happy birthday grandpa...a.k.a "the 'lustrous potentate"

The best way to celebrate grandpa's birthday? Go out to eat and let him be in charge of all the grandkids...thanks dad! Also, a special thanks to the three grand babies who managed to blow out of their diapers within the same 30 minute time period, each of the family groups were covered so no parent got to sit back and gloat...at least not for long. Amazingly we had the whole side of the restaurant to ourselves!

summer days....

cousins, popsicles,
giggles, splashes,
tickles, squabbles,
cuddles, kisses,
tired little babies!

Monkeys and musical dinosaurs....

My little monkey has recently discovered that the limbs of the pecan tree are low enough that he can pull them down and climb on up....his little heart was satisfied until sweet Uncle David saw him climbing and decided to shimmy straight up the trunk of said tree. Now his life will not be complete until he can do the same. But hey, at least it keeps him busy outside for long spans of time....















Gavin loves music. Loves it. He has figured out which button to push on my moms keyboard to make it play all the demos(over 100 songs). Then he stands at the keyboard "playing" and dancing and quite honestly looking something like a cross between a mad conductor and an inspired concert pianist. Today he added a slight variation...he only conducted the music...













....And the dinosaurs played it!

Jane

Jane in a nutshell: I give all of the kids an oatmeal cookie. Jane is Miss Efficient and even without any teeth methodically eats hers. Atticus on the other hand takes his sweet time, playing with it, sucking on it, shoving it in and out of his mouth. At some point Jane notices that Atticus still has half a cookie. As soon as she realizes this she is as focused on him as a bird dog. His left hand has her unswerving attention. She tries just taking it...Atticus screams. She grunts back fiercely . They repeat this several times. Finally Atticus gets tired of this so he pulls up on a chair to try to get away from her. First, she tries wrapping her arms around his legs and shaking him...nothing, his grip on the chair and the cookie remain solid. Next she tries grabbing his clothing and tugging on it violently. Still his grip holds. Finally she pulls up on the chair beside him. He is no fool and immediately sits back down on the floor. Jane carefully studies the situation and plans her move. Cue the "Mission Impossible" theme music...She lets go of the chair, dives for the cookie, gets the cookie out of his hand and into her mouth...all before she hits the floor. She has the cookie eaten before he even realizes that she has stolen it. Don't mess with Jane when it comes to food.

invaded

We have an infestation of bed bugs lately...or to be specific, one bed bug. He comes late enough at night that Kenneth and I are not lucid enough to make him go back to his own bed. He is not the easiest creature to sleep with(do you see his funky sleep position in the picture?)...and he is very insistent on snuggling up to...













...ME! I have tried just pushing him over to Kenneth's side of the bed where it would be completely appreciated! (it is Kenneth's dream for our children to want to snuggle with him) Consequently I wake up cranky from poor sleep and with back pains from not being able to shift position. Funny thing, we have never given any encouragement for our children to sleep in our bed(maybe someday when we can afford a bigger bed, but even then probably not...I mean I already spend at least 12 hours a day covered with children)....it is not like we let him sleep with us all during his infancy and are now trying to make him sleep alone.

Atticus

He is so proud that he can pull up on things...to celebrate he pulls up on his portocrib during nap time and as he is conveniently placed by the widow, rips down the blinds so he can peek outside.


























How sad....Mommy has to get her bow fix on the little dude cause the little lady has such limited follicular resources.

















The first lemon experience....

hmmmmm....

I have been doing a horrible job updating lately...sad! Especially since I am going to print this out later. I feel like I am stockpiling it all up and it will come out in one big volcanic eruption of a blog.
Yesterday Gavin rammed his head into my belly.

Me: "Gavin! You have to be soft, there is a baby in mommy's belly!"
Gavin: (looking confused) "Baby in belly?"
Me: "Yes, there is a baby growing in my belly...you need to be nice and soft with the baby."
G: (lifting my shirt and looking skeptical) "Mommy eat baby?"

"daddy has the funnest toys..."

"Like the old lawn mower oil...













"Mommy says that next time daddy needs to put his toys away!"

would you like to be me?

Go for it...all you need to do is walk past our van and copy down my birth date and social security number which until this morning where sitting in plain view on a lab order on our dash board. How many of me are there walking around out there now? Maybe I am skinny and blonde? Hmmmph, with my luck I am probably large & hairy with really bad breath and a fixation with small animals. Beating my head against the wall will probably not improve my memory to prevent future such incidents.

evolution...

What did little boys evolve from? Monkeys? Pigs? Earthworms?

C is for cookie...

That's good enough for me!

discipline....

Gavin ferociously playing with 2 dinosaurs...pauses..

G: "Mom, dinosaurs push him."
Me: "Tell the dinosaurs to play nice."
G: "Dinosaurs play NICE!"

At this point I get distracted marveling at how incredibly efficient the twins are becoming at dismantling a room, when I am brought back to Gavin's little drama...

G: "nine, ten, weven, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen..."

I realize that he has put the dinosaurs in time out(by the way, time outs are great for teaching counting!)....and at the end of the time out...

G: dinosaurs hugging, "I sorry."

Then the dinosaur "friends" proceeded to go on a rampage together and eat all the other dinosaurs...

In other Barry happenings, I had my ultrasound yesterday. Everything looks great, the baby is measuring right on schedule. We brought Gavin with us, hoping to make this pregnancy more meaningful....hmmmm, not so much. As the ultrasound tech pointed out the "baby" and different "baby" features, he would correct her..."dinosaur baby." Apparently he wasn't 100% pleased with the last models and has some improvements that he would like to include this time. Sorry to disappoint you dude, it will probably look like a monkey at first, but doubtful a dinosaur.

my heroes

Jane was hysterical and wouldn't go to sleep anywhere else!

















What other grandma has a ball pit in her office?
































I am so grateful that my children have these wonderful women as part of their legacy!

baby names...

by Gavin:

if it is a girl: Dinosaur Youeatim
if it is a boy: Sticker Down

Maybe we will have a poll the closer we get to the actual birth to see which one sticks...

Happy Mother's Day...to me!

Ok, I'll admit it...I have never yelled at, spanked, or in ANY way overreacted to my children. Every morning when they have awoken dewy eyed they find me there freshly showered and make-uped (after my morning 6 mile run) with a piping hot (healthy) and tasty breakfast. Over breakfast I share with them spiritual thoughts gleaned from my(1 hour) personal scripture study earlier that morning(pre 5 am). I send my husband to work with a long lingering kiss, and a pinch on the backside. Thru out the day I carefully balance spending time with my children and keeping a perfectly spotless house. Basically, today is all about me...the MOM of the Year! I try to be humble about it, but hey, when you're an example for the rest of the world...

Just kidding, but actually this week has been a pretty good run up to mothers day. For instance, last Sunday, when I found Atticus by following the trail of maroon(yes MAROON...didn't know it came in that color) poop...this was after he was bathed and dressed in his Sunday clothes...We still made it to Sacrament meeting on time!(and for 8:30 am meeting time, with Kenneth having pre church meetings...yes you can be impressed) AND the only thing I forgot was my own breakfast(luckily if you are pregnant people don't judge you as harshly for eating your kids snacks on fast Sunday...at least they don't say anything to your face about it).

Also, I cooked dinner three...that's right 3 times this week(4 if you count being the one to place the order with Dominoes), which I am pretty sure is a new record at our house!(there is a reason Kenneth hasn't gained much weight since we got married....I don't remember anything about cooking in the temple covenant)

Another thing...I didn't let Gavin watch movies/rot his brain...until after 4pm most days(except when I remembered to give him his morning breathing treatment...then he gets to watch a 20 min. movie with that). And the movies that I let him watch where National Geographic kids movies...so it is ok to watch them on repeat...right?

Also, I cleaned an abnormal number of times this week.
When Kenneth gets up to give the twins their first bottle of the day(around 6:30am) he usually has to find 2 bottles and clean out the cottage cheese milk before he can start the formula making process, by which time Atticus is usually having a seizure from neglect. This week there were actually a few mornings where all Kenneth had to do was go to the dish drain and grab 2 clean bottles. I am surprised I haven't been translated yet.


Lastly, today, the day of all days for mothers...I let my husband take a nap with Gavin,(he stayed up really late working on our gift for his mom) and I handled the twins. Let's face it...I am awesome! Happy Mother's Day!

surrounded by boys...

She doesn't even have a chance! Course the fact that we have a plethora of "boy" toys and no "girl" toys might contribute a little as well...

everyone wants a piece of me

One of my favorite things about being pregnant is feeling the baby move. It is so personal and sacred. Now picture mommy lying down on her back and lost in the reverie of feeling the baby move, building castles in the clouds...and then being tackled(in the stomach, by the 2 year old). And add to that, mommy doubled over catching her breath and trying not to kill the 2 year old...and the 2 eight month olds crawling over for a piece of the action. Priceless. This is my life right now, I am sure I will miss it someday.