The Naptime Dilemma

Life is not too stressful over here.  It's crazy.  Busy, too.  But not too many worries.  Except for the fact that there's a crazy 2-year-old on the loose.  My daily struggle:  Do I put him down for a nap?  Do I let him stay up and put him to bed early?  Either way I'm paying the price.  If he doesn't nap, then, well, I have a crazy AND tired 2-year-old on the loose with no break during the day.  If he does nap, then I have a crazy-2-year-old that won't go to bed at night, that climbs up onto big brother's bed (over and over and over and over again), and generally reigns terror and doesn't fall asleep until late in the night.  So...I usually choose to not nap him and deal with the daytime crazy.  Which means I don't get near the amount of work done that needs to get done.  Many days, though, he does this:  Collapses on the couch while watching TV.  Yes, he is still in his jammies.  That's how we roll over here.

Lamby + Connor.  BFF.

Jacob @ 6 Months

Look at those crazy, amazingly long eyelashes. Yesterday Jacob turned 6 months. Randy took the older two boys fishing. I should have spent the day packing, but instead, I held on to my babies, who are growing way too fast. We cuddled and napped, and cuddled some more. When the older kids were in bed, I got Jacob up (gasp!) and cuddled him back to sleep while I watched a movie. I wish I could cuddle him all day everyday.

Old School

As kids, we had to write sentences as a form of punishment, my sister especially.  Andrew teased Joshy.  Joshy screamed.  Oh, how I hate the screaming.  So, I put them to work writing sentences.  "I will not tease my brother." 50 times.  "I will use my words." 25 times.  And I had a few moments of peace.

The Cutest 6 Year Old I Know

And this makes him even cuter....

His tooth had been hanging by a thread for weeks, but he wouldn't wiggle it, and most definitely wouldn't let me touch it. He wanted to get a "treasure chest" from the school office (a cheap plastic container given to kids that lose a tooth at school). On Thursday, I told him that he'd better lose that tooth at school that day, or he'd probably miss his chance since he had a four-day weekend ahead and no way was that tooth going to hang on that long. So when I went to pick him up, the tooth was still in his mouth. I asked him if he wanted me to give it a yank. He consented. I gave it a yank, but I didn't get it out before he backed away from me. Then Mrs. McDonald said to let her give it a try, she gave it a little twist, and out came the tooth. And Joshy got his treasure chest.

The Problem Solver

I took the footstool out of the kitchen because #3 kept getting into the stuff on the counter tops.  Now he knows how to climb up without the footstool.  Problem solved.

Our Backyard

Sunday afternoon at the Bonneville Shoreline "Doggie" Trail. We'll miss it.

I Need To Brag

I don't even know who reads this, but beware.  I'm going to brag about my children for a minute.  We went to Lagoon yesterday.  We actually spent 11 hours there.  We didn't intend to, but we had a lot of fun and there were a ton of things to do.  The part that I want to brag about is that we didn't spend a dime at the park.  Admission was free.  And so was lunch.  We packed a picnic for dinner.  Not once did my kids ask for a toy or candy.  They didn't whine to play the carnival games or to rent a tube at the water park.  I guess our mantra "We're Poor."  has sunk in.  Also, for the most part, they got along well and behaved.  And we didn't lose anybody.  There was one incident where Connor took a bite of Josh's sandwich, which then resulted in a smack (from Joshy) and a timeout.  But I'd call our day at Lagoon a success.  I love the attention we get because we have four boys.  It doesn't matter where we're at, but when I have all four together, I get comments, "Wow!  Four boys!"  We got many looks and a few comments yesterday.

I wish I would have gotten pictures at the water park and the fountains at the entrance.  Little Connor LOVED the water.  He was freezing, almost hypothermic, but he kept on playing.  Andrew finally was brave and rode some of the roller coasters (and loved them).  Joshy, who once loved roller coasters wanted nothing to do with them this time.  Connor rode (and loved) any ride we'd put him on.  There were a couple that I thought were a little too scary for him, but when he got off, he was all smiles.  Baby Jacob was an angel, as always.  As long as he's fed and held, he's good to go. 

It takes less brain power when they're matching.  This was taken at the end of the day.  They're thrashed.  Connor didn't want his picture taken.  Josh just makes that face whenever I get the camera out.

I Wonder.

Would Jacob even be part of our family if we'd waited to get pregnant until now?  This child right here.  He's a crazy person.

Mom's Graduation

My mom graduated with her Master's degree in Nursing this weekend.  We got to celebrate her accomplishment by having a girl's weekend with Aunt Cee-Cee, Jamie, and Rylie (and baby Jacob).  Deborah was so great to take the boys for the weekend, not easy!  That woman is a saint, I'm telling you.  I've decided that we need to do this once a year - I needed this.  I think we all needed it!

On Friday, we had the assignment to find mom a cute graduation outfit.  We were successful!  And I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of her in it, because she looked smoking hot!  It was a fun day of shopping, lunch & mani-pedi's.  Little Jacob was so good.  He was so good the whole weekend.  It probably helped that he wasn't put down for even a millisecond.  We also had lots of vegging time.  We had a Mr. Selfridge marathon. 


Mom graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University which is situated overlooking the ocean.  So beautiful.  The weather was perfect and the constant ocean breeze felt amazing.  I can see why people live in San Diego.  Paradise.  

Mom's classmates/co-workers/friends Cassia & Rose

You can see the ocean behind the theater.  There's mom receiving her diploma.  She said we were the loudest cheering squad.  I made sure to yell, "That's my mommy!"  When I was five, I yelled that when she graduated LVN school.  I think I set a trend because after that, we heard random, "That's my son!"  "That's my baby!"

Rylie & Jamie

Aunt Cee Cee

Danny is also a saint.  He cooked, cleaned and ran errands for us.  Thank you Danny!

Oh sweet Jacob. I so enjoyed our time together. 

 

Family Pics May 2013