Time & Sunshine

I have been waiting for some good sunlight, the time to take pictures and a good mood from Reeve. I did cute naked pictures of Everett when he was 5 months and I thought they were so cute. I finally found the time to snap Reeve at 7 months.

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Merry Christmas!

Birthday Cake

Every year we make a birthday cake for Jesus. I usually make a quick boxed cake and frosting in a can. This year I thought I would give the good Lord a bit more of my time. It was the first time I made a cake from scratch, complete with whipped cream frosting with a tad of green food coloring. We decorated the cake with lifesavers, licorice, gummy bears, snow caps and jelly beans. You may think this is pretty creative but I took the idea from Family Fun magazine. It was easy. I made the cake in a 9 x 13 pan and cut the triangles for the tree and the stem from that. Lots of butter, sugar and heavy cream later...

Christmas Morning. Christmas Jammies.

Christmas Eve

Not a creature was stirring...just 3 kids.

Our eldest was busy cleaning the house for Santa at 10:30 at night.

Cookies, carrots and milk she left for his flight.

The middle one was up in his bed with his brand new fire truck.

My nephew bought it for him complete with sirens...just my luck.

The youngest was up crying because for the last 5 hours he refused to take a nap.

He is too young to remember that Santa is coming with the list of gifts from when he sat on his lap.

Mama and Daddy are up wrapping gifts.

Mama is also up baking goodies for Christmas and has lots of flour to sift.

Gingerbread House

Structure and foundation strong enough to pass inspection (and front decoration)courtesy of Daddy.Artistic decoration courtesy of Trinity... and Everett.

Macy's Windows

My play date was canceled. So, being convinced it was the last decent day for temperatures, I picked up Trinity from school, packed up the kids, packed up the double stroller and headed downtown to see the windows. All kids cooperated and I was even able to read the story on each window. I thought they did a good job this year. The windows were decorated nicely and the story was cute.

- - How do the letters you write Santa get to the North Pole? - -

We then headed over to the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza where I squeezed the kids through the ornament hut to get my annual glass ornament for the tree while Everett threw his mittens and blanket on the floor (which I found 15 minutes later) in addition to Reeve screaming due to a poopy diaper. I checked out, squeezed through the door and saw an angel. Actually it was Eddie coming my way to help after he got off work.

People *love* to comment when seeing a single parent lug 3 kids around the city. It was actually kind of funny because I did not think about my poor stroller tires and weight distribution. Trinity was on the back of the stroller standing on her "board" which made the weight to push somewhere around 100 pounds. The tires were so flat I am surprised the rims didn't bend. I felt like I was pushing cattle uphill. Anyway, comments included:

"You sure do have your hands full!"

"Wow , twins!" (um, no, do they look like twins?!?!?)

"You are brave!"

"Are you alone?"

My desired response "Yeah, great thanks...just open the door for me pal!"

Actually there is a sense of accomplishment successfully, and cheerfully, completely such a task that some would not even attempt. I must have been in an energized mood that day because thinking about it now, nothing sounds good about going on that trip.

Later that night we went on a...

Holiday Light Tour

My neighbors rented a bus, a real bus, to tour around the surrounding towns to look at Christmas lights. Everett was beside himself knowing he was going on a school bus. All he ever talks about are firetrucks and school buses. Walking toward the bus he kept screaming, "YAY, school bus!" When the door opened and he was about to board he says, "NO school bus!" I think the size of it freaked him out. I carried him to the back and after we started going he went back to yelling "YAY, school bus!"

The trip took about 3 hours. Not sure we really thought about 3 hours on a bus with kids that were not buckled down. Thank goodness Reeve was at home with my mom! Trinity was good for the most part. She was *very* interested in the boys in the back of the bus. Lets hope she gets over that quickly. She passed out before the tour was over. Whiles still awake she ate about a dozen Christmas cookies while yelling "scrooge" to the homes that did not decorate with lights! HA!

Everett was great considering he is an active 2 year old. He sat still mostly...he had a couple of moments of craziness.I had a great time. Eddie was a bit worn down at the end. This is him 2 hours and 58 minutes into the ride.We did see some awesome homes. I have to get the addresses so we can check them out again next year in our own car. Not sure Eddie can handle a school bus of kids, noise, foggy windows and potty breaks. Granted, he did have fun but I think he would be much more cozy in the comfort of his heated Volvo leather seats.

Reeve: 6 Month Stats

Weight: 18lb., 9oz. - 55th %tile!?!?!?!?
Height: 28.5 inches - 97th %tile
Head: 44cm - 50th %tile

I was concerned about him dropping in percentiles (at 4 months he was in the 80th percentile) so much in weight but he is in the middle of "distraction eating" which involves him latching on for two seconds and then stopping to see what is going on around the room. The doctor is not concerned and is trying to convince me that we will just have tall skinny kids. I guess the odds for that happening are quite good.

Other stats:
Fussiness (aka needing to be held) - 75th percentile
Sleeping - 40th percentile
Cuteness - 100th percentile

He is sitting up now. He still hasn't rolled over from his back to front (doc says that is normal too).
He has 1 tooth. #2 will appear any day.
His sleep is better. He usually only wakes up 1-2 times a night.
He says "dadadada" all the time.
He *loves* his siblings.
He loves mama and daddy more. He is in the height of separation anxiety.
He gets upset if he drops a toy and can't find it.
He eats 3 meals a day of baby food and loves it.
He loves the cat and cracks up every time he sees her.
He is getting easier and cuter by the day. It is making me think that I may want another one....but....not anytime soon.

Here Comes Santa Claus

Brothers

In their matching outfits.

More Photography by Trinity.

Funny Kids.

Everett:
He loves Woody and Buzz from Toy Story although he has never seen the movie. He calls Woody, "Wooogie."
He is terrified of a scene in The Flintstones movie with Bam Bam running. He says "No Bam Bam!" every time we turn on the TV.
He has also added "No Hook!" in reference to the movie Hook with Dustin Hoffman. He doesn't like him either.
He calls helicopters Helicoptys.
Everything we do he says "NO, I do!"
He *loves* the Drummer Boy Christmas song and demands it be on the radio all the time.
He calls every older man he sees Grandpa.
He thinks the McDonald's yogurt parfait is ice cream.
He likes to say "Za-Zo" you make you laugh.

Reeve:
He says "dadadadadada!"
He sticks his tongue out when he is happy.
His gives kisses which is really just biting your face.
When he is tired and nursing, he punches himself in the head while eating.

Trinity:
She loves says "He/She is just soooo cute!"
She uses the word "like" as if she is a "valley girl." It's like so funny! (I think I say that word to much.)
She sets all her stuffed animals up on the couch to watch her do a concert. They are the only ones who are allowed to watch.
She seems to like to talk to boys more than girls (uh-oh). (As I write this I just heard her in the other room say "I miss Rocco" which is a boy in her class.)
She is starting to ask why all the Santa Claus(es) look different.

Speaking of funny kids, I think this is funny. Most of you might be thinking it is an effective form of birth control. Others might think you are never going to have us over for a play date again.

Breakfast With Santa

We went to the best kid Christmas party today. It was breakfast with Santa. There was a variety of great kid food, great kid games, crafts and company. Trinity and Everett made gingerbread men and Christmas photo frames. They got their faces painted and played a cute duck game. They had Santa's attention for awhile and even got a little gift from him: hot cocoa cups that they color with hot cocoa mix and snowman marshmallows. It was so fun!

Mr. SeriousMr. Serious Jr.

Trimmin' the Tree

We put the tree up right after Thanksgiving this year. I think I was optimistic that Everett would leave it alone. He has had his moments but the initial breakage of the ornaments has passed. We let him help decorate until the risk of stitches became too high. He broke 3 glass ornaments so we had to distract him with other things. Now, only plastic ones are within his reach.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

...plug in your extension cords!

All the neighbors met in the cul-de-sac and plugged in their lights at the same time. We had a cheers to the holiday season with hot cocoa for the kids and hot cocoa for the adults, with the option to spike!

One of the neighbors dressed up like Santa and took gift wishes from the kids.

Trinity keeps asking when we are going to plug in the lights at the same time again. I think she wants a neighborhood party every night

Happy 1/2 Birthday.

Today is Reeve's 6 month birthday, or his 1/2 birthday as I like to call it. I made him a 1/2 birthday cake and Trinity made him some very messy cupcakes. We celebrated with a big party with our favorite people and closest loved ones.
What is Reeve up to?
He is rolling, still crying, sleeping much better, eating solids 3 x a day and laughing a lot more. He is getting his first 2 teeth.

For those of you wondering why you weren't invited to his party it is because there wasn't one. I am just making sure I got readers here people! HA!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

I know, it is so early in the season but this mama is a planner! There is no way I would survive long Santa lines with 3 wild kids so, I went early and checked it off my list. Ho Ho Ho!

Did You Do This?

Did you do this at Thanksgiving at school when you were a kid?

I do not remember much from this age, but I do remember making my Indian dress and headband and doing a little show at school. I remember my dress being a paper bag though. They have come a long way.

Trinity had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. They sang sounds about God and then had a large feast for their class and any visitors. Eddie's parents came to watch and participate. Thankfully they did because they were a *huge* help with the boys. I was able to watch the performance without worrying about the little ones. That was priceless!