Mouth Injuries x 6

I need serious anxiety medicine! For some reason, my children cannot keep their mouths in one piece. We have had a very bad week of mouth injuries almost everyday. Let me remind you that when Trinity was 2-1/2 she almost knocked out her 2 front teeth by tripping on the baby's bouncy chair. She went face first into the hardwood floor which was not forgiving. Fortunately, they were saved. Six months later she gashed her upper gums with the screw from a croquet mallet she decided would to put in her mouth.
Since then she has been okay now I have the boys...

Several weeks ago Everett fell at the playground and busted his lip open. At the time I thought he bit his tongue off. Before rushing him to the ER I got one more look in his mouth and realized the blood was mixed up with a chewed up grape and he really just bit his lip.
Fast forward to last week when he slipped off the dining room chair and hit his chin on the table. His tongue was between his teeth and this time he had the potential of really biting off his tongue. He punctured it with one of his top teeth and made a nice hole in it. It took about 3 hours to stop bleeding completely.
Three days later he fell again and got a bloody lip. Next day same thing.
Sunday he had a chair fall on him and again, bloody lip.
Monday he flew off the swing and really bite into it.
Tuesday/Yesterday it was Reeve's turn. He was standing holding onto a little table at the kid's museum and fell back on his butt like he does all the time. This time he caught his upper lip on the table and ripped that little tissue piece that holds your gum to your top lip. (Let me interject that Trinity had torn that too when she was 4 and jumped off the couch onto her face.) It took about 5 hours to stop bleeding. I am sick!
Today was Everett's turn again. He was crawling into the car and I told him to get into his car seat. Instead of doing that he wanted to jump around the backseat where he wiped out and put a hole in the inside of his lip.
I pray to God everyday that my kids do not knock any teeth out and I have to pray daily for mouth protection.

Trinityisms

Yesterday we were driving by a soccer field where some girls were practicing. I pointed out how much fun they were having since I am trying to convince Trinity that playing soccer is fun! Instead of looking at the players, she looked at the bleachers and noticed there was no one sitting in them. She commented how the seats were empty because soccer is so boring and nobody wants to watch it.

We have been talking a lot about God's purpose for things. She has been asking what a horse's purpose is or a bee's purpose. The other day she out of blue asked what OUR purpose on earth is. When I asked her what she thought she said working or being a mom. Although very good answers I explained how those are jobs and our purpose is the spread the message of Jesus and be His example. We got into a little evangelical talk and she is very excited to tell her friends about Jesus and to have her own kids some day to pray with them. cute!

Lastly, she asked why God made bad people. (Her mind is just going, going, going.) I explained that God made everyone in the hopes that they be good and love Him. God made us so that we make our own choices. Some of us just choose to be bad. Some of us can't help it I guess. She thinks that is "so, so sad!"

Lover of Dirt

Jason Matthew, II

We welcomed our nephew on April 8, 2010 (his due date).

He weighed 8lb. even and was 21-1/2 in. long.

God answered nothing short of 42 prayer requests from this baby's creation to his birth. We are seriously bursting with love and joy for this baby. This picture does not do him justice because this kid is c.u.t.e.

He Is Risen!

We celebrated Easter this year in our home with both sides of our family. It was an intimate gathering of 25 which included a 28lb turkey, a ham, polish sausage, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with candied pecans, green beans, spicy pecan cole slaw, cranberries, rye bread, rolls and enough dessert to make your head spin. We had 2 dozen cupcakes from our favorite cupcake bakery in the city, Molly's, to celebrate Trinity's birthday with family.

She got a new pair of sassy shoes, her own strawberry gardening kit, clothes, books, crafts and a Nintendo DS which is a hit. More importantly, we all got our salvation thanks to Jesus' sacrifice. Anyone who has made Him their personal savior of course. I hope that is everyone that is reading this. So, on Easter we gave thanks and celebrated His ascension into heaven.

Tunnel Vision

Suspended

Everett is part monkey, I am convinced. He uses his toes like fingers. Here is an example. This is how he brushes his teeth. He stands on the knobs of the cabinet and balances on the counter. He can easily keep this position and balance for more than 5 minutes. He sometimes plays in the sink like this for about 15 minutes. I am very curious to see how this evolves into his athletic skills and also his future career. Of course, Daddy is hoping they are one in the same. I think he secretly prays for a MLB contract.

Easter Eggs

Everett was old enough to join in the fun this year. However, once he decided he wanted to drink the food coloring and vinegar mixture, we cut him off. He enjoyed coloring the eggs and making a mess. At some point, we had to confiscate his shirt because it became such a wreck.

Reeve was quite happy with the container of plastic eggs. It occupied him for 2 days. Later, they became filled and hidden for the kids to find.

Trinity made a colored egg for everyone and anyone she could think of. It is always a favorite event of the year for her. This year, we also made chocolate swirled eggs which were a big hit with her. She looks like she ate too much chocolate in this picture.

Everett looks so grown up in this picture!

Spring

Enjoying the grass on his knees. I am enjoying the lack of grass stains.

At the park...

Trinity wanted to wash the car. I said "go for it!" She did a great job!

10 Silly Months

Reeve is officially ten months! He has been busy of course doing new things. Some of which are wearing his silly rubber ball hat. He looks like Thing 1 (or 2) from Cat in the Hat!

Reeve has some new silly things including difficult yoga moves, throwing food off the highchair and growling. He likes to throw things and then growl at them, go get them and start all over. He is crawling pretty quickly and has been crawling with pushing off with his right foot instead of being on both knees. I think it is his way of trying to move faster.

He is sleeping 11-12 hours at night!!!! Praise the Good Lord!!

He takes 2 naps.

He eats EVERYTHING as long as it is table food and not baby food. He likes to feed himself. Forget trying to get a spoon in his mouth. His favorite is grilled cheese. He eats an entire sandwich, crust and everything.

He is practicing standing on his own.

He is starting to cruise around the furniture.

He has 4 teeth.

The biggest development (to me) is that his temperament has really relaxed since he has begun crawling. He will play independently and actually let me cook a meal or get some laundry done. Last night, for the first time in a year, Eddie and I went to dinner by ourselves and had a great meal. Reeve (and the other kids) played happily for 3 hours without us. YAY! We will be making this a habit!

Best Sunday!

I had one of those refreshing, crazy busy and fantastic weekends. It started with a baby shower for the beautiful Lauren T. My "Chicago Family" enjoyed a delish lunch and the best company I have had in a long time. We sat and chatted for hours after the shower ended. I left feeling warm and tingly inside. HA! I then ran home, changed, curled Trinity's hair and got her dressed for Beauty and the Beast. We had a little date to see the musical at the Cadillac Palace. It was so fantastic! Trinity sat mostly quiet and patient through the entire thing despite the fact the show started right at her bedtime.
She had *no kidding* about 120 people compliment her on her dress. By the end of the night she wanted me to tell them to stop. HA!
She crashed hard in the car at 11pm!

Easter Program

Trinity participated in the Easter program at her school this past week. There was singing, interpretative dance, hand motions, kids picking their nose, a little boy named Everett wrecking the place and plenty of moms trying to take pictures of their kids. None of mine came out of the actual program due to the latter reason. I was able to take some pictures before school and before snack time and I-want-to-play-in-my-dress-all-day-and-get-it-dirty time.

You cant see it but see has a pointed toe that compliments her delicate hand pose. She learned these moves from the princesses at Disney circa 2008.

Zoo Trip

We checked out Brookfield Zoo the day before Trinity's birthday. The day was nice and we needed to break in our new zoo membership! It was still a bit early in the season for all the animals to be out but we look forward to the new bear wilderness coming next month and for the dolphins to return in the summer.

Reeve enjoyed the fresh air and mobile bed.

Crawling, the Movie.

We have had quite a good time soaking in the Vitamin D and nice temps in the luxury of our backyard. Here is us just chilaxin!

For those of you who have not yet witnessed Reeve's new mad skills, here he is making a run through the yard. Although it is hard to tell from this video, Reeve has indeed chilled out a bit now that he is crawling. He appreciates the ability to move to where he wants to go.