My Precious Girl,

You are so full of life. I watch you sometimes and I am amazed at how present you are in each moment of your little life. You laugh harder, run faster, and imagine more than I ever knew was possible.

You make me LAUGH, little girl! You enjoy DVDs and you have totally bought into the movie rating system. When you see a movie you are interested in that has a PG-13 rating (such as Spiderman) you quickly declare it "inappropriate" and lament on the choices of your classmates who have seen that film.

You love being a Brownie and really enjoyed selling cookies this month. You declare it "no fair" when I polish my nails without polishing yours, you love to talk about the braces you will someday need, and deciding if you should be "Mommy's Girl" or "Daddy's Girl" each day.

You've been sick recently and you let everyone know you hate having a "clunky throat". You've been sweet and cuddly and thanked me for "taking care" of you.

You are doing awesome in school and were put in a math enrichment program last month. You like to play teacher and your brothers are always willing students.

Recently a plumber opened an access panel in your closet to get into the wall. Daddy made a joke about goblins living in there and you were NOT amused. As old and mature as you seem these days, you are still our little girl (who is now afraid of goblins).

You are the little girl I've been dreaming of since I was a little girl. You are the answer to my prayers. I love you more than you could ever, possibly know.
Love,
Mommy

My Sweet Daniel,

I can't BELIEVE how big you are getting. You are no longer a baby... but officially a little boy. In fact, your new favorite game is to play "baby". You like me to rock you in my arms while you pretend to sleep. I whisper "Look at my sweet baby..." and then you jump up giggling and cheering as we say "He's a big boy!!". You find this hilarious and we do it over, and over, and over.

You LOVE birds. You had so much fun waving and greeting each bird we saw in the atrium at the zoo. You also repeated the names of almost every animal we saw and called "Hi 'roo!" about a dozen times to the kangaroos.

You like to look at books, play Daddy's harmonica, and stick Craisins in your ears. When you hear music you often dance but you ALWAYS nod your head to the beat (with a very serious look on your face). It is so cute! You LOVE shoes and socks and you like to annoy Matt by pulling his socks off his feet.

You love slides, which you call "weees" (because when you go down it you yell "weeee!!"). You also love making funny faces and HATE, HATE, HATE haircuts. You renamed Grammy "Mimi" this month. We're not sure why but you started calling Grammy "Mimi", Matt followed your lead, and Mimi melted at the adorableness :)

You are talking SO much. I just love to listen to your sweet little voice. Especially when you see me across the room and say "Hi Mama!" two or three times while running over to give me a hug. That is the BEST.

I love you so, so much. You, my precious boy, are everything to me.
Love,
Mommy

Dear Dimples,

You are becoming QUITE the mischievous little charmer these days. You have the BIGGEST, cheesiest grin that you flash the moment you get into trouble. You are so sweet, so funny, and such an adorable little handful!

Kirsten named you and Danny the “wild monkeys” when you were about a year old. You have taken this idea to a whole new level this month. You have totally mastered climbing out of your crib and you do it approximately 50 times a night. The good news is, right now you don’t have any interest in getting OUT of the crib… you just want to get IN to Danny’s crib (and then back into your crib, and then back into Danny’s crib, and then back into your crib… you get the idea). You also taught Danny to do this. (First by modeling, then by cheering him on, and finally by giving him a “boost” and pushing him over the bars). Your upper body strength is a little freakish. Daddy and I laugh as you do pull-ups into your highchair every night.

You love going to the playground and flirt with all the little girls we meet there. You really “conquered” the playground this month. You are able to climb up all the ladders and steps and you LOVE to go down the big slides.

You’ve been sick a lot lately. It’s been pretty miserable… but it does give us time to bond. (Especially at 4 am when you try to shove Danny out of my lap yelling “MINE! Mama mine!”)

You love Daddy’s guitar and your blankie. We’ve somehow created a new bedtime ritual. When I bring you and Danny down to bed you both get kisses and tucked in but you MUST have the last “Mommy snuggle”. I cannot leave the room until I’ve held you next to your bed with your little head on my shoulder for a few moments. (I can NOT go back to say goodnight to Danny after this snuggle or it doesn’t count and we have to do it again… not that I’m complaining ;)

You’ll do anything for a laugh, you love to reprimand your brother, and you have 7 of the most adorable freckles I’ve ever seen on your nose. You love the bath and tangerines. You dance all the time. It’s really funny… if there is music… you are rockin’ out. You are “all boy” and you fill my life with happiness.

I love you every second of every day,
Mommy

The Hat Trick

... I can't believe I didn't see it coming... really... rookie mistake. First, both of the boys were sick before the surgery. The next week Matt got sick. Then Danny got sick. Then BOTH boys were sick. Now they have been healthy for almost a week. Things have been normal around here. (Of course, "normal" still involves the boys waking up at 1:30 and 4:00 am every single night... but these are just the bad habits we established while they were sick. They'll stop this eventually... right?) Nine doctors appointments and eight prescriptions for the boys in the last 30 days. All the while Kirsten has been flying under the radar... healthy and happy. I should have seen it coming.

Saturday Kirsten was "not herself". Sunday she was "under the weather". By Monday she was sick. She stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday. I attempted to send her to school today and was called to pick her up at 8:47 am. We went straight to the doctor where she was diagnosed with Croup (I HATE croup... they get SO SO SO sick with croup!)... AND Influenza B. Croup AND the flu!!! I didn't know that was possible! (According to Web MD it's not unusual... but it should be.)

So my poor girl is quite sick. And here's the kicker... the doctor said it would be "virtually impossible" for the boys to escape these illnesses. So I'm praying... I have a lot of time to pray because I'm up with Kirsten all night long while she struggles to breathe... but I'm expecting to have 3 sick kids by next week.

LUCKILY I gave up complaining for Lent! (This has all just been the sharing of facts people! I have not yet complained! ...Not even about the 2.5 hours of sleep I've gotton each of the last 3 nights.) So I am focusing on the positive.

Here is my list of the positive:
-We have wonderful doctors who always fit us in if we need to be seen
-All the illnesses we have encountered are treatable and short term.
-We have a wonderful support system. Grandpa is working triple time helping out.
-Brian and I are both able to take off work to care for our children when we have too. It's inconvienient but it's possible
-Sick children only want Mommy. This is hard but it is a very precious fact. They are my babies and they KNOW I will do anything I possibly can to take care of them.

Who needs to complain? This 40 days is going to fly!

So... because I want to focus on the positive and remember the sweet moments... here is what it's like to be home with my little girl when she is sick.



Don't you wear a swimsuit when your sick? No? That seems strange. It had hearts on it... very appropriate for February.





















Kirsten was SO happy when I suggested we photograph the different hairstyles we gave her doll-head. It was precious.
On a day she was so miserable it took so little to make her smile.


...So just 39 days until I can tell you how I REALLY feel about this ;) Hopefully by then my kids will be healthy!

I CAN'T WAIT to be an aunt!

My nephew should be making his arrival in about five weeks and I CAN'T wait! I am so excited to have a new baby in the family. I have warned Maureen that I plan to be very obnoxious with the little guy. I am going to scoop him up and I don't plan to share the cuddle time. She laughs... I don't think she realizes how serious I am. I can't wait to smell the new baby smell, to snuggle new baby cheeks, and to rock a sweet baby boy who isn't spending the entire time trying to get away.

The newborn weeks/months are hard. As a new mom I was in such a haze of worrying, feeding, changing, worrying, not sleeping, worrying... that I didn't realize how fast it was passing. I was thrilled to have my boys... but I didn't FULLY appreciate how precious it is to have a tiny newborn in my arms. I CAN'T wait to have a tiny newborn in my arms again! (...AND I won't have to stay up with him all night so... SCORE!)

We had Maureen's shower on Saturday. It was so much fun. She got EVERYTHING she could possibly need for this little guy! It was great!

Maureen doesn't love having her picture taken and there were about 15 cameras trying to get this adorable shot. She didn't fully appreciate it Saturday... I bet she will when he's big enough to run away from her.

Baby love.

Doesn't she have the CUTEST baby bump?? I am so jealous. I have big time belly envy. I always imagined how cool it would be to have an adorable baby bump like this... The kind that looks like a basketball under your shirt. She looks soooo cute! I did not. We'll blame it on the fact that there were two little people squished in there... but my bump was not cute and round... it took up two-thirds of my body. Not cute.

Here is my giant... not so adorable baby bump. Not a great picture because I knew how not-cute it was... but now when I look at it I smile (but I'm still jealous of Maureen's!).

Field Trip Fun

Today I joined Kirsten's class on a field trip to the Children's Museum. We had so much fun. SO MUCH fun. I have to take this chance to write about how much I LOVE Kirsten's school. I LOVE the teachers, I LOVE the sweet little friends she has, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how happy she is. I've worked in a lot of schools. This doesn't just "happen". This is a special place and I am so grateful my child is being educated here.

I also LOVE being "that" mom. I love going on field trips, helping with class parties, and being called "Kirsten's Mom" by 18 seven year olds. I know I'll have to go back to work someday (probably someday in August...) but right now I'm grateful that I'm the mom who goes on field trips... like I did today :) **I have to give another "shout-out" to my dad... without his outstanding babysitting skills I wouldn't be able to do these things... Thanks Dad!**

Okay... on to the cute pictures. The whole class enjoyed a "dance party"

...Then Kirsten enjoyed some competive dancing on one of those dance machine thingies

Kirsten got to try out some future careers.
She would make a great meteorologist!

...Or a great pediatrician. I think her brothers have her ready for a specialization with multiples (notice the triplets she's caring for :)

And my favorite picture of the day... Kirsten and her adorable, sweet friends. I love how happy these little girls are! ...Just as it should be :)

Blankie and Banana Bread

Is there a better way to start the day? My sweet Matty :)

Is it too late to trade them in for girls?

Don't get me wrong I LOVE having little boys. I LOVE it. I never pictured myself with boys but I enjoy it so much. However... I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this. Kirsten is a VERY active child. She never stops moving... she climbs, she flips, she's great at sports (rememeber she doesn't have any of my genes). BUT these boys! They are constantly climbing, nose-diving off furniture, and figuring out new trouble to get into.

You remember Danny's black eye from last month right? Well, now it's Matt's turn.

He decided to go down the slide head-first and tumbled over the side landing right on his FACE. (No, not the big slide at the park... I was "ready" then. This is the tiny, baby slide on the porch.) He had a bloody nose, fat lip (which produced a lot of blood in his mouth!!), and scraped up face! My poor, poor baby.

Yes. His face is covered with tears, blood, and brownie. In THIS house when you bleed you get to eat brownies while Mommy cries.

Our Perfect Morning

I decided to bring along the camera today during our morning jog (notice how I made it sound like we do this every morning? Haha... sometimes I'm a good writer ;)

So the weather was PERFECT and the boys settled into the stroller as I jogged along the water. The first few minutes were so cute. Danny got a lot of attention from other excercisers as he yelled "Yea Mommy! Go Mommy Go!" It was really funny and cute (and probably gives away what a rare occassion this was). After a few minutes the boys started to get restless. With my little monkeys that looks like this:


Can you tell from that photo that they've both wiggled out of their seatbelts and swtiched seats? Well they have.

So I decided to let the boys out for "a minute" (HA HA HA HA!!!!) to look for manatees. We saw two! (But the pictures didn't come out.)

Here is Danny saying "Cheese!"

Then the boys decided it was their turn to jog. I like this picture because you can see the empty stroller I'm pushing behind them :)

The boys stopped to inspect every tree we passed.

We passed A LOT of trees!

Matty D and his dimples :) ...You don't expect me to make a post without showing off the dimples do you??

After all our strenuous excercise :) we decided to stop at the playground for awhile

Matt

Danny

...Such a perfect morning!

Our Valentine's Day

Before I had a family I was totally a Valentine cynic. Before Brian I never seemed to have a date (or not a good one anyway...). However, now I just love it. A day that is devoted to concentrating on how much we love each other... what could be better? I am really trying to "savor the moments" with my family. I feel like time is passing so quickly and this is such a blessed moment in time. I am trying... but around 6 pm everyday you wouldn't believe that. I get caught up in the business of raising three children and life in general. The point of all this is...(there is one!) Valentine's Day is a perfect "stop and love them up" day... so I took full advantage!

I started the day with a special breakfast for the people I love the most. Kirsten and Brian both LOVE chocolate chip pancakes so I made some heart shaped ones to start the morning off.

Heart-shaped pancakes are not the easiest things to make (if you are not at all detail oriented - like me :) but I was very proud of the end result!

Brian and the little ones surprised me with some BEAUTIFUL roses

We spent a good part of the day at the zoo. It was a beautiful day outside and we had so much fun! The boys loved the bird atrium and Kirsten loved everything!
Here is a picture of Kirsten brushing a goat. Matt was very interested in trying this but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He kept taking the brush from Kirsten and creeping up next to the goat but at the last minute he would throw the brush back to Kirsten and jump in my arms. It was CUTE!

We ended the day with a special dessert

... and cuddles during a family movie. Really... a perfect "I love my family day!"


...Here is last year's Valentine's Day picture. Does anyone know where my babies went??

Kirsten's First Date

Last Friday Kirsten went on her very first date. I know 7 is a little young to start dating, but she was so excited and her date clearly adored her. I knew she's be well taken care of.



Brian took Kirsten to the Girl Scout Sweetheart Dance. She was so, so excited about "the prom" (ADORABLE!) I've been delaying this post because I wanted to add the picture of my dad and I at my first Girl Scout Father Daughter Dance... but who knows when that will happen. (I'm going to try to add it in soon though...)

Grammy took Kirsten for a manicure earlier in the week. After all, who goes to the prom without professionally painted nails?

Matt helped Brian to get ready for the big night.


Kirsten was thrilled with her corsage. She was SO excited about it. (On a funny side note, Brian said while she was dancing she was throwing her arms around so much that it literally fell apart and flew across the room.)


...If only I could make sure that all Kirsten's future suitors would adore her this much...

Best Buddies

100 Never Looked So Good!

Here is my "little old lady" on the 100th day of school. Doesn't she look 100 years old?

...Powder to give her gray hair, a pillowcase for a shall, and sleepy eyes. (My creative juices are a little sleepy these days... it worked well enough.)

Super Bowl Sunday!

Our activities have been very limited since the boys have been so sick... but we did manage to have a little fun on Super Bowl Sunday.

Our friends the Hamiltons are the biggest Steelers fans EVER... seriously. They made sure that Brian, Kirsten, and I were equipt with Terrible Towels to cheer during the game. They even sent Matt and Danny Toddler Terrible Towels!! SOOOO cute! We got some great pictures during the pre-game show (and then the boys cheered in their dreams while we watched the game with a couple of friends.)


Here our friends Charlotte and Ryan are getting ready to cheer on the Steelers.

Everyone knows the commercials are a huge highlight of the Super Bowl. Ryan picked up some 3D glasses for the commercials... I don't know who was more excited about the 3D glasses... the kids or the Dads... I thought they were all pretty cute :)