First Day

Yesterday we spent Steven's last day of summer with Oliver & Rebecca at a splash pad that is near their home. All the kids had a blast! Then later we went back to Rebecca's house to officially celebrate Oliver's first birthday. It was fun to watch Oliver totally destroy his birthday cake and the boys had way too much fun playing with balloons. Afterwards we rented "Wreck it Ralph" and snuggled together on the couch. It was a perfect end to summer.

This morning,  Steven was up (on his own) at 6:30- me, I was up much earlier. School is going to kick my butt in gear- no more lazy, sleeping in until 7 for me. For breakfast, Steven requested cereal and donuts. Now that they only get cereal once a week it has become a much desired luxury :) 

After a father's blessing and getting everyone else ready it was time to walk to school but first--- photos! Mine are not nearly as cute as all the ones I'm seeing on Facebook- lighting is bad, not close up enough & no cute chalkboard with the grade he is in- but still they show off Steven's new favorite color & his attitude perfectly...

Today was less sunny than normal but a bit humid so we still got a bit sweaty on our 20 minute walk to school. When we got there Steven was grouchy with me and didn't want to take pictures in front of the school....so we didn't. Then he stood in his line looking nervous until he saw his best buddy, Colin. As soon as he saw Colin he was off having fun on the playground. But when the bell rang it was time for them to part ways and he seemed nervous again. 

Upon entering the classroom he had no qualms finding a seat and once in it he set to work coloring and again his nerves seemed to pass. So much so that he posed for this silly picture- such a Hatch! And so much so that when the teacher said it was time for parents to go, he told me to go so he could get to work.  

The walk home was rough--- for me & my emotionalness and for Ben & his emotionalness. It's a long walk for my lazy 3 year old apparently. I think the walk will be good to get both Ben & me more active.

Once home it was SO weird. Our house was so quiet- no brother to fight with or run around and giggle with. No need to constant entertain, Ben quite likes playing alone. Lucy even took a 2.5 hour morning nap as though to celebrate the quietness. And when she woke up she further celebrated by pigging out her first PB&J sandwich. This baby of mine refuses to eat baby food now and only wants to make a mess of the real stuff. So fun ;)

I wish I could say my day continued on smoothly but Ben did not wake up a happy camper from his nap. And unfortunately I couldn't try to get him to sleep some more because we had to pick up Steven from school. This time we drove and parked but it wasn't quite close enough for Ben. And he cried, not a whimper but more like a wail, the entire time we waited for Steven. And the entire time we walked back to the car. And the entire way home. So there was no fun greeting for Steven, no chance to check in with the teacher and I was completely ostracized by annoyed parents (who I couldn't blame in the least). Ok and for those few kind parents who tried to cheer  Ben up, they were only rewarded with louder wailing and they would quickly regret their attempts. So awful. And to top it off Steven refused to say bye to his teacher because the sun was making his hair hot....Parenthood is so fantastic.

July's End

-As you can see, Lucy is now pulling herself up on things. Which means all the things I piled on top of the coffee table & train table to keep away from her are now within her reach again. Now I have to find a new place for all that junk!

-She is also growing her 7th tooth- this does not make her a happy camper (despite deceiving above picture).

-This week she had her first taste of meat- thanks to me! I used my baby bullet to make her some chicken & rice. Yes, I'm amazing! But the amazingness may stop soon. It's getting too time consuming and she is liking thicker textured food so we might be entering the finger food phase soon...

- Today she got to see Bryce Turley because Patty's in town (yay!). They kept smiling at each other and even played footsies. I see a future with these two ;)

- She also got to hang out with her best buddy, Jaylee (sorry Karen, Jaylee kept blinking so this was the best I could get). 

- This boy has been a lot of trouble lately. Not sure what's going on with him but there has been major attitude towards me, talking back and an excessive use of the word "hate" & "sucker" (and he's not referring to lollipops). Maybe he's trying to get me excited about him starting Kindergarten in a week and a half....

-Speaking of Kindergarten, we went to do some school shopping this week- just me & him. He picked out some pretty awesome high top black & orange sneakers and some orange basketball shorts (his backpack also has orange in it too--- I sense a favorite color surfacing here). I can't wait to take first day of school pictures of him wearing his new gear. However, I don't love shopping with him. He is SLOW as molasses walking down the aisles. I thought we would be quicker with just the two of us but due to his snail pace, it took us a couple of hours. 

- Oh my Benny, he absolutely adores his shark shirt. Wears it every other day (but he would wear it everyday if it didn't have to be washed). 

-He also got a new pair of shoes this week  - black with neon green accents- and he wants to wear those everyday too. The first couple days after getting his shoes he had to ask anyone who came over if they wanted to see his new shoes. It's funny how much 1 new thing means to him. Steven got lots of stuff for school and didn't seem to care so much and all it took was one new pair of shoes to brighten Benny's whole week. I suppose that's what happens when most of what you get is hand me downs.

- A few days ago I was feeling kind of funky so I complained about it and Benny said, "I'm gonna love you!" And I said, "Oh yeah!?" And he said, "Yup! Cause love makes everything better!" Then he came up and gave me hug and a kiss on the cheek. He can be such a sweetie.

-Thursday night Boston came to stay with us and he'll be with us until Sunday, late afternoon. Both the boys fight over who gets to be his friend and whose bunk bed he gets to sleep in at night. They sure love their cousin! 

 

-And today I thought I was finally going to be cool like all my sister-in-laws and get me a pair of Toms at this Toms Warehouse sale they were having in Tempe but I suppose I am just not meant to be cool. Me & Patty went with a total of 5 children (her 2, and Lucy, Ben & Boston) and arrived to see pure craziness. After waiting in line for 40 minutes and still not stepping foot into the actual store, we decided the kids would not last the remaining 2 hours we would probably be there for so we left while everyone was still happy. No $20 Toms for me or $10 Toms for Lucy :( So depressing but at least our kids were amazingly well behaved while we were there and at least we had fun socializing. 

What We've Been Up To

-Tyler is turning 30 in a week and I am excited to throw him an awesome family party with a cereal & Lego theme. Here is the pictured that graced his Evites:

Are you cereal? Tyler's turning 30!

-The other week I went to Ikea with my mom & Rebecca. I wanted to buy everything but remained strong and only got a couple things. The boys also had fun getting to play at Smaland (a supervised play area) and we enjoyed some delicious lunch there. Here's what I bought at Ikea:

Awesome cups, now filled with art supplies, hanging on a bar above their craft table

Super cool dog tail hooks for the kid's bathroom. I then had to make some fun dog's in bathtub pictures for each kid. I need to work on hanging things a bit straighter though...

-A few days ago I was lying down with Ben to help him take a nap. When I came downstairs, Steven presented me with this sweet postcard:

He used to hate it when I asked him to write so I stopped bugging him. Now he's constantly writing! He writes letters to his Aunt Mariah, me, daddy and Ben and he writes in his workbooks (all on his own). He is even writing stories. Sure the only writing that is actual words are names or words he copies but I just love to see those random string of letters too. That's the first step!

He's obviously ready for kindergarten ;) Not only is he "writing" often but every afternoon he wants to do a craft or science. Some of things we have done: made a mailbox, mixed 2 primary colors in shaving cream in a plastic baggie, painted rocks, played with vinegar and baking soda, and painted bread with colored milk:

- I am amazed by how much Lucy grows everyday. She is army crawling around the house like crazy. Today I was taking a shower in my walk-in shower and who should appear fully clothed beneath me...Lucy! Needless to say she got a little wet.

She also flaps her hand at daddy when she sees him or when he leaves (and sometimes at other people too). It seems like she's figuring out how to wave at people. So much fun!

She is also finally interested in food--- much to my dismay. She is probably the messiest eater EVER. Drives my OCD self crazy!

And since she is finally eating, I decided it was time to pull out the Baby Bullet & Steamer my mom got me and get to work. Steven had fun helping make her peas, carrots and apples. It was super easy and I will be doing it again.

- This week we went to the Ceretta Candy Factory in Glendale. Not worth the drive :( We only got the tail end of the tour but that was fine because the kids weren't really  interested in hearing how candy is made. We were hoping to see it get made but the only machines that were working were behind other non-working machines so we didn't. Lame. There were also 3 summer camps there which made it very crowded. We could have made chocolate pizza but it cost $10 per person SO instead we consoled ourselves by buying $10 worth of delicious candy to share. There was also a video after the tour that showed some cool machines. It held the boys attention for a little bit. So good candy but not so good factory action.

And this week we finally made it to the library to collect our summer reading prizes. I love that the boys love to read with me regardless of prizes. But we still go get them anyways because I love the free book vouchers they all get and they love all the other silly cheap prizes they can choose from:

Lucy Lou

Today I attempted to feed Lucy her first "solid" (aka really liquidy baby cereal). The attempt was very unsuccessful. That adorable tongue of hers pushed out any solid that tried to enter her mouth. I am partially relieved because now I don't have to worry about feeding her at each meal- one less thing to do.

Lucy (and her brothers) all got a bad case of pink eye yesterday. It's funny because Lucy doesn't cry one bit when I give her the eye drops but they boys throw royal fits and bawl like I am murdering them when I give them theirs. That's my tough girl!!

Lucy is still not sleeping through the night and doesn't have any consistency with nights either (I think I had said she did but this girl loves to prove me wrong- she doesn't). Some nights she'll just wake up once (anytime between 1:30&4:30). Other nights she's up twice (once between 1:30 &3:30 and the second time being somewhere between 4&5:30). I know it's probably time to enlist the cry it out method with her but it is SO hard to do! 

Since she doesn't have a consistent initial wake up time (it's anywhere between 6:30 & 8:30) her schedule doesn't have consistent times. BUT she does follow a consistent "routine." She nurses (usually for 10-20 minutes total) and then is awake for 2 hours and then naps for 1-2 hours (so she nurses every 3-4 hours). She usually takes 3 naps throughout the day. And then at night she typically cluster feeds- will eat between 6&7 and then eat again around 8:30.

This week Lucy has turned into a rolling machine! Back to front, front to back- whichever, whenever! She rolls over at least once a day! I am so hoping that this means that she will be more like Steven with crawling and walking so that she won't be over 1 before she can run away from her brothers!