Building with Dad

Colin spent the long weekend working on the playhouse that Santa brought. The directions said it was an 8-10 hour, two-person assembly. Jackson and Cooper LOVED every minute of the assembly.




This was the work after Day 1. Boys were already loving it. Colin put it together just outside our backdoor, but we (actually, he) will be moving it to the back of the yard now that it's assembled.

While he and Jackson were finishing it up today, they got a pleasant surprise.

Just over our neighbors house, a hot air balloon.

I'm so thankful that Colin let the boys "help" him put this together ... I know they loved it.
Here's the finished product ... complete with weather vane, and windows/shutters that open and close.


As for Charlie and I, we stayed nice and warm inside.

Throwing in the towel

We have loved this lazy week of no school and no commitments. We've missed Colin, who is back at work, but really enjoyed not having to be anywhere at a particular time. In fact, we haven't been much of anywhere but HOME. So nice.
On Wednesday I decided I would spend the day cleaning. Our wonderful, wonderful housekeeper has only come once since Thanksgiving. It was just a crazy last month or two with the new floors and the holidays. She usually just cleans the bathrooms and the kitchen, and I can keep up with the rest of the house. But my goal was to be back in control of our house by this point. Well, after putting 100% of my effort into cleaning on wednesday, I still only managed to vacuum and dust (only downstairs) and do the usual 2-3 loads of laundry (thank you, relux). I also unloaded the dishes and made our beds. that's as far as I got.
So, on Thursday I decided to let it go, and spent the day just building lego houses and watching Mickey Mouse club house in between the must-dos of the day (laundry, meals, diapers...)
We had a great day just hanging out. And I just threw in the towel.
After playing in the backyard, Jackson and Cooper came in really muddy and smelling like little boys. So, they ditched the stinky clothes, left tracks of mud all over the floor, and we played upstairs in J's room before naps. Charlie spit up all over his shirt, and then his pants, so they were all down to their diapers/underwear.
Jackson and Cooper were laughing and getting Charlie to join in. After about 15 minutes of giggles, I had to run get the camera.

I love being a mom.
These three monkeys keep me smiling and grateful to be at home with them.
I just have to remind myself of that at those times where I want to pull my hair out : )

Christmas Day

Our second half of Christmas week was spent with my mom and brother. We went to Bass Pro Shops one morning to let the kids run around. The boys had a blast. We colored some Christmas pictures, checked out Santa from afar (I wasn't even going to attempt pictures), played in some boats...

We made sugar cookies (and a mess) on Christmas Eve. Then off to mass.


Christmas morning, Cooper was the first to wake up. When I went in his room and told him it was Christmas Day, he lit up and exclaimed "Santa bring Big Blue Present!" I'm no exactly sure what he had in mind, but he was excited. Charlie woke up right then, and we went into Jackson's room to wake him. He was still in bed - just waking up, and when I asked him if he knew what day it was, I thought he was going to wet his pants. I've never seen him move so fast.
Santa brought lots of goodies, including a playhouse for the backyard. He left instructions for Colin to put it together. Hopefully this weekend he and the boys can start on it.

What a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas with the Delaneys

I get an F for taking pictures while the Delaneys were here. We didn't even get a group shot. Bummer! We had a great time while they were here - especially Jackson and Cooper. Mawmaw and Pawpaw, Aunt Ali and Aunt Coco took them to parks, out to lunch, bookstores, and to play at the sand park.
Oh, Just before they arrived we received an awesome package of food from Colin's cousin Bill, and his girlfriend, Rita. Check it out!
I had just told Colin how I have always wanted to get one of these! I'm still confused how cheese and sausage ship without being refrigerated. It has everything from fruitcakes to garlic flavored beef logs!

The boys LOVE their new costumes - a police officer and a construction worker.





After all the present opening, Jackson and Charlie played on the floor for a while. Charlie enjoyed some of his new toys, while Jackson picked out his toe fuzz. Awesome!

Colin cooked some yummy steaks with blue cheese and onion sauce, mashed potatoes, and salad. Delicious. All I did was set the table.


It was so nice to eat a nice dinner all together - especially now that we have hardwood floors under our dining room table instead of carpet!

In other news, Charlie's Upper GI came back normal. All the anatomy is correct. So, we will go back to our pediatrician in a month for a weight/length check and are praying that he can start to gain some weight. He's so little! I feel like I can't feed him anymore, because his already insane amount of spit up just gets even worse. He almost seems to spit up more than the extra food I give him. So, we're hoping with three meals a day, nursing 4 x a day, and maybe a little afternoon snack in there, that he can start to gain some weight. Please keep him in your prayers. We just want him to be healthy. I'm hoping he can start to keep more of the milk and/or solids down.

Can't wait to post pictures of Christmas day. It was wonderful! I feel like when I publish a post, I'm recording memories to go back and look at later. I don't want to forget how excited Jackson and Cooper were today .

Making baby food is so much fun!

I guess I was trying to do too much the other day - including pushing steamed green beans through the strainer. Turns out the cheap plastic strainer from walmart couldn't hold up to these guns. I was a little overzealous and ended up with green bean puree on our floors, cabinets, and even my ham & cheese sandwich (I ate it anyway).

Charlie's 6 month stats

Can't believe it's been 6 months since Charlie was born. He is such a joy. He definitely gets the award for the most laid-back baby. He is rolling all over the place. Lately he's been scooting backward like a crawfish, and has scooted forward a couple of times, too. Still needs some support to sit up.
When we went for his 6 mo. well visit, he hadn't gained any weight (well, 3 oz) or grown at all since his 4 mo. check. We have tried adding another meal and going forward with solids as quickly as possible. No luck. Brought him in for a weight check and still hasn't gained anything. He's in the 3rd percentile. Which wouldn't be as big of deal, except that he started off at 9 1/2 pounds... so his growth curve isn't looking so great.
We've done some blood work, and actually had an upper GI scan done, too. We struggled about both of these - especially the xray, but were/are concerned about his weight. He spits up ALL the time. So did Cooper, but cooper was gaining weight beautifully. Charlie can't seem to keep down much of anything - including the cereal or vegetables. So now his spit up is orange and green. Lovely. And, I know alot of babies spit up, but he does all the time. I'm afraid to carry him on someone else's carpet. His carseat is covered. Bibs don't do much to help. I can deal with all of it - I've become pretty comfortable smelling like rotten milk (between Cooper's first year and him), but we're nervous about him not gaining.
Hopefully, he is just a small kid with bad reflux, and there aren't any other problems.
I should be hearing from our pediatrician tomorrow, so we can decide what to do next.
Please keep him in your prayers. He's a happy little guy, and doesn't let the spitting up stop him from being part of the action. He loves watching his brothers play. And he LOVES to eat. He screams every time I stop bringing the spoon to his mouth.
He loves to play on his blanket - rolling all around and grabbing toys. He LOVES his pacifier.
Takes 3 naps a day. Nurses 4 times. Has breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sweet potatoes are his favorite.
Until this past couple of weeks, we could always just rock him until he was really drowsy, and lie him down with his pacifier and he would go to sleep (most times anyway). But, recently he began to scream if we put him down (even if he was passed out on our shoulders). So, we let him cry it out for a couple of days. We rock him for a minute or two, and just put him in the crib, and walk out... the first few times were pretty awful. HE cried for around an hour on more than one occasion. But, we started that on Friday, and today (Tuesday) he didn't make a peep for any of his naps. Glad that is past us. It's tough - but better for him and for us and for his brothers.

Little Angels Christmas Program

Last Tuesday, Jackson had his Christmas program for school. I wasn't at all prepared for the cuteness. To be honest, I was so busy that week, it had become just another appt. on the calendar for us to get all three kids to on time. Once we got there, and he walked out to sing with his class, I melted. Our shy little boy wasn't so shy at all - I couldn't believe how animated he was throughout the program (all three songs!)
Props to Colin for getting some great pictures. We were sitting in the back, and the lighting was tricky. But he is WAY smarter than I am with the camera.
Speaking of Colin - today is our 7 year anniversary. 7 years and 3 kids later - I couldn't be happier.

So, back to the program ....

Silly Cooper.
What a fun age.

Looking a little nervous at first.

This one cracks me up.
He and Julia were looking for some heavenly inspiration.

All of the three year old classes sang together.
First song - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

I'm warning you. I couldn't cut down the pictures I chose. There are ALOT of them.
But I can't resist! His expression in each just cracks me up.





Here's the whole crew.
They also sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Glory to God.

Coop loved the show!
He kept waving to Jackson.

Heather was right in front of us.
Doesn't Austin has the best smile?

And check out baby Davis.

Charlie did great the whole time.

Tried to get a good shot of the boys by the tree.
Think this one is priceless.


Natalie and Cooper

Trying to get a group shot - would have been nice to have Colin in it. Would have been nice if any of the boys would have looked at the camera...

Would have been nice if Charlie hadn't spit up all over himself and my leg.

If you can stand a little more,
here's a little video of Jackson in action.