Simon the 3 year old

Simon will be three years old in less than a week. Today he had his first of many different celebrations with family and friends.

We began this morning before church. I had baked a chocolate and vanilla rainbow swirl cake last night, and this morning I let the boys decorate it.

20160207_080457The cake did not turn out at all how I had envisioned it, but there was some rainbow swirl inside and Simon loved it so that is all that matters I guess.

Simon got a birthday blessing at church. Then we came home to celebrate with Nana. She brought pizzas for lunch. Then we got down to the business of opening presents.

20160207_130807Simon was a very excited boy. He got a pilot and a dodgers costume for role play/dress up and a bubble mower along with some other fun surprises. I think Elias was just as excited about the new gear as Simon was.

Finally we got to eat cake. We sang Simon “Happy Birthday” and he sang along at the top of his lungs.

20160207_132011It was a great way to start out our birthday celebrations.

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Caleb – 10 Weeks

Caleb is 10 weeks old today. I still can’t believe how fast he is growing. Look at my smiley boy:

20160203_164041(1)Caleb smiles a lot these days. Today he gave smiles to Auntie Kristy, Mommy and Daddy, Elias and Simon, Ama and Baba, and Elias’ Spanish teacher (Senora Hull).

Today was also the first day that Caleb took a bath without crying the whole time. He started out unsure and with his classic bottom lip sticking out pitifully. By the end, though, he was smiling at us. I think we’re still a ways from giggling and splashing happily in the bath, but it was a great start!

At 10 weeks Caleb is very much a go-with-the-flow baby. Mostly it’s out of necessity. He really enjoys watching Elias and Simon play. He enjoys looking at other things too, though, and one of them is the board in our kitchen which displays letters and pictures from our sponsored children around the world. Caleb just loves looking at the board. At first I thought it was the faces, but he enjoys looking at it from the floor as well. When Elias and Simon aren’t around to entertain him, I can place him in sight of the board and be sure he’ll be entertained for at least a few minutes. Here he is earlier this evening while I was preparing dinner:

20160203_164011Another milestone this week was moving Caleb up to 6 month size clothes and size 2 diapers. My baby is growing way too fast! As I put away the size 3 month clothes that have been worn by all three boys I was sad to think that they may never get used again. It’s hard to let go of the baby stuff!

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NBA and Pie

We had another chance to have some kid dates this weekend. Simon went to Ama and Baba’s to have fun, and it was Elias’ turn to have some kid dates with Mommy and Daddy.

Friday night Nathan took Elias to his first Blazer game. At first Elias was a bit bored, but then Nathan taught Elias how to read the scoreboard and he was super excited for the rest of the game.

20160129_170858I got to spend some time with Caleb. I made him practice tummy time. He wasn’t happy with me for long.

20160129_104714On Saturday morning I got to spend time with Elias. He decided that he wanted to make a pie. We went and got the few ingredients we needed and came home to make the pie. First I taught Elias how to cut in the shortening.

20160130_113228He helped roll the dough for the crust, and then we worked on the insides of the pie.

20160130_121059We were lucky to be celebrating Nana’s birthday in the evening. Nothing better than sharing a pie with someone we love!

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Little Boys

There is nothing quite like being a little boy. Wearing your superhero cape. With a stick. In the woods.

20160125_113544I post a lot of happy stuff on the blog. It’s because the blog is mostly for me, and I post the stuff I want to remember. Most of the time I don’t want to remember the hard stuff. If you just read this blog you might get the impression that things are perfect. They are far from it. There are days when I just want to tear my hair out. Days that end in tears of frustration for feeling so inadequate.

But even on dark days there are rays of sunshine. Even if they are diluted like rays of light coming through the canopy to the forest floor. I try to focus on those rays of sunshine in my day because that is what keeps me sane. And if I focus on the positive it makes me a better mother to my boys.

This has been a hard week. Elias has been home from school all week sick. Simon has thrown some spectacular tantrums because he is…you know…a toddler who is still adjusting to a new sibling. Caleb had his first shots and has been extremely grumpy. This week has stretched my coping skills to the limit.

But, when I looked outside during a moment of particular frustration, I saw a (literal) ray of sunshine. When I saw it I just decided to drop everything and go enjoy it. I put Caleb in the wrap so he would fall asleep, bundled up the boys and put them in the double stroller, and went out to enjoy the sunshine.

We went to Noble Woods Park just down the street from our house. I think we were out for almost 2 hours just walking and exploring. The boys were in heaven. It made their day and it certainly made mine. I loved seeing the awe on their faces as they looked up hundreds of feet to the top of the trees. And as they dug around in holes in the trees.

20160125_113753They watched birds and looked at the stream for a long time.

20160125_114117There is nothing quite like being a little boy. Wearing your super cape in the woods. Carrying a stick. Except maybe being his mother.

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Caleb – 2 Month Highlights

Caleb turned two months old a couple of days ago. The time is slipping through my fingers!

The biggest highlight of Caleb’s second month was his baptism. We celebrated on Baptism of Jesus Sunday. I think out of the three baptisms for our kids, I found this particular Sunday to be the most meaningful. (Elias was baptized on All Saints Day, and Simon was baptized on Easter Vigil.) We are so happy and thankful that Caleb is a part of our Christian family and that we have so many friends and family who will support him and help him grow in faith.

Elias and Simon got to help baptize Caleb.

IMG_2611After the service we had some friends and family over to celebrate at our house.

IMG_2616Also in his second month, Caleb has really been working on his smile and his cooing. He is very vocal with Nathan and I and with his brothers. Elias and Simon really enjoy the “talking.” Caleb can hold his head up really well, and is really starting to notice more about the world around him.

Here is Caleb at 2 months old:

20160125_101201Yesterday Caleb had his 2 month well check. Here are his stats:

Weight: 13 pounds, 5 ounces (80ish percentile)

Height: 24 inches (85ish percentile)

He is a healthy and inquisitive little boy.

Caleb also got his first shots yesterday. I never like seeing the shock and pain on their little faces. Today Caleb has been extremely grumpy and sleepy. I’ve never had a child so affected by the shots before. Hopefully he’ll feel better by tomorrow!

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Hand Holding

This is love. Holding hands in sleep.

20160122_155046On friday afternoon Elias was at my parents’ house, so after I put Simon down for his nap I decided to try to get in a snooze myself. I lay down with Caleb on the bed and he quickly fell asleep. I dozed a bit. Unfortunately, Simon came in after only 45 or 50 minutes and I thought the bliss was over. However, he crawled onto the bed, found a spot and fell back asleep within seconds! What luck! I couldn’t actually sleep because I was worried Simon would roll over on Caleb, but I did get to lay and rest. I caught this one cute moment of them holding hands in sleep. They slept like this for quite awhile. Awww, brothers.

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Kid Dates

Since Caleb was born Nathan and I are outnumbered in the kid-adult ratio. Because of this we’ve decided to become a lot more intentional about having one-on-one time with the boys. I try to get some one on one with each of the boys each day even if it is just one story or a few minutes cuddling or one game of uno. With an 8 week old, though, sometimes that doesn’t even happen. Often Caleb will watch Elias and I play a game from the bouncer, but he is still there stealing my attention away from the game occasionally. That’s why kid dates are important. They are intentional, focused one on one time. We’ve decided to have a goal that each kid gets a “date” at least once a month…but better if each kid gets one with both of us each month. It’s harder to fit in than you think!

This weekend my parents made it super easy for us to get that time with Simon. On Friday, Elias spent the night with Ama and Baba (getting some focused attention from them). In the evening on Friday, Nathan took Simon on a Starbucks date. Simon chose a chocolate cake donut and dictated which side Nathan could take bites from. I stayed home with Caleb. Unfortunately he was pretty sleepy so I spent most of that time sitting on the couch…holding him and staring at him and wishing he could stay this little forever.

On Saturday morning it was my turn to take Simon. I took him to the library where he picked out about twenty books, found a nice comfy chair, and sat down to read. We read and read and he was especially curious about the rainforest books. After we had read a bunch we chose about 12 or so to take home with us. Then I let him browse the movies. We took home Mary Poppins and 101 Dalmations along with a Scooby Doo film I wasn’t too thrilled about. Then we took a tour of the rest of the library and I let him check out our books.

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I feel sad to say it, but it’s so rare that I am able to have such focused time with the boys. Even at home when I do have the ability to have one on one time I am always thinking about what else needs to be done. Dirty dishes in the sink. A baby that needs to be fed. It’s hard to be fully present. It was so refreshing to just spend time with Simon and not have to worry about anything else.

Hopefully we’ll be able to keep these kid dates a priority and fit them in each month!

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Caleb – 8 Weeks

Caleb is 8 weeks old today. I can hardly believe it. Look at my little chunkers.

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Small Victories

Sometimes we have to take small victories when we happen upon them. With three boys, I rarely feel like things are “harmonious.” Joy-filled maybe. Exciting. Perhaps a little crazy.

This morning, though, we had a bit of harmonious-ness. We had finished breakfast and were cleaning up. I was folding clothes.

Caleb, who normally cries within a minute or two of being put in the swing actually stayed happy in there for quite awhile. Then he fell asleep!

20160118_075635Elias was reading to Simon on the couch.

20160118_075613The calm was a wonderful interruption in our normal life.

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Free Hugs!

Simon (and now Caleb) mostly wears hand me downs. It’s the fate of a second (or third) child. Caleb will actually be the fifth child to wear some of his clothes.

Sometimes, though I just can’t resist the matching outfits. I knew it would be difficult to find matching outfits in the wide range of sizes my boys are in currently. However, I found something pretty close.

Free Hugs for all!

20160118_093740I love how this picture captures each of their personalities. Nathan says Caleb’s outfit is “questionable.” I think they are cute matching shirts!

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