What a day!

my Wednesday (the very concise version)

*running on 4 hours sleep (not REALLY "running", are you kidding?)
*stayed home and enjoyed not running around
*re-arranged my bedroom since it seems we are NOT moving (bummer)
*made a fall dinner of chili and cornbread
*put together the boys cowboy outfits
*am sitting at home in a QUIET house while Jared is at the Fall Festival @ church (didn't want to expose Addie to all the germiness)

I needed a day like today because my yesterday involved...

*3 stores with all 3 children (boys in double stroller, Addie in Baby Bjorn).
*side note: the boys weigh about 70 lbs combined and the stroller revolted. BIG TIME! I literally could not turn it a couple of times. I was a sweaty mess.
*Alex had a fall on the ground fit @ Walmart. It was intense and I was "that mom". I had to be thankful it was Walmart therefore nobody noticed yet another screaming kid.
*I spent hours making shirts for the Breast Cancer Volleyball Benefit that Jared was playing in at the school and was there for 30 minutes. More on that to come.....

*sadly they were just iron-on shirts but I made them for four and I am not very "crafty". *further adding to my lack of craftiness is the fact that I burnt 4 fingers on the iron. I could commit a crime right now and go free. :)
*No sleep on that night either.

OK now for the details...

Apparently the boys are scared of the school mascot. LIKE REALLY REALLY SCARED! There was shaking, blood curdling screams, death grips on Mommy who was pushing a stroller and CARRYING one 3 year old while the other trailed behind crying with his hands over his ears. We stayed 30 minutes. Jared was on the court and had no idea what was going on until it was too late. We left. I came home turned on the Halloween Cartoons that were on "on demand" (thank goodness). In the words of Kate I was "DONE". I pulled the quilt off of my bed, grabbed Addie and cocooned us on the couch. AND YOU KNOW WHAT the boys were giddy about our night. So the fun part for me was the realization that ......

WE could have just stayed home in the first place.

You get that part, right?

Did I mention I wouldn't trade being a mom for the world? Ok. Just reminding myself that it is worth it on a day when it was debatable. :)

Happy to be @ home, safe and sound, and free from all Wildcats.

Adds was dressed to impress and supporting the cause.

No pics of Jared playing or anything. I thought I may seem insensitive to take pictures while my children were cowering in the corner of the gym. :)

See this face......

cute, right???

he's a nurturer

and he loves BIG

and last week when Daddy told him to stop doing something this was his response.....

It did not go over well.

Alex is a lot like me. He feels things deeply. I am hoping Jared and I can survive all of the "depth". :)

We had a wonderful wknd picking out and carving pumpkins. There are LOTS of pictures to share. I have been up most of the night with one kid or another so I will save those for another time, soon, I hope.

Sweet Sleep

See this sweet child. She slept until 6 a.m. this morning. 6 AM! She did this on a night that I stayed up a little late watching on demand but nonetheless I appreciated the extra sleep. She is awesome :)

Eli Henry

What to say about Eli. Hmmmm, well he has his moods. Don't we all? He still thinks Mommy and Daddy can heal all wounds with a kiss or by blowing on it. If the child falls on his butt he will request that you kiss it. I am not kidding. If he scrapes his knee you will be blowing on it for two weeks, no exageration. He will also tell every person he comes across that he hs a boo boo and expect them to evoke deep sympathy. He's funny let me tell you. In the picture below he was afraid of a particular part of Beauty and the Beast so of course Daddy protected him. :) He will not pass up a good stick when we are on a walk and he likes to look at the ant's homes. He usually destroys them. Such a boy. He will play with blocks for HOURS. He is extremely territorial with them and Alex better steer clear. He makes up funny words. For instance he hit his chin yesterday and asked me to blow on his "bleet". He calls my homemade mac n' cheese "itchy" and he doesn't like it. When he needs his nose cleaned out he says he has "thorns" in his nose. There are SO many more but that is a snapshot of Eli at three and a half.

I used a 1960's effect on these pictures and I love it. I was born in the 70's but this is how I remember my childhood pictures looking. I love the nostalgia I feel even though these pictures were taken last week. :)

A Picnic

Today we headed outside for a little picnic with a few library books. It is beautiful outside and I am realizing lately how much fresh air and sunshine improves my day.

A Picnic is the easiest thing to do and the boys LOVE it.

Addison's first picnic. She was completely enthralled. :)

Oh, yeah my son is wearing snow pants and it is 60 some degrees out. We tried them on today to see if we needed new ones for winter and he didn't want to take them off. Pick your battles, pick your battles. I saved my battle for nap time (see pic below). :)

The one down side to picnics is that they have to end.

Alex was less than pleased. Naptime was not welcomed by him today. I, on the other hand, embraced it fully. :)

Yesterday Addison was 3 months old. She is still a sweet girl but not quite as subdued as when she first came home. She definitely makes her presence known. I don't blame her she has a couple of brothers to compete with in the attention department. She isn't doing a whole lot. She loves to snuggle with her Mommy and Daddy. The swing and bouncy seat are her only "activity". We love to take walks and she finally fits in her Baby Bjorn which makes things much easier for me. (Today was the first day I used it.) She has captured out hearts and we all love her very much. I cannot imagine life without her and we feel unbelievably blessed that she is here. She is making her presence known RIGHT NOW so I better go deal with her.

I thought it would be nice to have a frame of reference when we look back at pictures. I wish I had done this more with the boys. Addison however wasn't as thrilled. :)

Are we going to the movies???

I mentioned when we started potty training (again) a few weeks ago that Alex was having some "fears". Well, to help him overcome this said fear we had to pull out the big guns. You see, Eli was such a sweet brother that when he went and it was time for a prize from the box (I bought two of each thing) he'd just get the same thing twice in a row and give one to Alex. Really sweet but REALLY not helping the cause. SOOO instead of telling our son who was doing a nice thing to NOT SHARE (we thought that might send a mixed message ;) ) Jared said that if Alex "went" (I cannot believe I am discussing this) he would take them both to the movies. Needless to say Alex did it and they had a boys night out that night. After that night however we went right back to the "problem".

We had a talk with him (after 3 accidents) and explained that now he knows what to do and he needs to do it, etc., etc. I told him this morning that if he and Eli had accident free days Daddy and I would have to do something special for them. So again NO ACCIDENTS!! Aw yeah. The funny thing was after this major victory Eli ran in and yelled "Good job Alex, .....are we going to the movies". :)

AND now the real reason that I wrote this whole post was so I'd have an excuse to share this adorable picture of one of the times he was successful.

He was very proud!

my sweet boy

deep in thought

What's Up???

I have a ridiculous amount of things to post about but I like to tie them to pictures and right now I can't find my camera cord sooooooooo, what to do?????

How about some RANDOM happenings around this place.....

*Alex is in bed singing "I'm gonna be a Lion King" and Eli is yelling "ALEX STOP SINGING".

*Last night Eli and Alex were told to put the couch back together because their new thing is to remove the back pillows and do flips off the couch, but the pillows are really heavy and they usually need my help. Eli ran into me after lifting one all by himself and said "I am a great, strongest man ever, Mama". So cute!

*Today is GORGEOUS. October- 77 degrees- sunny! Oh and the most important part of that IN MICHIGAN! What???

*Due to the lovely change of weather all the boys including Jared have some type of cold, sore throat or ear infection.

*Addie and I, however, are still going strong!

*The boys were surprised with "Beauty and the Beast" because they are doing so well going on the potty. I was concerned some of it was too scary for them but they seemed fine. Today we watched the end when the beast turned back into a regular guy and THAT scared Eli. Not so much the beast but the handsome prince. You just never know.

*When I gave the 5 minute warning while the boys were in the tub Alex went to grab all of the unused toys out of the bag and I said "no, you have enough toys out" to which he replied, "I don't want enough!" I am pretty sure my pastor could preach a series on that statement. Out of the mouths of babes, right?

And that is the end of the random thoughts and occurence in our lives.

Addie and I had a rough night last night. She took an hour to eat at 10:30. I think she was a bit gassy, I think. I finally calmed her down and got her to eat a bit and then stabbed her in the eyelid with my nail (really hard). I crawled into bed at 11:30 and she began to cry at 1:30 am. She did better with this feed but when I was changing her diaper she spit up all over. When I changed her jammies she decided to fill another diaper. Ahh. A newborn.

This morning, needless to say, I am a bit tired. So tired in fact that I spilled an entire cup of chocolate milk that I'd poured for the boys all over myself, the floor, my bare feet. I mopped said floor yesterday. You know how people say that when you wash your car, look out b/c it will rain, yeah, well, that is how it works with my kitchen floor, mop it and LOOK OUT a spill is coming. I have told the boys 3 times this morning that THIS is the last show. I should probably mean it this time. Addison is on my chest and I have decided to just let her lay here while I smell her little head and kiss her little face. Ahh. A newborn. :)

In bigger news: Addie wore her first dress a couple of weeks ago. It was a little BIG as were the tights. :) But isn't she adorable?