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)

Tickets, Please

There is the Midland Elementary School carnival (which we just attended Friday evening)...then there's OUR carnival. Well, the boys' version of it, anyway.

For just five tickets (this time they didn't charge actual money) you can enter the Haunted House (at your own risk, of course). There were a few different versions of it, but here are a few of the characters...cue the music...oooo-weeee-oooo (Garrett provided the ambiance).

AARRHHHH! Watch out for the scary Pirate, Matey (complete with sock peg-legs)!!! He's going to get you with his hook hand...

What is that knocking and banging in the corner??? AAHHH! It's a ghost! (Or, Blake and his favorite multi-purpose "non-toy", the tripod...you can't appreciate the full effect from the picture)

Then there is the faceless cowboy with the ax...okay, this one was a little scary (where do they get this stuff?)

And the crazed gorilla with the a crowbar...who will scare you then help you with home improvements?

Ironically, the boys were too scared to go through the Haunted House at the school carnival, which explains their interesting choice of scare tactics. The scariest part, however, was not he costumes...it's how trashed their room was from "creating" the Haunted House (they must have been going for authenticity).

On the less scary (and much neater) side was the Water Bottle Bowling. Ten water bottles, one baseball and hours of fun! And it's free! Who can complain about that? At least until a water bottle explodes...

This is how the boys entertain themselves at home on the weekends...I can't imagine what summer is going to be like. Somehow going to the park with two crawling babies and all four kids in the scorching heat of summer doesn't sound so bad...play date anyone?

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

You know it's a good weekend when...

• Your kids ask you if THEY can sleep in...and tell you they're tired from having fun and WANT to go to bed

• You fire up the "camping" bbq at least once...

(Added bonus: eating smores)

• You can finish your beverage of choice while it's still cold

• The tv doesn't get turned on all weekend long

• You have to REAPPLY sunscreen because of the amount of time you are spending outside

• If your bathing suit is not hanging up to dry, then you're wearing it

• Your feet get a tan

• Your list of things you want to do is longer than your list of things you have to do...and you get to cross most things off BOTH lists

• You make lemonade out of fresh lemons

• You spend hours filling and throwing water balloons

• And, of course, you take a moment to reflect on how lucky we are and give gratitude to those who paid the greatest price for these simple freedoms

That pretty much sums up our Memorial Day. I have finally realized that having four kids will never be relaxing, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun! Even the babies found time for some R&R.

Peek-a-boo

Who can resist a fun game of peek-a-boo? Obviously not me. And now I know why little girls' dresses always come with matching underwear/diaper covers...

Where's Ella?

There she is! Peek-a-boo! I see you!

It turns out that I'm not the only one who found this amusing. Chase was sitting next to Ella on the floor laughing his sweet, squeaky little heart out.

And so she kept doing it again and again. Peek-a-boo anyone?

Garrett Post-Surgery Update: 3 Months

We have the car ride down a science. The dvd player, his favorite movies, a pillow and blanket, the medical "folder" of reports and information we've collected and the stroller he barely fits in (but he's too heavy to carry). And of course plenty of treats and toys. We made the trip to UCLA yet again for Garrett's 3 month post-surgery VCUG, which is the study that detects and measures any urinary reflux. The goal of the surgery in February was to correct the reflux so as to spare his badly damaged kidney in hopes of allowing it to grow and develop as much as possible and to justify not removing it.

The good news is that his condition is improved. The bad news is that it's not gone. The results of his VCUG show that Garrett still has VUR Grade II (which is an improvement from the previous Grade IV). This, his doctor explained, is not a totally uncommon outcome from this particular (reimplantation) surgery. Unfortunately, it means that there is still significant urinary back-up in his left ureter and it does reach the left kidney (which is already impaired). Long term, it is not advised to leave this untreated, but for now we have decided to "wait and see". There is a possibility that as Garrett's body continues to heal and grow that his condition could improve. If it doesn't, then we will have to re-evaluate our options and weigh those against removing the kidney.

So, we will continue to give Garrett his antibiotics prophylatically and hope for the best. We will follow up in six months and undergo another similar study as the VCUG (called a Urodynamic study) that also measures the pressure being applied by his bladder to ensure that is not contributing to the problem. The information we gain from the study will help determine the future steps we take.

Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers. Garrett continues to amaze us with his courage and resiliency...and growing collection of Transformers (at this rate, I think they will have to create a line extension to keep up with us). We will post any new information as it comes.

Quiet, Please

The boys came to me yesterday afternoon...whispering. This made me suspicious. Then they told me to be quiet. This made me worry. It turns out that they had made their own makeshift library...in my room. They were very excited and what parent doesn't want to encourage their kids to get excited about books? AND they were being quiet. So I had no choice but to play along. As I quietly entered the bedroom, or "library", I noticed that ALL their books from their book shelf were strategically displayed around the entire room.

There was even a "baby section".

They were categorized (somewhat) and organized. After browsing, I selected a book (which, incidentally, was the ONLY book they would allow me to "check out") and then they charged me. It was cute until they asked for real money.

I played along again and produced some change for the register. Then the OTHER librarian informed me that I had to pay him too.

It was an expensive trip to the "library" but the best part is that the boys took me seriously and did a great job when I told them that part of the librarian's job is to put the books away. This got me thinking...we could play gardener, housekeeper, babysitter...this could be so much fun! I'm in!