Another Day of Snow!

We still had lots and lots of snow on the ground this morning and Owen wanted to get out there early to play! We bundled up both of the big boys and headed out doors early this morning.

Liam wasn't sure if he liked standing in it or not. The snow comes up to his knees, making it hard to move to well....and he likes to move! Maybe gloves would help...that way if he fell his little hands wouldn't freeze. Note to self...buy the boys some heavy gloves!

They took their bull dozers out there and got to work.

Last year, Owen did not like standing/walking in the snow one bit! It was fun to see him wonder around in it this year.

The snow play lasted about 10 minutes, then we headed back indoors. All morning, the boys played so well together. I love, love, love how they are playing together right now.

Owen's imagination is soaring, and he creates games for he and Liam to play. Often, they are going to work somewhere. They pack their work bags and head off....so far the destination is often the hospital....little doctors?! This morning, they "worked" at the tool bench.

And yes, Gavin is here, too! Didn't take him out in the snow; but, he has benefited from our lazy snow days! Lots of cuddles from his brothers....

It's so hard to get a good one of all three boys ;-) The better one was blurry. Boo. But, you can still see how cute they are, can't you??

Hopefully school won't be canceled tomorrow....my boys and I are having fun, but I think leaving the house might do us all some good ;-)

The Littles

Just a little post of a couple of things the little brothers have been up to. Gavin has started enjoying some play time each day. It's funny, since he is still so small, I don't expect him to do anything but eat and sleep. However, he has other plans.

Gavin has started spending a lot of time awake these days. Sometimes he will stay awake for a couple of hours. I laid him on the exercise mat the other day in an effort to humor Owen who wanted Gavin to play.

But, low and behold, Gavin seemed to get into it. So, I have been letting him "play" on it some now when he is awake. I think he can see the toys, and I think he is trying to work out just how he might grab at one. Maybe I need to move them closer so he has a shot at success...

The other "little" has been really testing his boundaries and mamma's limits. Early last week, he was wanting to land himself in time out. I can't remember now what he did; but, I remember that I gave him a warning. Instead, he went straight to our kitchen time out spot, sat down, and worked really, really, really hard to start crying. What a little actor.

Should I go on and call Hollywood and tell them about him? Ha!

Happy Snow Day, Y'all!

It snowed today!! We get snow a couple of times a year; but, it still seems like a novelty to me! This time, though, the boys were so excited that it made it even more fun! Naptime came shortly after the snow began to fall and stick. I told Owen and Liam and when they woke up, I would take them out to play in it. Liam fell asleep fast. Owen hopped in his bed happily. All was quiet for about 30 minutes and then Owen came downstairs and said his nap was over. Oy. I decided that since it doesn't snow that often, he should get some one on one time with mamma and the snow while the little boys were napping. So, he and I played instead of napped!

We threw snow balls at the fence for a while--but, neither of us had gloves, so that was quite cold. Then, Owen asked if we could take it inside. Hmmm...why not. So, we found a bucket and a 'shovel' and he gathered snow to take into the laundry room.

He hauled his snow inside; but passed his tractor on the way. He decided he wasn't too cold to take a spin in the snow! Fun!!

After playing and eating the snow from our bucket, I had the bright idea to make snow ice cream. I found a recipe on line, made sure we had the ingredients, and then told Owen my plan. He loved it! He scooped our 5 cups of fresh snow....

and then took it inside where we added the half and half, sugar, salt, and vanilla.

It was sooooo yummy!!!

We enjoyed our tasty treat but couldn't convince daddy to try a bite.

After his 3+ hour nap, Liam got a turn in the snow while Owen was sleeping! Liam wasn't too excited by it. He kept saying "Uh oh sky." and pointing to the snowflakes falling.

He stood outside and watched the snow fall for a few minutes.

Then, he told me he was cold and wanted to go inside.

If we still have snow tomorrow, I will try to get them outside together for a cute and cold photo shoot!!

And, if you ever wonder what a three year old might choose to wear under his warm snow clothes....wonder no more....

I thought he looked so adorable!

Happy Snow Day, Y'all!!

It digs to be 3!

On Tuesday (his actual birthday), I surprised Owen with a few winter-themed cupcakes and some balloons. He was in birthday heaven!

he opened his gifts while Pa and Grammie watched on Skype. Liam got really into showing them what Owen was getting. Too funny!

Owen LOVED his Buzz Lightyear.

Owen really enjoyed our little party at the house. We ordered pizza, opened gifts, and ate cake. He was happy as could be!

Today, we had a construction themed party for him at Gymboree! I did these hats for the guests to wear as they ate cake. I thought they were so cute and I think the highlight for me was that the kids did, in fact, wear them--you'll see in a minute.

Owen's favorite part was this cake. The original cake didn't happen as the cake lady I booked seems to have completely forgotten her commitment...so, I ordered this from Market Street. Not as cute as the one I originally ordered; but super yummy and exactly what Owen wanted! That's what counts, right? And, it was 1/4th the price!!

Miss Linda created a lot of construction themed games for the kids. One of them was this one...where they were a bull dozer. Liam was first to give it a try and then Owen came over to do it, too.

The bubbles were probably owen's very favorite part (well, other than the cake).

Cake Time!!

Owen got a big boy bike from a few of his friends. He just hopped on and took off around the house. He has been riding all night! am too tired to say any more ;-) Maybe one day, when I've had more sleep, I will come back and add more pictures and write more about his birthday. In the meantime, consider the birthday blogged ;-)

Just the Stats

WARNING: I am bragging on my boys a lot here...if you don't care to read it, just skip this post ;-)

So...well visits for everyone were had this morning... here is where the boys stand (literally--ha):

Owen: 37 inches tall (31%) and 29 pounds (21%)
Doc was impressed with Owen's communications skills. He said "Not to boost your ego, but these boys are really smart. That is good; but, do know it comes with it's challenges." I chuckled...it's like he was at our house Monday night. Ha!

Liam: 32 inches tall (39%) and 24.3 pounds (27%) and his head is in the 63%--wow!
Doc said that if little man can tell me "poop" I can start potty training. He remarked, again, at how advanced Liam's verbal skills were. That made me so happy as I had been kind of worried...until last week, just about every word sounded the same and I didn't see he was adding many new ones. Now...its 2-4 new words/day!! As for the potty training, well, that's good to hear; but, I think we will wait a few months. I have my hands a little full at the moment ;-) Liam also got the "all clear" to move into a big boy bed. Owen seemed very excited by that and told the Doctor about their beds!

drum roll, please....

Gavin: 7 pounds 14 ounces!! Whoo! What a hungry hippo!!! Gavin just got weighed...more info on him next month at his next official well visit.

Owen @ 3 Years Old

Happy Birthday to "Big Owen"! Three years old. Wow! In his words, he is a "great big boy" now. I have to say that I agree... *sniff, sniff *

Owen is happy,smart, stubborn, organized, funny, athletic, and cuddly. He loves to run "weally fast" and jump off just about anything that mom will agree to (he does ask if he could get hurt before trying to, say, jump over the last 4 stairs in the stair well--a trick he is well accomplished at).

He is a teacher to his younger brothers. He absolutely loves this role. "Wet me show wou, Wiam." is something I hear quite a lot from him. In between teaching the middle brother super fun things,

and cuddling with the little brother,

he truly enjoys helping his momma out. Owen loves to do adult activities like grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry. He gets a kick out of being useful. I sure do appreciate that!! What I appreciate almost even more, is his "adult" speak. Some examples....

Just the other day, when I was leaving to run errands, Owen said "Mom, I sure would like to come with you." Ha!

This morning, he was looking at all of the profile pictures on facebook of those wishing him a happy birthday. He saw my profile, and said "Oh...you used a picture of you holding your three boys. Cute, mom." Really?

Owen loves doing things to share with others. He really enjoyed making cookies to take to school today to celebrate his day with his friends. He wanted to carry the cookies into school. When we got to the door, he excitedly told the first friend he saw about the cookies he made to share. Love this little guy.

Owen is such a fun guy to have around. He is a great big brother. A kind friend. And, a loving son.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Buddy!

Just in case

I don't know how I would do it. How could I ever forget the events of this evening. But, just in case I ever forget how my first night with all three boys went, I thought I would type a few notes here.


1. Gavin has never been hungrier...little man wanted to nurse every 30 minutes from 5:30 until 9:00. In between, he would cat nap for 5-10 minutes, cry until picked up, and nurse some more. If this keeps up, I won't be able to continue breast feeding. Oy. Surely he was just extra hungry tonight.


2. Owen fell asleep at the dinner table. After weeks of working to get away with as much as possible, he has gotten out of control. He negotiates EVERYthing....what bed he will take a nap in is negotiated, where he will sit to eat his breakfast, what he will eat for breakfast, how many bites he needs to eat to get down from the table, how many times can he take a toy from Liam before getting in trouble, can he just tell his Daddy "no" when a request to pick up his trash is made and get away with it, can he get out of sleeping in his own bed at night (all of a sudden at bed time his favorite saying is that he doesn't like his bed or that he needs to sleep with his mom because he LOOOOOVES her), the list can go on and on and on. Well, tonight we had a stand off. I tired of hearing "can i get down" from the table and tacked on 5 extra minutes at the table every time I heard it before he finished his measly, tiny, dinner that was served him. I sat with him for an hour.

Then, I had to move forward with bed time for the other boys. I explained to Owen that he had 5 minutes to eat his dinner before the other boys and I went upstairs. Five minutes later, he hadn't eated, so the t.v. went off and Liam, Gavin, and I went upstairs. After 15 minutes or so, Owen made his way upstairs, too. He was as sweet as pie. I wanted to just forget about dinner and enjoy the rest of the night. But, I couldn't. So, I asked he had eaten his dinner....he said he had. I asked if he was sure and did he need to go back and have a bite before I went to look at his plate, he was "sure". Well...

he hadn't touched his dinner. So, I took him back to his chair, told him that I really wanted him to come and play with me and Liam, but that he had to eat *some* (I was letting up on him a bit) of his dinner first. After thirty more minutes, he fell asleep there. Terrible way to spend his last day as a 2 year old. I teared up as I laid him in bed. But, I am so tired of him being such a brat. Ironic part is, he had been AWESOME all afternoon for me. I intended for the evening to end well, too. But, I am so worn out of the negotiating and whining and once I started down the path of keeping him at the table, I just couldn't let it go. Otherwise, he would know that I will give in before him. Not a good thing for him to see at the moment. Augh.


3. Liam associates the word "poop" with the bodily function. I learned that first hand tonight. In the bath. The sweet boy said "poop", pointed to his hiney, and, {in the time it took for me to work out whether or not he really meant it}, he proved to me that, in fact, he did. The evidence was floating about as my mouth hung open in disbelief that my baby was telling me he had to go potty. Too bad I didn't trust him. Oy.


4. Be thankful that I trusted my instinct not to let Gavin bathe with Liam, yet. See item 3, above.


Somehow, through all of it, I just stayed calm and went with the flow. I never raised my voice at Owen. Kept calmly telling him that he could eat his dinner (all three bites of it), get down from the table, and join me, Liam, and Gavin to play. Instead of crying, I praised Liam for telling me he had to go potty. Instead of pulling out the emergency formula in the cupboard, I fed that baby as much as I could inbetween all the chaos. And, then I prayed that tomorrow go better.
Especially since we have a birthday boy in the house that is certain to be on his best behaviour after tonight!!

Gavin @ 1 month old

Baby Gavin is one month old today!!! He has been very busy growing over the last few weeks!! As you can see, he is becoming a chunky monkey! According to my scale, he is now 7 pounds 8 ounces! Woo-wee! We will see what the Doctor's scale says on Wednesday (the big boys have their 18 mo and 3 yr appts then, and I will ask them to weigh Gavin).

He is still just the quietest, calmest baby I have ever had before ;-) He does wake up 4-5 time each night to eat; but, that's okay...he needs to grow!

He stays awake most of each morning and evening. It makes it hard to manage breakfast/shower and then hard to manage dinner/bath time; but, that's okay. He's fun to hang out with ;-) Tonight will be my first evening with them completely on my own...pray for me!

I love his newly chunky cheeks and thighs! Love his smell. Love how he looks my way when I am talking. Just love HIM!!

I enjoy him soooo much!! I am savoring every single moment with him!!

Be sure to scroll down to see Liam's belated 18 month old post! A 3 year old post for owen comes tomorrow....my boys are growing before my eyes!!

Liam @ 18 Months

Oh my sweet, sweet Liam. I cannot believe he is 18 months already. He turned 18 months on Dec 29th; but, with all of our company....ahem, I guess I should face it....probably has more to do with all of our KIDS....I haven't gotten pictures of the little guy yet to mark this milestone. Oy At least I captured him with my camera today. And he is only 18 months at 5 days -- not too shabby for a busy mamma!!

Liam has the absolute BEST personality right now. He is so funny. So sweet. So busy.

Last week, he and I were in the play room with Gavin. Liam was playing with Thomas the Train. He would push the train down the hill and squeal in delight. Then, he came over to Gavin, handed Gavin the train and said "share." Then after an appropriate amount of time, he would take the train back, clap at himself for sharing, and then run the train down the slope again. that is the epitome of Liam. He is a quick learner and a sweet-natured boy.

On the other hand, when he plays with Owen....he has definitely learned the ever powerful "MINE." He holds on tight to his toy, says "mine", and moves his little body over the toy to keep it from the preying Owen. I think its funny; although his teachers at Mother's Day Out may not agree.

Liam loves to sing Old McDonald. He loves his bath time. He has turned into the greatest napper of all time--some of them clocking 4+ hours--and he will sleep all night to boot. Liam can do just about anything his big brother can do so long as he is tall enough. He is just an all-around fun little guy. LOVE him!

Happy *belated* 18 month birthday, sweet boy!!