I Love...

...being a mother of three wonderful, energetic, sweet loving boys!  These kiddos can bring a smile to my face even when I'm in the grips of overwhelming frustration.  My boys are full of energy.  I get them outside as much as possible.  This usually means 1-2 hours in the morning, and another bout after naps/quiet time in afternoon, usually a walk if the baby is awake.  These kids run in the house, rough house, jump off furniture, and use me as a jungle gym.  I wake up frequently with bruises without a clue as to where they came from.  These boys play rough and loud!  If only I earned a penny every time I said "Keep your hands to yourself" "You play gotcha with your dad, not your brother" "Stop squishing him."  And in a year I'll have one more to "reprimand!"

These boys are so sweet and loving.  Every time I'm at my wits end and I feel as though I am raising the next degenerates of society, #1 will come up to me out of the blue and say "I lub you Mom."  How can your heart not melt and make you realize you must be doing something right?!  #1 comes up to me frequently throughout the day unprompted to tell me loves me, gives a kiss, or a hug.  He does this with both his little brothers as well.  #2 loves giving #3 kisses and hugs.  It's pretty amazing.  And just today #1 on our play date went up to a little girl, shook her hand and said "Nice to meet you!!!"  Incredible!

All this being said, they are a handful, and I am fearing winter already.  I say already like it's somewhere in the far future, but in reality it's freezing at night and snow will be flying within the next two weeks.  We are going to have definite cabin fever.

Which brings me to this:  Any of you moms of multiple, wild, aggressive boys have any suggestions?!  How do you teach boys to be calm?  Or does this just come with age?  And does this mean I'll sound like a broken record for years to come?!

Happy (Belated Internet) Birthday #2!



Happy 2nd Birthday to #2!  I realize this is a little late.  We did celebrate his birthday, on his actual birthday, I'm just a little late letting all my Internet peeps know he turned two.  We had a nice bbq at our house with some of our adult friends and Husbands family over.  Lots of cousins to play with!  I decided we would forgo the traditional cake and made homemade cupcakes, from scratch, including the frosting.  Below is my (lame) attempt at hand drawing airplanes, one of #2's favorite things at the moment.  They turned out pretty good and were tasty.  Cupcakes for a crowd of little people is definitely the way to go.  An added bonus is the limited cleanup, no plates or forks, yea!!!

 

Here is #2 enjoying his cupcake.  #1 helped him blowout the candles.  Luckily #2 is very accommodating to his older brother (so far).  I fear the day (coming soon) this finally ends.



 A very cute picture of #1 when he was still a little baby.  Unfortunately, I failed my second born by not getting a super cute picture of him when he was first born.  I'd make some sort of excuse, but truly there isn't one.



#2 has in the past year really developed into the quintessential toddler.  He has blossomed under his big brothers guidance; a lot of times he faithfully does whatever he tells him to do.  Unfortunately for #1 this too is coming to an end.  Not sure how to convince #1 that no matter how loudly or forcefully he tells #2 to do something that, no, he actually doesn't.  #2 is starting to assert himself more.  In fact, he just started saying the word no to us.  It's pretty cute, I'll ask him something, and instead of grunting "uh-uh", he'll say "no mama." 

Other (not so cute) things he's picked up are:
- screaming at me (thanks to #1)
- hitting me when he's mad (why do children do this to their mamas?)
- being obstinate
- oh, there's the forever repeating myself telling him no:
         - don't touch the baby swing
         - don't touch the baby chair
         - don't push your brother
         - don't stand on the over: I could go on forever, so lame children aren't created to listen

Cute things he does:
- crashing his body into the ground (for fun)
- lots of hugs and kisses
- playing with his older brother
- lots of kisses for little brother
- riding his trike
- just being himself!  He's got such kissable cheeks :)

There are a thousand things I'm missing, but you get the gist.  I'm so lucky that he's apart of our family.  Can't wait to see what the next year will hold for him (or us). 

I Passed the Test!



Not sure if I mentioned this or not but #2 wears glasses.  Husband and I noticed his left eye (around nine months old) was turning in when he looked at objects but then would adjust back to normal.  I asked several people whether to take him to the optometrist and got both answers: 1) No, don't take him, they'll correct it when he's older and in school 2) You should take him and get it looked at.  I waited until he was 18 months old because I sort of felt like I was teetering on the edge of being a neurotic mom.  So I finally took both #1 and #2 to the optometrist to get their eyes checked out.  #1 passed (even though it's really only a visual exam with parental input on how they were doing) and #2, not so much.  Turns out lazy eyes are EXTREMELY important that need to be checked out and corrected ASAP.

The doc said many people wait until their child is in school for correction but by then it is too late to correct that eye, it will be bad FOREVER.  You child will be stuck with 1200 vision in that eye FOREVER.  There is a limited amount of time that the brain has to relearn how to see at 20/20 vision and once that time frame is passed, you can't get it back.  SO SO SO glad we took him in.  They ordered him some "cute" Winnie the poo frames which were very cute, but unfortunately too small and we had to upgrade to a larger, read, more expensive pair.  (Sorry folks, no pics of his first frames, although I do have a video where they make an appearance.)  Here's the thing about children's glasses, even though they are tiny they still cost as much as adult frames and they are no less prone to breaking or getting scratched.  Ugh.  The doc said for him to wear the glasses as much as possible.  Do you know how hard it is to get an 18 month old to wear glasses and not break them?  I do.  It's tough.  And remember I was six months pregnant at this point chasing him around, trying to get him to both wear them and not break them.

#2's second pair of glasses.  He LOVED picking

dandelions this summer and he'd store them in

his firetruck.

In April I took him back for a recheck and the doc very kindly said he only saw "mild improvement."  The goal for the next four months was to get him to wear his glasses AT LEAST six hours a day AND WEAR A PATCH for an hour (or more) a day.  I totally looked at him and asked if he was crazy.  Did he not see that I was three days from my due date?  Not only did he have to wear his glasses more but I also had to convince him to keep a patch on as well?!?!  Crap.  To give the doc credit he really is a nice guy who told me he understood he was expecting the impossible out of me.  I do like the guy.  He has two sons and is great with our kids.  I asked if he would be able to measure how good of a mother I am based on how well his follow up appointment in August would be, and with a smile and go natured laugh said yes.  And off I went with #2 out the door with glass patches in my pocket.

It took #2 all of one day to realize that if he bent his head down he could look over his glasses, thus defeating the purpose of the patch.  The next step, getting a "sticker" patch for his eye, featured here:

The thing about the patch is, well, to put it blatantly, is it makes him sort of blind.  The patch goes on his good eye thereby forcing his bad to do all of the work.  He has a pretty strong prescription for the bad eye that guesstimates the amount of correction.  He hates the patch.  He hates it so much that he would rather sit in timeout for forever.  Luckily though once on he'll leave it on.  I'd say we've had pretty good luck (read me).  Over the past four months he has consistently worn the patch 70% of the days, usually for two hours (the longer the better).  He also keeps his glasses on for the majority of the day; exceptions, car rides, when he in angry, or they fall off one ear and we're not around to fix it. 

Don't let the picture above fool you.  These glasses have taken a beating.  The original pair were bent to hell and he had gnawed off the latex bridge piece more times then I care to remember.  Additionally he broke off each ear piece and the end result was new frames.  Thankfully they have a warranty.  They have also gotten lost outside.  One time my mom's dog found them and used them as a chew toy so there are nice little indentations on one lens.

This brings us to our latest recheck.  Turns out I am a fabulous mom who cares greatly about #2's future eyesight (and possible his future) because I passed, err, he passed with flying colors.  There was more improvement then was expected so I did my part, and #2 kind of did his.  The doc is changing his prescription so he'll get new scratch and bite mark free lenses in two weeks.  He still needs to wear the patch everyday but thankfully we are heading in the right direction.  I must admit I was pretty nervous.  "We" even did so well that we won't be back for six months when usually he'd want to see us in three! 

The end goal is that by seven or eight years old he will have restored his vision to 20/20 and won't need glasses anymore.  Let's up everything keeps going smoothly for the next five or six years!!!

The Dresser

There is a serious short fall of five drawer dressers in this town.  I've been wanting a dresser for the boys room for six months or so.  When summer showed up, and shorts and t-shirts came out of storage, I found I no longer had room in their child sized wardrobe closet to fit all of their clothes. So my search began for the elusive dresser.  None of our retail stores (walmart, fred meyer) sell one that is reasonably priced.  The less expensive stuff on Amazon, according to the reviews, comes damaged and usually is missing parts.  There is no way I'm going to a furniture store and purchasing my two little terrors an expensive dresser.  I went to Craigslist.

 Let me say this again, there is a serious short fall of five drawer dressers in this town, including used ones. 

A dresser would come up every two weeks or so, and when I would call they were already sold, and usually already picked up.  Often times this would be within the hour of the post.  But alas, finally, after months of diligent searching I finally found one!!!  I bought it without even looking at it, I had to go with my gut that this fella wasn't going to screw me, he even delivered it us! (Granted he did just live down the road, and was coming over to pick up the cash anyways)

So now to the point of this post.  Husband and I looked at the dresser in the garage today and an entire discussion ensued, all around this central question, that you would think we already had the answer to, "Where are we going to put the dresser?"  The thing is, #3 will eventually be moving out of our room, when is he about six months old.  So the discussion then led to, which room?  Do we put him in the larger bedroom with the spare bed (like we did with #2 before he moved into the same room with #1), or do we move the big boys into the larger room and #3 into their room?  It's nice to have a spare room with a queen bed in it for company, but the thing is that with three kids, we don't have the luxury of having a spare room any more.  So to sum up a long (and possibly pointless) post, we decided that on Wednesday we'll be moving everything around and the boys will be in the big room.  It has it's own drawbacks, mostly the little door that goes to our well pump and storage area, still thinking about how to make that little boy proof.  It will be nice to give them a little more space.  And we think we'll eventually put them all in the same room so we'll have a head start on that.

And we'll end with a picture, an all words post just doesn't seem fair.  Especially when you have such cuteness to share with the world.

At the "Beach"

Thursday was super warm, it was 80 outside.  After the kids woke up from naps I thought it would be fun to go to the local watering hole and play in the sand and sun.  I didn't know how #1 and #2 were going to handle the water, the last time they were around anything other then a bath tub or river was two years ago when we took a trip to San Diego, CA to visit Husband's family.  We took the boys to the beach, #1 ran away from the water.  #2 was a mere 7 weeks old and slept through it.  I was so excited to see #1 jump right in and start playing.  #2 followed right behind and did his own thing!

Look how happy he is!  #1 played and played with the sand and water.  He even went into the lake up to his waist.  I'm going to sign him up for swimming lessons which start the beginning of August.  Hopefully he'll have a great time.  We're heading back to CA in December so it's imperative he gets comfortable with water.  I know the beach will be too cold, but we're staying in a resort so they'll have a heated pool, or outdoor pool, or both, not really sure.

#2 ran and ran at the edge of the water.  No shoes!  It was nearly impossible to get a picture of him looking at me, he was so busy.  He especially liked taking sand from the beach and pouring it into the lake.

Sand + Water = Mud!!!

 Busy filling up a bucket.

Husband putting the baby to sleep.  Have I mentioned what a precious, great little thing he is?!  He just goes with the flow, it's incredible.  At 12 weeks he weighs in at 15lbs 12oz and is 25inches.  He is in the 97 percentile for both! 

Finally, he stopped long enough to get a picture of his face!

It was really hot (for us) and the boys had a fabulous time.  What is most astonishing though, is, only seven months ago it was -50 out.  Actually, it may have even been colder then that, Husband and I thought it may have been -55 at our house at some point last winter.  That makes a 130 degree difference between our maximum high and low for the year.  Crazy, not sure why I live here.  I followed the boys around, probably looking like an idiot, trying to get pictures.  It was our first time going and hopefully we'll get a couple good more days when Husband is home so we can go again.  Maybe next time I'll hand the camera off to Husband so there's proof I tagged along. 

Not a Minute Wasted

Last week Husband and I packed up our van (yes we have a van!), put the kiddos in (I know, shocking we didn't leave them behind!) and hit the open road.  We went to ER to visit my mom (dad was down in Soldotna fishing, but did come up briefly).  We drove down Wednesday and came back on Monday, and we didn't waste a minute while down there.  There was something planned each day down there.  All the kids did really great on the drive down, we took plenty of car breaks.  We got out of the car to throw rocks and even found a really great little trail that looked out on a huge river valley we hadn't known about.  Everything was fine until we hit 1.5hours from my parents house and #3 decided he had had enough of the car. I should mention, for the out of state people, it's a six hour drive without kids, with it took 7.5 hours.   

Thursday we all went to the zoo.  The boys had a great time burning off pent up travel energy while Husband, mom, and I chased them around.  I'm not really sure they saw many animals, but they did enjoy climbing up on the wooden railing every chance they had.  The weather was even great (a rarity this summer). 

Friday mom and I took the kids in to "A town" to visit with a friend who has a son #1s age, they were actually at the hospital the same time we were!  It was great to catch up and compare notes on our little ones! 

Saturday we had a long time family friend come out for a play date at my old elementary school.  She has a son who is almost a year and a half older then #1 and he had been asking when he could get together with my boys again (we saw them last Thanksgiving).  We chose a playground, because in his words, "Kathy only has baby toys."  Which is not entirely true, she has five trucks and two handheld toys and that's it.  Maybe I should bribe her and say we'd come down more often in the boys had more toys to play with!!!  Unfortunately we only stayed for an hour because the weather was rainy and cold and I didn't have a rain jacket or umbrella, and I'm not a boy so I eventually got cold.  Later that day Husband and I went into "A town" to do some errands while the boys slept/had quiet time.  Can you call that a date?  Probably when you have three kids in three and a half years! 

Sunday morning the weather was cloudy but warm so I (strongly) suggested we head to Thunderbird Falls for a 2 mile "walk." Husband was a little apprehensive thinking the boys would get tired but I figured they would be okay. I did however question this when I saw the trail, I really didn't remember it looking so steep! They boys did GREAT, I think total they walked 2.5 miles because we went to the top of the falls and then took another trail down to the bottom. I was a little worried about #2, he pretty much walks aimlessly and doesn't pay attention to where he's going. At two years old he still falls CONSTANTLY. I envision him being very much like my little sister Becky. He walks and lives life without a care in the world. There were several signs warning "Danger Drop Off" and I was scared he would look up at some tree he found interesting and would walk right off. Luckily we went with three kids and came home with three. They were even all ours! 

Sunday evening I invited myself and our kids over to above said friends house for another play date and dinner.  It was really neat to see her son and #1 wrestling around.  It's not too often that #1 has another kid his size to rough house with.  We were on strict orders by her son that the boys were not to mess up his room unless they cleaned it, which they did, twice.  He has a LOT of cool toys and monster trucks. 

And then Monday came and it was all over (including sleeping in because my mom is a saint and gets up at 6am with my kids).  I was sad to go.  I briefly saw Jenny twice and Mike came out to the house for an hour one day.  Becky was in Canada enjoying a music festival.  My siblings are always busy when I come down.  I must plan better next year because they are all pretty darn funny (I was reminded again this trip just how much) and I miss them, and seeing them in passing just doesn't cut it.  Luckily both my sisters are planning one more trip up in August to visit before the long cold winter sets in. 

 Throwing rocks during a stop.

Petting a chicken at the petting part of the zoo.  The "keeper" came up to me and asked if I had animal experience.  Not sure he liked me picking up "his" chicken.

Why do I get to take care of most of the kids!  I brought Husband and mom along so I wouldn't be doing it by myself!!!

Uncle Mike time!  Look how happy #3 is to meet him.

Ahma and #3, she loves these boys!

First family picture at Thunderbird Falls. 

All my boys!  Such a handsome lot. 

Thanks #3 for taking the picture for us.  I guess I could have taken you out of the stroller.  Whoops, didn't think of that till now.  I'll blame it on being to busy.  Sorry!

"You'll Sleep in 30 Years"

This is a phrase I hear (often) from my mother.  I remembered this as I laid down for a nap today, #1 watching a movie during quiet time with Husband, #2 napping in the boys room, and #3 sleeping in the swing in our room.  She says this when I (frequently) complain about being tired.  I suppose she's right, there are certain things you have to give up, or at least partially, when you decide to have children, sleep being one of the most crucial and first to go.  I do keep in mind however that I am getting much more sleep then I have in the past four years.  #3 still sleeps pretty well, in the swing, and so I am getting about six hours a night of combined sleep.  This in our house is a miracle even though to most this doesn't appear to be much (#3 is back to waking every 3 hours to nurse).  Back when #2 was born, or rather, when he turned 4 months old, like #1, he started to wake every hour, on the hour to nurse.  Between him feeding and #1 waking 2-3 times a night with night terrors and colds, I was literally getting 1-2 hours of interrupted sleep a night.  That's right 1-2 hours TOTAL.  On top of that I was working a little more then part time.  It was miserable and it's alwasy in the back on my mind. So I am thankful I have a "good baby."

As I was (supposed to be) sleeping, I started thinking about all the other wise advice my mother has given over the last couple of years.  Most of it has been helpful:

-  You're the boss.  - I remind myself of this when I try to put #1 or #2 on timeout and they won't listen.  It helps to keep me going in the face of adversity.

- It's not your job to entertain them. - LOVE this one.  Especially when I start to feel like I'm not doing a good enough job providing stimulating, educational activities.  Because, as you know, parents are obsessive about making their kids smart by teaching them everything early, like the ABC's and how to read, instead of giving them enough free play and letting them use their imagination.  I am so thankful we have an acre of land and the boys can enjoy the outdoors in our own backyard.  Here is a list of things Husband has built/added to their play area.  Seriously, it's like a playground and we really don't ever have to leave expect to get groceries if we didn't want to.  However, we do leave because I need a change of scenery:

• Swings
• Tire swing (this is favorite and added this year)
• Playhouse (or rather a hotel for little kids, it's THREE stories)
• Balance beam
• Teeter totter (Husband built this using a stump as the pivot) 
• Rock box (last summer Husband and I swept up 15, 5 gallon buckets of pea gravel off the road)
• Childsize picnic tables
• Lots of toys
• Oh, and part of a garden box for digging

- He's a baby, he's not doing it on purpose. - I must confess, I am not in love with newborns.  I find them pretty difficult and frustrating.  If you think two year olds don't listen, try a newborn.  They don't eat or sleep when you want them to.  They cry, sometimes for no reason.  I have had to repeat this to myself many a time while walking the floors with a crying baby. 

- I don't know what you should do, I had girls first. - This one is particularily unhelpful (sorry Mom!).  My boys, are well, boys.  And with this comes a lot of aggression, acting out, and energy.  Not bad of course, but as my mom puts it, different.  I love having these boys, but it does come with challenges, and challenging behavior.  Add stubborness to the list and I have my hands full.

We will of course end with a picture.  Can't get enough of these guys!

Sharon, Thank You!

Sharon, thank you for enjoying my blog!  I enjoy catching up on yours when I can.  Just thought I would thank you with my blog, for thanking me with your blog.

Kids Say the Cutest Things

#1's vocabulary has really taken off.  He was evaluated by the school district and was accepted into their speech program which he was eligible to enroll in at the age of three.  He attended "school" for one half hour twice a week starting in January.  #1 had a great time and made a friend who also lives in NP, we've even had a play date with him this summer!  I'm not sure if #1 was ready to speak more clearly, or if the speech therapy was absolutely necessary, or if it was a combination of the two.  Either way, it is much easier to understand him.  There are still times when I have to apologize for not understanding him and I have to guess at what he is saying, but there are improvements.  He will be going back to "school" when school starts in August.  Wow, that's next month, eek!  I'm sure I'll be getting some looks lugging a 3yo, 2yo, and 3 month old in school drop him off.  That being said, here are some of the cute things #1 says now:

- That not nice to me Oren - a favorite because there are always fights happening
- When I get bigger I will have big feet like dad and grow hair on my arms (he has been very curious about how he doesn't have any, I have a little, and dad has a lot!)
- His imagination is really taking off, he's always talking about a fire: under the table, in the kitchen while I'm trying to cook, in the bedroom
- I love you so much, happy birthday (not sure why he pairs these two together)

#2 is taking after his older brother and not talking much at all.  It is astonishing how well he communicates with such little vocabulary.  He literally only says a handful of words: mama, dada, truck, train (brand new this week), water, banana, baby, and then the usual sounds, uh-uh (no), uh-oh, uh-huh (yes).  Becky my youngest sister was up for a visit several weeks ago and she thought he was talking up a storm, that was until I told her to pay attention, boy did he have her fooled.  He is definitely far behind but I'm not sure it's a hearing problem like it was with #1.  I think he's just lazy.  The only thing it could be is chronic fluid in his ears, so we'll see.  Maybe he'll have tubes in a couple of months.

Cheating

This is cheating because all I'm going to do is add links to a few videos we've posted to youtube in the last couple of months.  Ahma and Grandpa have seen them, but for the rest of you, here they are.  I'm sure Ahma will sneak another peak at them all!

#3 having a conversation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGqOKe5HWLE&feature=g-upl

#3 enjoying tummy time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gcLazu0kw4&feature=g-upl

#1 and #2 getting along
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXuXMFOviSU&feature=g-upl

#1 and #2 jumping on pillows during a cold winters day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C29ctseG80Y&feature=g-upl

A few of these videos are proof that my two oldest children do get along, sometimes.  While not always perfect, each month they are getting better.  #1 often shares toys with #2 without even being prompted.  #1 and #2 now share a room and the other morning, #1 went into the spare room to get toys to play with until I got them, and he had put toys in #2's crib so he wouldn't be bored!