Crawling??

In the past week or two, we have noticed that Justin will get himself up on all fours. He doesn't stay up long, or move, but he is making progress. He is not allowed to crawl for two reason:
1) He doesn't sit up yet
2) He is my baby!

Comments on our Christmas Card

Over the years many people have commented that Darren just looks ornery. That statement was repeated again after sending out our Christmas cards this year. I took the picture and thought that Darren looked like he is, and will be, major trouble for us.

My aunt Renee's Mom looked at my Christmas card, and both Renee and Lavertta (Renee's Mom) said that Darren just looks like he has ornery stamped on his forehead. Truer words have never been spoken!

No more kids....

On Christmas Day, it was three weeks ago that Bruce had his vasectomy. It makes me sad at times to know that I will not have any more kids, although after spending four days with my older two boys I am glad that we don't have to worry about any more kids. It is just when I look at Justin and the way he smiles and the fact that he doesn't talk back and still listens, I get a little pang when I realize that I won't experience this ever again. Sure, I will have nieces and nephews to spoil, but it is not the same.

New toyroom

Recently Bruce and I decided that we want to take back our dinning room, and all the gifts the boys got for Christmas confirmed our thoughts. There were toys strewn everywhere and of course they never want to pick them up so I am constantly stepping/kicking/tripping over them. Bruce tried to convince the older two boys to move upstairs, but I thought that we should start the process slowly by just moving the toy room upstairs.

We cleaned out the bigger bedroom by moving all the boxes into the attic off of the big bedroom. It is a big attic storage space as I bet have twenty-thirty tubs of boys clothes stored in there, a full size headboard, Christmas decorations, and lots of baby equipment with room to spare. I swept the floor, mopped it and laid down a piece of scrap carpet that we found in the attic storage room. The carpet is maybe 6'x12', and it has a few stains, but it more than serves the purpose. They boys can use it as a field, it muffles the sound they make, and it will keep the room warmer.

Nathan was excited to move his toys upstairs and "organize" everything. He did try to convince me, Bruce or Darren to go up with him once it got dark although all the lights were on. We will see how he does, but that comment makes me glad that we did not move his bedroom upstairs.

Potty training overnight

Last night Darren wanted to wear underwear to bed. I had my doubts, but I figured that if he woke up wet he would learn a lesson. Lo and behold, he woke up dry this morning! Yeah Darren!

I have not been posting as much because I have been so busy at work. Hopefully that will change in the next few days.

My Bill?

For some reason, every time I say something to Darren about my brother Bill, Darren always asks, "My Bill?" I don't know how many Bill's he knows, but apparently he gets kind of possessive about Bill. Occasionally he will say, "my Grandpa Mark?" or "my Stacey?" but not always.

St. Nick

This past Saturday night, St. Nick came to our house and put stuff in the boys stockings in exchange for their Christmas lists. I think St. Nick did a good job. Nathan got the card game "Uno" and him and Bruce have been playing it quite a bit since Bruce has been laid up. Darren got a matchbox size truck with a livestock trailer and he has been playing with that non-stop. Justin's stocking stuffer certainly wasn't as exciting, but he needed some new bibs and so that is what St. Nick brought him. The older two boys each got their own piece of candy (something I don't normally let them have) and St. Nick also brought Bruce and myself something. Bruce got a movie and I got two pair of earrings. We also got a family gift of candy and a "Dennis the Menace" Christmas movie.

I am so glad that my boys are satisfied with simple, inexpensive gifts. I know that those days are will be ending soon for Nathan as his Christmas list has some expensive things on it this year. A Wii, an iPod, a Nintendo DS and a computer. All the things his technology-inept parents don't have or understand.

Trash man

Lately, Nathan has had the appetite of a grown man. He will eat more than me and as much as Bruce for dinner and then ask for more to eat an hour later. The other day I had asked him if he had a trash man that lives in his belly and steals his food. He laughed and will now occasionally ask for food for the trash man. He must be going thru a growth spurt.

For example the other night at dinner, he ate a crescent roll, two good size helpings of Hamburger Helper and probably half a can of corn. Then he took a shower and about an hour after dinner he said he was hungry and wanted cereal. He kept asking for more cereal and eventually he had as much cereal as I eat in a sitting. He ate that bowl, asked and ate a second bowl. He asked for a third bowl and this time didn't fill it as full and ended up eating it all.

Bruce or I will have to get a second job to pay for our food bills if all the boys eat like this someday. I am shocked at the amount of food that Nathan can pack away.

Since we are getting ready to butcher, Bruce made two packs of tenderized pork the other night. He figured that he could use all the leftover meat for sandwiches for the next week. By the time both boys ate their fill, we packed lunches for the next day (both Bruce and the boys) there were only two 5 ounce pieces of meat left. Back from my Pork Queen days, 3 ounces of meat was about the size of a playing card. I bet I only had about 5 ounces of meat and the boys just kept asking for more. Darren has turned into a HUGE meat eater.

Milestones

Justin is growing up! He is at a fun age; an age that makes me wish/want another kid. The doctor said that I can start feeding him cereal, and it didn't go well for me. I had his four month check-up the week of Thanksgiving and I decided that I wanted to be the "first" to feed him cereal, so I was going to wait until the long holiday weekend to start him on it. I am such a slacker Mom. Thursday morning was too busy with making food for our Thanksgiving parties and making sure the boys had their baths so Justin did not get cereal then. Friday morning I completely forgot about it and Bruce got up with the boys on Saturday morning so it didn't happen then. Sunday morning I was so tired from my parent's anniversary party that he didn't get cereal again. I thought to myself that I have to be the first one to feed him cereal, so I figured that he could have cereal at lunch time. When it came time for his next bottle, I attempted to feed him cereal. He looked at me like I was trying to feed him the slop you feed pigs. I kept spooning it in and he kept letting it slide out. I finally gave up and just let him have his bottle. Daycare said he did well with cereal, so it must just be me! I tried to give it to him again this past Saturday and I got the same results. On Sunday I didn't feel well, so he didn't get cereal again. This weekend I am going to attempt baby food. I'll have to let you know how that turns out.

Justin must have recently discovered that he can control his tongue. He has been sticking it out and when you try to touch it, he pulls it back in real quick and then will stick it back out. If you stick your tongue out at him, he mimic you and stick his tongue out. He will just laugh. Too cute!

Bruce is convinced that Justin is trying to crawl. He will lift his pelvis up and "stand" on his toes or kneel on his knees. I told him that I doubt he is trying to crawl simply because he likes to sit up, but doesn't like to sit up on his own. If I put him in his bouncy seat, he will lift himself off of it. I put him in his execasaucer (spelling), he will sit there for a bit and then lean against the side and buck until I get him out. He does like to stand if you hold him up. Every baby is different, but at this age, Darren only wanted to sit up by himself. He loved sitting in the execasaucer. Nathan was probably more like Justin is now, so things just keep getting proved to me that he is a mini-Nathan!

Vacation days

Last year or the year before, I had been with Air Handling long enough to earn three weeks of vacation. Since I knew I was pregnant at the beginning of 2009, I was kind of stingy with my vacation days. I wanted to save as many as possible in case, heaven forbid, something was wrong with my baby and I needed to take days off to take him to the doctor. Luckily he is fine and I don't have that worry.

In the middle of November, my boss came around and told me that I still have eleven days of vacation left this year. Since we are a small office, we aren't supposed to have more than two people out at the same time. To complicate it more, Kris, Jon and I work in the same department and we really shouldn't have more than one of us out at one time. I also fill in for Lynette when she isn't here, and we aren't supposed to be off at the same time if we can help it. If you are following along, there are three people that I need to arrange my scheduled days off.

I decided that I didn't want to work a five day week in the month of December, so that is how I scheduled my vacation days. I have a lot of Friday and Monday's off. At least I can get all my shopping and wrapping done without having to use the weekend.

Party animals

This past weekend we had a surprise 35th Anniversary party for my parents. We managed to keep it a surprise until Thanksgiving night when we had to mention something because Dad kept pressuring us to butcher that weekend. We had told the boys Saturday afternoon to take a nap because it was going to be a long night. Darren did sleep, but Nathan of course thinks he is too cool for naps while Justin slept from 1:30 until I woke him up at 5:30 to get him ready for the party.

The only little kids that were at the party were my parents grand kids. Nathan ended up falling asleep sometime around midnight while Darren was still going strong. It wasn't until his "buddy" Jenna left about 1:00 am that he crashed. My brother Bill, who did not drink all evening, ended up driving us home about 3:00 am. Luckily all three boys slept until at least 9:00 the next morning, so Bruce and I did get some sleep.

Turtle

As I posted earlier today, Darren slept in our bedroom on the floor last night. I didn't pay any attention to him this morning as I go into the bathroom, but when I come out I do pay attention. There is enough light from the TV (which I turn on every morning to catch up on the news) and the bathroom that I see Darren laying on the floor. He has turned sideways so that all I can see is his body. His head is under the bed and he looks like a turtle with it's head in it's shell.

I gently try to pull him out so that he doesn't wake up and bump his head. He kind of growls when I pull him out from under the bed, but he does stay asleep.

Hat

Up until about May of this year, you could not get Darren to wear a ball cap much to Bruce's chagrin. He finally likes to wear a hat and apparently he now wants to wear it all the time. After Bruce and I get the kids to bed, we usually go to bed about 10:00. Last night we go to bed and about an hour to an hour and a half later, I hear Darren crying over the monitor. I get up intending to go into the boys room so that Darren doesn't wake his brothers up.

I was too slow as I met Darren walking into the kitchen. I pick Darren up and carry him into my room. He wants to sit on my lap in the living room, and I tell him no. I don't know if it is because I have only had an hour of sleep, but I can barely function. I lay him on the floor next to Bruce's bed and asks him what is wrong. He just kept saying "hat." Finally I go into the kitchen and get his hat. He puts it on and quiets down.

Not sure what that was all about, but if putting a hat on him helps, than he can sleep in his hat anytime.

I don't like that cup

Since I had Justin's doctor appointment yesterday, Mom picked up all three boys at daycare, meet me at the doctor's and then took them home with her. I go over last night to pick them up. When we get to the end of the lane, I ask Darren if wants to turn and go past Rich's house or turn and go past great-grandma's house. He chooses to go past great-grandma's. Nathan threw the ultimate buck because he wanted to pick. I told him that he could pick at the next intersection. Nathan started carrying on like a crazy man and saying that he didn't like me (at least he didn't say he hated me this time). He was being extremely disrespectful. When we got to the next intersection where a choice could be made, he said that he wanted to turn around and go the other way. I explained that wasn't possible and told Darren to choose since he was behaving. Darren choose to turn and Nathan went crazy again. Because Nathan is being so loud, it is scaring Justin and he is crying a little bit. At the next intersection, I told Darren to decided if we should go straight or turn. Nathan again threw a fit and I told him that he wasn't allowed to watch his shows when we got home.

Nathan goes into the house and is acting like a big baby. He immediately turns the TV on and I walk into the living room and shut it off. I get Justin out of his car seat, and I see that Nathan has the TV on again. I shut it off and take the remotes with me. I start to unload the dishwasher and go to see if he has the TV on again. He does and I tell him that if he turns the TV on again, or gets a smart mouth with me that he is getting a drink of hot sauce. I continue to unload the dishwasher (Bruce isn't home and Darren is playing) when I hear the TV on again. I go charging into the living room, shut the TV off and forcefully drag him into the kitchen. Darren is starting to cry because he does not want Nathan to have a drink of hot sauce and Nathan is crying and doing everything he can to prevent me from dragging him. I lay him on the floor, straddle his chest and put a glug or two of hot sauce in his mouth. He gets up and is getting ready to spit it out on the floor. I tell him that if he spits the stuff on the floor, he is going to get another round of hot sauce. He goes to the sink and is spitting, crying and taking the wash clothe to clean the inside of his mouth out. I grab a cup and pour a glass of milk because I have always heard that milk helps eliminate the burning.

I tell Nathan that the cup is on the stove and he says he won't drink it because, and I quote, "I don't like that color." I guess he would rather suffer a burning mouth than drink out of a yellow cup. Damn kid is stubborn just like his Mom!

Hair everywhere

I know that it is normal to lose some hair. When I was pregnant, I did not lose much hair at all and up until about a month or two ago that was still the case. I don't know if it is because my hormones are out of whack or what, but I have been shedding hair like crazy. I have thick hair, but with all the hair I am losing, I am almost starting to worry. If I brush my hair, I get a small clump that comes out in the brush and then I can run my hands over my hair and pull out some more lose hairs. I wash my hair and another small clump falls out. I get out of the shower and comb my hair again, and another clump. After I blow dry I lose another clump when I comb my hair. When I straighten my hair, I lose yet another clump when I brush it after straightening it. I keep a fleece jacket on my chair at work (for the days I have to go outside in the cold or in the shop for some reason) and I pick several hairs off my jacket daily. I pull laundry out of the dryer, and while I am folding clothes, I pull my long hairs off. Enough is enough. I am almost ready to go and see a doctor about it.

4 month checkup

I had Justin's four month check up today. Everything looked normal. He is 26" long which places him in the 85th percentile and weighs 15 lbs 13 oz which places him in the 75th percentile. She didn't tell me what his head measured, but she did say that he was in the 80th percentile for head size.

While I am there, they hand me a slide chart and asks if he is doing everything on the chart. As I am reading the accomplishments they are supposed to have managed, the nurse said that she can tell he is an active boy from just the way he watched his brothers move about the room. I don't remember Nathan moving that much, but Darren was constantly moving once he got it figured out.

Out like a light

Last night was Bruce's birthday, so he asked his Mom if she would come over and watch the boys for a few hours so that we could go out for a while. We got home about 9:00 pm and Justin was wide awake, laughing and smiling at Grandma Joan. She told me that Justin had chugged about 4 ounces down, but I forgot to ask what time that was. Since he chugged that down, Bruce and I decided to feed him a little bit more to make sure that he wouldn't wake up that night.

After Joan leaves, I lay him down on the floor in the living room and go into the kitchen to make a bottle. I was probably only gone a minute, two tops, and when I walked back into the living room he was sleeping. I had debated waking him up to feed him, but I figured that I would rather him be awake longer then instead of getting up in the middle of the night.

He did chug down the 4 ounces I made him and acted like he wanted more, so I made 2 more ounces for him. After that was done, you could tell his belly was full. I burped him and he fell asleep while I was burping him. Apparently Grandma Joan (that's what the boys call her) wore Justin out with all the tickling and attention.

Roll, roll, roll

Monday evening I put Justin on his blanket in the middle of the living room so that I could read the paper. The older two boys were playing with their tractors in the living room and dinning room, so I knew that Justin would have a lot to look at. (You can tell he is used to having older siblings as he is happiest when he can people-watch)

I happened to glance at Justin on the floor while reading the paper, and he was like four feet from where I had originally placed him on the blanket and turned a 180 degrees. I just watched him for a while, and was amazed. He would be laying on his back and would crane his neck to watch one of his brothers. When he couldn't crane his neck anymore, he would roll over. Then he would watch again while on his belly and when they moved out of his line of vision, he would roll over again. He is already trying to keep up with his big brothers!

Bath time

Two nights ago, Darren needed a bath but he was bucking about taking a bath. So I asked him if he wanted to take a bath with Justin. For some reason both boys love to get in the tub when Justin is in there. I filled up the tub with the normal amount of water for Justin, laid him on his sponge, and helped Darren into the tub. Because Nathan had already taken a shower, he rolled up his sleeves and sat in the opening between the shower doors to watch and talk to his brothers. I sat on the floor leaning against the wall to keep an eye on things.

Nathan declared that he wanted to wash Justin up, and since he had just had a bath, I decided that was fine. As he is washing Justin up, he is talking in a higher-pitched, sing-song voice. I was biting the inside of me cheek to keep from laughing out loud. He kept saying with some variation, "You look just like me." I wonder if he has heard that much?

At least he's honest...

Every morning at daycare I ask the boys if they are going to behave today. Yesterday morning when I asked Darren that question, he said no. At least he's honest!

(He must have known that it wouldn't be a good day for him because he did get in trouble for trying to scribble on the carpet with crayons at daycare.)

Why? Why?

On Sunday we went to Sidney by way of Minster and Anna. Since it was a Sunday, we wanted to drop our cable payment off. We took our time and took back roads just enjoying the scenery. Nathan was convinced we were lost because he didn't recognize our route. Besides being worried about being lost, he asked a million questions.

Such as, "Where is that car going?" "Why does that house have three garage's?" "Why do people live in the woods?" "Why did they buy a red car?" "Why are they mowing grass?" "Why is that house so close to the road?" "Why are all the lights on in that house?" You get the idea of the type of questions he was asking. I know that they ask questions to learn, but jeez-Louise.

Cradle cap

I thought that cradle cap was something that happened to newborns or to babies a few weeks old. In the past two weeks or so, Justin has developed cradle cap. I have been trying to baby oil on his scalp, but I am terrible at remembering to do stuff daily. My kid has flaky skin on his head and I can never remember to put baby oil on his scalp. I bet I get Mother of the Year!

A successful potty-training weekend

On Saturday I thought that we could finally pack up the diapers for Darren as he did great wearing underwear this weekend. We even got him to "go stinky" in the toilet on Saturday. I made sure I made a big deal about it and I made Bruce and Nathan get excited about it also. I said that he could have two pieces of candy since he went stinky in the toilet.

I must have jinxed us. Sunday after lunch he was playing and walked into the living room like he was saddle-sore and said he was wet. Actually he had pooped in his pants, so I take him into the bathroom and clean him up. I put another pair of underwear on him. A few hours later, him and Nathan were sitting at the bar eating watermelon and watching cartoons when he started crying. He had peed himself.

We are on the right track, and if I have a little patience, it will happen soon. At least I won't be buying him any more actual diapers. I will buy him pull-ups to wear at night, and Justin will wear Darren's diapers at night. I am going to have to buy the overnight diapers for Justin because he almost pees thru Darren's size four diapers at night already.

Old McDonald had a farm....

The other day Nathan was singing "Old McDonald had a Farm." When he got to the verse, "Hi Ho the Dairy-o" he sang it "Hi Ho the Cherry-o" (pronounced chair-e-o) instead. I told him that old McDonald lived on a farm so it should be the words are "dairy-o." He argued with me and told me that I had the words wrong and that McDonald could live on a cherry farm. I had to laugh as he is technically correct.

I told him to ask Joyce or another teacher at daycare what the words really were.

Liar, liar

Nathan has gotten very bad lately about lying. We will watch him do something and when we ask him if he did it, he lies. When he gets in trouble at daycare and we question him about it at home, it is never his fault. If I tell him that I am going to call MaryLou at home and ask here, all of a sudden he remembers that maybe he did something wrong.

Last night I had enough of his lying. He was sucking his finger and I told him that if he didn't take his finger out of his mouth, I was going to put hot sauce on it. He kept his finger in his mouth, so I dragged him into the kitchen. He begs me not to put hot sauce on his fingers, and I ask him if he is going to put his fingers in his mouth. He says no. As I turn to put the hot sauce back in the fridge, he sticks his finger back in his mouth. I had enough, so I got the hot sauce back out, held him down and put a drop of hot sauce on his lips. He kept his fingers out of his mouth and didn't lie again.

I told him that if he keeps lying, he is getting either soap in his mouth, hot sauce on his lips or a drink of vinegar every time if he keeps lying to me.

Helper

The same day that Bruce was in Versailles with his Dad, Nathan was my big helper. As soon as I got home from daycare with the boys, Justin was hungry and so were the other two boys. Nathan volunteered to feed Justin so that I could make them dinner. I took Nathan up on his offer and since I already had hamburger thawed in the refrigerator, I was finished making the sloppy joes (Nathan's request) about the same time as Nathan was done feeding Justin. I put some of the sloppy joes on their plates and burped Justin while they ate.

Nathan can be such a big help when he wants to.

Soup anyone?

Every Veteran's Day, Bruce spends the afternoon with his Dad making soup for the Vets club to sell. This year Bruce brought home about a half gallon of soup to eat. He had it sitting on the stove with the lid off because he was going to eat it after he took his shower. Bruce and I were in the kitchen talking, I was holding Justin and Nathan and Darren are in my peripheral vision. Forgetting that kids have to know/see what is in everything, we are not paying attention to the older two boys.

Out of the corner of my eye in slow motion, I see Darren get a toehold on the drawer of the stove and tilt the bucket down towards him. Next thing I know, Darren is wearing most of the soup that Bruce was so excited about eating. Darren immediately starts bawling. We both keep our tempers relatively cool. I take Justin into the living room to lay down on the floor and I tell Nathan to come with me. I give Nathan strict instructions that he is to stay in the living room and try to keep Justin happy.

I strip Darren's P.J.'s and take them to the sink to pick off the beans while Bruce attempts to scrape up the dumplings and beans. Most of the soup landed on his pajamas instead of exposed skin so at least we didn't have to throw him in the tub. We finish cleaning up the mess and I get a bucket of sudsy water to scrub the kitchen carpet where the soup fell. We all go into the living room to relax a bit before bedtime.

I have always hated my kitchen carpet and would much rather have linoleum or something since so much food is dropped in the kitchen. The next morning we have white spots splattered all around the stove. I am going to get some more sudsy water and scrub this weekend, but I think replacing the carpet is my next home improvement goal.

Potty training progress

It seems like I spend a lot of time writing about poop.... I must be a fun person to have a conversation with!

As I may have stated earlier, Darren had become very agreeable to wearing underwear everyday. Actually ever since I said that cowboys wear underwear, he prefers to wear underwear. He will not tell you he has to go potty, nor will he admit it when he is directly asked, but he usually goes if you set him on the toilet. We are making progress slowly, but surely.

As most everyone knows, Bruce has absolutely no patience. On Sunday, Darren wanted to wear underwear. Bruce takes him to the bathroom to sit him on the toilet and Bruce comes out of the bathroom all mad saying that Darren is going to be wearing a diaper because "he's not ready." When I asked some more questions, I realize that while Darren was sitting on the toilet he did pee. Unfortunately - on accident or on purpose - he did not hold his penis down and he peed all over Bruce. I thought it was quite funny, but Bruce didn't think it was that funny.

Last night after his bath, we put a diaper on him. All of a sudden we see a look of panic on his face and he feels the front of his pajama's saying "diaper?" I realize at this point that he probably has to poop and started to panic thinking that he is pooping in his underwear. I ask him if he has to poop as he tries to hide in the corner and he denies it with a look of scared denial. I rush him into the bathroom, but he already pooped in his diaper. I tried not to be too disappointed as he has been trying, but it just seems like this process takes forever.

Christmas dilema

Bruce and I try our hardest not to buy the boys toys during the year telling them that they don't need them and that is what their birthday and Santa Claus is for. Since we don't buy them things for no reason, Nathan's Christmas list is HUGE! Nathan is at the age where he will count all the gifts for himself, Darren and Justin and if one of them got more than him he would be upset. If he got more than his brothers, he would lord it over them. There is a bunch of things that I would like to get for Nathan, but not so many things to purchase for Darren or Justin. I don't know if it is because they are at a bad age or because we may already have that certain toy. I could easily not buy anything for Justin because I really don't want any more baby toys around the house, but I don't think that Nathan would allow that.

I'll have to keep you posted.

Can't poop

Justin was kind of a fuss-butt over the weekend; specifically Sunday. Maybe his belly hurts, or maybe he is getting a cold, but I think his biggest problem is that he needs to poop! He did have one dirty diaper on Saturday and one on Sunday, but they were hard and probably didn't make him feel better.

I am trying all the old wives tale remedies to help him poop. I am giving him water. I am giving him a mixture of apple juice and water. He is getting dark Karo syrup in his bottles. It really only started for him in the past month or so. He just has the same digestive system as Nathan and he may always have troubles with bowel movements. He really is a mini-Nathan!

And over again

Last night I laid Justin on the floor on his belly as the boys wanted me to look at something in their room. When I got out of their room, Justin had rolled onto his back. Then we went into the kitchen to do something and when I checked on Justin again, he was back onto his stomach. He rolled back over! I seen him trying to do it later that evening, but then his brothers sat down to encourage him so he stopped trying. I told the boys to move and leave Justin alone so that he would try to roll over, but that was impossible for them to do.

I was suspicious as to if Justin really rolled over on his own and asked the boys if they "helped" him. I didn't see them leave the room, but that doesn't mean they didn't. Both boys said that they did not help Justin rollover. I believe them because before they got into Justin's face, he was trying to roll from his back to his belly and he got close several times. He is 16 weeks old and already becoming a little man! Where did my baby go?

Underwear

This morning Darren is wearing underwear to daycare. I ask him every morning if he wants to wear underwear, and he always says no. This morning though, he said yes. We will see if he does better today than he did this past weekend....

Cookie Monster

The other while in the grocery store, they had the tubes of refrigerated cookie dough on sale and since I had a coupon I picked some up. Sometimes I feel guilty because I do not make cookies and cakes with/for the boys like my Mom did. That is where the pre-made packaged cookie dough comes in. I bought three tubes and made one of the tubes that day leaving two in fridge.

Last night while I was making dinner, Darren grabs one of the tubes out of the fridge and says that he "wants this." I gave him the whole spiel about how I am making dinner, and maybe we will bake them after dinner since I have a meatloaf in the oven. As I am peeling the potatoes I see Darren back in the fridge. I didn't think too much about it. He goes into the living room and I hear Nathan yelling at him. I go in the other room to play referee and discover Darren had taken the unopened tube, bit a hole thru the packaging and was eating the cookie dough. I reprimand him, but not to much because I thought it was a little funny but I didn't want him to see me laughing. As I am getting a Ziploc bag out to put the tube of cookie dough in, my back is to the refrigerator. The little cookie monster apparently grabbed the other tube and made off with it. When I went to put the chewed tube away, I noticed that one of the tubes was missing. I chase Darren down and sure enough he bit through the packaging again and was getting ready to eat the raw dough. Darn cookie monster!

"Get me a piece"

If you let kids, most will eat candy all day. Therefore we had to take the boys Halloween candy and put it on top of the fridge so that it was "out of sight, out of mind." They can push a chair up to the counter and get to the candy if they really want to, but they know that they aren't allowed to climb on the counter so they know they will really get in trouble if they are caught.

We have been letting the boys have a piece or two of candy in the evenings since Trick or Treat. Last night they each got their piece and they wanted more. We said that since they eat their dinner so well, that they could have another piece. They wanted more, but we told them that they weren't allowed to have more. The next thing we see is Darren pushing the chair up to the counter and him trying to climb up. We pull him down, lightly swat his butt and tell him that he is in time-out and has to sit on the couch. He is sitting there, and the entire time he is crying and looking at Bruce or myself saying, "Get me another piece." We tell him no and I told him that he doesn't deserve another piece with that attitude.

Nathan is taking all this in and so when the next time Darren demands another piece, Nathan smugly said, "Not with that attitude!" After Darren was done with his timeout, he kept demanding another piece of candy. I wouldn't have let him have another piece, but if he could have said "please" without being prompted I would have been a lot happier.

Whose diaper?

Justin wears a size two diaper. Darren wears a size three during the day (at daycare) and a size four. The reason for the size difference with Darren is that he sleeps on his stomach at night, therefore the front of the diaper is soaked in the morning.

The past few mornings, Justin, who also sleeps on his stomach, has been waking up soaking wet. That is usually a clue that I need to move him up a size in diapers. Since I thought of this as I was getting Justin ready for bed one evening, I didn't have any size three diapers on hand. Knowing it would be too big, I put one of Darren's size four diapers on Justin. It is too big, but it will work until I can get to the store and buy some size three diapers for him to wear at nights. He has not been soaked thru the past two mornings!

Imagine that - brothers who are two years apart are sharing diapers!

Rolling over

My baby is growing up! Friday night during dinner, Bruce went into the living room to eat (don't ask) where Justin was laying on the floor on his belly. I was sitting there eating, and Bruce yelled from the living room that Justin rolled over. I didn't believe him, so I yelled back at Bruce to quit kidding around. Bruce yells back that he isn't kidding. I get up to look, and sure enough Justin is now laying on his back. I was kind of upset because I did not get to see it and Bruce never called me in when he seen that he was attempting to roll over.

Later that evening, Mom called and asked the older two boys if they wanted to come over and ride in the combine. Of course they said yes, and so I brought all three boys over to Mom's. After telling Mom that Justin rolled over, she lays him on the floor on his belly so she can see if he will roll over for her. Sure enough, Darren is standing in front of me telling me something and Justin rolls over. I missed it again! After a bit, we put him back on his belly and he rolls over again. My little baby is growing up. (sniff, sniff) He is supposed to be my baby and not grow up.

That was the last time he did it all weekend, so I am glad I got see him do it. He was 15 weeks and one day when he reached that milestone. Actually I am kind of surprised that it took him that long to roll over. He sleeps on his belly, so he has good stomach muscles, and he has been attempting to roll over for a while now.

Potty training

I thought this is the weekend that I would work with Darren on potty training. Why is it that everything never goes according to the plan I have worked out in my mind? While I was in the hospital having Justin, he did so well at Mom's and it is four months later, that I figured he should do pretty decent. WRONG!

When I got him dressed Saturday morning, I put underwear on him. He was throwing a huge fit about wearing underwear, but I told him that he had to wear underwear because cowboys (see previous post on how much he loves being a cowboy) wear underwear. I asked him right away if he had to go to the bathroom and he said no. I bet I asked him every five minutes for the first half hour. I had just asked him if he had to go potty, and he said no as usual, when he came up and said that he was wet. I took my time getting him some dry clothes in the hope that he would realize that it was no fun to be wet. I grabbed some more underwear and another pair of jeans. He bucked a little bit until I reminded him that he was a cowboy and cowboys wear underwear. He probably made it two hours before he wet himself that time.

I finally gave in and put a diaper on him. He currently only has three pairs of underwear, and I didn't want to get all his pants dirty in one morning. He was always ahead of schedule on getting teeth, walking and crawling that I am shocked that he isn't doing better at this. We figured he would be easy because of he walked so early and he watches his brother do it, but he refuses. Next month will be the age that Nathan was when he got out of diapers, and unless we see a miracle, Darren will still be wearing diapers until he is three.

Which side?

Yesterday, we had the annual Sunday Thanksgiving dinner at Walkup. Nathan was looking around and he asked me who owned the building. I explained that MaryLou's husband Ken owns part of the building with a bunch of other guys. Nathan then looks at me and asks "which side of the building does he own?" He was completely serious. I laughed and told him that when a bunch of people own a building together, no one owns "a side." I don't think that he really understood, but he ran off to play with his daycare buddies.

Kids really do say the darnedest things....

Finger & thumb sucker?

All my kids have took a pacifier, some better than the others. Recently Justin has taken to sucking on his finger and/or thumb. I guess he does this to soothe himself. Last night (4:00am) , the sleeve of his pajamas must have pulled down over his hand and he was fidgeting enough to wake me up in his attempts to get to his fingers/thumb. I went into his room after listening to him fidget for a while (in a half-conscious stupor), pulled the sleeve up and exposed his fingers, and he immediately stuck them in his mouth. He did not make another peep, so I can only assume that he fell back asleep after getting his fingers into his mouth.

The older two boys have occasionally sucked their fingers, but never as much as Justin seems to. I only hope that Justin is sucking them because his gums are hurting and he is trying to relieve some of the pressure and that this is a temporary problem. One can hope:)

Vacation days

Last year or maybe two years ago, I have been at Air Handling long enough that I have earned three weeks of vacation. When I found out I was pregnant with Justin, I got stingy with my vacation days. Heaven forbid something was wrong with Justin, I wanted vacation days to fall back on in case I had to use them. Since Justin seems like a healthy young infant, I asked the other day how many vacation days I have left this year. I was told that I have eleven days of vacation remaining. I have to use them by the end of the year or lose them. Technically I would get paid for them, they just don't rollover. Getting paid for them at the end of the year is no good because I do not get a separate vacation check. It comes added to my regular paycheck. Therefore the gross amount is huge, but my net take-home isn't very good since taxes take most of that check.

Since I had so many vacation days, and I knew I had baptism to get things ready for, I took last Thursday, Friday and Monday off. I took the first two days to get things ready and it is good that I took that many days off. I spend more time cleaning up from the toys the boys scattered anywhere then I did getting any actual cleaning done. I also had a dentist appointment for myself and Nathan on Thursday. On Monday it was a day for me. I spent it in the mall starting my Christmas shopping. The only problem with that theory is that I don't know what my two sisters (in our family gift exchange) want, so I didn't get them anything. Oh well, it was nice just having a day off with no responsibilities.

Baptism

This past weekend we had baptism for Justin. Of course he was the biggest baby being baptized, but he was three months old while one of the other two babies was three weeks and not sure on the other one.

We had lunch at our house afterwards for everyone. Patty & Tony were around long enough that we ended up eating pizza with them for dinner. It was a nice Sunday.

Jinxed

I may have jinxed myself by bragging about Justin. While he was still a pretty decent baby this weekend, he could have been a lot better. He was fussy all weekend and was not content like he usually is. I would feed him, change his pants and he would be fine for a little bit then he would get fussy. He would be so tired that he couldn't fall asleep, or once he started to fall asleep, one of his brothers would wake him up. It finally dawned on me late Sunday afternoon that maybe he was getting some teeth in. I felt his gums, but did not feel anything.

I guess he was just not feeling the best, as he coughed a lot last night, and was off kilter. Hopefully I get my happy-go-lucky Justin back soon.

I'm hungry

I have posted before how Nathan never wants to eat at meal time, and gets hungry later that evening. His new habit is waiting until we turn the lights off and sit down so that everyone can calm down before bedtime to announce that he is hungry. He will announce it several times and each announcement gets louder, more of a whine and he throws himself around. Of course this either wakes Darren up or gets him riled up so that he doesn't want to go to sleep.

Last night about ten minutes before I was planning on turning the lights off, I told Nathan that if he is hungry that he needs to get a snack now as the kitchen will be closing in a few minutes. He thought it was funny that the kitchen was closing, but he did ask for something to eat. He picked out some candy and I asked him if he was sure as that wasn't going to fill him up. He said that he was sure.

I don't know if last night was a fluke, or he ate enough at dinner, but he didn't say he was hungry when the lights went out. Score one for the parents!

Be a cowboy

Nathan has started the obsession, and he has passed the fever to Darren. Every morning before daycare while I am getting them dressed, I hear one or both of the older boys say that they want to be a cowboy.

Nathan's standards of a cowboy are a lot higher than Darren's. Nathan has to have jeans on, a striped button down shirt and his cowboy boots. He has got a lot of hand-me-downs from Brad which look brand new but he doesn't want to wear any of them. The only exception is that he does want to wear Brad's old striped button down shirts from Polo, Abercrombie and GAP. I don't want him to wear those to daycare, because I don't want him to ruin the clothes for himself or his brothers down the line.

You can put almost anything on Darren and as long as he wears his cowboy boots, he considers himself a cowboy. The other day he wore sweatpants and his "cow boots." He looked quite silly, but he was happy and I have to pick my battles in the morning and that wasn't a battle worth fighting.

Straw ride

This past weekend, some friends were having a "camp out" and kids were invited. Well, it rained Friday night so the camp out was cancelled for that evening, but Saturday was still a go. We decided to go and hang out for a while, but not spend the night. I am not a person big on camping, and with a newborn, we decided that we would just go home later that evening.

The camp out was on a farm set off the road and they have a boy about four months older than Nathan. The kids ran around like they were crazy and they would go in the house and play farm and come back outside with toy guns and be "bad men." As a treat, they put straw bales on a wagon to offer the kids a hay ride. The trailer only sat off the ground six inches to a foot; I think it was a trailer that you would use to haul a car.

After the ride I was asking the boys if they had fun on the hayride. Darren said he had fun on the straw ride. I had to laugh because he knows at this age that he was riding on straw and not hay. He is still talking about his straw ride a couple of days later.

Lucky me

I don't want to do anything or say anything to jinx myself, but Justin is the absolute best baby. The past two Friday nights/Saturday mornings, he slept until 9:00 am. Considering I put him to bed around 8:30-9:00, he is sleeping twelve hours at a stretch! Two Saturday mornings ago I went in to wake him up at 9:00 and then this past Saturday I went in to wake him up at 9:00 but he was already awake.

All he did this past weekend was eat and sleep. I was concerned that with all the sleeping he did that he wouldn't sleep at night, but I had no problems with him sleeping those nights. I do think that he sleeps more than Nathan or Darren ever did so I will mention it to the doctor when I take Justin for his four-month checkup.

He is always so happy. He is always ready with a smile and/or a laugh. When they are this age, and behave as well as Justin is, it makes me want more kids. Then reality sets in and I realize that they grow up and can become a pain in the backside. I don't know if it is because I have boys and they always have to test the boundaries, but all we ever got done doing is yelling at them for one reason or another.

Shattered heart

The other night Bruce wasn't home so I was trying to feed Justin and watch the older two boys at the same time. Sometimes they are very good kids, and other times they would try the patience of a saint. Wednesday night was one of the nights that they would have tried the patience of a saint. After I finished feeding Justin I laid him on the floor on a blanket so he could watch his big brothers, and I got on the floor so I could play with the older two. I was hoping that would calm them down.

I am not sure what Nathan was doing for me to yell at him, but he said the words that all parents hear and do not like to hear. "I hate you Mom." I could almost literally hear my heart shattering into a million pieces. I think that tears were starting to form in the corner of my eyes, and I know that I will hear it a hundred more times before he is grown, but I hope that I don't have that reaction every time.

I took a deep breath, mentally counted to five and said, "Well Nathan I am sorry that you feel that way but I love you." Everything else I said is kind of jumbled, but I remember feeling like my spirit was crushed. What a horrible feeling!!

Discovery....

I think that Justin has discovered both his tongue and his hands. You can often see him sitting there with his tongue sticking out. If I try to touch it, he gives me what I call a dirty look and puts his tongue back in his mouth. He will just sit there and stick his tongue in and out.

There is a colorful plush dinosaur/dragon that hangs on his seat which has all sorts of toys on it; rings, bright colored ribbons, a rattle and something else. I seen the other day that he had his hands thru the rings, and was really studying the dragon. I guess I can start giving him toys and he should be able to hold onto it.

Real sick or fake sick?

It is common knowledge that my Mom is my back-up sitter in case one of the kids gets sick, or daycare is closed for some reason. Nathan just caught onto the fact that he gets to go to Grandma's when he is sick. This morning as I am pulling into daycare he tries to tell me that his belly hurts and he needs to go to Grandma's. Of course I do the only thing that I can do and lie. I tell him that Grandma isn't home today. He asks me how I know this, and I fib again. I tell him that when I talked to Grandma on Sunday, she told me her schedule for the week.

He is going to have to become a more convincing faker if he wants to go to Grandma's!

Clothes, clothes and more clothes

This weekend I spent a majority of the time packing up the boys summer clothes and getting out their winter clothes. Poor Justin is going to be getting a lot of hand-me-downs!

I put away most of Nathan's summer clothes with the exception of a few nicer t-shirts. Mom also took Nathan shopping on Sunday to get him some new jeans since there wasn't enough time left this weekend to get it done. I had said last fall/spring that I am definitely going to get his jeans from Sears since they have the Kidvantage program and Nathan wears the knees out in all of his pants before he outgrows them. They also offer the same program on their shoes! Nathan is impossibly hard on his shoes (my Mom said that I was the same way) so it is worth it to spend a little more. I may end up bankrupting the Kidvantage program with three boys. Bruce was complaining about the bill after I paid Mom back, but I figured that four pair of jeans, three pairs of pajamas, a pack of socks and a pair of tennis shoes were well worth it.

Because Darren is so skinny, most of Nathan's 24 month/2T pants don't fit very well. I would rather not buy him new clothes if I can help it so I have to figure out a way to tighten the pants up. The length is perfect, and the shirts fit pretty decent, it is just the waist that doesn't fit correctly.

Since Justin is the third in line, we have a LOT of boys. Most of the boys clothes are 9-12 months, but there is a few 6-9 months in the lot. The 6-9 months is a smidgen to big and the 9-12 are even bigger, but I am not going to buy him a new wardrobe. Since he isn't mobile yet, I will just roll up the sleeves and hope for the best. There are so many winter clothes that I can be choosy about what clothes I hang in his closet.

That's okay....

Nathan spent the day on the farm Friday and was a big helper for Grandpa. My grandma got a new propane tank on Friday, and Dad went over to help them set the tank. Grandma has bushes in front the propane tank, and so my Dad started trimming them before they set the new tank. Nathan walks into great grandma's garage and get a bushel basket to start picking up the sticks. He picks them all up for her. Great grandma offers Nathan money for helping her since he picked up all the twigs. Nathan told great-grandma, "No that's okay, I have lots of money I don't need anymore."

I was proud of him for not taking money from great grandma, but that didn't stop him from taking the handful of change that his grandpa gave him when we left Friday evening. When I questioned him about it, he said that he worked harder for grandpa so that's why he took his money but not great grandma's.

Nathan wisdom

Last night Nathan was complaining that his belly hurt. Bruce asked Nathan where his belly hurt at. Nathan, in all seriousness, "inside my belly." We could only laugh although we meant the top of his belly, the side, etcetera. We got a literal answer!

Followup: Nathan pooped three times last night after saying his belly hurt. We happened to look in the toilet each time he pooped, and with the amount that was in there each time, it is no wonder his belly hurt. He was full of poop! We explained to him that when he has to poop, even if it is at daycare, that he needs to poop then and that will keep his belly from hurting.

In our house, we call the belly button the "tickle button." We also call the groin area on males, "boys" most of the time. Last night Bruce was playing with Nathan and getting his tickle button. Bruce asked Nathan if he knew what his tickle button connected to. Nathan said, "Yeah, it is connected to my boys." When Bruce relayed this to me, I gave a confused laugh, and Bruce said that sometimes when you press the tickle button you can feel it in your groin. That was news to me.

Cooking lessons?

Does anyone need a cooking lesson on how to operate the microwave? If so, don't ask Nathan! I mentioned in an earlier post that his gums are inflamed. Therefore he did not eat much this past weekend which leads into the story.

Saturday for lunch we just had hamburgers, hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. Nathan does not like mac-n-cheese, so he just had a hot dog. He poured what seemed like half a bottle of ketchup on his hot dog and bun and takes one bite. He then claims that his mouth hurts and does not eat the rest of his hot dog. Bruce and I are tired of both boys only taking a bite or two of food and then deciding that they no longer want it, so we put his plate in the microwave for him to eat later when he got hungry.

Sure enough, about 3:00 Nathan says he is hungry and wants a popsicle. We tell him that he has to eat his hot dog before he can get a popsicle. He goes into the kitchen and feels his hot dog and says that he wants to warm it up. He asks me how long he should put it in the microwave. (I should mention that I am feeding Justin at this time, and Nathan has used the microwave a couple of times with no problem.) I tell him to put the plastic lid over his hot dog because I don't want ketchup splattering all over the microwave and that he should put it in for 15 seconds to start. A few minutes pass, and I can smell hot dog in the living room. I assume that he is sitting in the kitchen eating his hot dog. Then Nathan sticks his head in the living room and asks if I can come into the kitchen for a minute.

I can smell it before I can see it. (Bruce followed me into the kitchen, but I am not sure if he sensed something was wrong, if he was looking for a snack or if he could smell what happened.) Nathan tells me to look in the microwave and his hot dog and bun are black and charbroiled. The square plastic plate has a "golden" look to it and the microwave cover is also golden. We take the plate and cover outside so that it doesn't stink up the house even more. I asked Nathan how long he put his hot dog in the microwave for. He said one-one-one. I told him that he was lying and asked him again how long he put it in the microwave. This time he said one-one-one-five. When he must have realized that something was wrong he opened the microwave and the time on the screen then read 6:08. He had his hot dog in there for over five minutes!

I kept my calm and tried not to breath to deeply as it really stunk! I clean up the mess the best I can and put a bowl of baking soda in the microwave to try and absorb the smell. Nathan never did get anything to eat that afternoon.....

Matching outfits

"Let's both wear jeans tomorrow." I remember saying something along those lines to my friend Gail when I was Nathan's age. We would tell each other that the next time we were to see each other that we would wear our jean skirts, with knee socks and a headband. Or some variation of that outfit depending on the weather. I thought that only girls did that kind of planning, but apparently not.

Nathan told me last night that he has to wear his jeans, stripped shirt, belt and cowboy boots tomorrow to daycare because that is what Derek said he was going to wear. I was hoping that he would forget about saying that, but this morning he had his jeans on and his shirt out before I could even think about it.

We were running late this morning for daycare, and Derek was arriving as I was leaving. He had on his jeans, a sweatshirt (so I am not sure what kind of shirt he was wearing) but no boots. Chrissy said that his boots don't fit anymore, and you can tell that they both battled over it this morning.

Random thoughts

Thankfully over the weekend, Justin's cough has gotten much better. He still coughs a little, but it is not nearly as frequent or as violent as it was. As long as he doesn't regress on his cold like I have been, we can say that he is on the mend. For the past three weeks, I have gotten a sore throat and then it goes away. I get all congested and it goes away. As soon as I think I am doing better, I get another symptom.

We had our Sunday family dinner yesterday. We have now been doing this for a year. I can't speak for any of my other siblings, but I think that this has definitely been a good thing. Darren loves to play with his "buddy" Jenna, and they probably get along the best of all the cousins. I have gotten to know Julia better, and she doesn't get scared when we talk to her anymore. That has been a combination of seeing her more frequently and her coming out of her shell.

We also drew gift exchange names yesterday for Christmas! At first I thought that was awfully early, but then I remembered that I will get my Christmas Club money in about two weeks, so I guess it isn't too early! I think the boys, at least the older two, are going to be getting big ticket items so there won't be much else for them when it comes time to open gifts.

Nathan's gums have been inflamed. His appetite has also been off. Not sure what is going on with him. I will just have to keep an eye on him.

Darren came into our room this morning as I was getting in the shower. I could hear Justin fussing over the monitor and I imagine that is what woke Darren up. Instead of going back to sleep, he was up and helping me get ready this morning. He is so helpful that it takes twice as long to get ready in the morning.

Two month checkup

With the Open House we had at work last night, I have been super busy and am just now getting around to making an entry about Justin's two month checkup on Wednesday.

Justin had his two month checkup on Wednesday (even though he was ten weeks old yesterday) and everything was good. I may have my percentages mixed up, but I believe he was in the 90th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for length and head circumference. He weighed in at 13 lbs 1 oz and measured 24" long. He has gained three pounds since his two week checkup, or four pounds since birth.

I asked the doctor about all the coughing he has been doing lately and the fact that he sounds congested. The doctor tried to tell me that it was allergies. I pushed him a little bit, and I know I sounded dubious when I was questioning him, but he kept saying allergies. I think it is just a cold and that he has a mucus build-up, and coughs so hard to get rid of it. He coughs and coughs, and turns red and it is almost to much to bear watching a newborn cough like that. Justin and I both got a cold about the same time, and we are both suffering from symptoms of the cold. Neither one of us can shake it, and it has been going on for almost two weeks. If he doesn't get better over the weekend, we may take him to Urgent Care over the weekend or I will look for a different doctor to get another opinion.

Wet the bed

Nathan will be so embarrassed to know that I am telling this story, but it is something very unusual for him. Last night Bruce told Nathan to go to the bathroom before he fell asleep on the couch. Well, he was so comfortable that he didn't want to get up and we didn't push the issue. He was sleeping by 9:00 and Bruce went to bed soon after that. I stayed up to read my book for a while since I hadn't had a chance to read it all day. I went to bed about 10:00.

Not fifteen-twenty minutes later I hear something. I strain my ears to hear what it was. Eventually I realize that it is Nathan crying. I go into the living room where he was to see if he had a bad dream. I didn't turn any lights on because he is crying and I didn't want to blind either one of us. I meet Nathan just inside the dining room and ask what is wrong. Before he can say anything, I hear a sound that sounds like water dripping. I realize that he is peeing himself. He couldn't stop, and rather than leave a wet trail, I just let him finish peeing there on the hardwood floor. I run to get a few towels and some dry underwear. I clean everything up and send him back to bed. He returns to the couch.

This morning he is laying on the other end of the couch. Sure enough, he is wet again. He didn't feel to wet, but I did not feel the couch to see how wet it was. I didn't have enough time this morning to deal with cleaning it up.

About forty-five minutes ago I get a call from daycare saying that Nathan doesn't want to eat and has a temperature of 101. I guess he wasn't lying last night when he said that his head hurt. It is very unusual for him to pee his pants, and even more unusual to do it twice in one night. Rarely does he come into our room to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We have had a few instances where he was really dancing waiting for me to get in the bathroom with a flashlight, but he has never gotten me up and then wet himself.

Fall allergies

Poor Darren. I have Justin's two-month checkup on Wednesday and I am going to have to ask the doctor about Darren's allergies. His allergies seem to get worse in the fall.

Every night he has a runny nose, sneezes and has red eyes. The past few nights have been extremely bad. After dinner, his eyes are so red and there is so much matter forming in the corner of his eyes that you think he has pinkeye. You have to wipe the "eye burgers" every ten minutes or so, and they continue to mat. He says his eyes hurt and he is always rubbing them. He gets up the next morning and his eyes are fine and no more matter has accumulated.

I am sure having our windows open does not help his allergies. We will probably close them again for the next few days since it is supposed to be muggy, and we will see if that helps. We may just have to keep the air conditioner on in the fall despite the fact that it is cooler outside than it is in the house. Although Darren never complains.

Stuntman in the making?

A few weeks ago, I took the three boys for a walk. Nathan and Darren walked while Justin was in his stroller. Since Darren walked at a slower pace, I walked with Darren while Nathan pushed Justin in the stroller.

Nathan was lifting the strollers front wheels and "popping" a wheelie." I told Nathan to stop doing that as he could tip the stroller over to far. I reassured myself that if Nathan would dump Justin that Justin is strapped in so he should be okay.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am laid-back about darn near everything. The other thing that Nathan was doing to Justin in the stroller about gave me heart palpitations. He would walk with the stroller, give it a push a let go. He was doing this on the sidewalk where a car pulling out of the driveway could have hit the stroller, or the stroller hit a bump and veer onto the road.

I guess that technically Nathan would not be the stuntman since Justin was the one "performing" all the tricks, but apparently Nathan doesn't see anything wrong with what he was doing.

Why up so early?

This morning, via the monitor, I hear Justin in his crib fidgeting around about 3:30 am. I fall into a light sleep, and hear him off and on until about 5:00 when he starts crying. Because I have been spoiled by him and he has slept thru the night for over four weeks, I was cursing a little bit about having to get up. I get into his room and pick him up and realize why he was crying. Since he is a belly sleeper, his diaper had leaked and his entire front was soaking wet. I get him up, change his diaper and go ahead and put his clothes on him for the day. Then I figure that I may as well feed him his bottle.

At 5:30, my usual waking time, I lay him down in the boys bed (since they are both laying on my bedroom floor at this time) and jump in the shower. When I get the two older boys up to get ready, I ask them if they know where their brother is sleeping at. When I tell them that Justin is sleeping in their bed, they do not believe me. They were quite amazed to see that I was telling them the truth and they thought it was neat that their brother was in their bed.

Justin does not leak thru his diapers during the day, but since he is starting to leak at night, I will have to move him up a diaper size (at least at night).

"Rocking the Beer Gut"

Yesterday evening while I was making dinner, I turned the radio on. I have really been into country music lately and so that is the station we were listening to. The new song "Rocking the Beer Gut" comes on and I am dancing around acting silly for the two older boys. After the song was over Nathan asked me what does a beer gut mean. I explained to him that a beer gut was a big belly; like Dad and Grandpa Mark. Nathan takes a second to digest the information then says that I have a beer gut. Abashed I admit that I do, but that he shouldn't tell anybody. Then he starts singing, "Mom has a Beer Gut." Of course he is giggling and thinking that he is hilarious.

Meal time

Darren's appetite had been off for about ten days after his surgery, but it is back to normal or he may even eat more now than before. Last night Bruce was at Eldora for the big race so it was just me and the three boys for dinner. When we got home from daycare, Darren started eating cereal for a snack while I cleaned out the daycare diaper bag and tried to figure out what to make. After racking my brain, Darren takes the matter out of my hands and asks to have the remaining leftover spaghetti. I heat it up and the amount that is left is his normal serving size.

While Darren is eating I ask Nathan what he wants. I suggest all the easy things that we usually have for lunch. Pizza rolls, chicken nuggets, peanut butter & jelly, grilled cheese, soup, hot dogs, spaghetti-o's, mac-n-cheese, Ramen noodles and Hot Pockets. He didn't want any of the food I suggested. He said that he would have one grape for dinner. He was so anxious to get outside to play, but I told him that he couldn't go out to play until he ate and he had to eat something "good" for him. Finally he decided that he wanted a pretzel (the ones you bake in the oven). I love pretzels (the ones you bake in the oven & the snack food) so we usually always have some on hand. I baked myself and him some pretzels and he ate one. I said you need to eat more and he said he wasn't hungry. He asked if he could go out and play and I said yes but you aren't getting any snacks tonight because you need to eat more now. He told me again that he wasn't hungry.

At this time, Darren eats all of his spaghetti and requested pizza rolls. He must have thought that sounded good after hearing it suggested. So I microwave Darren five pizza rolls and he eats every one. Darren then had a some grapes. We decide to talk a walk then. As we are walking past Annie's house (she is a teacher at daycare who lives about four houses down) she is sitting outside talking to Nathan so we stop to talk. She offers the boys cookies and juice. She then fills a baggie with a dozen cookies for us to take home.

At 9:00 or so Nathan is begging for food. He claims that he is starving. I refuse to let him have any food, reminding him that he should have ate more for dinner. I let Darren have a snack which he didn't think was fair but I reminded him that Darren ate dinner. He then throws a temper tantrum and cries. He eventually cried himself to sleep in front of my chair where he threw his tantrum. Then he didn't want breakfast this morning even though I reminded him that he was starving last night.

I know that Nathan is anxious to get outside to play and that is why he never wants to eat at meal time. I hope that by not letting him have any snacks in the evening is the only way he will learn to eat at mealtime so we need to stick to our guns on this no matter how much he whines and cries. It is easier for me to tune out the crying than it is for Bruce, but it is going to have to be done.

Justin's personality

Justin is a mini-me! Sunday night we were invited to a cook-out at about 4:00 and it was going to start about 6:30. We went to the cookout, sat outside and talked and watched the kids play. I feed Justin about 9:30 that night and held him until he fell asleep in my arms. I then put him the car seat where he sat and slept until we went home about 11:00. I put him to bed and he did not get up until 9:30 the next morning!! He may not have even got up then if it wasn't for the two older boys yelling for their breakfast. I need to get him out in the fresh air more often because when he gets fresh air, he sleeps with no problems.

I know that I already mentioned that Justin smiles, but he is starting to smile when he feels like it instead of at random. If you talk to him in a sing-song voice or a happy, cheerful voice that will get you a smile. You can also rub his check or his nose and that will usually earn you a smile also. If you kiss him rapidly, he does a smile/laugh that I love. I will do any number of the above things repeatedly just to see him smile. I will get a smile and do it all over again for like five minutes just because I love to see him smile.

Bruce thinks that his nickname should be Squirrel, but I am not sold on it yet. He seems to think that he needs a nickname right away, but I keep saying to wait a while and see how his personality develops. Anyone have any ideas??

Another head injury

The other night rescue squad members were going around town trying to recruit new members. They are a volunteer organization, and membership is getting dangerously low. I appreciate what they do and thanked them for doing their job but it wasn't for me for several reasons. I told them that I would not, could not do it because I do not do well at the sight of blood and gore. A few nights later only proved what I told them....

We keep a pillow in front of Bruce's nightstand for the nights that Nathan comes into our room. Friday night Nathan was outside playing, Bruce was getting out of the shower, I was changing out of my work clothes, and Justin was laying on the bed. Darren comes into our room, sits down, and flops back onto the pillow. Unfortunately he must have been to far back because he hit his head on the nightstand. Bruce immediately picked him up and comforted him. Once the crying subsided a little, he laid Darren on our bed and told him that he was lucky that he got to lay on Dad's side of the bed. After a minute or two, he changed positions. It was then that I started to freak out. There was a big, wet blood stain on the bed. I am pretty laid back about everything with my kids, including injuries, but blood makes me flip out.

I was ready to load the kids in the van, drop Nathan and Justin off at Mom's, and take Darren to the hospital for stitches. Luckily once Bruce cleaned up the blood there was just a small cut (more like a hole) and not too deep. It stopped bleeding almost right away, so we decided that it did not need stitches. He does have a slight knot there with his scab. We figure that he caught the corner of the handle and that is what gave him his cut. Thank goodness one of us had a cool head.

Country vs. town

Over the long Holiday weekend, Nathan spent the entire time outside. On Saturday he kept begging me and asking if he could go over to one of the neighbors house. I asked him why he couldn't play by himself. He said it was more fun to play with other kids. Then I made a big mistake....

I told him that someday when we move out into the country there will not be other kids to play with and he better get used to playing by himself. He immediately started crying and saying that he doesn't want to move out into the country, that he wants to stay in this house forever! Bruce and I just looked at each other, chuckled and rolled our eyes.

The thing is that the kids he plays with now are about too big to play with him for much longer. Leslie will be seven next month and Brent just went into the fifth grade so that puts him about eleven. I guess he is so used to playing with other kids at daycare, that it is natural for him to want to play with other kids when he is at home.

Nathan's vacation

Recently while Darren was having his tonsils removed, Mom watched Nathan and Justin for me. Because of Darren's age, he had to spend the night at the hospital in the department called Almost Home. That is for kids who stay less than 24 hours so technically they don't stay the night. Mom got the boys from early Monday morning until early Tuesday morning.

She called the night before the surgery (Sunday) and suggested that Nathan spend the night on Tuesday so that Darren has a chance to rest without Nathan picking on him. We picked Justin up Tuesday morning and went home and enjoyed the quiet. Nathan's two nights of vacation turned into four nights. We didn't pick him up until Friday after dinner. Even then he didn't want to leave, but I think that Mom and Dad (not to mention Stacey and Bill) were ready for him to go.

When he is out there, he works as hard as any five year old can work. When he sees a chore on the farm for the first time, he remembers exactly how it was done. If someone varies slightly from how he seen it done the first time, he lets you know that you aren't doing it right. If he was a little bigger, he could do all the chores himself. He always has to be in the middle of what is going on at the farm. He will ask Bill and Grandpa what they are doing, and whoever is doing a more exciting job, is who Nathan will spend the day with.

I know that he is a smart kid, but he can aggravate me to no end. You ask him what he did on the farm and he "forgets," yet he can remember how to feed the pigs or everything you need to do to wean pigs. I guess he is a typical guy and has a selective memory.

I think he had a slight regression when Justin was born as he claims he couldn't remember his name for the first week, ten days. Again, it goes back to remembering what he wants to remember.

Darren's recovery

People keep asking me if Justin is keeping me up at night. They are shocked to learn Justin isn't the problem, it's Darren. Darren had his tonsils and adenoids out on August 24, ten days ago. He wakes up several times a night crying and saying that his throat hurts. He refuses medicine of any type. When we give him his antibiotics he spits it out and the same thing happens with the pain medicine. Bruce and I have to hold him down, hold his arms down and I have to pinch his nose closed so that he opens his mouth. Then when I put the medicine in, he ends up spitting most of it out. I have tried to put his pain medicine in with his beverage, but he always tastes it so he will quit drinking that.

Finally yesterday evening, we are starting to notice Darren acting more like himself. His appetite is almost back to normal, and he only woke us up once last night. The allergy report on the news yesterday said that there was a high weed(?) count, and since he has refused to take his allergy medicine, part of the reason he woke last night could be because of his allergies.

He always wants to play outside but he just can't be trusted. I have let him play in the sandbox by himself with stern warnings from me that he does not leave. I watch him from the kitchen window ready to run outside if he leaves the sandbox. Sure enough, he leaves the sandbox so I have to chase him. It is no different when Bruce and I sit on the front porch and he rides his bike. We tell him not to go past a certain brick post that is a boundary line, but he always rides past that post. We scoop him up and take him in the house so that he learns that he has to listen.

Update on Justin

Here are some random thoughts and memories about Justin:

Bruce thinks that his nickname should be Squirrel, but I don't think it works with Monkey and Skeeter. Maybe it will grow on me.

Although Justin was never up a lot at night time, he still got up once in the middle of the night to eat. When I was complaining to someone that he was four weeks old and still got up in the middle of the night they thought I was crazy. I was expecting a lot from him as the other two boys slept thru the night at two and three weeks. I decided to let him sleep on his belly for a night to see how he did, and he did great. He has been sleeping on his belly since. I would feed him about 9:30 and he would go to bed about 10:00 and then get up anywhere from 5:00-8:00. I thought that I could handle that when I go back to work. So far though, I have had to wake him up the past two mornings to get ready for daycare. Yeah!!

He is also starting to smile more frequently. When he smiles at me, it just about makes my heart melt.

So far, he has been a really good baby. A guy I work with also has three boys and he claims that the third one basically raises himself. I know that Justin is still too young, but he has been very easy going. Darren has stepped on him on more than one occasion and he has barely cried. He gets put in awkward positions when his brother holds him or when the neighbor girls hold him.

When I was in the hospital and had him, I did cry a little. Knowing that he was my last child, and that I would not have any more made me a little emotional. I never got that emotional with the other two other than being very happy/excited that they finally arrived and were healthy.

I think that Justin is going to be a mini-Nathan. Justin looks identical to Nathan's baby pictures, and he is built more like Nathan. He also has that same "bump" in the middle of his forehead. It's like in the middle/center of the forehead two bones meet and don't quite meet and lay even. When Nathan gets hot, it looks like he has a small goose-egg in the middle of his forehead.

First day of work

Yesterday was my first day of work following maternity leave. As always, I didn't have any problems leaving the baby at daycare. My problems were that it takes a lot longer to get everyone ready in the morning and get their bag packed. In the evening it is chaos in the house. I think that once we get in a routine, things will improve but until then I guess I will just have to feel overwhelmed.

I can completely see why people go to part-time once they have kids. I would still need to work because I really appreciate being with adults and being challenged, but to work a few hours less a day would be great. I may change my tune once we get in a routine, but I know that it would be great to be home early enough to have dinner ready by 6:00-6:30 instead of 7:00-7:30. When I was on maternity leave we would eat 6:00-6:30 and leave dinner dishes sit so that we could go outside, or do just anything else, and then I would do the dinner dishes the next morning. I don't see me going to part-time anytime soon with the job I currently have, but it is nice to dream.

Pied Piper

Last night when I got home from work, Bruce left for a few hours. That left me home alone, after my first day of work, with three kids. I have been home with three kids for several weeks, but I don't have a routine yet on how the evenings will go.

Anyway, Nathan was playing outside with the neighbor boy Brent, and Darren was whining and begging to go outside. Since it was such a nice evening, I put Justin in his car seat and we all went outside. Darren was playing and having fun when he decided he wanted to go for a wagon ride. Darren climbed in one side of the wagon and I set Justin's car seat on the other side. As soon as I started walking, two neighbor girls came over to ask if they could hold Justin. I told them as soon as we were done with the walk, they could hold him. We had to look funny walking down the sidewalk as I had two kids in a wagon and four kids walking behind me. I kept thinking that we had to look like the Pied Piper!

On a side note, listening to the two nine year old girls makes me very grateful I have all boys! Another girl about the same age came up to talk to them during the walk and she was basically ignored. When the two neighbor girls got to hold Justin finally the same girl comes up and hands them a note. I heard them read it out loud and it said that she hated those two girls with all her heart. I am sure that tonight when I get home all three of the girls will be playing with each other. Such drama.

I'm back....

Since I don't have a computer at home, it makes it really hard to make any type of posts. Whenever I did have access to a computer, my kids were running around screaming and so nothing could be accomplished then. You can now look forward to semi-regular posts since I am back to work and can get it done in a few minutes.

The results are in.....

Imagine my surprise when we got a call from the doctor telling us that Darren has sleep apnea! They recommended that we meet with a ear, nose & throat doctor and having his tonsils removed. I have that appointment this Friday morning.

He has arrived

Justin Thomas was born on July 16th at 3:15 pm. He weighed 9 pounds and 1.9 ounces. He also had a lot of hair, and looks very similar to what Nathan looked like when he was a baby. We also left the hospital after twenty-four hours, much to many peoples' shock. I just figured that if Mom watched the boys another night, I would probably get more sleep/rest at home.

So far, he has been a great baby. I feed him about 10:00 and he sleeps until 3'ish when I feed him again and then again around 7:00. Sometimes I have to let him cry on purpose so that I can hear what he sounds like as he hasn't cried too much yet (knock on wood).

My blogs are going to be fewer and farther in between since I don't have a computer at home, but I will try to post anything important.

40 weeks and 1 day

I had my final doctors appointment this afternoon. The plan at this time is to bring my in tomorrow evening (Wednesday the 15th) and induce me. He said that the birthing center is busy right now and if several people go into labor that they may move the induction date back. But since I am overdue, I do get a little higher priority.

Everything looked normal; weight, blood pressure and the heartbeat of the baby. When he did my pelvic exam he told me that I was 1 cm dilated already. I was excited to hear that. I know that it doesn't really mean much, but to me I am hoping that I won't be in labor as long. With the other two boys, I went in with no dilation. Still no contractions that I can feel, and he never mentioned if I was having any.

Today is my last day of work, and I plan on staying home tomorrow and cleaning. I will now be cleaning things vigorously hoping to move things along even more. I was told by a family member that I have to have this baby Thursday morning so she can see it before she goes away for the weekend. I have my orders and I hope I can accommodate her!

Ready for a new baby?

I have been asked by colleagues, friends and family if I am ready for this baby yet. Apparently no one knows me very well. In typical Lisa fashion, I am leaving everything until the last minute. I did wash up the 4 or 6 oz bottles I have yesterday in the dishwasher, so those are ready. I did go thru the sleepers and clothes and picked out what I want washed up and those clothes are sitting in a clothes basket in the basement. If I do go into labor today, I can always have Bruce start the laundry for me. Although knowing Bruce, he would just go to Wal-Mart and pick up some new sleepers instead of washing up the ones in the basement. Sometime in the near future, I have to go out to Mom & Dad's to pick up the bassinet.

With each kid, I become a little more lax about getting things ready for the baby. As I am getting things out, Darren will point to it and say baby. I will agree that the item is for his baby brother. I don't think it has sunk in that he is having a brother, but he does understand that there will be a baby in the house.

Darren will definitely be jealous. He was sitting on my lap Saturday night and Nathan asked to sit on my lap. I told him that he had to ask Darren. Of course Darren says no when Nathan asks him. After watching/listening to Nathan pout and whine, I told him to just get on my lap. Of course that makes Darren mad, so he gets off my lap and throws a buck. Eventually they both calm down and they are both sitting on my lap.

Life's realities

I had heard yesterday that one of my friends father had passed away Saturday evening. That is the second friend whose father has passed away in the past eight months. Granted the first friends father was probably the oldest father among the group, and he had health problems, doesn't make it any less of a harsh reality. The father who passed away this past weekend was only in his early 60's, but he had a lot of health problems. It hits too close to home that we are at the age where, unfortunately, this is going to start happening more often.

I had a mini freak-out when I learned that I was my Mom's in-case-of-emergency contact outside of the house. I know the day will come when I have to take care of my parents, but I am still used to the idea of them taking care of me.

Today's the day

Today is the day that I am supposed to be due, but I don't see me going into labor anytime in the near future on my own. Although I feel gigantic, everyone says that I do not look like a nine-month pregnant lady. My friend Janelle has a sister-in-law who is due in September and Janelle claims her sister-in-law is bigger than me. (I am sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that she is having her fifth kid). We attended a pool party yesterday and everyone was impressed that I was there and still wearing my rings. I think people are finally starting to believe me when I say that I am all baby. At the pool party yesterday, and last weekend at Liberty Days, everyone was shocked that I was still out and about. The only reason that I was able to attend Liberty Days was because it was so cool out, so it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. I went to the pool party simply because I wanted to get out and see everyone one. I am paying for going to the pool party today as my legs are fried! They all kept teasing me that my legs are going to hurt when they put them in the stirrups, but I told them that I plan on getting my epidural so everything should be okay!

Darren's sleep study

Darren had his sleep study done last night. They confirmed what we already knew; that he has sleep apnea. I hate the fact that insurance had to pay $1,000, or whatever it cost, to confirm what we knew but I guess doctors have to go this route to CYA (cover your ass). Bruce went with Darren and so I am getting the information relayed from Bruce, but they said that he does have sleep apnea. I guess I will have to wait a few days so the sleep doctor can analyze his results and then I guess I need to call his doctor to see if they are forwarding the results to an ear, nose and throat doctor or if I need to get the results and forward it to them. If they told Bruce how many times Darren stops breathing in the night, he did not tell me.

It sounds like the little I talked to Bruce this morning that the test is different from what I had with Nathan. He had to sleep in a recliner next to Darren's bed and he said that the sleep monitor/technician had to come in the room almost every time Darren moved because his monitors would fall off or move to an incorrect spot. Bruce said he may have gotten about three hours of sleep, and none of it was straight thru. With Nathan I had a twin bed next to Nathan's hospital bed and I don't think that the technician came in the room at all other than to hook him up at the beginning of the night and in the morning to unhook him.

Hit or miss...

We have been working in Darren potty trained so that I don't have two kids in diapers, but we have not had much success. Usually the only way he will use the bathroom at home is if he is promised a reward of candy. Not sure how they get him to use the toilet at daycare, but he does go occasionally. He will tell us at home and daycare that it hurts, but that is when he makes himself go and he only does a few dribbles. The other day I seen him go to a corner and it sure as heck looked like he was pooping, but when I asked he denied it and went somewhere else to hide. Of course he had a full load once he "reappeared."

On Sunday night we were sitting outside at Mom & Dad's so that Nathan could walk his fair pigs. Before we left we decided to put Darren's p.j.'s on. While he was in his diaper, I had asked him if he had to go potty. Before I could think about it, he took off his diaper and peed right in that spot in the grass. He didn't hold himself so when he was done, he had to wipe his legs. I can only assume that he got a little splatter on them.

Then on Monday at daycare, they took him to the bathroom and tried to get him to go. He apparently dribbled a little bit, but on the way back to his room, he soaked his shorts as he was walking back without his diaper.

I did buy him some underwear, so I may put that on him occasionally just to see how he handles it. Although I will ask if he wants to wear a diaper or underwear and he always chooses a diaper. I just hope that the underwear is beg enough for him as the smallest size I seen at Wal-Mart was 2T. Mom may have to put darts in his underwear!!

38 week checkup

On Tuesday I had my 38 week checkup. Blood pressure looked good, blah, blah, blah. It is the same thing every time I go. I had a stress test or a non-stress test done (not sure what they call it for sure) and everything looked fine. Since my doctor is out of town next week I asked him if I need to see the doctor on call since I am so close. He said that if I wanted, he would send me to the hospital next week so I could have a stress/non-stress test done if I wanted - it was completely up to me. Since the results of the test looked normal, and I have not being having any problems other than the normal aches and pains, and the fact this is my third child, I decided to wait until he is back for my next checkup. He cautioned that if I feel any decrease in movement, or my water breaks or anything else, that I get myself to the hospital. He tells all his patients that, but I am sure it was just a reminder.

I also asserted myself a little bit and asked if I could be induced the week of the 13th if I haven't already delivered. I preached my case. a) we know that this is a big baby already and b) Nathan is showing pigs at the fair on the 27th and I would like to be out of the hospital for more than a week so I can watch him. He agreed with me. I have a feeling that since I am such an easy-going patient and he knows my history that he was probably going to suggest the same thing when I see him in two weeks; if I haven't already delivered which I told him that was highly doubtful.

As it stands right now, I see him on Tuesday the 14th and then he will send me to the hospital on Wednesday evening (the 15th) to be induced. That means that boy number three will more than likely have a July 16th birthday.

Labor repeat?

Most everyone I know, knows the story of how I went into labor with Darren. I rescued Nathan from crossing the street when I was a few days overdue, and fell on top of Nathan. On Tuesday night we were at the neighbor's across the street (the same house that Bruce was at when Nathan tried to cross the street to see him two plus years ago). We were getting ready to head back to our house when Darren darts out into the street. He is probably two or three feet off the curb when I grab him by the back of the shirt and pull him back. As soon as he is on the sidewalk, I let go and try to calm myself. My heart is in my throat and it is beating at 200 beats a minute and my stomach is clenching. I was half afraid that the fear of him running into street would cause me to go into labor, but it doesn't appear that will happen.

Sharing a bed

It has been five nights of the boys sharing a bed and I would call it a success. We are still having issues with Nathan sleeping in his bed, but I didn't figure that he would magically sleep in his own bed once he started sharing a bed. Here are the results so far....

Saturday night (1st night) - Bruce goes out Saturday evening and gets home about 1:30 am. As we are laying in bed, and I am listening to Bruce talk, I hear some rustling noises on my side of the bed. Apparently Darren snuck into our room. I try to put him back in bed but he is having none of it. Not too long after that, Nathan comes in our room and takes his normal spot next to our bed. Darren claims a random spot on our floor and falls asleep. I go into the bathroom and get out a towel to cover Darren with (the blankets were to far way in the living room).

Sunday night - Nathan willingly goes into his own bed when Bruce and I go to bed. About 11:00 Darren wanders in and Bruce carries him back to his room and puts him in his crib. We spend the rest of the night without any visitors.

Monday night - Nathan falls asleep by our bed and Bruce carries him to bed. About 6:00 am Darren wakes up and wanders into our room asking to eat. I lay him down in our bed to see if he will go back to sleep. About 6:30 I give up and get him a Pop-Tart. When he is finishes he lays on the couch and is sleeping within minutes.

Tuesday night - Nathan sleeps by our bed all night and Darren comes in our room about 6:30.

Wednesday night - Nathan sleeps by our bed again and I have to go into the boys room to get Darren up and ready for daycare!

If we could only convince Nathan that there is nothing to be scared of, he will start to sleep in his own bed. This is also the kid who will not go to into another room by himself when the house is dark (except when everyone is sleeping of course).