A Fun Friday

Colin's school allows parents to come any day and have lunch with their kids.  Knowing that I should be receiving my PT license in the next couple weeks, and will start sending out my resume, I wanted to take advantage of being home and getting to have lunch at Colin's school.  So, I surprised Colin with a chocolate milkshake and met him and his class for lunch.

It is always fun to see how Colin interacts with the other kids at school.  The boys all sat on one end of the table and the girls at the other.  The girls were chatting the whole time while the boys just sat and ate their food with only the occasional comment.  They were surprisingly quiet.

This evening we were invited over to Dennis' coworkers house, who lives in our neighborhood, for pizza.  They have been very welcoming to our family over the last couple months.  The older boys spent most of the time in their basement, playing Wii, while Logan and the adults hung out upstairs.  The couple couldn't get over how Logan ate 3 pieces of pizza (more than all 4 of the other kids)!  I brought an awesome oreo brownie dessert which was a big hit too!   We then walked back home in the freezing cold.  It has been dropping some nights in to the 30's already!  And the wind they get here makes it feel even colder.  Despite the weather, it was a great Friday

Logan is 18 Months And Evan's Special Day!

Logan turned 18 months old today!  At 18 months Logan is turning out more and more like his big brother, Evan.  They are two peas in a pod.  The two of them wake up super happy and rearing to go.  Unlike big brother Colin, who needs a few minutes to wake up.  Logan still goes to bed very easily.  You just have to lay him down and give him his lovey and he sucks his thumb and goes to sleep.  He is sleeping from about 7:45m to anywhere between 6 and 7 in the morning.  He also usually takes one nap from about 12:45 to 3pm (occasionally longer).  At times he is still tired in the morning and might take a morning nap with a short afternoon one.

Logan is talking a little.  He says "What's this?", Daddy, Ma Ma, bye bye and yes.  He also tries to say shoe and night night.  

He is often very laid back and entertains himself well.  However, when he wants something he will let you know.  He can still be dramatic at times, throwing himself down on the ground when he is upset or crying until he gets his way.  But, once he gets what he wants (which is usually food), he is right back to being happy.  He is a pretty good eater and has just a few things that he doesn't like.  Usually, he eats the fruits and vegetables and it is the pasta or something like that that he wont eat.   Many times he clears his plate and has seconds or thirds.  He especially loves yogurt, cooked carrots, and grapes (and most other fruit).  He also LOVES ketchup and will lick it all up!

Logan seems to be enjoying school.  He doesn't cry at all when Dennis drops him off now and even goes right in and starts looking around for what to play with.  When I pick him up he gives his teachers hugs and kisses goodbye.

He enjoys playing in the basement with his brothers.  As soon as they head down there he runs to me with his shoes, so I will put them on him and take him down to join his brothers.  He likes to dance when we put on music and also likes to ride his cars outside.

He doesn't have another doctors appointment until end of November, so I don't know his stats at this time.  But, time is going by quickly and my baby is getting bigger...

Most Thursdays I get to spend with both Evan and Logan.  However, because Logan missed a day of school last week due to doctors appointments, they allowed us to bring him today to make up the day (since we had already paid for it).

That left just Evan and I for the whole day.  Since I rarely have Evan all to myself, we made it a fun day.  I took him out for lunch and then we went to see The Lion King movie.  Evan really loved the movie.  When it was over he said "That was awesome, do you know what my favorite part was? It was the fighting part".  He went on to talk about the movie the entire way home.

I was glad to spend some time with my middle child.  Being a middle child myself I know how much he probably appreciates some alone time with his Mommy or Daddy.

This evening I went out for my ladies Bunco night.  It was fun to get to know a few more neighbors and I can tell I will look forward to these nights once a month.  

Last Football Game.

Well, another quick kids sports season has come to an end.  Colin finished his last flag football game on a good note.  The coach tried to give each player a chance to be quarterback and do a keeper.  When it was Colin's turn he did a great maybe 50 yard run, weaving all around and going from one side of the field all the way to the other.  I had a couple different parents comment to me that he was fast.  Colin's team had a big win and he was excited to get a huge football cookie from one of the parents.

The rest of the day Dennis and I took turns running errands and Dennis put a couple more things up on the walls.  Then of course we enjoyed watching the Virginia Tech game and having a game friendly dinner of nachos!  Sprinkled in between all that was some outside play time...

Oh and so when I look back on this in 30 years and want to remember what a silly Evan I had...Evan says he is not getting married or having kids because he wants to live alone so he can have a dog, a cat and a fish.  Dennis and I tried to explain he could have all the above, but he wasn't buying it.  Dennis also asked what about a pig, to which Evan responded, "No, then I would have to buy mud!"  Well, what about a cow?  "Nope, they need too much milk!"

Well, I am hoping he comes around one day and gives me some grandbabies, but if not, Colin still says he is going to have 100 babies, so I think we will be covered!

Logan Visit With ENT and Family Fun Night...

I took Logan back to the doctors office on Thursday to see if the antibiotic he was taking for an ear infection worked.  Unfortunately, just like his previous ear infection in February, it did not work and he had to get a shot yesterday and today.  Poor thing, 4 total shots of antibiotics in 2 days and it is supposed to be a painful one.  He slept a lot today!  We also had to see an ENT today because his pediatrician was concerned that both ear infections needed a shot to clear and she was worried about speech delays/hearing loss.  The ENT says it is too soon to worry about tubes and that his hearing should be fine since fluid is only on one side.  So, we are going to follow back up in 2 months and go from there.

Logan was a great patient!  He was very calm until the shots of course, though he bounced back quickly.  Evan was with me for yesterdays visit and he was too scared to be in the room when Logan got his shots (he didn't want to hear him cry), so another nurse took him out of the room until we were done.

Tonight we had a family fun night at Colin's school.  We ate pizza, the kids did crafts and then we all watched a Mad Science Show.  Colin and Evan seemed to enjoy the show and Logan enjoyed just strutting around in front of us being silly, but very good.

Mommy's Birthday!

My birthday was spent just like probably a lot of Mom's birthdays....cleaning, laundry, and shopping.  It also poured all day!  Not the most exciting day ever, but hey nothing too exciting about turning 33 either.  At some point birthdays became about getting older instead of something to celebrate.  While I am happy for all that I have, I wouldn't have minded if time had just stopped at age 30.

Dennis did help to make the evening nice by picking up sushi for dinner, so I at least didn't have to cook.  By the way, Evan wanted sushi instead of left over chicken pot pie!   He ate 2 California rolls, which is pretty good for him since he doesn't tend to eat much dinner.  Dennis also got me a new kindle, since mine broke a month or two ago.

I must say Facebook sure has made birthdays fun.  It was so nice to get so many "Happy Birthday" comments on my Facebook wall.  Sure makes me feel loved and happy to have wonderful family and friends.

Today is my Mom and Miranda's birthday.  So Happy Birthday to Grammy and Miranda.  I was sad to miss out Miranda's party on Sunday and all my siblings and my parents getting together this evening for my Mom's.  It stinks that my boys are going to miss out on all the birthday parties while we are living so far away.

Waiting for Colin to get off the bus...

Just Me And The Boys

Dennis was out of town for his cousin Austin's wedding.  So, that left me and the 3 boys alone for 3 days.   The boys and I had a fun time going to Colin's football game (he made the extra point playing running back), the candy store (Colin got some free candy for making player of the game last week), and spending lots and lots of time playing outside with their friends.

On Saturday, after about an hour of playing outside, Evan said he had a headache and needed to go home and "rest his brain".  Since he had a concussion Thursday night, this may or may not have been true.  Also, later that day he asked if he could play on the computer now and I said "No, the doctor says you have to rest your brain, no computer for a week.".  So, he went to the couch laid down for about 10 minutes and then said "I rested my brain, now can I play computer?"  Poor thing!

Sunday, was Religious Education class for Colin.  So, Evan, Logan and I went to church while Colin was in class.  Up to this point I had been leaving the younger boys at home while I went to Church.  But, with Dennis out of town I decided to try and bring them along.  Evan did awesome!  Logan is at a difficult age for church because he wont just lay in my arms anymore he wants to be up and about.  He is also becoming much more social.  He was showing everyone around us his cup and book.  One lady even was turning the pages of his book for him at one point.  But, luckily he was fairly quiet.  That said, I don't think I will try that again any time soon, or at least I will put him in the nursery next time.

Speaking of Logan being more outgoing...as a baby he was pretty attached to me.  He seems to be outgrowing that.  When Colin was a baby the pediatrician said from 9-18 months is when separation anxiety is worst.  Sure enough by 18 months Colin had pretty much outgrown it and Logan is 17 months and seems to have too.  He now doesn't cry at all when we drop him off at daycare and he gives his teachers hugs when we leave.  He has become very independent (and strong willed), and really spends most of his time playing nicely by himself or trying to mimic his older brothers.  I think I have also been replaced by his lovey.  When I pick him up from daycare instead of running to me and hugging me like he used to, he runs to his cubby and starts pointing at his bag so I will get his lovey out.   I have been trying to keep the lovey just in his bed for naps and bed time and not letting him walk around the house, with the hopes he won't get too attached.  He is really the first of my boys to become attached to a security blanket.

Anyway, after church we met up at the park with a friend for a play date.  Then after naps, the boys played with neighbors again.

It was nice weekend with my boys, but we were happy to see Dennis get home too.  He has been working pretty hard at work.  That combined with the longer commute he has in Indiana, makes it feel like he really hasn't been around all that much.

This was actually from last weekend, but it was a good one!

Evan's Trip To The ER...

Thursday night, Grandpa McLaughlin was here for a visit on his way to Virginia.  We were all outside playing when Evan ran into his Grandpa, fell and hit the back of his head on the concrete driveway.  I thought he must have hurt his head pretty bad because he was crying much louder and longer than normal for him.  He is pretty tough and usually bounces back real quick.  He also looked pretty pale when he came inside and went to the couch.  However, in the hustle of getting dinner on the table and getting ready to go out for an early birthday dinner with Dennis, I didn't take the time to think about the possibility of a concussion.

However, on our way to dinner we got a call for Grandpa saying that he had thrown up.  I started to think "Uh Oh, could be a concussion".  But, I also knew that he had taken an extra long nap that day and maybe he was coming down with something.  I called the pediatrician on the way home and when I found out that he had gotten sick 3 more times since we left, I knew that wasn't good.  His doctor sent us immediately to the ER.  The ER doctor said, "At a minimum it is a concussion, but could be a bleed because of the repetitive vomiting".  Luckily, the CT scan was clear.  After getting an anti nausea pill Evan snapped back to his old self pretty quickly.  We checked up on him all night and followed up with his pediatrician today, and so far he is doing well.  No tv or computers for a week, but we can deal with that.

I will say, Evan was a trooper.  He is really great in these situations and was just awesome in the ER doing everything the doctor said and being very brave.  Dennis rewarded him with a couple action figures when we got home.

Besides Evan having to stay home and being hurt, the other big bummer was that I was not able to go on Colin's field trip today.  Colin and I had been looking forward to this for a couple weeks, so he was very upset when I told him the news this morning.  Hopefully, I will be able to make the next one, if he has another. 

Dennis is in VA this weekend for his cousin Austin's wedding (which I was also very bummed to have to miss, no sitter in Indiana prevents us from both leaving town).  So, it is just me and the boys this weekend. 

Tea Party And Volunteering At Colin's School...

The last 2 days here have been so great and make me also dread going back to work...

Yesterday, we were invited to a play date tea at a ladies house that I met at the playground.  She also has 3 boys, as does another lady that she invited.  All of our oldest are in school, so the 6 younger kids played together while the Mom's enjoyed some tea and chatted.  She had a whole spread of finger sandwiches, nuggets for the kids, grapes and delicious scones.  Logan, like my other boys, loves tea and I couldn't keep him from climbing into my lap and drinking all my tea!  Evan played very nicely with one of the other boys who was 4 years old.  I didn't hear a peep from him the whole time.

Today, the highlight was volunteering in Colin's class.  It was nice to get a chance to peak in on how his teacher runs the classroom...very well and organized in my opinion.  She is nice while still being very firm, the kids definitely don't walk all over her.  I also got to see how Colin interacts with the other kids and the teacher.  I was pleasantly surprised to see him actually raising his hands and answering questions.  It was also interesting to see the vast variety of levels of the different students.  Colin is a strong student, so I never realized how hard some of the work is for some of the other kids.  I am used to Colin rushing through his homework in 5 seconds.  There are differently a few girls in his class that are way below Colin's level in Reading and Comprehension.  They needed a lot of guidance to figure out their worksheets and even then didn't seem to grasp what they were supposed to do.  Then there was the other extreme of a girl who was sitting and reading chapter books quietly and never had a question.  A teacher I am not, but I did enjoy spending an hour helping the teacher out.   I am looking forward to going with Colin's class on Friday for their first field trip!

Colin As Quarterback...

Colin playing QB

Colin got a chance to play a drive as QB and he did pretty good especially when he got to keep the ball and run!  On defense he also did well and was able to get a flag.  He was happy to receive a "player of the week" card which gets him free candy at a candy shop nearby, I guess that will be one of tomorrow's outings.

The Wisconsin Badgers

Cheering from the sidelines

Colin got a chance to play a drive as QB and he did pretty good especially when he got to keep the ball and run!  On defense he also did well and was able to get a flag.  He was happy to receive a "player of the week" card which gets him free candy at a candy shop nearby, I guess that will be one of tomorrow's outings.

The boys spent a lot of the day playing with neighbors and Dennis and I started to tackle the huge job of organizing the basement.  We are trying to get it at least somewhat organized until we can get it finished.  We made a dent, but there is still A LOT to do.  We realized our kids have A LOT of toys and I wish we could skip Christmas this year instead of having to bring home even more toys.  I think they are actually overwhelmed by all the stuff which is why we are tying to organize it.

After that was the Hokie Football.  Dennis was relieved to be able to watch the game here since last weekend didn't work out so well. 

Sick Loggie...

I was looking forward to a day to myself today to get a few errands done.  However, Logan's cold seemed to be progressing.  He was on day 4 or so of a low grade fever and has been waking up more at night and during naps, so I kept him home to take him to the doctor.  Looks like he has an ear infection.

On a positive note....at Colin's flag football practice yesterday they were practicing Colin in the quarterback position.  So, I am hoping that means he will get to play at least part of the game as a QB on Saturday (they rotate positions so that all the kids get a chance to play different positions).  Thus far, Colin has mostly just been a lineman, which in flag football is not all that exciting.  He was so excited to be able to play QB and when he wasn't being silly and saying "Ready, Set, Hikey!", he actually had a pretty good run.  Anyway, we are looking forward to the game Saturday.

Labor Day 2011

We got a pleasant surprise this morning when our neighbor, Luke, came by with a note from his Mom asking if we would like to join them for apple picking.  So, Colin, Evan and I met them at a farm about 10 minutes from here and spent some time picking apples.  The boys seemed to enjoy picking them and Colin enjoyed eating a couple too. 

After lunch and naps Colin played at their house for a couple hours while I made a homemade apple pie for dessert.  The house smelled awesome!

As you can see in the pictures, the boys are wearing sweatshirts!  I have always thought of Labor Day as the last chance to go to the pool and BBQ's in the backyard.  But, nope, here in Indiana it is COLD.  I never thought I would have to start pulling out fall clothes in early September.

The rest of the weekend was spent with Dennis getting stuff done in the yard and organizing the garage.  It was great to have him around for 4 days, though I really could use a few more 3 day weekends, so that Dennis can get some more stuff done around here. 

One funny Colin story...on Sunday Colin was mad that his friends weren't home to play with him (he rang their door bell 10 times, thinking they were just ignoring him!).  When they finally got home later that day it was dinner time, so I told him no he couldn't go out.  He was so mad at me he ran to his room.  He then came back down with $6 and asked if he could please go out if he gives me his money.  He was trying to buy me off at 6 years old!!!  For the record, it didn't work.

Colin's 1st College Football Game

We have been waiting anxiously for the day Colin was old enough to be able to sit through a whole football game, so that we could take him to a real football game (he has been to arena football games already).  I had always imagined that when this day came we would be doing the drive to Virginia Tech or maybe tailgating with my family at a Redskin game.  Never did I imagine that his first game would be to watch and cheer for Purdue, but that is exactly where he spent his day today.  Dennis was invited by a coworker to come to the game and bring Colin along.  They enjoyed tailgating and playing Cornhole in the parking lot and then going to see the game.  Despite being incredibly hot they had a good time.

Evan, Logan and I spent the day at home eating brownies (I had made some for the big boys to take to the game) and watching a movie at home.  We then took some extra long naps.  Though, I don't think that even in the 4 hours Logan was in his bed he actually ever fell asleep.  He was just chatting and chatting and chatting.  At one point I went in to get him, thinking he just wasn't going to nap today and he had a dirty diaper.  So, I changed him and then he seemed sleepy so I layed him back down.  Well, he was quiet for about 30 minutes and then just started chatting for another hour.  He has a little cold so maybe that is why his schedule is a bit off.  He was definetly ready for bed tonight at 7:15am, so he went to be early. 

Actually all the kids have been sleeping good the last few days 7:45pm-7:00am and some have even slept a tiny bit longer than that.  I keep telling Dennis that it is him who wakes the boys up early, because during the week they always get up very early.  Well, sure enough Dennis has been home since Thursday (he worked from home Thursday and took Friday off) and all three days the kids have slept in longer!

The only other news is that I took Colin and Evan to get their haircuts on Thursday and don't tell Evan, but Evan's hair got butchered.  She went too short in the bangs and did not style it well.  Of course, Evan has no clue and is very proud of his haircut.  I am just praying it grows quickly.  I guess it will take us awhile to find a good hair cutter here, since we loved our Richmond one.