Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
This silly one
This silly one is so much fun right now. She's at that great stage where she talks to us but doesn't filter what she says so you get to hear the most random thoughts all day.
She loves to play I Spy, only she doesn't fully grasp the concept. So she'll say she spies "something green", for example, and you'll name all the green things you see. And she'll day "nope" to all of them. If you ask her what it is she spies she says "I not know!" or she spies something that's at home while you're riding in the car. Or she just tells you what it is. It's really cute, although Catherine and Will get frustrated that she can't play the game the right way.
And then there's the issue of please and thank you. It has now been FIVE months that she has refused to use these words. It's completely intentional and she is so stubborn. When we ask get what she wants to pray for at night she says "that I say please and thank you and not be rude.". So she gets it. It's her form of rebellion.
Gotta love our crazy Anna. She's a lot different than her big sister and brother and it's fun to watch her approach life a little differently than the others.
She loves to play I Spy, only she doesn't fully grasp the concept. So she'll say she spies "something green", for example, and you'll name all the green things you see. And she'll day "nope" to all of them. If you ask her what it is she spies she says "I not know!" or she spies something that's at home while you're riding in the car. Or she just tells you what it is. It's really cute, although Catherine and Will get frustrated that she can't play the game the right way.
And then there's the issue of please and thank you. It has now been FIVE months that she has refused to use these words. It's completely intentional and she is so stubborn. When we ask get what she wants to pray for at night she says "that I say please and thank you and not be rude.". So she gets it. It's her form of rebellion.
Gotta love our crazy Anna. She's a lot different than her big sister and brother and it's fun to watch her approach life a little differently than the others.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Slumber party
What happens when daddy is out of town? A slumber party!
Will tosses and turns and isn't actually in his sleeping bag Please note that Eli, the dog, is curled up on Will's sleeping bag though.
Catherine has her trusty clock. What kid uses a clock as a security blanket? Apparently she does.
Anna finally fell asleep approximately 1 1/2 hours after the others. She's our late night party animal.
I'm sure Jay is enjoying a quiet, peaceful but lonely hotel room.
Will tosses and turns and isn't actually in his sleeping bag Please note that Eli, the dog, is curled up on Will's sleeping bag though.
Catherine has her trusty clock. What kid uses a clock as a security blanket? Apparently she does.
Anna finally fell asleep approximately 1 1/2 hours after the others. She's our late night party animal.
I'm sure Jay is enjoying a quiet, peaceful but lonely hotel room.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
They look like twins
I am thankful that we have boy/girl twins and I don't feel the pressure to dress them alike. Let's be honest people, I am doing well to keep clean clothes on them. They did wear their pajamas for 36 straight hours at one point this week. (Jill, I'm aware that this probably terrifies you.)
Somehow we have this set of matching pajamas that we've had since Catherine was born. I don't know how we ended up with two of these lovely neutral outfits but I found them in a box the other day. So for fun, I dressed the babies alike tonight and took their picture. I think you can still easily tell who is who. James's chubby cheeks and Elizabeth's big eyes give it away.
But it makes it seem more like we have twins!
I still don't love the term twins. It kinda freaks me out. If I think of them individually as James and Elizabeth it seems very normal that we have two babies. When people say something about twins, I still find it difficult to believe that the term applies to us.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Out to dinner
Last night Jay had some late afternoon meetings in Charlotte and wasn't going to be home until 8pm or so. That meant I was on my own with all five for dinner, bath, and bedtime. I decided to take them all out to dinner--by myself--so that they wouldn't be weepy about Jay not being here for dinner and I wouldn't have to clean up the kitchen.
I was a little fearful that the babies would both be crying and someone would spill a drink and someone else would need to go to the bathroom and someone else would complain about their dinner. That's how it has been some nights lately at home.
In order to make this a successful outing I did a couple of things:
1. I gave them a choice about where we were going to eat (at home being one of them). I also only gave options that I knew I could manage. So even though it was spirit night at chickfila for Catherine's school I did not make that option to dine in, only drive thru. I know my limits people. They picked to eat at schlotzskys.
2. We practiced what was going to happen and what I expected from them. This includes getting on shoes and going potty before we left the house. This also includes deciding in the car what they wanted to order so that I wasn't standing there trying to figure that out with 3 kids telling me various things while people impatiently wait behind us. (turns out I need to decide ahead of time because I'm the one who stood there the longest to order!)
3. I gave them very specific instructions about when to get out of the car, whose hand to hold, which white line to stand on, who should hold open which restaurant door , etc. and I told them they were responsible for keeping each other safe. Will especially likes this role of protecting his sisters.
4. We practiced our table manners of sitting and using napkins and taking turns and being patient.
5. I highly praised them for their good behavior and obedience. I told them when they behaved so well and were obedient it made me want to take them places more often. So they suggested we go out every night:)
We had a lot of people stop and comment on how many kids I have and how well they were behaving. I thought about it a lot after we left the restaurant. I don't want to be prideful that they did so well. Goodness knows that they have many nights that aren't this way.
But I do want them to be an example to others that children are a blessing. So many people look at us with some weird pity because of the work and responsibility and chaos of having five little ones. And it's true that it is a lot of work. But there's also a whole lot of joy. And if someone can catch a glimpse of that through well behaved children and a mama who truly enjoys them at a restaurant, maybe it will soften their hearts a tiny bit.
I was a little fearful that the babies would both be crying and someone would spill a drink and someone else would need to go to the bathroom and someone else would complain about their dinner. That's how it has been some nights lately at home.
In order to make this a successful outing I did a couple of things:
1. I gave them a choice about where we were going to eat (at home being one of them). I also only gave options that I knew I could manage. So even though it was spirit night at chickfila for Catherine's school I did not make that option to dine in, only drive thru. I know my limits people. They picked to eat at schlotzskys.
2. We practiced what was going to happen and what I expected from them. This includes getting on shoes and going potty before we left the house. This also includes deciding in the car what they wanted to order so that I wasn't standing there trying to figure that out with 3 kids telling me various things while people impatiently wait behind us. (turns out I need to decide ahead of time because I'm the one who stood there the longest to order!)
3. I gave them very specific instructions about when to get out of the car, whose hand to hold, which white line to stand on, who should hold open which restaurant door , etc. and I told them they were responsible for keeping each other safe. Will especially likes this role of protecting his sisters.
4. We practiced our table manners of sitting and using napkins and taking turns and being patient.
5. I highly praised them for their good behavior and obedience. I told them when they behaved so well and were obedient it made me want to take them places more often. So they suggested we go out every night:)
We had a lot of people stop and comment on how many kids I have and how well they were behaving. I thought about it a lot after we left the restaurant. I don't want to be prideful that they did so well. Goodness knows that they have many nights that aren't this way.
But I do want them to be an example to others that children are a blessing. So many people look at us with some weird pity because of the work and responsibility and chaos of having five little ones. And it's true that it is a lot of work. But there's also a whole lot of joy. And if someone can catch a glimpse of that through well behaved children and a mama who truly enjoys them at a restaurant, maybe it will soften their hearts a tiny bit.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Will's Birthday (lack of party) Celebration
This one--this crazy wonderful boy--turned 5 years old yesterday. Oh how I love him.
Sometimes I think back to when we were first pregnant and at my first dr's appointment they couldn't detect a heartbeat. I went back the following week and there was a heartbeat, but it was slower and weaker than it should have been. All I could do was pray for this little baby and ask our creator God to give and sustain life. And He did. He gave Will a strong heartbeat and lots of life. And I am so thankful. I can't imagine our family without him.
We've had five wonderful years with him so it was time to celebrate!
We celebrated Will's birthday this weekend. Instead of having a big party for each child's birthday, we are planning to do a party for each of them every 4 or 5 years and on the other years just pick a fun activity or dinner to do with a friend or family. This year Will said he wanted to do something with his friends Eddie, Nolan, and JC. They are his 3 best friends, but they don't know each other so we opted to do individual activities with each of them.
We scheduled to go to the park on Saturday morning to play with Eddie. It was raining and dreary and cool that morning. You know you have good friends when they will drive 45 mins with 3 small children to play at the park in the rain :) Will and Eddie had fun swinging, climbing, running, riding bikes, and just getting dirty in the rain and puddles. And we had the entire park to ourselves (because no one else was crazy enough to go that morning.)
Eddie's little brothers Charlie and Wyatt joined the fun too.
Anna had lots of fun, although she didn't love that her pants were wet from the rain.
Will loved riding his new bike at the park. He's super fast.
And this sweet big sister has a hard time every year on Will's birthday because she wants it to be her birthday. Here she is very grumpy at the park because of some disagreements about bike riding. But she does love her brother. He's her very best friend.
On Saturday night, we invited Nolan and his family over for dinner. Will picked the menu of sloppy joes and mac-n-cheese. It was low key and the kids ran around and played and enjoyed having fun together.
Will's friend JC was supposed to come home from school with us yesterday to play. It was also JC's birthday, so we wanted the birthday buddies to have fun together. Unfortunately JC was sick, so we have to reschedule.
We ended the day with dinner at Mimi and PopPop's. Will again chose the menu, this time spaghetti with meatballs and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
So that was Will's birthday (lack of party) celebration. I'm sure it makes my friends Rachel and Deborah cringe. They throw awesome birthday parties. We had no theme, no birthday banner, no party favors, nothing of the sort. But my boy had a great time and we celebrated his sweet life and he loved it. Good enough by me.
Happy Birthday sweet Will! We love you!!
Monday, October 1, 2012
3 months old!
James and Elizabeth turned 3 months old on Saturday!
Whew! I always feel like at 3 months you can start to breathe again a little bit. The babies seem to relax a little more, laugh and smile at you, sleep better, and just enjoy life a little easier.
It seems that we have a Daddy's girl and a Mama's boy on our hands. Elizabeth laughs at Jay pretty much every time he talks to her or holds her. It's melting his heart :) And James will talk to me and smile so much mid-nursing that I have to remind him to eat. If there's anything better than one baby smiling and laughing and cooing, it has to be two babies smiling and laughing and cooing.
Elizabeth has also discovered her fingers and James found his thumb. They rarely use pacifiers any more so I may just throw those out. They're both getting the Hatten chubby cheeks--love it! And they are hugged and kissed and loved on all day long. Happy 3 months little ones!!
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