Here's my astounding life analogy this week ... parenting is like a garden of roses. It is beautiful but it sure has its thorns!
We've just been hanging out around home not doing much exciting.
Jake went to help out at girls camp for four days. It wasn't too bad being by myself, aside from the one thorny day I mentioned in a previous lengthy post. I got creative figuring out ways to keep the boys busy, and thus my sanity in check. There was a lot of playdough, puzzles, games, painting, water park splashing, and games of kickball. One day they helped me make raspberry jam, which I will add, turned out so good. My best jam ever! I can say that since my only other attempt was strawberry jam at least 5 years ago. It was so runny it worked well as syrup.
Last Sunday, one of the junior Sunday School classes made flags as part of their lesson. Alexander was so jealous and wanted his own flag. I promised him we would make them as a family soon as daddy got home. Friday night we made flags. Square of felt, decorate with markers, staple to a stick, and you get the happiest kid ever. Alexander is still sleeping with his flag just over a week later. I'll have to get a picture of him and his triangle flag. It's not actually a triangle shape but the only thing he wanted drawn on it was a saw-tooth triangle border, that's what he got, and thus, his triangle flag.
Alexander was also pestering me to go swimming, not just to the splash park. I certainly didn't have the gumption to take all the kids by myself so I made him wait until dad got home. I researched and found some places around here we could take the kids. There are no public pools, but there is a lot of water in the way of rivers and run-offs.
The place we chose to take our picnic lunch is nicknamed Monkey Rock. It was a little hard to find based on descriptive driving directions and no actual address for this little hidden cove.
It was perfect, and a lot of fun. It's partially man-made. The waterfall is the overflow for the canal above the river. It's fairly shallow. Jake could walk clear out to the waterfall and it was at highest up to his chest. The undertow this day was really strong so we didn't dare let the kids walk very far away from the shore.
It sounds like this is the place all the college kids go to be dumb as they 'ride' the canal down the waterfall and jump off the bridge into the shallow water.
We had it to ourselves this day. Perfect for rock throwing and getting as dirty as a little boy can.
This week I was focused on trying to get a smiling picture of our biggest baby yet...I will have to go look at previous posts highlighting the boys at 6 weeks old to confirm that I'm not lying.
I took Breahna to an appointment last week to get some medicine for acid reflux. My no dairy diet doesn't seem to be helping, and so far the medicine doesn't seem to be useful either. She was almost 6 weeks when we went. They did the usual measurements weighing her in at 10.5 lbs and 22 inches long. I knew something was up. She sure loves to eat and has a double chin to show for it. I know a lot of you won't be impressed. With a sniff you'll say, my baby is far chunkier, so HA! But, for our kids, she seems like a chunk.
She doesn't sleep very well at night as she thinks she needs to eat every two hours. If I don't comply she has a wail to let me know I am failing her demands. I may be the owner of this eating establishment, but she's the manager and what she says goes! She does make up for this by doing all sorts of fun things like laughing, smiling, and talking. She has always had great head support. From day one she wanted to sleep on her stomach and I went with it because she would pick her head up and was constantly switching which cheek she was laying on. She loves tummy time and already gets up on her hands to look around. She also has great leg and torso strength and loves to stand up and bounce in our laps. She will also roll from her stomach to her back and tries to sit up. This girl must have some grand plans and places to go because she seems to be rushing through this baby stage.
I have been trying without much success to get some pictures of all this fun. She's too wiggly and won't cooperate. Soon as the camera comes out she wants to sit with a melancholy expression and stare at the amazing black contraption aimed at her face.
I think I will remember her as the baby with big eyes and crazy hair. I'm sorry we gave you such crazy hair with crazy calics (I had previously written cow-licks, it was so funny I should have left it for the sheer value of humor).
Just when I think her eyes can't possibly get any wider she'll see something new and exciting and they seem to pop out even more.
Her brothers tell me she cries a lot and is loud. I often hear "mom, that baby is crying again, tell her to stop, she's loud" The boys walk around a lot with their hands over their ears.
Smile for the camera ...
There we go, got the tale end of it ...
Stop moving so much ...
Now all you want to do is stare at the camera ...
I give up.
I realize I haven't mentioned much about the boys and what they've been up to. That's because there really isn't anything to report. They drive me crazy and make me laugh all within a few minutes. They are brothers through and through with their fighting one minute then laughing and chasing each other the next.
This is how Kaleb watches movies (or sits on our recliner for that matter):
This week I was focused on trying to get a smiling picture of our biggest baby yet...I will have to go look at previous posts highlighting the boys at 6 weeks old to confirm that I'm not lying.
I took Breahna to an appointment last week to get some medicine for acid reflux. My no dairy diet doesn't seem to be helping, and so far the medicine doesn't seem to be useful either. She was almost 6 weeks when we went. They did the usual measurements weighing her in at 10.5 lbs and 22 inches long. I knew something was up. She sure loves to eat and has a double chin to show for it. I know a lot of you won't be impressed. With a sniff you'll say, my baby is far chunkier, so HA! But, for our kids, she seems like a chunk.
She doesn't sleep very well at night as she thinks she needs to eat every two hours. If I don't comply she has a wail to let me know I am failing her demands. I may be the owner of this eating establishment, but she's the manager and what she says goes! She does make up for this by doing all sorts of fun things like laughing, smiling, and talking. She has always had great head support. From day one she wanted to sleep on her stomach and I went with it because she would pick her head up and was constantly switching which cheek she was laying on. She loves tummy time and already gets up on her hands to look around. She also has great leg and torso strength and loves to stand up and bounce in our laps. She will also roll from her stomach to her back and tries to sit up. This girl must have some grand plans and places to go because she seems to be rushing through this baby stage.
I have been trying without much success to get some pictures of all this fun. She's too wiggly and won't cooperate. Soon as the camera comes out she wants to sit with a melancholy expression and stare at the amazing black contraption aimed at her face.
Just when I think her eyes can't possibly get any wider she'll see something new and exciting and they seem to pop out even more.
This is how Kaleb watches movies (or sits on our recliner for that matter):
All in all, things are good here at the Stevens' place. We're going crazy one minute, laughing the next.
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