Confessional

It's nearly one am. My post run high is coming to a rash and I have completed my nightly routine. Everyone is sleeping and there is a sweet baby girl lying next to me with her little arm outstretched and resting on mine. It's like she has to be touching me to sleep. This evening while I was making dinner I had Emilia on my back in the Beco. She kept rubbing my side with her tiny hand and the sweetness of the gesture nearly made me weep.

So my confession. I like to watch my boys sleep. And girl. I'm still working on retraining my brain to say children or kids instead of boys. After Owen has come out of his room approximately 94,562 times for various necessities, and after Julian has closed his latest book, turned off his book light and shoved them both haphazardly under his pillow, and when Gabe has perfectly arranged his assortment of puppies, had his nightly snack (string cheese) and filled his water bottle, I like to sneak into their room. I like to peer into the darkness and witness how they're sleeping. Gabe never has blankets. Never. Julian is a snuggler. He usually cons his way into Gabe's bed, Gabe into his bed, or crashes and hogs Owen's toddler bed. Owen is usually half on half off his bed. He might have blankets on him and he ALWAYS has at least 4 OBV tickety bu blankets at all times. I like to imagine what they're dreaming of. I like to push their hair back and kiss their foreheads softly, careful not to wake them.

All too soon they will be grown and gone from their bunk-beds. Serving missions if they choose, getting married, having children of their own. I want to remember the little things. I want to remember how Gabriel sleeps with his face pressed into the pillow and his mouth wide open. I want to know that Julian grinds his teeth when he is dreaming. I need to remember that Owen? He gets that drooling habit from his mama.

My confession is this. Even on my worst day, I am here. I am where I belong. This is MY family, forever. I love them. They make me crazy. I make them crazy. They make me laugh. They make me proud. They help to keep me here and now. Present. And they make me want to do better, try harder, BE better.

So tonight, Owen had one of my random vampire diaries books hidden between his mattress and the crib. Julian slept alone, snuggling his guinea pig stuffed animal, Patches. Gabe? No blanket. Duh. Asleep completely across his entire bed. Bed hog to the max.

Au Revoir Summer

It's been a good one. We did a lot of fun things, and had fun exploring our new city. The boys have made a bunch of good friends in our cul de sac, and are never lacking a playmate. Well, until today. Today all of those good friends got on the bus and headed to their first day of Kindergarten. (We have 10 kids at our bus stop, and 5 of them are kindergarteners!) Gabe is a little sad. He misses his brother, he misses his friends. He's stuck with Owen. I don't entirely blame him :) My 1st Grader :) Wearing NONE of his new school clothes! LOL

So handsome and big! How did he get so old?

Heart.Breakers.

The crew! (big bus stop, no?)

The bus!

Waiting for his turn

Bye Julian! Have a great first day of 1st grade <3

Ahhh! How do I have a 1st grader already? I'm pretty sure he was just born, like 2 minutes ago! Time flies. And to think in less than three months I'll have another, baby number four! This mama is overwhelmed :)

Emotions

Oh boy. Julian is six and a half, or pretty darn close. He is so emotional. SO!

Today was no exception. Barry is working today, something like 7 am until 8 pm or something crazy. Anyway my little sister is here visiting, and we attempted church this morning. Ha.

Considering the fact that I had all three boys, plus me dressed and ready to go by 8:45 I consider that a smashing success. Walking to the car however, all went downhill from there.
Julian lost it because he couldn't put on his shoes. Serious. Melt.down. I got pretty frustrated with him, because instead of asking for help, he flipped out crying. He then freaked out about his carseat, Gabe, and a million other things within the span of two minutes. I made everyone get out of the car so I could talk to Julian. After talking it out, I still couldn't find the root of his tantrum. Why he flipped out to begin with. I tried to explain to him that when Barry is at the hospital I need his help, he can't act like a baby when he is the biggest. Is that wrong?

I feel like most times I expect a lot out of him, he is reasonably mature for a 6 year old, most of the time. And I think I probably forget that he is only 6. How do you talk through emotional outbursts? Help me! Any advice for a short tempered preggo? I want to be a kind mom, who doesn't react, but I'm having trouble.

Happy Birthday Julian!

My first born son is now FIVE. The big oh-five. CRAZY. It seems like yesterday that I was walking around the SuperMall in hopes of walking him out. It worked, and he was born at 6:26 on his due date.

Like I said, it seems like only yesterday I was 40 weeks pregnant, and waiting, waiting, waiting. And in others, it seems like he's been a part of my family forever, always here, always laughing, always smiling.

Recently, I went back and read Julian's birth story. It was strange to remember the gamut of emotions I was feeling after he was born. And to remember how seamlessly he fit into our lives.

Julian's forever been in love with puzzles, building things, creating. If you ask him now, he says he wants to be a builder, just like Grandpa Bob. I can see that. He's an expert Lego constructor. He can follow those directions better than I can! He's a master of all things puzzles, and is so cute when he tries to help Gabe do them. J always asks us to help him do puzzles, and then he ends up helping us! Smarty pants.

We had Julian's birthday party on Saturday. We invited his whole class, but not many could come because of spring break. We leave for Washington on Friday (the 18th) so we needed to have it before! It was SO fun! It was at a place called Backyard Adventures! After having the mess and clean up from Gabe's party less than 2 weeks before, I wanted something easy, especially before our trip! This was the definition of easy!

Like I said before, Julian looooves to build. My friend Jackie showed me a Lego cake a long time ago, and I asked if she would make it. She did and it totally exceeded all of our expectations! Julian was in LOVE! And it was DELICIOUS!

Here are some pictures from the party:
The 'backyard' lunch


Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing and a candy lego on top! (Julian's favorite colors are red and black, which is why he picked out black candles)


The birthday boy


Swinging


Gabe about to slide!


The AWESOME Lego cake!


Singing Happy Birthday


Table full o' kids!


So much fun! Happy birthday Julian! You are very, very loved.

Friday's Appointment & My Mother's Day

Well my appointment was Friday. Any hopes of guessing the baby's gender were dashed the minute the tech pulled me into the room. "You know it's WAY too early to tell the baby's gender." I nodded, a little disappointed. However, the baby looked great, just the right size, a round little head. I'd sent a picture message to Barry, to show to Julian. This was the picture that I sent to him.


Julian looked at the picture for a little while, and said, "Aww, my baby sister." And then Barry showed him the baby's head, hand, etc. After identifying all available body parts, Julian said, "Yep, that's a girl alright." He cracks me up!


Just one more picture of the little babe.



And here's my 14 week belly shot.


We are giving talks in church this week, so I've been falling asleep thinking about what on earth I'm going to say. I think that's led to some pretty crazy dreams. Last night my mother-in-law was in my dream, and talking to me about baby names. I told her the boy names we were considering were Avery and Brett, which aren't names we've considered, ever. Brett as a possible middle name, but never as a first. Ironically the girl name was spot on.

My Mother's Day was wonderful. We'd gone to breakfast on Saturday, with intentions of going to church on Sunday. Perkins, is SO good. So Sunday morning, we woke up, and both boys had slight fevers. And Gabe has a loud cough. And I wasn't feeling too hot either. So we stayed home. Had Panera bagels for breakfast (I'm thinking that the boys and I will have to stop there before finding End Of The Year Teacher's Gifts, today!) And Barry worked on his mancave/office. He managed the boys while I took a bath, and just soaked. I got to knit a little, and figure out what I'm going to knit next. It was a good and just chill out day, which was much needed.

We also found out that our old crib, which we haven't been using since moving here, was recalled. Not the tubular recall, but some other one. The spindles can break. So I spent part of the day filling out the paperwork, taking off the hardware, and getting it ready to mail into the company. They'll then send us a voucher for Babies R Us for a new crib. I'm so thankful to my friend Jackie for telling me about this. I was just going to throw it away! So now I get partial credit for a new new crib for the baby!

Well, I should attempt to get my boys dressed. I want to figure out the end of teacher gift things quickly, and stop off for a bagel :)

Julian's Parent Teacher Conference

I was so excited when I saw the sign up sheet at J's preschool. Then it hit me. I have a child that's at an age that has parent-teacher conferences? Really!? Well once the denial wore off, I realized that in fact I do have a 4 year old that is in preschool. And he does have teachers. So it made sense. Today was that blessed day. Barry was able to come to the conference, and it was very informative. We learned that Julian does have the ability to listen, be nice, and share. Hmmm so he can do it, he just doesn't at home. ;) We also heard some of what we already knew. He's a smarty-pants. He knew all of his letters (except Q) at the beginning of the year, and still knows them now, this time, including Q. He also knew all 10 of his numbers at the beginning of the year! He knew all of his shapes, all of his colors, and was able to follow instructions such as color this hat with the brown crayon.
Miss Sarah said that he needs to work on running, jumping, galloping, skipping. Sooo he's not so coordinated. Who does that remind you of? Yeah, that's my boy! He's good to everyone, and doesn't just have ONE friend, though, I have noticed him talking an awful lot about the Sophies. Both Sophie R and Sophie M are his favorite girls, I think.
I need to figure out what they need to know in Kindergarten. Because really, that's a year away. A YEAR. Well and a few months, but still, it's not that far out. He loves to trace things, he loves to write, color, and draw. He's a funny, delightful boy.
Miss Sarah also asked if we're having a girl. Apparently, Julian told Miss Sarah that he's having a baby sister, and we're naming her Coraline. So, if you've heard that rumor, disregard it. If we do have a girl, the baby most certainly won't be named Coraline :)
My sweet, sweet boy.

Well Child Check Ups, Vaccines, and MRI?! OH MY!

So, I had this brilliant idea. Why don't I bring BOTH boys to the doctor, at the SAME time for their Well Child Check Ups. Sounds sane enough, right? OY, I was W.R.O.N.G. First of all, their appointments were at 11:00 and 11:15. Guess what time I remembered about said appointments? 11:03! OY! So being in my PJs still (hey it was laundry/catch up day!) I ran around and threw some clothes on, threw my scary short bangs back, and got dressed. Luckily Julian didn't fight me much on putting clothes on, I think he saw that crazy look in my eye, he knew. By some miracle of miracles, Gabe was already dressed, he knew where his shoes were (in the car, and they really were there, it wasn't some stall tactic!) and he brought Julian's shoes downstairs for him! We made it to the doctor by 11:15! We walked in, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I mean from PJs to Doctor's Office in 12 minutes, without breaking any traffic laws? Holler! Until I saw people I knew! Ugh, no make-up, crazy post braid bangs, not good.

SO the boys are doing great. Julian, who is normally shy and reserved talked to the nurse. Passed his eye test, and was nice and kind. He was 40 1/2 inches tall (which is apparently 48%) and 38 lbs 8 oz (which is 67%). The doctor came in, and we realllly love our pediatrician. If you're looking for one in the West Des Moines/Waukee area, email me. I'll give you his info! He is really good with the kids, explains things really well, and let Julian look in Gabe's ear! Which was literally the coolest thing EVER for my little science nerd, Julian!

Gabe had to get undressed to be weighed and measured. Now where Julian wants to be in his undies, Gabe is the absolute opposite. He cried and cried and cried for his pants. Seriously. "Maaaaa pants, please?!" LOL! Seriously. He was too tall to measure on the baby table. :( He's officially growing up.
He was 37 1/4" tall (94%) and 33 lbs 1 oz (91%) and his head circumference is 20 1/4" (96%). He's pretty much giant, but I think Julian was pretty close to those stats at two. Maybe a pound or two smaller? Not a huge difference.

The pediatrician noticed that his soft spot still hasn't closed up. And it's supposed to. By two. He's two. So with his 96% head, and a soft spot that hasn't closed, he's got to get an MRI. They're going to call me with the appointment time. I guess they're worried about enlarged ventrals (maybe, something like that?) and spinal fluid on his brain. I feel like he's fine, and just has a big head. Our pediatrician said, "He's always had a big head, since birth, so it's not like it just all of the sudden happened. His brother has a big head." I said, "So does his dad!" So we're not really worried, but we are. I mean baby + sedation = scary times for mommy!

So after all of that joyful information, the boys had to get a finger prick to test for lead and some blood thing, I think hematocrit. So they basically prick their finger and then squeeze it to fill this little tube. My boys thought that was the COOLEST thing ever. Gross. But they didn't cry and happily let the LPN squeeze their little fingers. Gabe was mighty proud of his bandaid he sported on his pointer finger.

Then? It was shot time. We're pro vaccines in our house. And Julian needed four. He needed four and he won't have any more vaccines until MIDDLE SCHOOL! Say what?! Middle School? Age 11? Whoa. That freaks me out. He was happy though he wouldn't have anymore for seven years. Freaky. Until the nurse came in to do them. Then he flipped out. And the doctor had to come help me hold him down. Really, the doctor could have done it all, because once he came in Julian became all respectful, and not kicky and stuff. Weird. So we did Julian first, and then Gabe. Gabe only got one. And he didn't even cry.

Julian was mighty mad about his shots. He kept asking me why he had to get shots. So I told him. I said something cool like, Shots make you big and tough and scary. They scare away all of the bad diseases. (Because ya know, he's four, and is really big on being tough, and scary.) So he said, "Mommy, so my roar will be bigger now?" Yes Julian, your roar will be bigger.

Family Home Morning?

Well, my boys are both sick-ish. Unexplained fevers? With Gabriel, that usually means that he's got an ear infection on the way. He has an appointment with the ENT on Tuesday.

Today, we decided since we weren't going to make it to church, we would do Family Home Morning. Julian was bummed about the lack of dessert at 9 am, but we had a good time. We talked about Heavenly Father, and who he is, and how much He loves us. We talked a little about Jesus, and our family. I was supposed to draw a picture, and after drawing Daddy, Mommy, Julian and Gabriel, Julian got seriously concerned and said, "Mommy you forgot LOLA!" Hehe! Someone is hoping for a little sister in the near future. Keep hoping buddy!

So, we then got out the Scrabble board game and Julian helped me make some words.


I'm going to print these out for the boys' room.




We went to the I-park, as Julian calls it. I was trying to take pictures for the goodmama photo contest. We were surprised to see a celebrity there...

Here is K-fed


Oooooh, just kidding that's Gabriel.







And Julian is obsessed with bones. He loves them. He loves to sit and read Netters Atlas of Anatomy. He loves them. This shirt, was perfect for him!



Also, Julian is so cute. He has a little hoarse voice today. On Spongebob, he is scared to lose his 'laughbox' and Julian today said, "Mommy, my scream box is broken!"

Julian got a haircut!

So my little boy was looking a little girly.

Here he is at the fair on Sunday:


My mom has been the only one to cut his hair, so since she's visiting, we thought we'd better get it good. {Let me just tell you, I HATE getting his haircut! He is a horrible wild animal!!}

After:


He looks totally different and I think he looks even younger!

They were quiet...too quiet.

Yesterday, my boys got along, pretty well. Some days, they fight and fight and fight. All. day. long. Not yesterday. Yesterday they played well together, shared, and were geniunely nice to each other. It was a good day. Until, Julian or Gabriel, not entirely sure who did it, hurled a roll of toilet paper down the stairs. Julian exclaimed, "Mommy! It's a shooting star!" I really, really, really, didn't want to go upstairs to see exactly what they'd done.

You see, we buy our toilet paper and paper towels at Costco. Which means, since we just stocked up, we have a lot of paper towels and rolls of toilet paper. They are kept in our linen closet outside of the bathroom. Said closet is usually closed, and the boys hardly ever pay attention to it. Julian must have opened the closet, and had at it.

After the beautiful shooting star, I walked up the stairs, saw this, and walked downstairs to get my camera. I knew it would be 'good'.



Julian, heard me coming and threw some paper towels at me


And ran away


Angela, I'm sure this is killing your OCD! Sorry! I was pretty mad. I asked Julian why he did it, and he responded, "Because Mommy. It was sooooooooooooo fun." Seriously. I wasn't too mad after that. He (and Gabe) did help me clean it up. 2 garbage bags full of paper towels and toilet paper. I told Julian he hurt the Earth, and that really makes sense to him. So I don't think he'll be doing it again.

My parents and little sister, and nephew come in tomorrow! We're very excited. And I will be cleaning alllllllllllll day!

Barry is also being commissioned in the National Guard tomorrow! So there will be some fun posts to come!

Julian's Work

Juilan has been working really hard on learning how to write his letters. Imagine my surprise when he came barreling into the kitchen with this!



He said, "Mommy!!! I wrote your name!" And he had!

I love that you can see his effort in the Ms. So cute.

Extra! Extra!! Alert the presses...It's a miracle!

Julian ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. And, the best part. He asked for it.

"Mommy, I want a purple, juicy sandwich." (that means grape jelly, roughly translated)

OK! Right away! This is a major break through. He's such a weirdo in the things he likes to eat. I'm glad he's starting to be a 'normal' child and eat 'normal' kids foods. Gabe LOVES PB&J, actually, let's be honest, Gabe just loves food.

Gabe is feeling much better, thank to Amoxicillan and his inhaler. Oh yeah, those numbing drops for the ear, BRILLIANT. Gabe slept for 12 hours last night, he's totally making up for his lack of sleeping the past few days.

ZOMG HE IS SO CUTE!

We're about to leave for Julian's first preschool program. I had to share this video first! I'm dead from the cute!

Oh My Gosh...

Julian is no longer my baby. In reality I've known this since he was about 1. He's always been super independent, but loving and cuddly.
Today, November 4th, my 2 1/2 year old heart-throb started preschool! Oh.My.Gosh. Some of you reading this probably think I'm crazy. In some ways I'm super excited that my little man is growing up, and can do preschool, make friends, learn. But on the other hand, he's growing up so fast! It's almost as though I can't catch up. He cried a little bit when I had to leave, but Miss Sarah took him and showed him some books and puzzles and all was well. He gets a cubby, and a hook! Awww!
One thing I am excited about is the extra 2-ish hours I will have without him to clean! He's like a little toynado. Anything I pick up, he pulls back down! So that will be nice.
On Monday, they have picture (retake) day. I'm excited! I hope that his picture turns out cute!