Cute Things

Some things I don't want to forget:

• Bo very concerned that a Recess peanut butter cup is round when the package is square
  
• The way Sam backs up to you on the floor when he wants to sit on your lap
  
• Max's huge open mouth grin
  
• Bo telling me his foot was falling asleep but it was ok because it's eyes would open soon
  
• Sam always wanting to wear a hat or hood, even at dinner
  
• Sam's deep infatuation with buttons, including light switches, tv remotes, computers, and phones
  
• Bo calling Sam, "Sammy", and Max, "Maxy"
  
• Bo calling "fast forward", "fast over"
• The way Bo sings or talks to himself while going potty
  
• Bo making everything into a competition and always wanting to win, whether it's eating pancakes with Daddy, running up the stairs, or getting dressed
  
• Sam's pink bunny
  
• How Bo & Sam go down the stairs backwards on their tummies - super fast
  
• Sam's love of music and his boppin dance moves
  
• The way Sam gives huge open mouth kisses over my lips
• Sam saying"Bo" as a 2 syllable word

Max- 4 (and a half) months

Today was Max's 4 month well baby check-up and he is healthy as can be.

weight: 15 lbs 9 oz
height: 25 in
head: 16.93 in

His left eye is still weepy but it has improved a bunch from a couple of months ago. The doctor seems to think it will clear itself up soon. He says typically they do by 9 months but if not, then they can go in and surgically open up the duct at that point. I agree with the doc in that I think it will clear up on its own, but we'll see how it goes.

Like our other 2, Max is not much of a sleeper. I have come to the conclusion that Wes and I just breed non-sleepers. He is up every 1.5-2 hours at night now and I am exhausted. Last night he and I spent the whole night on the couch because I kept falling asleep nursing with him on my chest and never seemed to wake up enough to make it back to bed.

We screwed up royally with Bo's sleep habits, did a little better with Sam, but I am bound and determined to get it right this time around. I have been really trying to put him down awake for naps during the day rather than just let him fall asleep on the boob and am going to start weaning him off of middle of the night feedings (aka: let him cry) once we get back from Austin in a couple of weeks. I just hope I have the will power to do it this time around.

But oh he is a happy, patient kid. He has the biggest open mouth smile that is impossible to ignore. He also raises his eyebrows all the time which is absolutely adorable. He rarely cries unless he's hungry, tired or needs to burp (which happens a lot). And thank goodness he is patient. With 2 older brothers who are basically still babies themselves, he often has to wait in line for mommy. He is by far the most patient of the 3 and for this I am extremely thankful.

Back To Life as Usual

Grandma and Grandpa left last night after 3 great months of living with us. It's hard to believe it was 3 months because it flew by . . . but it was.

When they got here, Max was a month old and still all pink and wrinkly. Now he has beautiful olive color skin, rosy cheeks, arched eyebrows, and full-body wrinkles that have 'botoxed' into fat rolls. He is definitely a looker. And oh how he had Grandma wrapped around his little finger.
And Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam was all smiles when they got here and was all smiles when they left. A bit more mischievous and reckless (ie: loves to stand on kitchen table and swing chandelier) but still a happy kid. He was Grandpa's little buddy and loved the endless number of big people to read books to him. I bet Grandma & Grandpa read him over 100 books while they were here. Many never got finished, but they all sure got started.

Bo was of course ultra excited about having the extra live-in playmates. He and Grandma played hard and played long. Some of their favorite games were Monster Hunt (crawl around the dark basement floor with flashlights and look for monsters or bears), box camping, box forting, or pretty much any other game associated with a big cardboard box (first our tv box and then our dishwasher box). But regardless of what they played, they always had fun (minus Bo slapping Grandma across the cheek in about week 3 in above mentioned box for supposedly not playing right ???) and they always laughed hard.

The extra help was not just with the kids, though, but with housework as well. Karl had a honey-do list a mile long that he knocked out for us (finish shed interior, paint garage floor, tear down old shed, repair boiler, replace dryer light bulb, install heater fan in bathroom, repair hole in guest bath ceiling, paint bathroom . . .) and Marcia was a cleaning fool: laundry, dishes, vacuuming; you name it, she cleaned it. They were a ginormous help. I can not thank them enough.

But now they are gone, the guest room empty, and laundry is drowning us all.

Bo-ism #17

In response to Sam accidentally turning the volume up on the tv really loud:

Bo: Sam, You can't do that! It hurts my earballs.

The Carrot Tops

Questions I Never Thought I'd Hear From A 3 Year Old

How do airplanes fly?
Why does the sun move?
The moon moves too, right? Why?
Why are the green trees still green? (meaning the evergreens)

Happy New Year!!!

Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010!

Happenings of 2009
-Max was born
-Wes left Coldwell Banker and opened up his own brokerage (kicked ass)
-Bo started preschool 3 mornings a week
-Bo got potty trained (except at night)
-I turned 31, Wes-33, Bo-3 and Sam-1
-Wes ripped his bicep tendon while camping and had surgery to reattach it
-Bought a new car - Silver Buick Enclave
-Wes & I went to Cancun for a wedding and left the boys with Grandma & Grandpa in Iowa
-Went to Reunion
-Bo took swim lessons
-Sam kept us laughing with his love of shoes, music, books and dancing
-Grandma & Grandpa moved in with us
-Brigitte was (is) the best babysitter ever (came 2-3 days a week)
-Spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Fairbanks
-Nana & Opa came up after Max was born to help out
-Bo loves Cars (the movie), Spiderman, airplanes, and monster trucks
- iPhones, Facebook, and H1N1 (swine flu) were everywhere
-First Black president in office (Barack Obama)
-Soldiers still in Afghanistan and Iraq
-Battled night terrors and mood swings with Bo. Started seeing a psychologist
-Sam started sleeping through the night
-Got Bo off of Lactaid and on regular milk
-Stamps went up to $0.44
-Bought a new 73 inch (HUGE) tv for downstairs

Goals for 2010
- Lose last 7 lbs of baby weight
- Create and print photo books from all blog entries thus far
- Catch up on baby books
- Track personal finances with Quicken and actually have a budget
- Have monthly date nights with hubby
- Figure out how to handle Bo and his mood swings
- Read a book