The Wee Small Hours of the Morning

I am up. It's early. The past 2 mornings I have been up around 4 A.M. We have had some accidents that require me doing laundry at 4 A.M. I am tired but every time I try to go back to sleep my quiet house calls to me. I love a quiet house sometimes. In the land of "why's" and "how's" and "when's" (any of you who have 3 or 4 year olds understand this) a quiet time when no one is asking me anything is precious. And now I'll insert the line that makes me feel better.....Not that I don't love and appreciate my sweet children, because I do. OK now I can go on. :)

It's been a rough week. Eli is in a "phase" as we parents like to call them. Alex is in the same phase but a toned down version of it right now. Eli is in the amped up, he might be possessed, version. My texts to Jared have been great. They are along the lines of: how close to home are you?, YOUR kids are driving me insane! Mama needs a break!

Jared is good about giving me those breaks. He took the boys to church on Wednesday which he does weekly and last night I had Ladies Fellowship at the church which was a welcomed break. Anyways, 4 1/2 is kicking my butt. 15 months however is a welcomed respite. Despite Addie's 4 teeth coming in at the same time, she is playing on her own a ton and is interacting with us a lot more. She's not an infant anymore. So weird.

And because a pictureless post 2 days in a row would be odd. Here is a soccer picture.

This was their last game. These are friends children who I have known for FOREVER. We have been at the same church since we were infants and went to High School together and still are at church together. It is great to have these people still in my life AND now are kids play together. The girl is my niece Alli. She is stuck with us, but I am glad my sisters are in my life still also. :)

I am still working on a soccer post but I took so many pictures I thought why not throw random soccer pictures on other posts.

Ummm, that was rude.

My sweet son Eli speaks his mind A LOT. It is actually getting him in trouble right now BUT quite often it is kind of funny. For instance I was just singing along to umi zoomi and he said "Mom, stop singing. When you sing it kind of freaks me out."

He is always telling Jared and I to stop doing things like he is a teenager and we are embarrassing him.

The boys are REALLY into Spiderman and Super Heros. Books about them, shows about them and of course they pretend to BE them.

Of course in this play there is always a bad guy and Alex calls them "Mad guys".

Jared and I were discussing which is more difficult the physically demanding age, that is Addison or the mentally, emotionally difficult age, that is Alex and Eli. We've decided they are BOTH hard.

The boys just kind of want to do what they want, when they want and they are pretty sure that Mom and Dad don't know what they are talking about.

This morning I told Eli that the number on the clock was 9 and when it became a 10 he could watch Team Umi Zoomi. He told me I was wrong it was a 6 on the clock. He was pretty convincing but I told him "Eli, I am a college graduate, I am pretty sure I know what a 9 looks like."

It was one of the few times in the last 5 years that I have been able to use my degree. :) I knew it would come in handy. ;)

He doesn't just say rude things however. Today, he also informed me that "Daddy, is SO MY HERO!"

He also took 2 steps into the backyard took a deep breath and said "It smells like a Spring day. This is a great world!"

Most of these funny sayings are about Eli because he talks all. the. time. non-stop. BUT I love it, most of time.

As far as Addie Pants goes ... she had her early on appointment today and while she is doing quite well she is a bit behind in gross motor (walking, cruising furniture type of stuff) so it has been determined that she will receive services.

The boys have MRI's a week from today. Ugh. That is all I have to say about that. Well one more word comes to mind....dread. Ok that is all.

They have been referred for OT/PT evals and the state is required to do this within 30 days. As I type this another word comes to mind..... overwhelmed. Today that is. Other days not so much.

Well since this post is all over the place I might as well add to the crazy and state that the boys are officially done napping and I officially miss napping. We are doing quiet times which go well about 80% of the time. The other 20, like today, I just REALLY want Jared to get home.

Shutterfly Winners.

Hi! I used the random number generator and the winners ARE......

Liz

Amber

Becky

Email me and I will reply with your codes for the free cards.

BTW I could have tried to figure out how to show the number thing on the blog and prove that these are the winners but REALLY didn't want to so you will have to trust me. :)

Congrats to the winners and for those of you who didn't win, thanks for entering.

The Week Begins

Monday. Not a good start so far. Addie's first Early On appointment was today. This is to make sure she is doing well developmentally. She was referred by our ped. for an evaluation. Long story short, nobody came. So in the midst of evals for the boys and MRI's and OT appointments and dentist appointments all of which are in the next couple of weeks I have to reschedule with someone who didn't show. YAY! Ok venting over. BUT these are the joys of preemies and this lovely system that is in place to help them. Nuff said. (I guess my venting wasn't quite over. :) )

The boys had their last soccer game this weekend. I have more pictures to share but couldn't resist this one.

Yeah, he is hugging her when he is supposed to be shaking hands. My boy has a crush. His first non-mama one, that is. Eli refers to Ayla as "the big one". To him that is a big compliment. I will have to explain that someday she may not be as thrilled to be called that. Nonetheless he keeps asking if she can come over to play. :) Cute. On a side note: He has GREAT taste. She is adorable and is THE BEST PLAYER on our team. She is seriously fun to watch. She kicks butt.

The boys were laying like this and watching themselves in the mirror after bath last night and I ran to grab my camera. I really did not pose them for these.

This is one of the girls in Jared's Senior Class with Addie. These brave kids all let Adds play with their smart phones and she was in 1 year old HEAVEN!

His class is full of good kids. Being around 17 year old girls who are rockin' their skinny jeans can be a bit intimidating for a 35 year old whose had 3 kids however it was not like that at all. They are all really sweet. Even the boys were great with my kids and respectful. I think it would be fun to do an end of the year party for them here. Whaddaya think honey??? :)

Well that's the latest here. Don't forget to enter my Shutterfly giveaway. Your odds are REALLY GOOD! :)

My 1st Giveaway!!!

Shutterfly has some awesome holiday cards again this year. I had such a great experience with them last year. Our cards came out beautifully. I chose the flat card that allows you to write on the back. I loved having this option. It has a greeting printed on it so there is no obligation to write anything but as you know last year was a rough year for us when we added our 3rd preemie to the home. Therefore there were a lot of people that I wanted to thank for all their love and support. The back of the card allowed me to do this.

(Sorry, I had to take a picture of our card. Our scanner is down and I couldn't link to a full size example on their website. But you get the idea. This picture doesn't do the card justice but trust me I LOVED them.)

This year, I hope to get some good shots before it gets cold and I will probably choose to do a collage again.

There are so many choices but here are some of my faves.

I think this is precious if you have one child or if you can get the perfect family pic. This one is a stationary card like the one I chose last year.

Let me take a moment and make a suggestion if you are at a time in your life where you are pre-kids, or post-kids or never wanna have any kids ;). Jared and I didn't do Christmas Photo Cards before kids and I SOOOOO wish we had. I think it is such a great way to make sure you are getting at least one good yearly picture and I LOVE to see pics of young couples. I recommend you do one this year. Those of you who are post-kids we 30-somethings need to see that marriages really do stand the test of time. I'd LOVE to get a card from couples who are empty-nesters and are still in love. And to my sisters, enter this giveaway because I'd like to have a Christmas pic from each of you too. :)

OK moving on....

I'm really loving this one for our family. I also need to include the year like they have done. Last year I forgot this step.

Love this one too....

this one is great too....

As you can see I am going to have a REALLY tough time choosing. SO I guess my only warning would be to the indecisive.....let another family member choose for you so you can get them done BEFORE Christmas. :)

So all that to say this:

Last year I posted about my free holiday cards and THIS YEAR my readers are going to have the same opportunity. 3 of you have a chance to win 25 holiday cards from Shutterfly.

Here is how you win......

1) Head on over to Shutterfly, look around at their selection of cards, then come back and tell me which one you would choose. (But don't worry if you win you don't have to stick with your choice. If you are like me you'll agonize over which to choose :) and miss the giveaway all together.)

2) You must be a follower of {Our Sweet Peas} to win.

3) You must leave a comment. No e-mail entries please. (However if you have a question about how to become a follower OR how to leave a comment feel free to email me your questions).

This giveaway will run for 3 days. It starts today, Saturday, October 22nd, and ends Monday, October 24th at Midnight EST.

Giveaway is closed. I will announce the three winners on Wednesday!

*Disclaimer: I was not remunerated for this post, although I did receive free product. All opinions are 100% mine.

My sweet little 27 weekers.

We sent our laptop that we thought was a goner because it took FOREVER to turn on to our computer guy (who's 19 years old) for a last ditch effort. He repaired it and it runs great so I am on it currently. It is so nice to have back because now the boys play computer games and they each have their own laptop. This gives me some down time during Addie's morning nap and they are learning while playing. Win, win!

Anyways, while on this computer I started looking at the old photos that were taken well before I started blogging. I thought I'd share them.

This is me doing kangaroo care with Alex. So tiny.

This is Jared with Alex. We weren't able to hold Eli at this point because he was too sick and breathing was his priority.


This was taken about a month before they were born. I look at this Jared and feel like I need to warn him about what our lives will be like and how difficult our first several months with our first born children will be. He looks SO young.

This is me. I was considered full term size at this point which was not quite 6 months into the pregnancy.


Sometimes where we came from is a good reminder for how good we have it. This afternoon I am headed to meet with a woman who works with high risk 4 year olds to prepare them for kindergarten. We are not in the program but are on a waiting list. This all started when our pediatrician referred us to neurology due to some tip toe walking. The neurologist felt there was a deficit due to their inability to copy his drawing of a square. It has since been explained to me that they were watching to see if their brain had developed to the point where they are crossing a midline meaning using both hemispheres at the same time. (I am probably butchering this explanation but this is new to me.) Anyways, they may not be doing this SO they were referred for MRI's (yuck, they have to be sedated) to make sure it is not fluid pressing on that particular part of the brain. And they were reffered for a educational eval. and occupational therapy.

I didn't really see this coming because they know all their letters and their sounds, some sight words, numbers, etc. I felt like I'd prepared them but if their brain can't cross this particular midline they won't developmentally be able to do certain things. This is where OT will come in and part of the reason that I am meeting with her today is for her to give me a book on fine/gross motor games and activities.

It's been a couple of weeks since this was all thrown at us and we are taking it in stride. Doctors warn you when your children are struggling for the first few months of life as a preemie that learning disabilities are a possibility and you feel like laughing at them because that seems so trivial compared to what they are facing BUT now that school is approaching it kind of hits closer to home. No Mom or Dad wants there child to have to struggle. We are definitely not freaking out and the boys are SO bright and do so well but this is a bridge we are currently crossing. We want to give them every bit of help they may need and look forward to being given the tools we need.

So LOTS of appointments for us over the next several months. We are not sure if kindergarten will be in Fall 2012 or 2013. All of these evals. will give us more of an idea of what we are working with.

Monday

We had an 8:15 am appointment this morning. Addie slept 'til 8, which she never does. I ran a bit late. The boys and I went to Barnes & Noble after where they played trains a bit and each picked a little book. They were excited. Eli attempted to read his while walking through Target. This was our 3rd stop because we needed diapers. Love Target diapers. I snagged some stretchy $1 gloves there that have skeleton bones on them. They can't wait to scare Daddy when he gets home. :)

I love these little hands (Eli) that are suddenly looking kinda big, actually.

Jared passed his head cold onto me. I don't do sick well. I am crabby. I am looking forward to naptime .

I love these ballerina jammies and that smile.

We had a busy weekend filled with soccer and church and a Senior class party and a first birthday party. Today we have 2 appointments, a soccer game and grocery shopping. Jared and I will divide and conquer for the groceries, 2nd appointment and soccer. I love that we "divide and conquer" well. Except for last night when he wanted to watch something that I didn't. I was annoyed. Did I mention that I get CRAZY crabby when I am sick? Yeah, I do. BUT, the good news is, he loves me anyways. He is cool like that.

Alex, Eli & Charlie (Alex's best friend) snuggly buggly. Eli would say "I'm as comfy as a bug" and he also says "comfy as a rose".

He got a new iphone because my electronic obsessed brother in law (whom we love) had to have the new, new one. This means Jared got the new, old, one and I got the new, older, older-ish one. I'm pretty sure that doesn't even make sense. We love hand-me-downs that are CHEAP and still new to us.

So that is what life looks like right now on this Monday in October. I threw in random pictures. I thought it might make reading about absolutely NOTHING a bit more interesting. These are pictures of mornings when we didn't have anywhere to be. I like these mornings. I vote for the calm. I will change my tune by December when I have cabin fever due to our winters.

Off too drink some tea and whine about my cold because I am a wimp and have LOTS more to get done today, sick or not.

15 Months Old

I cannot believe Addison is already 15 months old. How crazy is that? She is such a good natured baby.....except when she is not. The girl has a bit of a temper. She still sleeps like a champ, taking 2 naps and sleeping 12 hours at night. She has stood on her own although she doesn't do it regularly. She is mimicking some words and mumbles conversations with you. She continues to be nosy and always has to know what is going on. She LOVES to play with her brothers and follows them from room to room. They don't mind it yet. The girl can't get enough peanut butter (soy butter, actually) and jelly sandwiches. She also loves waffles plain and cinnamon raisin bread. Do you see a carb theme?? She continues to LOVE being outside and taking walks. If we are out and about she is RARELY crabby because she loves all the non-stop action. Still not much hair but she continues to work the bald look. I can't even imagine her with hair or that she could be any cuter with it, of course, I may be a bit biased. Unfortunately, not having hair automatically means she is a boy. It doesn't matter if she is wearing a pink dress people tell me how cute my SON is. :) It is the equivalent to the advice well meaning (sometimes) people used to give me regarding twins. It is kind of annoying but at the same time amusing and it keeps things interesting. I sometimes correct them and sometimes smile and move on. What's funny is the for the older crowd "addison" is a masculine name so it still throws them even if I do tell them her name. Now THAT is fun. It is kind of like the "Pat" skit on SNL.

When I get low to the ground with my camera she crawls for it at FULL SPEED. As seen here.

and here.

She likes to hand you things like this and then snatch it right back.

She has to taste EVERYTHING.

She looks adorable in her poncho. This one dates back to my niece Bella who is 6 and it has been worn by all the neices. It may even have been Mariah's daughter, Hannah's. Not sure. Regardless it is at least 6 years old but who can resist the cuteness.

She likes to put clothes into the washing machine and take them out. She likes to do this with everything: Toys in the basket/out of the basket. Cups on the shelf/off the shelf. It is for sure her favorite game.

Another thing she reminded me of this morning is that her milk is like her "morning coffee", don't mess with her before she has it. She whines until it is in her mouth. I enter her room and pick her up, put her on the changing table and insert sippy cup. It is at this point that I see a smile just beyond that little cup.

We love this little surprise of ours. :)

Checking in.

We have been SO busy and there are lots of pictures to post. We have gone to the pumpkin patch, the village, had a garage sale, played soccer, had appointments with specialist and on and on the list goes. I have lots of uploading to flickr to do but in the mean time here is a favorite picture that I took today.

I hope you are all enjoying fall as much as we are. I love fall in Michigan and all the traditions that go along with it.