Valentine's 2012

it's been months since you've heard from us... and no news is good news. We are doing well-- charging through early childhood at an alarming pace and continuing to squeeze every moment out of the days and nights. H is in first grade: working on reading, spending time and allowance on the wii and wishing he could fly (I had no idea how universal this wish was but presently, it is his greatest desire). E continues to be quite grounded. He is ever physical and has recently mastered the back stroke in swimming lessons. B and H successfully campaigned for a new four legged friend to join the fray (Atlas). B has been very busy pretending he is a puppy and entertaining Atlas (an name which he came with but aptly so, as B spends most of his school hours pin punching out world maps). This puppy has results in many scraps and nips but a lot of mutual joy for those two. And Miss M continues to direct us all. She loves having her face/hands/arms painted with facepaint, coloring and drawing on paper (usually), and discussing plot nuances and the character flaws of Beauty and the Beast.

But just how look how much we've grown. I'm beginning to think of young childhood like a carburetor-- yes, you have to put in an enormous amount of fuel/energy, but once the smoke clears, if you can harness the resulting output, capture and direct it, you feel like you're going places.

in silhouette

observing the giant dinosaur at the natural history museum from a safe distance...

photo credit: Lala

the picture flop

as the boys get older, they have become accustomed to the camera's frame. A chorusing buzz of 'cheezzzz' can be heard anytime there is a camera in sight. A smile is a rarity to catch on film- so in an exercise of patience and parenting, we attempted another photo session. Miss M was utterly terrified of the photographer and kept suspecting that she would likely be kidnapped at any given second. No need to fret: With the performance Miss M gave, she can rest assured that the poor photographer's last thought in the world was the take M home with her. While I don't have the any proofs, we have a few outtakes courtsey of Lala...

snip, snip, sniff

the boys all underwent the razor to get the summer 'do. And while I am sure it is infinitely more comfortable with all the bike riding (helmet wearing) and other time spent outside, I miss those locks. Though their fuzz is soft and fun to run my hand across the top of their heads. And it has solved my daily battles with the bed head/cowlick from hell...

Pilgrimage

We (the kids, me and the au pair) took an annual trip to SC, where we encountered significantly warmer weather than last year. Sand castles were built (and destroyed).

Most of us stayed very busy and were on the run nearly all of the time.

Oh yes, and we kept the golf cart shuttle man in business. Calling him each morning to come pick us up for our daily jaunt around the resort only to end up magically at Starbuckles each time for Momma's (third cup of) morning coffee and of course a little hot chocolate because all that golf cart riding and alligator watching was parching...

We had rad surfing moves as we attempted to freeze off limbs.

But mostly we had an amazing time. Hanging out, watching the wiggles, eating risotto and tiramisu and drinking vino (me not the kidlets of course...) They got the special treat of juice instead. A rare luxury.

Grr + Attitude = Gratitude

Despite a botched Christmas pictures and the endless stream of loitering viruses we have of late, there is much I am grateful for this year. Including, but not limited to:

1) Potty trained (more or less) twins... which means less money spent on diapers which opens up the cash flow for things like toilet and tile cleaner.... that heady urea saturated memories of childhood come flooding (or puddling) back every time I step foot in our bathroom. On the list of things I plan to conquer this year includes: how to wipe one's bottom (in a non-half assed fashion) and second how to aim without marking the toilet leaving proof that you were in fact there. Overall though, it's a huge step forward and I'm excited for their initiative and hard work in the ptd (potty training department).

2) Montessori School. It fosters independence and thorough investigation into how it all works. H is very insistent on the details of how exactly did he get in my belly? But who made him? Mommy and Daddy? But how? How Momma? How did I get in there? What am I made of? I'm made of skin and bones and nerves and muscles? But well, how did I start? A cell? Who put the cell there?
Heh. Every day I am amazed at the connections and nuances he picks up on. Every day he has new observations and new questions, but he seems to find time to circle back to the ones that he doesn't quite have the whole story on....

3) Medical School. Or more specifically: the paucity of rotations which remain: 3. woot. And Interviews for residency... giving me the opportunity to glimpse the future.

4) Family and Friends. Without whom, there would be no one to share the highs and the lows, the hilarity and the frustrations. We continue to be happy and grateful for wonderful parents, warm and reliable child care, and caring friends.

Hope you all had a feastful and thankful weekend.

big kids now

well ok, maybe not big, big kids but certainly bigger. This summer has been highly successful in the tricycle/vehicle riding department. All three boys can pedal with prowess and hours are spent outside every day riding christmas tractors, trikes, and recently, the scooter. M has even joined in on the action, directing her brothers when they query which direction she desires to go. She also will wave to passing crowds, blowing raspberries to her adoring fans.

Another Trip Slideshow

Yeah, I know it's been over a month and all I have to show you is another slideshow... I'm not sure it's worth the wait... hopefully you enjoy it nonetheless.

Minnesota 2009 from Meg on Vimeo.

Rejection

We have been really blessed to have wonderful young women come stay with us and help us with the kids. Au-pairs have been a great childcare option for us and we are always sad when the time of year comes to say good-bye to our au pair. Fortunately, we still have several more months with K but we have recently finished interviewing for our next au pair (generally they only stay for a year at a time). After the latest round of interviewing, we 'matched' with a wonderfully energetic and kind young woman from Colombia. But in the interim, we received a few mismatches-- below is one of my favorites...


Dear Meg!
I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in your family. Your family is too big. I would like to take care of older children, your M is too small. I don't like dogs and I can't live with it. Thanks for your e-mail and I hope that you will find appropriate au-pair. Greetings form Poland.

Har-Moan-Ee

Sorry, my best intentions to post regularly are always thwarted by concern that I have nothing funny or interesting to post. I can do a little mundane though... things we have going on around here:

We're trying to cut back on the constant stream of night traffic in our house. I guess with four young kids, it's highly unlikely that at least one little sweetums won't be demanding something in the wee hours, but staggering them every couple days rather than every few hours would be a welcome change. One that we are trying to inact. With 'star charts!' and enticements of 'special treats!' I pine for a special treat for sleeping. My chart would twinkle...

Part of the problem lies in that E is having nightmares. As I can't create a 'I won't have nightmares' chart for him, we plan to continue to comfort him when they occur. (I know putting us in the ranks of parents of the year award right?) As A points out, the content is different every night and all are adorably pitiful. One night you might hear, 'Don't Bite me, Cow!' and the next, 'Noooo. H get off of me. I doughna want H to sit on me anymore.'

Ah, little E, cute and yet not so cute as his current response to any question you query of him is 'BECAUSE I WANT TO'
Harumph.

Springy

It is the time of year for sneezing, pollen and finally spring. While the temperatures have been milder here, it has been exceedingly rainy and wet. This past weekend was beautiful just in time for the boys' school's Spring Fling. We had a great time with balloon animals and face painting (among other activities). H would tell you that 'I got a bug on my face an' then it went away in the bath' He had an adorable bumble bee on his cheek and a butterfly balloon animal to accompany the insect theme.

Today, P swooped the boys off on an exciting and much anticipated trip to the Zoo. Apparently, they had a delightful time and were utterly exhausted when they arrived home.

It was a busy, fun-filled weekend.

Not even 6 am...

This isn't an entirely typical morning picture- but it's not an unusual one for us. With three boys, I have found it is extremely difficult to keep a clothed household. Why the naked desire is so strong, I am not sure. Perhaps it rides on the Y chromosome? The other day, H went to a neighbor's house. Rather than playing outside with his brothers and neighborly friends, he asked to go inside. He then proceeded to tour the house, used the facilities to take a giant poop- taking off his pants in the process and then refusing to put them back on- and emerged from the house half an hour later pantless, exclaiming to daddy 'This is a great house! I wanna show you the kitchen!! When we build a new house, I want it to be like this one.' (In addition to propensity for the nude, H also has strong feelings about our 'old' house and great plans to build a new one- with an excavator and a bobcat. He'll be the one driving the bobcat in case you were curious; or moreover, you were thinking that you might like to drive the bobcat... you're outta luck.)

As for the rest of this picture, E started the helmet trend. Truly, he loves to wear his helmet so much that we had to institute the 'Helmet stays in the car when we go into the restaurant/store/school' policy. But it is highly cute to see him wondering around with his helmet on...

Valentine

wishing you a happy, wondrous valentine's

Turkey Tell-All

Greetings from November. I am happy to report that we are all present and accounted for- despite some ear infections (yes, I know! with tubes and everything...) and some dissention in the ranks (our junior officer has been grumbling an awful lot lately... there is not enough cheese in Wisconsin to accompany the whining we've witnessed).

I'm not exactly sure why we're not the house of joy at the moment. It might have a little to do with lack of sleep. Thanks to colds and subsequent coughs, Little E has been having trouble catching his breath. Though he must hoard it, saving it all until the middle of the night to let out pitiful (yet blaring) pleas for 'Daaaddeeee' at 12 2 and 4. And he does sound like a little old man- a wheezy, phlegmy. pneumatic old man-- but despite those fog horn wake up calls, he is in good spirits most of the time.

B has his good days and his 'I'm in danger of being put up for adoption' days (only joking... of course). He also has been battling an ear infection and sinus infection. And to top it off, also has time change and antibiotic induced diarrhea to contend with. He really hates the time change as it messes with his nap schedule fiercely. Poor guy- but when he isn't beside himself in a puddle of two induced tantrum, he is busy germily loving all over his sister- he is certainly her most loyal subject and prides himself in prewetting all of her pacifiers before they touch her lips.

After reading over this, I'm beginning to think that my children may have inherited their ability to whine from a near relative... Oh dear-- in truth, this post is a reflection of present daily life- full of complaints, germs, exhaustion and most of all humor. The humor helps of course (so does the coffee) and despite the colds and the tantrums, we've been out to quite a few places recently: the state fair, the natural history museum, local parks and malls. This may account for some of the colds, but I'll be blaming school instead. The little boys are talking-- this of course allows for more verbalization of discontent- but that's a huge improvement over a horrific, toe curling tantrum. E even manages to give orders at this point, 'No, I want you to do it!' It comes out a little garbled, but clear as bell to me and A.

So as I said, we're into November with December on the horizon. Promises of new colds, hopefully another set of ear tubes, and the Holidays are in the future. We're looking forward to spending these quality moments with friends and family, probably giving them something to be thankful about (like their own homes), and to sharing a good laugh. All I can say is bring on the Thanksgiving wine (err I mean Turkey...)!

the m show

We get a lot of questions as to how the boys are adjusting to M. Not surprising I suppose since we got a lot of questions beforehand in regards to whether the boys were looking forward to M's arrival. H was really excited about M- from her birthday, her sleeping in his room, to having a gurl [his way of saying girl]. The little boys were oblivious.

H was also a little apprehensive, 'M is coming. She won't bite me?'

'No no,' we reassured, 'she doesn't have teeth. '

I'm not sure if this stems from B taking an occasional not-so-loving chomp out of his brothers or if instead it is simply H's way of processing impending danger (as he frequently looks for reassurance that various objects and/or people won't be biting him... 'That fish can't bite me!' ).

Regardless, H is excited. But somewhat surprisingly, so are the little boys. B and E are ever running around yodeling 'Baaaaaaabbbyy!' And chortling with delight at catching a glimpse of her. There has been much inspecting of head, hair, ears, nose, hands and eyes. A ritual that involves one the boys pointing out M's parts and then follows detailed pointing to everyone else's parts in the room. M's ears, Daddy's ears, B's ears, E's ears.... and so on and so forth. It is particularly cute the first time and then a little tedious as are most 2 year old's rituals. :)

Other than that, M continues to make nary a peep (yes, I know these halcyon days are numbered). She is a stellar nurser and tires herself out with all her eating. Simply said, we are enjoying her and her brothers immensely.

School Days

The boys all started preschool this fall. H returned to school but joined a new class, with new teachers. He is also a in a new building and while one of this teachers from his previous class also moved to the new building (leaving the old class behind), H wouldn't give her the time of day the first few days of school. He'd hop out of the car every morning at drop off, clearly ignoring her attempts at hello, and parade into his room. I'm not sure if he was miffed that she left for a different classroom or simply didn't recognize her in the new context... Regardless though, he seems to be adjusting very well to his new room. And I'm very pleased to report that his self-reliance skills have picked back up: "Gotta clean up this mess" he'll say appraisingly, looking around the mayhem the little boys left in the living room. H is on the job.

B and E are also doing fairly well in their classroom, in great part due to the loving patience that our au pair has shown. She has helped them make this transition and now is able to drop them off with minimal (though still intense) crying jags. They have been going to school for a little more than a week and seem to be excited to be part of the classroom. Hopefully, they'll start looking forward to school soon.

All in all, we are doing well. I finished surgery and now am in the midst of OB/GYN. While I am enjoying the people and the medicine very much, I am nevertheless counting down the days until it is over and Miss M makes her arrival. Though I told A that today I delivered a little baby boy whose parents had been very much anticipating that he was a girl. A promises me that there is a law stating that ultrasound techs who get the sex of the baby wrong subsquently have to pay for that child's college tuition ;-) .... heh, let's just hope I don't have to find out if he's right.

berry good

frozen berry shake gets high reviews from the boys

summer photos

apologies

So, yes, we are all still alive and better than that, we're doing well. Things have been unbelievably busy since I started rotations- in surgery no less. But the boys have been thriving. Some updates in random order:

H starts camp next Monday. He was very excited to order a lunch box online with me (wow definitely a different way of shopping with kids). He has sort of stalled out on the potty training and since camp has a no diaper policy, it may be a short lived camping adventure. But we'll see how it goes. H has spent a large part of this month learning the words to various songs. He has a very clear, sweet version of twinkle twinkle that I hope to record before he becomes embarrassed to sing it for us. He (as well as his brothers) are in desperate need of haircuts which hopefully will happen today.

E is doing well too. He whacked his forehead pretty hard yesterday playing on the couch. Other than that, E is learning to throw balls with more success. And he loves to tell us all the animal noises he knows. He also continues to be a world class jumper and climber.

B has an ongoing ear infection, but it doesn't seem to phase him much. He and E have been dancing to music and he particularly loves 'the Lion Sleeps Tonight'. He is getting in some big molars but has been going about it rather stoically (I suspect the crib railing is taking the brunt of his teething).

M is now coming into her 30th week. She (we?) passed glucose screening without a hitch and though my belly is feeling the effects of her sugar high. While surgery hours have been long, it's been nice to have her keeping me company at the hospital.

I have tons of great pictures to show you thanks to our au pair and her amazing photo abilities. So I'll put up another post of pictures so you can see what the boys have been up to during these hot summer days.

a little cheese with your mac?

This isn't the best photography work on my part, but the picture is too cute to pass up posting. B and E are all smiles about their lunch-- mac n cheese. I used to only buy Annie's Mac n Cheese since I felt like it was moderately more healthy... but one day, Kraft (in the blue box) appeared in our pantry. And man, was it a hit. Really, it's almost ridiculous: you ask H what he'd like for lunch, 'Mac n cheese, pwease! Blue mac n cheese!' A guy has his preferences. But I prevailed again-- I found that Trader Joe's has a great version that tastes very similar to the blue stuff...