Swimming, gymnastics, and before you know it, a whole month goes by...

Oops, it's been a month since my last entry. It goes without saying that lots has happened. Marrin started swimming lessons. From the same teacher that I learned how to swim. The first session was three weeks long, four days a week.

During those first evenings as I watched from the sidelines, I found myself wishing my spunky daughter was more bold. She's got an attitude the size of King Kong, but she's all bark and no bite. She's actually very cautious and needs a little more confidence in herself before she really lets go.

There's also an adorable little red-headed boy in her class that she is busy talking to and playing with to listen to the instructions. That never helps either.

 When she gets going though, look out! She does really well, it just takes her awhile to adjust to the idea of actually swimming and not using the bottom of the pool as a crutch.

We've been trying for two years to get Marrin into gymnastics. Somehow, we could never make it work. Not the classes, the registration! I finally had Jay take time off of work and go to the gym on the first day of registration to get the slots that we needed. Teague needs something to do too, so we signed him up as well.

His class is after Marrin's, so he passes time by playing with his tablet or watching the other kids and 'Sissy'.

Poor little man has to wait through both of their classes, but he's done alright so far.

Trampoline, balance beam, stations, floor...she loves it all.

Teague's not so bad either but he takes some coaxing to get him to start the class. All week long he says he doesn't want to go. Once class starts though, he's 100% gung ho.

 

I'm not sure what settings I was using on my camera; a lot of my pictures of gymnastics didn't turn out so great.

Busy, picky, fat, Baby B

Today marks the half birthday of our baby boy. Six months seems like a long time when you're waiting for something exciting, counting the days down. Six months. Six months is such a short amount of time with a beautifully happy baby. He's growing by leaps and bounds with a smile for everyone. I think we've only had one crabby day with this little guy. Knock on wood, of course.

Our chubby little guy weighed in at 16 lbs 5 oz at his 2 month checkup. He was up to 17lbs 13oz for an appointment at the 3 month mark. At four months he was 20 pounds on the nose. He's been kind of a sickly baby. We've had lots of colds/flu, including the stomach flu. Twice. This past week he went to the doctor again for a wicked cough. Turns out he had an ear infection but his lungs sounded clear. Daycare called the next day saying he sounded worse so we brought him back to the doctor. Yep, both lungs had junk in them. Bronchiolitis and an ear infection. So he's on antibiotics and a steroid and some Benadryl for good measure. The antibiotics cause his whole system's flora to become unbalanced so he gets a terrible diaper rash when he has to be on them. He's also teething. All this at the same time. Doesn't stop him from smiling about everything. Anyway, his 6 month appointment is on this upcoming Tuesday but his weight from this Tuesday was 21 lbs and 9ozs. We'll see if it changes much in a week.

So, that brings me to the next part of my rambling. This chubby little guy HATES to eat. Seriously. He eats because he's hungry but for no other reason. Solid foods are not ok with him at this point. He has a very strong gag reflex and can't keep stuff down. I'm not sure if has a texture issue like I do (I can't eat jello or pudding) or if he just has a bunch of lazy taste buds that aren't ready for the extreme differences in cuisine yet. We've tried rice cereal, which he tolerates a couple of spoonfulls of, applesauce - nope, green beans - nope, carrots - nope, got an actual shudder out of him for that attempt. So....medicating this baby is interesting. He hates things being in his mouth unless its coming from a boob or a bottle. He's got to be reclined back far enough that he can't expel it from his mouth, yet tipped up far enough that it doesn't slide to the back of his throat before he's ready for it or else he'll puke his entire stomach contents onto whoever is attempting to give him the medicine.

 

The steroid that he's on causes restlessness. Brolin is a go-go-go-er anyway. He hasn't stopped moving since 14 weeks en utero. He's now figured out how to roll over from back to stomach and stomach to back. And he's on steroids. So he's everywhere. And doesn't get tired. Here we go.

Last night was Fun Night at Marrin's school. There was a dance and games and food. The dance was in the dark with those neon glow necklaces and stuff. With that music that kids listen to these days. ;) Brolin 'danced' more than the other two combined. He doesn't need a bouncer, he's perfectly content to just bounce himself in your arms. Gives you as the holder quite the work out, really.

Our niece Mason cut a rug or two. She's been practicing with her parents, I think. Gangnam Style, The Harlem Shake, The Cha Cha Slide, that kid knew them all! And she just turned 2!

 

For a long time, we've been the only part of our family with little kids in the area. Jay's brothers have kids that live in SD and TX so we rarely see them. It's been fun having Mason get older and be able to interact and play with Marrin and Teague. I watched Mason actually seek Marrin out a couple of times last night. I hope they continue to grow up as close cousins too.



Pizza, Bubbles, and Ladybugs

My parents moved from Berthold to Minot late last year. They've taken to entertaining in their newly built house. Grandma Renae decided to implement a monthly pizza party. Our first one was Friday. We ordered pizza and decided there wasn't enough so we baked some frozen ones.

 

 

We had some dessert and hung around and visited. We brought our jammies with us in case Grandma Renae would agree to using her Jacuzzi tub. We have our own Jacuzzi tub but our jets get away from us. Our entire bathroom ends up wet.

Can't argue that those kids don't get clean with bubbles up to their ears.

I took the boys to TuttiFrutti on Thursday while Marrin was in school. She found out and was sad that she missed out, so I scheduled some girl time. We haven't had pedicures in awhile anyway, and darn it we're ready for Spring around here! Even if it is supposed to snow another 12 inches tomorrow. 

Marrin told her technician that she wanted ladybug colors as she picked out a deep shade of red. Her sweet technician asked her if she wanted some black polka dots to make her toes look like ladybugs. She had a bottle with a tiny paintbrush on the end. They turned out looking like Marrin has ladybugs on the end of each of her toes. Cute!

No pics of Brolin yet for this post, so here's one of him napping in his carseat. When I'm home with him, he refuses to nap for some reason. I guess I'm a lot of fun or something. Anyway, he fell asleep in his carseat as we were out and about but hadn't let go of his new favorite toy before his eyes finally shut.

And...it's Monday!?

Jay left Sunday morning at about 5am. Marrin and Teague were fast asleep in their beds. Well, in Marrin's beds. She has bunk beds in her room. When we bought them were thinking ahead to a time where we had more than one kiddo and possibly some cousins that would be staying the night occasionally. A couple of months ago, Marrin got this bright idea to ask Teague to stay in her room one night. Long story short, he's never left. He still has his room upstairs, with all his clothes and toys, but that boy loves his sissy.

Anyway, Jay left Sunday morning for a work conference-thingy which means I have 5 glorious (scary) days by myself with 3 kids. And 7 pets.

Sunday was also our church's dinner. My parents were the chair people this year so I knew it was me with three kids to myself. Therefore, I didn't sign up for my usual mashed potato shift. I did, however, sign up to bake 3 pies for the occasion. Now, I don't just buy the pieces to a pie and then put them together. I LOVE a good pie crust, so darn it, I make them myself. Which means I needed to start my pie baking endeavor on Friday. I made 6 crusts and put them in the fridge for Saturday's baking.

Saturday, we woke up semi-early and went to The Big One craft show. We bought kettle corn and that's really it. Oh! And Marrin, Teague, and I each got a cupcake. Anyways, while we were out and about and it was Jay's "last day with us" we decided to eat lunch at Olive Garden. Marrin ate her entire bowl of pasta! Teague had 3 breadsticks, some salad and about 15 shrimp from his pasta dish. I knew we had to get home to start on those pies, so home for naptime and baking time. I love to bake and cook, but I love to have time for baking and cooking and yarn and running and, of course, my kids. Needless to say, I don't do much of the fun baking/cooking.

 

I managed to balance baking 3 pies in each of the various stages throughout the day. End result? Beautiful, delicious pies that were served to some folks eating an old fashioned church dinner. I know they were delicious, because Sunday, when we ate at the dinner, I asked for apple pie, hoping to get a taste of my creations. Yup, a little proud of myself.

Teague had one of my pies too. He ate the whole thing! Marrin cleaned her plate of actual food and ate half a piece of peach pie. Those beautiful babies of mine sat still and did what I asked them to do. They didn't run Grandma and Grandpa down. They didn't run around the tables. There was no yelling or fighting of any kind. Yup, a little proud of my family. I guess Brolin did have a blowout. That kid blows out no matter where we go though. This time happened to be on Uncle Dan's lap. What a trooper Uncle Dan is.

Now...it's Monday. Monday night even. With three littles sleeping soundly. Homework done, teeth brushed, prayers said. One morning down. Two to go. (I took Thursday off anticipating some exhaustion.) Yup, a little proud of myself.

Babies Grow Fast

It hit me hard this week. After watching Teague go into a bathroom stall, all on his own. Do his duty, all on his own. Come out and wash his hands, with soap and everything. All on his own. I watched his little hands with water rinsing the soap off under the running water. When did he grow up so much?

Marrin is 6. Six! It's been more than 6 years since she joined Jay and me. She's gotten feistier, if that's even possible. Now she can read like it's nobody's business. We rarely even need to prompt her for sounds. This little girl refused to sit in my lap to be read to, but yet now has such a sense of pride when she can read something all on her own. We've had some trouble in that school area - with attitude, not grades. That's a whole other entry.

Now we have Brolin. Our smiley little sweetheart. Brolin is letting us relive the baby portions of Teague and Marrin that we've forgotten. Or maybe blocked out. Both of them were colicky. We actually figured it couldn't get any worse than Marrin as a baby. Then we got a Teague - turns out it can get worse. Way worse. Teague screamed for 8 months. There was no making him happy. Even Grandma Renae says she didn't hold the little guy until he was at least 6 months old. He just wasn't happy.

Back to Brolin though. He thinks that everything is funny. Heck, everything is hilarious! He'll smile at anyone that talks to him. He'll probably even giggle for them. He adores his big brother and sister. He's just starting to grab at things so you need to be careful about what you're holding and doing while you're holding him in your arms or lap. At 5 months, the big guy is fully capable of rolling from his back to stomach, but has yet to go back the other direction. He's not quite able to sit up on his own. No interest in solid foods, whatsoever.

He's bringing back the memories of that first Chinese handcuff type finger hold when babies are brand new.

Marrin Tai born 3/6/07 7lbs 10ozs

And the simple joy that babies exude that comes with hearing a funny noise.

Teague Marques born 11/11/2009 9lbs on the nose

 And seeing milk mustaches on a beautiful little face that smiles peacefully after eating.



Brolin Vincent born 10/20/2012 9lbs 4ozs



I thank my lucky stars that we were fortunate enough to receive these three amazing little creatures. Every day is a new learning experience, for both parent and child. I can only hope my kids can learn as much from me and Jay as we are learning from them.

Easter Eggs and Underwear

I have a large 3 year old son. He's actually almost 3.5. And not potty trained. Since he's larger than normal for a kid his age, we got lots of funny looks whenever someone would notice that he's wearing a diaper. Especially on changing tables in public places. You know the ones, they fold down from the wall and groan under the weight of 40+ pounds. They for sure don't fit his length. We've been "potty training" this kid for over a year. He has no interest in the idea. BUT, now the largest size of diapers (6, FYI) do not fit the kid and I refuse to buy Depends for my toddler/preschooler! So...long weekend - Easter! I saw an opportunity to lay down the law. I was home with the kiddos on Friday while Jay worked. Everyone woke up early and I told Teague that he'd be wearing underwear from now on. "Ok," he says. Hmmm, that seemed too easy. Alas, 4 pairs of underwear were soiled before 10:30 on that fateful morning. However, I'm proud to report that since 10:30 on Friday, March 29th, 2013. The kid has only had 1 accident! I think we've got it!

He's gung ho for wearing underwear. Sunday morning we woke up early for our Easter church services/brunch and he insisted on no diaper for the drive out there. I figured since he was dressed so cute, I'd make him wear one at least for the drive. We walked in the door and he took off for the bathroom. "Mommy, you stay out here. I'm taking this pull-up off!" You go buddy!

During church, he did say he had to go potty again but didn't want help so he went by himself. Came back and announced to everyone in the same vicinity of our pew that he went potty and washed his hands. Then he showed the fine parishoners his underwear. Proud little boy. THEN he announces that he didn't flush and takes off for that bathroom for a third time! Well, at least he knows where to go, I guess.

Today is Monday and we went to the mall for two hours - sans diaper. And then we took a walk. He did get wet, but it was from puddles, not pee. Woo freaking hoo. Are we seriously down to diapers on the baby only? Fingers crossed.