Family Time!

Ian is working so hard and such long hours that we enjoyed a day and a half this weekend together as a family. Jacob is working on finishing up his Wolf badge so he can start working on his Bear badge and one of the requirements was to help put on a bbq dinner. So, last night he got to help. He peeled potatoes for the first time (and did great!) and told me from now on he would peel all the potatoes. Works for me! Ian also had the boys help wrap bacon around asparagas (YUM!!) They had a great time. (I love the picture of him and Jacob how they have identical fake smiles)Owen just loved sticking tooth picks into his asparagas. It was quite comical at one point he had a rocket and another a air plane. Note in the picture his holy sock that he refused to take off. Luke had fun laying in the living room watching the commotion:) We ended the night by having the boys take our huge bean bag upstairs to their play room. It takes up the whole stairwell and it was hilarious listening to them do it. With a little team work they managed though and Ian's new "daddy" chair replaced it. Ian can't wait to get back home and really break it in. For now though his boys are "helping" in that regard. We are all ready for this INSERV inspection to be over with so we can have our daddy back a little more.

Me and my Babe

In looking through pictures I have realized I have very little with me and Luke for both the reasons that I am the one taking all the pictures and for the fact that I really don't care much for how I look these days (working on that though! LOVE my new tredmill) But I try really hard to acknowledge the fact that I will not make my kids go "without" just because I don't like my body. I will not not take them to the beach or swimming or in this case stay out of all pictures. So, Ian snapped one of me and Luke last night. My hair is a total mess because I had taken a nap but he is so darn cute he makes up for it. And today we had a good time playing. When he sees the flash he knows to clue in. Its pretty funny. So here are three of me and my big babe:)

Star Wars Blankets!!!

The boys got quite the treat yesterday. Ian's cousin Katie worked at a craft store and they had discounted the fleece tie blanket kits down and with her discount they were a third of the normal price. So she was nice enough to get all three big boys a kit. I spent yesterday making all three of them (Jacob did a good portion of his though). So last night they all got to sleep with new comfy blankets. They were in heaven! There was a bit of fighting over who got what blanket (on Owen's part) but thankfully that seems to have diminished quite a bit. I even managed to get a picture of all four boys!

Luke!

I can't believe he is 3 1/2 months already! Here is just a photo BOMB of some favorites of him and him with his loving brothers and playing with daddy!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

A week has passed since Jacob turned 9. It is incredible how fast time flies. In some ways it feels like last week he was born and in others it seems like its been forever. I surely cannot imagine life without his quirky charm. I finally feel like he is on the road to getting help with his struggles in school. We should be starting occupational therapy soon through Children's and his school is also doing a full phsycological evaluation. It is relief! Thankfully the way everyone brings things up to him is all about helping him and making him feel better so he is totally on board. He is a smart boy. And while his attitude could use some adjusting (don't know where he picked that up from....) he is such a huge helper and just wants to do good. I love him! Here are a few pictures from his day. Ian had to work but was home in time for Jacob to open his gifts and I brought cookie dough cupcakes (his request) to school. All the kids in his class were so cute and it was a treat to see Jacob so loved and happy. Friday we spent the day lego building and Saturday we got together with our friends Paige and Dylan and had a pic nic and lots of fun. Paige's birthday was on Valentine's Day so it was a dual celebration. All in all I think he had a great week. LEGOS!!!

PARK FUN and NERF WARS! (Jacob used his gift card from Gramps to get a BIGGER, BADDER gun!)

Falling into place....

I have been writing this in my mind all day today. Thinking of the past three months or so. So many words could sum them up, overwhelming, wonderful, exhausting, quick! I can't believe Luke will be three months old on Friday. I finally feel like things are starting to even out. I transitioned him to his own room and crib about two weeks ago. He is sleeping fairly well in there. He is even starting to take longer naps in there than 45 minutes. He napped for three hours yesterday! I got so much done it was amazing! I have been exhausted trying to keep up with all the boys and the baby. People always say "sleep when the baby is sleeping" those "people" must not have had three other children to tend to and drive places and cook for and clean for etc etc. I was thinking about it today. When I had Jacob it worked out great. If he was up half the night no problem I knew I could just sleep with him the next day. But that was all good and fun until I had Nathan. Once you are on round two the whole sleeping while the baby sleeps flies right out the window. I can remember being pregnant with Nathan and a wise, seasoned mommy told me "give it three months". She said by the third month I will look around one day and think to myself "I got this". That is kind of how I felt today. Am I exhausted? Yep. More often than not I don't sleep after 4. But Luke and Owen seem to at least be overlapping their naps and even when Luke wakes I can be sneaky and cuddle with him and he will fall back to sleep:) It is my sanity. I am beyond thankful for Ian who lets me run away even if it is to go get groceries and for my "big" boys who help as much as they are able to with the baby so I can do fun things like switch laundry and make dinner. Life is crazy but I am so very thankful for my boys. I can't believe that a year ago right now I had no intentions of having another baby. Little did I know that in a few weeks that would change and I can't imagine not having this funny little boy in our life. Fun times are ahead, all the awesome milestones. I am so happy Ian is home. Last year was beyond hard but I am so grateful things have worked out the way they have.

My Boys (2/1/12)

Just wanted to share a few photos of the boys from yesterday and then one of Owen and Luke playing from this morning. Luke is starting to enjoy tummy time more. I know my days are numbered of his being totally immobile and not being able to roll over and turn. I think Owen is going to have a run for his money!:)

I love all his expressions. He was trying so hard to pick up his head and watch Jacob and Nathan play kinect.