Eli- He's a funny one.

I really can't put into words the joy Eli brings me.  He is the quirkiest, funniest boy without EVER trying to be.  His latest thing is wearing ties.  We watched a video of when they were 3 and he had a tie on.  He has since wanted to wear one on most days.  Thankfully, my friend Kristina, JUST gave me a bag full of ties that were her sons because I was "tie-less".


Other than this tie obsession we are just dealing with life right now; the good, the bad, the ugly.  The bad involves Jared and I trying to get the Christmas weight gain off and get back on track...or is that "the ugly".  Not sure.  Wish us well!  :)

Ah the art of manipulation

I'm not even sure she was trying.  That, my friend, is why she is SOOOOOO good.  It is a little scary.  What am I talking about????  Look at these pictures.  Addie was watching her brothers play out in the snow without her one morning.  Mama wanted to stay in the warmth and watch the boys play through the door.





She is THE MASTER.  NO idea where she gets that from.

A Photo Attempt

AND the reason I think family photographers are such miracle workers.  I can't imagine getting kids to be still and look at the camera and not have a fake smile, yada, yada.  I can't even make my own kids do it.  Still I think the outtakes are funny.  BTW I didn't get THE picture but it was worth a try.





Wow, I have 3 kids.  Weird.  :)

Instagram Friday

I haven't linked up in a few weeks so some of these photos are older.  I haven't been taking many phone pics because we have been home quite a bit.




1 & 2~  The boys started swimming in the beginning of January.  Alex is a fish.  Eli hated it at the beginning because he didn't want to let go of Daddy's neck.  3rd session-he turned a corner and now they both love it.  We will have to take a break once they are casted but hope to continue after that.
3~ Addie's teeth are in full effect.  I swear she went from none to a ton so quickly.
4~ Eli on the phone, pre-bath, as naked as a jaybird.  For some reason that just cracks me up.
5~ One night a couple of weeks ago.  Kids were in bed, Jared was at the homecoming game and I was watching Parenthood, with a brownie and tea and working on my Project Life Album. So relaxing.
6~ The boys rocking their BK crowns and trying to protect themselves from Addison.  I SWEAR she was born knowing how to punch.  She's a scrapper.

Not much planned for this weekend other than church.  Alex and Addie are getting over colds and we all actually slept through the night last night!  Yay!  First night this week.

RANDOM

Hola!  I am home.  Jared is at church with the boys.  Addie is asleep.  My usual weekly break.  I was actually going to church this week but Addie woke up this morning with a cold so instead I am home and still plugging away at the picture project.

I thought I'd lost about a year and a half of pictures but found them on our external hard drive because my AWESOME husband had already backed them up and we just forgot.  YAY!

I also FORGOT my age this past month.  Jared and I were on a date a couple of weeks ago and we discussed my upcoming birthday (JUNE) and he said I'd be 37.  I was like "weird, I REALLY thought I was 35 and turning 36 this year, silly me".  This has been messing with my head since then.  I felt SO much closer to 40.  I have been convinced that my hair is thinning.  If you know me you are cracking up because I have a mane of hair, tons!  I also am seeing extra wrinkles and bought night cream.  Fast forward to 2 nights ago.  The boys kept waking for various reasons and as usual I couldn't get back to sleep.  I was lying there contemplating my life and FINALLY did the math and realized that I AM 35.  I really wanted to jab Jared and tell him he was a jerk for lying to me.  When I texted him later that day he couldn't believe it either.  He thought we were both 36.  Yep, we are LOSING it.  But at least we are losing it together.  Isn't that what marriage and parenting is all about??  :)

Speaking of catching up with pictures.  I am printing some from January 2010 and watching videos from then and I am pretty sure that I feel PHYSICAL PAIN when I look at and listen to my sweet wittle bubbies.  Sorry, about the baby talk but really such wittle bitty sweeties. Ugh, melt my heart.

Speaking of my little boys.  We went to Physical Therapy today and the plan is to cast their legs (foot to just below the knee) for 4-6 weeks.  CASTS.  BOTH LEGS.  BOTH 4 year old boys.  I am still in a bit of shock.  We have known it was a possibility but now I am thinking of day to day life with 2 boys with both legs casted.  Yikes.  Deep breaths.

I do know that this is SO minor compared to what we could be facing with twin 27 weekers though.  I HAVE to say that because I sit in the waiting room at their rehab office and see exhausted parents (often single & doing it ALL by themselves) and their beautiful children with severe disabilities.  I don't know why that is not us but I do know that I will try and not complain about casts.  Perspective.  It is a beautiful thing.

Well that's what is going on here.  No pics on this post.  I am too busy trying to cash in on penny prints from Snapfish.  It ends tonight.  Yes, I am the procrastination queen.

Why I Blog

In the spirit of a new year I started organizing pictures as I recently mentioned and started doing Project Life.  This left me wondering if blogging was overkill as far as memory preservation goes.  SO I thought I'd share why I continue to blog.

1.  I can't believe how many of the little things I have forgotten already.  Just last week I was reading an old post to Jared and we had both forgotten so many of the little things that the boys used to say.  I don't have room to write all that in my album and I'm not great at journaling on a regular basis.

2.  Because she won't always be smaller than the cabinet door.


3.  Because Alex won't always beg me to play Zingo (great game) 5x/day.

4.  Because Eli won't always look so adorable in his snow pants and he won't always want a pajama photo shoot. These are his most loved "square" pajamas by the way.



5.  Because WAY TOO QUICKLY....


AND

So for all the little moments that don't always make it into a photo album I'll continue to blog.  It is a hobby that I continue to enjoy and it has been 4 years in February!

FINALLY some snow.

We really still didn't get much but it is only the 2nd time this Winter, that I recall, we have had any. Neither were REAL snows. If this sounds AT ALL like I am complaining, I am NOT. There is a sweet little boy though who has been waiting and waiting for that glorious white stuff to fall from the sky.

 

Eli and I were driving to OT yesterday and the weather guy said that they were calling for snow. I said "ELI! DID YOU HEAR THAT? Their is supposed to be snow tomorrow!!" He chimed in from the backseat in his excited little voice "Was he talking to US?!!!"




Needless to say he was really excited and like I said we got a little bit. Enough to appease him for a little while at least.

It has been a nice day home with my kids. One of the things I like about Winter in Michigan is the slower pace. The pace is not always slow, that is for sure, but there are days like this one when it is just me and my babies home together. I love it.

18 Months Old

Unbelievable! I can't believe it has been a year and a half since Addison joined our family. Brace yourself for a picture overloaded post.
 

She is not walking but she gets around at lightning speed. We always say "here comes slappy pappy!" because you can hear her little hands slapping against the wood floors as fast as she can go.


She isn't saying a whole lot of words but babbles a ton! We expect a bit of a speech delay due to all her hearing issues that she had as an infant and the minor hearing loss she continues to have.
 

She is getting a molar and hasn't been happy the past couple of days but she does have a sweet disposition.
 
Poor baby.

She also has a "don't mess with me" attitude.
She has brothers so she knows how to roll with the punches.
 

She LOVES playing with their hot wheels, transformers, light sabers and all the "boy" toys...

and yet she loves playing with her shoes and trying to get them on while she carries and snuggles her little baby dolls. Yesterday she was carrying their transformer masks like a purse by the strap.

She will be a well-rounded little girl. No princesses in this house. :)

Ahhh, date night.

Jared and I had an impromptu date night tonight. Those are the best kind and always seem to work out. We tried during his entire break to go out together and sickness kept getting in the way. Last night I said "we need a date" and he made it happen. Our niece Amanda came over and watched the kids. Yay Amanda! It was nice and now we are home and the kids, except for Alex who I can still hear playing, are asleep and we are relaxed. Ahhhh.

I decided I am not going to go back and post all the pictures that I haven't posted. That is the nice thing about starting Project Life. I don't feel the need to put so many pictures on here. I still will because I enjoy it but if I miss something like Christmas pictures because we were all under the weather, I am not real worried about it.

I have been catching up on putting all my pictures in albums and recording stories about them. I am FINALLY printing pictures at the end of each month (meaning I did it in November & December)and once I am caught up I will only be having to put one month of pictures in instead of 2 years worth. It really is such a relief because I take A LOT of pictures. A WHOLE LOT!

This has been a goal of mine forever. I just needed to find my way through all the possibilities. I aspire to someday do this system. I have been reading Laura's blog for years and we are complete opposites but I think that is why I am drawn to her blog. That and the fact that her twin boys are a year older than mine. She is completely type A and well, I am NOT. Anyways, I have taken baby steps towards my photo organization and that along with sick kids and Eli's OT has kept me from my blogging a bit.

Without further ado, here is a picture from our recent trip to The Henry Ford.

When did my babies gets so big?  STOP THAT ALREADY!!!  Addie will be 18 months this month and the boys are going to be 5 in April.

And a happy new year...

I hope everyone is enjoying their new year. After I posted Alex and Jared were hit HARD with the stomach flu. Yuck. We have only been through this once before and it is much like child birth..you completely forget the trauma. It has been crazy. All I have to say is thank God I got my new washer before the flu hit us and THANK goodness it has a "sanitize" cycle. It was used A LOT.

As of yesterday, we have started to feel on the mend but Jared and I are tired and the boys are SO STIR CRAZY. We are hoping to take them out tomorrow and burn as much energy as possible.

We are all very thankful to be healthy on this New Years Day.