
wt: 95.4" (97%)
ht: 54.75" (80%)

My big boy!

Christopher:
wt: 78.6lbs (10%)
ht: 59.5" (30%)

I so wish I could eat like he does and still be so skinny!

More words to live by

I found this poster and bought it for Christopher. It contains some of the hardest lessons to learn but ones that are so important to one's overall sense of accomplishment and emotional well-being. I wanted to write them down here before giving it over to him so that I can remind myself of them as well.

A Winner's Creed

If you think you are beaten,
You are;
If you think you dare not,
You don't;
If you'd like to win,
But think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose,
you've lost;
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a person's faith;
It's all in the state of mind.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster hand;
They go to the one who trusts in God
And always thinks "I can".

Where has the time gone???

That seems to be a familiar refrain around here. I turned around, blinked, and realized that I hadn't posted anything here in over 5 months. It's been a crazy couple of months. As Nico has gotten more coordinated, he's also figured out how to get into more and more trouble and his stubborn streak is showing. Just today, the three big boys were at camp so I thought I could work for a bit, say 30min, and then spend some time playing with him, then do a little more, and then more play with him. He, however, had his own ideas. My day looked more like, spend 15min doing dishes while listening to Nico screech and tantrum in the background, go play Guitar Hero Encore for a bit to make him happy, nurse him, change him, play with him, spend 15min on another chore while listening to him screech and tantrum, repeat above steps to make him happy. Stinker then went and took a 46min nap only to wake up and sleep nurse for over an hour. *sigh* Good thing he's cute.

And speaking of a where things have gone, I'm looking for my baby. He was just born, weighing in at 6lbs 9ozs, 19½" long. I could have sworn he was born at 4:10a this morning but when I looked around for him, all I found was this young man...

I still remember that day 9 years ago in such vivid detail. I remember being woken up at 5am by contractions and thinking they were probably just braxton-hicks as I'd had a very convincing set of those a few days earlier. I tried for an hour to go back to sleep with no luck so I grabbed a watch and decided to start timing them. After an hour, they were still very regularly 5min apart and lasting about 45sec. I woke Mark up excitedly telling him it might be it. We spent another hour walking around the house, showering, and all the other things they tell you to do to determine if it's the real deal. All that accomplished was to speed them up. We called the dr and were told to come on in.

We grabbed Christopher and his breakfast and some toys for him and headed out. Everything was going fine until we hit HWY92, when we came to a complete stand still. I could not take it! After about 10min, I was threatening to get out of the car and go around telling people to get out of my way! Mark decided at that point that going around via a different route might be advisable. LOL

We got to the hospital and were admitted. They checked me at 10a and said that this was indeed the real thing and we would be meeting our boy soon. I was at 2cm already and looking good. I was allowed to get up and walk the halls tho I was refused food since I was attempting VBAC. Clear liquid diet only. I was really wishing I had eaten breakfast before coming in.

Several hours passed during which I felt fine and was only mildly bothered by the contractions but after 17hrs, I was still only at 4cm and my bp was rising. Given my history with Christopher, this had the midwife and drs concerned. I still remember laying in bed and the midwife coming in and kneeling down to look me in the eye as she told me that they all admired how well I'd done but that with my bp rising, she felt that some pain meds would be best for me and my baby. I grudgingly agreed but asked that we try to hold off on the epi. I have a fear of things being stuck in my back and was truly hoping to avoid it. They gave me IV pain meds for a bit and I remember at one point looking over at my mom and saying "Cool, I'm having a contraction." My bp unfortunately was not fooled by these measures and was still high. They decided that I would need Mag Sulfate to bring it down which meant that I would need pitocin to keep the labor going. With that combo, it was decided that an epi was necessary. I've tried to block as much as I can of that whole ordeal out of my mind and thankfully, I've succeeded rather well.

By this time, I'd been laboring for 20hrs and was still only at 4cm but WHOA, when that epi took effect, I went to 10cm in 15min. I can only guess that while I felt I was handling it well, I actually wasn't. They started having me push but by this point I was exhausted. I'd had nothing to eat for almost 28hrs and was tired as it was 1am. I kept falling asleep between contractions and pushing only to have them pump up the pitocin more to make the contractions stronger. 3hrs I pushed. I heard the midwife saying for the last 30min that one more push and she was going to send the nurse out of the room for the dr to do a vacuum extraction. I was thinking that was a great idea. The nurse was actually making her way out the door to find the dr when Matthew finally made his debut and we found out why he had taken his sweet time being born. His hand was next to his head as it would be for the next several months of his life. They immediately placed him on my chest and I got to hold my new son. Matthew looked up at me and immediately smiled. He then looked around the rest of the room giving everyone else a "who the heck are you" look, even his dad. The midwife turned and asked Mark if he would like to cut the chord to which he asked if there wasn't anyone more qualified to do that. I remember them having to ask me to give him up so they could get his measurements and give him his first bath. Even tho they weren't going to leave the room, I made Mark go and keep an eye on everything. Hours later we were finally up in our room and I couldn't put him down. I couldn't believe that I was finally able to hold him in my arms and I couldn't get enough of him.

How was I to know that in the months that followed, I'd barely be able to as he wouldn't go to anyone else? Even now, Matthew is forever my boy.

The latest pics

Hard to believe from this--->













<----to that in a year!


















Too bad my kiddos know how cute they are....

Fun Little Game

Some friends of mine found this fun site to make up a quiz about yourself and invite others to see how well they know you. It's been very funny to see how well we know (and don't know LOL) each other.

http://www.truefriendtest.com/friendtest/72128

Time to update on the game

Yep, we are still playing tho right now the name of the game is what have we watched and how did we do it??? Kinda hard to remember since it's been 4mos since I posted. So let's try starting from the beginning....

*Broken Arrow --> Face-off via John Travolta
*Face-off --> The Rock via Nicholas Cage
*The Rock --> Entrapment via Sean Connery
*Entrapment --> Mask of Zorro via Catherine Zeta-Jones
*Mask of Zorro -->Silence of the Lambs via Anthony Hopkins
*Silence of the Lambs --> Contact via Jody Foster
*Contact --> Starship Troopers via Jake Busey
*Starship Troopers --> Shawshank Redemption via Clancy Brown
*Shawshank Redemption --> Batman Begins via Morgan Freeman
*Batman Begins --> Bram Stoker's Dracula via Gary Oldman
*Bram Stoker's Dracula --> Johnny Mnemonic via Keanu Reeves
*Johnny Mnemonic --> Dragonheart via Dina Meyer
*Dragonheart --> The Hunt for Red October via Sean Connery
*Hunt for Red October --> Rocky Horror Picture Show via Tim Curry
*Rocky Horror --> Fight Club via Meatloaf
*Fight Club --> Red Dragon via Edward Norton
*Red Dragon --> Big Lebowski via Phillip Syemour Hoffman
*Big Lebowski --> Fatal Beauty via Sam Elliott
*Fatal Beauty --> The Color Purple via Whoopi Goldburg
*The Color Purple --> The Matrix via Laurence Fishbourne
*The Matrix --> The Matrix Reloaded via Carrie Anne Moss
*The Matrix Reloaded --> The Matrix Revolutions via Keanu Reeves
*The Matrix Revolutions --> The Fellowship of the Ring via Hugo Weaving
*Fellowship of the Ring --> The Two Towers via Billy Boyd
*The Two Towers --> The High King via Andy Serkis
*The High King --> The Raiders of the Lost Arc via John Rhys-Davies

And here's where we pick-up...
*Raiders of the Lost Arc -->Last Crusade via Denholm Elliott
*Last Crusade -->Temple of Doom via Harrison Ford
*Temple of Doom -->Blues Brothers via Dan Aykroyd
*Blues Brothers -->Star Wars via Carrie Fischer
*Star Wars --> Empire Strikes Back via David Prowse
*Empire Strikes Back -->Return of the Jedi via Billy Dee Williams
*Return of the Jedi -->Phantom Menace via Anthony Daniels
*Phantom Menace -->Attack of the Clones via Samuel Jackson
*Attack of the Clones -->Revenge of the Sith via Ian McDiarmid
*Revenge of the Sith --> Long Way Round via Ewan McGregor
*Long Way Round -->Excalibur via Charley Boorman
*Excalibur -->Lion in Winter via Nigel Terry
*Lion in Winter -->King Ralph via Peter O'Toole
*King Ralph--> Alien via John Hurt
*Alien --> Deal of the Century via Sigourney Weaver
*Deal of the Century --> Cotton Club via Gregory Hines
*Cotton Club --> Who Framed Roger Rabbit via Bob Hoskins
*Who Framed Roger Rabbit --> War of the Roses via Kathleen Turner
*War of the Roses --> LA Confidential via Danny DeVito
*LA Confidential --> Batman via Kim Bassinger
*Batman -->Multiplicity via Michael Keaton
*Multiplicity -->Father of the Bride via Eugene Levy
*Father of the Bride --> Father of the Bride 2 via Martin Short
*Father of the Bride 2 -->Cheaper by the Dozen via Steve Martin
*Cheaper by the Dozen--Cheaper by the Dozen 2 via Lilliana Mumy
*Cheaper by the Dozen 2 -->All of Me via Steve Martin

That's where we are going tonight. The plan is to then go...
*All of Me -->Nell via Richard Libertini
*Nell --> Schindler's List via Liam Neeson
*Schindler's List --> Strange Days via Ralph Fiennes
*Strange Days --> Natural Born Killers via Juliette Lewis
*Natural Born Killers -->Weird Science via Robert Downey Jr.
*Weird Science -->Edward Scissorhands via Anthony Micheal Hall

Not sure after that. We have a decent Johnny Depp collection so we'll wind our way about those for a bit.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

And what a day it's been! We did a little schoolwork but then called it a day to go to a Valentine's Party. Afterwards, instead of hitting the gym, we came home and vegged. We gave the boys their presents after Daddy came home....

He loves his mug! You can't see the picture from this side but it's Naruto, one of his favorite animes. (so hard to get this smile from an almost teen so I was very pleased with myself)














I got the biggest yelp of joy (not hard to get from Matthew but still appreciated) for the new Bionicle. Always glad to make him happy.















Life is good for Jonathan with a Max and Ruby matching game!










Nico refused to nap today so was in no mood to even look at his book but here he is modeling his new shirt from Lucero...







And here is the surprise he gave us....


I just wish this had sound because it's so much better when you can hear him laugh. But now, at long last I can no longer deny or have any wiggle room, he's a walker!!! Hard to believe that just a week ago we were excited if he took 5 steps in a row. Now he's walking from room to room and today figured out the last piece, he can get to standing on his own. HELP!!!!!

My Sweet Nico turned 1 today!!!

I'm not sure how it happened but everyone tells me that it was a year ago today that I first held him in my arms. He's grown so much and is a far cry from that helpless little newborn but I just can't believe it's been a year.

He just started working on walking and will go from living room to dining room with ease now. He still falls frequently but he's getting more and more stable with each day and I can see that he'll be able to stand on his own without pulling up soon.

He just cut tooth #7 which was a shock to me. Jonathan had 7 teeth by 7 months and 8 teeth by 8 months and 12 teeth by a year. I seem to remember the other big boys all having at least 8 teeth by their first birthdays and working on their molars so this was new to me that he would still just have the 6.

He has continued to earn his nickname of trouble for constantly getting into whatever he shouldn't be and then breaking into "end of the world" tears or, the ever popular "you don't love me" back arch temper tantrum whenever he doesn't get his way. My absolute favorite new game is when the kitchen gate is found open and he stays there swinging it back and forth and refusing to let anyone get by. When you finally move him because it's been over 10min of waiting for him to tire of this game, he lets lose on you. Did I mention that it's already gotten old and I'm really not looking forward to the 2s???

He is also continuing to prove that he thinks he is the cutest thing ever. The latest trick in his bag is to look up at you with a big grin on his face when caught doing something he shouldn't be (playing with the cat food is a good example), put his hand to his mouth, and start giggling coquettishly. I'm waiting for the big eyelash batting to come next.

All in all tho, he continues to be such a love and a true joy and blessing to our family. Words can not express how thankful I am to have him in my life, to watch him grow and learn, to get his big sloppy kisses, to receive that smile that he saves for me, to have him crawl (or now walk/fall) into my arms trusting completely that I will catch him up into a hug as he cuddles into me, to watch him sleep in my arms with that face that shows me a glimpse of heaven, to know that I am his mama.
Happy Birthday my sweet Nico! I Love You more than words can say.

Jonathan's Poem

power top TV in at winter you
it he an all but is as over
but sausage with am near
vision for delirious trudge
me mad my the head an
boil wet so to this ed as
it together was ed easy
ing car worship on swim do
only men time elaborate in
enormous sun are in on wax
erred I y we as friends no
& sweet thousand did the y
incubate manipulate leave & a
apparatus behind languid is go
puppy would summer smell his
smooth to diamond beneath
picturer it eternity symphony
shadow at atsed rain gift a
he garden mean life always lather
when sordid scream produce whisper
has most heave some away blood sleep
ugly honey breast woman say spray y
like to raw our lust say youy fast
how milk bed no poundyness

--Jonathan 1/3/07

It's not in my head!!!

It really isn't in my head that Nico doesn't sleep. He really doesn't!!! I've been doing Trixie Tracker for a week now and his average time sleeping in a 24hr period of time is 11½hrs! Most babies this age seem to need 13-14hrs. Today he was up for 15½hrs total! No wonder nothing ever gets done. I'm too busy chasing him and laughing with him and getting him out of trouble and cuddling him to do anything else. *sigh* I guess at least now I know that I'm doing what I need to be and it isn't really that I'm being lazy but that I really am that busy with a child that really doesn't sleep.

I can only hope that he outgrows this as Jonathan did after he's gotten more used to this great big world and realized that it's a lot more fun when you (and mommy) are both well rested. Until then, I think I need to invest in NoDoze. LOL

Running, running, running...

I think I'm figuring out why I'm always so exhausted, mentally even more so than physically. We always seem to have stuff going on. We are always out of the house. It's exhausting trying to keep track of all the activities, parties, outings, etc and all the school stuff that needs to get done as well as all the house stuff, bills, and such. I've been picky about what trips we go on and I say no much more than I say yes but I'm still always booked up.

I actually said no to doing the Pumpkin Festival last weekend even tho I was offered a regular space by the promoters and then a table by one of the local business owners. I was flattered that people wanted my jewelry there but I just couldn't do it. Nico isn't used to being left with others, even daddy, for hours and Mark had to work anyway so it would have meant trying to keep a now mobile 8 month old happy in a small booth. I think I made the right decision for my family although perhaps not the best business decision. But I'm happy with it.

Speaking of mobile 8 month olds... He is now pulling up to his knees constantly and everywhere and even occasionally getting to his feet. We just got the crib lowered and not a moment too soon as that night he was up on his knees yelling at me at 4am and the next day he was on his feet after a nap.

And my records of his sleep have left me with one, inevitable conclusion....He doesn't sleep like other 8 month olds!!!! I knew it!!! I knew I was getting jipped on his sleep and I'm right. Most 8 month olds sleep between 13-14hrs a day. Mine averages that much time awake! This means I'm losing about 2hrs/day of sleep that the average mother of an 8 month old gets. That would be the 2 hr nap in the middle of the day that I'm dying for. *sigh* Oh, well, he's just too curious about the world to sleep. I guess he'll catch up on it when he's older. In the mean time, I'm just continuing to try and get things done while he's awake and intent on finding trouble faster than I can put it away.

Speaking of that, my wonderful mother is coming up to play with him tomorrow so I can try to get a few things done. My goal is my desk. The bills are pretty up to date but my desk is in serious need of decluttering. I'm hoping to make a serious dent on it as well as get all the filing done for the 2005 taxes so I can hand off the whole tax mess to a professional. And get my 2006 filing done for what we have so far so I can hand that off to be filed on time next year. Wow! Won't that be amazing!

And now for today's front door poetry:

spring music
recall a light dream
rain water symphony
--Jena

after for she did run
power through
--Matthew

wet TV in at winter you
sausauge but is as over
--Jonathan

Matthew's poem of the day

Not sure if he could do this with our magnetic letters, he asked me to write it down here instead:

what do you do when the wind blows
what do you do when the sun shines
if you know than do it
if you don't than don't
--Matthew

Busy weekend...

and a non-sleeping baby do NOT mix! Saturday wasn't too bad. Nico slept about as much as he always does so that was fine. I did some schoolwork with the boys and took care of some smaller chores. Sunday was the biggie tho. The big boys picked up all the recycling they hadn't been putting away properly while I took care of the morning dishes and kept the laundry going. Then I helped Christopher rake and sweep the front walk while Matthew did his math lesson. Then they took care of their room while I was tackling Mt Laundry in my master bath tub.

I only got started on that before it was time to tackle the big freezer and getting that defrosted. I'm really regretting not having gotten one that did it automatically. Christopher was a HUGE help by getting everything out of the big freezer and into the boys' bathtub for safe keeping. Then I got it defrosted and reloaded. The ice on the top of the freezer must have been at least 3" thick. I think MonkeyBoy's climbing on the door has been cracking it open a touch and making that problem much worse than it should. I'm trying to get him to understand how important it is that he not do that any more. We had to throw out some food because it was obvious it had defrosted at some point due to that.

After getting the big freezer done, I did a quick reorganization of the fridge's freezer. I really need to do a full wipe down in there after Mark's accident with the Mountain Dew. Or should I say, HE needs to do a full wipe down in there.

Of course through all this, Nico took only 3-30min naps including one when he was out with daddy but then proceeded to not go down for the night until midnight. I stayed up 2hrs past him to finish folding all the clean laundry (Yeah!!!) but then he was up at 5a for a quick soothe and for the day at 7a. I'm such a zombie today. I seriously can't even see straight. He's down for his 3rd nap of the day. I'm supposed to be making lasagne but I dont' think it's going to happen. I'm scared of what damage I could do in the kitchen in my current state. I didn't even notice it until I sat down to nurse Nico to sleep but now I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm so thankful the boys were good enough to get most of their schoolwork done before we went to their writer's workshop today so I can just let them veg out and we can do leftovers for dinner.

Please let this child of mine go to sleep at a normal hour tonight.


*And for fun, I bought one of those magnetic poetry sets and it's up on my front door so I'll now be adding the poems of the day here so I can keep track of them*

honey wind
in purple eternity
stormy beauty
--Jena

all stuff and stop
--Mark

beneath who flood your day fully in need
is not love it is death
--Matthew

Update on the movie game...

Been a while since I updated on this but want to keep a record of it so here's where we are at:

• Johnny Mnemonic --> Dragonheart via Dina Meyer
• Dragonheart --> The Hunt for Red October via Sean Connery
• Hunt for Red October --> Rocky Horror Picture Show via Tim Curry
• Rocky Horror --> Fight Club via Meatloaf
• Fight Club --> Red Dragon via Edward Norton
• Red Dragon --> Big Lebowski via Phillip Syemour Hoffman
• Big Lebowski --> Fatal Beauty via Sam Elliott
• Fatal Beauty --> The Color Purple via Whoopi Goldburg
• The Color Purple --> The Matrix via Laurence Fishbourne
• The Matrix --> The Matrix Reloaded via Carrie Anne Moss
• The Matrix Reloaded --> The Matrix Revolutions via Keanu Reeves
• The Matrix Revolutions --> The Fellowship of the Ring via Hugo Weaving
• Fellowship of the Ring --> The Two Towers via Billy Boyd
• The Two Towers --> The High King via Andy Serkis
• The High King --> The Raiders of the Lost Arc via John Rhys-Davies

And that's where we currently are at. We took a break for a bit because I finally completed my DS9 collection and wanted to watch the end of the series since I'd only seen it once before.

The interesting piece comes next where we have to go from Indy 1 to Indy 3 to Indy 2 in order to follow the rules of the game. The only link between Indy 2 and the other movies is Harrison Ford but we can follow Brody (Denholm Elliot) from 1 to 3. Probably taking Dan Akroyd out but haven't decided where.

Where has the time gone???

My sweet baby is 8 months old today! I can't believe how big he's gotten. 19.2 pounds and over 28½ inches. He is now starting to crawl on all fours and can make it under both the dining room and living room tables. He crawls over chair rungs and under couches and into any trouble he can find. Power cords seem to be a baby magnet here and I'm going crazy trying to keep him out of trouble until we can get all the gates up and other baby proofing done, especially putting Mark's office back where it belongs and out of the living room. Hopefully this weekend.

Feeding is going well (notice weight gain LOL) and he is eating 3 meals most days now with finger foods for breakfast and usually some of whatever we are having with his dinner. He's so proud of himself being able to eat what everyone else eats.

Sleeping is still a trial and I'm trying a tracking program to see if I can make rhyme or reason of what is going on and find some patterns amidst the chaos. Of course, I'm certain that he'll have a beautiful noticable pattern while I'm on the free trial which will immediately vanish into thin air once said free trail is over. Here's the site if you want to watch my prediction come true:
http://go.trixietracker.com/site/nicosleep/sleep
Password: nosleep

I do find it ironic that he slept beautifully last night after I started using this. Today he had 2 short naps but was in a wonderful mood thanks to a nice nights sleep previously. I can only hope that it will actually continue.

Teething continues to bring its ups and downs. Tooth #3 has cut but only just and #4 is showing signs of emerging any day now. The funny thing is that they are not the top front center 2 but the ones to either side so he'll have fangs as I did as a baby. The last two boys cut their teeth in a strange order as well. What are the odds that only one would do the standard pattern???

And speaking of where has the time gone....Christopher rode his skateboard that he got for his birthday for the first time ever today and did really well. Only a few minor spills but he was quite good at jumping off it before losing control and falling. After just a little while he was able to start turning it and managing to push himself again without coming to a complete stop first. I think he did marvelous for his first time out.

Now to go tackle the mountain of clean laundry that has once again taken over my master bathtub while I lament the absence of my camera.

Contribution to Peace

I contribute to Peace when I strive to
express the best of myself in
my contacts with others.

I contribute to Peace when I use my
intelligence and my abilities
to serve the Good.

I contribute to Peace when I feel
compassion toward all those
who suffer.

I contribute to Peace when I look upon all
as my brothers and sisters regardless of
race, culture, or religion.

I contribute to Peace when I rejoice
over happiness of others and
pray for their well-being.

I contribute to Peace when I listen with
tolerance to opinions that differ from
mine or even oppose them.

I contribute to Peace when I resort to
dialogue rather than to force
to settle any conflict.

I contribute to Peace when I respect
Nature and preserve it for
generations to come.

I contribute to Peace when I do not
seek to impose my conception
of God upon others.

I contribute to Peace when I make
Peace the foundation of my
ideals and philosophy.


-From the Rosicrucian Order

Feeling hungover...

But what a night! San Jose Sharks home opener against St Louis. I should have known it would be an eventful night when as soon as we arrive and I take the boys to the park, Jonathan falls and gets a bloody and scraped nose. Thankfully my mom was there so she watched the bigger two while one of the bluecoats took us to find an EMT. I wasn't too concerned about it as it didn't seem too bad but she wanted to make sure he was fine and he wanted an icepack. In 9 years of going to Sharks games, I've never had any problems so I figure I'm due and it's a minor thing. All is good now so we head back over to the park so the boys can play and I can feed Nico his dinner.

Now it's time to go settle in to our seats and get some dinner for everyone else. We get there just fine and I'm waiting for Mark to get back so I can hand off the baby now that I have the boys orders. My mom shows up with edamame for the boys to keep them happy until I get their dinner. Mark shows up, I hand off Nico, and take Matthew with me to go get 5 dinners.

Hot dogs won't be ready for 5 minutes. Okay, on to next place to get other people's food. No fish'n'chips. Okay, we'll settle for popcorn chicken for Mark. Now I have Christopher, Mark, and my dinners and am heading back for Jonathan and Matthew's when Matthew says his stomache doesn't feel good. I ask if he's hungry or something else. He doesn't know. Get to the hot dog/nacho stand and am just asking if the hot dogs are ready when Matthew starts throwing up! I comfort him (not much else I can do at this point) until he's done. He thinks he had a bad piece of edamame as one didn't taste right but now he's feeling better and now asking for his nachos. Ummm...NO! I get Jonathan's hot dog and a pretzel for Matthew to try first.

Now we are heading back to our seats and find out the score is already 2-1, and not in our favor. Sheesh!

Now it's half way through the 2nd period and Jonathan is already whining about wanting to go home as he's tired. "We're half-way through honey, just hang on and we'll get you ice cream soon."

Now we are in the 3rd, up 3-2. Now St. Louis scores but it's under review. Please don't be a goal, please don't be a goal, please don't be a....Darn, it's a goal. Game now tied 3-3. Biting nails and edge of seat sitting can now commence.

Wait, forget sitting on the edge of your seat. Just sit there and look around bored. There's now a hole in the boards and it will take 20min to fix it. Sharkie starts the wave and almost the entire arena is doing it because there is absolutely nothing better to do.

Game on! Finally! Of course, now the momentum is nil, the ice is crap, and the boys on skates don't have the game intensity going.

Power play is on. Good. We scored twice during some 5-3s, maybe we can do okay on the 5-4. SCORE!!! What do you mean it's under review???? Of course it's a goal!!! Everyone starts yelling at the video review judge to rule it a goal. It's already after 10p!!! Just let it be a goal! The call comes down, thank go....WHAT?!?!?!? How could you say that's not a goal??? I lean over to Mark, "Someday the headline is going to read 'Beserk fan leaps into video goal judges booth and makes sure he makes the right call'". We both laugh and the power play resumes.

GOAL!!!!! We're up 4-3 now! Jonathan is begging to know how much longer. "Not much honey, only a few more minutes." "Look, under a minute to go now and we'll go home." "Just 10 more seconds."

S*** They scored with their goalie pulled and we are now heading to overtime! I apologize profusely to Jonathan but it's going to be a little longer. I pray silently for it to not go to a shootout.

WooHoo!!! Half-way through the 5 minute sudden death overtime, our beloved Sharks score!!! Victory is ours! Tired (it's after 10:30p now) but extremely happy we head out for the car. Get the boys in their pjs, teeth brushed, baby nursed, and head for home....

But Nico isn't happy being in the car. He's overtired and cranky now. Pull over and try nursing again. He settles better this time and away we go. Drop off Mark at his car and drive home being thankful the game didn't go any later because I can barely see the road as it is.

But I'm still thrilled for such an exciting start to the hockey season!

12 years and two days ago...

I was sitting in the hospital bed which I had been occupying for the past two days. Ever since I had been transfered to this hospital with an NICU. Ever since receiving steroid shots to mature my babies lungs. Ever since being told that he would most likely have to come out within the next week. I had made it 5 days since being diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia which put me now at 32wks 3 days. I was hooked up to machines, hardly able to get out bed as they wanted me on my left-side as much as possible. We were all trying to keep my blood pressure down and my baby inside for every day possible.

My husband was a pillar during this time. By my side, day and night, hardly ever leaving unless it was to do something to cheer me up. I wanted a deli sandwhich for lunch and he'd go on a search to find the best one around. Every morning over to Peet's Coffe so I didn't have to drink the hospital swill. Picking up a new book or some other little thing to try and give me something to do while lying in bed all day. To this day, I don't know how I would have gotten through that time without him.

At 2:45p on this date 12 yrs ago, I was talking with my mom who had come to visit when the dr stopped by to check on me. I dutifully reported that I had had a brief spot of blurred vision but nothing that I hadn't experienced before ever being pregnant on occaison. The dr asked some other questions and then left again. I thought nothing of it as it was a fairly routine set of questions. That would change very quickly.

About 15min later the dr came back in again to inform me that the OR was being prepped and I would be delivering my baby via c/s within the hour. I just grabbed my moms hand and paled. My head was swimming with the news. All I could think of was would my baby be all right coming this early? I was wheeled downstairs to the pre-op room, my mom holding my hand the entire time. Mark was off getting scrubbed and gowned. My guess is I was wheeled into the OR around 3:20p or so. I was given a spinal and Mark was finally allowed in. I just grabbed his hand and I know that we both were saying the same prayer for Christopher's lungs to be functioning and for him to be okay.

At 3:51p we both heard the answer to our prayers in the form of a very loud and indignent wail coming from our tiny son. We looked at each with tears streaming down our faces in relief that our first prayer had been answered. The nurses quickly cleaned him and bundled him up. They brought him over so I could see his sweet face as that was all there was to be seen with all the blankets and such they had on him. Then they whisked him away to the NICU to put him through a battery of tests to see how all his organs were doing. When the dr finished with me, I was taken to the post-op room where my mom was waiting and Mark went to go check on Christopher.

Later that day I got the stats, I had given birth to a 2lb 11oz, 16½" baby. His lungs and other vitals all appeared to be in good shape but he was considered low-birthweight and had no fat on him. He would be in the hospital for at least another 6 weeks. He had to stay in the NICU and I was in no condition to go to him. Mark got his mother to bring her new camcorder in so he could take a video of Christopher for me to see. He was now alternating between staying with me and going down to see our son. He made it a point to be down there at every shift change to meet the nurses and drs who would be taking care of Christopher.

So on that day, 12 years ago, I gained my newest name and the one that I am most proud of....Mom. And on this day 12 years ago, I got to hold my sweet baby for the first time. He was so tiny and seemed so fragile but I could see that his spirit was strong. He was holding his head up and looking around. He was so curious about everything. I got to watch Mark change his first son's diaper for the first time. And I got to watch Christopher christen his daddy for the first time. LOL

Happy Birthday Christopher!!!! It has been an amazing journey with you and I'm so proud to have watched you go from that tiny baby to this handsome young man before me:
(taken this summer during our camping trip due to my camera having just died)

Thanks for letting me share and reminise about this remarkable day in my life.

My husband has a new theme song!!!

Thank you, once again, Mr Weird Al for creating yet another song that has us ROTFLOL at ourselves. You are a true genius.


Speaking of which, my husband now owns a 1993 Ford Escort LX, colors....Teal with a grey interior and black trim. Quite appropriate since our favorite hockey team is the San Jose Sharks.

and he wonders why he's white and nerdy.

It's been a day

and oh, boy, I definitely could have passed on this one. Nico's been sick with a fever since Tuesday and today apparently it was really bugging him as he was Mr Velcro and/or Mr Crabbypants all day. Very frustrating not being able to put him down all day and of course, he barely napped. Only 3 naps all day, each consisting of 20min. I finally got breakfast during his first nap at 11a.

And of course, the big boys all took advantage of this to goof off on school. They did finally get their work from today done but, sheesh, would have been easier to pull teeth out of them.

Then while I'm waiting for Matthew to get dropped off after soccer practice, Mark calls. His car left it's clutch somewhere on the Hwy and it's not moving so he needs a ride. So I've got a sick baby, dinner just got started, and one missing kid. Thankfully his father rode to the rescue, literally, and picked him. He's borrowing his mom's car for a few days while he searchs through Craigs List for a new junker to drive into the ground.

But the big news of the day is that Nico now has 2 teeth. Second one finally popped through so I'm hoping this will help him settle a bit.

My accomplishments for the day are as follows: didn't completely lose my mind even with three big boys seeing how far they could push me and a baby on my hip all day, got several loads of wash done tho not folded, dishes are caught up, changed out the bumper on the crib so that stupid mesh thing that never worked is gone, and got all my printed out recipes organized and into sheet protectors in a binder so they aren't scattered all over the kitchen.

Hopefully Nico will be feeling better tomorrow so I can take the kids to the park and get them out of the house. Apparently several hours at Coyote Point on Wedn wasn't enough tho after the 100,000,000,000 time of telling Matthew to stop running in the house, I finally set the timer for 2minutes and told him to do jumping jacks until it ran out. That slowed him down for a bit. I'm going to have to remember that one for days (or in this case nights) where I can't just make him go out and play in the backyard.

7 months old today!

And look at him sit and study his toys! He's now 28" long and has gained almost 2lbs in the last month to weigh in at 16½lbs now. He has now almost doubled his birth weight, just a few more ounces.

To celebrate the day he tried a few new foods. Blueberries which mommy mixed with applesauce and oatmeal. Mango mixed with yogurt. And a few bites of mommy's chicken from dinner. He still gives me funny looks the first time I stick food in his face but then he settles down and starts opening wide.

His current favorite things to do are sit and pull out all his toys, be carried in mommy's arms, and be adored by his brothers. Such a tough life my little man has.

Still only one tooth so far tho it's now much more visable when he smiles but still hard to get a good picture of. The 2nd tooth is there just under the surface but is stubbornly refusing to cut through. He is doing everything he can to bring it out by biting on everything he can stick in his mouth.

I've already sobbed to Mark how my baby is growing up too quickly and that we now have only 5mos until his 1st birthday and how I don't even want to think about that. I'm trying so hard to enjoy and savor each day with him, his sweet smiles, he's baby hugs, the way he closes his eyes and just relaxes when I kiss his face. He's just the sweetest little thing!

Busy Weekend

Just a normal busy weekend here. Saturday kicked off Matthew and Jonathan's soccer season. The boys are playing at different schools so Mark and I are having to split up to get them to their games now. Kind of a bummer as I'll barely get to see Matthew play and Mark will hardly ever see Jonathan but what can you do.

After soccer on Saturday morning, we headed out for a back-to-school picnic for CAVA put on by our teacher. There were only 5 other families there but we all hit it off well and I'm hoping for a good turnout to the park day I've been trying to get going this week. Hopefully with some people there, we can start really planning more field trips, art/music days, and family outings to build a real community for our kids.

My thought is that if we could get even 20 parents to volunteer to organize one field trip per school year, that would give parents an option of 3 field trips a month plus whatever the teachers organize. It wouldn't be a burden on any one person but would open up a wealth of opportunities for our children.

My current goal is to get out to one field trip a month with the boys and organize at least one field on my own besides the park days and all the ideas I've been giving to our teacher. I really want my boys to be able to make friends with more homeschool families and maybe be able to get out and get some adult conversation myself once in a while.

We were treated to a special treat as we headed out...Seeing 4 does with their fawns on the grassy area just below where we had been playing! It was so incredible to see them so close. Then on the way out there was another doe and fawn in the road out of the park. We stopped to let them by and got to watch them watch us. Truly a beautiful moment.

After the bbq, we hit the grocery store where Nico got to have his first ride in the car part of the shopping cart with Jonathan. Both boys were laughing so hard when we were putting them in. It lasted about half way through the shopping when Jonathan wanted to get out and roam and Nico just wanted to be held again. We finished up as quickly as possible and headed home arriving around 10p. Nico had a rough night so Mark and I didn't get out of bed until 9a. Today was pretty much just trying to get things caught up a bit around the house. Mark got some more shelves put up in his office and a few boxes out of the living room. I got the dishes caught up, spaghetti sauce made, blueberries purreed for Nico, some laundry done, and some packages ready for Mark to mail tomorrow. I might have gotten more done but I was nursing someone every 15min and when I wasn't nursing, he was hip sitting. He wasn't super cranky, just didn't want to be put down. He's been like that for a bit now and I'm thinking he's hit seperation anxiety along with teething. He's been drooling like crazy but that second tooth has yet to make it's appearance.

It's now after midnight and his majesty has been asleep for about 45min. The bed is almost cleared off of the clean laundry so I'm going to finish putting the spaghetti sauce away and hit the pillow. 6am comes waaaaay too soon and 4am when Nico will start in on me comes even earlier.

Week 1 down!

And it was a total success!!!! All lessons done for the week. Only one meltdown, and it wasn't mine. Most days, the kids even got some play time in. We've got our first soccer games of the fall season starting tomorrow. The boys are in the same uniform so I can't wait to take pictures. Then it's off to a homeschool bbq.

Of course, something had to give this week and that was Nico's sleep. He started the week off great and backslid into waking up hourly this morning starting at 4a, only taking 30min naps (3 of them) and then waking an hour after being put to bed. I'm not sure if it's teeth or what but I'm hoping he sleeps well tonight. I don't know how he does it but I sure dont' work well on such little sleep.

Got through Thursday!!!

May not sound like much since there is one every week but ours have become totally chaotic with the start of the school year and soccer. Add in gymnastics make-up for Christopher and our day currently looks like this:

12:45p - Leave house for bowling (this actually starts 9/21 but Jonathan has had gymnastics make-ups at that time so the result is the same)

1p-2p - Bowling (5mi North of us)
2p-4p - Park Day (5mi South of us)
4p-6p - Matthew Soccer practice (thankfully close to our usualy park)
4:30-5:30p - Christopher gymastic make-up (right next door to us)

And for fun, last night was game night from 7p-9p. We got home around 10p since the boys were having such a good time. *pant pant pant* Who needs workouts? I get driveouts! LOL

Bath for 2!

Matthew's long cherished baby dream has come to pass. His bath partner is sitting well and has his bath seat. Nico loved having his Matthew to splash at and Matthew was all smiles having his baby sharing the bath with him.

There is nothing sweeter than watching brothers so in love with each other.

School is in session

And I'm so thrilled to report a wonderful first day!!! After the last few weeks of trying to get the boys to do just a bit here and there to keep their brains crisp and having that take all day, I was almost in despair as I thought of what this day would bring.

BUT, they came out of the gate running and rearing to go.

Christopher dove into ancient history in the land of Sumer and enjoyed learning about Ziggurats at his new desk. (Which he even kept cleaned and organized to my supreme delight!)

Matthew went exploring ancient ecosystems and was thrilled to be able to open his 4th grade math book at long last (mean mommy told him he had to wait until the beginning of the school year). He was thrilled to finish his friendly letter composition and put that in the mail. I think he'll be waiting at the mailbox for the postman every day until he gets a response.


Jonathan was not about to be outdone by his brothers and was easy to intice into doing some "real" schoolwork. We did some easy workbooks for fun and snuck in some math with the abbacus. I'm hoping that in the days to come, things settle down a bit more with less computer problems taking up my time so we can really start working on his reading. He's ready but just needs some encouragement.

Nicholas was even a dream and took a two hour nap in the morning and was in a great mood all afternoon. It's always a good day when mommy lets him pull out every toy he owns! His new trick for the day is a constant cry of 'mama' when he's upset. He means it too as he was just telling daddy all about it and was happy and smiling as soon as daddy brought him in to me. Trying to melt my heart again (and succeeding as always).




So a few little missteps with chores but all their schoolwork was done long enough before dinner for them to have some down time in front of their monitor of choice. I have hope that this will be the start of a truly wonderful year with my new 7th grader, 3rd grader, and now my little Kindergartner.

And all overseen by the 'master' of the house, of course ;)

Make it stop!!!

How can I make time stop or at least slow down??? My baby is growing up so fast before my eyes. Every day brings some new trick or discovery for him. While it's still a miracle and the most beautiful thing to watch his eyes light up as he figures out how to do things and make the world do as he wants, it's sad to see my once helpless little baby becoming so much more. I just want to be able to love on him and keep him small and sweet the way he is.

These days, he's already full of mischeif. He has gone from being able to roll a little ways to rolling across rooms. He is now getting up on all fours and starting to throw himself forwards and backwards. Crawling can't be far off.

He's sitting like a pro now. Just 2wks ago, he could only manage a few minutes before he would topple. Now he can go an hour without using his hands on the floor for support. He is also practicing picking up one leg while sitting and balancing like that before righting himself. Unfortunately, I know that this is a very useful skill for those who wish to walk. I'm still hoping it won't be before he's 1. Not sure I can take him walking that much earlier than his big brothers.

His current favorite thing to do is get over to his toy bins and pull out all the toys. He plays with each one for a few minutes (if we're lucky) and then grab a new one. He, of course, finds this hilarious. My only saving grace is it gives me a few minutes to try and get something done while he's tearing it apart since he's totally refusing to nap these days and 30min through the whole day seems to be a miracle.

And he is no longer my sweet toothless one as the first tooth made it's official appearance earlier this week. *sigh* So far it's only one and is thankfully taking its time coming fully up but I can feel it's mate just under the surface so I know it will be joined soon. The top two are also very noticible underneath so I fear he will have several before too long. I'm just hoping he doesn't feel the need to top Jonathan who had 7 teeth by 7mos. I think I'm safe from that but I put nothing past any of my children.

Does anyone know how much it costs to put a child in stasis so you can preserve these sweet baby days as long as possible?

So happy with these portraits!

And why wouldn't I be?! After the last debacle I had getting portraits done of the boys (which still is not resolved, ugh!) to have these come out so well and be done and out of the studio in under 3hrs with my photos and no one soaking wet.

We just rearranged our entire photo wall to accomadate Nico's pictures and pics of the 4 boys together. I'm so pleased with how it laid out.

The sad part is that I had to go into the shed and pull out bigger clothes for Nico. One of the boxes was totally ruined as we found we have a leak in the shed but it's looking like that doesn't matter much as he seems to have leapfrogged past 6-9mo and right into 12mo clothes. *sigh* Why does he have to be in a hurry to grow up too??? I'm finally putting his bassinet, bouncy seat, and mobile up on Craig's List.

I'm sad that my baby isn't such a baby any more.

Playing catch-up

Seems like that is all I'm doing these days. Trying to get caught up on the laundry, the dishes, email, life. I just seem to be running from one thing to the next and I'm lucky if I get anything finished. I'm working on trying to get a better schedule for all of us into place but it's been hard. Just taking time out to feed Nico quietly in another room is cause for all the boys to scatter to the winds.

At least when they do that tho, they are quiet so they don't get caught. LOL

Happy Half Birthday Sweet Nico!!!

I don't know where the time has gone but it's been over a month since I last blogged and now here it is, August 11th, and you've been out in my arms for a whole 6mos, a half year. It seems like just yesterday you were kicking me from the inside and now look how far you've come. You are starting to sit on your own, eat solid food, and love to play games. You have a smile that I could just gaze at all day.

I love you so much my sweet Nico and I'm so thankful to have you in my life!