My Poor Dear Hubby

EJ vomited a couple of times on Sunday afternoon. I attributed it to the cup of sour milk she found under the Christmas tree and drank part of before I realized what she was doing. Little did I know that was the start of a very long Monday for my poor dear husband.
AJ started crying about midnight Monday morning and when Eric went in to check on her, she had vomited all over her bed and herself (note to all moms out there - do not let your kids drink the frozen fruit punch concoctions at Chili's if there is any chance they might vomit in the next 12 hours!). After I finished feeding the baby, I helped Daddy make a bed in our room for AJ and we all settled down to sleep. I got up again to feed the baby at 3AM and found CJ standing in the hall outside our room saying "Mom, I made a big mess on the carpet. I'm so sorry!". I think we would have rather had him vomit in his bed since his attempt to get to the bathroom resulted in a huge mess on the carpet from his room all the way across the hall (again I repeat the warning against the Chili's drinks if you want to avoid the need to steam clean your carpets at 3AM). By the time we got CJ's mess cleaned up, I realized that I was not going to escape the "plague" that had beset our house.
Mom and the two older kids spent all day Monday in various states of gastric distress, lounging on various couches and beds. Poor Dad on the other hand got the "pleasure" of dealing with the laundry, clean up, and work that three very sick people can create. At one point on Monday literally ALL of the sheets, blankets and pillowcases in our house were in some stage of the wash-dry-replace cycle! Not to mention that I was so sick that I couldn't even sit up to nurse the baby so he was delivering ZJ to me every time he needed to eat and then coming back to change his diaper, etc. later on.
Mr. J. wins the award for best daddy and hubby for his wonderful care of a houseful of sickies. I credit him with our recovery in time for Christmas!

Eve-l Kenevil?

As you know, our third offspring has proven to be our biggest challenge. She is in constant motion and has frequently shown that she can accomplish physical feats that most almost one year olds cannot. She also has the disturbing (at least to her mother) trait of having absolutely no fear.

So what if I pushed my feet against the table and tipped myself over chair, booster seat and all? I'll just smile, climb out of the seat and continue on with my day.

Hmmm, how did brother slide down the stair railing? I'm gonna have to try that very soon!

Wow! That bunk bed is the coolest thing ever! Mom won't get me one, so I'll just climb up the ladder and hang out in brother's bed.

You get the picture.

Last Friday Eve got a bit too daring - climbing into a landry basket and somehow managing to get ahold of the cord on the iron which was hanging in its mounting plate on the wall. Mom was only two steps from her, but could only manage to deflect the iron so it struck a glancing blow on her little head. Thankfully she only had a laceration on her forehead instead of a much worse injury. Dad took a picture of her in the ED after they put the LET (lidocaine, epinepherine, tetracycline) jelly on her wound to numb it before they sewed her up. 2 hours and 4 stitches later we were all back at home.

She'll have a story to tell about the scar right in the middle of her forehead.

Mom may not survive the excitement of raising "#3"...

Zach Jak - The Story of the Yellow Thanksgiving Baby

As many of you have heard our 4th little blessing decided to make his debut three weeks early. He arrived Sunday night and was transferred to the NICU on Monday morning because he could not maintain his blood sugar on his own and needed IV dextrose. Then just when his blood sugar stabilized, he developed the jaundice that has been characteristic of all of our babies. He's comfortably ensconced in his isolette enjoying sunbathing under the bililights until his bilirubin levels are low enough for us to bring him home - hopefully sometime Saturday morning.

I was having a hard time dealing with having to leave my baby in the NICU, until a heart to heart with the XO and some time in prayer changed my perspective. Yes, our baby is once again in the NICU with all of the stress and difficulty that entails but he is healthy overall and has a very treatable condition. He will be home with us very soon, unlike many of the babies around him who face months long ICU stays and lifelong health challenges. And even if he were one of those very sick babies, I would still be thankful because I have been blessed far beyond anything I deserve. I know that God has a plan for every thing that happens, both small and large. And I will continue, with His help, to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

Please help us welcome Zachary Scott "J" ("Zach Jak" as the NICU nurses have nicknamed him):

Born Sunday, November 23, 2008

7lbs 1 oz; 19 1/2 inches long

Our family of 6 is complete!

Things I Have Learned This Month

#1 – If the kids have been playing outside and kindly get Mom a glass of ice water, Mom should make sure they washed their hands before getting the water or she may end up with a mouthful of sandy water.

#2 – Very tired pregnant mommies should resist the temptation to lie down “for just a minute” while the baby is asleep and the older kids are playing. The resulting mess from the “fiesta” they had on the front porch was not worth the few minutes of rest.

#3 – A gallon jug full of water makes an effective “lock” for the top of the trash can. EJ thinks getting everything out of the trash can is great fun. Now if I could just figure out how to keep her from opening the cabinet locks I’ll be all set!

#4 – Mom should remember that Daddy bought their son a 6 foot long rubber snake at the Texas State Aquarium when she goes to pour something in the sink and sees this:



I almost had a heart attack until I realized what it was! CJ’s reply to my yelling? “My snake was playing in the sandbox and needed a bath Momma! Did he scare you?”

#5 – Mom should be thankful that with a 6 year old boy in the house it wasn’t a real snake in the sink!

#6 - If you buy your son a 500ml bottle of water for a trip you should include explicit instructions that he is NOT to drink the entire thing in the first 20 minutes or else you will spend the rest of the drive trying to find bathrooms on the barren stretch of highway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.

#7 - 3 1/2 year old girls who love gymnastics will insist on wearing a leotard all day, every day even when it is 60 degrees and wearing one requires them to ask "wrap me up in this towel so I don't freeze momma".

Hope all is well wherever you may be reading this from. We miss all of you dearly!

The Texas Coast

This was one tired little girl after spending a couple of hours climbing ladders on the USS Lexington.

I wasn't sure how CJ would react to the surf, but he waded out to where the waves picked him up off his feet and "body surfed" back in loving every minute of it!

EJ was trying to get off of the patio at our hotel to join her brother and sister on the beach.

We spent a couple of days in Corpus Christi and at the Gulf coast recently while we had family in town. The Texas Gulf coast isn't nearly as picturesque as the Florida side of the Gulf, but it is still beautiful in its own way and the kids really enjoyed collecting shells, finding crabs and playing in the waves. CJ has already asked repeatedly to go back to the beach, so we'll have to plan another trip soon. After spending a few days in the salt water breeze and listening to the waves I began to understand the attraction of living on the coast. I wouldn't mind having a house on the beach someday...

So that's how it goes!

We were having a serious conversation with AJ the other evening about death (I don't even know how we got on the subject) and were explaining to her in an age appropriate way that death is inevitable.

CJ's input into the conversation was the comic relief that we needed -
"AJ here's how it goes - you go to tenth grade, then you go to high school, then you're a grandma, then you die!"

It's always interesting when you get a little glimpse into how they think...

Firsts

We've had a couple of very interesting "firsts" in our house over the last couple of days - "first steps" and "first foreign body inserted into the nose"!

EJ took her first step to Eric as he went to get her out of her crib the other morning, and then today while she was in child care at church they said she took 4 steps in a row and then stopped and grinned at everyone as if to say "wasn't that the coolest thing ever?" I personally haven't seen her take any steps and I'm waiting anxiously to confirm the reported phenomena.

We were reading books the other afternoon while the kids had a snack and AJ suddenly said "Mom, my nose really hurts!" My queries about her nose were answered in very vague terms until her ever helpful brother piped in with "Did you stick your snack up your nose??" and AJ said "Yeah! Somebody get the raisin out of my nose please!" Thankfully the offending object was easily removed! And now AJ is telling everyone "It's a bad idea to put raisins in your nose!"

Here in Texas we're hoping that Hurricane Ike will not become any of the "firsts" it could be. The XO will most likely be at work until the storm has passed since he is helping with the coordination of medical resources for the shelters, etc. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Here's Some Pics (finally)

AJ striking a pose at the Science Treehouse at the Witte Museum.

CJ doing what he does best, making noise!

The Witte Museum is the only museum we've ever taken the kids to that actually held their attention for more than an hour. We were there for 3 hours and they complained when it was time to leave!

The 8 1/2 month old tornado known as EJ.

This little one has been by far the most challenging of the three at this age. I timed her today and she can make it up both flights of stairs and into her siblings' room in less than 75 seconds! She can also open all of the drawers on the dressers, get into the entertainment center and "adjust" the sound, and push the office chairs all around the house - all skills that the other two didn't develop until after 12 months. It's going to be very interesting around here in a few months. I signed AJ up for gymnastic lessons, maybe I should have enrolled EJ too!

Technophobes

These comments by the kids recently made me chuckle and also made me think about how much a part of our culture technology has become...

CJ loves to tell really long, detailed stories when we're traveling in the truck. This is the conversation we had the other day:
"Momma, you wanna hear a story?"
"Sure, buddy."
"OK, but you'll have to wait a minute. It's going to take a while to download."

And then about 15 minutes into his story Ana pipes in with "CJ can you push pause on your story for a minute? I need to say something."

I've been wanting to set up the video camera in the vehicle and post a video of one of his stories. I'll have to do that soon. Y'all would think he was hysterical!

It's Official

The NP gave us a "90% sure" answer on the "flavor" of the soon to arrive addition last month, but we wanted to get the "200% guarantee" from the OB before sharing with the world (or at least the 3 people who read our blog). So, it's official - the newest member of the family will be a boy! Tentative name available on request. But it may not be all that tentative since the older kids have already started calling him by his nickname. We're all anxiously awaiting his arrival in early December, some of us more than others!

Legos...

Want a little peace and quiet in your house? Just buy your kids a mess of Legos. We got some yesterday and I've hardly seen the kids since. I had to go hunting for them to take this picture. Now I just need to make sure the younger troops don't try to play with Legos and end up in the ED! It's hard to "baby proof" when you've got older kids.

I'm Half a Year Old!

Aren't I cute???

"Throwdown with Christian"

CJ is a HUGE fan of the Food Network, especially Alton Brown and Bobby Flay. The other day he challenged us to a "Sundae Throwdown" (Those of you who have never seen "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" will have to check out the Food Network website). He decided that Mom, CJ and AJ would be the contestants and that Dad would be the judge and we headed to the local grocery store for the makings of some tasty treats.

AJ's entry into the competition. Her main ingredients were hot fudge, candy sprinkles, strawberries and lots of whipped cream.

CJ's entry for the "throwdown". He chose to use hot fudge, banana, candy sprinkles, peanut butter sauce and whipped cream. I think more whipped cream ended up in his mouth than on the sundae!

The creative process...

The final results of the throwdown? CJ and AJ tied for first place and the judge called Mom's entry "pedestrian". Guess I'll have to work harder next time! CJ has already decided that "we'll have a rematch. How about a grilled cheese sandwich challenge?" I can only imagine what will end up on those sandwiches!

Anole Canolli??

A cute little anole - these green lizards are everywhere in our backyard...

The dessert in question just happens to be pronounced the same way as the kid's favorite backyard creature...

We took Daddy to a really neat Italian restaurant for a Father's Day treat. The XO always tries to get the kids to try new foods and he was offering SSG AJ a bite of his canolli for dessert.

"Here AJ, try this canolli"

"What is it? An anole? Is there anoles in there?" She grabs the canolli to look inside.

"No sweatheart, it's a CA-noli, not an A-nole. It's got creamy stuff inside. Try it, it's yummy"

"Are you sure there are no anoles in there???"

At this point I was trying my best not to laugh out loud at our little girl who was convinced that there was a little green lizard in her dessert!

Quotes from the Last 48 Hours

Some of these probably need some explanation, but I'm just too tired to attempt it...

"Who flooded the bathroom!!???!!!"
"The baby's tummy is not a drum!"
"AJ, you're stepping in the poopy diaper!" "UhOh Momma, it's all on my foot!"
"The baby is not a hurdle! Stop jumping over her."
"Momma, don't go in my bedroom for a minute, OK?" (You don't want to know...)
"Why are there noodles all over the kitchen floor??"
"Mom! Did you know you can paint with toothpaste!?"

All I can say is Heaven help me when there are four of them and they are all mobile. Pray for me, please...

Too Funny

This morning was a rainy, grey one in our part of the world and the windows were covered in beautiful rain drops.
SSG AJ got up and sat down at the table to eat her breakfast and looked very puzzled. "Where my Daddy Boy is?" "He's at work sweetheart. He's teaching a boat rescue class" "No momma, he's outside doing the sprinklers!" "No AJ, he's at work" "Then how come there is water on the windows??? Where it come from?"
You know you live in a part of the world where it doesn't rain much if the kids are convinced that the only way there could possibly be water on the windows is if Dad is outside setting up the sprinklers!

Bowling Trip:

When the kiddo's "Pappy" came to town recently, the CO and him took them all to one of the local bowling alleys. You see, the CO's father is a big bowler up in NYS and all of the kids in that clan learned to bowl as youths. Well, who am I to stop a long and storied history of "knocking the ole pins down".

AJ and CJ enjoyed the experience so much that yours truly, the faithful XO" decided to take the kiddos back out to a different alley up in Austin with Pappy and ANJ.

The results are presented below:

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did...

God Bless,

XO

The Gang without the CO:

All,

Hope everyone is doing well, things have been crazy around here in TX for the last 4-5 weeks.

Some of the highlights-

KJ seems to be feeling a bit better even though the pain and nausea do crop up from time to time. We are excited since the first trimester ends for KJ on Wednesday and we should hopefully find out whether the CO (it's a boy) or the XO (I am permanently blessed with daughters from here on out) are correct. More to follow...

AJ's ear has cleared-up but we still have a follow-up with a specialist to see if the ear drum is healing right.

CJ's got a fine set of glasses now and he has had his second visit to the ER in the last two months for stitches (fell of a teeter-totter at church).

ENJ is growing like the little spring flower that she is named after (middle name) and she now rolls over and back again when on the ground.

In other news- we have signed a contract to build another house this time in Buda near our church in a new subdivision. This house is bigger by almost a 1000 sq ft and sits on a quarter acre. We will probably be forever in debt but this is a great house and we really need the space. More to follow on the house and the builder (http://www.greenbuildersinc.com/tourOfHomes.html) (very ecofriendly builder).

Well see the most recent picture above- sorry that the CO is not in it but someone had to take this picture.

Take care and God Bless You All.....

XO

Fun in the Sun!

Don't you wish you could still get away with running through the fountains in your undies? Most of us would end up having a "conversation" with local law enforcement if we tried this!

I wanted to share some of the fun times we've been having around here lately, especially since my last blog was not exactly cheerful! The XO's parents were here earlier in the month and my "Pops" is here visiting this week, so we're enjoying some great time with the grandparents. I love when family comes to visit becasue we get to play tourist and see some of the local attractions that we somehow never get to (I won't tell you how long we lived near Austin before we made it to the Capitol!). We visited Enchanted Rock and the new Observation Hill and park near Lady Bird Lake while Nana and Poppa were here and had a blast.

Ready for an adventure hiking at Enchanted Rock!

I'm ready for a vacation...

Joh 16:33 -
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Notice that He didn't say "in this world you might have trouble" or "you'll sometimes have trouble" He said "you will have trouble". But He also said that He has overcome those troubles and the world. During times like this I lean on the family and friends He has blessed us with and I try to carry His word with me each day as a source of strength. So, let me tell you about our last 2 weeks...

This is how it all started...
Thursday, April 10 - both of the girls woke up sick. AJ screaming about her ear hurting and EJ running a fever and fussing inconsolably. My plan had been to clean up the house for family arriving this weekend while the kids were at pre-school, but with everyone sick we spent the morning at the pediatrician's office instead. 4 hours, two pharmacies and $100 later we finally made it home to have some lunch and try to get the house soemwhat presentable before we had to leave to pick up BalticTiger and Howard at the airport. The kids went outside to play a little while I worked on the house, when suddenly...
I heard an ear splitting scream from the backyard. Those of you who are mommies will understand when I say that this was not the usual 'I fell down and skinned my knee' yell and I knew something was really wrong. As I started for the backdoor CJ ran in the house holding his head. He had blood dripping off his elbow and was yelling "my head is really, really broken". Seems the kid was playing "super heroes" and was throwing his metal shovel up in the air and then trying to run under it before it came down...
We took the girls across the street to a neighbor and headed to the local community hospital ED for some staples. Keep in mind every time I work in this ED it is very quiet and waits are minimal. But this time the wait was about 4 hours. Needless to say we didn't make it to the airport to pick up our family (thankfully the XO was able to do it) and we wandered back home about 11:30 PM with one very tired, very sore little boy with 4 staples in his head.

Friday, April 11 - Saturday, April 12 - a very long trip to Houston with 2 sick little girls to drop off the family for the BPMS150 (the XO promises he will blog about this soon!). No one slept at all that night in Houston and we returned home tired and grouchy. And in the meantime AJ's ear started draining some really nasty stuff. Stopped on the way home for ear drops, ibuprofen and tylenol and prepared for another sleepless night. Unfortunately, things didn't improve much after that...

AJ is now on her 3rd different antibiotic ear drops after 2 rounds of oral antibiotics and she's still not improving. They cultured the "yucky stuff coming out of my ear" and it's resistant to all antibiotics except 2. Hopefull the one we stared yesterday will work because we're almost out of options. And we've spent more time arguing with the insurance company about why we need more antibiotics and why we're using opthalmic (eye) drops in her ear than I can count. Why is the answer "because that is what the doctor ordered!" not good enough??

CJ's head has healed up, but taking the staples out was almost as difficult as putting them in!

We took EJ in for her 4 month check up and the pediatrician said "I think she may be allergic to milk" and told us to try her on Nutramigen formula (to the tune of $28 for a 16 oz can that lasts about 4 days) for a week to see if her rash and nasal symptoms would resolve. I told the XO on the way home that as much as I wanted her to feel better, I almost hoped that it wouldn't help since the thought of paying about $350 a month for formula was terrifying...
But, "when it rains, it pours" and she is very obviously allergic to milk. After 5 days on the Nutramigen her rash is gone, she has stopped crying after every feeding, her cough and stuffy nose are gone and she's sleeping through the night. I keep joking that I'll have to take the cost of her formula out of her college fund, but I know that God will provide for our every need and I have no anxiety over it.

And, it continues to pour around our house. I found out last week that we're expecting baby number 4 at the end of the year. Then on Saturday I stared having some bleeding and severe pain and went to the ED where they told me that there was some bleeding behind the placenta and I needed to see my OB on Monday. Well, I had finally reached a place of peace with the idea of having a 6 year old, a 3 year old, an 12 month old, and a newborn and was truly embraching God's plan for our lives and I could not understand why He would possibly take this little baby from me when I had just gotten excited about his/her arrival. But I prayed my way through the weekend and I am blessed to be able to praise God and report that my OB feels that everything will be fine with this pregnancy. BTW, his/her due date will be around December 11th....

There was much more that happened during the last couple of weeks that was stressful for our family, but in the big picture none of it really matters. We'll continue to seek God and His will for our lives and rely on Him.

Love to all of you from sunny Central Texas!

Springtime in Texas!

We're enjoying the beautiful spring weather and the explosion of wildflowers here in Central Texas right now. It's the perfect time for walks around the neighborhood lake and just enjoying our yard!

The XO loves roses so our yard is filled with them. These are a few of the early arrivals this year. I love the Texas antique roses! You can't kill them even if you try...

Our budding photog CJ gave himself an assignement during one of our recent walks - "I'm going to take pictures of as many different flowers as I can find". These are just a few of the pictures he took that afternoon.

Georgie the Giraffe

Getting Dad's bike fixed at the bike shop

1LT CJ's pre-school class has a mascot (Georgie the Giraffe) who goes home with a different kid each week. The kids all take pictures of themselves with Georgie and then write about their escapades in the class journal. I was amazed at how much CJ was willing to write in the class journal since handwriting is not one of his favorite "subjects" (basically if it doesn't involve math he wants very little to do with it. His comment today was "If I do ten pages of math can I just skip phonics?")
The XO had the brilliant brainstorm of adopting this idea into our homeschooling, so we're going to be starting our own journal with one of our family's stuffed "friends". When you think about it, they can learn an awful lot with this seemingly simple project - photo composition (which ones are the best pics to include); summarizing thoughts (by choosing a heading or caption for the pics); handwriting (even if it is very simple sentances); early writing skills, grammar and punctuation (as they dictate their report on the events to mom and dad to record in the journal); and counting (as they number the pages); not to mention all the learning that happens on the adventures that get recorded!
I don't know who is more excited about this plan, mom or the kids!

Exploring the Llano River

Helping to feed the birds

Enjoying the backyard playscape

Never Trust the Weather Forecast

We decided to take a family trip to Llano, Texas this past week to enjoy the scenery and do a lesson on geology with the kids. Being the good planners we are, both the XO and myself checked the weather report before we left. Sunny and 80 degrees, with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms it said. So, dressed in shorts and t-shirts we headed on our merry way. As we neared our destination, we noticed that the wind had picked up and there were some very dark clouds looming. When we finally pulled into Llano it was raining and the thermometer stood at 55 degrees. So the weather forecast was only off by about 25 degrees, some rain and a lot of wind! We made the best of it by putting on the extra shirts we had brought along and bundling everyone up as best we could. We still enjoyed the rock collecting and the scenery, but the ladies of the family ended up in the truck after about 30 minutes because EJ was crying and AJ kept saying "I'm freezing so much!" The intrepid boys kept hiking along the river and taking pictures for a little while longer. At the end of the day we were frustrated that the weather had not cooperated, but still glad that we had made the attempt to have a family adventure...

Gotta love those eyes!

Here's the latest pics of EJ as she reaches the 3 month mark. Looking at that cute little face almost makes you forget about the sleepless nights and the screaming whenever you try to put her in her bouncy seat. Awww... such a cutie patootie!

Identity Crisis?

The kid's pre-school had an in house field trip and an exotic animal handler brought a bunch of animals to the school to show them. They got to see and hold a "lizard with a blue tongue", hedgehogs, and a bunch of differnt snakes including a 12 foot long python!
SSG AJ was obviously fascinated with these animals because ever since then she's been calling herself "snake". She'll say "Snake wants dinner" or "CJ hit Snake" and when you call her AJ she'll say "I'm not AJ, I'm SNAKE!". We really thought it was just a passing thing, but she's been doing this for weeks now so we've just jumped on the bandwagon. You may think it odd to hear us calling our second born "snake" but it makes us all smile. We'll see if she's still smiling when she's 16 and this nickname has stuck!

Self Portrait

I would not be fair if I continued to show the young photog's work without showing some of his self-portraits.

He has many more that I may showcase in a future post.

Like always, Enjoy!

XO

Toddler Tai Chi

I would like to say that our 2.75 year old middle daughter is so advanced that she knows Tai Chi, but that would be telling a fib.

No this is just another example of the 5 year old's photojournalism at work.

I believe that the statement was "Do something funny AJ... move your arms about".

He was trying to elicit something different than her normal "silly face" expression of placing her fingers in her mouth and pulling her lips back, her stock in trade.

Enjoy :-)

XO

More Preschooler Triptecs:

All,

Well our creative, free-spirited digital shuttlerbug 1st LT CJ has been at it again.

His latest addition is one that I call- "Preschooler Quality Time".

Everyday is a exciting adventure when I turn on the family digital camera to see what he has come-up with this time.

Enjoy!

I never knew how interesting one's waistband, sandals and zipper could be until I looked at them through the eyes of a 5 year old.

Kid Speak...

We've been going to the library about once a week lately and I've been encouraging the kids to explore the sections outside of juvenile fiction. Yesterday the XO was reading to the kids and 1LT CJ handed him a book to read and very proudly said "It's a non-picture book!". He meant non-fiction of course! :-)

The creative process is exhausting!

SSG AJ was exercising her creative juices this afternoon at the "art table" when the XO noticed that she had gotten really quiet. He walked over to check on her and this is how he found her...


As BalticTiger can attest, creating takes a lot of energy! It obviously just wore this little one out!

But there are definite hazards to falling asleep while drawing... you may end up needing a bath when you wake up!

I wish I could remember being three. It must have been a blast!

My Husband is Clinically Insane!

So the XO headed out for "a quick ride" yesterday while the CO and the rest of the troops were at the pediatrician and the playground. When he got home and flopped into a chair the CO casually asked "So how far did you ride" and nearly fell over when she heard the answer - "75 miles".
I guess I should have gotten a hint when he said "Don't worry unless I've been gone for over 5 hours". This ride clocked in at a manageable 4 hours and 40 minutes. :-)
But I guess I can't really claim that he's insane since I've been know to run for over 4 hours at a time... I just never travel as far as he does! Cycling wins from the persepctive of kindess to your joints and the amount of scenery experienced, but runners don't end up with little tiny T Rex arms!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

I can't believe that EJ is 2 months old already! Here are the latest "stats" from her appointment yesterday: 11lbz 2oz; 23 inches long; "developmentally perfect" and "looks just like her brother and sister right down to the umbilical hernia"! Ha!

She started a new "game" today after she discovered that when she squeals someone will look her way and smile and she can give them a huge smile in return. We spent most of the day grinning at each other... toothless baby grins are the best!

Hi Ho Silver.... No She Means Hi Ho "Daddy"

Annie Oakley she is not but she is certainly an energetic young Cowgirl to be riding around on her father's back while she "shoots" at her older brother.

Oh my aching back.... time for more Aleve.

Maybe I will think twice next time that I decide to bike 60 miles like I did today.

As I like to say.... Oh Well :-)

XO

A Three Year Old's Triptec:

All,

I decided to include a series that was shot by our middle rating, SSG AJ recently in our study.

You see having a background in photojournalism I do not want to shy away from having my kids take pictures. As long as they treat the family digital camera right then they are free to shoot away.

Enjoy!

The object in the left upper corner is not a giant slug or worm but the digit of a small photograher that keeps forgeting to not wrap her finger around the lens.

The last picture is, by definition, not part of the triptec. It was just the small photog's main goal during this shoot.

Beautiful Girls... To Us At Least

Everyone is probably tired of my cycling bloggin so I decided to go back to something that I know will get good ratings.... picts of the two younger girls.

Enjoy and Take Care.

XO