Happy Birthday, Brian

I can't tell you where I was on June 23, 1974 but I CAN tell you where I was on June 23, 1995...it was 14 years ago and we were celebrating Brian's 21st birthday in Las Vegas. In honor of Brian's 35th birthday, here's a look back on some of what he's accomplished in the last 14 years...like going BACK to Vegas two years later to get married, earning a bachelor's and master's degree, a professional designation (CPA- and he managed to pass the ENTIRE exam the first time!), having four adorable kids who absolutely worship him, owning a home, renovating it...and keeping it!, scaling mountains (literally and figuratively), and being the best husband, friend and father we could ask for. Brian often sacrifices his time with family- not to mention any "free time"- and misses out on a lot so that I am able to stay home to raise our kids. And still, he is more than willing to put all others first. We love and appreciate all that you do, Brian (aka Dad), and it couldn't be more fitting that Father's Day coincides with your birthday since they are both BIG reasons for celebrating YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love and BIG family hugs,
Aimee, Blake, Garrett, Chase & Ella

Nap Time is Any Time

It took almost 10 months, but the babies are finally on a schedule...kind of. With all the coming and going it's been tough for them to sleep for big enough chunks of time to qualify as a "nap" and to get them on a regular schedule. Maybe it's because, unlike my first two children whose nap time I strategically scheduled my entire day around, the twins are forced to go with the flow and sleep when they can. So...nap time is when ever they are tired, when (and where) ever that happens to be (although I admit I am starting to see glimpses of WHY I used to do everything humanly possible to keep the Over-Tired Monster from rearing its ugly head). But there is no beast too big for the Almighty Bottle...at least until they are toddlers.

Here are some sweet pictures of my little angels...napping when they can.
One bounce too many

Down for the count...


Nap time or baby yoga?

"I really REALLY love my bottle"

Yes, that IS milk dribbling down Chase's chin...asleep, yet he ALWAYS finishes his bottle

Looks like I'm not the only one who has learned to multi-task around here...

What the *&#%?!

It's not always what you know that can get you in trouble...sometimes it's what you DON'T know. Just ask Blake. We were two days away from finishing his kindergarten year and I picked Blake up at the end of class as usual. When I asked him how his day was he informed me that he had garnered himself a "red ticket" (for bad behavior) and explained that his friend had taught him a new word...a certain explicative he then REPEATED to me (let's just call it the "S-H" word)! I was horrified. My sweet, innocent, quiet, little Blake said a word I was in no way prepared to hear come out of that kindergarten mouth of his. I was so upset that I forbade him to play on the playground with his friends (our afternoon ritual) and took him straight to the car for a lecture on why we don't use "those words". As we pulled away I heard a meek voice from the back seat softly say, "But I didn't know it was a bad word" (which was apparent because I was told he repeated it quite a few times in class before getting in trouble...my apologies to the parents of any of his friends...).

My mantra as a parent is, "What did we learn from this?". Blake learned (the hard way) the importance of knowing the context and meaning of a word BEFORE he uses it. And that just because your friends say (or do) it doesn't mean it's okay...a "life lesson" I'm sure he'll learn many times over. And I learned not to jump to conclusions; to understand the WHY before I react to the WHAT. Although there is some backwards logic that has me questioning if we should have exposed him to this before his friends so that he would know what to do or say...I'm sure I'll be struggling with this one for years to come.

Still, I was wondering if or how long it would take for Blake to teach Garrett his "forbidden" word...but he didn't have to. In true Garrett fashion he one-upped Blake and dropped the "F bomb" today, thanks to the neighborhood kids down the street. This time we were able to talk to the older kids and this time (knowing Garrett had NO IDEA what he was saying) I didn't jump to conclusions. And Garrett got his first pre-kindergarten lesson in proper vocabulary...and life.

We Have Lift Off

Without much hesitation or thought Ella pulled herself up to stand yesterday morning. Her motivation? A hug from daddy who was waiting with arms outstretched. She is definitely turning into a daddy's girl. And once she figured it out, she continued all weekend long to pull herself to stand at every opportunity.

The problem? (Aside from the obvious: getting super close to becoming mobile...) She hasn't figured out how to sit back down. So she stands, holding for dear life and crying until someone comes and gets her. Or maybe she DOES know how to sit and she's smarter than we think she is... Of course it doesn't help that often times Chase is underfoot to check out the commotion so that even if she did want to sit she has no where to plant her sweet little bottom.

I don't think Chase is all that impressed with Ella's new-found skill (he thinks being on his knees is just fine, thank you very much).

But...when no one is looking he is hard at work practicing. Right now he is perfecting the one-foot-one-knee crawl.

I'm convinced that the day he stands (which I expect to be very soon) may very well be the day he walks...he has already spent countless hours jumping in his exersaucer building up strength in his legs. I just hope he wasn't also building up speed...

Let's Play

I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time. Five years to be exact. From the moment I found out I was pregnant a second time with another boy my first thought was..."they'll be able to play catch together!" Okay, in all honesty that was my second thought. Truthfully, my first thought was... "I hope I can keep up with TWO boys!".

There have been previous attempts at games of catch (or something resembling that) in the past, but let's just say the game would be more appropriately called "fetch" since they spent more time actually retrieving the ball than catching it. So I had to pause, smile and capture the moment when I heard Blake ask the magic question, "Hey, Garrett, do you want to play catch?" (and Garrett's magic answer, "Okay!"). Although they haven't mastered the art of catching yet (now I know why they invented nerf balls), they are consistent enough to stay in relatively the same spot and throw straight and high enough for a few lucky catches...and for long enough that they mutually decide their game is over. What's even better is that they BOTH enjoy it! Brothers and best friends...I'm not sure who's luckier, me or them.

"Hey, Garrett, catch!"

(by the way, if you ever wondered what Brian looked like when he was five, now you know)

Good catch, Blake! (albeit blurry)