Memorial Day Celebrations

All weekend I've been bummed we aren't camping.  Although, it is 90+ degrees out and I'm sure if we WERE camping I'd be complaining that it was too hot and sleeping in a sweltering tent would be miserable.  But still... I'm sad we aren't camping.  (not sad we aren't camping in this heat).  Next year I'll get my shit together and make camping reservations way ahead of time.  Like in January.  Serious. 

Saturday evening the Huffs had brought their troop of little guys over and the Dawsons joined us after a birthday party.  Our little get together started out great but Jane and Adam had barely downed a couple hot dogs when poor Jilli Bean fell off our climber and broke her ankle.  To say we feel terrible it happened at our house is an understatement. Jane and Katie headed off to the ER with Jilli and Adam took the other girlies home. 

It's so crazy to think these boys have known each other their entire lives.   Porter and Donnie became buds at the ripe old age of 3 weeks and 9 weeks and the rest is history.  I love this group of little dudes.

The wild boys finished off the evening on the trampoline... I was pretty sure we'd be joining Jane and Katie with more broken bones from these wild guys.

Today we met up with the Tappans in Spring Arbor for the Memorial Day Parade.  I thought it'd be crazy busy but we found a nice quiet tree to sit under near the end of the parade route and we had the yard of a dorm building essentially all to our selves.  It was hot, but the shade + breeze made it very tolerable and we had a great time.  We decided to skip the festivities that were by the church (bounce house, face painting... essentially all the FUN part... HAHA!)  because we knew it'd be hot on the pavement and crowded and I soo wasn't about to crowd with others in the heat.

All weekend Porter has been playing with the neighbors' grandkids.  The two families by us that have kids are away this weekend, but the other two neighbors happened to each have a granddaughter visiting so he played with Julia all day yesterday and has been playing with Makenna all afternoon today.  

Friday Madness

Friday morning Porter's school was cancelled.  A high school teacher/coach had passed away in the middle of the night.  So so sad.  He was only 48, and a well liked person in our community.  While I felt terrible for the reason he was off school, it was so nice to have my 3 babies all home with me.  It was just like "old times" when I had Fridays with both boys.  Only this time Amelia was here too!

Our day was a bit dramatic.  Here are a few highlights (and some pictures to go with!)

Amelia was super needy throughout the morning.

The boys were in the front yard playing and climbing the tree.  I hear banging and laughter.  I look out and find a stool being thrown around the yard and Hudson peeing.  Nice.

Cooper ripped a hole in the fence and escaped.  The boys were insanely worried and wanted me to load up the van and drive all over God's green earth to find him.  Sorry.... not gonna do it.  He'll come back.  Porter had this great idea that just killed me.  "Mom, I'll draw a picture of a bird and tape it to a stick and Cooper will see it and want to chase it and he'll come back!"  And so he put his idea into action.  So so cute.

Then Mr. Mischief (Hudson) dumped out some of our art supplies in the dining room.  He said he was making me a project.  Mmmkay.  He told me he was picking out all the hearts.   I let him "create" for a bit then asked him to clean up.  Well... this is Hudson we're talking about.   Stubborn and lazy.  Porter even helped him clean up a bit but Hudson refused to finish the last few bits.  So, I let him sit there pouting.

During this standoff, Cooper had come back and was filthy- he'd been running through the swamp.  Porter and I decided to give the dogs a bath outside.

I came back in to find Amelia screaming and Hudson screaming, still refusing to finish picking up.  He cried and screamed for over an hour that "his belly hurts!" and "I'm hungry!"  all the while his lunch sat on the counter waiting for him to get over himself.  Yes, this boy would rather cry and scream and gag for an hour than just clean up his mess to begin with.  He did finally clean up.... momma always wins.  :)

It was definitely naptime by now.  We had plans to go to the Cruise In for the evening. It is a monthly event where the streets in downtown are blocked off and all sorts of old and new cars are shown off.  There are super old cars from the 1940's to brand new Transformer edition Mustangs.  Lots of eye candy for my guys, that's for sure.  We headed downtown around 6:30 and spent a good hour and a half checking out cars.

 

This week in bullets...

• The one downside of being a "sahm" is I have no motivation to shower.  None.  I have been going like 3 days without showering (only if I don't leave the house on Day 3... grosssss!).  Isn't that disgusting?!



• Amelia was so fussy today.  She must be going through a growth spurt or something (NO!  STOP!) as this morning she'd eat an ounce or two and then want to eat again an hour later.  She'd take a quick nap and then want to be held.  She did that most of the morning and then wanted to be held all afternoon, fighting sleep.  Made for a very unproductive day. 



• I took a few pictures of H and A today.  Well, mainly Amelia but I got this darling one of the two of them.  Hudson just adores her.  Its so cute to watch him with her, however there are so many times I have to tell him to stop messing with her when she is sleeping or trying to eat.  

• Hudson had some money to spend from his birthday as well as a $10 gift certificate from Toy House (how awesome are they to send a $10 gift certif for kids' b-days?!).  We went to Toy House on Tuesday for him to spend his money.  He chose an Automoblox (he's sooo into these right now!) and a red Dodge Viper, a red quad and a red Hot Wheels car.  Doesn't he look so happy with his purchases?

• The other night I was up feeding Amelia and went to the bathroom.  I glanced into Porter's room and saw this heart-bursting sight.  Soooooo precious!  Camping out on the floor with his big ol' dog.  

• I signed up for Weight Watchers yesterday.  Its time.  I still have 40lbs to lose (SICK SICK SICK) and just need to buckle down and get to business.  3 weeks from this Saturday we will be going on vacation and sadly I'll have nothing to wear.  I feel so disgusting... I don't feel "cute" or "stylish" anymore... I live in sweats and t-shirts (not even cute t-shirts).  None of my normal shirts fit.  I hate this limbo stage, though I can't blame anyone but myself for gaining the weight.  I started A's pregnancy 12lbs heavier than normal so in order to be at the same weight gain as the boys' pregnancies I should have only gained 28lbs.  I gained 52.  So... I'm down 24lbs since delivering but still need to lose 40 (adding in that additional 12).  GAH.  Why can't I press a button and it would just disappear?



• Have you seen the cute wooden Disney Cars that Toys R Us has?  Hudson has Sally, Mater and McQueen, as well as Mater's Tow Yard.  These wooden cars work with the wooden train tracks (Thomas, Brio etc) and are so cute!  Hudson got a package in the mail yesterday and it was a birthday present from Aunt Lori, Uncle Don and the girls.  It was the wooden Mack for his set.  He was SO excited!





• Our mornings have been a little rough since Amelia.  I'm exhausted and its all I can do to drag myself out of bed to take Porter up to school.  Yes, I'm crazy and pack up all 3 kids to drop Porter off at school but the bus ride is an hour (as opposed to driving 2 miles down the road to drop him off) and I hate for him to have two long bus rides in a day.   Luckily, Porter is SO helpful in the morning.  This morning he all but drove himself to school HAHA!  He had dressed himself (in jeans, a polo tucked in and a TIE... hilarious!), packed his own lunch, and had his shoes on and ready to go.  I love that kid.  

Amelia at 1 month

How in the world has it been a month already since Miss Amelia made her entrance into our lives?  In a sense it seems like so long ago... that she's been here forever, but mostly it feels like I blinked and all of a sudden a month passed.  Its amazing how time does that.  I've been thinking of that quote lately.... 

Isn't it the truth?  You blink and a year has gone by.  How does that happen?  

So Miss Amelia at 1 Month:

• JUST grew out of newborn diapers
• Is wearing newborn, 0-3 and SOME 3 month clothes
• Eats every 3 hours or so (but occasionally every 2, and sometimes sleeps longer and goes 4 or 5 hours)
• Is eating between 2-4 ounces/feeding.  Usually right around 3.
• Has definite fussy times during the day, typically in the evening.
• Is very fussy when she needs to burp, and likewise will stop eating when she has to burp
• She is a pretty good sleeper- she isn't too hard to get to sleep
• Loves to be held and talked to
• I'm pretty sure she has smiled an 'on purpose' smile at Ryan the other day.  She does the random smiles a lot, but there have been a few times he's talked to her and she grins.
• Her eyes appear much more brownish than the deep grey that newborns typically have.  I am crossing my fingers she has dark hair/eyes like her daddy!
• In the past week she has been staying awake a lot more often.  This makes me so sad.  This means she is no longer in that sleepy newborn stage.  And even though I got some great shots of her the week or two after she came home, I'm sad that I probably won't get anymore curly, fresh from the oven newborn pictures of her. 

Hudson: 4 Years Old

Dear Hudson,

In the past few months you seem to have suddenly changed from a toddler to a kid and you just seem so grown up to me.  I tell you that you need to stop growing, that you're getting too old and you tell me, "I can't!  I don't have a reverse button!"  Buddy, I sure wish you did.  You aren't my little baby anymore!

You seem to be following in your smarty-pants brothers footsteps.  You are very interested in letters and words and spelling.  You know your ABC's (have for a looong time) and can identify all the letters in the alphabet and know many of the sounds.  You are always asking me how to spell words, and whenever you see words written somewhere you like to read the letters, spelling it out.  There are quite a few words you've been able to sound out on your own, with a little help from me.  This makes me soo happy!  I'm so proud of you.  I hope that reading and spelling come as easy to you as it does your brother.  

You've also been breaking apart words, giving them a very literal meaning.  Its quite funny.  When Amelia came home I was washing her bottles and pacifiers and you said "Pacifier... like we PASS it to people?"  And you tell me that Target is to "GET" toys, because it is Tar-"GET".  Yesterday I overheard you saying to Porter "Do you know why brownies are brown?  Because they're "BROWN"ies!"  

Despite your over exuberance with words and spelling, you're quite a lazy child.  I know this sounds mean but boy, you are lazy!  We recently told you the word "can't" is a bad word because you say it ALL the time.  "I CAN'T get dressed!"  "I CAN'T put my shoes on!" "I CAN'T carry the huge truck back down to the basement even though I just carried it all the way up the stairs all by myself."  "I CAN'T pick up the toys- it takes for a loooong time!"  You love to make messes but hate to clean up after yourself.  Ohhhhhh..... you're going to have a rude awakening because lazy doesn't fly around here.  Unfortunately that means you butt heads with us quite a bit and there ends up being an awful lot of whining (on your part) about having to do things you "CAN'T" do.  We still love you, though, you lazy little toad!

I love the way you are so snuggly and loving, Hudson.  You constantly surprise me by randomly calling my name and when I answer you simply say "I loooove you."  It is so sweet and melts my heart.  You give me kisses all the time, and you LOVE to give Amelia hugs and to rub noses with her and kiss her head.  You're so darn sweet!

You're sweet, and also a crazy comedian!  You have quite the sense of humor and you love to make goofy faces to go along with it.  You also know how to push my buttons and you definitely get that from daddy... being sarcastic and picking on me just to be irritating though YOU think it's funny.  There are so many times you know you're being funny, and also so many times you're hilarious but have no clue why you're cracking us up.  You say a lot of funny things.  I love how you say "I was about to gonna fall off the couch!"  Everything is "about to gonna".  You also say, when things seem like they'll take forever (like cleaning the toy room) that "It takes for a long time!" That always cracks us up too.

You love the color red, and typically any shade close to that.  Much to daddy's dismay, pink is pretty darn close to red.  While you are a total and complete boy, you do love some girly things and I don't try to persuade you otherwise.  Daddy hates that I paint your toenails dark pink (because it is like red, you say) when you ask me to, and that you love your Strawberry Shortcake doll (because she has red hair).  The story behind Strawberry is kind of funny... we went to a resale shop (you love going to resale shops with me and that or Target is always your guess when I ask you where we will be going that day), and you picked out this Strawberry Shortcake doll and asked me to buy her.  Granted, there weren't many toys at this store in particular, but it was funny that out of the toys there you picked out the doll.  And you had flip flops on with your pink toenails.  You were quite the sight at the park that day!  Your lamp recently broke and you keep asking me to buy you the "pink feathery lamp that is at Target."

You love anything that is tiny, small, compact or in large quantity.  You tend to be a hoarder.  We often find your pockets filled with 5 or 6 Matchbox Cars.  How that is comfortable, I'll never know.  You especially like to "hoard" tiny little items (even better if there are multiples!).  You love tiny little cars.  When we play Blokus you like to take the tiny one square piece and hold them throughout the game.  You make your Automoblox into the smallest car possible.   When we eat green beans you like to take the tiny "baby beans" out and hold them all in your hand. You call things "Adorable" as in "That's so adorable!" and I think it is so adorable that you do that!

Hudson, you have also amazed me with the way you eased into the big brother role.  We always joked that you have always had the typical "middle child" attitude, and I feared that when Amelia arrived you would not be so accepting.  However, you've been nothing but a helpful, loving, doting big brother.  You tell me all the time "I"m so happy we have a baby!" and you love to kiss and hug on Amelia all day, whether she is awake or trying to nap.  I hope you are always so protective and loving with her!


I love you so much, Hudson!


Love,  Mama


Some of Hudson's favorites:

• Oma
• Cars, especially Mater!
• Riding the tricycle, even though you have a bike
• Automoblox
• 
  
• Your favorites:
• Animal:       
• Color:  Red!
• Movie:  Cars 2
• Person:   Strawberry (Strawberry Shortcake)
• Song:  Rock A Bye Baby
• Food:  Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Drink:  Orange Juice
• Number: 166

piles and piles and piles and piles

I hate piles.  I hate the piles that accumulate and appear out of nowhere when the house was just clean the day before.  Where does this stuff come from?   

I like my house clean.  And tidy.  And uncluttered.  I hate clutter.  Yes, I know I have small children and a newborn at home... but I still try my darnedest to keep my house looking nice and organized.  Some days I feel SO accomplished and proud... I get so much done.  Other days... not so much.   Today, after lunch, I realized that today was the latter.  Lots of piles.  (and... instead of cleaning them.... I take pictures of them and label them and blog them.  Yeah.   That's probably part of my problem....)