Moab 2012

So much I could say about this trip. So much I probably should say. I'm sure I'll find the right perspective and words at some point, but for now I will just share the handful of pictures from our first (and incidentally only) day in Moab.

{Captain cool in his drug store kiddie sunglasses with Mr. Dorito and the youngest bandit driving the wagon at the Red Cliffs Lodge, where we all lunched half way through their rafting trip.}

{Oh yeah, Jack got some new shades too!}

{Hmmm.  Looking a bit less that thrilled to be doing such a treat as going rafting...a little hint as to the entitled, disrespectful attitudes that followed.}

{Jack acting like a daredevil.}

{Moab is beautiful, you could point your camera randomly into the landscape and capture something special.}

And a few iPhone pictures too...

{I'll always love Moab.  It holds a special place since that is where Bryan and I fell in love.  We went there a couple months into dating and hiked in the Fiery Furnace and I just knew...}

{Mama and sleeping baby in the shade along the CO river.}

{Nolan and I walked all the way across this bridge to the other side of the river from where we parked and he got to swim (completely nude) in the Colorado River.  No pictures since he was determined to drown himself, but it was quite the scene and really reminded me of pictures of myself at his age swimming naked at Big Lake, Alaska.}

It was a short trip unfortunately.  But we had to follow through and our kids' behavior did not warrant them being lavished with any more fun adventures or gift store treats.  We've shaken up their world a bit since returning home too.  Chores! No Apple devices! No movies in the car! Very limited Wii!  Absolutely no tolerance for backtalk or any kind of disrespect!  Hopefully this memory is etched into their memories...and hopefully we return to Moab again sooner than 9 years from now!

Loving these visuals!

Found these in the crate of newborn clothes the other day. All three boys' hospital hats. They have all been born at the same hospital by the same doctor and Luke will be no exception! Thinking I need to make one of those corny shadow box things with these with all the birth stats under each one :)

The FOUR BOYS IN A ROW visual! We love the mall play area, especially when we have a friend to play with too.

I am really having a ton of early nesting lately. Luke's nursery is all set up and ready to go! Went and bought a few little items for him like a new bobby pillow, nap nanny chill, swaddle-pod, a mesh "breathebaby" crib bumper, white noise maker, a new bottle set (for when someone else wants to feed him breastmilk of course!), and a sophie giraffe toy...I know, how could I possibly need anything baby-related?! Well, new cool stuff comes out and our stuff gets gross and ruined. Bottles do not get handed down (umm gross chewed up nipples etc) and neither do the boppy pillows since each kid has become attached to their pillow and kept it well into toddler-hood.

The only other outstanding purchases are diapers and a stroller! This stroller to be exact:

The Wave stroller by First years. It will be a bit of a splurge, but considering that this kid will be wearing a wardrobe on its fourth go round for his entire childhood, I feel like we can swing it.

Anyhow, we have an ultrasound tomorrow, which the whole clan will be attending.  Kind of crazy to think this is the last time we will "see" him before he makes his debut in May.  I am 21 weeks and this pregnancy is flying by.  I am already so ready for him.  It may be silly to get ready so early, but I like to strike while the iron's hot and while I have the energy!

Getting ready so start a 6 week long after-school club on Rockets/Solar System--making the alkaseltzer rockets we learned about at the library a month ago and also solar system mobiles on coat hangers.  Should be good! 

Worst Blogger Ever

After all that lapse of time, all I can manage are some cell phone pics and titles...life is BUSY!

[We are looking into finishing our attic!  We are not "basement people," and wouldn't mind having another bedroom and bathroom up there.  Maybe I'll get that bathroom with floor to ceiling tile and an urinal after all for these boys! Still in the research phase to see if what we want is possible and acceptable by our HOA.]

[Seriously, has anyone ever had any luck sprouting an avocado seed? Hmmm...]

[New haircut, with some bangs!]

[From the other side.  Got new makeup (Josie Maran!) and did Davinci Teeth Whitening!  Feeling all sparkly and new :)]

[Even with all the headaches I was having, we got out on this day for a much needed change of scenery.]

[The belly at 15 weeks!  Tomorrow we find out the gender!  Okay this is funny because I took this last week and my belly isn't nearly that big now...maybe I just had a huge lunch.]

[These two are becoming such good buddies! (Now that she finally carries a nerf gun willingly!)]

[I was so sure Warren would test gifted recently that I started some pre-emptive researching, I mean the kid got lots of A's on his report card and has the witt and humor beyond most adults.  Well, he is not.  Not by a long shot.  And chances are neither is Jack, even though he constantly blows my socks off.  "This is 10 bundles of 10 pretzels, mom!  That's one hundred pretzels.  If I did this 10 times, that would be one thousand pretzels!"  All while I made his lunch...]

[Can you guess what we did this morning?]

[The boys loved it!  My cheecks hurt from smiling by the time I cleared their plates.]

[Oh my goodness, this is the shirt Jack was wearing at the hospital when Nolan was born!  How does this happen?  And preschool registration is in less than a month!]

[Jack is the "Star of the Week" this week at school.  I laminated his star after we finished it.  I am obsessed with laminating things these days. :)]

[Mom and Dad snuck out last week for the Kid Rock Concert at the Fillmore in downtown Denver.]

[Jack got his shoes all ready the night before his field trip at school to the Denver Puppet Theater.]

[Our Family's newest addition.  Yes, it really is THAT exciting.]

[I got to chaperone Jack's field trip.  It was so cute.  Love love love that boy!]

[Warren first ever science fair project!  My heart nearly burst with pride when someone asked him what his project was on and he replied "Newton's third law of motion."  He made a newton's cradle out of a shoe box, string, beads and tape too.]

[Such a little stud, that #7!]

[If all else fails when you are taking care of 5 kids, build a tent with a "camp fire" and give them crunchy snacks.  Then you can lay down on the couch nearby for at least 20 min.]

Kindergarten bound!

School starts in THREE weeks!  What?!  I already mentioned that?!  Well, whatever, I am stoked that we are wrapping up another Summer (this is my third with three!) and avoided ANY trips to the E.R. and managed to stay off of the local news :) .  Those are always my top two goals of the Summer.

It has been a long fun Summer jam-packed with tons of outings and activities and LOTS of at home learning.  I seriously kicked @ss this Summer on that front.  Their binders are stuffed full of "reports" workbook sheets and, for Jack at least, lots of letter practice sheets. 

When he finished up the one this morning, I about burst at the seams with pride.  He has come SO far this Summer.  Holding his pencil correctly, forming the letters with a steady hand and in the correct fashion.  I can't believe how GOOD he is doing compared to this same sheet a few months ago.  He is a HARD dilligent worker and he is gonna rock the house in Kindergarten. 

He got to meet his teacher last Friday, since she was at Jumpin' Jordy's with her son too.  He was a bit bashful when she was introducing herself, and he later confided in me that he "loves Miss Tina and Betty from preschool the best, Mommy."  I assured him he will love his new teacher too - she is fantastic and one of his best friends, Paul, is for sure in his morning Kindergarten class. 

I have great kids.

While it can sometimes be easy to find fault with my "predicament," lately I am feeling way more like reveling in my membership to the elite club of
"Boy Mom."

Because...

I have great kids.

They are all...

Compassionate and generous.

Outgoing and friendly.

Super smart.

And more than a little cute!

So there, I've said it. I have great kids. Don't feel sorry for me even though I live in a house with an {over}abundance of noise, chaos, wrestling, dirt, bruises, and smells.

It truly is my joy to be the proud keeper of these little men... and if anyone can do it -- it's me!

Toilet Training, Chapter 2

***I will be adding pictures to this post as soon as I have time!**

As soon as the novelty of Chapter 1 starts to wear off (you'll know by the onset of resistance and your child no longer wanting to sit on the toilet for the 4-5 minutes stretches as before, which is actually a good thing!), which is usually around day 4, a trip to the store is in order!

Buy a little potty chair and let your child pick out a package of underwear and get a special kind of treat (for us it is dum-dum suckers) but don't let them see the treat yet.

Head home and set up shop.

Set the potty chair up in the living room and round up a few of your child's favorite stuffed animals or dolls. Get a sippy cup with a little bit of milk in it.

Then model the following: pick up a doll and say "oh are you thirsty? okay here drink some milk!" Give the doll a sip and then say "oh do you need to go pee on the toilet now? okay sit on the toilet!" After a few seconds pick the doll up excitedly and exclaim "Good Job! You went pee! Wow!" etc...

Stand back and watch in amazement as your child then proceeds to potty train all of the rest of the stuffed animals and dolls by himself!

Well, at least the above is what my day looked like today. Nolan's following visit to the toilet after potty training his animals was a complete success! He peed right away and both his Daddy and I were there to congratulate him and Daddy produced the special treat for him.

Nolan then said "bye bye pee pee" and flushed the toilet. He was in a big hurry to get back downstairs to the living room and play "potty training" with his toys.

Just for the record this book is totally getting written as we go, as in I have no idea what Chapter 3 is! :)

Toilet Training, Chapter 1

We have been at it for a few days, and it is going along just as I recall from the last two times. Bummer, turns out Nolan is not a potty training prodigy and this is sure to be a somewhat rocky road until he is done.

This week is all about increasing his awareness with all things pee and poop.

Why now?

So glad you asked! The weather is warming up; so lots of opportunity to be outside (I'm sure you can guess why that is helpful), and next week is Spring Break so we will be home a lot more without running back and forth to school etc, and because it just feels like the right time to start.

How is it going?

Pretty well, actually! I am even impressed with myself and my patience and persistence. I really do feel like I am a bit of an old pro at this, and that is encouraging!

What are you doing, as in what method of toilet training?

I call it the cold turkey method. As in quitting diapers cold turkey, with the exception of at night for a while. He is in underwear from the time he waked up until he goes to sleep. I take him and set him on the toilet at least once per hour. Now, all clean up activities take place in the bathroom and he is very much aware of his messes in his underwear, since he has to step out of his underwear and we either feel the wet mess or dump the solid mess in the toilet together.

He has pooped in the toilet once so far and peed once only because I poured warm water over him to make him go. So, yeah, not a lot of success yet but he is becoming oh so much more aware of his body and its functions.

When he has peed on the floor he says "pee" and he knows all the other pertinent words too, so we are good there.

I give him a sticker on his hand each time he sits on the toilet. Now to be fair he has been eating them (they are very small) but whatever, I think he gets that it is a reward for sitting on the toilet.

His big brothers are very encouraging telling him he is a big boy wearing underwear and showing him when they use the toilet. So much family fun happening in the bathroom! :)

This is roughly the same age as the other two started and he has to be completely potty trained by his third birthday to start preschool in the Fall of 2012. Seems far away, but really I know it will be here in a flash!

a recycled post with a new picture

[can you tell what's going on here?]

I have become more and more the super relaxed parent. I have honed in on what I think matters and what is important, and largely leave the rest alone.

Which is partly why I had a good chuckle at myself when I came across these words I wrote two years ago. I only had two boys then, and had only been staying home with them for well under a year. Oh, what a lifetime ago!

It's not that I don't stand by every last word that I wrote two years ago on this exact day, it's just that I don't even know if the "me" of today would take the time to write out such a piece. But that's part of the fun and beauty of this blog -- I get to see myself and my family evolve, grow, change, and arrive.

So, here it is... the post of two years ago to the day... enjoy! :)

FIVE INGREDIENTS TO HAPPY