Victory Lap

When Hayes brought home his artwork for the week, it was obvious what the highlight of his week was:

When I looked at his artwork, it brought tears to my eyes.  Daddy has been very busy at work.  It is just that season where we do not get to see him much.  In fact, Daddy almost missed the Boosterthon race.  It was obvious what Hayes did not express in words, he put in a picture.

Boosterthon 2011

The kids' school has been running a fundraiser that promotes health and leadership, while raising money for the school.  The concept is pretty simple.  The kids ask for pledges, whether a flat donation or a price per lap, and then run laps on Boosterthon day.  Each day for the last week, Boosterthon has excited the children with videos and pep rallies, enticing them with impossible-to-attain-prizes that probably only cost a dollar.  But at the rallies, they also teach them important concepts such as don't be a bully, how to be a leader, the importance of wellness, etc.

My two children had different ways of preparing for the big race day.  Hayes begged me every day for a week to not send him to school on Friday (race day).  Houston, on the other hand, wanted to practice running every day when he got home from school.  Of course, he didn't run very far or very long before he was ready to move on to something else.

The night before pledges were due, I had Houston call my dad to ask him for a donation.  The conversation went something like this:

Huey:  Hey Papaw!  How much money are you going to give me?
Papaw:  Hey Houston.  I'm going to pledge you 50 cents per lap.
Huey:  Nah.  How about $2?
Papaw:  No, 50 cents per lap.
Huey:  Okay, how about $1?

The he proceeds to ask Papaw how much money Grammy was going to pledge.  My dad told him that he did not know.  When we saw Papaw later that night, Houston immediately got excited.  "Hey Papaw, how much money is Grammy gonna owe me?"

All the grandparents showed up to cheer for the boys.  Daddy even made it.  The boys did great!  Together, they raised nearly $100 for the school and had a great time doing it.

Happy Easter!!

It is quite obvious that Carters does not make

hats for my children...

Not sure what gave me that impression...

That's what you call rockin' the 97th percentile head circumference!

Notes to Self...

1.  Chocolate chip cookies are better after Easter pictures.

2.  Baskin Robbins bubble gum ice cream is best

served with a wet wipe.

3.  A bottle of slime should not be left unsupervised.

And finally, the most important note...

4. When asked for gum, the answer should be "no!"



Red Guy vs Blue Guy

There is an epic battle that continues on a near daily basis in our house (besides the mom vs laundry, that one is a given and mom loses every time.)  It's the red guy versus blue guy.  Aka Hawkins' way of wrestling with his dad.

In his utmost high pitch voice, "Dad, you 'wessel' with me?" Hawkins asks Adam.  He then proceeds to stare at Adam with those gigantic eyes.  "Sure, buddy!" is always the reply.

Hawkins then strikes a kung-foo pose and announces "Red guy!"  Adam does the same, only he plays the blue guy.  And the battle to the death begins.

There have been many, many casualties along the way.  I have seen arms sliced off, swords through the gut, and fatal body slams, just to name a few.  Good thing they both have unlimited lives!

Did Someone Say Dinner?

I've been meaning to do this post for months--that's how long this has been going on.  I kept forgetting to snap a picture of Holt wailing at dinnertime--until now.

It never fails.  Holt wakes up crying just as I sit down to eat dinner.  Doesn't matter how long he has been asleep.  Or rather, how long he was supposed to have been asleep.  But, I have to admit it is a whole lot better than him waking up crying as I am preparing dinner.  In that instance, he'd just have to scream it out or be at the mercy of his brothers' tender loving care (or lack there of, depending on the day).  Adam and I have both skillfully mastered the art of eating with a baby sitting on our knee.  However, Holt has become highly interested in the mouthfuls of yummy smelling somethings that continually bypass his own mouth.  Wonder how much longer he will tolerate it?!

The Temporary Babysitter

I have a confession...our 5 month old loves Nick Jr.  He happily sits in his swing, chewing his fingers, watching whatever might be on at the moment.  I know, it's terrible.  But it is a HUGE help when I'm putting all his brothers to bed.  Let the mind rotting begin...

Hawk-ism: Secret, Revised

I've posted before about how Hawkins loves to tell you a secret.  It's always, while whispering in your ear, "I wuv you!"

For the last several weeks, he's decided that it works just the same from any distance, be it 1 ft, 5 ft, etc., as long as he leans in the general direction of your ear and stares at your ear while whispering "I wuv you."  He's pretty stinkin' adorable.

And, I have had to share my "secret".  He used to save it for just me.  However, now he "secretly" loves everyone else too!

Spider in the Bathroom

I put the big boys to bed.  Shortly after, I asked Hawkins to go potty for the night.  He was going to be heading to bed very soon.  It ran off to the bathroom.  A few minutes later, there was a lot of commotion in the bathroom.  I could hear him yelling.  I ran to see what was going on.

He was yelling at a spider while crying profusely.  "Go 'way bug!"  (louder)  "Go 'way bug!"
By the time I ran to get the camera, I was laughing so hard at his reaction that he smiled for the camera, though seconds prior he was still crying.

I told him, "It's not a bug, it's a spider."

Now a bit calmer, he leaned in for a closer look.  He stared at it intently, surveying its every move.

"He mean 'pider.  I not like 'piders.  You need to throw him in the trash!"

We left the spider to aimlessly roam the bathroom.  It's the boys' bathroom afterall.  A few minutes on that floor would kill most anything, except germs.

Ten minutes later we passed the bathroom on the way to his room.  Hawkins made sure we stopped to look for him.  But he was nowhere to be found and Hawk was glad of that.

New Tricks

Hayes can ride without touching the pedals.

Houston can ride standing up.

And Hawkins can crawl around pretending to be a monkey.

And for the record, yes, it is nearly 80 degrees outside.  But, there are two things for certain about my boys...
1. Hayes will have on a hoodie
2. And Hawkins will have on fleece footed pajamas.

Saucers and Cereal Fail

This is what I've gotten every time that Holt has played in his exersaucer, with the exception of the initial time.  His new expiration is about 15 seconds.

And, he did NOT sleep through the night.

Saucers and Cereal

Saucers
After seeing the exer-saucer at Holt's Mother's Day Out, it made me realize it was time to pull ours down from the attic.  The attic is where everything at our house goes to die.  I had been considering our exersaucer for several weeks but shuddered at the thought of uncovering it and then cleaning it.

Adam resurrected it from the attic.  It was worse than I remembered.  Apparently, the last baby in it, Hawkins, had eaten a biter biscuit in it.  You know the ones that babies chew on and they disintegrate into a slobbery gooey brown mess?  Yeah, and we hadn't bothered wiping it up before banishing it to the attic.  To make matters worse, in the last 2.5 years that it's been in the attic, we've done a bit of construction in the attic and also our dryer vents openly into the attic.  So the biter biscuit goo, now baked on, had collected lint and sawdust.

I just stared at the thing for a good four minutes, trying to figure out what in the world I was gonna do with it.  I would be lying if I told you I did not consider just chunking the thing and heading to the store for a new one.  I tossed it in the tub and went after it with some elbow grease and anti-bacterial soap.

Finished product:

He loved it!  He played happily for a good 15 minutes.  Began to make me wonder why we had not done this sooner?!

Cereal
Since Holt, who has slept through the night since 3 weeks old, has decided to wake up every night for the past 3 weeks for a bottle, I decided to consult the doctor.  Being solely on breastmilk, babies are not to begin solids until 6 months.  Reluctantly, his doctor agreed that I could give him some cereal before bedtime.

I was so excited!  I was beyond ready for a much needed uninterrupted night of sleep!  Adam and I began our nightly bedtime routine.  I announced to him that he would be feeding cereal to Holt.  He replied with a smile, "There are only a few things in life I do not really enjoy doing, and feeding babies is one of them."  Although, he was glad to help.

Holt loved the cereal!  Adam had to adapt a method that kept Holt's hands out of his own mouth, off the spoon, and out of the bowl.  He only caused cereal to splatter everywhere once.  For his first time eating with a spoon, he (and Adam) did really well.

Here's to an uninterrupted night of sleep!  I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

Hayes-ism: Stop Pinching Me

Hayes was lying prone on the floor so enthralled with the video game on his DS that he barely noticed his three year old brother mounted on him, bouncing up and down, hollering "Giddy up, horse-ee!" repetitively.  Hawkins continued to command the horse to "giddy-up" but the horse would not budge.  He just continued to play his video game with a rather complex expression on his face.

It wasn't until the cowboy began to pinch the horse that the horse even acknowledged the presence of the cowboy.

Hayes paused his game and yelled, "Stop pinching me or else I'll toot on your head!"

Down, horse-ee, down.

Holt Goes to Mother's Day Out

Well, it is that time of year again when I go back to work.  I feel so blessed to have been able to stay home with for 5 months.  Today, Holt went to Mother's Day Out.  He and I have probably spent a total of 46.38 hours apart since he was conceived.  I know and trust his teacher.  And they have one lady per every two babies.  He'll have a better ratio at MDO than he does at home!  But even still, it was difficult dropping him off with someone else's care.  However, I did much better than the first time I dropped Houston off at Mother's Day Out nearly seven years ago.  No tears this time.  I held them back.

I returned that afternoon to pick him up.  He was lying on the floor and one of the ladies was feeding him a bottle while holding another little one.  I leaned over him to say hello, his eyes found mine and then he  immediately burst out in tears.  As if he were saying, "Momma!  Momma!  Where have you been all day?!  I can't believe you left me!"  I wanted to cry myself.

They said he was very good and had a great day.  "Is he used to taking a bottle?" they asked.  Apparently, he had not been very interested in eating.  I wanted to laugh.  They knew he was drinking breastmilk, so they assumed what most people do, that I breastfeed him.  "Oh, absolutely!" I replied.  "That's all he's ever had is a bottle."  They both shot me the craziest, most puzzled face ever.  But I guess it is understandable since my method (pumping) is unconventional.

All in all, we both had a good day.  And for the record, we've now been apart 52.47 hours.

Holt is 5 Months!!

Whoa, buddy!  You have really started to do some cool things.  You are still the happiest baby ever.  You love to smile and laugh.  Though mostly, you just laugh at Dad.

You love to play with Dad's facial hair.  I think it fascinates you.  Daddy will whisper in your ear and tickle you with his beard and you cackle up a storm.

You have developed pacifier ADD.  You can remove it from your mouth but almost as soon as it is gone, you are crying to have it back.  And then you repeat the cycle.

You have really started to play with toys and touch things within your vicinity.  It is so neat to watch your brain work and think.

You quit sleeping through the night.  (Not one of the cool things you are doing lately.)  You have consistenly gotten up every night for the last 2 weeks.  Fortunately, you just drink a bottle and go right back to sleep.  But Mom would prefer that you just sleep until 7 like you used to.

You've gotten really good at rolling over and you've found your feet.  You try relentlessly to get a piggie in your mouth but have not had success yet.

You have yet to spend a night in your crib.  Hawkins was sick off and on for about a month and I didn't want to expose you to it, since your beds are literally 18 inches from each other.  Once he got well, you quit sleeping through the night.  So, you still sleep swaddled on the big brown chair in the living room.

You are such a joy and bring such joy to our family!

Huey-ism: Nightmare

Houston had a nightmare last night.  I am so blessed because my children rarely ever get out of bed.  The kids were dead tired last night so we put them to bed early.  By 10:30 pm, Adam and I had just gone to bed ourselves.  Minutes later, Houston emerges.

Houston:  "Mommy, I had a nighmare."

I almost don't even know what to do in these instances, since it only occurs maybe once every two years that one of my children has a nightmare.  I invited him to snuggle with me a moment and tell me about it.

Houston:  "There were these bad guys and they had guns.  They were trying to get into our house and steal all of our food!"

I had to contain myself from snickering.  Although, provided what we've been eating lately, I presume it is a valid fear.  I comforted him and explained how our house is super safe and Daddy would not ever let anything happen to any of us.  However, if by some miracle, the bad guys did get all of our food, that Grammy & Papaw or Grandma & Grandpa could feed us.

He felt better and went back to bed.

Adam later confessed to me that Houston's nightmare of bad guys with guns might have been a result of him allowing Houston to watch portions of Black Hawk Down with him earlier in the day.  Aha!  You think?!

Nostalgia

Apparently, Adam and I were feeling nostalgic today and didn't know it.  I decided to make a pound cake.  In the nearly ten years that we have been married, I think I have made a pound cake one time.  I got the batter all mixed up and it was almost instinctual for me to grab the food coloring.

You see, I had an Aunt Bobbie (in the green dress on the left, the other lady is my Nana) who always made pound cake -- delicious pound cake.  Whenever we had a family get together, you could rest assure that she would be bringing a pound cake.  As predictable as a turkey on Thanksgiving.  But what made her cake so special, other than it's yummy goodness was that she would always swirl the batter with food coloring.

As a child, I was always fascinated at how she got the color all the way through the cake.  I just could not figure it out!  As I began to swirl the food coloring into my own pound cake batter, I thought of my sweet Aunt Bobbie.  I began to think how much she must have impressed me, and I didn't even realize it until now.  How it would be a crime to bake a pound cake without colorful swirls!

So for my Aunt Bobbie....Hope I did you proud!

Also feeling nostalgic, Adam fixed himself a peanut butter, butter, and cheese sandwich for lunch.  In the nearly ten years that we have been married, I think he has prepared this sandwich one other time.  Around the lunch table, he explained to the kids how his Grandpa Schwartz would always eat these and Adam loved for his Grandpa to fix him one as well.  Adam took a bite of his creation and determined that some things just taste better when you're a kid.  However, none of our kids would agree to try it.

It's funny the little things that impress upon you as a child.  You don't know it in the moment, but you realize it later in life with your own kids.  It makes me wonder what I do that my children will cherish.  What will they carry on with my grandchildren?

Feeding the Fam

I happened to catch a little smidgen of Paula's Best Dishes on Food Network the other day.  Chris Rock's (the comedian) mom was a guest cook.  She was talking with Paula about raising her seven children -- six of which were boys, and more importantly feeding them.  "Saturday morning I would sleep in a little.  I'd hear the boys barrel down the stairwell, finish off two boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk.  Then I'd head downstairs shortly after and they'd ask me, 'Hey Mom!  What's for breakfast?' "

I know those days are in my near future.  I am expecting them, though not so much looking forward to them.  People joke with me all the time with having four boys that it won't be long and my monthly grocery expenses will be more than my mortgage.  When that time comes, perhaps we can just sleep at the grocery since I fear I will not be able to afford them both.  They have showers at Kroger, right?!

It seems as though those days are coming sooner than Adam or I expected.  There have been suttle signs of the increasing appetites along the way.  For instance, we are no longer a one box of shells and cheese family.  Last night only the boys were hungry.  I dug through the pantry and found a big can of ravioli.  The last time I fed them ravioli (a few months ago), this can was large enough for H1-H3 dinner with leftovers.  They gobbled up the entire 2.5 pounds of ravioli in two helpings each and then all had a bowl of cereal after that.

This morning, I made breakfast.  A huge pot of grits, a dozen eggs, and half a loaf of toast later, we were all full.

So I've decided to start a "Feed My Children Fund".  If you feel so inclined, you may contribute.  No donation too small.  Otherwise, we might be forced to snack on Holt's delectable ham hocks.