Mini Town Birthday

I was going to title this blog entry "Busy, Busy" but then I found out that I've already used "Busy, Busy, Busy" and "Busy Saturday"! I guess we must have quite a few of those. :)

The morning began with the three cousins playing loud Hannah Montana music in DD's bedroom complete with microphones, singing, and dancing. We're so lucky that the girls are so close in age and interests that they really are the best of friends. My sister got DD a "CD Boombox" so she can play her own music now. Apparently, my two nieces like to play loud music in their rooms back home, too. Now, they've introduced that activity to their other cousin.

While the girls were dancing to the beat of their own music, DH and I went to DS#2's first soccer game of the fall season. I got to test out my zoom lens again. I didn't take too many photos, but I did get a few nice action shots.

DS#2 is so funny. I showed him this photo of him about to kick the ball, and he started insisting that he doesn't hold his arms out like that when he kicks. Well obviously you do, son! *WINK* He also complained this morning about how his new uniform socks are blue (instead of black like last year) and now they don't match his black and red cleats! *SIGH*

His game was a "club friendly" one which means that they were just playing for experience and not for keeping score or anything. They played a team that they have never beaten before, but then after halftime, they played against a completely new team. Literally, the team they played during the first half moved to an adjoining field and a team that started out playing on that adjoining field came and played our team. DS#2 and his teammates were keeping their own score, of course, and his team got more cumulative points than the other teams scored on them. He was also happy that his soccer coach/trainer from last year coached them during this game. I'll have to post more on that at another time.

Back home, we got our things ready to take to DD's birthday party. DD's party was at this place called Mini Town. There are several rooms to play in. One is a beauty salon. One is a movie theatre where they were playing the movie Ratatouille. There are also rooms made to look like a disco (complete with disco ball and loud music), a grocery store, and a school, etc.

I'm not going to post pics of her blowing out her cake because her name is in very large letters on top. I will, however, report on how she had to blow maybe four or five times before all of the candles were out. I made a comment about how maybe we wouldn't be serving that part of the cake (since she probably ended up spitting over it). Instead, here is an adorable photo of DS#3 in the grocery store with a basketful of yogurt and milk! He had so much fun and behaved very well considering this party was during his naptime! :)

Only five people from DD's class made it, but we had a few more from DD's class at the other school, plus family and some neighbors. Twenty-five kids were included in the fee, and only twenty kids were there. Everyone that came commented on what a fun place this was, though. Even DS#2 had fun. He played outside mostly. They had this area with several plasma cars. Here is DS#2 playing there with one of our neighbors. They also had an inflatable playground and a jungle gym. Mini Town was a really fun place!

We went to church tonight just so we could take our time tomorrow. I really enjoy it when my family comes to visit and I'm glad my kids love it too. No time to scrap for tonight, but hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow! :)

30 in 30 Days 4 and 5

I'm trying to keep up! If it wasn't for my friend Jen challenging me directly, I would have gone to bed already instead of scrapping! This first one uses a photo I took of my parents earlier this year. Everyone in the family loves their monthly visits! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

This is a quick one I finished tonight. These photos were taken in 2002. Wow, that was a long time ago! I miss my cropping friends back in Illinois!

Today, my Mom arrived with my sisters and my nieces. They will be attending DD's birthday party tomorrow. DS#3 has been benefiting from a lot of attention from the three 6-year-old girls. He loves baths, so when he heard my sister ask, "When should we give the girls baths?" he started heading up the stairs. You can see that one cousin is soaping up his leg, and the other cousin is washing his hair. I told him that he should enjoy getting to bathe with three girls. DS#1 said, "They're six years old. It doesn't matter." I responded by asking him, "When does it matter?" DS#1 was smart enough not to respond. ;)

30 in 30 Days 2 and 3

I'm very pleased to say that I've been able to create two more scrapbook pages in the last couple of days! My primary motivation is the 30 in 30 Challenge over at Scrap Shanty I mentioned before, but I also have some challenges from Scrapaddict and Playground of Memories that I have to catch up on.

This first one uses photos from November 2002 when we were trying to potty train DS#2 without much success. See that smiling face on that fully clothed body that is sitting on the potty chair? Obviously, that photo is just for show! :)

This next page uses photos from April 2007. DS#3 was about 2 1/2 weeks old and I was going stir crazy in the house, so we took a family walk--our first family walk with DS#3. I had to take a photo of the page instead of using the scanner because it was so lumpy.


Next, I have some news! DD is growing a new tooth--her first permanent tooth! It's still a little small, so I designated it in this photo with an arrow. DH "found" it yesterday morning when he was checking her teeth after she brushed them. She's been so excited that she shows everyone her new tooth! I think she's probably shown her whole school class by now! The bad news is that NONE of her teeth are loose yet. Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it...

As for other news, my Mom decided to cut DS#3's hair on Sunday. I really wanted to get it cut, but I was trying to decide if I was going to do the cutting or take him to someone else. Mom just started cutting, so I helped her out by trying to finish. It's a little uneven, and this isn't even a good picture of it, but I think he looks pretty cute anyway. :)

Notice how his shorts don't match his shirt? Well, when I took this photo, I had only been home for two hours and I had already changed his poopy diaper twice! After another hour, he had another poopy diaper, so I decided to go ahead and give him his bath before he had another one! He is currently sitting in my lap playing with my ZIG markers--preventing me from reaching the keyboard very well!

I hope I can show off another page tomorrow. Wish me luck! :)

30 in 30 Day 1

I can't believe I actually finished another page! I joined the September 30 in 30 Layout Challenge at Scrap Shanty so I've got to keep this up all month. My friend Jen put me up to it. :) I hope I can get some creative juices flowing and not get too stressed about it. I tried to do this back in January and I got lots done, but DH said I was a little "snappy".

Anyway, this page uses a photo from last January when an ice storm rolled through South Texas. DD is holding up an icicle, just in case you can't see it. School was cancelled and even my place of work told everyone to stay home. That icy feeling would feel good about now since it's been in the low 90s for forever!

After 3 months...

After 3 months, I finally scrapped! I did this for a challenge on Playground of Memories. The challenge was to scrap the last photos you took. These photos were taken on the first day of school. Doesn't DD have the greatest smile here? :) I guess I need to do a page of my DSs now, too. You can bet that those pages won't be about fashion! :)

Here are some LOs that I started way back in May and finally completed. This first one is just a plain pocket page that holds a bunch of maps from our 2007 Disney trip. I wanted to have the maps so I can look back later and compare them with maps from the next time we go to Disney.

I used a sketch from Scrapaddict.com for this one. There's nothing too exciting about the page itself, but I just had to document this moment in time. I really love the relationship between my DS#3 and my Dad. They really seem to enjoy the time they spend together. :)

Hopefully, I'll have a couple more pages done by tomorrow! Wish me luck!

One Week Down

Well, the first week of school is over, and so far so good. The kids all say they enjoy their new schools. DD is telling me that she's making lots of friends. The boys are telling me that they are also making friends, although seemingly slower than DD. She's already saying that she wants to go to second grade at this same school. Don't you love how 6-year-olds can make friends so easily?

We're gearing up to have her birthday party next Saturday. Although her birthday was in August, for the last two years, we've always scheduled her party for two weeks after school started, just so she can invite her new class. That way DH and I can also meet the other parents. I don't know if we'll keep doing this big party, though. It gets rather expensive, and it's always a bit stressful to put everything together. This year we invited her class plus some of her old friends from her old school--that's a lot of kids. The invitations went out Tuesday, and so far, only four kids have RSVP'd. Add her cousins that are coming into town for her party plus her siblings and we'll have at least eight or nine (depending whether or not DS#1 has a game then), but really, we have no idea how many kids will be there. I guess it's not "in vogue" to RSVP anymore...

Encouraging Words

DH had to give DS#2 a pep talk tonight. He has a new soccer coach that he isn't "clicking" with. We've heard many good things about this coach. He's the head coach of a local college men's team. He coaches another team of 15 year old boys. He seems to be well respected. Unfortunately, for DS#2, this new coach means change and he doesn't take to change very easily. DH and I are just praying that over time, DS#2 will get used to him, learn some great soccer skills, and enjoy himself. Until then, DH and/or I will give him pep talks and hope for the best.

Tonight also, I spoke on the phone with one of the trainees that I work with. I was assigned to him as his "mentor" last year. He has had a little trouble adjusting to the type of work we do, and has had several deficient evaluations from other supervisors. I actually haven't worked one on one with him for several months, so all I have to go on is what other people tell me. I'm trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to help him. It's a bit frustrating for me since he's working in a different area right now, so I can personally do only so much. Still, I was giving him a pep talk and asking him what I can do to help him. I'm hoping for the best here, too.

Hopefully, all will go well with both of these situations. :)

First Day of School 2008

Last night, DS#3 didn't care that today was the first day of school and that his parents wanted to get plenty of rest so they could go about their day's activities. No, he kept crying in his sleep last night. DH and I were exhausted this morning! The one "good" thing was that I was up before the alarm so I could awaken the DD and DS#2 (both were very sound asleep), and I was awake enough to heat up the leftover banana chocolate chip pancakes from Saturday and make turkey bacon. As long as I was home, I wanted to do something a little different for their breakfast than what they usually get. I even offered to make DS#1 some eggs, but he said he liked my pancakes. :)

DD was in a good mood and was very willing to get her picture taken, of course. Doesn't she have just the best smile? I bought her this outfit a few weeks ago, and she has a matching argyle sweater (she was afraid of getting cold at school) and matching headband and ribbon barrettes for her hair. She's really gotten into Hannah Montana ever since she watched the "Best of Both Worlds" concert movie. She's got a matching lunchbox too, even though she will probably be eating the hot lunch on most days.

The kids were so excited that they bounced around and even got ready early! I managed to get a smile from DS#2, but only after DH threatened him! I couldn't get him to smile when I was taking pictures out at the bus stop. DH and I think he was getting a bit apprehensive and just needed to be left alone. In fact, DD was one of the first ones to get on the bus (she didn't even wave goodbye), while DS#2 was the last one on board. Their bus driver is the most amazing man. He was the bus driver four years ago when DS#1 rode his bus last. He recognized them as being new right away, despite a very loaded bus (sitting three deep). He even knows the kids by name and when DS#1 rode his bus, he remembered his birthday! Wow!

DS#1's bus picked him up about half an hour later. He let me take photos of him in his school uniform, but I allowed him to go to the bus stop alone. This is probably the first photo I've posted here of him without his glasses on. He's getting adjusted to wearing contacts, but I made sure he had an extra pair of contacts and glasses in his backpack, as well as some saline solution--just in case.

All the kids were just as excited when they got home. DD and I had to rush off to gymnastics, so I didn't get to see DS#1 get off the bus or hear the boys' stories. DD busily talked about how she got to sit by her good friend on the bus and that she had already made friends in her class. She also talked about how she didn't have to "move her clip" which meant that she behaved well also. DS#2 seemed happy because he knew a boy in his class already. DH and I were so worried, but I'm sure that once DS#2 realized that he knew someone, he must have felt some relief. DS#1 wasn't too talkative earlier, but DH did get the impression that he felt good about his new school and his classes. Now, both DH and I can relax a little. The first day of school is over!

What about DS#3? He and DH walked out to the bus stop in the morning, and he let DH and I go to the gym. He also let me have lunch with my friend Jen. He was patient with me at Costco, and although he could have taken a longer nap, he awakened in time to see the kids get off the school bus. This evening, DS#1 took him outside and he didn't want to come back inside. I enticed him back inside by telling him that I would give him a bath. He loves baths! After his bath, he was playing in the gameroom with DS#1. He apparently opened the TV cabinet and made sounds like he wanted DS#1 to open the other cabinet door. He picked up the Gamecube controller and even unwound the cord so he could sit down and start pressing the buttons. DS#1 called me upstairs to come take a picture, so I did!

I'm a little sad I'll be going back to work tomorrow morning and that I'll miss the second day of school. At least I feel better now about the kids making a good transition to their new schools! :)

Last Weekday Before School

We're trying to cram activities in that won't be so easy to do during the school year. One such activity is going to the Rainforest Cafe. That restaurant is usually crowded, but not as much on non-holiday weekdays, so this was our chance. We got there right as they opened, so we didn't have to wait. The kids enjoyed everything from the store to the fake "thunderstorm" every 30 minutes to the animals coming "alive" every 12 minutes. Unfortunately, little man was frightened by the big gorilla near our table. He clung to DH tightly every time the gorilla started moving. Before we knew it, DS#3 had fallen asleep, so I guess it was a mixture of fright and fatigue. He felt a little better after his nap, even dancing a little to the ambient music, although he still freaked a little when the animals started moving again.

I got some good pics of the other kids near those animatronic animals. We found this tiger on another floor as we were leaving. My goofy boys thought it would be funny to pretend the tiger was eating them, but at least they posed for the photo! DS#1 had the shrimp sampler and after he inhaled it, he actually said, "I'm not hungry." DH and I hear "I'm hungry" so often that this was definitely a surprise!

After lunch we headed next door to the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream shop. I guess their A/C must not have been working, because I've never been to an ice cream shop that wasn't cold. Even my ice cream was a little soft. Still, we have a hard time passing up Haagen Dazs, and their location next to the Rainforest Cafe was a big draw for us. We are definitely an ice cream loving family!

This afternoon, DH took the boys to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. We hardly go to movies, so this was a nice treat for the boys. They enjoyed the 3D effects, but DH wasn't that impressed with the story line. While they were there, the other two kids and I got to watch the rain come down in buckets. I was glad that DH and the boys weren't coming out of their movie any time soon. I did set up a chair so that DS#3 could watch the rain from the window. He just loves to look out of the little windows next to our front door.

This evening we had Meet the Teachers at the kids' new elementary school. This first photo is of DD at her desk. I also took a photo of her next to the front door of her class so I can compare it to a picture of her at the end of the year. I expect that she'll be a little taller then. She was so excited about meeting her teacher that after we had already gone to meet DS#2's teacher, she wanted to go back to her class again. I indulged her, but mostly because we had forgotten the diaper bag there! :)

A few days ago, when we were telling DS#2 about this event where he could meet his new teacher, he acted like he didn't care about it--like he didn't think it was necessary. Tonight, as we were walking into his classroom, he totally walked by his teacher without saying anything. She was standing right next to the front door! He acted a little shy and looked down a lot. After we were at home and he was cleaning out his backpack for the new school year, DH thought he was maybe a little less apprehensive than he was before this event. I bought DS#2 and DD school spirit shirts to help them "get in the mood" to attend this new school. We'll see how it goes on Monday, but I think it all looks positive! :)

Today's Schedule of Events

I took the day off today, tomorrow, and Monday so I could spend some time with the kids before school starts. I also wanted to get a few things done that I haven't gotten to do because of work and watching the Olympics.

This morning, we went to the gym. I really need to start exercising regularly again. I feel so much better when I exercise, so I don't know why I don't just do it. Oh wait, I think that's because I'm so tired from all the other stuff I have to do--sigh! I used to say that I exercised just so I could eat whatever I want. The problem is that I still eat whatever I want. DH would also really benefit from more regular exercise, so we've been trying to support each other in this quest.

This afternoon, the youngest three children and I went to the Rivercenter Mall (DH and DS#1 went to soccer practice). My mom drove into town with a friend to attend a convention for work. They are staying near the River Walk, so I had to go see her, of course. We had dinner at Tony Roma's, which used to be a big favorite of ours. This location isn't nearly as nice as the one that used to be near us, but that one closed a long time ago. It was still a nice visit, with Mom getting reacquainted with her grandchildren. We were at the Disney Store when we first met up with her, and DS#2 had given DS#3 this Mickey toy to hug and hold. The kids were sad to separate from their Lola, but she promised to come visit with Dad next week! :)

Library Time

Today, DH took the kids to a different branch of the public library than the one we usually go to. This branch was unique because it is actually located in the namesake's former residence. The residence was bequeathed to the city to be used as a free public library.

The original reason why DH decided to go to this branch was that they were advertising free ice cream along with their usual Wednesday morning storytime. Apparently, they also sang songs along with reading a book during storytime, and DH thought that it was nice enough that maybe he might be visiting this branch again with DS#3 during the school year.

Here's a photo taken at one of our local malls yesterday. They have a really cool indoor playground for small children, which meant that the older boys sat this one out. After a few days of rain, it was a welcome change to be able to play "outside" for a bit. I think DS#3 looks pretty happy about it, don't you? :)

Olympics Fatigue

DH and I are really enjoying watching the Olympics. Better yet, the kids are enjoying it, too. They all really got into watching Michael Phelps win his record eight gold medals. DD loves watching any of the gymnastics. The boys love watching the soccer games. DS#1 enjoyed the beach volleyball because of the women in skimpy swimsuits.*WINK* DS#3 is the only one that doesn't really watch (because he is such an "action" guy), but he loves to sit on the couch with everyone else.

The only problem is that the primetime coverage on NBC doesn't end until 11PM and then I have to turn around and get up at 5AM. I'm exhausted! Sure we could tape it, and we have taped parts of it so the kids could go to bed and not miss the swimming and the gymnastics, but invariably I'll find out who won the next day at work from people talking about it. Also, the kids have "forgotten" to keep the tape for me to watch and have erased it instead. Doh!

Despite the fatigue, I'm going to miss the Olympics when they're gone. I can't help but feel that despite our differences (national or international), we all come together every two years to watch and honor our finest athletes. That's a good thing!

Warning--Poop Post

First just a warning! I'm going to be talking about DS#3's poopy problems, so stop reading now if you don't want to hear about poop!
What a fun-filled weekend with the little man! On Saturday, he spent most of the day intermittently breaking out in screams of pain from not being able to poop. It was horrible for DH and me because we did what we could, but the rest was up to him. :( At least he did have a few happy times, like when we went to Target and I decided to buy him this big ball. He always makes hand motions towards it when we go to Target and he sees the big bin that they keep these balls in. I decided to finally get that ball for him. :) He was saying "ball" when I took the picture.

When he finally did manage to poop (it was evening by then), he was back to his happy little self. DH and I just laughed when we saw him just rolling around the floor as happy as can be! Today was the "fallout". He had so many poops today that I lost count. They weren't runny, thank goodness, but I was a bit tired of changing his diapers.

On a sweeter smelling note, DS#3 made it through most of the mass in the main church today. He kept walking from our pew to the empty pew in front of us, and DH thought he was a distraction to the people seated behind us, but he was pretty quiet, so I was happy. I did have to take him out to the Narthex a couple of times during some particularly quiet, solemn moments, but all in all, I think he behaved pretty well.

Wii Fun

We've been having lots of fun with our Wii Fit game. Here, DH is doing one of the yoga poses for the first time. He got a little self conscious and lost his balance when he heard the camera click. I heard him say, "That's not fair!" as I ran away with the camera! He looks hilarious when he does the Hula Hoop game, too. :)

DD was hilarious last week. First, she tried some yoga, and she got all upset because she had chosen the female instructor and for some reason, the game switched it to a male instructor! I almost thought she was going to cry, but if she did that then I would have put her straight to bed because that meant she was too tired! Next, she did the "Free Run" where she "runs" for 10 minutes. After that she wanted to run for another 10 minutes. I asked her why she was doing it again and she said, "I like the workout"!!! I tried not to laugh too loudly! She also kept saying, "I'm getting sweaty." This girl usually complains about expending energy! She also kept running too fast and kept falling down in the game--sort of like in real life where she gets ahead of herself!

The baby wants to join in on the fun, too. Once, when DS#2 was doing the Hula Hoop game, DS#3 looked at him for a bit then started moving his hips around too! There was also a time when I was trying to stand on one leg for the yoga and DS#3 ran up to me and started grabbing that one leg I was standing on! It was rather hard to balance! I got this cute photo of him playing with the Wii board. I also got a photo of him actually standing on the board, but it wasn't as cute as this photo. :)

New Lens

I just wanted to show one of the shots I got at DS#1's soccer tourney with my new zoom lens. (The other boys' faces have been blurred out to protect the innocent.) I'm excited that I'll actually be able to take photos where the boys aren't little dots on the field. I guess I'd better do something with the hundreds of other soccer photos I have, because I have a feeling I'll be taking more soccer photos this year using this cool new toy! :)

On another "lens" topic, DS#1 got contact lenses today. Apparently, it took him around 45 minutes to an hour to learn how to get the contacts in his eyes and then take them out again. He seemed to be doing fine with it at home, although he did say that it felt "weird" to not have his glasses on. I told him that first he gets his braces off, and now he gets his glasses off--he's just changing too quickly for his sentimental mother! Of course, he just smiled and let me hug and hold him, as if that would stop him from changing!

Happy 6th Bday!

My day started very early this morning. In fact, I didn't go to bed until 2AM because of work. I didn't have too much time to rest this morning because DD has been begging me to take her to Club Libby Lu since last year. I wanted to make her feel special today, so I committed to this about a month ago. She opted for the
Princess hairstyle last year. This year she opted for the "Rockin'" hairstyle complete with fake glitter microphone. Words cannot even describe the pure enjoyment that was oozing from her body. Even as she approached the store, even before the "makeover", she started breaking into a run with a big giggly smile on her face.

She wanted McDonald's for lunch, so I picked some up for her and for her older brothers on the way home. She really enjoyed making her own "decisions" for lunch and for dinner. Dinner was, of course, at El Mirasol, a family favorite. In fact, all the kids ask to go there for their birthdays. I think DH has brainwashed them because that restaurant is his favorite, as well.

I had told our host and then our server that it was DD's birthday, just so they wouldn't think that I did her hair like that with all the glitter and everything on a daily basis. After dinner, our server presented us with this complementary Tres Leches cake. We had to reassure DD and the kids that they could still have ice cream for dessert even if they had the cake. I'm glad that this means that they're somewhat well-trained. :)

After dinner we went to our favorite family ice cream shoppe, Brindles. (This fact is well known, because when we got home, DD's godfather guessed correctly on his answering machine message that we were at Brindles getting ice cream when he called.) DD got the chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips mixed in. She never gets a mix-in, so she felt that this was a special treat for her reserved for special occasions such as this. The baby was having fun too, because he was "tasting" everyone's ice cream (or shake). DH joked about how DS#3 had figured out that if he ate a little of everyone's ice cream, we would never be able to guess how much he actually ate.

This day was all about DD, because whenever there was a decision, like whether or not DS#2 could have a shake at Brindles, she would answer what she wanted, usually "yes", with a giggle, of course. When DS#2 asked if he could go outside after she opened her presents, she immediately answered, "yes" as if it were her decision to make. She was absolutely thrilled at all of the presents she opened tonight and I think she did feel special today.

DD had gymnastics class this afternoon and luckily, her hairdo was still somewhat intact afterwards. Tonight, she is sleeping with a shower cap on her head to protect her hairdo (my idea). Hopefully she'll be able to show off a little more tomorrow, because then her "special day" will last a little bit longer. :)

Watching the Olympics

I've always wished that when Olympics time rolls around that I could take time off from work and just watch all the events all day long. It always seems like "history in the making". The Opening Ceremony last night was beautiful. My favorite part was anything to do with that giant LED screen that they projected stuff on--very cool and very high tech. The gigantic Olympic torch being lit up was amazing! The 2008 performers were an impressive sight. Great Britain will have some big shoes to fill in four years when it's their turn.

DH found ourselves watching it by ourselves. DD went to bed at 8PM without being asked. She never volunteers unless she is very tired. DS#3 got put to bed around the same time. He's been in teething mode and doesn't seem to sleep well, so he's been ready to go to bed when we put him to bed. On Thursday afternoon, he even picked up his own burp cloth (which he always sleeps with) and went to DH's and my bed for his nap!

DS#1 had an early soccer game today (more on this later), so he went to bed promptly at 9PM. Our neighbors were showing a movie (The Bee Movie) projected onto another neighbor's wall, complete with popcorn and other snacks. DS#2 was out there being social, although he said he wished that he could have watched the Opening Ceremony AND played with the neighbors. He didn't go to bed until after 10PM. I was pretty pooped too, when the show was over, but it was worth staying up to watch.

In the spirit of the Olympics, I leave you with this cute photo of DS#3 (in a red, white, and blue outfit with "USA" on the front) that I took at the store on Wednesday. He was rummaging through my purse and pulled out my sunglasses. Sure, he plays with them, but refuses to wear them outside when he really needs them. He just had the biggest, most mischievous smile, so I had to take a picture! Smile!

Vital Statistics

The kids went to the doctor today for their annual physicals. The following is what DH copied down for me.

DS#1 - 115 lbs (75%), 67 in (95%)
DS#2 - 82 lbs, 56 1/4 in (doctor didn't mention percentages)
DD - 42 lbs, 43 3/4 in (small side of scale for both)

So, since DS#1 is the same size as DH, that must mean that DH is only 67 inches also, as opposed to the 68 inches he thought he was. No, I don't think he's shrinking yet. More than likely, he was measured incorrectly before. Either way, the kids are growing as they should and that they passed their physicals.

In other news, DS#3 has nine teeth now. Three of those have poked out in the last few weeks. Because of his recent icky BMs, we think he's bound to be getting at least one more soon. DH is happy about the new teeth because that means that DS#3 has only been waking DH up because he's teething and not because he doesn't "like" his Papa. :)

Tonight I also did a little bit of reminiscing. When DD was a baby, DS#1 and DH used to have karate classes together some nights. On those nights, usually Fridays, DS#2, DD and I would head to North Star Mall, have dinner and dessert, and shop. Of course, back then I would get to shop wherever I wanted and the two of them would go where I wanted to go. Nowadays, I have to compromise. Of course, I let DS#3 roam around on foot instead of his stroller, so I had to redirect him a bit to get him to go the direction I wanted. Anyway, I took this picture because I got a little sentimental. :)

I have more photos to show, but those will have to wait until tomorrow. :)

Learning to Communicate

DH and I are pleased that DS#3 is starting to communicate with us. Well actually, he's always known how to tell us he doesn't like something. He has this high pitched screech that is very painful even to someone like me with dwindling auditory capabilities. Now, he has been able to tell us what he wants and doesn't want without screeching--at least more than before. Unfortunately, he still screeches sometimes.

When he wants his milk, he'll go to the refrigerator door and hang onto the handles. He usually whines a little until someone pays attention. Sometimes, when you go there and get his milk for him, and he shakes his head, that means that he wants yogurt. Yes, he does indeed shake his head. He is so adorable when he does this, because he almost looks like he's going to lose his balance.

Today, I was on the sofa watching TV with DS#2 and DD. DS#3 came up to me and tried to grab a couple of my fingers. I don't think he's really done this to me before, but I knew that he wanted to take me somewhere. He led me to the refrigerator. Wouldn't you know it, he wanted his milk cup!

He has also started saying a few words, at least a few words that we can actually understand. He has been saying "ball" and "light" for a long time. Today, I heard him, clear as day, say "up" when he wanted to get up on the sofa. I just love this stage when they are learning how to talk and when WE figure out what they're saying, it's like a big revelation!

Vacation Group Photos

I'm trying to finish posting the last few vacation photos. I actually have tons more photos, but I wanted to show photos that are representative of our vacation. This photo is the obligatory photo with Grandma and Grandpa. We have to see how tall the kids are here versus the next time we see them. Now that I'm looking at this photo again, I realized that Grandma and Natalie are both wearing pink and they also look like they're trying to get away from the boys. :)
This is a photo I took of the kids with A and G who were visiting us from Illinois. We've had some really great times with them, and this is just one more. I think they're smiling because they're feeling cold in the water! Actually, I think it's because they're having so much fun together again. Whenever they get together it's like no time has passed between visits. They get along so well!
I'm so glad I was able to get this one photo of the kids with their second cousins. DS#1 is actually almost the same size as his older cousin, but he's standing farther down on the "hill". O had to lean down to be with his twin baby brothers and J wanted to be with O, I think. Otherwise, DS#2, O, and J would be around the same size--they're all nine years old. DD is, of course, the only girl, and this is the reason why she had more fun once A (see second photo above) got there. Poor DD really does crave female attention sometimes!

Hopefully I'll be able to put these photos together in an album in the next week or so. I think I've finally decided on a particular photo book. Now I just have to edit all the photos.