Andrew’s 7th B-day

Today was Andrew’s 7th birthday.  And what a busy day it was!

Andrew had a 9am soccer game, and Josh had one at 11am. 

We rushed home so Andrew could FINALLY open his presents. 

He got Legos, Skylanders, and a new jacket. 

He got a dinosaur and $7 from Grandma and Grandpa Morris and $2 from Great-Grandma which he is super excited about!  Now he has to decide what to buy!

Around 3:30 we left to go bowling with Andrew’s good friend, Clark.  Andrew bowled 98!  Not too bad for a 7 year old!  It was cosmic bowling hour when we got there, so we had a blast dancing to the loud music and eating yummy food from the snack bar.  After bowling we let the kids play in the arcade for awhile.  They racked up the tickets and picked out some cool prizes at the end. 

When we got home Andrew was complaining it was cold and curled up on the couch in a blanket.  I took his temperature and it was 103.5.  Good grief!  Poor guy spent the rest of the night lying around.  He didn’t even feel like eating cake or blowing out candles, so we brought them over to the couch.  Hopefully he feels better tomorrow.  Weird thing is Josh got sick on the evening of his birthday in March.  Strange.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Raspberry Queen

Ella blows raspberries more than any other kid we’ve had. 

I love the little popping sound it makes when she does it.

And I love that it shows some about her personality.

Can’t wait to see more.

Ella, sometimes you’re so cute I can hardly stand it!

Happy Friday!

Summer.

This past summer was not a very exciting one if you ask my boys especially if you compare it to last summer.  Having a new little baby in your house really puts a damper on the kind of fun things you can do!

But it was an exciting one for me. 

Want to know why?

My kids learned how to work.  And better yet, they learned how to clean!!  I didn’t clean the downstairs bathroom, sweep the floor, or do the breakfast dishes all summer.

It was awesome!

The reason I had kids is finally coming to pass!!  haha.  just kidding.  sort of.

We love the online job chart:  myjobchart.com

It allows you to create a login for each of your kids and post their jobs on there.  They can check them off and get points for each one.  You can set up rewards for them to spend their points.  My kids have LOVED this, and it’s by far been the most successful job chart we’ve ever used.  They think they are so cool to have a password to something.

We let them earn points to buy whatever they wanted.  They are very into Lego Ninjago stuff so that’s usually want they buy.

Now that school has started we’ve been experimenting with how the jobs should continue when they aren’t home to work on them all morning.  I think we’re close to figuring it out. 

So that’s what made my summer so great!!

And to the future wives of my boys: you’re welcome :)

Whose is who??

Our kids are so different when it comes to eating. 

Try to guess which plate belongs to which kid.

See below for the answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers:

A—Andrew eats most of his dinner every night. 

B—Josh eats some of his dinner.  Favorite food is Manicotti.

C—Luke hardly eats anything.  We’re not sure how he survives.

I’m just waiting for the time with 3 boys when I can’t make enough dinner.  I’m sure it will happen eventually!

Ella--3 months

Ella girl!  You’re 3 months! 

And we adore you. 

How did we live without you? 

Life is complete now.

Last night you slept from 7:45pm-7:15am.  Longest stretch yet.

We won’t mention that yesterday you cried most of the afternoon, because we let you get so overly tired you couldn’t fall asleep for a nap.  Eventually I got you to sleep snuggled up next to me on my bed.  We’ll try not to let that happen again!  You were sooo sad!  But it was nice to snuggle once you fell asleep!

You’re starting to show interest in toys and you enjoy lying under the mobile. 

You’ve started batting at things you want. 

You sleep best swaddled in the swing during the day, but most of the time you’re in your car seat cause we’re always on the go. 

You still eat about every 3 hours and then you cluster feed from about 4 or 5pm on until bed. 

You’re starting to drool a lot and blowing bubbles with your split is a favorite past time!

You’re brothers fight over you all the time.  They want to be the one to make you smile or laugh.  They constantly ask me when you’re going to be able to sit up, walk, get teeth, etc…  They are excited to interact with you more as you get older!!

We can get you laugh a little more easily now, but it often comes out as a scream not a giggle.  It’s pretty funny.

Now Ella, we love you.  We love this stage.  So PLEASE stop growing so fast :)

Happy 3 months girl!

Update.

It’s been awhile since I posted!  Whew.  We’ve been busy.  Here’s an update for posterity’s sake and anyone else who cares :)

Josh-

• A couple Saturdays ago, the boys found a little garter snake.  They played with that snake for hours.

• Started 3rd grade last week.  His teacher, Mrs. H., was gone on the first day, so he had a sub.

• Sang in sacrament meeting with his primary class (about 16 kids) last Sunday.  They sang “Choose the Right Way.”
• Cub scouts started back up last week and piano lessons starts tomorrow.
• Was selected to be on the Student Council at school!
• Loves to steal my camera and take 1,000’s of pictures and videos.
• Loving soccer and is quite good at playing goalie.  I’m not sure that’s where he’d prefer to play, but that’s where Dad plays him cause he’s so good at it!

Andrew-

• Started first grade last week.  Got the same teacher, Ms. W., that Josh had for the first grade.
• Decided yesterday that maybe half day kindergarten was pretty nice.  He just doesn’t have enough time in the day to play anymore.

• Has lost several teeth in the last couple months.  One of the big top ones he lost while eating a muffin and then swallowed!
• Loves his young sibs and takes great care of them without being asked. 

• Is enjoying the soccer season!  We are constantly amazed at how good he is.  While the other kids his age are playing bunch ball, he patiently hangs back from the “bunch” and waits for an opportunity to get the ball and score a goal.  He’s like a crocodile waiting for the right moment to attack his prey.  It’s so fun to watch!

Luke-

• Can’t decide if he likes being home all day without his brothers.  At first he liked it, but it only took a couple hours to ask if it was time to pick them up yet.

• Since being brother-less for most of the day, he’s always begging me to have a friend over.
• Yesterday was Luke’s first day of preschool!  He was so excited to go and can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

• Learned how to swing all by himself!  He just needs a little push to get going and then he’s good!  It’s so nice!

Ella-

• Finally had her 2 month check up on Monday.  She weighed 12 lbs 11 oz. (76%) and 24 in. (86%)  Definitely several pounds lighter than our other kids at this age.
• Started wearing 3-6 month clothes.
• Is going to be a ladybug for Halloween.

• Loves her hands and eats them whenever she can.
• Still always has the hiccups.
• Her eyes are getting bluer by the day.
• Smiles very easily now but has yet to really giggle.  We’ve gotten a few courtesy half laughs.
• I love it when I look down at her, and she’s just starring at me.  And has been for who knows how long.  Makes me feel so special!

• I feel like she’s not a newborn anymore; like she’s all grown up.  And that makes me super, uper sad.