Lily Kate turns 3!

Ethan's BFF Lily Kate turned three last week and had her party at Jump Zone.  The kids had so much fun... Jackson was stoked that all his big buddies were there too... but I think we may be nearing the end of birthday parties for the younger that the older also gets to attend.  It's so nice to finally see Ethan playing at Jump Zone because for the longest time, he refused and would just roll around in the Cozy Coupe. The particular birthday party is getting special recognition because a) it's Lily Kate and we love her and b) i took all three kids by myself!  I still do little pats on the back when I successfully make it through something like that with all three by myself without any major breakdowns.  :)  It helps that I have such great friends who gladly grab up my babies and love on them. Don't know how moms do it without friends like I have... Blessed.

Happy 3rd Birthday to one of the sweetest little girls ever.  Love you LK! And thank you Jenny for the pics!!

 

 Christian likes the Baby Bjorn much better than the Ergo... Even though I like the Ergo better. Ha!

Typical Ethan... Love Lily's smile in these pictures!

Notice my boys are NOT paying any attention.

Black Belt Club!

So Jackson's official.  We finished the "intro" period and Jackson decided this is definitely something he wants to pursue, so we signed up to be in the "Black Belt Club."  Jackson LOVES karate days.  He's been coming home practicing the moves he learned in class - surprising me on how much he actually remembers.  He loves the instructor and they really force him to show respect and obey. So once he was officially signed up, he received his kicks, new belt, training video and a big giant smile from a very happy boy.  I can already tell he's doing a better job listening at home - so I definitely think this activity will be so beneficial for my very outgoing little boy!  Oh... and he loves to pose for me.  :)

Christian's 6 Month Appointment

Last week I took Christian in for his 6 month appt and vaccines.  We had the stomach bug through our whole family, so he had been acting a little off and started breaking out in this rash... Well, it had really flared up the morning I was to take him in to the doc so the doc got a really good look at it and said it's probably his body's way of reacting to the virus (Ethan did the same thing)... but it looked SO bad.  He said it should fully clear up w/in 7 days or we should bring him back in.  He's gotten so funny lately - he's quite attached.  I know I've said this before, but I've never had an "attached" baby but it always seemed like everyone else's babies were attached to their mommas... Well I think I got my wish w/ this little guy.  He will go to me, Ryan and my mom and that's about it.  Every Saturday, Ryan and I go to a class at church and we've been called out to come get C each Saturday because he gets to screaming and they can't calm him down.  He's a stinker.  This last Sunday AM, they told me to NOT come get him.  They think it's actually setting him back cuz he knows if he just keeps his temper up, I will show up.  So they want to tough thru it to break the cycle.  He's a rascal, but I kind of love it.  I love that he knows his momma and is so content w/ me.  He's my last baby and I don't care if I'm spoiling him.  So be it.  He'll never be this age again and I know from experience how fast it flies by!!  I'm going to savor every second w/ my boys.  Christian's stats were fine.  He weighs 16 pounds, 4.6oz (23rd percentile).  He is 26 inches long (27th percentile) and his head is 43 cm (35th percentile).  He was born my largest baby and is now my smallest baby!

His name is 'Snuggle Up Orangey."

Jackson loves to find bugs and they automatically become his pet and he names them.  If we find a bug in the house, Jackson is just like Ryan - he wants us to "free" it outside....Ethan is just the opposite... He sees a bug, and he stomps on it.. (more like me!) Wonder what Christian will do... Probably eat them like Calvin does.  :) ha!!

Snuggle Up Orangey was actually our pet for almost a week before we "freed" him into the "wild."

Family Movie Nights!

We started a new tradition of doing family movie night once a week... its been really fun, and the boys look so forward to it... it's usually Friday night and it usually begins after C is in bed... We get PJ's on, pop some popcorn and just hang out.... Hope we can continue this tradition long after they've grown up.  :)

Branson Girls Trip!

 

I can't believe I haven't posted on this yet, but in late August, Stacey, Darcy and I went to Branson for the weekend.  It was SO fun!  When Ryan and I lived in Little Rock, we used to spend so much time together but now that I'm living in NWA, I don't see them as often.  Darcy and I had our latest little munchkins exactly 1 week apart, and this was her first time away from little Eli.  While we were in Branson, we ate, shopped, slept in and hung out in the jacuzzi.  It was perfect. I love these girls and miss them so much!!!  Ready for a repeat!

So flattering.

Jackson said it's a picture of "mommy dancing."  I quite love it... especially how skinny I am.

We survived Garage Sale 2013!!

This has been one of the craziest few weeks ever.  I really don't know how we're all still standing.  Honestly, it's insane.  It actually started about a month ago - Ryan tinted the Party City in Fayetteville - 88 windows and it took him a little over a week, working on it every night after work til about midnight.. Then weekends.  Poor guy was exhausted.  Immediately after, he got hired to do the First Security Bank in Springdale -so that took several days to do after work. All the while, I was preparing for our garage sale.  About 10 days before the sale, I started unloading stuff into the garage, pricing them, pulling down all the tiny baby clothes I have and labeling them Rhea Lana's style.  Then, Christian got sick.  Took him to the doc and doc said he is probably just sick with a cold.... Then, the Saturday night before the sale, Ethan got sick - vomiting and diarrhea.  Then on Tuesday, Jackson got it.  All this time, I've got 3 sick boys and I'm trying to organize a 5-family garage sale in my garage.  Ad has been paid for, 15 tables and 4 clothing racks have been borrowed...it's happening.  Ryan took off at 3p on Wednesday before the sale to make my requested "monster" signs.  He had help from two little under-the-weather boys who were tired of being stuck in the house.  The signs were amazing. Ryan put them up Wednesday night.

Then, the dreaded.  Thursday night before the sale, I got the bug.  It was BAAAAAD... Bad virus, bad timing, you name it.  It was bad.  So Ryan took off work Friday because me and the others were supposed to work on setting up the sale on Friday - supposed to be working on it all day.  Bad.  So now, I'm stuck in bed - contagious I'm sure and feeling horrible about not being able to go get it all organized after working so hard on it this whole time.  So Ryan strapped on Christian in the Baby Bjorn and away he went.  Jenny and Sara were organizing, pricing, setting up while Ryan was running around helping while corralling a baby and children...  Biggest problem - one of the newspapers got the ad messed up and put Friday AND Saturday - when the sale was supposed to only be on Saturday... So while they were trying to organize and price things, people kept showing up trying to buy things!  Ugh.... The kids were SO good though.  

The place got set up and organized and I felt better by the end of the day...

 

Then, the day finally arrived.  I felt better so there was no stopping me from being out there trying to help.  We had SO much stuff.  I mean SO MUCH.  But there are so many positive things that came out of this!  First, we had a huge crowd!!  People basically kept showing up nonstop til after 2p!! Second, the weather held out for us til we had about 85% of the stuff sold... That's when it started pouring... but we had everything in the garage by then!  Third, we all made money!  I actually did not expect to make that much and I was so pleasantly surprised... Forth, we all decided we didn't want anything leftover and Ryan took a truck load of stuff to the Samaritan House to donate. Win-Win! YAY!! 

 

Oh!! And our lovely boys had a fun lemonade stand!  They were great at it too!  They were all good salesmen.  And best of all, they all made money! 

At the end of the day, poor Ethan couldn't stand it anymore and just crashed.  Poor guy - it was a long week of feeling sick and then the craziness of the sale... he was too cute for words.

just another day at the office....

I don't think you ever get used to injuries like this, but I know it's part of having boys.  

Thankfully, boys have short memories of pain.  :)

This face!!

September Instagram Pics

 C and Uncle Ray!

 These sweet little kicks came from Rio!  How precious are they!?

Dinner in the buff.  He's definitely Ryan's kid.

 Time to put the crib bumper on!

 Our support doesn't seem to be helping.  :(

This is how Ethan loves on Christian. He has done this since C was a baby and the only thing I can think of is we used to tell him not to grab the baby's hands when he was first born... (germs!) so we used to tell him he could touch Christian's feet... and I guess it stuck.  It's really the sweetest thing...