6 weeks old

They say crying in infants peaks at 6 weeks. If today is any indicaion, Max agrees. I tried to get some pics of him for today's post. Well, he was not happy....

He did finally throw Mommy a bone and give me one sweet smile....That's better! :)

Sweet Maddox, at 6 weeks old:

• You LOVE to eat. But, you hate bottles. At least from Mommy you do.
• You have slept 6 hours straight, but only once. Usually, you do 2-4 hour stretches at night.
• You are a great napper, but like to be up from 8pm-11 or 12 pm.
• You smile at mommy and your brothers.
• You love to watch your brothers play around you.
• You enjoy sitting in the bouncy seat but not the swing.
• You are trying to suck your thumb, but cannot quite get it in your mouth.
• You can still fit into all of your newborn-sized clothes but are starting to wear some 0-3 months just because you have so many cute clothes.

So true....

Thankful Thursday - on a Tuesday

A blog I read does a "Thankful Thursday" post every, well, Thursday. I know it is only Tuesday, but I really need to remember all the things that I am thankful for today before I let myself get too overwhelmed with the negatives.



1. I am thankful that Miles does not have the flu or strep and it is just a cold.


2. I am thankful for Mimi (E's mom) that was able to come stay with Mason and Max so I could take Miles to the dr and focus on him.


3. I am thankful that we were able to get our broken garage door spring fixed within just a few hours of it breaking.

4. I am thankful to our neighbor for figuring out the problem with the door in the first place and getting the door open so that I was not trapped at home in case of an emergency. (Thanks, Joe!!)


5. I am thankful that Mason has been very understanding today that his brothers needed mommy a lot and he didn't get a lot of attention.


6. I am SO thankful that the rain stopped and it was a beautiful day.

7. I am thankful that Mason loves to be outside. Alone.


8. I am thankful that our very sweet neighbor thought of us and brought extra dinner for us tonight. She had no idea the day (week) we have had, she just "thought of us" for the extras. I know that God was taking care of our every need. Thank you, Kathryn and thank you, God!


9. I am thankful for this very sweet smile (and that I caught it on camera)!

How can that not make you smile???

10. I am thankful for friends that check-up on me and are willing to listen to me talk, vent, laugh, cry.... whatever I happen to be doing that moment.

11. I am thankful that all 3 boys are sleeping and I have quiet time to finish this post. It does my tired heart good!

Let's see that cute baby again, shall we?!?!?! :)

Overheard

My parents, both my olde brothers and I were in the car together last week.

side note: I don't know how long it has been since it was just the 5 of us together. Technically, Max was there, but he did not have much to say that night. :)

Anyway, we were in the car. Mom and dad in front, Kevin and I in the middle seat and Kelley in the 3rd row.
All of a sudden, Kelley apparently felt like being an older brother and pulled my hair. Yes, he did. And my response?
"Seriously? Did you just pull my hair? What are you, like 5?"
Apparently the look on my face was equally hilarious.
I guess God did prepare me for 3 boys. Or at least, he tried.
---------------------------------------
On the way home, all 3 kids were texting. Not exactly how we spent our time in the car together as kids.

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In other news, Miles is SO sick. He has been running a fever since Friday evening. He has a clear, but sightly runny nose. And, he has a horrible sounding, hacking cough. He cries every time he coughs and he is not eating. He was tested for the flu on Saturday (negative), but not strep. So, we may be going back to the doctor tomorrow.
So, the entire weekend was spent keeping him away from everyone else and especially Maddox. And, carrying around a can of Lysol and sanitizing wipes.

Oh the joys.

Just because they are so cute

Max - 5 weeks old

HOW does it go by so quickly????

Miles - in a big-boy button down shirt just like Daddy :)

Mason - proud big brother

Close-up of Max's monogrammed bedding, per Nana's request :)

Bunk beds

You may recall that earlier this year, the boys had bunk beds in their room.

Mason did not like sleeping up high, so we did away with them and they have side-by-side beds "on the floor", as Mason likes to describe them.

Apparently, Miles wants to bring back the bunk beds.

Miles pulled his pillow and blanket off the bed and fell asleep on the bed under Mason's bed.

Maybe we should just go ahead and get rid of his bed and free up some more space in the room?

Oh darling Miles

Miles
Miley-Moo
Middle child

You always keep me guessing. And you keep me on my toes. And praying.
Miles, if you had been our firstborn, we might have only had one child.

I now realize what an easy kid Mason is.

Miles is all boy. He is SO curious. He is always ready to explore. He is always ready to have a good time.

Rest is not in his vocabulary. Doing things half-way is not in his vocabulary.

So, here's the story.

The last few weeks Miles has stopped sleeping during naptime and has destroyed played quietly in his room. Yesterday, I put Miles down for a nap. He acted tired all morning and fell asleep for just a few minutes on our way home from picking up Ch1ck-fil-a for lunch. (Yes, I packed up 3 boys into the car just to go through the drive-thru to pick up lunch and my beloved sweet tea! :) It is just that good!!)

After about an hour and 15 minutes, I heard some noises coming from the boys room. I went in to check on Miles.

He had been in their bathroom, which was why I had not heard him. At all. (I normally double check to make sure the bathroom door is locked to avoid this whole story. Apparently I forgot to double check it.)

Miles had gotten my favorite, beloved vanilla handsoap from the bathroom and had used about6 of 8 oz. It was all over his bedding, the door knob, toys (lots of toys), books (be still my heart, don't ruin books!!!), the wood floor, the rug, all his clothes.

It was everywhere.

I have to admit that my first instinct was to freak out and yell at him.

But the first words out of his mouth after I said "oh Miles, what did you do?" was "sorry mommy". COME ON!!! That was enough to melt my mommy-heart. I made him sit in his chair and I took a deep breath and decided to find the silver linings.

So, here are my silver linings....
His bedding was covered in soap, but it really needed to be washed and that is done now.
His toys were a soapy mess, but they needed a good cleaning.
It may have taken me 30 minutes to clean up, but I had over an hour of 2 boys asleep and 1 quietly watching a video and I just enjoyed the quiet house.

I could have had a bad reaction, but I kept my cool and just cleaned up the mess. I am proud of myself and the example I was able to be for Miles.

As I was cleaning, I have to admit that I purposefully looked for the silver linings and wrote this blog post in my head. I also have to admit that once I checked my reaction and decided to just deal with the mess, I really, really wanted to go get the camera and take pictures. I decided not to only because the soap was white and wouldn't really show up anyway. :)

So, after I cleaned up some of the mess, I got Miles dressed. I grabbed the first shirt I saw and put it on Miles. I sent him to the den to play while I finished cleaning up. This is what I saw a few minutes later:

All of that playing and "cleaning" he did in his room must have really worn him out.

In case you have having trouble reading his shirt, the one I just threw on him without looking, here is a close-up....

"I make NOISE and TROUBLE"

Fitting, no?

Here is the pile of laundry waiting for me.

And, here and the toys and books that got a good cleaning today. :)

Yes, we did spend the time talking about not playing in soap and staying in bed during nap time. I am pretty proud of myself and the way I handled the situation. I think that I am coming to terms with the fact that I have 3 boys and our house is not going to look perfect and my life is not going to always be quiet and neat.

Or quiet.

story

have I got a story for you!!!!

once the 3 boys are exhasted, fed, bathed, and safely tucked into bed promptly at 7:30PM sometime this evening, I will take the time to type out the tale of our afternoon.

here's a teaser.... Miles, nap, soap, floor, walls, toys, sleep.....
that is all you get
for now :)

Happy Birthday Nennie!

I know that she won't read this, as she has never even used a computer.
(side note... can you imagine? living your entire life and never using a computer. so crazy to our generation and the one before us...)
Anyway. I digress.

Happy 88th Birthday Nennie!!

You are loved by SO many family and friends and now friends of family and friends!
(I have several friends that love my Nennie *almost* as much as I do and just love sitting and talking with her at the boy's birthdays and other family events!)

88 years.... I can't even imagine.

Nennie and Max (Sept 17, 2009)

Outie