A Birthday Celebration

***Sorry for such a long delay between posts.  My editor has been out of commission.  Although, let's face it, if you look carefully, he doesn't always give me stellar work.  But, he is free and cute and I'll keep him around...for now.***

We decided to head to Zionsville for a couple of days since John had off of school for Casimir Pulaski day.  I love how all the kids here in Illinois can tell you it is a holiday, but nobody actually knows who this guy was or what he did.  Anyways, while we were there, my mother in-law thought it would be fun to have a little birthday party.  She came home from school with cupcakes, noise makers and pinwheels.  The boys had a blast.

 Gus blows into this like a kazoo.  No matter what you say, you can't get him to do otherwise.

Opening presents.  Gus loved getting Spiderman figurines. 

John and Gus can get a little impatient so it was a good thing that both grandparents were there to cater to their every whim.

 Party animals.

 You can never have too many Spidermen.

 John loved blowing the bubbles.  He also loved making a soapy mess all over the kitchen.

The party was a success.  The boys had a lot of fun.  They've asked a few times where the noise makers are.  We have a noise-maker fairy in our house.  Have as much fun with those things while you can, because when you go to sleep, she takes them away.  Permanently.

Cupcakes Anyone?

I was so excited to get my stuff back that I signed up to bring food for fellowship hour at church.  I decided to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  I first saw them on Kellee's blog and have been saving the recipe for the right time.  These were really pretty easy considering they are filled with chocolate chip cookie dough.  They aren't Weight Watcher friendly though.

John decided he liked the tops only so he would ask for a cupcake, eat the top and hand you the rest.

I also decided to try Mousse Cupcakes with a whipped cream frosting.  I'm told these also came out well. I love baking and I try not to eat what I bake only because I wouldn't be able to fit through doorways if I did.  Do you know how much butter and sugar are in these tasty treats?

Just a Thought

I was just thinking the other day that I should buy stock in a few items.

1. Diapers.  Do I even have to explain?  I have two kids in diapers and spend an absolutely ridiculous about of money on things my kids poop in and I then throw away.

2.  Wipes.  Wipes are good for a ton of things.  I have containers of wipes stashed everywhere and will probably still buy them when I don't actually need to anymore.

3. Milk.  Gus has been using milk as his security item since the move and last week we went through 3 1/2 gallons.  Yep.  In just one week.  We are trying to cut down, but he doesn't feel that is necessary or just.

4.  Spray 'n Wash, Shout or any pre-wash stain treatment.  I've started buying this stuff at Sam's.  It comes in a big jug with a little hose and spray nozzle.  I go through a lot of that stuff around here.  Aside from the normal stains that come with kids we should also remember that I have boys.  But that isn't even it.  Anders feels he needs to poop on everything he wears.  I've never seen a kid poop with such force that is sends all of the yucky mess directly up the back and out the diaper.  He has it mastered, having pooped on every piece of clothing he has worn.  At least once.

I'm sure other families use these things just as much.  I'm wondering how much I would make if I owned stock in any of these companies.

A Lesson Learned

John decided one day last week that he wanted to be a ghost.  He was walking around the house with a bathrobe over his head.  I told him it was a bad idea.  Not only did I tell him it was a bad idea, I also told him not to do it.  He was going to get hurt.  Do you know where I'm going with this?  Sure enough he was walking around the living room and tripped on a little rocking chair.  He started screaming immediately and when we pulled the bathrobe off of his head, all we saw was blood.  When we wiped up the blood a bit we saw a huge chunk of his lip just kind of hanging there.  Gross, huh?  I'm not one to run to the doctor for everything, but this was pretty bad.  Thankfully Hans was home since the other two boys were sleeping.  And can you imagine me taking the three boys by myself to urgent care.  After having to wake the two little ones up?  Nightmare.  John was a good patient and kept still and relatively quiet the while time.  The nurses kept telling Hans that John was the best little patient they have ever had.  They also told me that the next day when I went to urgent care with Anders for pink eye.  But that is a story for a different time.  After some Dermabond, the lip was as good as new, just a little bigger.  John was in pretty good spirits when he came home and told me he promised the doctor and the nurses that he wouldn't walk around with a bathrobe over his head again.  But he didn't promise not to walk around with a blanket over his head.  I'm sure when the lip is healed and his memory is erased he'll be a ghost with a blanket.

See, it really don't look that bad all glued together.  You can see where the chunk of lip was attached.  Gross.

I love he he felt he needed to stick out his lip for me to see.  The lip has healed nicely and he has a fun story to tell of his friends at school.

A Trip to the Museum

The day after we moved into this new rental house, two ladies in our church took John and Gus to the Children's Museum so I could clean, unpack and organize.  I'm not sure how much of that I got done, but the boys had a blast.  Deb and Pam were so nice to take them and take a ton of pictures.  I had a hard time choosing which ones to use.  After looking through all of these pictures I really want to go to the museum. 

Can't start the day with out having some fun at the water table.

Then it was time to make bubbles.

Deb and Gus are making a bubble that goes all the way around them.  Cool, huh?
Deb and Gus have a very special bond.  Gus, who never pays attention to new people, walked up to Deb on our first day of church and hit her on the butt.  I was mortified.  Really.  But it seemed to have created a special relationship and for that I'm glad he was uncharacteristic that day.

I'm told this was the highlight of the museum for the boys.  You put balls in the pipe and then use the vacuums to manipulate the balls path.

Pam and Gus

Did you know that if you add a little water to those packing peanuts that they stick together?  Both boys made sculptures.

Hard at work.

I love how Gus is always looking at John.

As if going to the museum wasn't cool enough, Deb and Pam took the boys to lunch and to get ice cream cones that looked like clowns.

The boys had a wonderful time.  They still talk about things they did.  I'm also grateful for getting some time to unpack and unwind.  I still can't believe Gus went somewhere without me or his Dad.  

Thank you, Deb and Pam.  You guys are awesome...and not just because you took my kids.

February Stuff

As if my picture taking, or lack thereof, weren't bad enough already, it got significantly worse in February.  We didn't really do a whole lot in February aside from looking at about a bajillion houses.  At the very end of February we moved into a cute little 2 bedroom Cape Cod style house.  It is small, but works.  The boys got their trains back and I got my baking stuff back.  I also got to do our taxes...fun, fun.

As sad as it may be, I can sum the whole month of February up into one post.  Sad, but true.  Here goes.  We all got sick, but not all at the same time.  It seemed to pass itself around a few times, getting a new and exciting symptom with each pass.  A couple of times we got a hotel room in hopes that we would not affect the family we were staying with.  John is such a good big brother and did his best to comfort Gus and Anders when they were sick.

Poor Gus had been throwing up all day and running a fever.  He finally fell asleep and John snuggled up next to him and fell asleep.

John loves to hold Anders.  He was such a big help when I was having to take care of Gus.  He kept telling me, "Don't worry, Mommy.  I'll take care of Anders and you can take care of Gus."  So sweet.

Hey!  No one is throwing up.  This is a huge improvement.

When the boys weren't sick we would take them to the bouncy place in Channahon.  We have a monthly membership there so the boys can spend a few hours there several times a week.  They just can't get enough.  John is also helpful here and tries to lift Gus into a bouncer that is a little too big.

I can't even tell you how lucky I feel when I see this.  My boys are the best of friends.  Don't get me wrong.   They fight.  But they love each other and look out for each other.

Anders seems indifferent about the bounce place.  I'm sure he will change his tune when he can join his brothers.

Netflix was a great tool to keep everyone quiet.  And still.  Hans and the boys discovered the Spiderman cartoons.

And that is most of February for you.  I already have twice the amount of pictures for March.

4 Months Old

Big baby alert!!  Is it really a surprise that my boys are so big when they seem to get a great head start in the womb?  Anders had a check up a couple of weeks ago, but between moving and no internet service I'm just now getting to write about it.

We love our new doctor.  I always go back and forth between getting a pediatrician or a family doctor and ending up picking a pediatrician this time.  I'm very happy with my decision thus far.  We've already seen her a few times for various sicknesses, but this was our first well check.  Poor Anders had to get three shots since he has had nothing since birth.  He took it like a champ and only cried for the last one.  I guess it was to his advantage that he has HUGE legs.  So my little man is 17 1/2 pounds and 26 inches long.  This puts him around the 90th percentile for both height and weight.

He is a happy little camper and really only cries when he wants attention or is tired.  Lately he has wanted a lot of attention.  I'm just glad that the attention can come from almost anyone and it makes him happy.  He sleeps pretty well, although he has nights where he wants to eat every 2 hours.  Those nights are rough.  He has the same bedtime routine as the other two boys; story, Lords Prayer, the singing of Yellow Submarine and lights out.  All three boys go to bed at the same time right now and it seems to go pretty well.  Anders will fall asleep being held although he really prefers to do it all on his own.  When he gets tired he starts getting fussy.  If you try to rock him or comfort him he just gets mad.  He just wants to be placed in his crib, grunt a few times and fall asleep.  This works out nicely for me.

I think I expected him to roll over by now.  He can get to his side, but doesn't seem at all concerned about doing anything else.  Oh well.  All in good time.  He constantly chews on his hands or sucks on the arms of the person holding him.  Maybe he is teething.  John and Gus were so early at rolling over, sitting, crawling and walking that I have to remind myself that Anders is doing fine.  He'll be running behind his brothers soon enough.

For as happy as he is I don't actually have any pictures of him smiling.  Hazard of moving, I guess.