Dad Time....

Now THAT is something to SMILE about!

Foiled Again

Foil: Not just for the kitchen....

He was having too much fun, who was I to stop it? And yes, he only has one shoe on. I can only keep up with so many things.

Monkey Business

We all know about my little love with Sam's Club. Well, a while back I got the Little Man some cute red footie pajamas with Monkeys all over them. His older brothers got him a monkey for his birthday that is named.... wait for it...... Banana. Cute huh. Well, I wanted to take some pictures of Little Man with his monkey pajamas and Banana. All was going fine until he fell and bumped his chin. These pictures are of him sitting in the big chair feeling, feeling, well not feeling too chipper let's just say.

Got Milk? And cereal?

My middle punk had a bowl of cereal and remembered his table manners by taking his bowl up to the sink when he had finished. He placed the bowl on the counter top next to the sink. Then this little guy came walking along and discovered a bowl perched precariously on the edge of the counter. Looked interesting apparently. I heard the bowl hit the floor and then there was crying. Interestingly enough, the crying didn't last very long.

Who wouldn't want to eat Fruity Pebbles right off the floor. And just to be clear, I did not let him eat them off the floor. In fact he has never eaten anything off the floor. Okay, maybe once. Or twice. Okay, never mind.

Mmm Mmmm .... Fruity Pebbles. Get ya some.

Static Electricity & Wind

I was playing with the Little Man yesterday morning. I had a blanket over his head and was playing peek-a-boo with him. He was loving it. That's when I noticed something more than his laughter and giggles. Something more than his smile.

And that is some serious static electricity! He was having so much fun.

Okay, Okay, I know his hair is a little long, what can you do? It will see scissors one of these days.

On another note our oldest boy was in tears today. As was I.... almost. Lineman had the two older boys outside having them help with moving things around, just getting ready for the move, etc. Well they noticed the oldest boy was not with them. The looked inside, checked the bathroom, looked in the garage. NOTHING. No where to be seen. After ten minutes we still couldn't find him. I put on a coat and headed out to help look for him. I was VERY scared about where he could be. It just didn't make any sense. He had just disappeared.

Finally Lineman found him and walked him back to the house. The boy was about half a mile away. He had been chasing a piece of paper that was being carried away by the wind. The wind kept taking the paper and he kept chasing it. He was in tears as he was trying to get the paper. When he got back to the house his face was all covered with red spots from crying so hard.

Sitting at the table minutes later and enjoying some freshly made vanilla pudding he says to us "I love the wind. I think everyone should love the wind." Yeah, we all love it son, we all love it.

My Little Sweetie

Boy did I hear it from Lineman about not getting a post done yesterday. Is it just me or is anyone else just a tad busy right now?

I did a little mini photoshoot with our Little Man a few days ago. He certainly is my little sweetie!

WALKING! And the croup

One year and one week and he is officially WALKING! He started walking last night like a pro. I think he must have been practicing in the midle of the night. How else do you explain him just taking off? He can even get up by himself and then take off. Those little arms in the air are just priceless.

So now that he is walking what does that mean for me? Will he be running with his brothers soon? Will he be running marathons? Will he be running with the bulls? I think I'll just freeze this little moment in time for a little bit and enjoy the "get up and fall" that goes with learning to walk.

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On another note, poor Little Man, I feel so bad for him. He has the croup and feels just awful. He was really struggling to breath this afternoon so I took him into the walk in clinic. Turns out he also has the common cold to go with his croup. I was worried about his breathing mostly. The other stuff a mom can always take care of.

Doesn't he just look too sad. He is pretty clingy tonight. I'll take clingy.

Have your cake & wear it too

With our traveling and looking at our soon to be new town, and looking at property... we never did have an official birthday for our Little Man. Not that you really need one at ONE, but still, I wanted him to have the opportunity to smear cake everywhere if he wanted to. We did have a wonderful birthday lunch at Olive Garden and he had a cake (it was all Gramma and I could do to share it). They sang to him at Olive Garden and I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures. At least I had the neighbors over on Tuesday night for a late birthday celebration.

Aaaawwwwwwww, don't be shy Little Man. oo, oo, oo.... cake. Want some?

Hmmm, this isn't half bad. I think I could get into this.

Open up wide and shove in some cake!

All in all he really didn't get too messy. I was disappointed but not that disappointed. It's still hard to believe he is a year old, my middle boy starts school next year and the oldest is engaged. -- Just making sure your listening.

Happy Birthday Little Man

11-29-2007, 6:00 a.m. : Lineman drives me into town for my scheduled C-Section at 8:00.
6:30 - we walk into the hospital and go to a room where I will be getting prepped for the surgery.
6:55 - nurses swamp me with needles and questions and this and that. Apparently my doctor and the anesthiesialogist decided the previous night during a hockey game that they should do the surgery at 7:00 and not 8:00. Hmmmmm... no one told me... or the nurses. Totally fine though because my doc is awesome and I didn't have to sit around for an hour worrying.
7:45 - Beautiful baby boy arrives. THREE boys now!
What a wonderful day, I'll never forget.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Man!

O-R-E-O

What happens when a neighbor girl comes to visit and brings a dessert for after lunch? What happens if I have to briefly talk with an inspector? Then what happens if I ask two four year olds to briefly watch the Little Man while I talk with the inspector?

This is what happens..........

We are talking about three minutes... that's all the time it took for this kid to find a bag of Oreos and dive in. When I ran back to where he was the carpet was covered in black blotches all over.

Oh boy did he ever enjoy those Oreos.

I figured I might as well let him finish up the last Oreo he had gotten into. He needs the practice for his upcoming birthday! The messier the better!

Hand over the quarter

Ohhhhhhh yuuuuuum. Mom, can I have a quarter? Pleeeeeeeease? Just one piece of candy? Brothers, can you give me a quarter? Please? Just one piece of candy?

This life is rough. Boy cannot live on milk forever. Maybe if I hit it just right some candy will fall out. Man, it's not working. What can I do?

Oohh, I think one moved. They are all going to fall out onto the floor. Then I will be rich, rich I tell you. Rich with candy! I won't nap. I'll be up all night. This will be great.

Gramma Time

My mom came to visit with us all last week. The boys really love to have her come visit. It's a pretty long drive but she tries to get down here about every month or two. Most of the family is up in Montana with more grandparents in Cali and an uncle in Wisconsin.... so basically everyone is far, far away. We fit in a ton of things when she was here. Can anyone say... wait for it.... golf? Yeah, we may have done that.


There is my mom with Little Man. She's funny and nice and smart... and skinny, some things just aren't fair!

She had a ball with the kids and the kids had a ball with her. Of course getting used to the sound level in our house takes some getting used to. Even Lineman isn't used to the sound level - especially in the car. If you want to pick on him ask him how he likes driving with all the kids!

Okay, you see this picture? This is basically how they looked her entire visit. Little Man figured out that if he held on to those hands and started walking she would be forced to keep him going. One night they did about a half marathon in our house. Makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

Thanks for coming down mom, your bed will be ready again next week!

Keepin' it real

Any one that reads Pioneer Woman knows she likes to "keep it real". That is exactly what I'm about to do, lest anyone begin to think that my life is all about gorgeous sunsets, soothing streams, glorious fall days, children that behave perfectly and days that go just as they are planned. Trust me, we are none of those things.



The is how my day started a few mornings ago.......



The Little Man woke me up at 4:30 for a bottle, I begrudgingly got out of bed to give him his bottle. I brought him to bed with me for his bottle fully intending (maybe) on taking him back to his crib when he finished his early morning gourmet meal. Let's face it though, I'm sleep deprived so I ended up falling asleep with Little Man laying right next to me. It is so precious to sleep next to a little baby. But trust me... the preciousness is going to abruptly end.



As dawn neared so did my disgusting awakening.....



Little Man began to stir. I was midly awake but not ready for the day that lay ahead of me. Little Man woke up, got on all fours and crawled a few steps to greet me for the day. Oh that precious child of mine. I guess he wanted to show me a little love - in a way that only a 10 month old can. I was still relishing the feel of my pillow on my cheek when he crawled to me, put one hand on my pillow and one hand on my shoulder. Then I heard it.... a burp. Not just a burp though.... spit up, lots and lots of spit up. I guess we could call it a morning facial.

Thank you, son. I love you.

My Baby Love

This little guy is absolutely killing me with those eyes. Oh, those eyes! Everywhere I look his eyes are there. I didn't take too many pictures of him as an infant because his skin was in such bad shape. But now? Now I can't take my eyes off him. Let alone the camera.
These were all taken up in the mountains near us. I was looking for a great place to do a fall shoot. I would say it looks like we found it. Would you agree?

And this one? Now I just need to decide which size to print it out at.

Longing

My oldest son was walking down the drive way to go wait for the bus. I noticed my little man head over to the door. He pulled himself up and sat and watched his brother and their faithful dog walk down to the road. I do believe that if the door had been open he would have crawled all the way down there just to be with his brother.

When it comes to Wranglers...

.... we like to start 'em young!

And I just love this little belt. It went through the 1st go 'round with our oldest boy. Then the 2nd go 'round. Now it looks like it is ready for the 3rd go 'round. The belt is surely in the running for the winner of the all around. It does more than just look good, too. It can make a wonderful toy on a Sunday morning, or anytime for that matter. Plus, it drives the girls crazy. And by girls - I mean me. The buckle on the other hand, it seems to be losing some steam. I guess if it doesn't make it I'll just take his dad's buckle and put it on there.... that would be a site!

Dog gone it

Ah, such a nice day to sit outside with boys best friend. This is one tolerable dog, let me tell you. The kids sit on him and he really doesn't do too much. That is, except for what is about to happen....
He's getting pretty close to that kid.....
There goes the tongue!
OH, he did it. Never fails. You mess with the dog, you get the tongue!

My youngest boy sure is sitting close to Koda. Does he know what happens when you sit that close?
That's sweet, he is petting him. The bond between dog and boy starts out strong.
Oh no! He's going in for the lick!
"What's wrong kid? It was just a little lick. Let me make it all better for you"

He did it again!

The poor kid, he can't even run away. This just give him more motivation to learn how to crawl.