The Proctor Family

happy valentine's day!

2012-02-14T17:31:00.000-06:00

sweet smiles from our four little valentines!

we hope you had a sweet day, too.

fun february facts

2012-02-12T21:15:00.003-06:00

with granddaddy and dinosaurs - at the heard museum

the days are flying by and we are doing our best to keep up. there has been a lot of talk around the house regarding valentine's day since both liv and jonah have been discussing it in school and are excited about their upcoming school parties. we have also been staying busy with small projects around the house, a trip to the heard museum with grammie and granddaddy, a superbowl party at the millers, and an out-of-town trip for ray. he spent a few days in florida for work, which left me flying solo with the 4 little ones. fortunately, my mom offered to help out with bedtime - our craziest time of day, with everyone needing the same things at the same time. it was a huge help and we were all very grateful for daddy to be back at home. here are all of the fun little things the kids have been doing/saying:

liv entertaining brie

our little olivia made us proud this week. we had her parent/teacher conference at school and she received a glowing report from her teacher. she is doing wonderfully both socially and academically. her mid-year test scores placed her several grade levels above kindergarten and she is reading at a 5th grade fluency. ray and i were able to read over several of the papers she has written and the content and her penmanship has improved drastically over the school year. the teacher was very impressed with her vocabulary, knowledge base, and her enthusiasm. :D we have also been hearing about the research project she is working on in school. she got to choose the topic, and she chose great white sharks...which she loves to learn about. i can't wait to see the finished product. another funny thing is that they have been discussing healthy habits at school. it sounds like they have covered all of the basics, including exercise, hygiene, sleep and diet. she has mentioned all of these in passing, but has really focused on the diet. instead of taking her normal granola bar for snack, she has been asking me to pack her fruits or veggies. her exact words were, "i need to be taking something healthier than just a 90 calorie granola bar." :/ here are a few other funny things we have been hearing:
*she saw me making an omelet one morning and asked what it was. when i told her, she said, "oh, it's an omelet except it doesn't have platypus eggs." wild kratts strikes again.
*she asked if she and jonah could watch tv, and i told her she could but that jonah had already watched too much that day. when she asked about it, i said that he had watched for 2 hours during nap time. she must be up on tv programming because she said, "that's 4 shows!"

how jonah signed his name in a "book" he made for me

jonah has been a good little boy lately. i am happy to report that he and maddie have been playing together much more. it's hard to say, but i think part of it might be the gator that grammie and granddaddy dropped off at our house. they both love riding around on it together, so that (in combination with the nice weather) has had them spending more time with each other outside. they have been better inside too. i have seen them playing pretend together and helping each other put together one of our larger puzzles. it makes me so happy. individually, he is maturing in many ways. his reading is really improving, meaning that he is having to sound out fewer words and he is less focused on the picture and more on the words. and for some funny little tidbits about our favorite little guy: 1) he is fixated on number 21. any large number he has to guess about is always 21. the upside to this is that he guessed i was 21 years old. 2) we had a yellow cake with chocolate frosting at home that he asked for a piece of. after he happily devoured it, i asked him if he preferred white or chocolate frosting on his cake. he wasted no time before answering, "i like fire frosting" - referencing his fire birthday cake from last year. he then went on to ask if he could have the same one - but bigger - for his birthday this year. 3) he has been relaying more of his dreams lately. his recounting of them is long and confusing, but it's cute to hear him talking about how odd things happen. he told me that his "dream was all mixed up" because he was wearing different pajamas in his dream than the ones he went to bed with. i am guessing he told me that because he gets in trouble for changing his clothes unnecessarily during the day. ;)

i found maddie "reading" a book. (ignore the wet shirt. she got caught in a downpour while riding the gator.)

sweet madeline is making huge strides too. i am very happy to say that potty-training is going great. she mostly does it all on her own, which is good since i often forget she is even in panties. initially, we set up a reward system with skittles but since she is running the show solo most of the time, we both forget. if we do remember, she always wants a green (lime) skittle. we haven't been able to sell her on any of the others, so i am curious to see what she chooses after those run out. her interest in books has really increased. now when she disappears, a good place to look for her is near a bookshelf. we often find her thumbing through books, and she falls asleep for both naps and bedtime with a book in hand. her latest discovery is the fancy nancy series. she asks us to read her pajama day and the show must go on several times each day while she points out certain things on the page. and have i ever mentioned that our little maddie is very particular? she notices when the smallest thing is askew; drawers and doors must be closed and she likes her pillows and blankets arranged in a certain way for naptime. when i nurse brie, she likes the boppy turned a certain way and she is always the first to notice when we are wearing a new item of clothing. it might sound a bit silly, but it's actually really endearing to see how observant she is.

a not-so-good picture of her up on all fours

baby gabriella is also changing right before our eyes. her newest ventures in the food world are carrots and yogurt. like the other foods we have introduced, she has been more than happy to try/eat them all. last week she started getting up on all fours and rocking when we placed her on her belly. she does it most often in her crib, but will occasionally do it on her floor mat. her third tooth broke through, too. and have i ever mentioned that she loves her car seat? no matter how cranky she is, she is happy to be strapped in and headed somewhere. of course, it could be the circus act going on in the back of the van. ;)

noah and maddie having superbowl fun.

dad and ray watching the game

matt playing with brie while maddie watches the game.

jonah taking an important phone call

maddie coming in from the cold.

sleeping jonah. he loves the eye mask papa john brought him back from traveling and wanted to sleep in it - just like mommy does.

we finally moved brie into a high chair. i'm glad she likes it because she spends lots of time here watching us prepare meals for our hungry crew.

jonah giving dragon a bath

jonah and maddie working on the firetruck puzzle together.

3 outta 4 ain't bad

2012-02-06T10:18:00.000-06:00

something wonderful happened at our house over the past week. our little miss maddie decided that she wanted to join the ranks of big kids everywhere and wear panties! we have been talking about it for weeks and she has been asking to wear them for a little while, so i finally took the plunge. i was hesitant because i knew that i couldn't commit to being at her beck and call all day long with the constant craziness around here. i love a potty-trained child, however i have no desire to be the one who is trained. so we did some half-day trials on monday and tuesday with good success. she had an accident early wednesday, which meant that she had to wear a diaper that day. but she woke up thursday morning, put her panties on and hasn't looked back. she's actually been really amazing. i often forget to ask her because i'm juggling so many other things, but she has been wonderful about running to the potty herself and going. we honestly had to tell her that she needs to let us know when she goes so we can wipe her, because she had taken the initiative to do the whole shebang herself. (i guess seeing her two older siblings go unaccompanied made her think she could as well). anyway, despite trips to the store, several bike rides, a visit to grammie's house, church and a super bowl visit at the millers', she has stayed completely dry since we put on those panties thursday morning. i set out a pair for her each night and she wakes up and puts them on before she ever leaves her room each morning. and, sadly, she cried when we put her diaper on for bed sunday night. i made the mistake of telling her a few days ago that after she got good at staying dry all day, she would be able to sleep in panties. she did not forget! she cried and reminded me that she had been keeping her panties dry all day. talk about breaking my heart. :( but we are all so happy for her and excited to see these big steps she is taking toward independence. way to go, madeline!

still trucking along?

2012-01-29T15:12:00.000-06:00

yes we are. is it a smooth ride? not always. our life with 4 children (who just happen to be 5 and younger) is an amazing thing to be a part of - witnessing the firsts, enjoying the innocence, being a part of the accomplishments, and receiving their unconditional love. that said, the daily grind is grueling - mostly because the demands are never-ending, messes are made faster than i can possibly keep up with them, and children lack the concept of patience. i am going to venture to say that even the sanest, happiest of people would feel beat down at the end of a day at our house. we love our children deeply, but several of these days together is enough to make a sane, stable person doubt their ability to cope...which is exactly the shape i was in by friday. me being part-time is exactly what our family needs right now and i really enjoy not staying awake 3 nights/week, but i think it's safe to say that it's best for all parties involved if i step away from the children at some point during the week - even if it is for work. i never thought it was possible, but the time i spend at work is so much more relaxing than my days at home. i am assuming that this will change as the children get older, but it is most definitely not the case now. in the meantime, we are doing our best to count our blessings and enjoy the little things that make the work so rewarding. speaking of blessings,

olivia will celebrate her "100th day of kindergarten" this week. it's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we have sent her off for 100 mornings, packed 100 lunches, and watched the bus drop her back off 100 times. they are celebrating the big day in school this week, but the changes we've seen at home have been more subtle. she has done so much growing and changing from the little girl we sent off in the fall. it's neat to see that she has an awareness of the schedule she follows up at school, she has her own group of friends (that she has made completely on her own - based on her likes and their interests), and that she has her own stories to tell us about her day. it's a wonderful thing to witness. here are some funny things we have overheard lately:

*after all of the rain, the pond at the front of our neighborhood was overflowing. ray mentioned to her that he didn't know where all of it would drain to. she excitedly responded, "i know! all drains lead to the sea." obviously, watching finding nemo has taught her a thing or two also.

*she asked us if we could set up a system where if she did certain tasks, she would get rewards. i guess she hasn't heard that term very much because the word she used was "rewardment", which i assume is the opposite of "punishment" (which she has heard).

*the kids were coloring with markers one day when jonah asked if i had something to get marker off of skin. i said that plain water should work, and liv chimed in to say she thought that was right since we were using "the world's most washable marker". advertising at its best.

our sweet jonah is all-boy. his current favorite toy is his little dragon, who he carries around with him everywhere. dragon has joined him a few times in the shower and bathtub, and jonah recently petitioned for us to get dragon his own toothbrush (he does have lots of little teeth) and helmet (for their bike-riding jaunts). and this week he asked me if we could get a real dragon for christmas - one who breathes fire - who would be able to help us when we light fires. he did promise me it would only be for fires in the fireplace. he loves to help me out around the house (especially if it involves doing something for brie), and he frequently reminds me that once he is bigger, he will get the pans from the high shelves down for me. this week he even went so far as to say that once he moves away, he will come back to get down pans for me on his way to work. so sweet! he also mentioned that he will be working at the same place daddy does. :) despite the dirty socks he leaves laying around and the impressive amount of dirt he tracks in, it's hard to get very angry at that little boy. another thing he is still bringing up is the dream he had where i left him. :( he no longer asks me why i left him, but he does talk about where i could have gone and reiterates that i wouldn't really ever leave him. his big brown eyes and the serious look on his face when he talks about it gets me every time. to end on a happier note, he still refers to both burgers and boogers as buggers, which i find rather funny.

maddie had a fun first this week - she got a hair cut! after two and a half years of growing, she finally had enough to require a trim. the back was terribly scraggly, so it's nice to have it all even and healthy looking. i will add that it wasn't the first time scissors ever met her hair. somehow or other, she managed to get gum in her hair last week. it was *not* the gum she was chewing, but a chewed-up piece she had come across somewhere. sadly, she had twisted it up to the very roots of her hair before she brought it to my attention. i did my best to extricate as many hairs as i could, which i think almost guarantees that she will not attempt this again. despite the fact that she got gum in her hair, i can honestly say that she was totally unaware of what the implications would be and i actually felt sorry for her. :( perhaps because she spends the most time with me each day, she seemed to pick up on the fact that i was having a rough week and frequently asked me if i was okay. and i was really humbled one night when i was nursing gabriella and she sat down in front of me, pulled off my sock and started rubbing my feet...completely unprompted. liv came over and took up the other foot, then went to get some lotion. i don't know that maddie has ever seen anyone rub my feet (although i am hoping ray got the hint!), so it was a really nice gesture and hugely appreciated. also, we have been working hard to make sure she uses her manners but she still needs the occasional reminder. when she asks for something we say, "you need to ask nicely". so now when we say that, she says "ask nicely please". such a sweet, silly girl.

and what more can i say about our little gabby rae? i covered most of it in her 6 month post earlier this week. sadly, the immunizations did a number on her (or maybe it was that cold her siblings kindly shared with her), and she was out of sorts for a couple days. her tender thighs were obviously related to the shots, but she was also taking shorter naps than usual. i am hopeful that everything is on the up-and-up now. one fun development in the last few days is that she is finally sitting up with ease. as of mid-week, she was still leaning quite a bit while sitting, but has since adopted a very straight posture. yay for reaching another milestone! and i am doing my best to remember to purchase *and* introduce new foods, so this week she sampled squash.
and a few more pics from our week:

the 3 littlest amigos

gum mishap

daddy giving maddie and george a ride to bed

liv and jonah put on a "show" for us one night.

6 months old

2012-01-26T11:07:00.003-06:00

it's true! our littlest baby is now halfway to one. her big day was last friday and i still can't get over how fast the first six months went...or how much she has grown and changed. i reminded her how long she had been with us several times throughout the day. she seemed unimpressed, but we enjoyed fussing over her.

the reason for the late update is that her pedi appointment wasn't until today. dr.ezekiel was happy with her growth and development. our little cupcake weighed in at 19 pounds, 8 ounces (96th percentile) and was 27.5" long (also 96th percentile), while her head was in the 75th percentile. she went over a long list of developmental things she wants us to be working on, as well as her dietary needs for each of the next several months. and like all little 6 month olds, she ended the appointment with 4 shots and an oral vaccine. :( fortunately, she was more than happy to take her pacifier afterward and promptly fell asleep on the way home.
at home, she had a rather uneventful month. she learned to sit unassisted and will roll from belly-to-back, but still has no desire to roll from back-to-belly. she sampled and enjoyed every new food we offered her (which was far fewer than it should have been) and spent lots of time perfecting her giggle. she is very grabby now, especially if she sees a cup. she is great at drinking from a straw and does a fair job of drinking from a regular cup if we hold it up for her to lips. obviously, she spends the majority of her days watching the rest of us and is doing her best to catch up. and i think i mentioned that i initially thought she really resembled jonah. however when i looked back at pictures from the others at 6 months of age, i can't deny that she is definitely one of our girls. she has the same little face and smile. ray and i both think she looks very similar to maddie at 6 months, with a lot of liv's personality, and jonah's big belly laughs.

lastly, we couldn't let our baby turn 6 months old without taking her to have her pictures made. here are "a few" of the proofs from her session on sunday.

baby brie buns!

"sunshine on a stem?" not so much.

new year novels

2012-01-15T21:45:00.005-06:00

2012 is well underway at the proctor household and we all seem to have slipped right back into our normal routines now that work and school have resumed. the days are very full with the big and small activities related to keeping up with several small children, which must be why they speed by at an unbelievable pace. i can't even adequately express how quickly the hours and days pass. years ago i would watch the clock and wait oh-so-patiently for ray to return home. now, my feet hit the ground running and the day slips by while i do my best to keep up with so many different schedules. usually, i am making dinner and ray is returning home before i have a chance to miss him. for more on the little peeps that keep me running, read more.

sleeping with bernie

liv hasn't had much going on lately. she returned to school and has been taking her mid-year assessment tests. she doesn't seem to mind taking them, but her favorite part (and mine) is that she doesn't have any homework during these weeks. it has made the transition back to school so much nicer. she still grumbles some mornings about having to go to school, but i think she enjoys it...especially the library. marine life is her newest passion (specifically sharks) and she has found a series in the library that she is really enjoying. another fun thing is that she received an analog watch for christmas and learned very quickly how to tell time. she wears it often and loves to report the time to anyone who might care to know. also cute: she loves to help out by getting things for brie, especially her teethers which she refers to as "teasers".

fun on the gator

our little jonah has been a busy boy. he is happy to be back at preschool and is doing so much better at being able to recount his day. we are now getting little tid-bits about books they read, activities they did and songs they sang. obviously, not all that from a single day, but he is discussing more. most often, he will retell events from episodes of wild kratts, a tv show he likes. this is vastly different from the boy a few months ago who couldn't tell us a single thing about his day or what he had just watched on tv. how fast they change! he continues to be very helpful around the house, especially with certain tasks, like unloading the groceries (he did this for me totally unassisted one day, which was a GIANT help!) , feeding the dog, and even picking up toys. his favorite place to eat is taco bueno and he asks to eat there almost daily. and, for the first time ever last week he talked about a dream he had. it had to do with me and him being in the minivan . i was driving and he was in the backseat, when i suddenly had to leave. it must have been very real to him, because for about 2 days he kept asking me why i left him. :( in happier news, here are some funny things we have been hearing from him:
*he got a new pair of camo mud boots for christmas, but if you ask him they are "snow boots". he is eagerly waiting for snow to fall so he can stomp around outside in them. in the meantime, he has been wearing them everywhere he can think of...except the mud. because they are snow boots.
*i told him he was a pretty smart little boy. he responded by telling me that i am pretty, but not very smart. he went on to say that i don't know very much about some things...and he has repeated it since then. :/
*he asked me if i would buy grapes at the store. i told him that if the grapes were good, i would buy some for him, to which he replied, "if there are bad grapes, i will give them to maddie". poor maddie!
as a side note, the last one is telling of the attitude we frequently see him exhibiting toward maddie. they play nicely most of the time, but there seems to be more tension between the two of them than any other pairing. he often requests to not sit next to her at meals, he moved her mudroom cubby so that it wouldn't be next to his, and i will sometimes come across where he has hidden her prized possessions (george, her dress up shoes, etc) in the back corners of his closet. hopefully this passes.

maddie in her princess dress. somedays she wears it from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed.

speaking of maddie, after several good weeks, she has been a bit out-of-sorts lately. overall, she is very good and sweet...but some things haven't been the same. i found her looking through the cabinets in my bathroom (she hasn't done this in forever!), she was slightly more aggressive toward jonah, she decided to her paint her toenails without me, and our "daddy's girl" just hasn't been that into him. :( obviously, there aren't many and none of them are huge, but it's just enough to make me think something is different. on a brighter note, she is engaging more in solo pretend play. she will disappear for long periods of time to play "mommy" with her dolls and george, dress-up, or in the little kitchen. and she *loves* to talk on the phone. she will grab yours if she sees it laying around, or use one of our play ones. the one constant is that she will always call aunt shari. it is slightly bizarre since my sister and i seldom communicate via phone. and her interest in and ability to count is really improving. she is now able to point and correctly count out up to eight items. and have i ever mentioned that our little girl talks in her sleep? it has woken us up more than once, only for us to find her sound asleep.

happy baby? i think so.

little miss gabriella has been busy, too. the girl won't stop growing! she is wearing a size 3 diaper very comfortably under her 9 month (and occasionally 12 month) clothing, and green beans and avocados have been her latest forays into the food world. mostly because of the addition of these pasty foods, i introduced her to a straw cup and she caught right on. those sips of water must have be hugely satisfying because i have to cut her off every time. we can't seem to leave her unattended on the ground enough (thanks to 6 little hands) for her to roll from back-to-belly, but i think if given the chance she would get there quickly. i have noticed her scooting herself backward when she is in her crib; she must get up on her knees just enough and push back with her hands at the same time. her gums seem to bother her from time to time - despite the fact that she doesn't have any more teeth - which might be why she is starting to enjoy her teethers. she was reluctant at first, but now she will chew on them for several minutes, or until she drops them. another exciting development is that she will now take a pacifier! we give it to her when we read her books (she stays interested much longer when she is sucking on it) and when we lay her down to sleep. it is wonderful to have another way for her to calm herself. of course, every day brings a greater awareness of the world around her. bailey is extremely fascinating right now and brie will make huge attempts to grab at her when she gets in the general vicinity. she remains super happy and easy to please as long as she has had enough sleep, causing the tiniest things elicit huge belly laughs. of course peek-a-boo makes her giggle, but she went nuts this week when i got the hiccups. each hiccup brought about another burst of giggles. how do you not love that?

maddie's ensemble, complete with shoes.

jonah coloring, liv drawing.

"i see you!"

jonah helping daddy chop wood...

...while maddie watches from her perch.

maddie and george.

jump-jump-jumping!

all of her favorite things:

george, her dress-up shoes and the phone.

jonah drawing with sidewalk chalk on a sunny day.

my little grocery shopper...with george.

playtime!

what she should have been working on is her wild, wild hair.

and some giggles to brighten your day.

2012 is here!

2012-01-05T03:02:00.000-06:00

we can't have any more kids because ray is out of extremeties.

we made it into the new year without much fanfare. after several weeks of running around, something happened at our house that has never happened before: ray and i both had an entire week off together. :D it was amazing, blissful, and wonderful to co-parent *and* spend time together...not just hand-off children between our different sleep and work schedules. the extra set of hands and eyes were nice, but we relished the chance to eat all of our meals together, take care of some projects around the house, catch up with our families, watch several (non-G rated) movies and bring in a new year with each other. the kids seemed to enjoy it also. not only the extra time with both of us, but also the sleepovers they had with each set of grandparents, and a dinner out with grammie's sister and her family - the senters. we made so many fun memories! here's what the kids have been up to individually:

liv getting ready to go play outside

olivia was able to really enjoy the season this year. she understands the reason behind it, knows about the presents, and was able to appreciate the break from school. unfortunately, she was sick during the heyday of it. she was dragging around on the 23rd and feeling warm, so ray took her temperature and was surprised to see it was 103.7. a dose of motrin brought it right down (and her spirits back up), but she was warm again by the evening and earned herself some more medication. sadly, she woke us up in the middle of the night with some really vivid hallucinations. despite appearing awake - she was talking to us, walking around the house and responding appropriately - she was seeing all sorts of holiday magic in her room...and it went on for over an hour. both ray and i took turns with her, but she was certain that our elf was hopping around the house, santa claus was in her bathroom, rudolph was on her bed, santa's sleigh was flying around the ceiling, and she couldn't help but try to catch the snowflakes falling in her bedroom. they were so real to her, she couldn't even understand how we could say we didn't see them. it was concerning and exhausting, but we finally got her to fall asleep in bed with us after another dose of motrin. as the fever came and went over the next 4 days she did lots of sleeping, but never had another "episode". she does, however, remember all of the things she saw that night and is still talking about seeing them all in her room. and she is rather disappointed that she can't find the hat santa claus gave her. :( fortunately, she was back to her normal self for the last part of the break and was able to really enjoy it. here are some cute things she said over the break:
*granddaddy took her to a chinese buffet (which she loved!). she has mentioned several times how much she loves to go to the chinese chick-fil-a.
*she got a gel pen for christmas. i was near her the first time she used it and i heard her exclaim, "oooh. it's so silky!"
*she walked in the room when ray was watching a football game and saw that GB was playing CHI. she announced that green bay was playing china. ray sweetly informed her that green bay was playing chicago.
*one night when she was so sick and miserable, i tucked her into bed and told her, "i love you to the moon and back" (which is something we rarely ever say). she caught me off-guard when she told me she loved me "to heaven and back".

jonah enjoying some of his christmas presents: new pajamas and slippers

jonah has not been nearly as busy as his sisters. he enjoyed christmas too - especially the songs and presents - and has been asking when it will be here again. all of the extra toys and games came in handy during our week home together but he seemed to have the most fun on his outings with his daddy. ray took him for a long afternoon "boys trip" to help move a piano and get firewood. and it goes without saying that our little one who is all-boy went a little overboard after seeing so many pocket knives circulating to help open presents. he has become very enamored with ray's and started asking for one.

maddie trying out her new helmet.

she loves accessories!

little madeline remains a real sweetheart and big helper. she has been working hard to pull her weight around the house and answers every request for help with "sure!" she now talks in long, full sentences and loves to chime in whenever she can. she is starting to transition away from talking about herself in third person, referring to herself as "me-maddie" (versus just "maddie"). she also loves to "tell" us what she wants to happen, but asks it in the form of a question. she will make a statement about what she wants, then say, "okay?" although she can be a little rough with brie, there is no doubt that she loves all of her siblings. she is so good about thinking of them and sharing with them. and i think we will have yet another child poop-trained soon. much like how older siblings were, she has decided that she no longer wants to use her diaper for that purpose. we frequently find her in the bathroom with her diaper off and needing to be wiped. such an independent little girl! she hasn't perfected peeing in the potty. it's still hit or miss, but if she asks to we will let her wear her panties until she has an accident or needs to sleep. she's doing good with it, usually wearing them for several hours at a time and even on a trip to the store. i refuse to pretend that i can control a child using the toilet (nor do i have the time or desire to be running her in there all the time), so we will let her take it at her own pace. of course, her biggest motivation is moving away from diapers and into panties like a big girl. it's so bittersweet to see her growing up so fast.

brie being entertained by the jumper

and then there is gabriella. our littlest girl is moving right along. she still likes to act like she is starving despite getting plenty of milk, so i occasionally add in an extra meal of solids in the afternoon. in the last few weeks she has tried sweet potatoes and peaches and as soon as i make it to the grocery store, she will have more to try. (oops!) fortunately, she doesn't seem to be overly picky about food. her schedule got a bit off with all of us home and she hasn't been napping nearly as well or at her usual times. i am assuming it's the huge change in our routine, but it's also possible that her teeth are bothering her. she has been chewing on anything she can find - her toys, her fingers, blankets, and even me. :( those sharp little teeth can really do some damage. i know she has no idea what she is doing, but that doesn't do much to minimize the pain on some of my most sensitive body parts. :( other than her occasional nips and erratic nap schedule, we have been having lots of fun with her. she is so very observant - she watches every.single.move we make during the day. she enjoys interacting with us, flashes giant toothy grins, and giggles at the smallest things. toys that make noise, frozen teethers, and things that show her reflection are her favorite ways to spend time. oh, and we got down the jumper right before christmas and it is a huge hit also. she doesn't jump a whole lot, but she likes to spin around, grab at the different objects/toys and she has figured out how to press the buttons to make it play music. that's right...more noise in our house! between the noises she gets out of her toys and how "gabby" she is on her own, she is fitting in quite nicely with the other 3.

and some pictures:

our PC died back in december and ray had taken it apart to get out one of the hard drives, but he made the mistake of leaving it unassembled with his tools out. jonah found them the next day and thought he had stumbled on a little piece of heaven. i removed the tools, but found jonah and maddie in there later with his play tools. they were hard at work.

brie joins in while the 2 older girls do some impromptu crafts.

liv reading one of the new books to the other 3.

uncle jared stopped by during the break, which inevitably leads to a dog pile.

i found the kids playing in a "fort"

liv loving on cousin casey when we went out to dinner

maddie - ever the fashionista - wearing a pig mask.

baby toys are always cool.

maddie enjoying, ummm, ENJOYING the bumbo seat during a snack.

happy birthday, bailey

2012-01-04T17:49:00.000-06:00

some pictures of our girl on her big day

everyone's favorite dog - who just happens to be our sweet yellow lab - turned *eight* on january 2nd. although bailey's life isn't nearly as exciting as it used to be (think near-daily trips to the dog park to play fetch), we hope she can appreciate the extra love - and treats - she gets from her larger "pack". we adopted her before we got married, so she has seen us evolve from two single people into parents of four, and has been able to appreciate us upgrading to a larger car and home. she still has just as much energy as she did as a puppy so i think she is less than thrilled with our current set-up, but she is taking it all in stride. bailey does appreciate the kids' desire to play fetch with her, and could really enjoy it if they were able to throw a bit farther. fortunately, ray's parents frequently take pity on her. they let her visit them to run around on their land, swim in their pond and play with their dog abby (who we introduced her to just hours after we adopted her). they will even toss the ball into the pond for her to fetch, which has earned ray's dad a special place in her heart. she *loves* being around him and ray the most, since they tend to be her best chances of getting some good playtime in. of our children, jonah does the most with her. he is great about making sure she has plenty of food, letting her in and out of the house, keeping an eye on her when they are outside, and wiping her feet when she gets muddy. obviously, the dog gets plenty of love around here despite not living her ideal life.
and a blast from the past...pictures of baby bailey from her first night at home.

eating,

sleeping,

and playing with her favorite toy - bunny!

about a week later.

so, happy birthday to the world's sweetest, gentlest, most playful lab. we love you, bailey!

professional pictures

2011-12-30T12:17:00.002-06:00

i realized i never posted the professional pictures we had taken for our christmas card. we went one sunday in november to a botanical garden in grapevine. the weather was semi-cooperative (a cold front blew in during the session and it was misting), but the kids were not. i can't even adequately convey how difficult it is to get ALL FOUR of our children to sit relatively still, look at the camera and smile AT THE SAME TIME. in fact, it's nearly impossible. after an hour of attempting to achieve this, we had to throw in the towel. i had high hopes of getting at least one really good picture the four of them together, but it wasn't to be. liv could not smile naturally to save her life and jonah looked like a deer in the headlights for about 95% of the pictures. i guess we always have spring pictures to look forward to...

olivia

jonah

maddie was the most cooperative one!

baby gabriella

the two big girls...

the only half-way decent picture of all four.

6 hands

christmas day 2011

2011-12-29T11:29:00.001-06:00

santa came!

we celebrated christmas day with the proctors. we waited for grammie and granddaddy to arrive before we let the kids into the living area to see what santa had brought. the kids were very excited to see all of the goodies santa had left and open the rest of their presents. after a few brief intermissions for breakfast and laying the baby down for a nap, we finally made it through everyone opening their gifts. we spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating a lunch of turkey and dressing, playing with new toys, and napping. even better, i was cancelled that night so i didn't have to go into work. :) instead, liv and i stayed up and decorated the gingerbread house we never quite got to during the hectic week before christmas. check out lots of pictures from christmas day here.

christmas chaos

my gift from olivia

the ushanka hat we got for ray's dad

later that day...

ray reading a new book to liv and jonah

building something with the wacky gears while liv naps (she was sick :( poor girl.)

liv decorating the gingerbread house after the other kids went to bed.

we had a wonderful christmas celebrating with all of the people we love most and we hope you did too. and a special thanks to everyone who sent us christmas cards and letters...we loved seeing pictures of you, getting your notes and catching up on what your family has been doing. the kids especially love looking at all of the cards and pictures on the refrigerator. they love to point to the pictures and talk about you! merry christmas!

christmas eve 2011

2011-12-28T15:04:00.001-06:00

merry christmas!

as always, we spent christmas eve with the miller family. we got together in the early evening, ate dinner, went to the christmas eve service, then came home for pictures and presents. with so many little ones, we have to shuffle the plans around every year based on what works. so this year...because the three littlest ones were already up way past their usual bedtimes, we changed them into their pajamas and let them all open their presents at once before putting them to bed. then jonah and olivia opened their presents before they also went to bed. once all of the small children were in bed, we had a leisurely rest of the evening - opening presents, eating dessert and visiting. we wrapped up the festivities just after midnight, roused our children from their slumbers, brought them home and tucked them into bed so santa claus could come. i am posting a few pictures below, but many more from our christmas eve can be seen here.

the tree with presents

the whole family

me and my girls

noah gets some help from mom on his first christmas.

it was also our gabriella's first christmas!

she got lots of help from her older siblings.

monkey house shoes!

trying out her new dress-up shoes.

jonah gets some monster slippers.

part of the christmas crowd.

wacky gears!

liv loves her new rain boots.

the childers' turn.

jared is next.

the 3 brothers.

5 months old

2011-12-23T06:47:00.000-06:00

the littlest proctor turned 5 months old this week! utterly unbelievable. although we didn't to anything spectacular on the momentous day, she has been doing some spectacular things over the last several weeks. her interest in solid foods has not waned. i have been moving slower than i should, but so far she has tried apples, bananas and pears and she hasn't complained about any of them. perhaps this is why our home measurements have her weighing in at 18 pounds, 3 ounces (!) and 25.5 inches long. her big news for the month is that she started rolling from belly-to-back last week. i laid her down for an afternoon nap, and she flipped right over. so i went and got the video camera, flipped her back, walked around to the foot of the bed to get a better angle...and discovered she was already on her back again. so i did it all again..and so did she. by the time i flipped her back a 4th time, she was done. but, being the cooperative child that she is, i was able to get video soon after. another fun thing she discovered was her toes! she found them one night during her bath and it was difficult to get her to sit up straight again with something so fun right there at the end of her body! she is very close to sitting up unassisted, but still tends to tip over unless she is in a tripod position. and she loves to hear her voice. she will hold long conversations with herself about nothing in particular, but she mostly just coos when talking to us. her awareness in her surroundings grows each day. she will spend forever watching us go about our days with a look that can only be described as intense interest. and her interest doesn't end there: she is entering the dreaded grabby-hands phase. she grabs onto anything and everything within striking distance. obviously, this complicates things when i am holding her while trying to get things done. but it's almost impossible to get angry with her when she is such a happy baby with endless smiles, giggles and excitement. she loves all of us, but her siblings do the best job of getting giant belly laughs out of her. she has been such a joy and blessing to us and we can't wait to experience her first christmas with her. merry christmas, sweet baby girl!

and some live-action video:

all things merry and bright

2011-12-19T04:35:00.000-06:00

both liv and jonah finished up their semesters this week. it is crazy to think that they won't be back in school until 2012! of course, they both had really fun and light schedules (= no homework!) that included winter parties and pajama days.

i was able to attend jonah's party on wednesday. it had a polar express theme, so all of the children wore their pajamas. while i was there, his class played christmas bingo (jonah won!),

sang several songs for us,

read the polar express book, and went "ice skating",

before we had cookies and hot chocolate while santa stopped by for a visit.

jonah was super-excited (i promise! ignore his look in the pic below) to have me there and was even more excited to give me the present he had made for me. he had been telling me for about a week that he was making something for me, but that it was a "surprise". he was about to pop from excitement when he was giving it to me, and there was no way i could convince him to wait until christmas for me to open it. we made it back to the car after the program before he couldn't wait any longer. :D

the package was a paper bag decorated like rudolph with his handprints as the antlers. inside, was a nice little candle holder that he had decorated with glitter. he couldn't stop talking about it and making sure i liked it. what a sweetheart!

liv's pajama day was thursday and it also had a polar express theme. this is her wearing her school-attire for the day. (don't worry, she wore shoes to school!):

they watched the polar express, then had reading time in the afternoon. at some point, they must have discussed the movie, because this is one of the papers that came home with her:

i wasn't able to make it to her winter party on friday, but i hear they made snowmen out of powdered donuts and homemade hot chocolate before early dismissal at noon. after lunch, grandma sharon picked liv and jonah up so they could help her take food and christmas gifts to a shelter. i love that they were able to help out and realize there are others who are less fortunate than they are. we have several other fun activities planned this week to coincide with our advent calendar. fun little things to get us in mood and remind us of the reason for the season as we count down the days till christmas.

uh-oh, spaghetti-o!

2011-12-13T09:30:00.000-06:00

miss maddie earned herself some stitches yesterday after a lunch-time fall from her chair resulted in a sliced toe (or as the discharge paper said, a "gaping laceration"). it can only be described as a freak accident, since i'm not really sure how it happened or what she cut her toe on. even after i helped her back up, i didn't notice anything amiss. it was only after she told me her hands were dirty and i went to wipe them that i saw they were bloody. so i inspected her hands (found nothing) and her face (also nothing), before doing a full search. her little pinky toe on her left foot looked a little pink and swollen...and it was dipping blood. a peek at the bottom of her foot revealed a nasty little cut.

she was perfectly content to finish eating her lunch on the counter while i kept her foot over the sink - cleaning it, taking pics for our favorite ER nurse to look at, and trying to figure out the best way to bandage it. she didn't mind a bit that i was messing with it and just watched as i separated her toes to wrap gauze around it. i knew it looked bad, but she wasn't upset about it and it's the bottom of her toe(!) so i wasn't too alarmed about a possible scar. after talking with ray and my sister (the aforementioned ER nurse), the plan i settled on was to give her motrin, let her nap (both girls were way overdue at this point because of the chaos), and see how it looked when she woke up. after a 2 hour nap, she stumbled out of bed with a big smile on her face. she happily let me look at her toe, but the progress wasn't that convincing.

more calls to ray and my sister. despite the fact that maddie was running around the house and playing like usual, it looked ugly and its location made it a huge risk for infection. jessica talked with/sent pictures to one of the ER doctors she works with at an acute care center and she said she would stitch it up. ray came home a tad early to take her because there was no way i was taking 4 kids up there. *and* it would have been impossible to comfort her. according to the reports and pictures, she was a real trooper.

the nurse cleaning it up

getting stitched up. she was looking at pictures on daddy's phone the whole time.

support from big sis and monkey

outside of a few tears during the lidocaine injections, she could have cared less. they cleaned it up, stitched it, bandaged it and sent her on her way with instructions to not walk on it for the rest of the day and to keep it dry (=no bath. yuck!) she had a great rest of the night, but did resist putting on footed pajamas. today she is on the mend. she is a little hesitant to walk (she keeps telling me that the doctor told her not to walk on it), but she is. we'll keep it dry and clean, and the stitches come out in 10 days.

all smiles this morning:

cookie fest

2011-12-12T22:39:00.004-06:00

we had our annual cookie fest this past sunday. the miller, childers, proctor, and king families came together for food, fun, and festivities with a few baked goods as a side-product. we met up around noon at the millers' house, had lunch, and then started baking. with so many hands, we were able to turn out 10 dozen sugar cookies, 10 dozen m&m cookies, 3 dozen snicker doodles, 2 pounds of sugared pecans, 4 dozen haystacks, puppy chow, and 16 mini-loaves of banana bread in just a few hours. we were done in time to eat dinner together before we had to get children in bed for the school week. here are some pictures of the fun.

the baking begins

liv and alex m&m the cookies

the kids playing with the trains in the living room

the haystacks, sugared pecans, and snicker doodles

m&m cookies and sugar cookies

kitchen chaos

we *might* have all been a little sleep-deprived.

the most wonderful time of the year

2011-12-11T00:26:00.001-06:00

our advent calendar!

december is well underway and we have been doing our best to enjoy all of the magic of the season. i finished up our family advent calendar last weekend, so the kids (mostly liv) have been excited to find out what fun, merry things we will be doing each day. the cold weather over the last week has definitely made it easier to do several of the things, like drink hot chocolate, bake cookies, and make a fire in the fireplace. we have also had fun watching several of the christmas cartoons together. :D i love the holidays!
liv is still fascinated with the elf on the shelf and actually made a chart to keep up with how many times he has been moving. it's hard to say (because she is good anyway), but i think it has helped some with her behavior. her biggest news from the last week is that she has a loose tooth...i think. she is certain that her tooth is loose, but if it is, it is barely wiggling. she is over-the-moon about it and has told everyone she can find. also, the count of "loose" teeth is gradually increasing, at least according to her. as of today, she says she has 6 of them. :/ obviously, several of her peers are losing teeth and she is ready to join their ranks. when she called daddy at work to report the news, i heard her say, "i know! i am growing up so fast you can hardly believe it!" other funny things overheard last week: she came home from school one day excited about learning to "drizzle" a basketball in fitness class. another day when she was doing something with jonah i asked her if everything was going okay, to which she replied, "we've got it under control."
jonah has been a handful lately. although he is very sweet and loving, he *occasionally* likes to see just how much he can get away with. in his defense, he has been dealing with a cold, so i am going to hope it has something to do with him being a tad under the weather. of course, we deal with the basic toy-stealing and teasing, but here are some other recent infractions: my dad watched jonah and maddie one day while i ran somewhere. when i got home he informed me that they had been running around on the couch. when he saw it, he asked them if i let them do that. jonah said, "no. but she isn't here right now." :/ and one morning during breakfast jonah asked for a piece of gum. i told him that he could have a piece after he ate his food. i left the room for a minute and when i came back, jonah was standing near the sink looking sheepish. i asked him if he ate all of his breakfast, to which he replied, "i don't know why bailey is standing there." after very little investigative work, it came out that he had *shared* the rest of his eggs with bailey. needless to say, jonah did not get gum. despite the little hiccups, he is still brie's number one fan...which is huge help when i need someone to entertain her so i can get things done. he gets her to smile and laugh like nothing else can. lastly, he isn't talking very much about christmas and the elf is only somewhat interesting to him, but he has said a few things about next month, which he refers to as janulary.
sweet madeline has been just that - very sweet and very helpful! she seems to have temporarily forgotten that she is two, which has drastically cut down on the number of messes i am having to clean up. :) but it's been more than that. maddie has been making fewer messes and loving/helping/sharing more. she is very attuned to our normal routine and helps out anyway she can. i can't think of many things she doesn't want to help with. she carries laundry baskets, helps with dinner, picks up toys, closes doors and drawers, entertains brie, folds laundry, and brings us things we ask for. she likes to do everything she can for herself, as well. she knows to get her bib and put it on before meals (as well as hang it up after), she puts her milk cup and plate up after she eats, she dresses herself, and brushes her hair. and she *loves* her family. she talks about liv and jonah all day long and whenever we give her something, she is quick to ask about getting some for the others. she is really good about sharing with them and will even relinquish toys if they ask for them. she is quick to say sorry when someone gets hurt and is quite the comforter. if she sees me upset or if someone gets hurt, you can count on maddie to come over, give a reassuring pat and remind you that it is "tay-tay" (aka okay). her understanding of christmas is fairly limited, but she is very interested in locating the elf, which she alternately refers to as santa claus or the scarecrow.
and our baby gabriella is growing fast. i broke down early last week and gave her rice cereal, which she eagerly consumed. in fact, she was so into it and did so well, i went ahead and gave her a second serving later in the day...which she also gobbled up. after days of eating several tablespoons each morning and evening, we added in apples. they were also a bit hit! the poor girl acts like i starve her; opening her mouth anytime the spoon gets in her general vicinity and even grabbing at it to pull it to her mouth. there is no denying that she is a good little eater. she still wants to breastfeed 5-6x each day, despite the fact that i have a good milk supply. i guess that might be the reason that she is filling out 9 month outfits and her size 2 diapers are a joke. such a hungry little baby! in non-food news, she is becoming much more aware of her surroundings. she watches us closely and it appears that she can now predict some of the things we are going to do based on where we see her looking. also, she has become aware that the boppy means she is going to get fed, and don't let her see her bottle unless you are ready to feed her. she is getting better about holding her toys as she plays with them, but her goal with every object is to get it into her mouth. such a big, busy girl.

tummy time entertainment

her first bite of rice cereal. palatable.

maddie pushing monkey around in style.

doing some art projects with monkey close-by.

jonah coloring. it was a pajama sort of day.

maddie sporting the very popular "raymond" belt. it was ray's when he was little, but jonah wears it whenever he has belt loops. maddie recently discovered it and has been wearing it just as often. note that it does not fit in her belt loops, but that doesn't hold her back any.

and liv and jonah watching tv on my bed, while jonah takes an "important" phone call.

check back soon for cookiefest updates!

wheel fun

2011-12-04T15:00:00.001-06:00

our favorite little boy learned how to ride his bike this week. :D you can read more about it in my weekly update here, but i thought i would post a video of jonah (aka spiderman) wheelin' around right after he learned. he was so excited to show us his new skill, and we are so excited for him. what a great accomplishment. enjoy the freedom, little guy!

december is here!

2011-12-03T20:38:00.000-06:00

december is here and all of the holiday fun that goes with it. decorating this year has been a multi-step process. we had several eager helpers, but even with (or because of!) all of those extra little hands things seemed to take longer than ever before. despite the delays, our tree and stockings are up and the kids are counting the days on our advent calendar. i have high hopes of finishing up another advent calendar for us soon that includes fun seasonal activities for us to do each day, but it isn't quite ready. in the meantime, we have been enjoying some other fun things, like new footed pajamas from grammie, a new angel tree-topper from grandma sharon, and on thursday santa sent an elf (for our shelf) to be on the lookout for naughty or nice behavior.

i don't have very much to report on olivia. she is - by far - the most excited about our "elf on the shelf" named christopher. all of the kids have been looking over and asking to read the book santa sent with him, but she remembers the tiniest details. we have high hopes that a visual reminder will help everyone remember to be on their best behavior. discovering he has moved has been a big hit, so they watch for location changes and point him out frequently during the day. since liv understands the most, she has been very mindful of her behavior and has even been encouraging the other children. :) success!

jonah has been a busy little boy this past week. he has been wanting to ride his bike without training wheels for months, but seldom wanted to practice. we would take the training wheels off, run up and down the driveway a few times, and then he would want to stop. we didn't press the issue, but ray encouraged him to sit on the seat and "walk" up and down the driveway. we would see him doing this occasionally, and when he would ask we would help him the traditional way. i guess he was "walking" on it more than we realized and he finally got up the nerve to attempt to pedal on his own. he came inside wednesday afternoon while i was helping liv with her homework and excitedly told us he could ride his bike. i am sad to admit that i didn't think he could actually ride his bike, so when he asked us to go outside to watch, i said we would after we finished up her work. he reminded me again later so we all headed outside, and you can imagine my delight (and surprise!) to see him pedaling all over the place. watching a child realizing they can ride a bike is one of the more rewarding and amazing parts of being a parent. the pride and excitement in his eyes was priceless, and i am so happy i was there to experience it. of course, our little boy said some funny things this week, too. i bought some goldfish crackers for the kids this week, but i guess i haven't exposed him to them enough. he calls them goldenfish. and he refers to our love seat as our level seat. ;)

our little maddie has been keeping herself out of trouble. yay! she is also intrigued by our little elf, although her ability to understand the whole thing is apparently limited. she thinks the elf is santa, but that isn't slowing down her enthusiasm any. she could definitely use some reminders to be on her best behavior, especially since her new favorite word is now! it's true that i often have to put off requests by saying "i can't do that right now" because i don't have enough hands. so i guess her logical response is to follow up her requests for things with now! unfortunately, it doesn't have a better outcome for her since i prefer the request be followed with a please. she is recognizing more and more letters and loves to "race" us around the house. she will stop somewhere, put one foot in front of the other and say, "mark, set, go!" so cute! and today i smiled when she asked for a q-tip, but mistakenly called it an earplug.

our littlest proctor is doing her best to keep up with the gang. gabriella is becoming quite the little grabber. she has started grabbing for things that are within her reach. it's wonderful when we have her playing with her toys because she will grab at them, hear the sounds they make, and attempt to put them in her mouth. it's all very entertaining. unfortunately, she is starting to grab at our stuff too. by the grace of God, she seems to be our most content baby yet, but that might be because there is a constant circus in front of her. and a few times this past week while she has been laying on her tummy, i have seen her twist her upper body around. when she figures out how to kick her legs at the same time, she'll be rolling. lastly, although i would love to delay solids indefinitely, i think rice cereal will soon be making an appearance. she just can't seem to go as long between daytime feeds as she has been, so i think it is time. all i have to do now is find time to go to the grocery store to buy some. ;)

here are some pictures from the last week:

celebrating november birthdays at the millers'

"happy birthday to....papa john, alia, uncle matt, and ben..."

maddie entertaining brie

maddie and liv playing connect four. kind of.

...must get all toys in mouth..

our little bike rider

reading the book that came along with our "elf on the shelf"

he made not a sound

but we knew he was there;

the children just giggled

and searched everywhere.

up on the mantle

atop the bookshelf,

high on the draperies;

now where is that elf?

christopher peeking to see if we are being naughty or nice.

little turkeys

2011-11-27T02:41:00.000-06:00

(the exersaucer is a hit with all of the kids.)

how is it that there are only a few days left in november? we've spent the last few weeks getting ready for thanksgiving (complete with feasts at both liv and jonah's schools), and are now gearing up for the christmas season. family is what makes the holidays special, but they're extraordinary with the kids around. each year, i get a little more excited as our children are able to experience and understand more. undoubtedly, the chaos that accompanies this time of year makes it more difficult to enjoy all of the tiny things that make the season so miraculous, but i have big plans to make the most out of it. mostly, i am hoping to get a new family advent calendar together so we can have fun while remembering the reason for the season. meanwhile...

liv at her thanksgiving feast

olivia kate is as fun and helpful as ever. both ray and i were able to make it to the kindergarten feast (a big thanks to papa john for watching the other kids while i escaped!) and enjoyed seeing liv interact with some of the friends we have been hearing so much about. we got some very nice compliments on her from parents who volunteer in the class, which is always great to hear. at home she has been wonderful. she is such an eager helper and awesome about taking the initiative to help where ever she can. here are some funny things she has told me recently:

*she was excited about a card she got from school entitling her to a free pizza based on the number of books she read. she told me she planned to earn more because it was "a program for saving money". that sounded silly enough, but then she followed it up with, "remember? the walmart bags say 'save money, live better'". i guess their marketing is working on someone.

*one night after the sun had set, she announced that it had gone to "papa john's side of the world". and it was true, he happened to be in taiwan at the time.

jonah at his thanksgiving program - bottom row

jonah is sailing along in preschool and ray and i were delighted to attend the thanksgiving program and feast at his school. while he did sing and go through the motions for each song, he wasn't quite as animated as several of the other children. nevertheless, he was adorable in his indian regalia and he was super excited to see us there and have us eat lunch with him. unfortunately, his school had off the whole week of thanksgiving (unlike liv's) and he was upset when he found out he wouldn't be going. with no preschool and his favorite playmate away at school, he sometimes stirred up a little more trouble. the upside was that we did have a few visits from grandparents early in the week, and he got to spend wednesday with grammie so i could prepare for thanksgiving. then there was thanksgiving with lots of great-uncles to horse around with, followed by ray's long weekend. jonah loves the days ray stays home; usually confirming every saturday and sunday morning that he won't be going to work that day. and last, but not least, he overheard me this week when i told maddie, "sorry, charlie!" he looked at me very sincerely and kindly reminded me that her name was maddie...not charlie. :) nothing like the innocence of a child to bring a smile to your face.

little miss independent

maddie claire is a classic two-year old. she is curious, loving, and independent. on the whole, she is much, much better about knowing what she can and can't get into. but occasionally either her curiosity or independence gets the best of her and we end up with big messes on our hands. i can only assume that you are as tired of reading them as i am of cleaning them up, so i will mention the highlight of the week: shattered eggs in the laundry room, hallway and kitchen. from what we've pieced together, she woke up early one morning, went to the laundry room refrigerator to see about getting yogurt, found the eggs more accessible (and fun!), thought it would be better to tear apart several egg cartons to get her hands on the the prized eggs, then walked back and forth between the two rooms, smashing them at will. when she tired of the fun - or realized what a mess she had made - she came to our room to wake us up by reporting that she had dirty hands. obviously, it's wasn't the best way we have ever started a day. the other issue is that when she likes something, she really likes it. she becomes almost fanatical with whatever she happens to be interested in. right now her two main obsessions are with gum and george (the monkey). she wakes up in the morning asking for gum, chews it until lunch, then gets up from her nap for a piece. if she can't have it, for whatever reason, be prepared for a fit. and the other love in her life is george. it started several weeks ago, but now she wants him by her side at all times. so has an almost constant headlock on him and is very protective of her little monkey. she really loves him, and is more attached to him than any other of our other children have been to something. the only issue with this is that he is actually jonah's monkey. he was lying long-forgotten in a pile of stuffed animals in jonah's closet when maddie discovered him. but, with the renewed interest, there have been more than a few squabbles over who should have possession of george.

brie looking at me right after i laid her down for a nap.

and there isn't much to update on our little brie outside of what i wrote in her 4 month post. she is still rolling with the punches and trying to absorb as much as she can from this world around her. in honor of her 4 month mark, we put away the baby swing and brought out the exersaucer. she is interested in it, but not nearly as much as the other children. since it's been out jonah and liv have spent just as much time playing with it as she has. she puts everything she can into her mouth these days and her second little tooth just broke through. she is a drooling mess, but she smiles enough to make up for it. and still no solids. i have zero idea how to work feeding another child another meal each day. but i have a strong suspicion she will let me know when she won't tolerate it any more. ;)

now, for the part everyone really cares about...the pictures!

maddie trying out my sleep mask

the 3 amigos

liv and jonah at the dentist

liv entertaining brie

jonah's thanksgiving program

brie helping me out in the kitchen with...her hand in her mouth!

liv feasting with her classmates.

our little monkey with her little monkey

jonah in the exersaucer...again!

classic turkey day

2011-11-26T01:22:00.001-06:00

(the thanksgiving gifts we passed out to liv and jonah's teachers)

we celebrated this thanksgiving the traditional way...with lots of food and family. despite having worked the night before, it was greatl to visit with everyone and have some of our extended family meet the newest family member. my mother hosted this year - but at our house - which made my nap and naptime for the little ones so much easier. we ate, visited, watched the cowboys game, and then ate some more! it was a wonderfully relaxing day, especially with so very much to be thankful for in our lives.

visiting with family

time for the feast!

main dishes:

the sides:

the dessert and coffee bar:

then we spent the rest of the day eating and relaxing

liv enjoying her lemonade in a wine glass.

my grandma loving on miss brie

the littest cousins - noah and brie

4 months and growing

2011-11-25T16:30:00.000-06:00

guess what little girl celebrated another month-milestone this past week? our little cream puff is now 4 months old! sweet gabby rae is growing and changing so fast now, and is fitting into our ~~little~~ family so perfectly these days. she loves to watch the daily commotion around our house from her bumbo chair, or relax under her mobile or on her activity mat. she has become very interested in her siblings and, more recently, the furry dog running around in front of her. gabriella is a happy baby 90% of the time, with lots of smiles to go around. even better, she loves to giggle at silly things and is ticklish! she still can't quite make it through the night without a feed (seriously?!?), but sleeps for 12-13 hours around that 15 minute mid-night snack. her daytime naps have become more predictable as well, with a 1-2 hour morning nap and 3-4 hour afternoon nap. fortunately, she *loves* her naps now and goes down without a fuss...a far cry from the baby we had those first two months! she still nurses 5-6x/day, but it's not really an issue since she has become so proficient at it. we haven't tried solids yet, and although i will put it off for as long as possible, i don't know how much longer she will let us wait. she eyes us eagerly when she sees us eating and - surprise! - got her first tooth a couple weeks ago. she is still a little wobbly when sitting unassisted, but does a fair job of sitting with her boppy wrapped around her. and, in honor of turning 4 months old, she had her routine pedi visit. other than her near-constant congestion (thanks to 3 old siblings who can't keep their hands off of her), everything checked out great at the doctor's. she gave endless grins to the office staff and even giggled during some of the reflex checks. :D measurement-wise, her percentiles stayed about the same: 90th for weight (15 pounds, 15 ounces), 95th for height (25.5 inches), and 75th for head. she ended the visit with 4 shots and an oral vaccine, but was smiling again in no time. here are some recent pictures of our little turkey:

happy, happy girl

check out that tooth!

working on sitting

getting weighed at the doctor's appt

2011-11-13T20:15:00.001-06:00

wow! time sure flies when you are...busy! i won't bore you with the details, but i am surprised to be saying that i never knew what it was to be busy. for a girl who worked full-time nights during the grueling last year of nursing school, i think that says a lot. and while i knew that would come to an end, i don't see changes coming anytime soon over here. here are updates on the people who keep us the busiest:
our little livvy is the same as always: five going on fifteen. she is wise beyond her years, and occasionally has the attitude to match it. fortunately, 90% of the time she is sweet, respectful, fun-loving, intelligent, and nurturing. kindergarten has been a perfect fit for her; she is learning, playing, and making friends there. and all of my fears about her being challenged enough have been completely put to rest. in fact, i am slightly overwhelmed by the homework assignments she has been bringing home. i thought we would be seeing some light reading...an occasional writing worksheet. in the last two weeks her homework assignments have us using a dictionary to define words, a thesaurus, filling in charts and venn diagrams, answering questions about books she has read, decorating a turkey, coming up with alliteration sentences for all 26 letters of the alphabet, and making a musical instrument...to name a few! she isn't always happy to be doing homework while the other children play, but fortunately, she is good at it and requires little assistance. and some funnies: one day she was telling me information she had read about the giant squids who lived a million years ago. then she mentioned that we must know all of this because someone videotaped it. :) and don't even try to pull something over on her. while we were in broken bow, she was playing the card game "war" with jonah. she caught him replaying his ace more than once (in an attempt to win the game), and declared that he was cheating. the lure to win must have been strong for him, because when he did it again she decided she didn't want to play with him anymore.
our little guy had a great time on vacation, despite the troubles surrounding the card game. he loved being outside and the opportunity to bang on things with sticks...without getting into trouble. and, as anyone could have guessed, helping with the campfire was right up his alley. what child doesn't like the chance to play with fire? he also had his first exposure to pinecones, which he repeatedly referred to as porcupines. right before we left, he went to the pedi for his 4 year check-up. he weighed in at 40 pounds (75th percentile) and was 44.25" tall (100th percentile) and scored at the level of a 6 year old on the developmental questionnaire. if you have never seen it, the form asks questions related to verbal, gross motor and psychosocial skills. for his age group one section asked several questions about "what is a ___ for?" he had wonderful answers for all of them, except for the one that asked what a ceiling is for. he said it was to keep the tall dinosaurs out. thank goodness all of the others were appropriate! and another day he was reading a book with ray that had a cellar in it. but when he was talking about it later, he kept referring to it as a celery. so cute!
sweet maddie claire has turned into a very talkative two-year old. very talkative. she now converses in the form of long sentences and has something to say about everything. of course, i love the funny little things she has been saying, like last week when she was talking about the tinkertoys, but called them the tinkerbells. and if she notices i am upset, so sweetly pats me and says "tay-tay" (for "it's okay"). she is only now starting to sing the A,B,Cs...but that's about as far as she gets before she spews out letters at random. and although her obsession with clothing seems to be subsiding, she has replaced it with a love for shoes. specifically, a new pair of pink shoes i bought her. she wants to wear them morning, noon and night. seriously. she has asked many times if she can sleep in them. other things she loves these days are magazines (she will flip through them for long stretches of time) and singing. it's not actual singing, since the words are incoherent, but that isn't stopping her any.
and baby brie is growing so fast. when we were at jonah's doctor appointment, i laid her on the scale and she was just over 15 pounds! she is a happy little girl, full of smiles and, more recently, big belly laughs. she gets a huge kick out of being lowered quickly - even if it's just a few inches. this is certain to bring about a fit of giggles each time. she has turned into the best little eater and loves looking at the world around her. her colorful toys are the best, especially when she can get them into her mouth. actually she loves having anything in her mouth, which means that her fingers are an almost permanent fixture there. and, it seems as though she is finally starting to recognize me. (which is long overdue in my opinion, since i have spent practically the last year tethered to her.) she now gets very excited when she sees me come into view, complete with a huge smile and full-body wiggles. :) it's always great to be someone's hero.

brie chillin' with monkey

an afternoon tea party with grandma sharon

yummm...delicious hands!

she was just watching me do laundry, until big brother came to the rescue.

our newest "reader". he isn't quite there, but he's really close.

liv reading to her baby sister.

playtime with daddy.

and our busy little girl...even when she's asleep!

these are different positions we have found her in over the last week:

headed somewhere?

being attacked by monkey

and right after i snapped this picture, she rolled over...

onto the floor. :(

check back soon to hear all about our busy pre-thanksgiving activities and gabriella's 4 month check-up.

broken bow

2011-11-08T12:14:00.004-06:00

our family was able to spend a relaxing long weekend at a cabin in broken bow, oklahoma with the proctor grandparents! jonah and maddie headed out mid-day on thursday with grammie and granddaddy, and the rest of us left that evening. we had a great time lazing around the wonderful cabin, playing games, going on hikes, and making campfires for s'mores. it was amazing and we are so thankful for the mini-vacay. :D i am posting a few pictures below, but if you want a more detailed account of what we did, click here.

our cabin

we spent lots of time visiting,

relaxing,

and napping.

we enjoyed the beautiful scenery,

went on hikes,

saw wildlife,

and went to a local museum.

back at the cabin, we played several games,

including memory, jenga,

and cards.

we also splashed around in the hot tub

and built campfires...

so we could enjoy s'mores!

thanks for all of the fun and great memories,

grammie and granddaddy!

we love you!

happy halloween

2011-10-31T22:46:00.004-05:00

since 3 out of 4 of our children can appreciate halloween (meaning candy) now, we made sure to get in as many fallish activities as we could. we went to a school carnival, liv and jonah went to their cousins' halloween party, we carved pumpkins with the millers, and we - of course - trick-or treated! first, let's get the costumes out of the way. our fabulous four took on a wizard of oz theme. we had our very own dorothy, tinman, scarecrow and cowardly lion.

last week we went to PALoween, which was put on by the PALS group at the local highschool. this was the first chance the kids had to try out their costumes. they had a great time and couldn't stop talking about getting to wear them again.

dorothy and her tinman

jonah, liv and maddie participating in some of the games

on sunday, the millers, childers and kings all came over to spread halloween cheer and carve some pumpkins.

gutting them

the childers (and bailey) with their pumpkins

it got late on sunday, so one of our favorite people was kind enough to come over again on halloween to help the kids finish carving their pumpkin. thanks, papa john!

liv and papa john with the finished product.

then it was time to get dressed and follow the yellow brick road.

this little pumpkin joined in, too.

ray's dad was kind enough to join us with his truck to make the distance between the houses and little easier on the little ones. :)

our little jack-o-lantern when we got back home.

back at the house with some of the loot.

happy halloween, everyone!

october fests

2011-10-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

the days are slipping by faster than i could have ever imagined. mostly, we are busy with the daily chaos that is our life, but we have also managed to squeeze in several other seasonal activities. we celebrated jonah's birthday last weekend and have spent this past week doing several haloween-related activities. despite the craziness, the fall is my favorite season and we have been enjoying the amazing autumnal weather. :D here are some things the kids have been doing:

liv drew this, then asked me to take a picture of her with it. it wasn't until later that i looked at what it was...and that it was labeled "still life". this is *so* my little olivia!

our sweet little kindergartener is staying busy with school. we had olivia's parent/teacher conference last week and the teacher had many good things to say about her. she is performing above her grade level in both reading and math and is doing good overall. yay! and it has started: liv and jonah were playing "school" the other day...with, of course, liv as the teacher. here are some other things i want to remember about our little olivia: 1) she uses her own nicknames for her sisters. she frequently refers to maddie in the very shortened form "mad" and she calls the baby "gabby". i actually love it when a name can be shortened to several different nicknames, so it's fun to see that she has preferences and is choosing to use her own terms of endearment for them. 2) the other day she asked me to make something for her. i told her i wasn't sure how to do it, and she didn't hesitate at all before saying that i should "google it". really? where did she hear about google? 3) she is finally coming to terms with public programming. she loves to watch wild kratts on pbs but initially didn't understand that we couldn't summon it at will like other shows that we have DVR'd. apparently, this is a hard concept to understand when you have grown up in a techological world.

jonah rocking out in the baby cradle

and what to say about our four year old? jonah had a great time at his birthday and is still talking about it. he is enjoying preschool and all of the fun fall units (pumpkins, scarecrows, skeletons, etc) they are covering. i had the privilege of going up to his preschool this past week for their halloween costume parade, then stayed to listen as his class sang songs, did a craft and played a few games. it was neat to see how he interacts with his classmates and teachers and to see the fun things they have been learning. even better, he was so excited to have me there. :D he loved showing me how to line up as we moved from room to room and the projects he had done. so cute! the teacher also said that when they did their academic assessments recently, he was "off the charts"! way to go, jonah! around the house he has been lots of fun. despite the fact that he loves to pester maddie, he is brie's biggest fan. hands-down, he is the most interested in interacting with her...which is adorable. oddly, he frequently talks about how we are going to keep her. i don't know why he thinks we wouldn't, but he often has us confirm that she will be staying with us. here are some other funny things he has said. 1) he was telling me all about how owls are natural. i didn't understand, until he reminded me that it's because they sleep during the day. oh, they are nocturnal! 2) he was wearing his football undies and asked ray if he liked them. when ray said he did, jonah asked if he should wear them everyday. ray quickly stopped that notion, remembering the green football shirt from last year.

maddie claire

and then there is maddie. almost everything she does reminds me how fast she is growing up. she is so very talkative now and uses full sentences...enough so that she is starting to say funny things. this week she saw a hole in her pants and told me her pants were broke. she is also starting to count things, saying "1, 2, 3" while she points to objects. we are still dealing with her insistence that she do things unassisted. the other day when i was reading to her, she wouldn't let me turn the pages. exasperated, i waited while she tried to separate the paper pages. after a second, i saw her bring her finger to her lips then try again to turn the page. it's eye-opening when you see children mimicking things you don't even realize you do. she is using the potty several times each day, despite wearing a diaper. this week i found her in the bathroom with her diaper off and asked her what she was doing. she had gone poop in the potty and was trying to get her diaper back on. because of this we do occasionally let her wear panties, but i am just not at the point where i can manage it right now. she also earned gum privileges this week. she actually used the stool to get into the bubblegum stash and was already chewing a piece when i caught her. since she already had it, i went over bubblegum rules with her and didn't think much more of it. when i served lunch an hour later i realized she was still chewing it. she has swallowed it a few times, so it is still very much a privilege, but for the most part she has been very appropriate with it. i know it sounds silly, but another recent change is that she is finally starting to watch tv. she has never had a real interest in watching *any* show, but i saw her watching a bit of curious george this week. it probably helps that we have several curious george books and jonah's stuffed george. in older news, we are still having issues with her putting on other people's clothes. lots of clothes. if you don't see her, your best bet for finding her is to look in a closet. but now she isn't so particular about whose clothes they are. she will pile on as many of liv's or jonah's clothes as she possibly can...then wear them around for hours. i even caught her trying to get into one of brie's sleepers. obviously, i had to end that so it didn't turn into a stretched-out mess. oh, maddie!

happy girl!

gabriella is growing, too! because she is breastfed, i don't know how much she is getting, but the girl loves to eat! she is still demanding feeds 6x/day. the good news is that she is generally very happy, and is doing her best to absorb the world around her. she is really enjoying her hands...and the fact that they make it possible to get other objects into her mouth. despite the frequent feeding (or maybe because of it?) her schedule is becoming more predictable, and she is doing great about falling asleep on her own. i am going to do my best to get some video this week of her huge grins and sweet giggles to share...and especially to keep. i don't ever want to forget those gummy grins and melodious sounds. check back soon to see how she dressed for her first halloween.

other random pictures from around here:

liv butterfly hunting

all smiles

have you see this girl?

found her in the mudroom, thumbing through the books that were headed back to the library.

celebrating granddaddy's birthday. we invited him over for dinner and chocolate pie.

after dinner, he read maddie her bedtime story.

it was maddie...in the closet...with her sister's clothes.

this girl *loves* to wear some clothes. notice her diaper is off, liv's panties are on (kind of), and she is working her way toward multiple shirts.

and on another day, 2 pairs of liv's pajama pants, a pair of shorts, and 4 (or more) shirts. oh, and playing with jonah's rubberband gun.

relaxing with daddy

brie getting a little extra milk before bed.

the costume party at jonah's preschool. our little dinosaur paraded in near the end.

one of the games his class played: building a "spider web".

his class singing songs for the parents. this one was "who's behind that mask?"

halloween pictures of our fabulous four coming soon.

jonah turns four!

2011-10-24T11:04:00.001-05:00

wearing the crown he made in preschool

after months of anticipation, our little man turned four on friday! his actual birthday was a low-key affair, since both mommy and daddy had to work, but it was his "special day" in preschool. he brought a poster all about himself and some sweet treats to share with his friends. also, his good friend (and sister) had the day off from school for parent/teacher conferences, so they were able to play the afternoon away. on saturday daddy picked up his favorite thing for dinner - burritos from taco bueno! - and some shaved ice for dessert. yumm! we had his party on sunday with family and a few friends. he loves firetrucks, so we visited the local firestation, then had everyone back over to our house for pizza, cake and a slideshow. thanks to everyone who helped celebrate with us. i am posting a few pictures below, but you can see lots more here.

the invitation

at the firestation

being shown some of the gear

jonah and sofia in the fire engine

jessica, me and jared

our little firefighter

time to play around with the fire hoses!

we even got to play in the brush truck

back at home, and enjoying a pizza dinner.

singing, cake and candles .

and...presents!

happy birthday to our favorite little boy!

3 months old!

2011-10-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

our little peanut is now 3 months old! sweet gabby rae is growing by leaps and bounds; our home measurements have her weighing in at 14 pounds, 10 ounces and at 24.75 inches long. even though this isn't our first time around the block, it's hard to remember how fast they grow and change. over the last month she got her first bottle, became aware of her siblings, and - best of all - started giggling. what a sweet little sound! and not surprisingly, it's her siblings who do the best job of eliciting giggles from her. she has tons of smiles for us, often with lots of little coos mixed in. we also made progress in the sleep department. despite the fact that she is my only child who has not been sleeping a solid 12 hours at night by this age, her middle-of-the night feeding only lasts ~15 minutes and she is right back to sleep. best of all, she has learned to fall asleep on her own...and that's a win in my book. she finally realized that her bed is her friend and no longer fights us when we lay her down for naps. :D in fact, if i had to describe our little girl in just one word i would probably say "content". she is generally happy no matter where we put her, but watching her mobile seems to be her favorite. not too far behind that is her playmat and swing. her bumbo seat is the other place she spends quite a bit of time, mostly watching me while i prepare meals or we eat. obviously, she doesn't have a problem watching the day pass from the sidelines, which is wonderful. and although she is a happy baby, she is also very serious. she watches things intently, and furrows her little brows when something unexpected happens (much like our little jonah). it's so great to see little parts of her personality developing. i can't wait to see what it adds to the mix around here.

other ways brie passes the time:

reading with daddy

napping

snuggling with mommy

fall frenzy

2011-10-16T23:20:00.001-05:00

how is october already halfway over? time is flying by over here and i can't imagine it slowing down with the holidays on their way. the weekdays are busy enough, but our next several weekends are completely full as well. it's possible this is partly due to the fact that i returned to work this weekend. of course it is a giant time constraint in our already crazy schedules, but it's also wonderful for me to have a legitimate reason to get out of the house each week, be around other adults, and use some critical thinking skills. the other upside is that i only went back part time, so it's just 2 nights a week that we are working around. here's what the 4 smallest members of our family have been up to:

well, this is three of them anyway.

olivia is now firmly entrenched in the life of a student. between her schooling and her personality, we have been witnessing all sorts of new things. such as,

*our type-a girl has always had a penchant for organization, but she has recently taken to making all sorts of lists...grocery lists, to-do lists, and lists of rules.

*she's also learned to actually organize things. it sounds great, but now she is in and out of drawers, cabinets and the pantry rearranging things to her liking.

*right before school started we bought her an alarm clock and set it for time she needed to wake up. it's a little bit embarrassing but between our long days, frequent night-time interruptions, and the fact that neither of us is a morning person, ray and i aren't bouncing out of bed in the moring. our sweet olivia has no problem coming in our room each morning and announcing "time to rise and shine!" she has often already gotten dressed, made her bed, and brushed her teeth. she gets us up so we can get her breakfast and drive her to school.

*when i asked what one of the worksheets she had done in school was, she answered "quality work!"

she seems to be aware of how much more responsibility she has and how much fuller her days are. she often talks about all of the things she has to do each day. so the other night when she was tired from a long day, i made the mistake of mentioning that jonah's birthday was coming up. she immediately became concerned about getting together a birthday card and birthday party decorations for him, then said, "how am i going to get all of this done?" through tears. oh, poor sweet girl! and twice she has come screaming in our room in the middle of the night, afraid that we had let her oversleep, causing her to be late for school. the first time was after a late-night power outtage when we didn't reset her clock, and the other was when she just misread the time on the clock. at least she calmed down easily once we explained it to her.

she loves school though and was happy for the chance to show off her elementary to her grandparents this week when the school hosted a grandparents day. they were able to eat with her, visit the book fair, then see her classroom and its current-day technology. she was so excited to have them visit her and see where she spends her days.

my little beekeepers

our little jonah is getting all fired up about his upcoming birthday. he asks everyday if it is the day. he is still having a great time in preschool...enjoying the snacks, crafts, gardening and pony rides. now that the weather is cooler he has been spending even more time outside, catching grasshoppers, crickets, and bees. yes...bees! i went outside the other day and found the butterfly cage full of angry bees. when i asked liv and jonah how they got there, they proudly responded that they had caught them. ray and i both said that we didn't think it was a good idea, that we didn't want to be nearby when they released them, and that we didn't want to hear about it if they got stung. fortunately, no stings yet, but jonah continues to want to catch them. and something funny he has been saying: he loves to get on the scale, then have me look at the readout so that i know how "strong" he is. he must have watched his daddy weigh himself too many times.

don't tell her she's only two.

maddie claire has had a busy few weeks. she has taken a huge interest in clothing lately...insisting on wearing socks (usually not her own), wearing multiple layers of jonah's clothing, or (best of all) panties. this week she started requesting to wear panties and we have let her a few times. she is doing a good job, but we end the panty escapades often for nap times, long excursions, bed time, or if she wets them. i am in no hurry to push the issue, so we will see how it goes. i think most of these behaviors can be attributed to the fact that she wants to be just as big and capable as her older siblings. she decided this week that she does *not* want to sit in a booster seat for meals. she's a little short to reach comfortably, but as long as she is able to eat neatly and doesn't try to get down before we excuse her, she is allowed to eat without it. we still hear "maddie do it" all day long. and if we dare do something for her, she will redo it...just so she can undo it. other little quirks about our madeline: have i ever mentioned that she talks in her sleep? it's not a big deal, except for the fact that her room is the closest to ours, which means that we are often pulled from our sweet slumbers only to realize she is sound asleep. and something funny she has been saying? she calls brie's bumbo chair her "boo-boo chair".

the mobile!

little gabriella has done so much growing and changing in the last two weeks. she completely outgrew all of her 0-3 month outfits and her size 1 diapers, and she discovered her hands! i saw her her staring at them one day, and shortly after that she realized her could bring them to her mouth. now we find her happily sucking on her fingers and putting toys to her mouth to chew on. i am not sure if it's related, but she has become so much more content. it could be that, the fact that she isn't being banged around on as often, or that she seems to be able to see better. she tracks us with her eyes now as we go about our days and she really enjoys staring at her different toys and her mobile. she is probably the first of our kids to love her mobile...joyfully watching it for long periods of time. sadly, her growing up comes with its downsides too. she has already turned into quite the drooler. :( i think we are going to have to break out the bibs very soon.

maddie reading to brie. one of them is clearly enjoying it more than the other.

this is one of the many lists olivia has made.
it's from the sunday she spent with papa john and grandma sharon.

obviously, she didn't fall asleep right away.

brie's plan for the day:

1. locate the toy 2. get it in my mouth

jonah's preschool picture

miss maddie wearing panties!

liv working on homework.

maddie wearing jonah's clothes. you can't tell it from the picture, but she is wearing her pajamas under this, plus *two* pairs of jonah's pajama pants, and his shorts. wow! she insisted on wearing this exact outfit the entire day. fortunately, we didn't have anywhere to go or there would have been a battle.

liv at grandparents' day with grammie.

papa john and grandma sharon were there, too!

check back soon to see a 3 month update on gabriella and a birthday post on jonah.

a weekend away

2011-10-12T22:12:00.001-05:00

the living room area

our family was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the weekend with the millers in a condo on lake texoma, so we headed out right after liv got home from school on friday. the condo is a large place with a kitchen, living area, and split bedrooms with separate bathrooms...plenty of room for all of us. i wish i had taken more pictures, but the truth of it is that we didn't do much other than relax. the kids were able to enjoy the nice playground several times (thanks to their dad and papa john), but we never made it down to swim in the 3 pools or hot tub...or even out on the boat! between naps and the rain there was never a good time, so we mostly just enjoyed the chance to spend time together. we did make it out to a great lunch at a local restaurant on the water and enjoyed a tasty and laid-back lunch. not only did we have a nice view, delicious food, and an awesome waitress, they had shiner bock on draft for $1. (alas, i forgot my camera on one of the few occasions we all ventured out together.) as always, the weekend went too fast but the downtime and extra hands were the best way to spend my last weekend of maternity leave. as you may have suspected, a 4 adult:4 child ratio makes life a little easier. thanks for inviting us mom and dad!

the kids playing on the playground

enjoying a bubble bath in the big tub

the older 3 reading a bedtime story with daddy

grandma sharon loving on brie

daddy pulling double duty

a view from the top of the tower

just chillin' in the room

sleeping soundly

oh, how the years go by

2011-10-05T11:08:00.001-05:00

i thought i would post a picture of our favorite little peeps. the top picture is of jonah and olivia when they were 2 months and 21 months old, respectively. the lower picture is one i just took of brie and maddie (at 2 months and 26 months). ray and i see so many similarities between how jonah and brie look and how liv and maddie look. this picture doesn't totally capture it, but it gives you an idea.

disclaimer: although we think gabriella physically resembles jonah, her personality is much more similar to olivia's at this age. olivia had a harder time falling asleep on her own (jonah and maddie would fall asleep anytime you mentioned the word sleep), she preferred to be engaged by others (versus simply watching the world pass by like the middle 2), and she loved to hold her hands together. these things all remind me more of my littlest baby...for better or worse. ;)

what do you think?

never slowing down

2011-10-01T12:41:00.003-05:00

sorry for the delay in updates. you would not believe how out-of-control busy our lives have become. since i last updated, jonah was diagnosed with a raging ear infection, our friends (the scribners) visited from nebraska, and ray had endoscopic sinus surgery. when you add all of that to our already crazy days, i don't think i have to write much to convey the level of insanity we are enduring. before the updates on the kids, here are some pictures of the "adult" fun that has been transpiring around here.

chad and lisa make the 10 hour drive to come visit us, meet our newest family member and see our new-ish house. yay!

me and my bestie about to enjoy some thai chicken pasta at the cheesecake factory!

my parents were sweet enough to take the kids for the whole weekend, so we got out more than once! this is chad and me digging into some in-n-out burgers (a first for all of us).

and some of the fries we ate after we saw
them being diced in front of us!

we had a great time with them and were able to really relax, have long uninterrupted conversations and watch some movies. it was a much-needed break for all of us.

sadly, a few short days later ray went in to have a fairly extensive sinus surgery. aside from the actual surgery, he is having to do frequent nasal irrigations, dressing changes, and stay on a fairly intensive med schedule. he also can't bend down, lift anything heavy, and has to sleep in an upright position. the pain seems to be fairly self-limiting, though, so he isn't trying to do much anyway. of course, with small children coming and going to school throughout the day, an active 2 year-old and a frequently nursing/napping newborn, it wasn't a good time for me to go be a supportive wife while he went under the knife. fortunately, his mom had off work that day and was able to take him up there, wait during the surgery, and drive him back home...all while giving me frequent updates. she also took maddie for the night and my mom came over to help for bedtime with our 3 other children and recovering patient. it was hugely helpful and we are so grateful for the extra sets of hands, since mine don't seem to be enough on even normal days. here are some pics of ray right after he got home:

trying to keep his head upright via the boppy. and with his handy - but thankfully, unused - emesis basin. he was so woozy he would doze off every couple minutes. :(

the kids checking out/loving on daddy. he had more than a few curious looks, then lots of love. here he is trying to eat his first meal in almost a day...applesauce!

he seems to be doing a tad better each day. he goes back for a follow-up on wednesday and to have the stents removed. hopefully he can lay back down to sleep after that. :/ this is what the kids have been up to:

olivia continues to thrive in kindergarten. we learn more each day about both formal and informal things she is learning there, and we couldn't be happier. from what we are hearing, she is just finishing up the knowledge assessments in reading and math. per olivia, these tests have been mostly on the computer and "easy", but it sounds like she also had a reading comprehension one with her teacher. i never realized how hard it is to decipher the goings-on from a 5-year-old. she either claims to not remember, has a hard time relaying the information, or she gets distracted in the midst of telling it. so all of that means we are eagerly anticipating an update from her teacher at the conference in a few weeks. as a side note, she has been packing her lunch for school in the evenings. however, she recently came home and announced she wanted to be a "buyer". when we figured out that she was talking about purchasing a lunch at school, we asked her why. it turns out they had served a dessert that day with cool whip and a slice of a clementine orange on it. that was enough for liv! of course, upon further investigation, there was nothing else being served that she wanted to buy which would make for a rather slim lunch. perhaps we can look into setting up an account for the occasional dessert purchase.

jonah drinking some apple-flavored pedialyte after his unfortunate incident at the pediatrician's office.

our almost 4-year-old jonah has been growing and changing so much over the last few weeks. he is reading more and more each week, and is now identifying words in the real world, such as "stop" on stop signs and "on" and "off" on appliances around the house. we also came to the conclusion that he can do simple addition. he loves to ask us what "x + x equals", then tell us the answer. he is getting very excited about his upcoming birthday and asks almost every day if it is here yet. i also talked to him a bit about what kind of birthday party he wants and he is on fire with an idea (mostly related to the cake), which we also hear about quite a bit. he is loving preschool and is slowly getting better about retelling parts of his day there. from what he tells us and the daily updates from the teacher it sounds like so much fun. unfortunately, he had to miss a day last week because we could not permanently knock out that fever that had been pestering him. about once a day for almost a week, he would get very quiet and find a place to rest. when we would check on him, he was often burning up and temp checks showed him running fevers around 102 degrees. motrin would bring it right down and he would be back to his usual self, but not for long. he also had a very poor appetite and could barely hear a thing. since we were already taking brie in for her 2 month well-check on thursday, we decided to ask the doctor to look at him as well. after sitting in the doctor's office very quietly, he decided to spew his entire breakfast all over the office. yikes! obviously, this presented several problems since a) we don't travel with spare clothes for him anymore and b) we were expecting out-of-town company in less than 4 hours. the doctor did check him out and he was found to have a horrible bilateral ear infection, most probably a result of the cold we had passed around a few weeks earlier. since it was his first time on antibiotics, she wasn't able to give him a shot to fix him up so we started him on oral antibiotics and a decongestant. he had to be weighed for the appropriate dosing and, sadly, he was down to 38.5# after a week of barely eating. the good news is that the antibiotics turned him right around and he has regained his appetite and hearing and lost the fevers. he had a follow-up check yesterday that showed his ears to be around 80% better, so he will remain on the meds for another week. thank goodness for modern medicine! here are some funny things he has been saying:
*he is very big into distinguishing things for "adults" and for "kids". such as, cartoons are for kids, but shaving is for adults. the list goes on and on...he loves to differentiate forks, behaviors, clothes, etc.
*he refers to gazelles as "kazelles" and likes to tell us how they aren't as fast as a cheetah, but that they can run longer distances.
*he still likes to add the letter "m" to the front of some words. such as how we have been to several doctor "mappointments" lately.
*they cover a different color at school each day, which dictates what they do in their big center, their snack, and generally the songs they sing that day. when they reviewed the color blue, they learned the nursery rhyme "little boy blue". jonah does a great job reciting it, but always says "little boy blue, come blow your horn as loud as you can. the sheep is in the meadow..." i have no idea why he thinks he should be blowing his horn so loud, but he has yet to recite it without that part.

maddie breastfeeding her baby doll.

madeline's improved behavior continues, but she is still getting up earlier than we would like and she is still wanting to be held frequently. because the big kids are in school, she has been getting much more one-on-one time, not only from me, but also from the grandmothers. i think all of this has helped her immensely. other behavior reminds me how fast she is growing up. she is now talking in complete sentences and willingly shares her every thought, desire and dislike with anyone who will listen. also, when i looked in her mouth last week i discovered that her upper 2 year molars are in, so she officially has a full set of teeth. :) since even liv hasn't gotten her 6 year molars yet, i am hoping for a nice little break. we still haven't formally introduced potty training, but she is getting better at going in the potty with each passing week. i plan on offering her panties to wear sometime soon to see if she is interested. another nice thing is that she is becoming a great older sister. after a slightly rough start (literally) she is now much more loving and sweet to her baby sister. when we realized that maddie was so used to rough-housing with her two older siblings that she didn't know she shouldn't with the baby, we were able to fix things up a bit. she has always loved her, she has just gotten so much better at loving on her. and while she has been a great helper from the start (assisting with baths, getting diapers and burp clothes, etc), she is now being much more gentle when she handles her. she likes to help burp her, kiss her head, offer her a pacifier, and entertain her while i am taking care of other things. it has been so nice to not have to worry about this any more. of course, all of this comes with her loving on her babies more. she loves to tote her baby around, put her pacifier in, read to her, and breastfeed her. so sweet to see a little mommy in the making.

brie testing out the bumbo for the first time.

and i updated on little miss brie earlier this week, so check out her 2 month update if you haven't already. her nighttime sleep is about the same (from 8pm until 5am, then back to sleep until 8am), but she is starting to be awake more during the day. we still struggle with her falling right to sleep for naptime, but she is now much more content in the evenings. this is hugely helpful since it is the busiest time of day around here and almost impossible to reserve a set of hands exclusively for holding her. so although she tends to be awake from around 6pm until 8pm each evening, she is generally happy to be swinging while she watches the commotion. and since she is doing such a great job sitting with minimal support, we tried out the bumbo chair this week. success! it's always great to add another form of entertainment to the mix. she also had another first: a bottle! since i am going back to work in 2 short weeks, we decided it was time and supplemented her nighttime feed with a few ounces of breastmilk. she didn't love it, but she didn't hate it either. we know we should be doing it more often to make sure she is comfortable with the bottle before it's do-or-die time, but it is such a hassle in our already crazy nighttime routine over here. i guess it's one more thing we will need to add to the to-do list in the next few weeks.

here are some other pictures from the last few weeks:

maddie and jonah trying out the little bins my mom brought over. i don't think this was what she had in mind for them.

maddie loves having us put her hair in pigtails, but this time it was her turn to do daddy's.

while my parents kept the 3 older kids for the weekend, they took them to the arborteum. here they are:

the theme this year is "it's a fairy tale world" with cinderella's pumpkin village. apparently, liv loved reading the stories.

in cinderella's coach with grandma sharon, aunt jessica and noah.

back at home, maddie tries out a new look.

brie fascinated by the frog.

maddie calming down a fussy brie...with her lovey and a pacifier. :)

maddie has to try out the bumbo before brie gets a chance.

getting some love from grandma sharon after daddy's surgery.

the kids love putting money in their piggy banks, so grammie bought maddie a new bank for maddie's room! it was a hit with all of the kids once we got together some money for it.

thanks for checking in on us. if the posts stop coming, you know what happened...

2 months old

2011-09-26T21:41:00.000-05:00

the littlest proctor turned 2 months old last week. we took brie to the pedi on thursday for her well-check and her immunizations: 5 shots and an oral vaccine! :/ the appointment went fine, despite the fact that her sick older brother managed to upstage her while we were there. dr. ezekiel was very impressed with her physical and developmental progress. and all of that time eating and sleeping since her last appointment seems to be paying off. she weighed 12 pounds, 6 ounces (90th percentile), was 23.25" long (85th percentile) and her head was in the 70th percentile. way to grow, little girl! sadly, her thighs turned into hot little knots after all those shots and she wasn't quite herself for the next few days. :( hopefully she will be back at 100% soon.

still going

2011-09-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

a group shower to speed up the nighttime routine.

we're still here and moving in warp speed. ray and i keep up with the house and kids all day, then fall into bed exhausted at night. we reassure each other by saying that things will be easier when the kids are able to do more things for themselves and we don't have a frequently nursing newborn. hopefully we are not fooling ourselves. ;)

olivia is still enjoying kindergarten very much and has fallen into a regular routine. at this point i think she would really miss the structure, new learning opportunities, and daily exercise if she wasn't able to go. all of this makes me very happy for her and for me! i love to see how independent she is becoming and hear about all of the little things she is learning. their science/health curriculum is covering safety and rules, so she has been telling us how to be safe on boats and buses. of course, with a class full of 5 year-olds respect is drilled in, so it's fun to see her behavior around the house improving. from the papers that have been coming home it looks like she is doing great, but our formal conference with the teacher isn't until late october. she did get her first homework assignment this week: 2 worksheets that had her counting up family attributes. i was a little surprised, as it required double digit addition and what i would consider a multiplication problem. but we are so new to this whole thing that maybe i misunderstood. of course, daily reading is the main assignment that they have been focusing on. when she gets home each day, she seems to like a little down time and often retreats to the office where she makes crafts or notes for a while. she often asks me to spell things, but the other day after i gave her the first two letters she said, "i've got it from here." where did my baby go?

jonah has been loving his 3 mornings a week at preschool. although he knows all of his letters and colors, he is doing so many fun things to reinforce them. of course, we love that he is "learning to learn" in a formal setting. he still thinks it is funny to avoid answering questions about things he knows when he is at home. so all of the informal learning is equally important for him. the teachers say he is very sweet up there, which is a great thing to hear about a boy who enjoys pestering his sisters at home. here are some funny things he has been saying:
*he loves to see the bees around the flowers and always tells us that they are collecting nectarine to make honey (versus nectar).
*one day i asked him what his snack was at school. he told me they ate blue jelly. really? when i got the learning card from the day it said the snack was blue jello. oops! i guess we've never exposed him to jello.
*he calls the handcuffs that go with his police costume the chaincuffs.
*liv was talking about what career she wanted to go to college for over dinner. ray then asked jonah what he wanted to go to college to be. jonah said he wanted "to be a daddy". awww.

madeline can be described in no other way than little miss independent. don't offer to help her unless you want to hear "maddie do it!" she is certain she is just as old and capable as liv and jonah. that being the case, do you know who learned to ride a bike with training wheels this week? that's right! i'm not sure exactly how it started, but ray and i went outside to find her pedaling at top speed up and down the driveway. her proud big sister was out there with her and said she had helped her. we are going to have to keep our eyes on those girls. with all of the one-on-one time she is getting 3 mornings a week (brie sleeps the whole time jonah is gone), she has been behaving so much better. i am loving spending that time with my sweet little girl and finding out more about her. it turns out she knows all of the basic colors, something that is hard to find out when she is distracted by other people or someone answers for her. what she doesn't seem to understand is the concept of whispering into someone's ear. she loves to do this, but it is completely unintelligible gibberish. she knows how to whisper "words" from across the room, but when she leans over to your ear, it is just whispered sounds. :/ and i'm not sure the reason, but she has started wanting to be held often. she doesn't ask when i am holding the baby, but if my arms are free she has been big on "hold me!" perhaps it's because we have been passing around a series of bugs since the older two started school.

and little gabriella is falling into more of a regular routine. hooray! it is so nice to be able to guess when she will be napping and when she will be awake and happy. we have learned that if she is awake for more than an hour, she gets fussy and has a hard time falling asleep on her own. important information, to say the least. also, in hopes of getting her sleeping through the night before i head back to work, i have moved back her last feed of the day to 8pm. unfortunately, she wasn't quite on-board with this plan and has been waking up around 4am for a feed. she falls right back to sleep until 8 or 9 after that, but i would be so happy if we could drop that feed. otherwise, she is growing and doing new fun things. she started cooing last week in response to people talking to her, which is super-sweet to hear. she is happy to spend longer stretches of time in her swing, bouncy chair and on her playmat. also, she has started smiling at inanimate objects that have smiles on them. she goes in for her 2 month appointment this week, so check back soon for more on her.
and, some pictures, of course:

granddaddy loving on miss brie

jonah entertaining the baby

oops! she fell asleep waiting for her nighttime feed

our little girl going and blowing on her bike

knocking over the block tower

jonah building a tinkertoy crane...totally unassisted!

seriously? is she 16?!?

liv returning a text to grandma sharon before bed.

jonah and daddy reading together

smiling at her star. :)

maddie on the day she was down with a 102 degree fever. :(

happy baby!

ray took some days off to install an drainage system around our house. look at his two best helpers out there. notice how liv organized the tools.

and where was jonah during the outdoor work?

passed out inside, dealing with his own fever. :(

celebrating birthdays

2011-09-17T16:57:00.002-05:00

our family got together on sunday to celebrate 3 amazing people and their recent birthdays. my nephew alex turned 12 on august 31st, my sister shari turned 35 on september 7th, and my mother turned 54 on september 9th! we spent the better part of the day together at my parents' house. we ate lunch, relaxed, sang happy birthday over desserts, napped, and watched football together before we ate dinner and parted ways. it was great to be able to catch up again after everyone's busy summer schedules. happy birthday!

relaxing after lunch

noah enjoying the attention

gabriella ready to nap out

"happy birthday to you..."

shari with apple pie, alex with chocolate cake, and mom with turtle brownies.

make a wish

mom with some of her presents. :D

play hard, sleep hard

2011-09-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

things have been a little bit busier around here than usual, but i think it is the new norm. of course, a busy day means a good night's sleep...right?

liv snuggled in with bernie

jonah playing with toys in bed? surely not!

not sure how maddie ended up over there.

at least she's not concerned about it.

gabriella enjoying sweet slumbers

professional pictures

2011-09-06T22:31:00.005-05:00

because maddie turned 2 and gabriella was 6 weeks old, we made the dreaded trip down to the portrait studio to see if we could get any decent pictures. although i love pictures with independent photographers, i really wanted "portraits" of madeline for her 2 year. fortunately, she was cooperative and very well-behaved, but brie was tired shortly after we got started (notice: no smiles from her). i will have more casual pictures of brie taken at home with a photographer next time, so that only leaves getting a decent christmas picture of all 4 of them. :/ here is what we ended up with:

madeline claire, age 2

gabriella rae, age 6 weeks

september has arrived

2011-09-05T10:08:00.011-05:00

some of their first interactions:

even better than the calendar saying september, fall seems to have taken notice and decided to tease us as of today. after a summer with 68 days recorded at or above 100 degrees, we woke up this morning to blissful temps in the 60s and a predicted high in the low 80s...cooler than our overnight lows have been most of the summer. what a wonderful start to the month! of course, the kids barely remember what it's like to have pleasant days and proclaimed this morning that it was "wintertime" before putting on sweaters. :/ our poor little texans! around the house, things are as busy as ever, but slowly improving. jonah started preschool this past week, which has made a huge difference. 3 mornings a week the house is considerably quieter and i have enjoyed having some one-on-one time with little miss madeline. we also had a very nice visit from 2 of ray's cousins, and enjoyed a lovely 3 day weekend for labor day with the whole family at home! here are some things that have been going on with our little ones:

olivia continues to enjoy school and seems to be getting into the swing of things. she is still tired in the evenings (even opting to omit her reading time before bed one night), but is handling the long days better. we are hearing more about what she is doing there and i am happy to hear about all of the things she is learning. despite the fact that she loves to write notes - and does so frequently - i have never taken the time to practice her writing with her. however, this past week when i have seen her writing things at home i have noticed her observing certain rules, such as using more lower case letters, adding a "puppy tail" to her letter a, and using a finger-space between words. obviously, these are things we have never addressed with her so when i heard her talking about them i asked her who had taught her that. she smiled and said, "ms. hendrix!" ray has been dropping her off at school each morning on his way to work (the bus comes at 6:30am!, so that's not happening) and says she is a little picky about who helps her out of the car in the drop-off lane. apparently there are 8 stations, each attended by an older student who helps younger children out of the cars. for obvious reasons, there isn't much choice in what station you pull up to, but liv states every morning that she wants a girl to help her out. odd. and, in an exciting and totally unexpected discovery, we found out liv knows multiplication! she mentioned to ray in passing one night that she knew what 5x4 was. he asked her for the answer and she said 20. he said that was right. later, he asked her how she knew that and she said it was because if you add 5 together 4 times, it makes 20. he asked her several others and she got them all right as well. as long as the numbers are less than 5, she can easily do them in her head. way to go, liv!

jonah loved his first week of preschool and has been asking to go everyday. the things he consistently reports that he did/enjoyed are the sand table, water table, and snacks. such a boy! but from his little snippets and the teacher's daily email reports, it sounds like he is busy up there and having a blast. the funny thing is that when he tells us about something that happened at preschool, he refers to the location as "the teacher's house". :) it *is* a converted farmhouse, so it kind of makes sense. here at home, his fascination with tinkertoys (and legos and trio toys) continues. if he had it his way, we would be building the different cranes, robots, motorcycles, ferris wheels, etc with him all day. since we can't he has gotten amazingly good at following the directions himself. the instructions don't contain any words so it's a bit of a challenge, but he doesn't seem to notice. he has to follow the numbered directions in order, pick out the correct pieces and how many of each, then assemble them appropriately before moving on to the next step. his interest in it must be a very motivating factor, because he does a really good job. and since he knows his letters and their corresponding sounds, he is starting to sound out words. he recognizes several "sight words", but this is much more exciting. the thing that holds him back is his ability to blend them into coherent words. he can do this with some of the shorter, frequently occurring ones, but usually still needs us to help him turn the individual sounds into a recognizable word. of course, we think it's a great start to reading.

maddie claire has been much better this week. i have no idea what to attribute it to, but i think the more individual attention when the 2 older children are gone is helping. when they are here, she wants nothing more than to be a "big kid" like them. since they love to chew gum, but it's off-limits for her, she gets really upset. because of that, i have requested that the older kids not ask for it in front of her, so liv has taken to spelling it out when maddie is around. but our little girl never misses a beat and has realized what this means. she now asks for "g-u-m" instead of gum. she also doesn't think that liv should be the only one getting her hair fixed by mommy. whenever she sees me putting up liv's hair she runs to get her own ponytail holders. when she returns with them, she hands them to me, backs up in front of me and wants her hair put up as well. sadly, there isn't much to work with yet. and since liv and jonah love the pbs show "wild kratts" and sing the theme song when it comes on, she has started doing it also. she has zero interest in the actual show, but runs around the house singing "wild, wild, wild kratts" all day long. she is talking so much more now, often putting together almost-complete sentences. she also recently started noticing the difference between me and you. as in, when we say "do you want me to hold you?" she will say, "hold me". however, she has generalized it a bit too much, and has been substituting me for you in too many situations such as when we say "love you" she will say "love me".

baby brie has been trucking along. she is doing better each week at falling asleep on her own for naps and staying asleep for longer periods of time. her general routine is to nurse at 5am-8am-11am-3pm-6pm-9pm each day. it's still very busy and i would love to drop one of those feeds, but the long stretch of sleep at night makes me not want to mess with it too much. she is smiling so much more now and has taken a real interest in the kids. she has been a trooper about all of the car trips to get jonah back and forth to preschool, as well as several other errands we ran this week. yay for another good (and happy!) baby.

here are some pics from this week:

ray reading to the little girls

along for the ride...and content.

motorcycle mama

liv and maddie making "lists".

jonah and his baby sister

little maddie after insisting i do her hair

jonah and the dog he made during quiet time

loving on gracie at grammie's house

ray and his little girl enjoying the porch swing

puzzle time!

and some live action video of our baby

stay tuned this week to see professional portraits of madeline and gabriella.

first day of preschool

2011-08-29T19:21:00.005-05:00

our little boy attended his first day of preschool today. after ~~weeks~~ months of anticipation, jonah got his first introduction to formal schooling this morning. he was up and ready to go early, and then spent the next hour asking if it was time to leave. of course, when the time came both of his parents and two little sisters were there to wish him well. he was so exited we practically had to drag him to us to get goodbye hugs! after pick-up i wasn't able to get much out of him outside of the fact that he ate popcorn for snack time. oh, and that he ate popcorn for a snack. and that he ate popcorn for a snack. :/ fortunately, his teacher emails home a note each afternoon that says what songs they sang, what books they read, what their craft for the day was, and what they did in the math, language arts, small motor and dramatic play centers. it was wonderful because with this information, we were able to ask open-ended questions that helped him relate more of his day to us. by bedtime, he had shared with us some of the songs he learned, talked a bit about a book they read and also said he rode one of the horses up there. yay for an exciting and fun first day!

ready to walk in

hanging up his backpack

too busy to say bye. :(

busy, busy times

2011-08-27T10:16:00.009-05:00

my daytime crew this past week:

we clearly underestimated how busy life would be when we added a nursing newborn into the mix at the same time we were getting our 2 oldest ready for school and trying to keep our 2 year old out of trouble. our days this week generally started around 5:30am with a hungry infant and didn't slow down until we had everyone fed, clean and in bed after dark. and then it was time to pick up the house and get ready for the next day! to add to the fun, we also got to rearrange childcare help numerous times, reschedule dental appointments, attend several unplanned (and planned) meetings, and deal with a bus mix-up. but i am happy to say that we were able to stay on track all week and that everyone survived. in short, our days are very full and very long, and i don't know that a respite is anywhere in our near future. four kids and two jobs are sure to keep us busy for a while. here are some updates on what has been keeping the kids busy:

in case you missed it, olivia started kindergaten this week! she came home glowing every afternoon, and not only because of the 105 degree temps outside. we have peppered her time at home with questions about her teachers, friends in class, things she is learning, what she does all day, etc. but the combination of her being tired after a long day, constant interruptions from her younger siblings, and (most probably) her lack of desire to share all of the details have left us mostly in the dark. we have learned that recess is her favorite part, there is a "cute boy" that sits next to her, and that she has made good friends with a 3rd grader who rides the bus with her. our favorite parts are that she can go to the library as often as she wants, she has weekly art and music classes, and the bus drops her off right in front of the house. :) at home, she was very intrigued when ray did some magic tricks. these impressed her far beyond what he had imagined and she has since been requesting them repeatedly while telling everyone she sees that her "daddy knows magic". he actually resorted to telling her that he can only do magic at parties, which was a huge disappointment to her. she also became very aware that ray and i stay up later than she does and began asking lots of questions about why we stay up and what we do. sadly, i had to burst her bubble and let her know it's mostly cleaning up. she dropped the topic shortly after that.

our little jonah got to go visit his preschool this week and meet the teachers he will spend monday, wednesday and friday mornings with until next june. he is so excited, especially after a long week at home without his best buddy. ray and i were very happy to find out that his class only has 8 students in it, comprised of exactly 4 boys and 4 girls. i think the small class will be a wonderful first experience for him. at home this week, he did a great job stepping into the shoes of oldest sibling. he was much more helpful and the house was noticably quieter without all of his and liv's loud playing and squabbles. nap time was rough on him, though. it was the first time he had to find something quiet to do with himself for 2 hours while the little girls and i slept. on monday (after he realized he would be alone) he asked me numerous times to let maddie stay up, and on thursday at 10am he asked me if liv would be home soon. i can't wait to see what he thinks of all the preschool fun. here are some funny things he said this week:

*he got a new shirt and cut the tag off of it. then he proudly showed me the shirt, proclaiming that he "cut the stem off of it!"

*he has the words breast and bra confused. here are some examples:

grammie told him she was going to take brie home with her. he said she couldn't because she didn't have any milk in her bra.
when i was feeding brie one day he asked me if she had already eaten on the other bra.
he proudly showed me his own bras one night before he got into the bath.

and where to begin with miss madeline? this girl keeps us on our toes. 90% of the time, silence means that a mess is in progress. the biggest issues we have been dealing with this week are her ability to climb onto countertops and to lock/unlock deadbolts. she uses the handles on the many drawers in our kitchen to climb onto the countertops and reach whatever pleases her. this means that no items on the counter are off limits, and neither is anything in the cabinets above it. the bubble gum stash had to be moved this week after she ate an unknown number of pieces. she also found an unopened bag of candy, got the scissors out of the drawer and managed to cut open the bag. she used one of the stools that mistakenly got left out and managed to open and dump every vitamin bottle in our pantry without a childproof lid onto the floor. the inside of our pantry looked like some sort of pharmaceutical operation. she also used the steps around the master bathtub to climb onto the bathroom vanities and make a considerable mess with the handsoap. and she loves to unlock the deadbolts on our exterior doors around the house and go in and out as she pleases. on a brighter note, she is doing lots of fun things:

*she discovered her echo this week while in our bathroom and got a real kick out of the sound that came back at her each time she made noises.

*since her birthday, she has been singing "happy birthday" numerous times each day. it's one of the few songs she can sing, so she resorts to that one no matter what the rest of us are singing.

*she enjoys raw onion a surprising amount. i'm talking plain, raw onion. if i am cutting it up for something, she eats it as fast as she can get it in her mouth. :/

*she likes wearing dresses and requests to wear them most days. if we have to take it off before bath time, she gets very upset.

*when she doesn't want something, she shakes her head no while saying the word. so unless you are looking at her, you would think she wants the item.

and little miss gabriella turned one month old! since i posted about her earlier this week, she has been smiling more and more. she also went through what i suspect was a growth spurt. she did nothing but sleep (and barely eat) for 2 days. on the third day she woke up and was starving. she ate every 2.5-3 hours during the day and even woke up in the middle of the night to eat, which is out of the ordinary for her. luckily, i think we are back on schedule now.

thanks for checking in on us and a special thanks to all of those who helped us get through this busy week. here are some pictures:

one of our last days at home together before school started.

fun in the blazing heat. jonah loves to push maddie in the stroller, and she enjoys the ride. i am so happy they can amuse themselves like this.

daddy with our littlest girl

maddie reading to brie

my two big girls in matching dresses from grammie

fresh from the bath

maddie trying out some of the baby toys

brie also loves the toys

jonah in his classroom at meet-the-teacher night.

he even got to play with some play-doh while we were there. score!

first day of school!

2011-08-22T20:41:00.004-05:00

olivia kate headed off to kindergarten this morning. although we have been preparing for weeks in the form of numerous school meetings, clothes/shoe shopping, and lots of talk, it was still surreal to walk our little girl into public school today. she has been excited for days and couldn't wait to try out all of her new gear and spend the day with her teacher. grammie came over to stay with the other kids so ray and i could both be there on her big day. we walked her in, helped her get settled, then said goodbye for the next 7.5 hours. this is her right before we left the house:

as you could probably guess, the traffic around the school was *crazy* so we had to park in a far away land and hike in. she was excited, so she ran ahead.

olivia standing under the sign in front of the kindergarten wing before we walked into her class.

inside of ms. hendrix's classroom.

putting her backpack into her locker for the day.

it was very chaotic in the classroom as parents said bye and children found their seats, so we gave liv quick hugs and left. i don't think she ever looked back. fast forward to mid-afternoon when the kids and i were waiting outside for our kindergartener to arrive back at home. jonah announced the bus was coming, then he and maddie sat awe-struck as they watched liv unload. because our neighborhood doesn't have any streets, all of the kids get dropped off at their houses. :D

my school girl at home and happy to share news of her exciting day. she had a great time and told me thanks for letting her go. success!

the kids and i had made cookies to welcome her home from her first day, which she proclaimed was "the best surprise". yay for a wonderful first day of school. hopefully the next 13 years are just as smooth.

one month old!

2011-08-22T10:20:00.003-05:00

it is unbelievable, but gabriella turned one month old this weekend. we are settling into a "routine" the best we can considering the constant craziness involved with 4 children 5 and under. fortunately, our little girl is adapting nicely to the noise and activity level around the house. she gets more than her fair share of loving from everyone, which might explain why she is so worn out at night. "the new baby" (as we still tend to call her) is consistently sleeping 8-9 hours at night (usually from 9ish to 6ish), before waking up to eat, then going back to sleep for a few hours. she is breastfeeding 5-6 times/day and is getting a little faster at it. :) we are still working on her daytime naps, though. she prefers to take one long nap in the mid afternoon, but only dozes in the morning and evening. when she is awake, she likes to be in her bouncy seat or the swing or, even better, carried around on someone's shoulder. i think she would enjoy her play toys more if she wasn't attacked in them all the time by her older siblings. she is going to be one tough little cookie! and our home measurements have her weighing in at 10 pounds, 3 ounces and 22 inches long. oh, and she started smiling on her one month birthday! on saturday she started returning crooked little grins when we would be talking to/smiling at her. it is very hard to capture on camera (she gets a crazed look in her eyes when i bust out the big camera and cover my face with it), but i am posting the best one i have so far.

happy father's day!

2011-08-15T19:35:00.010-05:00

yes, you read that correctly. because my family was in different states over father's day, and then my dad went to a different country, this weekend was the first chance we had to celebrate father's day. we got together at the miller's house for dinner on sunday to spend time with the 3 fathers: my dad, ray and matt. we had the traditional meal (my father's choice of chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and all the sides), then each of the dads got a dessert of their choice. thanks to all of the wonderful dads in our lives. we love you!

the dads got to go through the line first.

yummm.

a *huge* thanks to my mother for pulling together the amazing meal.

dessert! my dad's favorite chocolate cake, a pecan pie and toasted pecans.

ray with his four* little monkeys.

*the littlest one was not officially "in the picture" on father's day, but she managed to make it into the world by the time this one was taken.

papa john is the best horse!

this is the gift the kids made for ray back when there were only 3 of them.

headed into our last week of summer

2011-08-13T11:30:00.002-05:00

embarrassingly, this is the first picture of all 4 of them together:

it is crazy to think that in one short week we will be entering the "school phase" of parenthood...and stay there for the next 23 years! i wish i could say that i have big plans to whoop it up with the kids as a final hurrah to our last week of summer, but the oppressive heat and the work involved in getting 4 children in varying stages of dependency anywhere is not enjoyable for me. so, we will do our best to maintain our sanity inside the house. it's going better for some of us than others. here is an update on the four people who keep me on my toes:

olivia has finally gotten very excited about kindergarten. there was the shopping trip to purchase an alarm clock and backpack, but the true turning point came when she got a postcard from her teacher this week. she went from occasionally resistant to the idea of school to counting down the days. we go for her "sneak-a-peek" next week where she will see her room and meet her teacher. i am hoping that only feeds into her excitement, since this seems like a much better way to start the school year. also, she appears to be the most worn-out on waiting around for the temperature to drop. she does a fair job of keeping herself entertained with self-directed arts and crafts projects and reading, but i've also noticed her pestering her siblings more. i think that kindergarten will be the perfect solution for this. the 7 hour day will be very exhausting initially, but the constant activities and social interaction will be right up her alley. things have been so crazy that i haven't been as good at noting the funny things the kids are doing (or taking many pictures), but liv has been asking tons of questions about pretend versus real. she is becoming aware that many things on tv are not real, which seems to have prompted her to ask about things all around. she knows that pretty much all of the tv/movie characters she watches are drawn (=not real), but it's easy to forget how blurry that line must be for a 5 year old. she asked me this week if magicians are real, as well as several animals including whales and tasmanian devils.

jonah still has 2 weeks before preschool starts for him. he will be going to a very hands-on preschool 3 mornings/week, which should be a nice introduction to the school-world for him. he doesn't have cabin fever quite as bad as liv, but he also has been keeping himself much busier. the heat doesn't seem to bother him at all, so he is still going out to ride around on his motorcycle and scooter or catch bugs. the legos, tinkertoys and many costumes have been keeping his imagination running wild in the house, as well as a remote controlled car granddaddy brought over last weekend. :D here are a few funny things we overheard this week:

*since gabriella was slightly overdue, she had some dry, peeling skin on her arms and legs. he saw it and asked why she was so "dusty".

*we have a pest control company come out every few months to spray for bugs (aaah...country living!). he was visibly upset one day and told us very angrily that he wished we hadn't call the bug guy to spray because it had killed all of the crickets and grasshoppers around the house.

miss madeline claire has become very familiar with her full name, and not in a good way. i can only assume that her behavior is attention-seeking since i am not available for several hours each day (breastfeeding the baby), but she has managed to get into more things this week than ever. she inadvertently set off the very loud, shrill alarm system after climbing up on the mudroom bench to reach the control panel, she found her way into jonah's bathroom and covered herself in the soap, lotion and hydrocortisone cream, i discovered her in the utility room with the refrigerator door open as she sampled the cream cheese, she put a cup under the water dispenser in the kitchen and left it there until the kitchen was nearly flooded (thanks for the heads-up, jonah), she again got into the toilet paper and seems to immensely enjoy flushing the toilets, and she was a co-conspirator when the children made "mud castles" in the backyard this week. they were playing in the dirt when someone decided to bring water to the party. as you can probably imagine, a mud castle involves much more dirt (and mess) than a mud pie, or even a mud house. it also required a midday scrub-down of three children and an extra load of laundry. of course, maddie has perfected her apology, perhaps a bit too well, and says sorry more times than i can count each day. she says it for the smallest and largest infractions...and repeatedly. some other funny things about her 1) she loves to jump, and will use this as a mode of transportation from one room to another. 2) she often squats a bit when she runs, making her look like a little duck. 3) every dog in the world except ours is abby (the name of grammie's dog).

and baby gabriella is learning to hold her own in all of the daily commotion. or, more likely, she is doing her best to hide from it. i am still having to wake her up for most of her feeds during the day, and her fussy time has shifted to the late evening (usually 6-8ish). her last feed of the day is now somewhere around 9 and she wakes up around 6am, which is generally a good 8-9 hour stretch. when she is awake and alert after her feeds, she is swarmed by her siblings so i don't have many pictures of her particularly *enjoying* this time of day. the biggest issue is that they seem to think they need to be 2 inches or less from her face at all times. but during the brief periods of the day when there isn't a crowd of children around us, i am having a good time getting to know her. during some of our "brie and me" time this week we went to our 3 week postpartum check up at the birthing center. everything checked out just fine and she weighed in at 8# 14 ozs. she's growing so fast!

here is the photographic evidence of our week:

grammie watching while maddie (of course!) holds brie.

yay! enjoying some peace and quiet after a feed while the other kids were at grandma's.

lounging on the activity mat.

(i promise she wears many outfits *each* day, thanks to her explosive hind-end. this one just happened to appear in several pictures this week.)

maddie having a good time with a puzzle.

can you say dr. proctor?

and rain finally decided to revisit parker after an almost 2 month absence. "rain" is probably generous (it was more like sprinkles), but the kids put on their bathing suits and had some fun in the water and cooler temps.

and when dirt gets rained on, you have naturally occurring mud, which can only mean a giant mess. this is maddie getting hosed off after another run-in with mud.

then it was jonah's turn, for obvious reasons.