All our stinkerbombs

Peyton heard her siblings waking up from their nap and decided to join them.

Stinkerbomb #3

We affectionately call our kiddos stinkerbombs. Braden is determined to get to the candleholder in the corner, no matter what obstacles are in his way.

Easter

The Easter Bunny visited our basement and Nana's house! Peyton had fun searching for eggs and even Braden and Ashlyn got in on it a little. That evening we went to Nana's for dinner and searched for eggs again with Louis. It was a sugar-filled weekend.

Peyton is 3!

And does she know it! Three weeks after she turned two she became a big sister and she has grown up so much since then. She loves to take care of her babies, read books, sing, make picnics and we are continually amazed at her imagination. Since starting her sports class at school she is getting really good at throwing and kicking. She is also becoming a master negotiator for everything from "one more book" before bed or "how about we do this instead and do that later". For her birthday we brought in a treat to school on Friday and they made her a birthday crown. Saturday some of her friends came over and we had a Dora party. It has been raining FOREVER so we were stuck inside. It worked out, though. We glued faces on their backpacks, played musical stars, pin the tail on swiper and went on a Star Adventure. For the adventure they had to find something in the bag to wake up a sleeping bear, go through a tunnel, past the grumpy old troll (Greg) to make it to the pinata. Luckily our 8 year old neighbor came and lent her strength to get that pinata open. We ate mexican and had cupcakes. The kids also did a lot of running and screeching. It was fun! She got lots of great gifts including hair bows, a Dora doll, Lite Brite, coloring books and a Dora bat and ball. Her present from us was her big bed and new flower sheets and wall decals. Pics to come of her in her princess and a pea bed, as I like to call it. You'll see why!

My attempt at sensory play

I've been trying to think of things they had Peyton do at school when she was the babies age. We broke out the flour and water today. They were a bit confused because when they are in their high chairs, they are eating, so they pretty much just tried to eat the concoction. What a fun mess!

Toys, what toys?

I got a box of toys out for A & B to play with in their room and this is what they chose to do...

Little Stinker

I should have known better...we went to the library yesterday and brought home some books and Toy Story 3 (I don't know who was more excited to see it, me or Peyton). I told P she could watch it in my room while I the babies were finishing their dinner and taking a bath AS LONG AS she didn't get into my drawers. (She loves to get in my nail stuff that I keep in my nightstand.) Well, she didn't get in my drawers but she did get in my purse. I walked into her putting on my makeup. I have to say she does know where everything goes on her face. Greg's actually the one who told me to take a picture. She thought she was pretty cool.

Braden's First Haircut

BeforeAfter

Braden's hair was getting pretty long so last night we decided it was time for his first hair cut. We broke out the clippers and in a few minutes he went from a baby to a little boy!

Dad is SO Funny!

Greg was putting the bbq pit up and I was attempting to put Ashlyn and Braden in their jammies, a task which has become quite a workout...

11 Months Old!

I can't believe it! In the past month we have said our final goodbye to baby food, seen our first step and are starting to show more understanding of what we are saying (making motions to songs such as patty cake, doing "so big"). Ashlyn and Braden are really starting to interact with each other and even annoy each other. They love to steal each others pacifiers and toys (but hate getting it stolen). They also think nothing of climbing over each other to get where they are trying to go. In the past week our new favorite thing is to act like they are handing us something, we say "thank you" and they laugh. The three of the kids are playing more with each other and A & B continue to be fascinated with P, even as she is trying to pick them up or pull them around. We are looking forward to transitioning them to regular milk in a sippy cup and will be starting that in a week or so!

Braden is 11 Months Old!

Braden is getting around pretty quickly these days. We turn around for a second and he is gone. He is our Mr. Independent, he goes off on his own and plays all the time. I call him Braden the Explorer. He absolutely loves to push the chairs around in the kitchen. If he comes in and sees them at the table, he always goes and pushes them as far as he can away from the table. He can stand for over 10 seconds and even took his first step last week! He loves to be spun around in circles and to play Patty Cake (he starts clapping as soon as we start singing). He also loves to go get his big sister, Peyton, in the morning. As soon as I set him on the floor he makes a beeline to her door and opens it. Now that she is in her big girl bed, though, he can't reach her anymore. He likes to flirt, when people talk to him he gives a big grin and then buries his head in my shoulder, and then looks back up again grinning. He DEVOURS all of his food and I haven't found anything he doesn't like.

Ashlyn is 11 Months Old!

Ashlyn started officially crawling at the beginning of the month. She now crawls on her hands and knees about half the time and on her belly the other half. Not sure what the difference is to her, but she gets around. She can stand on her own for several seconds. She loves her shopping cart and chewing on everything. She is getting her eighth tooth in!

Mmm, black beans!

Here's my messy girl.

(She wasn't sad about the beans, she was just done and ready to get out of her chair.)

First ER Visit

My poor Ashlyn, who has been runny-nose free for a record few weeks or so, woke up Monday morning having a hard time breathing. After I could see that the breathing treatments weren't working and she had a fever, I called the doc. They couldn't get her in so they said we should go to the ER. So, off to St Johns went Ashlyn, Braden and I, right about when I would normally put them down for a nap! I called my mom on the way to let her know. A few minutes after we hung up she called right back and said her boss overheard and told her to go. It turned out to be very helpful since Greg was on a conference call and I couldn't get through to him. Mom kept Braden entertained and even got him to sleep a bit while I had Ashlyn.

She was diagnosed with croup and severe stridor. So they gave her steriods and a breathing treatment. Greg showed up and took Braden so they could pick up Peyton and Mom went back to work. We had to stay 2 hours after the breathing treatment to make sure she was responding okay. Turns out there is only so much to do in the hospital room. We read all their books, played with the tic tac toe thig on the wall and ate Cheerios. I was then left with dancing her around the room and singing for like the last hour. So this is what it takes to have some nice one on one time with one of my kids! Surely there is a better way. :-)

I was impressed with St. John's pediatric ER and they were very attentive. People kept coming by asking if we needed food or drinks. Even the doctor got me a cup of water. We're on day 4 and she is finally breathing normally today.

I usually carry my camera in my purse (my mom gave me trouble for having it, but believe me I ran out of the house so fast my kids were lucky to have coats on). Here's our baby in her hospital gown. Makes me thankful that we have such healthy kids. I know some kids are in these every day.