Happy Birthday Drewbie!

 It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since Andrew came into our family.

I thought about reminiscing through all that we've been through since then, but decided to just let it rest and love on him.  He is such an amazing little boy.  I love when he lifts his eye brows, tightens his lips and blinks his big brown eyes at me.  I love to hold and cuddle him.  He warms my heart with his smile.

He wanted a train cake for his birthday, so I stretched a little farther than putting a toy train on a cake and came up with this.  Ryan helped me, and it turned out cute.  Andrew loved it! and that's really what mattered most.

Shave and a Haircut

Tyler is such an intelligent boy.  He took all of his bathtub letters and stuck each one on a tile in this pattern.  He was upset that he didn't have enough to complete the square.  He is always making me smile and shake my head.

It's become apparent that he needs more time outside or more guidance in his entertainment.  The boys were playing in their swimsuits (because they were in a kick of playing 'beach') and got the bright idea to try out my razor.  Andrew ended up with razor burn on his back and some nicks on his spine.  The next day as I was reviewing the rule of 'No using Mom's razor', I learned that Drew had also shaved Ty's stomach.  It's very common for swimmers to shave their bodies, but I think they need a few more years.

So they moved on to art projects.  For a few days they would cut and glue paper.  I had tiny pieces of paper all over the kitchen and living room floor, but they were happy and safe so I didn't worry.  The only problem was that we just had one pair of scissors, so when I found kid scissors for 99 cents I bought them.

When we got home from the store the boys went in their room and Ty started playing with Drew's hair.  They had my round brush and a clip and a pick and Drew was a great client holding very still.

Ryan and I sat down to relax and in comes Andrew with a new haircut!!

You can see that most of the top of his head had been cut nearly to the scalp.

 So the next morning I took my smallest lift on my clippers and buzzed the rest.  There are still some low spots, but I can't make myself shave it, so it will have to grow before we fix them. 

Zac has learned how to scoot now and is starting to get into distance scooting.  He eats two meals a day of baby food or small bites of regular food.  He loves food and always wants to be at the table with us during meals, and makes a fuss until we give him a bite.  He got in the habit of waking up twice a night when he was sick a few months ago, so I'm trying to change that now.  Of course, the boys all got coughs and runny noses again, so that may go on hold again.

Ryan is going on his first camp as Scout Master this weekend.  Hopefully they'll all stay warm and have a great time. 

It's a busy life, but we love it.

(Ty's project yesterday.  Don't worry it's a toy.)

 We've tried several times to get a family picture in the last few months.  This is our favorite.

 Andrew has been doing great still.  He still has not had to have a dilation.  At this time last year he was in the hospital recovering from his surgery.  It's now been 8 months since his last dilation!  He did have a little pneumonia in early Dec, but we caught it quickly and so it never gave him too much trouble.  I can't believe he'll be 3 next week! 

We've been working on the alphabet with Ty, but Drew is learning at the same pace (and maybe even faster) than Ty.  They can recognize several letters, and thanks to Leap Frog's "Letter Factory" they know most of the sounds.  I'm starting to help Ty practice writing letters.  Our new routine is that we have story-time and 'learning-time' after breakfast each day.  We all really enjoy it.

 Drew got a new train for Christmas that has rekindled the love of trains in our house.

Ty loves tractors and construction equipment.  He wears one of his three John Deere tractor shirts nearly everyday.  (He was wearing the same one everyday, but he got two new ones for Christmas.

 Zac is getting big so fast.  He's eating baby food now and gobbles it up.  He's a major momma's boy.   

He really likes playing on the floor, although we have to be careful that Andrew doesn't knock him over with all his hugs and kissing.  Zac gets up on his knees easily now.  He does move forward sometimes, but I think we have a few more weeks before he really takes off.  Time to buy a baby gate for the stairs!

Ty and Drew are so creative in their play.  Look carefully and guess what they're doing.

They're playing church!  Notice the ties and belt in the other chairs.  They were pretending to hold song books and singing.  So cute! 

We had a nice holiday season.  It was especially nice to see Skip and Bonnie and finally meet Griffin.  We hope your holidays were merry as well. 

Happy Halloween and Stuff

 My name's Woody.  Howdy, Howdy, Howdy.

 This little boy was a sweet little pirate.  He loved wearing his costume, even though he was still feeling sick. Since then he had another cold, and now has something resembling croup.  He's ok in the day but has a hard time sleeping.  I'm glad that he's well enough to play and eat.

 I often find Ty and Drew on the top bunk playing doctor.  Drew will tell me, "Mom, I have a baby." 

 Another day they both put on boots and used this toy to play "Tractor".  Ty would give Drew rides, just like grandpa Mel does for Ty.  They play together so well. 

 Another recent favorite is using this tote as the cab of construction equipment.  This picture he was just watching a movie.  Most of the time he turns it on end and makes engine noises.

Zac is cute and happy as ever.  He loves to be part of the group.  He and Ty are good buddies, and Ty hauls Zac's chair or saucer to wherever he is.  Ty says, "I think he wants to have breakfast by me."  He is such an easy baby!  He's discovered his voice and jabbers a lot now.  He's very smiley too.

Ryan started his new job at Catepillar last week.  So far it's going really well.  He's liking the work, even though he's been a little sore.  His job with Conoco was not physical, and now that he's lifting and on his feet all day he's having to adjust.   We're also starting to go to bed a lot earlier.  He has to be to work at 6 am!  He's hired through SOS for now, but in a few months they will hire him permanently once he's proved to be a good employee.

I'm doing great.  Things are usually pretty busy, but I love being a mom. 

I raked leaves for 5 hrs yesterday and ended up hurting my arms.  It felt like horrible shin splints on every bone in my left arm.  Seriously, it was so bad I cried like a big ol' baby.  I never knew arms could hurt so badly.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who pampered me and gave me a blessing.  I'm doing much better today, and am only a little sore.  Amazing. 
New rule:  Unless I have been lifting weights everyday for a month, I am not allowed to rake for more than 2 hours.  Please remind me next fall.  :)

 The boys are great at entertaining Zac!  Tyler has really starting to like helping with Zac and has been asking about picking him up.  I guess we'll see how long it takes before he goes for it himself, or I finally show him how.

 The boys play out back every morning with Gill keeping watch.  Tyler goes out morning, afternoon, and evening some days.  I love having a fenced back yard!

 These deer live in the wash behind our house.  They have been pretty brave and even come close when the boys are playing outside.

 Zac is getting better at using his hands.  He likes to suck on his hands and fingers.

He's a very happy baby.  His favorite toy is this giraffe.  He sweeps with both hands to grab it and then pulls it to his mouth to lick, chew on, or suck on.

Drew has been sick for a few days now.  He has the stomach flu, I think.  For him, every kind of flu lasts 5-6 days and results in him having terrible reflux and not eating or drinking.  He moans a lot usually, but it hasn't been as bad this time.  It's nice now that he's older and he can tell us what's hurting and we can talk him through things a little.  We just try to keep him hydrated and as comfortable as we can.

Ryan and I have been called to teach Sunday School for the 15-18 year olds in our ward.  It's very different than other classes we've taught, but is going well.  I like that it's something we can do together.

The hunt was a success this year and on the last day Ryan got a 3x4 deer. 

Otherwise we have just been up to the usual.  Cook meals, do the laundry, read some stories, teach piano, etc, for me.  Work and the never ending 'honey-do' list for Ryan.  Life is good.

Harvest Time

As part of our new home, we now have raspberry bushes, peach, apple and cherry trees.  One of our peach trees is famous in the neighborhood for having 'the best peaches'.  They are indeed delicious.  Thanks to the encouragement and help of one of my great new neighbors, I canned peaches for the first time.

The boys have always loved having peaches with breakfast at my grandma's, now we can have them at home too.  And they make great cobbler's. 

 Zach was blessed on Sept 11.  My parents came down the Friday before and camped and helped us with the house for the weekend.  We really enjoyed having them here.

The blessing day was nice.  We missed those who weren't able to make it, but are grateful for those who came.   

I can't believe how big Ty is getting.  He knows so much and is very smart.  We're going to start doing some home-pre-schooling soon.  He already is recognizing letters.  I have a friend who does home-school with her 7 yr old (I think)  and she also has a daughter Tyler's age, so she's going to help show me the ropes of how she does schooling.

Andrew is nearly potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Can you sense the excitement from my exclamations?)  It took about a week, but he's done great the last few days.  He stayed dry all day yesterday! 
He is still able to eat great.  He has an esophagram and follow-up appointment with the surgeon next Friday.  We both hate having esophagrams, but it will be good to have an idea of it looks like.  He still has quite a bit of reflux, but we're just dealing with it for now.
Andrew keeps up with Tyler's learning pretty well.  I think he actually challenges Ty in some ways.  Andrew learned his colors before Tyler had, so Ty learned to keep up.  Andrew knows several letters as well.  Their different personalities keep them interested in different things, but they learn most things together.

Zach is doing great!  He loves to hold his head up and see what's going on.  He won't lay back in the swing or bouncer for long, so we've moved on the the exer-saucer.  He's much happier in it. 

He is such a good baby.  He eats great, sleeps 7 hours straight at night, and is fairly content as long as he's upright.  I can't wait to see what he'll add to the mix as he gets older, but I'm enjoying the infant stage for now. 

 Who doesn't love a naked baby picture? 

"I once caught a fish this big." 

(Taking after Grandpa Steve already.)

Camping Trip

 What a silly boy!  He put this pink headband on himself.

Ryan had his 4 day weekend this week, so we took the family camping with some friends.  We had a great time and great food. 

 Ryan took the boys fishing.  And they had a great time playing in the dirt.

 Tyler set the table for lunch all by himself.

 Ryan taking a break to hold Zac.  (Notice Andrew's little hand.  He still loves to touch and kiss him.)

 Zac gets lots of love from his older brothers.  Tyler is actually really helpful.  Drew hasn't conformed to any boundries yet.  He even shared his cold with Zac last week, but Zac's handled it well. 

What a cute baby!

 Which one is Ty and which is Zac?