LOVE

Drew usually still accompanies Justin and I when we go out.  Even the quietest babies are magnets for attention – people LOVE babies, especially adorable ones like Drew.  We always get a kick out of the assumption people make that Drew is our only child and love watching their faces when we tell them we have FIVE children.  Five is practically unheard of these days.  This afternoon Katie, Drew and I met Justin for lunch and the two ladies next to us commented on our adorable two children.  When I held up five fingers instead of the usual gasps and shock they gave me a hearty “way to go!”  You see this mother-daughter duo were also members of the five-kiddo-club. 

I came home and while looking through a few pictures I took yesterday I was a bit overcome.  One of these ladies jokingly said that when you have five you increase your chances of getting a good one.  No question about it – I got five incredible children and an angel in heaven.  I must be the luckiest mama. 

Of course there are hard days and days I wonder if my kids are at a disadvantage with the sacrifices that are made when you have lot of siblings.  But I know they feel loved, I know they are successful and happy, they know how to work, but they also feel the joy that comes from having younger siblings to help care for and LOVE.

A little of This and a lot of That

Yes, I know my posting has been pretty sparse and not much about daily life around here so here’s a long random catch-up.

Back in August I took the kids (and several neighborhood kids) to the ground breaking ceremony for the big new park that will be built in our neighborhood.  When we moved here we were told it would be finished in early 2012, but due to the land being sold, changing the fields from grass to turf, etc…here we are just breaking ground.  It was definitely more of an adult-geared activity, but I thought it was fun for the kids to see.  After the big-wigs got their pictures taken they invited any kids to come up and “break ground” as well.  Here’s some of our crew posing with the Mayor.

I've always intended on taking beginning of the school year stats on my kids to compare to the end of the school year to see how much they've grown. This year I actually got around to it.  I recently had a conversation with a friend about our kids growing up and she asked how tall Abigail has gotten, I think my response was somewhere around 5' 3".  When I measured Abigail I was surprised to find that she's nearly 5' 5"!  At this rate it won't be long before she passes me up. I suppose she's gotta catch up to those size 11 feet!

We got off really easy with our back to school shopping this year.  The kids didn’t really need any clothes, we’d bought a couple pairs of jeans and a new shirt or two on sale at Old Navy early in the summer, we already had decent enough backpacks, and I was surprised how many extra school supplies from years past that the kids found as they scavengered the house for anything we could reuse.  After school started though, and sandals and flip flops needed to be put away, we realized the girls were in desperate need of new shoes.  We took advantage of the current BOGO sale at Payless, stacked it with an additional coupon and free shipping, and ordered a bazillion pairs of shoes for the kids to pick from.  Last Friday UPS delivered a HUGE box and the girls had fun trying them on to dwindle it down to a few favorites.  Sure beats lugging a bunch of kids to a store only to find they don’t have the right sizes in the styles we like.

Abigail’s stack was the tallest, then Carly, and Jason a lone pair of church shoes (we kept half)

Soccer season is upon us and once again we have three kiddos playing. This year they all have practice/games at 6pm on Mondays and Wednesdays at three different locations (the girls games are on Saturdays).  Not fun for the chauffer, but we enjoy having our Tuesdays and Thursdays soccer free. 

Katie hanging out at soccer

Last Wednesday, two weeks after school started, Katie, Drew and I ran our first errands together.   My homebodiness wasn't necessarily intentional and I only noticed cause it felt weird putting Drew alone in the middle row and Katie alone in the back. But it just goes to show that I'm not one to run around unnecessarily.

Jason’s most favorite thing (besides recess) about Kindergarten was working on his number scroll.  Often that would be the thing he would share at night as we each shared something about our day that made us happy, his was “working on my number scroll”.  His teacher told me anytime they had free time Jason chose to work on his scroll – the kid was determined not to let anyone else get as far as he was.  And nobody even came close.  Since it’s not something I’ll probably save I decided to take a picture of him with it yesterday.  

By the end of the year Jason had written his numbers from 1-3100.  Way to go Buddy!

Carly and I decided to grow out her bangs.  From experience I know this can be a long and often frustrating experience but I'm excited to see more of her beautiful face.

Abigail has been asked to accompany the primary kids for one of the songs during the primary program.  Her last primary program ever!

Last Thursday my newsfeed on Facebook had several posts regarding Pirate Day and a few friends posting pictures of their kids getting free donuts at Krispy Kreme by dressing up as pirates.  I showed Abigail when she got home from school and she was insistent that we could pull together four pirate costumes and score ourselves four dozen free glazed donuts.  She was right.  Yum, Yum.

I joined Pinterest last week and my life will forever be changed.   I haven't done any browsing of other people's boards, I’m sure that will open up a whole new use and time waster for me when I do, but simply used to bookmark my own life and ideas is perfect for the organizational part of me.   Recipes I want to try,  "Pin It", possible accessory for the house "Pin It"... awesome!  I’m a little bothered by the notices I get that strangers are “liking” or “pinning” my pins.

Justin took last Friday off and told me that he would paint the kids bathroom if I had a color picked out and the paint tinted beforehand.   You better believe I wouldn't let an offer of labor go to waste.  That brings our grand total of painted rooms to four!  (Only 10 rooms left to go)

I haven't lost a single pregnancy pound since Drew was just a few weeks old.   Obviously I don't expect to be back to pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm looking forward to fitting into a greater selection of clothing.  I'm hoping that if I give my body long enough I won't have to put in any effort to lose these 20 pounds.   Perhaps making cookies this afternoon and Sunday, eating through four dozen donuts last week, a dozen gourmet cupcakes and more donuts the weekend before, etc… aren’t helping me much.

I put this sign in my house last week that says Fall is Fabulous! 

I actually don't feel like fall is very fabulous.  Fall is nuts.  The days we have soccer is absolutely crazy. Getting three kids to 3 different places is insane and I feel so badly anytime I have to ask a friend to help get my kids where they need to be.  I have a first grader that still struggles to wake up in the morning and who moves so slowly that I have to help him make his lunch, remind him to make sure his homework folder is in his backpack, and even go so far as to help him take out appropriate clothing to wear.  Jason hasn't been most cooperative when he gets home either – getting used to being away from home 8.5 hours a day will take some time for that kid.   The kids come home from school STARVING. They’d much rather soak up the last light of day outside with friends rather than practice piano, do homework, or help around the house.  I feel we do a good job keeping the kids lives from being over scheduled, but we went from basically no schedule during the summer so needless to say we're all still adjusting to the business that fall brings.  I’m grateful though that I get to spend my days with these two cuties!

3 & 4 Months

I started a 3 month post on my phone last month, but somehow it got deleted and I never got around to getting it done.  Lots of changes for Drew in the last few months.  Here’s a bit about our awesome little guy…

Drew had his four month checkup today and here are his stats:

Weight:  16 lbs, 3.5oz  (62.84%)

Height:  26” (81.87%)

Head:  17.01” (88.12%)

I still cram him in a few 0-3 outfits, partially cause I'm not ready for him to grow up and part because we have very few clothes for him.   When Jason was little most of his clothes were hand-me-downs from Justin's sister and we gave them back to her when he'd outgrown them. 

Today the pediatrician told me that when you stroke the bottom of a new baby’s feet they stretch out their toes.  When he did this to Drew Drew curled his toes under.  The pediatrician then proclaimed Drew is no longer a new baby – I told him I didn’t want to hear any such thing.

Justin and Drew at soccer – This is one of my favorite outfits (his little big man striped shirt that he’s been wearing in dozens of pictures), but it’s a 0-3 month and it’s time to accept he’s outgrown it

Wearing size 2 diapers, he could probably still fit in size one, but the size two diapers are cheaper per diaper at Costco then the smaller size. 

Smiles when you change his diaper, doesn't matter if it's in the wee morning hours or if he's half sleep.  In his first few weeks of life changing his diaper almost always made him cry, so a grateful change.

While nursing he moves his free arm around a lot, unless he's sleepy he's moving it pretty much constantly.  So when I'm using a nursing cover he gets it all bunched up in his face or pulls it off to the side

Drew is starting to get more distracted while eating if there is too much going on

Reaching out for the toys in his swing or bouncy chair  

I took this picture of Drew asleep in the swing a few weeks ago cause it had been over a month since he's fallen asleep in it.  Even better is that he's done it multiple times since. 

Justin and I went out to dinner recently with Drew and he actually "played" with a small toy for a little while to entertain himself.  Of course he was perfectly content in his car seat until our food arrived and then he wanted to be held. 

He's a smiley baby in general, just a happy easygoing baby. 

Would rather be in the Bjorn than his carseat or stroller

If you want to see Drew really cry then take him to Wal-Mart.   I don't think I've had a trip to Wal-Mart where he hasn't freaked out and I've needed to take him out of his car seat and either hold him or put him in the Bjorn.  I think I've figured it out though.  With his car seat in the cart it’s really loud and bumpy for him especially when I'm in the parking lot or when entering a store.  If I carry his car seat into the store them put it in a cart when we have smooth ground he’s fine.

Drew has advanced to being forward facing in the Bjorn.  If I think he’ll fall asleep I still have him face me though.

Still takes a bottle on occasion, the freezer in our garage is full of milk from his first month+ so we have quite the supply.   We’ve got a few nights this week where Justin will have him so hopefully he’ll still take a bottle :)

Another of my favorite outfits

Likes to stand on his feet and is getting stronger

Is cooing more and more, he "talks" a lot and we love to hear him laugh

Still in the bassinet portion of the play-n-pack, Drew is 26 inches long and the bassinet measures 24.5 inches.  Lately I’ve been laying him down on a diagonal so his head doesn’t get smashed up at the top.  Clearly, having him sleep in a bed smaller than himself isn’t keeping him from growing so it’s probably time to move him to a crib.  Oh, but where do we put him??

As I've mentioned he's a great little sleeper, I try to avoid the whole "how's your baby sleeping" conversation with the other mothers of babies at church cause I feel bad I've got it so good. 

Asleep on the couch (August 21^st)

This morning he woke up around 5:30am to eat (the few nights before that he skipped an early morning feeding and went a full 10+ hours).  I laid him back in his bed, but he was jabbering so much I knew he wouldn’t fall asleep.  I told Justin it’d been several weeks since I’d brought him into bed with me so I wasn’t sure he’d snuggle up with me and go back to sleep, but to my surprise and delight he did.  I took this picture three weeks ago, the day before school started, when I was sick.

I’ve had a cough since that day (THREE weeks!) now Drew’s coughing too – his first cold.  Hopefully his cough doesn’t last as long as mine has.

Like most babies Drew is sporting quite the bald spot on the back of his head.   

As usual for me, the fourth month mark means I too am losing hair, thankfully I've got plenty that no one would notice (except Justin who helps keep our shower drain from clogging up)

Drew brings us so much happiness and joy.  He is such an awesome little guy.  

The picture above of Katie & Drew on couch watching TV which reminds me of one of my favorite pictures of Jason holding Katie in Lake Chelan during the summer of 2010

We recently took out the Bumbo chair for Drew.  I can’t believe my baby can sit in this already.

Just look at that smile!

Beside himself with joy!

Nicknames include:  jujubee, drewbee, bubee

Budding Artists

If you recall, Carly took an art class last summer from her piano teacher.   When the opportunity came up again this summer we decided it would be something fun for both girls. This past year Abigail has really gotten into drawing and has filled a whole sketchbook with drawings she has copied from art books we've checked out from the library.   They each took a class in July that was once a week for two hours.   I signed each of the girls up for a different class so we wouldn't have two of the same paintings.  The artist their paintings were inspired by was Ben Will from Portland.   We were on vacation during the evening art gallery where all the students paintings were displayed, so I didn’t get to see the girls paintings til a few weeks ago.  They both did a great job!  

Abigail still had a few touchups on her painting after the last scheduled class, so Kori had her come over to the house to finish up.  What was only supposed to be an hour turned out to be a full, fun-filled day for Abigail.  Abigail used to take piano lessons from Kori so they know each other pretty well.   Kori asked if Abigail could go with her into Seattle to pick up the art supplies for the August class.  I was going to be in Auburn all day having lunch with friends (while Justin worked from home) so it worked out for us. I thought Abigail was going along to help Kori with her young kids, but it turns out Kori just thought it would be a fun experience for Abigail and she adores my daughters.  Kori took Abigail out to lunch at Lola, one of her favorite Seattle restaurants and sent us this picture of Abigail enjoying her lunch.

Afterward Abigail got to visit the studio and meet the artist whose paintings were used as inspiration for the next group of students.  Abigail had a great day and it's fun to see adults enjoying your kids so much that they want to spend an entire day with them.   Abigail is a pretty special young lady. 

Back to School

We got home from camping very late on Monday night, which left us just one day to get cleaned up and ready for school to start bright and early Wednesday morning.   Unfortunately, I woke up Tuesday feeling terrible.  We managed to get unpacked and through TEN loads of laundry, but I was wiped out and pretty low on patience.   I wanted to do everything I could to prepare the kids for a wonderful first day, but it was hard when I was feeling so crummy and wasn't able to do everything I'd hoped. The idea of waking up at 6am the next morning didn't help me feel better. We're used to late summer bedtimes and sleeping in till 9am.  I tried to keep it together though and when Abigail asked if I could braid her hair for her first day of middle school I happily agreed.

So I've got a middle schooler.  To be honest it doesn't feel as strange as I thought it would.   Abigail is ready and excited about middle school and she's got a great group of friends at school.  Last year she only had one other LDS girl in her grade.   With the addition of an entire grade from another elementary school going to her middle school Abigail now has over ten LDS girls in 6th grade with her which is awesome!  She's come home excited about all the different activities she can get involved in.  So far she likes her classes and teachers and I'd venture to say the class she is most excited about is art.  A great start to what I hope will be a fun year for her! 

Abigail catches the bus at 7am!  Unfortunately the bus stop isn't very close and there's only one boy nearby that walks there so we really miss having other kids for her to walk with.  Justin walked with her the first day and he's been able to drive her on the way to work the other days.  

Jason and Carly leave the house an hour later.  Carly also wanted her hair braided.   I seriously need to learn how to do cute hair for my girls.   Carly got the teacher she was hoping for.   Her teacher taught science and social studies last year to all the 3rd grade classes so they already know each other which makes it comfortable and fun from the get go.  Carly has been looking forward to today since it will be her first time attending her High-C class.

I've had to wake Jason up most mornings.  He hasn't been nearly as excited for school as I'd hoped.  He hasn't complained about it, but I think it's a long day for him. I didn't know anything about the first grade teachers at the school but when I ran into a friend at the meet the teacher activity she told me both of her kids had Jason's teacher and that she's the best!  An added bonus is that his class has a student teacher – can’t hurt to have another adult to help teach all those six year olds.

The boys at the bus stop

Carly and some of her neighborhood friends

I know it's only been a few days but I already miss having the kids around.  Katie and Jason are great little playmates, thankfully Katie also plays great on her own, but Jason is missed.   Another big adjustment for me is not having the girls around to help with Drew.  They got out of school for the summer right after my Mom left after being here when Drew was born, so this is the first time I've been on my own.  No longer can I hand him over while I get in the shower or run a quick errand. Strange how different it is without them here. 

When we got home from walking Jason and Carly to the bus Katie found herself a couple empty folders and after she stocked them with paper and pencils she declared she was ready for preschool.  Too bad we’re too cheap to pay for preschool - she would absolutely love it!