Today We Are Three!!

It's hard to believe, I know, but our littlest people have turned three...already! I honestly have a lot of trouble remembering their first year of life due to the chaos that ensued when we brought them home. When I tried remembering what is was like when they were babies, I realized my brain pretty much blocked out that entire time. I can look at pictures of them as little ones, and that is how I recall some of our days spent together while they were babies. It does make me sad, but I have since started to make it mandatory for my brain to make a mental memory of things happening around us, and to try and live in the moment more than I did before! Our boys do require a lot of energy, like most boys. There is very little down time, and I mean VERY LITTLE!! Our boys have opened up many new doors for our family. I have been exposed to more disgusting behavior in three years than I ever imagined possible, and I know there is much more to come. I have watched them eat spiders, crunch grasshoppers with their bare feet, feed one another dirt, wipe their noses on my shirt, and many other things, but I want to eat later so I will try and forget those also! Matt and I have endured more screaming, more crying, more runny noses, more throwing up in beds, more diaper changes than we ever thought imaginable, but the crazy thing about being a parent is the fact that you wouldn't trade all of that in for anything else in the world! Temper tantrums can be tolerated because their is always a hug to follow! Those little arms wrapped around me are my favorite part of the day, not to mention the sloppy kisses...at times it's like kissing a slobbering dog! I also love when they sneeze directly into my face, good times! I am happy to have the opportunity to raise two little boys and to hopefully help them grow into caring, well adjusted young men. That may be a pipe dream considering they have to live with their dad! Honestly, he is enjoying them so much, they play with Lego's and race cars together, and do their best to annoy mommy! Happy Birthday to our little men! I can hardly wait to see what the next three years will bring, and of course all the years beyond! Love, mommy!

Fun With Baking

Okay, Okay, my boys were not the most helpful bakers this week. In fact, I think I only saw them when they were stealing bites of dough and dipping their fingers in chocolate! Same for Lexy and Addy! Apryl was my constant sidekick however! I wanted to start a tradition with my kiddos this year of having the first day of their Christmas break be a baking day. As usual, this looks great on paper, not quite the same in reality. I pictured all the kiddos bouncing around the kitchen, singing along with the Christmas music, happy as could be to be making sweets! *POP* goes Nikki's delusional bubble! Garhett and Brenden were happy to be around for about three minutes. They really wanted to be near when the stove was on or when we were trying to cool treats on the counter, never when I actually had something they could do. Alexys and Addysen were basically MIA the entire morning, they both said baking sounded fun and then disappeared. I think Lexy found the small print that mentioned "work" would be involved! Once Apryl and I finished with a few recipes we moved on to the sugar cookies. I have since learned that making two batches of dough is a lot of darn dough! I was ambitious when planning our baking day, and I wanted to have enough dough to make red, green and white. Well, that was exactly what happened! There was enough dough for an entire rainbow of colors! Alexys saw how much more hands on sugar cookies were and was happy to help. Even the boys and Addy came around for awhile! Rolling out dough for five kiddos is very involved to say the least. Along with the rolling comes cutting out the cookies, and then decorating them. This cookie project started out pretty well, but soon I could feel the tediousness of the situation and needed the baking to hurry up! Note to self: 20 mini cookie cutters means 400 extra cookies, and SO much more time consuming! Thankfully, I got smart and started only using the large cookie cutters. By the end of the sugar cookie making, there was multi-colored dough all over the kitchen, and I think Brenden ate his dinner in cookie dough! Seeing as how this parenting thing is pretty much trial and error, I have learned a few things NOT to do next year, and a few other things that can continue on in tradition!

Hair Cuts...

Recently it was time to give our boys their hair cuts. We have on several occasions now given them buzz cuts, great for summer. This particular time I gave Matt the razor ready to go with the clipper already attached. Unbeknownst to me, it was set to nearly make them bald! Once you begin a cut using a razor, it's pretty much set in stone...you have to finish it! Matt continued with the cuts, laughing the entire time. Fortunately for boys, a cut that short looks okay. Our little men rocked their buzz cuts, and they even liked running their hands on their heads. In fact I would find Addy rubbing her hands back and forth over their new hair. Now, just in time for the holidays we are approaching hair cut time once again. All I really want is to trim the hair around their little ears and keep it off their necks, all while keeping enough hair on top for me to style. (Although for my husbands sake, I will call it spiking!) I have enlisted the help of our family hair stylist--hair spiker--Aunt Debbie to assist me in getting what I want. It doesn't take me long to learn! Hopefully we will have some handsome looking fellows come Christmas day!

Begin the Countdown...

So, seeing as how it is already the 7th of December our countdown started a week ago. For our oldest two girls, the Christmas Countdown probably started after their birthdays! We put up our decorations and Christmas tree earlier than usual this year. Not too early though, it wasn't October or anything like that. I was excited to get Christmas started in our home. Our boys and Addy were beside themselves when they saw the finished product. Addy tells me every morning how much she loves the Christmas decorations, "these are awesome mommy." How can you not love that?? The entire atmosphere of our home was transformed with each decoration. There is a very warm and cozy feeling throughout the house. Our kiddos are like little elves singing Christmas songs and drinking hot chocolate. I couldn't imagine celebrating the holiday any other way. I also secretly love how much anticipation comes with the kiddos trying not to open the already wrapped presents. I can find our boys sitting right next to the tree just staring at the packages! They want so badly to touch them, and rip them open, but they have been very good at using self-control. Which is the only thing they control themselves for! They have left my decorations alone too, but daddy's football player ornaments were just too much temptation! When they saw those guys being hung on the tree the obsession began. Now, I can find my guys playing "dads" with the football guys. I have told them in many ways why they can not play "dads" with the ornaments, but it is not until one loses a hand or a leg that the boys understand! Poor Kurt Warner lost both hands, and Joe Namath and Steve Young both lost a leg. It looked like a miniature war zone. Thank goodness for super glue! I nursed all the players back to health and hung them back on the tree. Now, I must give some attention to Emmit Smith, his arm is dislocated...don't worry dad, I got this!

Sick Kiddo

It is probably the hardest thing to have to deal with...a sick kiddo. I hate it when my little people do not feel well, especially when there isn't a lot I can do to make them feel better. Poor Brenden has picked up whatever bug his sister Addy brought home. Fortunately for Addysen she was only sick for half a day. She started getting sick to her stomach during the morning and was back on her feet that afternoon. It gave me a little hope for the rest of our kiddos. Thinking that more than likely they would be passing this bug around as per usual, I felt only having to deal with it for a morning wasn't too terrible! That was not the case however for B-man. He is on his second full day of not feeling well. He has been sick to his stomach and running a fever. His baby blue eyes just look so sad, it breaks my heart every time he looks at me. He has perfected that puppy dog look! Moms also know their little one is not feeling well when they don't move from the couch. It takes a lot to keep an almost three year old off his feet for days at a time! Meanwhile, Garhett who is feeling well, just came and asked me to put his underwear on his head! I will take that as a good sign! Here's hoping we can get this darn bug out as soon as possible. Time to Lysol---EVERYTHING!!