Pictures

This past Saturday we took the boys to a photographer to get their pictures taken. He took pictures of the boys individually, together and then took some family pictures. He only charged us $45 and then he gave us the CD's so that we could pick the pictures we want and the amount that we want. That is the best deal ever!

Nathan did a good job even though he was giving fake smiles about half the time. Justin did really well also. I would hold him, count to three and quickly set him down so that Todd could start snapping. Justin would obviously start crawling and Todd just followed him. Darren didn't do as well. He didn't want to smile, but there is one proof that is really cute where he is covering his eyes with a smile. Not one that I would choose to display, but it will be a nice keepsake. Justin was getting tired and cranky by the time we did the boys together, so I am hoping that I can get one decent picture of them together. Same thing with the family pictures.

My only complaint is that I now have so many pictures to go thru to pick which ones I like. He gave me (3) CD's full of pictures.

BB Gun

Bruce decided that Nathan needed a BB for his birthday even though I didn't necessarily think that he was ready for one. Last Saturday we took it out to my parents house so that Nathan could shoot it. Of course Dad, Bill and Bruce are giving him all kinds of advice/instructions on how to shoot. He could only hit a can when my Dad helped him line it up. Inspiration struck after that and Dad got a chair up and propped it up so that Nathan had something to steady himself on. After that, he hit the can at least every other time.

Because there is a deer carved on the gun, he told Bill that he is going deer hunting with him this fall because this was "a hunting gun."

Justin shenanigans

Justin is officially off of baby food and eating only table food. If anyone wants to try the baby food diet, I have a few jars to start you off!

I have finally gotten Justin to drink out of a sippy cup. For some reason he was the hardest kid to adjust to a sippy cup. He now only gets a bottle w/formula in the morning and in the evening. I am trying to wean him off the bottle and formula, so we will see how that goes.

Last weekend when I was putting the boys tubs of clothes away, I brought down some of the toys you walk behind so Justin gets some us out of them before I get rid of them. Right away Justin was walking behind them like an old pro. He may actually be walking by his first birthday if he keeps this up. I have mixed feelings on that....

For the past several months, we have had to keep the toilet lid down because I have caught Justin playing in the toilet several times. Gross! I keep my toilet fairly clean, but ick! Last night when he crawled into the bathroom, I made sure the lid was down. I walk back into my bedroom to finish folding clothes and I hear a "thunk." Not to be outsmarted, Justin has lifted the lid and is getting ready to splash around in the toilet. Seriously? I don't think my other two figured out how to lift the lid at that early of an age. What a stink-pot! (pun intended)

Vehicle troubles

Bruce had given me AAA as a gift last year for Christmas, and it certainly paid for itself last night. I had met Mom at the doctors office at lunch yesterday and came back to work when I was finished. I went in to work and everything proceeded like normal. I went to get in my van after work last night and my van wouldn't start. I call the local number on my AAA card and they send someone out to give me a jump. (I was the only one left at the shop at this point otherwise I just would have asked one of the guys to give me a jump) While I am waiting on him, I pop the hood. The red terminal (I always forget which color is negative and which one is positive) was completely corroded and the terminal had broke. The tow truck guy gets there and proceeds to give me a jump. He fills out the necessary paperwork and has me sign. I go jump in my van and the van had stalled. The tow truck driver says that he will have to tow me. I get a tow back home and then Bruce and I go out to Mom's to pick up the boys since she had them because of Nathan's doctor's appointment.

We get to the farm and ask if we can borrow one of their vehicles. Mom let's me borrow her new car, and the boys think it is the best thing in the world because it has a moon roof. They make me open that for the drive home and insist on opening the back windows because they have the controls at their fingertips and they don't have that control in my mini-van. As we were driving home, I hear Nathan laughing like a crazy man in the back. He then tells Darren to look at my hair. A small lock of my hair was standing straight up and out of the moon roof. The boys thought that was hilarious. I would pull it down, and it would fly up and out again. I am glad that I could keep them entertained for the trip home!

6 year checkup

I had to meet Mom at the doctors yesterday so that Nathan could have his 6 year checkup. Since my kids are healthy for the most part (knock on wood), so after they reach about the age of 3 I don't really see the need to take them for their well-child checkup, but do so because daycare requires it. They get their immunizations from the Health Department and not the doctor's office, so the visit is more of a formality than anything.

Yesterday Nathan weighed 62 lbs and he is 4'2" tall. He is off the charts for height and weight, but the nurse stated that he is proportional, so there are no worries. I would not call Nathan fat, but I would call him solid. Everything else looked okay, and they reminded me that I still have to get him his immunizations before he goes to school. I will get the shots done at the Health Department at the same time I get Justin's next round of immunizations done.

12 plus hours of sleep

Yesterday afternoon the boys came in to get a snack, and I could tell that Darren was getting tired. Since it was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I didn't want him to take a nap that late in the day anymore. I asked the boys if they wanted to play with their squirt guns. Of course they both say yes and are raring to go again. Nathan asked me if they could squirt each other. I told them that since it is so nice out that they were allowed to squirt each other, but that Nathan had to stop if Darren told him to. They both would come in for periodic refills, and Nathan is barely damp while there was not a dry spot on Darren.

They come in for dinner around 6:00 and I ask them what they want for dinner. Nathan wants cereal and Darren wants pizza rolls. (Bruce went to a graduation party that we were both invited to but I stayed home with the boys because all Justin would want to do was crawl and I would have no fun chasing after him) After the second pizza roll, I can tell that Darren is getting tired. I go and get his pajamas. He is on his third pizza roll and I am afraid that he is going to fall off the chair, he is that tired. Luckily since he was so wet, it washed off most of the dirt he accumulated that day. I put his pajamas on and put him to bed at 6:15 with the fear that he would be up and ready to party at midnight. He slept through the night and he didn't really want to get out of bed this morning at 6:45. I wish bedtime was always this easy!

The big 0-6!

My little baby is six today! I see so many of my traits in him - stubborn, always right, can hold a grudge, likes his sleep and I am sure that he has some of my good traits too! If I didn't have the pictures to prove it, I wouldn't remember Bruce's parents and brother coming to visit that night. I do remember him having a cone head and me crying because he had a cone head. Luckily the next morning it was round again although it was still a big head.

Still crawling...

When Justin started sitting up and crawling basically in the same week at about six months of age, I was convinced that he would have been walking by now. He is getting closer, but I don't see him walking anytime in the next month or. He will stand by himself without holding onto anything momentarily, but that rarely last longer than ten seconds. He will also walk along the furniture, but he hasn't quite got the balance thing figured out. We also have not been "practicing" with him as we did with Nathan. I would rather he be several months older before he can walk. He gets around too well the way it is.

Applesauce continued

If you have not read the post I made yesterday about applesauce, read that before reading this please.

Last night all three boys finished the 3lb jar of applesauce. I guess that it better than eating chips. That is also why I always try to keep lots of fruit, yogurt and other healthy foods in the house. When they are on their eating binges, the amount of food they pack away will shock you.

Let's play House

Over the weekend I was pulling the winter clothes out of the boys closet/dresser and putting in their summer clothes. The neighbor girl was over and as I am putting clothes into the tubs in the dinning room, I hear them in the bedroom talking about playing house. Nathan even made the bed, so their house would be neat. I am walking in and out and chuckling to myself about some of the things they are talking about. Nathan said he is the Dad, Leslie is the Mom, Darren is the puppy and Justin is the baby. As I am out in the dinning room, I hear Nathan say, "You lay on that side of the bed and I will lay on this side." Sure enough when I walk back into their room, the covers are all rumpled.

Should I be worried that Nathan is trying to get girls into bed already?

Applesauce

Every July, I go over to Mom's to help make home-made applesauce. We recently ran out and so I bought one of the big jars at Wal-Mart the other day. Last night after dinner the boys were still hungry so when I got out the applesauce to feed some to Justin, the older two boys asked for some also. I opened a brand-new 3lb jar and I know that all three boys ate over half of it last night. I finally told them they had enough as I was afraid that they would get a bellyache and have some...um...digestive problems.

Clap your hands

Lately while Justin is in his high chair eating a meal or having a snack he will start clapping. Because he can't talk, I have a conversation with him about what I believe him to be clapping about.

Me: "Thank you Justin. Mom is glad that someone appreciates her cooking."
Justin: Big goofy grin and more clapping
Me: "Stop. You are embarrassing me. I only made Ramen noodles for lunch/warmed up a hot dog."
Justin: Another grin and more clapping.
Me: "Thank you Justin and I love you too."
Justin: More grins, laughing and clapping. He may raise his hands in touchdown style if he really appreciates my culinary talents (at least in my mind).

I can be silly too.

Cringe-inducing comments

Kids really do need to have a filter put on their mouths. Darren has said some embarrassing stuff, but he can get away with it for some reason. Nathan, on the other hand, can not get away with it and mortifies his parents in the process.

A few months ago he made a girl cry at daycare. He asked her why she was so fat. This little girl was so upset that she started crying, and Nathan didn't understand what he did wrong. Of course that evening we have the conversation with him that you don't talk about how small or how big someone is. How you don't stare at someone because they are missing a leg. Or how if you have questions about someone you ask Mom and Dad quietly when no one is around. We also told him that he had to apologize to her the next time he seen her since she only comes in for preschool.

Then the other day Bruce took the boys driving around the lake while waiting for me to get home from work. They decided to stop at one of the daycare teachers house, and she lives in a trailer out at the lake. The teachers husband was outside, so they stopped to talk to him. Nathan has seen house trailers before, but apparently he thought he was quite observant with his comment. He told him, "A semi-trailer is bigger than your house." Bruce said that he was waiting for the floor to open up and swallow him. He was that embarrassed and he doesn't embarrass easily.

Food woes

I have to admit that Justin seems to take after me with the texture of food. I have been trying to get him to eat strictly table food, but he hasn't been doing the best with it. I recently started buying stage 3 baby food which has little chunks of noodles, chicken or whatever in it. I never bought state 3 for my other two boys because they were on table food solely at this point. Justin will take about two spoonfuls and then start gagging. I give him another spoonful, and he will gag some more. If I lay some macaroni & cheese on his try, he will eat that with no problems. The only thing I can figure out is that he does not like the texture of his baby food. I like salad, but I cannot stand lettuce on my sandwiches or tacos. Justin apparently inherited that trait from me.

Wedding Bells?

On Thursday when Bruce picked the boys up at daycare, one of the little girls ran up to Bruce and told him, "I kissed Nathan today and we are going to get married." When Bruce tells me this, we all pick on Nathan. Nathan is insisting that he will never get married.

The next day at daycare, the same little girl runs up to Bruce and says that her and Nathan aren't getting married anymore. When Bruce asked her why not she said, "He farts."

Apparently Nathan found the perfect girl-repellent!

Plush it

Darren has been obsessed with flushing the toilet lately, so he flushes just to flush. When we are in the bathroom taking care of...um...business, he will volunteer to flush it. Except I think he is saying "Plush it." I have asked him repeatedly what he is saying and he just gets frustrated that I don't understand what he is saying. Is he perhaps combining the words push & flush? Pretty ingenious if you ask me!

New leg & foot

Last night while Darren was taking off his clothes for his bath, he was examining his legs. He pointed to a cut and said that he did that at Grandma Deb's. He proceeds to lift his leg (with the flexibility only someone that young has) and kisses his cut to make it better. After he is done kissing it he looks at me and said:

Darren: "I am getting a new leg"
Me: "You are getting a new leg?"
Darren: "Yeah and a new foot too."
Me: "Oh. Where are you getting your new leg & foot from?"
Darren: "Wal-Mart"

I guess it is true. If Wal-Mart don't have it, you don't need it!

Wink, wink

I may be biased, but I think Justin is the cutest thing ever. Last night he was in his highchair eating dinner, and I was in the bar stool right next to him. He would look at me, squint his eyes, close them and open them up again. I am assuming that he was trying to wink at me, but just could not figure out how to keep one eye open and wink with the other. If I laughed or smiled at him, he would do the whole thing over again. After a while I start laughing a little harder and he keeps doing it. He is smiling and laughing the whole time. What a little ham!