Arrival of Reese Mackenzie

This one is my favorite...I told the boys that "shushing" babies made them feel better, so big brother Grant got right to it.








Well, she's been here for over a month and I am just now writing about it. Better late than never...
I know these are out of order too, but at least they're on here! I've got some more updated pics, but thought I would start here and get to the rest another day.
Overall, we're doing pretty well--though we couldn't have made it without the constant help of our friends and family!
Reese is sleeping pretty well, but of course still up once or twice per night to eat. I am hanging in there, just hoping that she'll sleep through the night like the boys did--around 10 or 11 weeks. She is already almost 5 weeks old and it's hard to believe. She is growing and changing every day!

The boys are fantastic big brothers and super-helpful. I promise to write more later and of course upload more pictures!

Catching Up

I don't anticipate being able to write again for a little while, so I am going to do a little bloggy catch-up here. First up, Grant's 3rd birthday... We had a party at our house with the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.


Big brother happily volunteered to assemble goodie bags...what a helper!


We served Grant's choice for dinner-hot dogs and chips! Grant was having so much fun he didn't realize that he sat in someone's plate--in the ketchup of course:)

We had a variety of theme options, but he ended up choosing SPORTS. If you've spent any time with him in the last three months, you'll realize that this is not a surprise. The good news about a sports theme vs. the Mickey Mouse theme we were going to attempt...easier-to-make-at-home cupcakes! These really turned out pretty cute except for the soccer balls. Those kind of looked like they had black webs on them.

It's really a shame that Grant is so shy and withdrawn. Just kidding, he was loving being the center of attention as we all prepared to sing to him!

Yeah! The first year he could blow out his own candle...he's getting so big!

Of course Grant chose a basketball cupcake. He LOVES basketball just like dad. If you can't tell, his shirt even says "basketball" on it!

Present time was fun too. It is a little overwhelming to open so many gifts, he just wanted to stop and play with everything as he unwrapped it!

And the party's...over...Truman was WORN OUT! You'd have thought SHE was the one who entertained the troops. Oh wait. She was.

Well, we did have a little bit of post-party entertainment. Jameson and Connor got out the boxing gloves and did their best toothless smiles (and growls) before they put on a lively match.

Connor gets one in!

Ohhhh! Jameson comes in with his left hook. Notice the proud papas in these pictures.

I think everybody had a good time celebrating our 3 year old boy!

Latest funnies from Grant

Grant has a habit of saying things or people are "silly" when something is out of the ordinary...
Here are a couple of gems from our recent talks:

Grant: "Mom, why did God make germs at the zoo?" I undoubtedly displayed my germophobia while we ate our lunches at the zoo last weekend.
Me: "I'm not sure why God made germs at the zoo or anywhere else!"
Grant: "SILLY GOD!!!"

Me: "Grant, do you have to go potty?"
Grant, said while wiggling: "No!"
I then proceed to carry him back to "try" to go potty.
Grant, sitting on the potty, happily "going": "I tricked you! I said I no have to go potty, I tricked you!"

Me: "Grant, only 8 days til your birthday!"
Grant: "I gonna be eight!"
Me: "No, you will be three, but we only have to wait 8 more days til your party!"
Grant: "I almost eight!!"

Me, every morning as I drop Grant off at school: "I love you, have a fun day!"
Grant: "no!"
Now, every morning when I drop him off he informs me: "I won't have fun today, mom!"

But when I pick him up, he's very happy...reminding me that he had a "great day."

At least he didn't mean the cow?

Anyone familiar with "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" ?

* (By the way, I never quite know if my question mark should go inside those quotation marks or outside since it's not a direct "quote".)*

There is a cow on there, her name is Clarabelle. Also, Grant LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and our family is familiar with its characters. --and this is important for you to understand before you embark on this story-journey with me.

Before I tell my story, I will go back a few weeks... After I put away all of the Christmas gear--on December 26th, oh yes, I am a humbug, I pared down some of our picture frames and things in our living room. One picture that I moved was an 8x10 of Jeff and me on our wedding day.

Grant noticed it right away on our side table and pointed at me, saying, "Mom, your a care-a-bell" over and over again. Then he said I didn't have wings. I kept prodding him..."What is a Carabell? Do you mean an angel?"

I believe that it is never too early to win your children over with the power of suggestion... "No, not an angel, a Care-a-bell!" said more forcefully. Ok, got it. Not an angel.

The conversation was dropped for the time being since none of us could crack his code, but 3 or 4 more times over the course of a couple of weeks, Grant would point at me in the picture and call me a "care-a-bell." I suppose he grew weary of me continually asking him to explain and suggesting that I appear to be part of the heavenly host, but that is what mothers do...strive to understand our children and suggest that we are angelic beings, of course!

He kept saying something about me not having wings, but I just didn't get it.
Fast forward to last week, I was getting myself ready for bed. I was lookin' good with my hair back in a headband and a clip, dressed in my bedtime finest-a too-small (now) ripped t-shirt and jammie pants. Grant came in, looked at me, and again said, "Mom, you're a care-a-bell but you got no wings!" With great trepidation, I asked, "Grant, do you mean Clarabelle, the cow on Mickey Mouse clubhouse?" It had been in the back of my mind for some time that I looked like a cow, but I definitely don't look like a cow in my wedding picture...I was baffled.

"No."

Whew. I mean, really, I am 30 weeks pregnant, and there are some serious similarities between Clarabelle and me at this point.

Then Connor joins our conversation. We are both trying to figure out what the heck a "care-a-bell" is when it dawns on me...Wings. Tiara..."Do you mean 'Tinkerbell'?" "YES!" Hallelujiah, message decoded.

"Oh, honey, that is really nice of you to say Mommy looks like Tinkerbell!"

My son thinks I look like Tinkerbell. Me, in my wedding dress as Tinkerbell, and I suppose that a clippy up on the top of my head made him think of the tiara too??? Not sure...

But leave it to your eldest child, your firstborn, the light of your life to bring you back to reality.


"No, Mom, Grant doesn't mean 'Tinkerbell,' cause you don't look like that little 'Tinkerbell.' You look more like the little fat man on Peter Pan!"


At which point I had to remind myself that kids are nothing, if not honest..

Preschool!

It hit us rather suddenly in early January that we needed to change Grant's daycare situation. His babysitter was nice, but things weren't...great. He was having some behavioral issues there that we'd never seen or experienced at home that I believe were directly related to his sitter's style. From what I've been able to gather, they butted heads more than a little bit.
With the new baby coming in a couple of short months, we decided that January was the month to make the move. We felt like that would allow Grant to get adjusted to a new setting prior to the birth of a baby so that his whole world wouldn't rock on all fronts at once. We also plan to move him to part-time care once the baby arrives to provide me a little respite while I am home and to keep him in a routine. We knew this wouldn't work well with his sitter and felt forced to make a quick decision.

So, we provided our notice to the sitter...2 weeks were required...and by the next afternoon we knew that we couldn't stay. Things got pretty uncomfortable there between her and me and leaving your baby in an uncomfortable situation just doesn't work. Fortunately, we had some stellar stepping in from Grandma and were able to transition Grant over within the week.
It really was a terrible time to move his daycare. We'd started potty-training just 2 weeks prior to the move and though he was doing great, we were afraid that this would upset his progress. I fretted over this decision like I do most every other decision in life, but Jeff, who is much more objective about these things reminded me how great everything worked out there for Connor and that it was TIME to move on.

Well, I am happy to report that Grant has been at his new "school" for 2 weeks now and is doing really well. Every day he tells me how much fun he had at school. Every. Day. That means a lot...he never once told me that at his prior daycare, though I know he did do fun things, I think this place is a better fit for him. I love his teachers--they are so kind and flexible, something we'd had a bit of trouble with before.
As for potty training, well, it's going better than expected. He's still dry most of the time during the day, with just a few accidents because of a couple of refusals to potty while at school. Hopefully that issue is resolved and we can continue on our journey to be a diaper-free household for a few weeks at least!

Our morning transitions are still hard for both of us, but he is getting much better. The last couple of days we've even parted without tears (his or mine)! One of my favorite parts of him going to preschool is how proud he is. He often tells me in the morning, "Daddy's at school, Mommy goes to school, Connor goes to school, and Granters goes to school!" I think it makes him feel grown-up to be heading off to "school" like the rest of us.
I hope to get a couple of pictures of him at school one of these days soon to post.
In fact, if I ever get around to uploading the photos on my camera, I might eventually get ANY pictures on here again!

A Giving Heart

Connor's school is collecting money for the Children's Miracle Network and there is a contest between the grades in the afterschool program. Over the weekend, he was asking me how he could earn money (he's already spent his Christmas stash) so that he could give at school.
To my surprise, I went into his room on Monday, MLK Jr. day (off from school) to find him with a big pile of coins on his desk. He proudly showed me the pile of coins and told me he needed a big bag to put it in to take to school the next day. I asked him where he found all of that change. He pulled out this coin-saving book he's had for a while that was nearly full and showed me that he'd completely emptied it. He then told me that the money was for kids who were in the hospital and their moms and dads couldn't afford the bills.
I was torn, because I hated for him to give away all of his money, but also so proud of him for WANTING to give it away! I just gave him a hug, told him that he was doing a nice thing, and brought him a ziploc. I want to cultivate a giving heart and spirit in my kids, something that doesn't come naturally to me--at least not with money. I am really pleased, though, that he wanted to do this and hope that he continues to be a giver.

Whew!

So, judging by the fact that I haven't blogged in over a month, could you have guessed that things have been busy?
Let's do a recap...sorry, no pictures right now, but hopefully I will get a few in here. I honestly didn't take but a couple on Christmas, shame on me.

Jeff and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on the 19th. I honestly can't believe it has been that long, and I am happy to say that we still (mostly!) have fun together. Thanks to our lovely parents who kept our children for us, we were able to have a mini-getaway up to Parkville at a lovely bed and breakfast. We shopped (mostly for the kids) and ate, but overall, just had a relaxing time. As we walked around Zona Rosa in the subzero temperatues, I started to wonder what had possessed us to get married during such a crazy and COLD season! Still, we had much better weather than we had the evening of our wedding, when a huge ice storm hit the city.

Christmas was a three-day-affair for us this year where Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the 26th, brought us together with family. The boys had a ball playing with their cousins, eating wayyy too many sweets and treats, and getting completely spoiled with toys from their grandparents. Christmas night we tried something new, we went out for Chinese food! The boys thought it was great--an umlimited chicken nugget buffet!

Our break from school was really long--16 days this year! We so enjoyed having the time off and being able to relax. We saw a couple of dog movies. Marley and Me...sniff, sniff...don't see it unless you want to cry. We took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihauha at the dollar theater and managed to keep Grant in the vicinity of his seat with an IV of popcorn, candy, and root beer.

Connor lost both of his front teeth in December--I promise to post pictures, really. He is getting so big...We've already begun talking about first grade quite a bit. He asked me the other day who his teacher would be, and my reply was "we'll find out who the best teacher is and you will get her."
His reply to that was: "I hope she is more challenging for me."
Too smart for his own britches, that boy!

Grant began the adventure of potty-training.

We could use your prayers.

Seriously, he is doing quite well, other than the occasional refusal to use the potty where I have to hold him on there and then he breaks into a grin as he gives in and goes. He has a touch of the strong will. Speaking of...that is probably another post. We have decided to leave his baby sitter and move him to preschool in two weeks. Such an agonizing decision, but I am now confident we've made the right choice.
I might write more about it later, but we are still in our 2-week finishing time with the current sitter, so we are just trying to get through.

I am now at 27 weeks in my pregnancy and seem to be growing every day! So far, I really feel pretty good, so hopefully that lasts for another 3 months until delivery.
At my next appointment at the end of the month, I believe we'll be setting an induction date. The doctor says that we'll do another sonogram to gauge baby's weight and growth, so as not to let her get too big, but I am hoping for a late March delivery.

We're now in the long stretch of the school year. The abysmal winter season of January and February. This is definitely my least favorite time of each school year, but we'll get through.

I hope to have more interesting writing sometime soon. And pictures too, of course.