Mother and Son Day

Today our home listing expired, so we decided to change Realtors.  Dennis spent the day taking down some pictures and filling in the holes to get ready for the new Realtor to take pictures next week.  While I did help around the house some too, I also went to J.Crew and did a little post Christmas shopping for myself!  Colin came with me and the two of us enjoyed a nice lunch together at the mall.  It was fun to be out just the two of us.

I also went to his basketball practice with him.  Dennis has taken him the last two times so this was my first time getting to see him play.  I continue to be amazed at how quickly he picks up the different sports.  However, what is the most fun to watch is how much he enjoys playing.  He always has a smile on his face and always asks the coach if he can go "first".  This is something he has done in every sport he has played.  He is talented, but whatever he lacks in talent he makes up for in drive and enthusiasm.

A little Evan story...This morning Evan informed Dennis that he was going to be Cyclops today.  Dennis didn't pay too much attention to what he was saying and just thought he was being silly.  Well, sure enough when Dennis picked Evan up from preschool his teacher said that Evan told her that he was Cyclops today and was Cyclops all day!

9 months old!

Logan is 9 months old today!  At 9 months he continues to be a very sweet baby.  He is generally a very easy, except for some evenings when he gets very sleepy and thus fussy.  He has always been a mama's boy and is becoming even more so as he starts the "separation anxiety" stage.  Especially when he is tired or upset he wants me.

He is very playful and loves laughing, playing peek a boo, and crawling all around the house chasing after me or his brothers.  He is babbling and also just started to crawl up the stairs (time to put the baby gate up!).  Logan is pulling up to standing and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he starts walking in a couple months.  He is still nursing 4x/day and is mostly eating whatever we eat cut up.  He really likes to be a "big boy" and eat what we are eating.  We are all enjoying him very much!

We are also really enjoying Dennis being off work this week!

Logan 9 Month Well Visit

Today Logan had his 9 month check up with the pediatrician.  Here are his stats...height 29 1/4in (>75%), weight 19 lbs 8 oz (>25%) and head 47.5 cm (>95%).  Looks like he is tall and thin with his daddy's big head, not a surprise.  His doctor says he is doing "perfect".

Sledding

Another great day organizing the house, it is starting to look normal again.  While Evan was at preschool Dennis and Colin went sledding at a park Dennis had heard about.  They had a blast!  I stayed home with Loggie playing with him, organizing toys, and getting together a big pile of stuff to give to goodwill tomorrow.  I am loving Dennis being home this week, wish this could last forever!

The Aftermath...

The house was left a complete mess after Christmas, so we spent the day in our pjs and organized toys while the boys were entertained with their new toys.  We watched the snow fall (it snowed about 6 inches) and just enjoyed being together.  Dennis and Colin played battleship and Evan enjoyed playing with his Super heros nonstop.  I think December 26th might just be one of my favorite days of the year!

The theme of this years Christmas...Super heros!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was wonderful this year.  Colin and Evan were very fun to watch open their gifts.  Evan was a bit disappointed when a gift was not a Super hero, but otherwise they loved their gifts.

After opening gifts we drove to Grandma and Roberts house and exchanged gifts with them, Auntie Jen and Auntie Meghan and Uncle Eric.  That was followed by Uncle Davids house to exchange gifts with all my siblings, Grammy and Grandpa Pritchard.  We then had a party with all my extended family, which included lots of games, music and food.  The boys were exhausted by the end of the day, but it was worth it! 
Christmas 2010 was great!

Twas The Night Before Christmas....

Colin and Evan were so excited when they came in to my room this morning to announce that it was Christmas Eve.  All week Evan has been doing the countdown to Christmas.  He would tell us the play by play of what would happen Christmas Eve.  It would go something like this...first we will go to church, then we will eat dinner, put jammies on, go potty, brush teeth, put out cookies and chocolate milk for Santa, then go to bed, then Santa will come!!!

We have only had Christmas Eve in our own home one other time and that was the year I was 9 months pregnant with Colin and couldn't travel to Northern VA.  Every other year we have been loading up the car Christmas Eve and spending Christmas Eve night with family.  While I do miss being around more family on Christmas Eve, it is really nice to start some traditions in our own home.  I am looking forward to the boys waking up in their own beds and coming downstairs to see presents. 

Today was a great day, the boys were very patient and well behaved at church.  We then enjoyed a yummy fondue dinner at home.  The boys are now tucked in bed and I don't know who is more excited for tomorrow morning us or the kids! 

Have I mentioned Logan is fussy in the evenings.

Of course the boys went to bed dreaming of Santa bringing lots of Super hero's!

Grandpa McLaughlin Visits!

The boys are just thrilled to have Grandpa McLaughlin visiting until Christmas day.  They kept him very busy with games, coloring and stories.  They love having an audience and someone willing to play with them all day.  I am sure they will wear him out if they haven't already.

Prior to Grandpa arriving Evan and I had fun spinning around the kitchen.  He got so dizzy he said "The earth is moving, this house is getting bent!"  I have also been trying to teach the boys the true meaning of Christmas and about the birth of baby Jesus.  I think they are starting to understand, but Evan responded "Did God make Santa?". 

Gingerbread Cookies

For some reason a couple months ago the boys got stuck on the idea of gingerbread men and have been asking ever since if we can make them.  So, today I earned major brownie points by making them and then Dennis, Colin, Evan and I decorated them after dinner.  Evan's eyes were huge when he came home and saw them cooling on the counter, he said,  "I love these gingerbread mens Mommy!"!   We had a great time! 

Of course being in a family of boys.  We couldn't just have cute little gingerbread men with nice smiles.  Nope, we have The Joker and Hulk and a one eyed, one arm, one leg gingerbread man.  If you were wondering, that wasn't just the little boys in the house, in fact Dennis was the one with the bright idea to make the gingerbread men super heros.  If you see a normal one in the picture chances are it was mine!

Colin and Logan were great today as I dragged them around town running errands.  The Christmas season is as exhausting as it is fun!

Hanging With Colin And Logan

We were in Northern Va this weekend for my sister, Julie's, surprise 30th birthday party.  We had a lot of fun at the party.  Though, I think Dennis and I must be getting old as we only danced to one song.  The boys enjoyed spending time with Grandma while she babysat.  They also got to spend time with Auntie Jen, Uncle Eric and Miranda.  Logan was fussy for them and didn't want a bottle, so they put him to bed at 6:30 or so and he slept for 12 hours! 

Colin is home this week and next week for winter vacation.  So, while Evan was in preschool Colin and Logan came with me to finish up a couple Christmas gifts.  It was one of the first times I have had Colin and Logan without Evan.  Colin is very loving toward Logan and was a big help pushing the stroller at the mall.

Can't We All Just Get A Long??

There are many benefits to having kids close in age...they like the same toys, they play together, they can become great friends, etc...  However, along with all this comes the fighting, the wrestling, and the arguing.  Colin and Evan had a lot of fun together today, they spent a lot of the day playing nicely together and with that of course came some fighting...

It started with playing in the snow.  Just as I was thinking, "Oh look how wonderful my kids are, look how nicely they play with each other and get along", I hear Evan start crying.  Colin had thrown an icy snowball at Evan's face.  Then they come in and start playing Chutes and Ladders and I am thinking "Oh look how sweet they are playing together" and Colin starts crying saying "Evan is being mean to him".   So, then they decide to play football.  I am thinking, "Look how cute the boys are when they are playing and laughing together", when Evan decides he wants to stop and get a snack.  So he says, "Game over", to which Colin replies, "No, we still have like 100 touchdowns to go!".  And so begins another argument...

I am still struggling with when to step in and be the referee and when to let them work things out on their own.  I am trying to teach them to work on a compromise and to learn to be empathetic when the other is hurt, but it is hard to not step in and bring peace to the house.  I have a feeling this will be something we have to struggle with for years to come.

If I were a parent of an only child or one who chose to have my kids 5 or 6 years apart, parenting would be much more easy.  However, I might also have missed out on being able to watch my kids play together, hug each other and call each other their "best friend", it makes all the arguing worth it.

So that I don't leave Logan out...he has been pulling up to standing a bit more often now!  Unfortunately, he still has wobbly legs and falls and hurts himself every time.  Poor thing is going to be covered in bruises and goose eggs!

Let It Snow!

In normal Richmond fashion schools were closed today because of a predicted 3-5 inches of snow.  In fact, they were closed last night before the first snow flakes even fell.  Colin and Evan were thrilled to be able to go out in the snow.  They wasted no time getting in their gear and playing.  The time spent playing in the snow was only slightly longer than the time getting their snow gear on! 

We had a fun day listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa, coloring, working on Colin's spelling and reading, and playing games.  Evan was a little difficult again at nap time, but other than that it was a great snow day! 

Schools are already closed tomorrow too, so looks like it will be another play day!

Fa La La La La!!!

I love Christmas Carols it is one of my favorite things about Christmas.  I look forward to church to hear the singing and I try to put on Christmas songs when I am in the car.  Evan seems to be joining in my joy of Christmas songs.  He sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer no less than 15 times today!  It was very cute to hear his version.  I then put a Christmas CD on and his eyes lit up when the first song was Rudolph!  We sang along to the whole CD while Logan cheered us on.

Yesterday I spent the day baking for Colin's school.  They are having a cookie exchange for the teachers and since I can easily bake while being home I thought it would be a good thing for me to volunteer for.  I did enjoy helping out, but my tummy is still hurting from the 10 or so cookies I have eaten.

We are supposed to get snow tomorrow so Dennis is flying home a day early to avoid being stuck in Indy!  We are looking forward to him coming home!  The boys are ready to build some snowmen so they are crossing their fingers we get lots of snow!

An AMAZING Day!

Today we surprisingly woke to 2 inches of snow and the snow coming down pretty good.  When Evan walked outside he looked at the snow and said "This is an AMAZING Day"!  That brought a big smile to my face, what a great way to start the day.

Well, I don't know if the day quite lived up to being "amazing", but it was pretty good.  The boys were all pretty good, I got some chores done, and I cheated with McDonald's drive thru for dinner (Dennis is out of town this week).  Hey, I will take a day like that, maybe it was AMAZING after all....

For some reason these boys love to show their belly and say "belly show!" !

Evan, Evan, Evan...

Dennis and I have both decided that spanking our kids is not for us.  However, if Evan had different parents today would have been the day he would have gotten his first spanking.  As I have mentioned before he occasionally doesn't nap now, which would be fine if he would stay in his room quietly.  Instead we had to go up to his room 15 times or so to tell him to stop getting out of bed, stop banging the walls with his feet, and stop opening and closing his door.  We took away every privilege, including being able to color, and nothing worked! 

Finally, after 2 hours and us getting tired of going up to his room to yell at him and fearing he would wake Logan, we let him come down stairs.  Santa then called me to tell me he was putting Evan on the "naughty list"  and Evan would have to be extra good if he wanted Christmas presents this year.  That at least got a few tears out of Evan.

I should mention during this whole time that Evan was misbehaving, Colin was sound asleep.  Almost 6 years old and still naps sometimes, I like to think he takes after me.  I sure love me some naps!

Evans behavior did improve the rest of the day, thank goodness.  Though he was still his silly self, dancing around the house naked then putting his shirt on his head and saying "I'm a girl, marry me Colin", then he danced around the kitchen with Colin!

I love every age that my kids have been so far, but if I had to choose an age to skip it would definitely be the 3 year old stage.  They are so darn cute, but man they are frustrating! 

Oh, did I mention my life would get busier once Logan got mobile.....

First Day of Basketball!

As if soccer, football, and baseball weren't enough, Colin decided that he wanted to learn how to play basketball.  Today was his first practice.  Dennis took him so I could stay home with the two little ones that were sleeping.  I was sad to miss it.  He is very new to basketball so he has a lot to learn, but Dennis says he was really in to it!

He was begging us to play for weeks, and after many "Are you sure you want to play basketball?" conversations we gave in.  We wanted him to be able to learn how to play, since they are introducing him to basketball in PE class, but I am hoping that we aren't just adding to his list of sports that he LOVES and he will be able to pick a couple of his favorites to focus on in the next few years.  I don't think physically we could keep up with 1 kid in 4 sports, let alone 3 kids in 4 sports each!  And I won't even think about what the cost of that would be!

On a different note...my baby is starting to pull up to standing!!!  Will someone please tell him he is my baby and I am in no hurry for him to grow up!  He is still new at this skill and not doing it too often, but I did see him do it once and that was enough times for me!

Message From Santa

Today the boys got emails from Santa.  They were mesmerized and it was so cute to see their smiles as they watched the video message.  Santa had pictures of them in his book, knew what they asked for and knew some other information about them.  Evan watched it four times in a row because he said he kept "forgetting" what Santa told him (listen to your parents, be good and kind).  It was truly the best moment of my day watching them watch the videos.

For the next couple weeks I have something to hang over their heads when they are misbehaving.  I can remind them of what Santa told them.

Evan spent an hour today writing the names of everyone he knew.  His writing has gotten really good.  He also asked me how to spell "Indianapolis".  It is funny how he keeps bringing it up, I can tell it is in the back of his mind.  He is probably wondering why we haven't moved yet and if this place even exists.  I don't think he realizes Indianapolis is a city though, I think he thinks it is a building where Dennis works.  He is always drawing and building "Indianapolis".

Visiting With Santa

Today Colin learned a lesson about making money, it went down like this...
Colin:  Next time we have a baby, I want three at one time.
Me:  That would cost a lot of money to have six kids, you wouldn't be able to do all the sports that you like.
Colin:  Well, you can just go buy more money.
Me:  You can't buy money.  Daddy goes to work so he can make money.
Colin:  I didn't know Daddy's job is to make money.  He cuts it up?

It is so funny how kids take things so literally.  All week I have been telling the boys that they were going to see Santa on Thursday night, because he was coming to our neighborhood.  So, when I picked Evan up he said, "Are we going to the North Pole after dinner?"!

The boys had an awesome time seeing Santa.  While they were in line, Evan kept saying "I am so excited to see Santa".  It was really one of the greatest moments for me as a Mom watching them talk to Santa.  Neither of them were shy and they both spoke right up about what they wanted....Colin said "Iceman and The Thing"  and Evan said "Iceman and Falcon".  Loggie went home early with Dennis he was getting fussy (it was pretty late for him) and I think he has a bit of a cold.

A Colin Sandwich

Dennis and I are both very affectionate with our kids.  My boys get tons of hugs and kisses.  When Colin was a toddler he would always come in to our room and cuddle with us early in the morning and even fell back asleep some days.  One day when he was three he came in to our bed and and we gave him a big hug, Dennis and I on either side of him.  Dennis said "A Colin sandwich!"  to which Colin responded very seriously "I'm not ham!"!  Ever since then whenever we give the kids hugs we say "Colin and Evan sandwich" and they go on to say who is the ham and who is the cheese, or the mayo, or the peanut butter etc...I don't care what they are as long as they will allow me to give them hugs for many many more years....

Evan, Logan and I had a great time at a play date today with two of my PT friends and their kids.  The boys were real good the whole time other than some difficulties getting Evan to leave the place.  I noticed a cupcake shop right next door to where we had the play date so I was able to convince him to leave by saying he could pick out some cupcakes for after dinner.  I thought for sure he would pick the all chocolate one or maybe the red velvet, but he wanted the one with the little carrot on it (carrot cake).  He always surprises me.

Laundry with Loggie!

Today was my favorite kind of day.  Nothing real special happened, just a productive day at home getting the house back in order after the weekend. 

I still can't believe how quickly laundry piles up in this house!  Logan enjoyed doing laundry with me.  He loves chewing on socks!   He also loves shoes and keeps wanting to chew on them.  While it is tempting to let him chew because it can entertain him for a very long time, it probably is not very sanitary! 

The house is clean and the boys are bathed and put to bed.  Life doesn't much better than this!

Alex and Katelyn Visit!

For a second weekend in a row Dennis was gone to a football game this weekend.  Phil had an extra ticket to the ACC Championship in Charlotte, so Dennis decided to go with him.  Julie came to Richmond with Alex and Katelyn, so the boys had a lot of fun playing with their cousins all weekend.  There was a lot of boys in the house, lots of noise and activity, but a bunch of great moments too!

Some highlights were bathing all the kids (we had to do a couple shifts to get everyone in), watching them enjoy eating popcorn, and watching the boys faces when the looked out the window and saw the first snowflakes of winter!  We just got a dusting, but the boys still asked if they could make a snowman, I told them they would have to wait a bit longer to be able to do that!

Overall,  it was a great weekend.  I wish the boys could see their cousins more.  I enjoyed growing up close to my cousins and wish the same for them.  Hopefully, after Indiana, we will be able to move closer to family.  By the way, Logan was great all weekend though I think he may have picked up a cold, poor baby!