Public Debut

***Don't forget to click on "older posts" when you get to the bottom of this page to get all the way back to week one... I posted too many pictures to fit on one page!***

I can't believe Ava is 4 weeks old already!  She made her "debut" at church this Sunday and I have to admit - it was really fun putting a dress on her!  She only wore her hairbow for pictures (am I the only one who thinks these things look terribly UNCOMFORTABLE on babies?) but it was so fun to play dress up with her.  Oh the fun we will have I think =).

The boys also got "grown up" shirts and ties and were super proud of their new ensemble.  I think they look handsome, but they are growing up sooooo fast it makes me wince.

 

And a few pictures from today, just because I LOVE this outfit.  Orange is my favorite color, and it looks good on Ava =). 

 A few moments of JOY that make it all worth it... I get warm and glowy inside just looking at these.  I always wanted a big brother when I was growing up... now my daughter has TWO.  What a lucky girl!

Our Start to 2012

I thought I'd post some pics of what the boys have been up to so far this year, before they are eclipsed by endless newborn photos, lol!

They have enjoyed attending classes at The Little Gym, and had their end of semester awards ceremony in January.  They got to show off their skills, and received medals - the boys were pretty proud of them!  We are attending a "sports skills" class there now. 

Practicing their newly acquired gymnastics skills at home has also been a favorite activity... the little indoor tramp they got for Christmas has been handy!  I sold our train table (sniff, sniff) to make room for it... but it was the right decision! They bounce on it repeatedly during the day, and sometimes they gather all of our household pillows and make a "crash pad" to land on. 

We've also had some fun with "indoor snow" this winter, seeing as the real stuff has been pretty minimal.  We have some "instant snow" that you mix with water and it makes realistic looking snow to play with, but their favorite is plain old shaving cream.  Dish drainer tubs are the BEST little size and cheap sensory bins... we have a few now!

Eli and Owen just LOVE their "babies" lately.  We do have actual dolls around here, but they prefer to play family with "Racooney" and "Foxey" etc.  At various times they are either pregnant, or nursing, or rocking, or playing with, or even disciplining their little animal family.  It cracks me up to listen to all the scenarios they come up with.  Here they are having some family snuggle time in our "big chair." 

And the little engineers love to build (and destroy) things... here is their skyscraper city!  A few minutes later a tornado leveled it to the ground...

My kitchen table is the new train/car table.  It functions as a race track, airport runway, parking lot, and party destination.  Good thing the finish is already scratched up, so I don't have to stress too much about them playing on it.  Really, the tabletop has seen better days!  But it doesn't get any more fun than this!

  

The boys have really been playing so well together these days, aside from the minor spats and disagreements about WHAT they are going to play.  After one busy day, Owen curled up in my "nursing rocker" that we just got out of storage, and rocked himself to sleep.  

Eli is a little obsessed with standing on his head.  He does it ALL the time now.  He's got quite the strong neck, and I have seen him just about make a complete headstand without the wall support lately... it's only a matter of time until he discovers break dancing =).  

We had some lovely weather the other day, so I sent the kids OUTSIDE with their shaving cream and water bins, and they had a glorious time making a huge mess of the porch.  I was really glad it was outside this time =).  It took quite a few buckets of water to wash off the porch (since our hoses are disconnected for the winter!). 

And since we were outside I couldn't resist testing my new camera out on our backyard friends... I keep the feeder filled all Winter and we have at least EIGHT mated pairs of cardinals (plus a bunch of other birds) that live in the back trees and feed there.  It is awesome when you see 4-6 bright red males all together in the same area, fighting over seed.  I love them.  They brighten the winter days for me. 

My three handsome men... when Brad is working the night shift at the ER, I manage to get the kids to bed without too much fuss.  Owen likes to come out of the room a few times before finally giving in to sleep, but I've been letting them listen to stories on CD as they fall asleep,which seems to help.  They know there is just NO WAY their big preggo mama is going to sit/lay down by them anymore.  When Dad is home though, they have him wrapped around their little fingers... which I don't think he minds.  They get a few minutes of snuggle time with Dad before they fall asleep.... awwww!

The BIG 5!

Five years ago, when I held my first baby for the first time, and my world turned upside down, I could not have imagined how fast time would fly!  From those early days of just trying to figure out how to breastfeed, how to shower and feed myself with a newborn around, to watching him learn to walk and talk and feed himself, to potty training, sleeping the night in his own room, and everything in between... to now waking up one morning to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the birth of this beautiful boy!  He has been the one I've had to learn the most on so far, and he has been such a trooper.  What a sweet and joyful boy to have in our home!

On his actual birthday, Owen and I were able to come to preschool and bring treats - we had pudding cups and graham cracker sticks.  Eli even got a candle in his pudding, and was tickled that his class sang Happy Birthday to him.  Owen was THRILLED to get to spend a day at Eli's school, and I think Eli was just as thrilled to have us there. 

 

After Brad got home we had dinner and "birthday cookies" aka. Oreos.  Eli got to open his joint gift from us, Grandma and Grandpa K. and Great Grandma K.  It turned out to be a Playdoh tool kit, and a super fun and challenging Marble Run game called Quadrilla!  Brad set it up for him and he and Owen were transfixed by rolling marbles for a good hour straight.  We had to force them to get their PJ's on, then we watched home movies from Eli's newborn days before bed.  It's really funny to watch those old videos - especially just noticing how novice Brad and I both seemed as parents - just trying to figure out how to dress and bathe a baby!  Eli got phone calls from Kramer and Benson grandparents before bed... it was a lovely day!  He got his gifts from Grandpa and Grandma B. a few days later (though no pictures - a "rescue hero" action figure with helicopter, and "spy plane" from Cars 2 that opens and closes with room for a race car inside). 

Eli had a snowman themed birthday party the next weekend.  I managed to pull it together in a few days - including informal email invites to friends - I've been flying by the seat of my pants lately with all these bdays and holidays at once!  Anyway, here is the (very simple) Snowman cake!  Eli was tickled with it.  

Of course the boys helped clean the frosting off the spatulas.  Yummm.... coolwhip!

For games we played "cold snowball" which is basically like "hot potato."  The kids sat in a circle and passed around a styrofoam ball that looks like a snowball while "Frosty the Snowman" song played.  Whenever I would randomly pause the music, whoever was holding the snowball was out and had to leave the circle, but that just meant they got to come and get a candy cane =).  After that, we sat around the table and assembled giant marshmallow snowmen!

Then of course was cake and ice cream time.  Eli has trouble keeping his eyes open in pictures with a flash, so this is the best shot I got of him with his cake! 

 A great big breath!

All the little kiddos who celebrated with us!  We had 3 boys and 1 girl from Primary class, and Eli's best girlfriend and her big brother from playgroup.  In the back are Lydia and Grant; front is Jay, Owen, Andrew, Eli, Ali, Brayden.  It was sure a lively and fun group! So lively in fact that I sent them outside for balloon wars the last half hour of the party.  It was a little cold, but the snow had melted so it wasn't too bad (other than muddy!).   

Eli LOVED his party.  But the fun didn't end there.  The minute the last two kids were picked up, we had to jump in the van and head over to Barnes and Noble for Eli to sing Christmas songs with his Pre-school class. 

 

Lydia (who was at the party) was there too since they now go to school together.  They are bestest pals.  Eli describes her as his "really, really, really, really best friend."  She's a cutie for sure!

And a shot with his fun teacher, Ms. Garrett.  She has been THE teacher at Eli's school for 25 years!  She's pretty good at it!

After the singing, we were off again - this time to our ward Christmas party!  We had a lovely dinner, a singing program, then the kids got to walk down "candyland lane" for a surprise visit with the big guy in red!  And I promise, Owen is not picking his nose even though it looks like it in the picture. What a fun-filled day of celebration!  It must be interesting to have your birthday all wrapped up with Christmas excitement!  

The Basics at Five:
Height: 43.75 inches - 68th percentile
Weight: 43.6 pounds (hey, a pound an inch!) -70th percentile
Clothes:  Size 4/5 kids shirts and 5T pants with the adjustable waist - long but skinny torso!  12-13 Shoe.
 
Favorite Foods:  Eli is still pretty particular about what he will eat.  This summer he was evaluated for sensory processing issues, and is currently in occupational therapy to help with his eating, as well as some mild motor incoordination.  Some "new" foods this year are chicken nuggets, fish sticks (super skinny french fry kind) and only cut up in small bites and dipped in honey, Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese Bunnies (never thought I'd see the day!), String Cheese, smooth creamy yogurts with no fruit chunks, juice (any color) and egg nog!  That's quite a list of new things!  His favorites are still cheese "rollups" (melted cheese in tortilla rolled up) and peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, toast with chocolate almond butter for breakfast.  We've cut way back on goldfish crackers, but they continue to be a special treat.  He also has a sweet tooth and will accept a lot more new "candy" type items than other things.  Marshmallows are also a new thing this year.  The only vegetable is still raw carrots, and fruits are apples or dried mango.  He's been very willing to earn stickers for his chart by allowing new foods to at least be on his dinner plate without complaining.  He gets different numbers of stickers for being able to either smell, touch, lick, or bite the new foods.  So far he has gotten brave about licking, but biting is still a challenge with most things - even familiar foods that are just on his "yuck" list.  We are really proud of him for trying and think he's doing great at trying to understand being healthy and working up the courage to try new things.  

Favorite Activities: 
Eli still loves trains, and has been asking Santa for a "real one" for two years now... we'll see if he delivers this time around.  He also loves racing cars with Owen, and playing all kinds of pretend scenarios with their animals.  He has discovered the joy of Hide and Seek, and loves riding his new "Big Trike" from Harbor Freight - the thing has monstrous inflated tires!  He has LOVED attending pre-school three mornings a week this year - much to my surprise and delight.  He also enjoys gymnastics, and has been making great strides in his upper body strength and balance.  He's been in occupational therapy for a few months and while he really enjoys the "gym" toys at the clinic, he has not been very excited about the fact that he has to try touching/smelling new foods when he is there sometimes.  He is making progress though!  Along with strength and balance, his fine motor with writing and cutting is coming along so well with practice too!  He recently got some dry erase books with mazes in them and can sit for an hour straight doing 30 or so mazes in a row!  He loves to think and figure things out.  He is often so lost in thought I can find him at the breakfast table 20 minutes after it's served with no bites taken, because he is busy "thinking."  He LOVES to ask "WHY" about everything, and is usually truly seeking an explanation for the world, not just asking for the heck of it. He has become a great helper, and is so excited about having a baby sister.  He explains to everyone that we already have 3 kids in our family - one is just in my tummy... he tells them she can't come out yet because her lungs are not ready.  Eli also loves reading books and is interested in letters and sounds.  He has picked up all on his own recently what letters make what sounds, what letters start words, and is also practicing basic math!  I don't know where he picked up the addition concept (probably preschool) but he is always telling me what number plus what number equals what.  He is a super smart, loveable cutie pie, and we are lucky to have him in our family!!!