Being Balena

Taking Care of Business

2012-02-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

My title was inspired by the picture above. Seriously, how cute. John sorting thru and throwing away mail, and baby Hank getting into the cupboards trying to figure out how to pull everything out. Good times.

Henry is also doing a very good job of getting older week by week. It's getting really hard to get him to stay still while I take his picture. I'm going to really need to get creative with my photo shoots. Currently I have Grace and George (and I join in too) make really loud, annoying, high pitch noises so he has to look at us. It's not going to work much longer though.

We've also been taking care of business (or taking advantage of) at the park and the gorgeous weather we've been having. I know we need rain, but we were at the park twice today. And George was allowed to wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt because the weather permitted it. Usually he wants to wear this outfit when it's freezing outside. Talk about making a little boy's day.

Have I ever mentioned that George HATES wearing long sleeve shirts and coats of any kind. I make him wear long sleeve shirts to school, but he insists on pushing up the sleeves. Then the second, and that is no exaggeration, he gets in the car after school he takes off his long sleeve shirt. He'll layer a short sleeve shirt under his long sleeve shirt for the sole purpose of having short sleeves on as soon as possible.

Good thing this stubborn little guy is cute. It keeps me going on the days when I feel like I'm going to pull my hair out.

Grace has taken care of business on the monkey bars. Her friends have helped coach her how to do them at recess at school and she was so excited that learning how to do the monkey bars at school meant she could do them at our park too. Just a great day.

Baby Hank took care of business on the swing. Actually Grace and George helped him by pushing him. George thought it was fun to push him hard to try to get him to go higher. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Baby Hank loved it. He kicked his little legs and giggled. I could see it was going to end in tears though, so I put an end to the fun. However, I have a feeling my two little boys are going to have great fun being boys together. That thought makes me so happy.

That's all the business I have to take care of today!

As promised..

2012-02-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

Dearest Bahama,

Per your request I present Henry crawling. He even mastered the stair. Too bad he's fallen off the stair several times, but he'll get that eventually.

And as if crawling weren't enough for my young little one, he can't get enough of pulling up into the standing position.

I tried to get a video of this, but he wasn't as cooperative as I was hoping. (And I had Grace and George around which didn't help the matter.)

Baby Hank is actually 32 weeks old, but last week he was 31 weeks. New picture is coming soon!

I also promised a picture of the Italian's new wheels. Johnny B had a little fender bender and totaled his old car. He knew it was time to get a more family friendly car, but he wasn't ready to give up the convertible.

This car is perfect because it is only a 4 seater, so that means he can take ALL the kids and I can stay at home and have some peace and quiet. Lovely.

On another note, baby Hank has turned a corner in the solid food department. He'll eat anything I put in his mouth. The love of food started with sweet potatoes and apples, but tonight he ate half a packet of spinach, peas, and pears. Yummy! I'd like to think that solids are going to help him sleep better at night.

I'm totally in love with his little tongue that he sticks out all the time. So cute.

We love this little guy even though he doesn't sleep.

Luckily he continues to just get cuter and cuter, so I'm still forgiving when I wake up in the morning with a sleep deprived hangover.

And because I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture, I made palm trees for an after church snack today for Grace and George. My picky eater George didn't touch it, but Grace ate pretty much her entire tree. Thank you Pinterest for keeping me full of good ideas.

Now I must go to bed. Hope you enjoyed this, Bahama!!

The War in Heaven

2012-02-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

Grace was telling John about Jesus and Satan yesterday. She told him that Jesus wants us to choose to be good and that Satan's plan was to force us to be good. She then said,

"Satan wants me to eat salad...and Daddy, he wants you to eat an orange."

On another note, John took Grace to Whole Foods tonight. They saw a man in a wheelchair. And John asked her if she knew what a wheelchair was. She said yes. And then John said isn't it sad that man's legs don't work any more. And then Grace exuberantly exclaimed,

"I'd love to be in a wheelchair!! That way I wouldn't use my energy walking."

These Three

2012-01-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

This guy turned 7 months on January 23rd. My how times flies.

This guy got a haircut.

We were driving around town, and George said to me, "Mom, my hair is in my eyes. I need a haircut." I'd feel like a bad mom if I didn't love longer hair on boys. Just ask the Italian. I always tell him to NOT cut his hair.

Georgie Porgie also loves to run. I love that.

And this girl just keeps getting bigger.

While this makes me a little sad that she's so big, she's so pleasant to be around, so I guess I'm just loving the stage that she's at.

And, I'll always love that she's girly enough to love wearing dresses, jewelry and lip gloss, but still tough enough to climb trees.

I just love these three!!

Reading my baby's mind.

2012-01-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

I love tools.

Especially the tools that belong to that little boy (George) who walks around here and screams in my face.

Now if only I could figure out how to open this box.

Come on.

Maybe I'll use my gums to open it.

Nope. Back to hitting it.

Come on.

Maybe the little boy (George) who is pitching a fit in the background (because he owns the tool box) will help me open it.

Maybe the box doesn't open, but is to help me learn to stand.

Oops.

I'm done with that one.

On to the next box.

Repeat, repeat, repeat ALL DAY LONG!!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T00:43:00.000-08:00

Nothing too exciting...

2012-01-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

Apparently crawling isn't enough for my little baby. Baby Hank is pulling up on everything. Funny how he's developing at lightning speed in the movement department, but he is seriously a slow learner when it comes to sleeping. I will leave out the details of our day today where he only napped for about 45 minutes ALL DAY LONG.

Thank heavens he's cute!

I'm also really bad at giving him solids. Right now it just seems like more then I can handle, but I know that I must persevere! (Grace learned this word at school last week.) Maybe it will help him sleep better. On the drive home from the mall over the weekend, Henry was crying, so I told Grace she could give him a lick on her chocolate lollipop.

He was a fan.

This is Grace loving her brother. I'm sure when Henry gets older he will chastise me for not rescuing him more. Maybe I shouldn't have run for the camera, but I'm kind of glad I did. I knew he'd survive.

I can't count how many times we've told Grace that Henry is not a doll. One day it will sink in. One day.

Grace continued to wear her mask most of the weekend.

I find this look so hilarious.

Henry turned 30 weeks old last Thursday. George felt as though he needed to be in on the photo shoot. Grace stood next to me and put her high pitch squealing/screaming voice to good use to distract Henry so I could snap his picture. He not too fond of just laying on his back and letting me take his picture any more.

I'm off to bed. Night, night!

Dinner at the Balena's...

2012-01-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

Costumes are optional.

It's been a week?

2012-01-18T20:58:00.000-08:00

Oh how fast time flies...I kind of can't believe that it's been a week since I last posted. I've been totally busy and plain exhausted at the end of each night, so while I've wanted to post pictures and tell stories, I've just been too busy to do so. I'm going to do a short and sweet recap here, and then hopefully I'll get my act together and start posting more frequently!! I really thought I was on a roll last week with two so close together.

This darling little boy keeps growing and growing. And while I'm sad to say he's getting bigger, surprisingly I'm loving that he can crawl. He's now got a small taste of freedom, and something tells me he likes it.

Do I look exhausted? It's because he's up too many times in the night. I know I can sleep train him, but I fear he'll wake everyone up in the house. I'm pretty sure one of these days I'm just going to roll over on my good ear, and then wake up 8 hours later and realize that baby Hank can go 8 hours without eating during the night!

All my children (and all children) love technology. Little Henry is no exception.

Big brother George loves technology so much that he told John on Monday (MLK Day) that he needed to go to the phone store, so he could get his own phone. Part of me wants to just make this little kid's dreams come true and buy him his own iTouch for his 4th birthday. And then the logical part of my brain tells me I'm crazy. Sorry George. I'll be making you a birthday shirt with a 4 on it, and maybe I'll even applique a hoodie for you while I'm at it. Those are appropriate gifts for your 4th birthday. Maybe I'll even spoil you with a toy or too. Maybe.

Grace discovered that she likes pistachios. Why is it that Grace will honestly put anything in her mouth to try, and George will put NOTHING new in his??? I'd really like to outsource food introduction to George. I'm just to weak to force him to go hungry if he doesn't try a new food. Darn my soft spot.

Baby Hank gets around on his little knees and hands. Nothing is off limits. Again, I'm kind of happy he has the means to get around. It means I don't have to carry him as much. My back is very happy about this.

This would be George not sharing his tool box with his 6 month old brother!?! I mean what could Henry possibly do to the tools?? Poor little Henry. Hopefully George will eventually allow him to touch all of his precious toys.

I love

these

three.

It's freezing here (freezing for California), but for some reason my kids think that shorts and short sleeves are appropriate. And for some reason the Italian and I just go with it. Actually, I believe I was holding a jacket or two in this picture. But honestly getting George to wear long sleeves is a daily battle. I told George the other day that I prayed for him to be a fighter when he was in the hospital recovering after his open heart surgery, and so I guess I'm to blame for his stubbornness! Darn that fighting little spirit!

Yay for my runners!!

Lastly, my 3 little ones are officially all in one room. I honestly didn't think it would work, and I pretty much still think it's a bit tight. But, one very positive thing that has come out of putting them all together is that George and Grace go to bed much easier. It used to be that they would talk and laugh and basically play at bed time. I put Henry to sleep first, and then the Gs take turns tiptoeing into their room and to bed. It's been almost too easy. I thank my Heavenly Father daily for that small miracle, because I recognize that it is indeed a miracle.

I forgot to do my weekly picture of this cherub last week. I'm on it tomorrow!

Peace out!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

Low down

2012-01-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

Things have settled down here at the Balena home after a crazy "re-entry" week last week. Just a recap of the normal happenings over the last couple of days.

All the little ones have new places to sit and dine. Henry got a mini high chair seat,

And, Grace and George thoroughly enjoy their new craft/dining table. I love it, too. It's nicer than my own dining room table. Hopefully my kids realize one day how good they have it!

Grace and George also totally enjoyed one another's company last week. I was ready to start school this week and get back into the swing of a routine, but honestly having these two around all day is actually pretty easy. They truly are each other's best friend. I love watching them play and have fun together.

Here they were *camping* outdoors. Mind you it was freezing outside!

The picture below shows Grace doing her usual. Loving Henry to death. I met a mom at the library yesterday with kids almost the exact same age as mine. Her oldest was a boy, and she thought it was probably nice having an oldest girl to be gentle and loving with baby Henry. I let her know that Grace is crazier than George when it comes to playing Henry. She just loves him TOO much. Here Grace took it upon herself to feed Henry water. I probably should have told her to stop, but I feel like I tell her NO constantly with regards to baby Hank, so I got my camera out instead.

Last week I bought George some running shoes. I want my kids to spread their wings and choose their own dreams, but nothing will make me happier then if one of my own turns out to be a runner. George, so far, has shown the most interest. He's even asked me to give him running lessons. My heart swells with the thought that one day we could be running partners. I won't force anything, but I will certainly encourage my little ones. And with that I took the family to the local high school track Sunday afternoon to get some fresh air, exercise, and to practice running.

Funny enough it was Grace who ran an entire lap around the track WITHOUT stopping. I thought for sure she would die out after 100 yards, and John was concerned she was going to go into cardiac arrest after the 1/4 mile dash, but folks, nothing made me more proud. Maybe it will be Grace and me doing mother/daughter races. The thought of it almost doesn't make me sad about my little ones growing up.

Grace and George got hot, so pants became optional.

I can't believe I don't have 100 pictures to share of my baby this week! I need to get on that. Last Thursday he turned 28 weeks old, and it's getting to be almost impossible to get his weekly shot. Getting to 52 weeks will be a challenge. But a challenge I'm up to. I mean tending to Baby Henry who on average only naps about an hour and a half (not all at the same time) is challenge enough, but dang he's cute when he smiles at me, so it makes the hard work totally worth it.

And with that, I'm off to bed. I can't remember the last time I've been asleep by 9:30, but tonight that's my goal. Good night!!

2012-01-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Things are cruising along here.

This week has been a busy one.

I have more pictures to show, but I had some major technical difficulties this evening. Thank you Google for being my lifesaver. I feel like I can do anything with a google search.

Here's to hoping this week is a good one.

And to hoping and PRAYING my baby sleeps well tonight.

Baby Hank had a tooth come in. I realized this yesterday. I'm now administering pain meds before bedtime. I'm really hopeful that I'll get more sleep this way. Crossing my fingers.

More to come soon!

House in the South

2012-01-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

My home and family is in CA, but I will always have a house in the South. And man, do I love my house in the South. The flight is long getting there, but so worth it. Henry totally agreed. He did really well on the flight there (it also helped that I had an empty seat next to me), and while the flight home wasn't awesome it wasn't that bad.

Henry totally enjoyed scooting all over Ya Ya and Pa's nice big and clean house!

Ya Ya enjoyed just playing with Henry! She also has an obsession with walking the grandbabies. When it's too cold outside, she walks them around indoors. Henry loved it, and I laughed about it.

Ya Ya also told me to pack minimally because she had clothes for us to wear and we could do laundry often. Only once did baby Hank have to borrow from the girl clothes that Ya Ya has on hand. He makes a pretty baby girl if you ask me, but don't worry, Italian, we didn't leave the house with Henry dressed like this. (At least I don't remember leaving the house...)

Henry also got comfortable in a mini high chair.

I got to spend time with friends while in the South. So good seeing Eliza and Annee. I feel like I could dig up a very similar picture from freshman year in college. That would have been fun to post along side this one. I'll work on that.

In general it was so nice to just have extra help and only ONE LITTLE BABY around. Henry's crying and lack of sleep almost didn't bother me.

Ya Ya also has an obsession with bathing her grandbabies. Henry did NOT like the bath at first, but then Annee and I went to dinner one night, and Pa and Ya Ya did the nightly bath routine, and Pa was able to get baby Hank to enjoy himself.

And that is why I love Pa. He's so good with his grandkids. I only wish we could see each other more often!

Henry loved him!

Kisses!

We are going to miss Ya Ya and Pa!!

Sadly, we saw cousin Waverly and Nolan and I didn't take one picture. Bummer. Next time for sure.

And now I think I'm pretty much all caught up on blogging. I didn't think I'd get it done so quickly, but Henry has been up at 5 a.m. for the day for two days in a row, so I've had some quiet time in the morning to upload pictures. I'm totally exhausted. Readjusting to PST from EST has been a bit of a challenge. I'm crossing my fingers I WON'T be up at 5 a.m. tomorrow, but I'm also crawling in my bed soon just in case!

Odds and Ends

2012-01-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a week vacation at my House in the South with only Henry in tow. My friend likens returning home from a trip sans children to astronauts returning to earth from outer space. Let's just say re-entry into my life is always a shock to my system. I love my children and husband dearly, but going from a ratio of 3 to 4 adults to 1 infant, to 2 parents and 3 kids has pretty much wiped me out. Factor in time change and a baby who was never a good sleeper and is suffering from jet lag as well, and I'm not sure if I'll make it to 10 p.m. tonight! So, before this post gets to Downer Debbie, and before I fall asleep, I need to get caught up on my blog.

The happy things to remember:

Before I left for the South, I uploaded these pictures to a blog post, so these pictures are almost 2 weeks old.

Henry loves George. George is so calm and gentle in his approach with Henry. Grace tends to let her excitement get the best of her, and I think it scares Henry. George on the other hand is very mellow and calm around him, and Henry loves his. George will tell you that Henry likes him the best. Sometimes I think he's right!

Here's my weekly installment of my cute baby.

Grace usually feels the need to jump into the pictures as well. These two are too cute!

This is totally random, but Grace will officially eat milk with cereal. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is too me. I make hot breakfasts pretty much every morning, so being able to pour a bowl of cereal instead of cooking something seems like a luxury. I was so excited I had to document it!

This guy eats his cereal dry. We made New Year's Resolution's tonight for FHE. Here's to hoping George actually takes the plunge and tries a new food or two this year!

The week before Christmas Grace stayed home sick. I was so happy for the daily school routine break!! Grace and George just played for two days straight, and I reminisced of days gone by and how fun it was NOT being tied to a schedule. If you are reading this and your kids aren't in school, ENJOY!!!!

Grace wore her lounge outfit on one of her sick days. When she got warm and took the jacket off, she tied it around her waist. George asked her why she tied her jacket around her waist. Grace said because her friend Sarah at school did it.

George said that Strawberry Shortcake did it too. Funny how their perspectives are totally different.

Before Christmas our sweet baby sitter came by to drop off Christmas presents for Grace and George. Razor scooters. They were so excited. Grace stayed out late into the evening one night riding hers. So cute, and so sweet of our sitter Katie! Thank you!!

And this little guy keeps getting bigger and bigger. He's a doll. I love him dearly. He even did a decent job flying coast to coast. But heaven help me, I pray he sleeps better SOON!!! Granted it didn't help throwing him totally off by changing time zones (he was wide awake at 5 a.m. today). I think Henry's New Year's Resolution should be to SLEEP!

Days before Chistmas baby Hank turned 6 months as well as 26 weeks old, and while in Georgia he turned 27 weeks. I took his 27 week picture once I got home to CA, so it's a little off, but I'm pretty positive you'd never know!

Okay, I'm also all caught up now!! My trip to my House in the South is next, and I'm crossing my fingers I do that tomorrow. School is out for another week, so let the fun continue!!

Christmas

2011-12-31T11:09:00.000-08:00

Vacation has been good to me, so I haven't felt the need to finish my holiday recap. Here's how Christmas went down:

The little boys were up about a half hour before Grace and the Italian woke up. We hung out in the kid's room and just waited.

and waited,

and waited. Next year I think I'd prefer to be one of the late sleepers.

Once everyone was awake, the Italian and I took our positions to watch the Gs break through the wrapping paper to see the transformation of the front room thanks to some Christmas magic.

Let the games begin.

Who moved the Christmas tree?!

Are these all the presents?!

No! All the kiddos got their own chair with presents this year.

Everyone was taking it all in for about 30 seconds.

George was excited that Santa ate our cookies we made him.

Grace was excited about the new craft table.

And then the unwrapping madness started. Next year we're going to slow it down a little (A LOT), but this year the excitement of the morning took over and it was mayhem in the front room.

Grace made us this adorable snowman candle at school. It was so cute. I'm glad I snapped a shot of it because it broke later in the day. She was devastated. I was a little sad too because I liked it so much.

More madness.

The Italian got practical gifts this year. Doesn't every man want a shoe holder??

Baby Hank went for anything that dropped on the floor. I spent most of the morning making sure he wasn't eating wrapping paper.

Please note Henry in the background sneaking paper. Sneaky little thing.

More practical gifts. A blower!

After all the fun, we got ready for church. Grace got a new dress for Christmas and was excited to wear it. She's always one to get fancy for the camera and will let me snap a 100 shots. Such a girl!

And that was Christmas 2011. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is 2012. Here's to the best year yet!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

The festivities are over, but shouldn't be forgotten. Here's the recap.

Grace and George did their usual duties of playing/scaring baby Henry like the do most days.

And Christmas Eve was no exception!

Other than the usual daily duties, our Christmas Eve was rather quiet which I was so grateful for. We made one trip to the store for one last gift, but otherwise we just spent it at home. I loved it. I loved that we weren't with all the procrastinators out shopping and being too busy to enjoy the day.

We made sugar cookies for Santa even though we all had/have cold and the Italian lectured us on how sugar just adds to our congestion and how we weren't going to get better by eating sweet treats. I threw caution to the wind and let us bake and eat cookies. Well worth the congestion!

Then we opened our annual Christmas Eve present of pajamas. (Thank you, Heather, for the beautiful wrap job!)

I was so excited that George and Henry could wear matching pajamas, but I think Grace was a little sad she wasn't in on the matching game.

Her sadness was short lived once she put on her new nightgown and admired herself in the mirror. Have I mentioned how much she loves herself. Love the high self esteem!

Tired, but happy, mother of three!

We also took time to discuss and talk about the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. John asked the kids who's birthday we celebrate on Christmas. George raised his hand, and John called on him. George's response, "George!" John smiled and said no. Then he asked the same question, and George said, "Me!" So John called on him again to answer the question, and George said, "Me." As in Christmas is all about George. I guess we have some work to do!

Once the babes were all sound asleep, Santa's elves went to work setting everything up.

We assembled the new craft/kid dining table and chairs, wrapped all the presents, moved everything around, and on and on.

Poor Henry didn't get as much as the Gs. Something tells me he's okay with that!

The Italian even helped fold a little laundry. Early Christmas present for me!

The Italian had to make some last minute set up changes to make it more believable that Santa had actually come, and then off to bed.

Good Night!

Christmas Day coming soon. I'm on a mini vacation, so I'm running a little slower than usual.

Crawling

2011-12-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

More pictures and stories coming soon. Maybe tomorrow?? But tonight I just had to share this video. My baby is moving. He is exactly 6 months today, and he is crawling. I guess it was just too much to see Grace and George having all the fun.

I love this little one, but darn him for growing up!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Countdown Begins

2011-12-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

How is it a week before Christmas?? I can't believe how this month flew by. I mean I can, because it feels like time just flies by, but still I'm feeling a little nervous about only having a week left to get everything done. It will get done, but I have a sneaking suspicion there will be a late night or two this week. Nothing I can't handle.

Grace's school put on a Winter Sing this past Friday, and the children we suppose to wear a festive outfit. I'd say she was pretty darn festive.

The concert was nothing shy of completely and totally chaotic. Let's just say if there was a fire in the Multi (where the concert was held), we would have all died. So many people, you couldn't hear anything, and George complained the whole time that he couldn't see anything.

But the silver lining was that moment when Grace finally found me frantically waving at her in the sea of 200 parents in the room, and we locked eyes and her smile, that was quickly becoming a frown, covered her face. We waved for like 5 minutes, and while it was rather painful to listen and juggle my two boys, my daughter was elated that we were in the audience and that is all that matters.

I'm so glad that is over!!

Grace and George played so nicely this weekend. Not that they don't normally, but I love seeing them interact so well and play like true friends. I don't have much else to say about that other than it makes my heart smile to see them so happy together.

It should be noted that our poor Christmas tree lights are burning out. I've had the same strands of Christmas tree lights for 7 Christmases now, and I've never had a problem. Then last night the middle strand went out, and tonight the top strand decided to stop working too. Am I really going to buy new lights, take all the ornaments and lights off the tree, and then put everything back together?! I'm a little nervous we're just going to do without lights.

I did manage to practice my bokeh shots before 2 of the 3 strands went out. It was really important for me to practice that last night. There was nothing else I should have been doing. You know like working on my Christmas Things To Do List!! Have I ever mentioned that I'm a positive progressive procrastinator?? I am. And, a good one at that!

My baby is still getting older day by day. I think I messed up on the weekly count, but I took the calendar out before I took this shot, so Henry is indeed 25 weeks old. And he'll be crawling in a week or two. He gets up on his little knees and scoots and slides all around. It's a matter of days before he starts moving those little legs to get himself all over.

Note the sad Christmas tree lights in the background. So sad.

Sorry, Henry, for cutting your little head off, but it's hard taking the pictures and trying to make you smile!

I'm not ready for crawling yet!!

And, I will end this post with my Italian Stallion. I was playing around with my camera, and he was my subject today. I love this shot of him, and I love him. He'll say I always post the worst pictures of him, but I like the disheveled hair and whiskers.

Mainly I like the whiskers. See all the grey?! He doesn't have a hair on top of his head that's grey, and I pretty much think that's unfair. All his grey hair reminds me that he's older than me, but I have all the grey hairs on top of my head, so does that mean that I'm wiser?! I'm totally kidding. I'm also more vain, because I'm getting my hair done this week, and I think we'll discussing color and how to not go grey gracefully!

It's midnight. This weeks going to be a busy one, so I best be on my way to bed!

2011-12-15T21:35:00.000-08:00

George was so excited when I picked him up from preschool because he made the Italian and me a present. He told me it was a surprise and that I had to wait to open it. I think he wanted to wait until Christmas, but he could only wait until we got home (a 5 minute drive). This sweet little angel ornament makes my heart so happy. It also makes me smile and giggle a little. I mean look at that sweet little face. And, George was so proud of his work.

Love this angel. And he is an angel, most of the time. Sweet little baby Hank has figured out that toys are very fun to play with. George and Grace rarely play with their Little People any more, but Henry finds them so interesting, and today George tried to tell me that Henry couldn't play with the fire engine because he'd set up all the Little People on it. I know this is just the beginning of reteaching or continuing to teach the life lesson of sharing.

I do also know that one day (and the way time flies it will be sooner rather than later) my two boys are going to be good playmates. This helps make it less painful to watch them grow up so fast!

Life is good here. This week has been so busy like always, and then I've added all the Christmas activities and I'm feeling a tad bit frazzled. Nothing I can't handle, but I will be very happy once winter break beginnings, and things slow down for a couple of week!

Funny

2011-12-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

For a couple of days now I've been meaning to record some of the funny things my kids have said. Then on Friday when I picked Grace up from school she was wearing the pink gloves I bought her recently. I had dropped her off at school Friday with them on, and when she got in the car with them still on (and it wasn't cold outside) I asked,

Me: Grace did you wear your glove all day??
Grace: Yep, Mama!!
Me (totally laughing out loud, uncontrollably): All day? Even at lunch time?
Grace: Oh, I took them off at lunch time and put them in my cubby, and then when lunch was over I put them back on.

That made me laugh even harder. Lunch is outside followed by recess. It wasn't necessarily cold outside, but just the fact that she wore her gloves all day long and then only took them off to go outside was too much for me. I hope her teacher thought it was as funny as I did. And what makes it even funnier, is that Grace wears the gloves backwards. The snowflakes are supposed to be on the palms of her hands so she can grip things with them, but she likes the snowflakes so they are worn facing out.

Next up is George. He says and does some of the most hilarious things as well. I feel badly for not writing them all down when they happen. But, the most recent thing he said that made me laugh out loud happened last week. I was hanging something in the house, and I needed the hammer. I asked George to hand it to me.

Me: George, can you hand me the hammer?
George: Mom, I'm being real dangerous with the hammer now.

What he meant to say was that he was being real cautious with the hammer.

Other funny/exciting news...The Italian's had these two free resort hotel nights burning a hole in his hotel rewards account, and they go away in a couple of days. The closest resort to us is in Napa Valley about 2 hours away. Friday morning we made a very last minute decision to spend Saturday night in a hotel. That's all we told the kids. They have no clue the hotel was in Napa Valley. They didn't care about where. They were just excited about the hotel experience.

The drive was not bad at all with the minivan and rear entertainment system.

And I did manage to snap a couple of shots of the vineyards as we were driving. I'm sure it would have been even prettier a month ago, but looking at these pictures it was still rather picturesque.

Our trip so last minute and we got to drive from our house to the hotel, so I wasn't too organized with the packing. I apparently wasn't paying attention either because when we got to our hotel room and started opening our suitcases Grace and George had shoved tons of toys in our bags. Funny what they think they need for a 24 hour getaway. Just in case George got the urge to dress up he brought along his Spiderman costume. Haha!

Thank you, Italian, for traveling and earning free nights and upgrades. We had a sweet suite! Grace and George got the pullout bed, the Italian and I got the bedroom, and Henry got the closet. I brought his Moses basket and sound machine, and this little darling slept better than he does at home. Love him.

We took advantage of the swimming pool and hot tub even though the high was only about 60 degrees and we didn't see the sun. The hot tub was like a mini pool, so we all enjoyed it.

The hotel also offered lots of hallways to run in. I'm sure all the other guests appreciated our racing to the lobby.

We made it back in time today to take some family pictures for our Christmas card. My former student Matty B. came over and snapped some shots. I tried to get creative with the photo shoot. You can tell from the Italian's face that my creative shot will NOT be making the cut for the Christmas card.

It's so hard being the creative genius in the family. I have a real rough life. Totally kidding! We did get several cute pictures (Thank you, Matt!), so now hopefully I can get a card made and mailed out. Fingers crossed!

And to end the weekend on a high note, Grace threw up right before bedtime. I'm crossing my fingers it was just too much fast food. I'm really not sure I can handle the stomach flu right now. Prayers said that NO ONE ELSE GETS SICK!!

Tis' the Season

2011-12-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

The time has come for me to introduce solids to baby Hank. Sweet little cherub. I skipped the rice cereal and went right to oatmeal. Hope that's okay. We are on day two, and so far no weird reactions. He's not sure of this stuff, but he'll put it in his mouth and will swallow, so that's a good sign.

Grace took pictures of me feeding Henry last night. I kind of wish someone was videotaping her. She was laughing hysterically at him. It was pretty funny, and he did keep giving her the usual "deer in headlights" expression which always gets a good laugh from the Gs.

Grace also loved it when he acted like he didn't like the oatmeal. He did make funny faces, but he never actually spit it out, so I'm sticking with my story that he likes the stuff. I'm also crossing my fingers and saying silent prayers that he eats better than George. George officially eats 5 things. Okay maybe more like 6. No, seriously, I think he'll eat 10 different things, and he's completely and totally unwilling to even try new foods. One day he'll figure out what he missing. One day.

Little Henry is also exploring his little world on his knees. I'm totally nervous he's going to crawl earlier then I want him too. I can understand why he would want to crawl. He wants to follow all the action of his big brother and sister, but for now I'd like him to be content with his beautiful quilt on the floor!

While Henry's been busy making strides in his growing stages, the Gs are in total Christmas mode. I decided that we're going to start adding to our Christmas traditions. I'm bringing back the mini gingerbread houses that I used to make when I was a school teacher.

It was a total blast.

Grace enjoyed the frosting, and I don't blame her. I enjoyed some myself.

Those two worked and worked and tasted and tasted.

George got to go with me to the candy store to get the candy for the houses, so he selected a shark instead of a gingerbread man. They didn't have gingerbread men, but George kept telling me he wanted a shark gingerbread man. It goes so well with the Christmas theme!

Two masterpieces were created Monday night.

While the artists were hard at work, the Italian and baby Hank hung out. I think they like each other.

Then tonight we made Christmas mice. I think YaYa used to make them with her school students, so I'm not really sure how mice are related to Christmas, but I'm sure she'll let me know when she reads this.

George likes to craft, but he sometimes thinks he can't do them.

I always tell him he can, and then Grace helps encourage him as well.

Pretty soon after George's mini pout, he got on board with making the mice.

This is the only time in my life when I was so glad to see little rodents hanging out on my kitchen floor.

The last step is to slide a candy cane through the back end of the mouse for hanging on the Christmas tree.

And the season of crafting will go on I'm sure. I've got more Christmas presents to sew then I'm sure I have time to sew them, but I'm going to make a valiant effort for sure.

The house is quiet, my eyes are heavy, and now I have to decide if I'm going to set up shop in my sewing room to work or go and curl up in my bed. My bed is sounding really good right about now......

2011-12-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

We are busy...

Getting older. So sad!!

But now Henry can wear my favorite type of boy jammies. Seriously how adorable is he?! I'm not bias at all!!

We're also busy playing with toys.

These pictures make me not want to throw away all the toys in my house which feels like a daily urge.

Blowing bubbles in the shower. It's cold and dark early here, so outside wasn't an option.

All done!

While the big kids played, baby Henry rolled and moved around.

I'm in love with his double chin.

And his tongue.

Love the thunder thighs. Don't you just want to pinch them?! I squeeze them all the time.

Ahh, the smile. So cute!!

This blog post took me WAY too long to do, so alas, my bed is calling me. I'm sure I have more to say, but you got the cutest pictures, and at this point that is all that matters!!! Good night!

Grace loves school.

2011-11-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

I had my first parent teacher conference last week as a parent. Despite getting my time mixed up and showing up 15 minutes late (yes, I was that loser parent), it was a perfect conference. Little Grace is doing well in Kindergarten. She loves to be in class and loves to be in the spotlight. When she was Star of the Week, she told the class that she was the only one in her family with curly hair. When a student asked why she had curly hair, she replied, "Because Heavenly Father made me that way." Like, duh?! Don't you know where you came from? Grace's teacher told me it was hilarious. I only wish I could have been there to see it for myself. I love Grace's confidence. May it follow her through life!

I also asked for a copy of Grace's first story she wrote during Writer's Workshop. My favorite part about the story is that Grace wrote that we had a dog, and her teacher really thought we did. My poor children who will never have pets!

Grace usually brings home booklets and things she's made at school, and she loves to continue to color them and embellish them here. Yesterday I caught her coloring in one of the booklets,

Little Henry rolled and played with his dog (Thank you, Miss Laraine!),

and Georgie Porgie???

Well, he played Parkour in the kitchen.

Italian, if you were wondering why the handles on the fridge are a little loose, wonder no more!! Don't worry though. I told George he should never do that again, and I'm totally sure he'll listen. Haha!

Despite being crazy at 7:30 at night if all my children aren't asleep, I truly love my job as a mom. Love it. I can't think of a job I'd rather do.

Gratitude

2011-11-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

So much to be thankful for...

I'm thankful for Grace for her wisdom.

George told her he was going to marry me when he got older, and Grace told him, "When you are old enough to get married, mom will be a grandma."

I'm grateful for George for being gentle and kind with his brother and for his 3 year old perspective on the world. I collected pine cones to use as decor during this Christmas season. When I brought them inside and put them on display George said, "Hey look, Mom, coconuts!" Or pine cones, but he'll learn that later.

I'm also really grateful for the mild winter that I know we're in for living in the Bay Area. However, George keeps asking to see snow, and I'm kind of hoping as a Christmas miracle we'll get a flake or two (and then it will melt quickly and George can wear his short sleeve t-shirts through the holiday season).

Of course I'm grateful for my other half who married me 7 years ago. Here's the link in case you missed the last post.

And, lastly, I'm so grateful for baby Hank. His chub, his smile, his coos, his appetite that keeps me up all night and has taught me how to live sleep deprived, and just his sweet little disposition. What's not to love!

As time flies, and as I'm crying on the inside that Henry is growing so fast, I'm diligently taking a weekly photo of him. I just think the photo book at the end of the year will be so cool. I'm also so thankful for digital cameras that allow me to take so many pictures. I hope you're thankful that I'm sharing my weekly 100 favorite pics!

I'm NOT thankful that baby Hank is starting/trying to scoot. Doesn't he understand I don't want him to grow up?!

Fall

2011-11-20T22:43:00.000-08:00

Where to begin...

It's fall time here. The leaves are changing making my runs so picturesque. I'm thinking if I'm lucky I'll even get to take a Christmas picture of the fam with fall colored leaves in the background.

On our street there are these gorgeous ginkgo trees that turn yellow in the fall. I had to take some pictures of them because I drive past them all the time and marvel at how pretty they are. These pictures don't do them justice.

Do you like how friendly our neighbor is with the orange cones? Mind you he doesn't have children who might be playing in the driveway, so I'm not really sure why the caution cones are blocking him drive.

In other fall news, seven years ago today this handsome man

said he'd love me forever.

And I said I'd love him forever.

We chose each other, and seven years later we love the choice we made in the Temple to be together.

And the best part of marriage...babies. Currently this little guy is my favorite baby. Of course, Grace as my favorite baby when she was a baby, and George was my favorite baby when he was a baby. Pretty much every baby of mine has been my favorite. Ready for a 100 pictures?! Sorry, I can never decide which ones are my favorites, so you get them all.

This darling turned 20 weeks on me. Getting these weekly pictures is getting harder because Henry likes to roll over.

And because my Gs like to love Henry to death.

George tried to go through my legs to get to poor baby Hank.

He then tried to cover his face with the blanket, and as you can see Henry did not like it.

Grace tried to love him back into being happy. It didn't last too long.

Poor little guy. And all I did was take pictures of his pain. Don't worry, I did rescue him. Eventually.

And my eyes are burning, so that means I need to sign off.

Peace out.

Cold weather

2011-11-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

George isn't a fan of fall weather clothes. He hates long sleeve shirts, and even more then fall weather clothes he hates the clothes I make him wear to school. He usually asks me to put a shirt in the car for him for when school is over, and he'll change in the parking lot. Man, George is going to be an awesome teenager!

Okay, but today while getting dressed for the day, George, of course, didn't want to put on his long sleeve shirt. I told him to go outside and check the weather, and then he might change his mind.

He went to the front door, opened it up, and quickly came inside and said it was cold outside.

Then he told me,

"Mom. I'm going to see if it's cold outside in the backyard."

Sure enough! It was cold out there, too. I just love the way this little guy's mind works. Too bad even the discovery of the weather in the backyard being cold didn't help him change his mind on the long sleeve shirt.

We compromised by wearing a jacket.

19 weeks

2011-11-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

Henry turned 19 weeks this past Thursday. George felt as though he needed to be a part of the photo shoot. I love how Grace goes at Henry like he's a rag doll and tries to pick him up, roll him over, and squeeze him ~~to death.~~ While George feels as though a hand on Henry's head is as lovey dovey as my big boy gets.

George is one pretty tough kid.

On Friday we took the big Gs to get their annual flu shot. Grace started to panic as soon as she saw the shot, I had to hold her, and when she saw blood from the shot she started crying like she was dying. George on the other hand told the nurse when he entered the room that he says, "Bring it on!!" to shots. Right before she poked him with the shot she asked him to repeat his mantra. He did. And he didn't cry. That's my boy. Just like his mama he's totally tough ~~and a little rough around the edges says the Italian.~~

Back to the baby. He's 19 weeks and totally cute.

I felt like I needed to have a picture of him without his clothes to mourn how big he is.

He's huge if you ask me.

And I'm in love with his eyes.

And everything else about him. I feel like I say that on every post, but seriously I just love little Henry.

Now I'm off to bed and hoping he'll let me sleep for a couple of hours. Sleep would make me love him even more if that is possible.

It's late...

2011-11-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

and I have to go to bed, but I have so many great pictures that I just need to share. This will be short on words but totally sweet on pics. Well, sweet if you love looking at pictures of my kids which I do!!

GEORGE: This darling told me that my belly was getting bigger "that's because you are having a baby. I'm so excited that we are having another baby."

In my opinion my belly is rather small right now, and we are certainly not having another baby, but I thought it was so cute that he was so excited about babies. Needless to say, he loves his brother. Yay!

GRACE: Grace wears lots of skirts and dresses because that's what a girl wears if you have me for your mom. But, I started thinking she should have some pants. Well, pants for days when she has P.E. That's one day a week, so luckily that still leaves 4 other days of the week to wear dresses and skirts. I bought Grace this loud *LOVE* shirt at Target this week to wear for P.E. I wish I could have recorded her reaction when I gave it to her. It went something like this, "Oh, it's the most beautiful shirt in the whole wide world. It has rainbows and stars and hearts. Oh my friends are just going to love it. They love when I wear cute things." I'd say I did a pretty awesome job of picking out the perfect shirt from the clearance table at Target. Thank you $5 shirt! And thank you Grace for being so easy to please. Please stay that way forever!!

My Gs: These two love each other.

Nothing makes me happier.

Last, but so not least, HENRY: Man, I love this little one. I mean I just love holding and cuddling and squeezing and smelling (I love baby smell) and just loving on him.

This is from last week. This week he is 19 weeks. Picture being snapped tomorrow!

Today he hung out with in the bathroom while I was getting ready and I just felt like I needed a hundred pictures of him sitting in his Bumbo. He just looked so cute.

Okay, so this post wasn't exactly short on words. Oh well. Have I mentioned I'm not perfect? Just trying to be. Ha! Good night!

There's always something going on.

2011-11-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

I looked at my blog earlier today, and I couldn't believe it had been since Wednesday that I updated it. Where did the rest of the week go. Then I started thinking what I even had to share on the blog that had happened since Wednesday. I decided to upload my pictures to see if I'd forgotten anything.

Most of what I have to share tonight is totally random, but that is how our lives are these days. Random and fun and chaotic and crazy! Most days I totally love my job. But on days like today when I forgot that it was daylight savings and was up way too early and did way TOO much today, I'm calling for a do over! Hopefully next year's daylight saving will treat me better. For now I'm just living in a sleep deprived fog and getting really good at it! How's that for a positive spin.

Okay, enough babbling this is what we've been up to....

Grace likes to take random photos of us. (No, Grace should not use my camera, but sometimes hearing myself say NO so much gets old!)

George likes to do silly things like blow bubbles and dress up in his Spiderman costume.

He wasn't such a fan of me telling him that even superheros wear helmets. Sorry, Spidey. Safety first.

Grace has discovered a new way to play with Henry. It totally panicked me when I first say her roll Henry on top of her. Then I made sure he wasn't going to drop, and I ran for my camera.

Don't these make you laugh? I told her she couldn't roll Henry any more, and then today I saw her do it again. I was about to nag her about tell her that she couldn't roll him, and then Henry solved my problem for me. He spit up on her. I can guarantee she will NOT be doing that again. I guess Henry is learning self defense at a very early age. He's going to need it!

And that is what's been going on around here. I must be off to bed right NOW!

Trying to keep a straight face.

2011-11-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Today George told me:

"Mom, if you talk meanly to me, I won't let you sleep on my bed ever again."

To bad his threats don't get his desired results. I still talk meanly to him. And to clarify, meanly means strict. Unless you ask the Italian who probably thinks the things I say are mean. Good thing I know I'm not mean.

Part of Grace's privileges of being Star of the Week this week includes bring in a Mystery Item. You get to put the item in a small paper bag (think lunch bag), and you get to write 3 clues to help the kids guess what you have in the bag. In class after you read each clue, the kids get 3 guesses at what's in the bag. I helped Grace come up with an item and clues last night. She reported to me when she got in the car today that the class guessed her item after the first clue she gave them. She got really upset when she was telling me this on the car ride home. She was so upset she started to cry. Then she said:

"Mom, I'm really disappointed in you. I'm just so disappointed in you."

I was seriously having a hard time not cracking up at this. I did feel badly that Grace was so upset. I'm not heartless, but to hear Grace say something that I'm sure I've said to her or George when they've done something they weren't supposed to was hilarious.

Better luck to me tomorrow!!

Halloween

2011-10-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today started off with a smile...

My contribution to Grace's class Halloween party

Good thing we were all smiles this morning. Yesterday morning was a bit rough for George.

He was feeling a wee bit sad. (It was so hard for me to not laugh as I was taking his puppy dog face pictures.)

However, George did smile a bit yesterday when he was holding Henry's hand.

But how can you NOT smile when holding this adorable little one!?

Back to today. Halloween morning. We were all smiles, but we were on a very tight schedule.

Tight schedule and all, and I managed to get all three kids where they needed to be by 8 a.m. That was seriously nothing less than a small miracle.

Henry and I got Grace to school for the annual Halloween Parade, and then we got to stay after the parade for the Halloween party. The last Halloween class party I attended was 5 years ago. I was SO glad to NOT be a school teacher today!!

Then tonight we went trick-or-treating. George was supposed to be Wolverine, but while at Target today I found this Spiderman costume for $5!!! I bought it for the dress up box, but as soon as George saw, he declared he was going to be Spiderman. The costume might have been a tad bit snug, but he didn't seem to mind.

We went trick-or-treating with the best neighbors EVER.

And that is wrap for Halloween! I'm not sad to see this holiday over with for another year. Off to eat some candy!!

Moving right along.

2011-10-30T00:38:00.000-07:00

To say Grace loves school is an understatement. I met with her teacher briefly on Friday and we had a good laugh over how Grace buys into all that kindergarten has to offer. Friday morning I thought Grace looked so cute on her way to school, so I made her stop and pose so I could get a couple of pictures.

That afternoon, the very second I saw her, she told me all about how she was chosen to be Star of the Week. She told me that she crossed her fingers when her teacher chose a name from the Fair Stick Jar, and guess what?!? Grace's stick got pulled! It was the most exciting thing that has happened Grace all year. And, she needed a picture to go on the Star of the Week poster, so the cute pictures we took on Friday came in very handy.

After Grace's teacher told me that Grace just soaks up everything that she teaches Grace, I told her about how Grace teaches everything she learns to her little brother George (at night when she is suppose to be going to sleep). We had a good laugh, but one day last week I saw George with a piece of paper that looked like it had some letters on it. When I asked him what was on the paper, he replied, "Mooom, it's my name!!" Oh, right. Who the heck taught you how to write your name??

Grace and her star pupil

I meant to save the paper with George's name, but it got lost in the sea of papers in this house, so I had him rewrite his name on the whiteboard. Other than the fact that the letters are in no real order, and the E is backwards, and the Gs are a bit of a stretch, I'd say this is a pretty good job for my big boy George.

I also think George is a lefty. See for yourself.

Halloween is almost here, and while we haven't done much for my favorite holiday ever, I just feel like we've been talking about it forever.

I can't wait for Monday night to be over and my kids to be in bed, so I can eat their candy and move on.

My kids have costumes to wear, and I'll be sure to take a picture of them, but before George went to school for his Halloween festivities last week, I dressed everyone up in our Halloween colored clothes and attempted to take a cute picture. It's pretty much impossible to get 3 kids to look at the camera all at the same time.

Lastly, this adorable chub is getting cuter and cuter by the day. Please excuse all the cute baby pictures, or eat them up as I do.

This was my attempt at recreating this picture idea I found on Pinterest. I'm pretty positive Henry kept wondering why in the world I kept looking at him through the camera instead of rescuing him from the Gs.

My baby sitter thinks I should dress of Henry like a deer in headlights for Halloween. I wonder why?? Poor Henry. Just know everything your brother and sister do to you is purely out of love. And a tad bit of curiosity.

Happy 4 Months! Please don't get any older. Please.

Before I go to sleep...

2011-10-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

It's 11 p.m. and I'm suppose to be in bed. Well, I'm telling myself I need to go to sleep even though part of me wishes I could stay up late and do something fun!! After putting the little ones to bed, finally eating dinner, doing dishes, folding laundry, and prepping for a class I have to teach this week, I didn't have any real *me* time. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight I'm making this brief, but I hate getting behind on my pictures and stories.

My Little Pumpkin turned 17 weeks last week, and 4 months over the weekend. The 4 month photo is coming soon.

He now weighs 16 lbs 11 oz.

Even though I put him to bed for the night at 7 and he cried for me at 7:45, I have the strange feeling of missing him only 3 hours later. I kind of want to just go and pick him up to see what he feels like. Hopefully I'll resist the temptation.

Maybe I'll just go and smell him. I love the smell of baby.

I think Grace does too. She had a playdate today after school, and when I went to pick her up her friend's little sister (2 yrs old) followed us to the minivan. She kept calling for Grace, or as the little girl said it, "Dace." She even got into the car and wanted to come home with us. Grace was totally on board with bringing home a little sister.

Grace said the bed time prayer tonight, and in her prayer she asked, "Please help us to have another baby that is a baby girl." She looked so pleased with her prayer when she was finished. Oh the faith of a child. If only having another baby came as easily as Grace's sweet prayer.

Now I must go and say my prayers and ask for patience to manage all the children I have tomorrow!!

Busy

2011-10-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's kind of crazy to think about how quickly my life has changed in what feels like a couple of weeks, but really it's been a few months in the making. Five short months ago I was still pregnant, and Grace only went to school a few times a week, and we still had so much down time in our days and schedule. You could hardly say we had a schedule back then. Fast forward through having Henry, Grace starting school, and life just moving along, and I discovered last night that in addition to school next week we have activities, appointments, playdates, or special events every day until now and Halloween. (Yes, that is only a week, but it's a lot to cram into a week!) I'm trying to embrace my new paradigm and love it like I loved it when Grace had preschool a few hours a few days a week with very little else to do. I'm trying. But sometimes it's hard to say good-bye.

It did help this week when I picked Grace up from school and she looked like this:

I might not love that school happens 5 long days a week and for what feels like all day long, but when your little spider climbs inside the minivan after school and is so excited about her day, it's pretty hard to be sad about our *new life.* It was also pretty hard to not totally start laughing. Kindergartners can be sensitive souls even when wearing scary spider hats, and I have a feeling that she would get her feelings hurt if I started laughing. She and I will have a good laugh at this pictures some years from now. I just know it.

Grace went for Henry when I was trying to take her picture. As we were talking through Target today she told me, "I just can't take my eyes off of Henry. He's just too cute." I totally agree!

It also helps that my boys, while they keep me completely busy and some days I feel like I'm in constant motion with them, are adorable. And they love each other. Here George is trying to show little Henry all about his Power Ranger cell phone. Henry was really in to it. Either that or Henry was just trying to keep his head up to see to breath. Take your pick!

Seeing as I started this yesterday, I need to just put an ending on it and move forward. Today is a full day. Good full, but full.

Proof

2011-10-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

Since I last posted I got Henry to do his thing for the camera. He's a total pro. The only problem is that sometimes he gets his arm(s) stuck underneath him, and the biggest problem is that he can't roll back over. So, once he gets tired of his self inflicted tummy time, he starts to cry. He'll figure out soon how to roll back over, and then I'll cry that he is getting so big and so old.

And I thought I needed some more pictures of his rolls and just his cute chubby face. Other than not listening to me and continuing to grow up like his siblings, baby Henry is perfect. Totally.

Here's to hoping this little chub lets me sleep a little bit more tonight!

Moving On!!

2011-10-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

If I have to look at that dead possum at the top of my blog for one more day, I just might give up blogging all together. Gross!! I should have added more words to that post, and probably I should have used a shovel to pick up the dead beast, but sometimes less is more. That and I had to quickly get the dead thing in the trash before the garbage man came. I didn't want a rotting animal in my trash for a week. And I had dealt with ants all morning and starting hearing the trash truck, so I threw my camera at Grace, grabbed several trash bags, and got rid of the darn animal in a rush. And now I must move on.

Back to much cuter things to stare at.

The other morning, as I woke up feeling like I never really went to sleep because I think every single one of my children needed me at some point in the night, Grace came bouncing onto my bed because she heard Henry cooing. He lit up like a Christmas tree in December. He's in love with her. She shares the sentiment. It's so cute.

George's love for baby Henry continues to grow, and as you can see from the picture above, Henry is slowing warming up to his big brother. George keeps asking me when Henry is going to start walking. I think it's because George wants Henry to follow him around.

I told George it would probably be 8 more months. He of course had no idea what that meant, but I do. And really it feels like not enough time. Why must babies grow so fast?! And while I'm trying to enjoy every minute (because EVERY SINGLE OLDER MOM advises me to do so), I some times feel like I have to rush so much during my days to really enjoy my sweet little baby who really isn't so little any more. It's really just not fair.

I also think it doesn't help that Henry hit the rolling over stage in a major way. As in, he automatically rolls over once you lay him down. Well, unless you try to take a video of him doing it. I'm still working on that. Take my word on it. He rolls. And he has rolls. And I love him. And all of his rolls.

Here's to a week with NO insects or wild animals in it!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Really short.

2011-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Grace loves Henry.

Henry loves to be held.

In his defense he was tired, but he does really like being held.

Grace absolutely love school. She loves art class and learning sight words. She likes school so much that when she was naughty the other morning before school I told her I was going to keep her home from school if she didn't shape up. She did whatever I was telling her to do. Worked like a charm.

George loves his big sister and misses her when she's at school. Thank goodness he has preschool and is loving it.

Lastly, the Italian loves this tree Grace drew. She was demonstrating the technique her art teacher showed her for drawing trees. The Italian thinks this tree could be hanging in a museum. Such a proud papa!

I love that it's not 10 p.m. yet. I'm off to bed. I'm so tired!

WAR

2011-10-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Don't worry I'm not going to get all political on you. I prefer lighter topics. But, we are fighting some wars at the Balena house. The wars I'll share with you tonight are on the darn pests that want to invade our home. Last weekend the Italian discovered where all the yellow jackets that have been swarming around our house were coming from. He found the the whole in the ground that lead to the nest. After consulting with our favorite neighbors we bought 3(!!!) traps, and strategically placed them around the next. Then the Italian mixed a little "apple juice cocktail" for the buzzers. Just his friendly way of saying get OUT OF HERE!!

The traps caught tons of yellow jackets. These pictures were taken about an hour or two after the traps were hung. Thanks for the hot tip, Darren and Amy!!

RIP Yellow Jackets.

Look closely in the picture below for the flying yellow jackets.

I'm also currently fighting an ant invasion in the kitchen and laundry room. I went through an entire roll of paper towels yesterday morning before 9 a.m. As soon as the rain stops (crossing my fingers today was the last of it), I'm armed with some acid/poison for the outside of the house that should take care of them. Oh how I hate ants!! Just thinking about how many I've killed makes me start to itch and feel like I have ants on me. Gross!!

On to sweeter wars....

Keeping this darling happy.

Grace nor George had a Bumbo, but baby Henry seems to loves his new chair. It allows him to be a part of the chaos instead of lying on his back listen to it. Now he can sit and watch it all unfold in front of him.

The Italian says it will also prevent his head from being flat in the back.

My favorite part of the Bumbo...

Catching cute pictures of this little guy. Look at that darling tongue. And I'm only sharing two of the 20 I took of it.

Love this cutie!

Now excuse me I need to go and check for ants. GROSS!

Growing Up

2011-10-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

Mama's Big Guy turned 14 weeks. He is now officially 3 1/2 months old, and he just continues to grow before my eyes. It feels like just yesterday when we brought Henry home. Babies grow too fast!!

The day after I took the 14 week picture Henry started rolling to his side. Like I said he's growing before my eyes, and probably by the time he's 4 months old he'll be rolling over. Why don't any of my kids listen to me when I say NOT TO GROW UP!?! (Probably because they don't listen to me when I ask them to do most things!)

While my baby boy is almost 4 months, my big boy is also growing up right before my eyes. I had George do his funny faces for me, so I could document them. This is George's all time favorite funny face.

It's not really a funny face, but he'll ask me if I want to see his funny face, and this is the one he flashes me. I laugh and tell him that it's not really a funny face. I know because I laugh he thinks it actually is funny. In addition to the not so funny face, he has others he's perfecting.

I cherish my days with these boys. I cherish all the time I spend with my kids. Even though I might yell at them when it's time for bed, I really love them. More then they'll ever know.

Friendship

2011-09-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Grace got in the car yesterday after school and showed me a bracelet she'd been awarded at school. I figured that she was probably nice to someone on the playground and then her teacher gave her the rubber bracelet. However, she went on and on about how it was given to her in the same place where they have P.E. and how her friend was award a bracelet too. Then I started thinking maybe it was an award ceremony of some kind?

I took pictures of her because she was so excited and it sounded like a big deal.

Then last night I got an email from Grace's teacher that Grace was in fact awarded the special friendship band for being a good friend in class and outside in the play yard during the whole month of September. They chose two students from every class in the school, and they all were rewarded with special friendship bands.

The school mascot, Super Squirrel, was there to make them feel really special and to congratulate them for being good friends. Grace's kind teacher took some pictures and sent them with her email.

It was a great day for my big girl. Not only was she recognized for being a good friend, but then after school at swim lessons she passed another level. Wahoo for Grace!!

Or Gracie, as she is now wanting to be called. I knew it would happen sooner or later. I was pretty adamant about Grace not being Gracie when we were deciding what to name her. But as my dad point after we named her at birth, she is Grace E(lizabeth). I explained to Grace that really she's always been Grace E, but the more common way to become Gracie is to use the "ie" at the end. Grace uses both. I think it's totally funny.

And now I must get back to my big kindergartner who is teaching me everything she's every learned at school. Our whiteboard easel has never seen so much action. After she schools me I'm going to put her to bed, and if you sneak in on Grace and George at night you'll find them up in Grace's bed playing school. Grace is, of course, the teacher, and George does everything she tells him to. It's almost too cute to break up. Sadly I'm a Trunchbull , and I always break up the fun. Not right away though, so I'm not all evil.

Let the weekend begin!!

Swing Time

2011-09-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

The day after little Henry turned 13 weeks

(I couldn't decide which picture I liked best, so I posted two)

Little Henry got his first time in a swing at the park.

This little guy loves me so much that he lights up and smiles so big for me whenever he sees me. I love it. This also means that he prefers that I hold him rather then put him down. People keep telling me that I must have been lying by saying that Henry was fussy. I then point out that I'm holding Henry as they are making this statement. If held, Henry is perfectly content.

Good thing this smile melts my heart every time.

George was a very helpful brother at the park. He helped me push (tap) Henry in the swing.

Henry loved it so much he started to doze off.

These three make me so happy. And, seriously, I can't get enough of Henry's many faces. From looking totally scared to totally content, I love them all.

And here we start another week. I'm sure it will go by totally fast and be totally busy. We are pretty scheduled these days which does make the days go by quickly, but I start to wonder how I'm ever going to get anything else done besides the basic cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of the kids, and essential errands. How did life get so busy?! I've had a dress cut out to sew for almost 5 days now, and I'm just too tired at night to even dream about staying up to finish it. I don't think I could force myself to stay up until midnight even if I wanted to. I'm not complaining. When I think about my kids, I can think of nothing that I'd rather be then their mom. However, maybe just one night a week I could get my chores done by a decent hour at night, so I can have some ME time. Is this too much to ask? (Don't answer that!!)

Another busy week.

2011-09-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't even bother with a blog title. It should just be assumed that my weeks are totally busy now that Grace is in school every day. Today I felt like I was up and running around from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. when I sat down to inhale my dinner right before I started prepping for putting everyone else to sleep.

But for the sake of documenting our lives and not getting far behind on all the pictures I take, I give you the happenings of our week.

Grace may be in school, and she may be growing up before my eyes, and I may look back through the years of pictures and blog posts I've written and get a little teary eyed over how much she's grown, but the girl is still young. I mean when you put together an outfit like this and pretend that you are a princess and your stuffed animals are still your good friends, then you are considered little. Stay little Grace. Please.

Two minutes after this picture was taken the Italian asked me if he could throw away those plastic shoes. That isn't funny to anyone else, but to me I found it hilarious. We are really the antithesis of hoarders in this house, but sometimes I think we could settle down and not be so quick to get rid of things. I mean if they are still being used and loved then probably we should keep them. Or just be sure when you get rid of whatever it is that it's done when no one is looking. So the Italian doesn't feel picked on, let it be known that I have a large garbage bag in the trunk of my car FULL of stuffed animals that I plan to drop of at Goodwill. I'm not a lover of stuffed animals. Not at all!

George is starting to love his little brother more and more. He gets really excited when Henry smiles at him.

But something tells me I have years and years of this kind of behavior to look forward to. Let the boy games begin!

The most exciting part of our week to report is the beginning of preschool for George. This was a last minute decision, but one that I truly feel was inspired. I guess I never really realized how socially dependent George was on Grace until Grace started school. I had the impression 3 times last week to email the preschool where Grace went last year. I finally acted on it, and sent a quick email to the office manager asking if they had any openings. She called me the next day to let me know that just that morning a mom let them know she was pulling her son out of the 3 year old class, so they had ONE opening. Coincide? I think not. I don't believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason, and I thank my Heavenly Father that I was listening Thursday night! I got all the papers filled out, and George started school this week.

He loves it! No tears. No sadness. No complaints.

"Cool!"

Just lots of fun and one happy little boy that he can now tell Grace about his day at school instead of always listening to her.

And because George was big and brave on his first day of school this week, I took him to the Sugar Shack afterwards to celebrate.

He's been there before (just a couple of times)

So he knew exactly what he wanted.

How sweet this boy is.

And how sweet my boys are.

And now I'm tired and must go to bed!!

Funny

2011-09-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

George was looking through a Fisher Price advertisement the other day. When he came to the girl toys he said:

"I hate girl toys."

John said, "George we shouldn't say that. You can just say you don't like girl toys."

Then George said:

"Dad, another name for I don't like girl toys is I hate girl toys."

A week ago I told Grace we were going to start doing carpool line pick up at school. That way I can just drive up to her school and pick her up as opposed to parking, getting George and Henry out, and then walking a block or two to get Grace. The day I showed Grace where all the carpool kids sit Grace and I had the following exchange while walking to the car:

G: Mama, I want to go to carpool.
Me: You will starting Monday.
G: I want to go now.
Me: But I picked you up today, you don't need to go to carpool.
G: But, Mama, I really want to go to carpool.
Me: You can go on Monday.
G: But I really want to go today.
Me: You want to go and sit with the other kids.
G (on the verge of tears): No, Mama, I just really want to go swimming in the carpool.
Me: Oh, Grace. You don't swim in a carpool.

And then I proceeded to explain what carpool means. Gotta love the English language. I can see why Grace got all confused.

Now off to get these two big kids to bed. Probably I shouldn't be blogging, but it helps me to not go crazy on everyone for not being in bed on time!!!

My Family

2011-09-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Really I don't need to add any words to this post.

All that needs to be said is that I love my family.

Top spot on my list today...

Baby Henry.

This sweet little baby slept for 12 hours last night. I did wake him after 6 hours for a little relief (if you know what I mean), and then he went right back to sleep. Oh man, do I love a baby who sleeps. I don't really care if he takes good naps during the day, because really he can't with school drop-off and pick-up. But, sleeping at night puts baby Henry at the top of my favorite list today!! Now that I've written this he'll wake up a ton tonight, but knowing that he can sleep so long says we are headed in the right direction!

At 3 months Henry has found his hands. So cute.

This picture says it all with my photo shoots. "Another one, Mom. Please hurry up!"

These are my boys.

My little ones.

My big one.

picture by Grace

And all of them.

picture by Grace

It's been a really good week, and while my life isn't perfect, I've found myself stepping back several times this week and thinking I just love my family.

Love them all.

That's all I have to say tonight.