Monday, November 12, 2012

A Lot About Nothing

Well hello, cold weather.  Thanks for finally joining us right in time for an upcoming weekend of soccer tournament OUTSIDE. Your timing in impeccable.

This is going to be a busy, busy week - again. I just need the school to not try and pack everything in right before a week-long break, but those PTO moms are a clever bunch.  Yes, they are.  Is it a coincidence that they would schedule Grandparents day the same week of Book Fair? Oh by the way- since y'all are here, why not pick out an "angel" that's so conveniently laid out for you in the lobby? Everybody is doing it...

And my parents are coming to visit for ten whole days!  We are so excited for them.  Michael and Matthew has been counting down the days every morning at breakfast.  This morning Matthew said he wishes today was Wednesday. Then Michael asked if he could have early dismissal from school to pick up his grandparents.  I said they wouldn't be here until 6.  He said I should pick them up from school early anyway so they can prepare for the arrival.

We had a really nice, warm weekend.  On Saturday, M and I dropped Mark off at the in-laws and took the boys and our neighbor, Luc to see "Wreck it Ralph." It was sooo good.  I loved it! It was creative, clever, and the story and characters were just so great. One of the most imaginative animated movies since "Monsters, Inc."

Sunday was pretty laid back.  It was rainy day so we spent the day watching football and reading. BTW-I finally got a card from our public library after 2 years of living here. What a great place.  Not only is it a great place to borrow books, but they have reading programs and art class for the kids for FREE.  I love me some FREE. I took the boys to an origami class Friday night.  They didn't really like it, but I'm glad they gave it a try.

Oh, and I got a verbal offer on a job! Tentatively schedule to start on December 3rd.  I'm hoping to get a written offer early this week.  Ironically, I have an interview for a position at my former company tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thursday, November 08, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday!

My little Mark, you are 1 year old! You are changing so fast that it's hard to keep up.  In the past few days, you've been doing something new each and every single day. You understand directions like,
"go get your shoes" or "put your clothes in the basket."  You are babbling, but no words yet.  Dr. Scott says that that is OK because you have good receptive speech, which basically means that you can understand speech.  There are so many things that you are doing now, but here are some highlights.


Things to Remember:

Weight - At your 1-year checkup, you are about 21lbs. and 5oz ( a little over 25th percentile)

Height - 19.5 inches, so I overestimated a little for your 11-month post (a little over 25th percentile)

Head - 19.25 inches (90th percentile) - so you're basically a bobble-head doll.

Teeth - Still 6!  There are 2 full bottom teeth and 4 on top, but you are super cranky at night for the past couple of weeks so I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a another couple of teeth breaking through. You haven't added any more teeth

Food - You will eat anything we give you, but no more jarred baby food for you.  You won't open your mouth for this.  Dr. says it is OK to gradually give you whole milk to replace your formula. You Eating has been inconsistent lately, so I'm sure it will keep changing. We'll usually give you a snack in between lunch and dinner of either fruit or yogurt (which you started to love!). You want to eat whatever we are having.
  • Formula - You've cut down on formula since we've started giving you table food.  No more bottles during the day, but  still have 3 bottles at night though. Pretty sure it's comfort thing.
Sleep - You are napping 1-2 times a day anywhere from 1-2 hours. One morning nap and 1 afternoon naps. For the past week, I've been putting you down for your nap on the couch so I don't have to hold you while you are sleeping.  Your sleeping still sucks.  It's been up and down lately with more downs than up.  You're waking up every 2-3 hours for a bottle. 

Clothes size - You're wearing 12-18 months clothes.

Diaper size - Still size 4

You understand simple directions we give you.  You love being outside and you love walking your brothers to the bus stop. You also get SO excited to see your brothers get off the school bus.  Your mood changes immediately when you see them.  At night, you get so upset if they leave the room without you so Michael will take you everywhere they go.

You love it when I sing songs to you and you can actually do the little hand motions.  You LOVE to clap and you love it when we sing the "If you are happy and you know it" song.  When we laugh, you will throw your head back and laugh with us.  Just today, when Matthew coughed, you faked coughed with him.  It was the so funny!

You make me laugh everyday.  You amaze me everyday with your cleverness.  You always brighten my day and we all love you so very much.  You have brought so much joy to our lives!  You are my special little man, especially now that your brothers so such big boys!

We celebrated your birthday by going to lunch at PF Chang's and then coming home for cake!  You were sure about the cake at first, but then decided that it wasn't too bad.  You sure made a big mess eating it up though!


Smash cake!

Having the best time with the balloons

What's this?

Hmm, not bad...



 I'm going to try a bigger piece

This is delicious! Guys, have you had this stuff?!



Oh yeah, baby!









Please ignore the diaper box.

Love these boys!

Going to mow the lawn now that the fun is over.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Book Parade & Boosterthon-Oh My

Last week was a very busy week for us. Here's the Cliff Notes version and this does not include Mark's birthday post.  That's to come because I think I need to put a little thought into it.  We went for his 1-year check-up and we were referred to a pediatric surgeon-nothing serious, but something we need to take care of.  More details to come on his check-up post.

But here's what's been happening.  Last Wednesday, the boys had a book parade at their school which they do every year.  The kids get to dress up as a character from one of their favorite books.  Michael went as a ninja from the Magic Treehouse series "Night of the Ninja" and Matthew dressed up as Jack from the same series titled "Dolphins at Daybreak."




On Friday, the kids had the Boosterthon Fun Run to raise money for their school.  It was a great event to get the kids moving and it teaches them some really great lessons, but after 3 years, it's getting to be a chore to get pledges. By pledges, I mean from me and M.  I don't like asking others to pledge. But it was a beautiful day to be out there and Mark had fun watching his big bros!

Matthew's run started at 9:30 and Michael's race started at 10:30 so I was there most of the day with Mark.  He did great at the first race.  He stayed in his stroller almost the whole time.  During Michael's race, it was a different story.  He wanted out and he wanted to get into everything!  He was trying to pull the flags out, and he loved sneaking away to pick up the cones that marked the track.

Lining up to start...

And he's off!  Well, sort of.  Matthew ran maybe 3 laps altogether. He walked most of it and was not enthusiastic walking.  It was, "so I really have to do this?" walking.

Mark trying to pull out the flags

Matthew's silly class picture

Michael's turn to run..

 Posing for pictures with friends

Watching from inside the track

Michael's class picture

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Halloween 2012

Phew! It's been a busy week and I've got lots I can write about and before you get excited, it's not really exciting stuff.  But first thing is first--Halloween.  Mark's 1st EVER Halloween to be more specific.

He made the cutest, most adorable, little dragon ever! And to my shock? He actually wore his hood the whole time! Michael made up his own costume.  He went trick or treating as Ryu from Street Fighter. Matthew went as a black ninja.

We went out at about 7 and we were back home a little after 8.  Michael actually asked to come home. M took Mark out with us for a little bit.  After 15 minute, he fell asleep in his stroller so M took him home.  He didn't trick or treat but I think he had fun! I just wish Halloween would always fall on a Friday or Saturday night because the kiddos were tired this morning!

He wasn't sure about the costume at first.




How sweet is this picture?