Sharing

Ashley and I are working hard to teach the boys the concept of sharing. It's not something that any of them are good at yet...or even okay at yet honestly. We are constantly taking things away because they first refuse to share, then start pulling the toy (or whatever it is) back and forth, then usually head butting and/or biting, slapping or pinching follows. Good times.

So today we are on the way home from Heather's house; the twins are in the way back (like always). Andrew got a sucker today, so he is happy. John did not get a sucker because he jumped on Heather's couch after she asked him to stop three times.
John says to me, 'Mama, I want a lick of Andrew's sucker."
"Ask him nicely and see if he will share, John" I respond.
As the words are coming out of my mouth I am kicking myself. Why did I say that? Andrew will say no, John will start sobbing and I will have to listen to him screaming the rest of the way home.
John: "Andy, can I have a taste of your sucker?"
Andy: "Yes, John" (handing the sucker over to him)
John turns the sucker around in his mouth a few times and hands it back. A couple seconds pass.
John: "Andy, lemme have another lick of your sucker."
Andy: "okay"

I am watching them in the rear view mirror in disbelief.
Me: "Well aren't you sweet Andy! How nice of you to share your sucker! What do you tell him John?"

John: "'Preciate it. 'Preciate it Andrew!"

The whole exchange was so precious. Andy sharing something he LOVES and John expressing his 'preciation. What sweet boys!

awesome dad

Giving love and discipline, fixing broken toys and hurt feelings, teaching lessons when it would be easier not to, making us all feel extra special...

building towers, rocking the baby, cleaning the kitchen...

stepping over legos and high heels on your way to bed...

Ashley, Daddy, Da-Da

You carry us all and we love you so much.

Chocolate Resolutions

For a period of probably ten years I convinced myself that I really did not like chocolate. I actually stopped eating it (for the most part) in high school because it is so fattening. I had so much to worry about back then you know since I only exercised about 20 hours a week. Anyway, I have always loved candy like skittles, nerds, twizzlers...all the sugary stuff. This season though, I let myself fall into the trap of just eating "a little chocolate" here and there. So essentially I have gone from someone who "doesn't really like chocolate" to someone has eaten every chocolate thing that I have seen in the past month. My diet has included M&M's (peanut, regular and mint), Reece's, mini Snickers, mini Milky Way, mini 3 Musketeers, cookies, cakes, Hershey's hugs and kisses, and Twix. It's absurd.

Tonight while rocking P to sleep I told myself that it has to stop. I have to get back on the "I do not really like chocolate" wagon and stay there because I am obviously incapable of doing anything in moderation.

I have never been really big on New Year's resolutions, but I am going to have 2 resolutions in 2009: stop eating everything in sight and do some work on Preemie G. (don't ask about Preemie G. I could tell you, but I would have to kill you since I do not have a patent yet).

Andy and John have a resolution too: Get potty trained. I will wait and tell them next week.

Christmas 08

Gilfillan Christmas...

It's hard to believe that Christmas is almost over. Back to the grind tomorrow. Not really, since Ashley and I are both going to be home, but back to the disciplinary grind tomorrow. Despite getting more presents than we have room for in our house, the boys behaved pretty badly today. (Not including Wyatt)

What part of celebrating the birth of Jesus (to include eating candy, opening presents and visiting family) could possibly bring out this side of our precious boys? I am still puzzled about this.

The boys got so many wonderful things from all of their grandparents, great-grandparents and uncles and aunts. Santa, Ashley and I hooked them up of course too. Maybe the problem was sensory overload.

In spite of the bickering and whining that took up a lot of the day, the boys ended on a sweet note. In bed we were saying prayers and Andrew, I mean Andy, said "Bless baby Jesus in the manger." John followed up by saying "Happy Birthday Jesus." I am glad that in the midst of all the new toys, they know the real reason for the celebration.

Zupe it

For as long as I can remember John has said "zupe" instead of "zip".

"Mama, I zupe my jammies myself."
"I gonna zupe my jacket."
"You zuping Wyatt's sweater?"

Tonight we were reading Carl's Christmas, which we have read practically every night since May. It's a picture book, but we go through the story the same way night after night. It begins with Carl bringing the baby downstairs, wrapping a present and then the dog helps the boy get dressed.

Tonight:
Me: "what's that doggie doing?"
John: "zipping his jammies"
Me: "what did you say?"
John: "zipping up those jammies."
Me: "yep, he is zuping them (my heart sinking)."
John: "Yep, zipping them."
Me: "You're right honey....zipping them."

Awww, my baby is growing up so fast. I have to zupe my lip to keep from crying.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We began our weekend before Christmas by going to see the lights at Saluda Shoals park on Friday night. The big boys got out of their car seats and sat in the front seat with us; they loved all the lights and cried when it was time to leave.



Today our Christmas festivities continued. Grandaddy Terry and GG (my dad and step-mom) came for a pre-Christmas visit. We had a wonderful day opening some gifts, hanging out, eating lunch and enjoying each other's company.

Thanks to Dad and Gail for bringing lunch and gifts; we all love you very much.

Recent Pictures...

Granny Meg gave the boys some a gingerbread making kit. We had a blast making them. Here is John working on his "cookie bread man".

Andrew with icing on his fingers.

Andrew decided to decorate himself after he finished decorating his "cookie bread man"

Look at those thighs! So sweet!

Sweet P

When Ashley and I found out that we were having a third baby, we were shocked. We had no idea what to expect and how we would handle adding another baby in the mix. The twins were 15 months old when I found out I was pregnant. The give-away was morning sickness, which for me kicks in around 8 weeks.

Umm, yeah, that is how far along I was before I found out (don't ask). The point is that we were sort of scared. Three under two sounds daunting.

Of course, ANY baby was an amazing blessing for us. Wyatt was the answer to my prayers.

But Wyatt is not just any baby! He simply could not be any sweeter. P gets less attention that he deserves, but he never complains. As you can tell from the picture, he even takes breathing treatments in stride.


Ashley and I can not wait to see what his little personality will be like as he ages. It's so much fun to watch this little joy as he blossoms from infant to hip hugger. He'll be walking before we know it. Where does the time go??

Lyrically Challenged

The boys are really into singing, but they often get the words wrong.
A couple of recent hits have gone like this:

John singing:
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Roll it in the meadow
for Andy and me ...and WYATT! YEAH!!

Andrew singing:
The farmie in the dello
The farmie in the dello
hy-o (hum, hum)
The farmie in the dello

Tonight we were singing some Christmas songs and Andrew had a request for a song that I did not even know that he knew..."Awake in a manger"

I love the singing around here, even if the words are wrong sometimes.

God's love

Tonight while Ash was at SALT I took the boys to the Living Christmas Story at Union Methodist. If you have not ever been, it's basically a drive through Christmas story and it is pretty cool.
This was our conversation as we left:

Andrew: "I wanna see Baby Jesus."
Susan: "Honey, he's right there in the manger, but I have to keep driving because other people behind us want to see him too."
A and J: "Bye Jesus! Bye Baby Jesus."

some time passes...

Andrew: "Mama, Jesus loves me. God loves me."
Me: "You are right, honey."
Andrew: "God loves me. He wants to kiss me all day."

(I do too)!!!!!!!!!

Elf of the Shelf

If you are not familiar with this book, I highly recommend it.

Last night Santa visited our house and left an elf! This elf is watching the boys and every night he is going to go back to the North Pole and tell Santa if they have been good boys or bad. Andrew and John are so fired up about this elf (whom they very creatively named Mr. Elf). They are not allowed to hold him or touch him because his magic might disappear, and he can not talk to them. They can tell him their wish lists though!!

Tonight at bedtime they really couldn't care less about me reading the usual books. They were intent on discussing "Kanta Klaus" and Mr. Elf and acting good. It reminded me of a time when I believed in magic. It is going to be so fun to relive all the excitement through the boys' eyes. I think it is going to be better the second time around than it was the first.

Thanksgiving

For as long as I can remember, my heart has been a little heavy on holidays. I am not sure if it started soon after my parents got divorced, but I remember being young and wishing I could be in two places at one time. I remember feeling an uneasiness and wondering what my dad was doing, what my mom was doing, what my brother was doing. I was usually missing someone or driving to see someone, neither of which I think are a great way to spend a holiday.

This year was something entirely different.

Ashley's parents had my family for Thanksgiving. My family. Not just my mom and not just my brother, but both. And their spouses. And my brother's three children who are all under 5. The only things missing were my dad and step-mom, but I knew that they were having a great time in Florida and for what seemed like the first time in a while, I had inner peace on a holiday.
After eating a delicious lunch everyone went outside and threw football. The kids threw rocks in the lake and the adults sat around and watched the kids and the view and enjoyed each other's company.
Were we filming a Hallmark commercial? Nope, this was our Thanksgiving.
Maybe this is a new tradition?
Even if we never do it again, it will always stand out in my mind as a wonderful day.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub

Kanta Klaus is coming

Put a Lou Holtz-esque speech impediment on that title and you have our little Andrew talking about Santa! I never realized how much mileage we would get out of the statement:

"You better be good because Santa is watching you."

At 2.5 years old they know that bad behavior= no presents.
Tonight at bedtime Andrew told John, "John, you listening or Kanta Klaus not come see you John. No toys. Do you understand me? He is peeping in that window at you, John."

John, who is a little more skittish when it comes to strangers said, "NO! HE NOT. HE NOT."
It was really so much fun to watch them talk.

Last year I bought this book at the Holiday Market called Elf on the Shelf. Last year they were too young to appreciate it but this year they are golden. I can not wait!

Now if we only figure out when we are going to go Christmas shopping....

Another not so "well visit"

PatPat is now 9 months. I am not sure where the time went but last week he had his nine month well visit. The problem was that he was not well. Poor little bear was coughing incessantly. Had we not had the appt already scheduled, we would have had to go to the doctor that day anyway. No shots for P!! That sounds great except that he did not get any 6 months shots either because of his hospitalizations so we are falling behind. I do plan to have my child vaccinated but playing catch up makes me a little nervous too.

The doctor had lots of questions for us.
Is he pulling up? Nope.
Is he going from a lying down position to sitting up on his own? Nope.
Is he crawling? Nope.
Little P just sat there with a smile that said, "why rush things, Dr. Trey? I will only be young once".
Truth be told I am not encouraging P's mobility. Two in two directions and one on my hip works well for me. Three in three different directions is frightening.
He does clap. He does say "dada" and "mama" (who cares if he does not know what he is saying). He does have one little bottom tooth.

P is no longer off the charts in terms of size. He is in the 60% for height and weight and 75% for head circumference. That big brain of his needs space!!
He is still as sweet as a peach and adorable too. Some things never change.

CHEEEESE!

Three boys looking at the camera, smiling (or at least not crying), sitting still, sitting close, sitting down. This is a rare moment at the Gilfillan house.

Good thing Ashley caught it on camera.

Bedtime Stories

Every night we read stories to the boys before putting them to bed. They know the words to most of their books so I have a way of pausing so that they fill in the blank that is implied by my silence with whatever word is next in the story.

While reading Stinky Face last night I would leave out a word, just like always.

S: "Mama, mama, what if I were a meat eating dinosaur? Would you still love me then?"

"If you were a meat eating dinosaur I would make you a mountain of __________." (The missing word is hamburger).

Andy: "HAMBURGER STEAK"

This is probably only funny if you know that Ashley loves hamburger steak and eats it fairly often, but it definitely made Ashley and I chuckle!

Wyatt the PatPat

Some call him Wyatt, some call him PatPat...my brother's three kids call him Wyatt the PatPat! Our little P is getting his first tooth. At first you could only feel it, but now you can see it if you look closely when he smiles. Isn't P adorable?

Night with Granny Meg and Pop

Saturday night the boys spent the night with Granny Meg and Pop.

Tonight we were reading books before bed.
Me: "Tell me everything you did at Granny Meg and Pop's last night. I want to hear it all."
A: "We played outside, we walking wiff honey. We holdin' on to Pop and say 'stay on the grass'".
Me" "Oh, really. What about going to the mall? Did you go to the mall"
A: "Yeah and rode a horsey" (referring to the merry-go-round)
J: "No, I rode a froggy"
A: "Mana Meg went in time out."
Me: "Really??"
A: "No, Pop do."
J: "No, Andy go to timeout?"
Me: "Did anyone have to go to timeout...seriously boys"
A: "No, Pop do."

Maybe I will never know!
I love these little conversations before bedtime when the boys are hanging on me and speaking in whispers. So sweet.

Good enough

Good enough. Good enough? Good enough.

Those two little words can mean so many different things. When Andrew and John were in the NICU one of the nurses told me that I needed to familiarize myself with the words "Good enough" really quickly. That passing comment struck a chord in me and I find myself thinking about it a lot, even 2.5 years after she said it.
Is the house clean? It's good enough. Was dinner okay? It was good enough. Does this match? Ummm, good enough. So many things that I question do not really matter. So yeah, they are good enough.
Then the important things come to the surface. How am I doing as a wife? mother? sister? daughter? friend? Christian? professional? (not necessarily in this order) It's not okay just to be good enough. I hope that all those closest to me know how much I love them and want to be enough for them. Enough in a good way.

So now that I have that off my chest I can go on to other things.....

I managed to make it through the entire election without comment. Now that the country has spoken, I am so energized by what it can mean for the United States to have elected the first African-American President. Our nation has come so far in 50 years. I am moved at the thought that my children will never know the prejudice and segregation that my parents knew. Barack has an uphill battle ahead of him. His job will not be easy, but do I think he can affect change in this nation? YES HE CAN!

In other monumental news, P just started crawling! Okay, so this might not be as monumental as the election of the first Black President, but it is pretty big for the Gilfillan family. Instead of having two boys going in two directions, we now have three boys going in three directions...almost. He is not totally mobile yet, but getting there quickly.
What will we do?
How will we keep up with them all?
We will do it together.

Tagged

Ashley tagged me and asked that I post the sixth picture in the sixth folder on my computer. Most of our pictures are saved on Ashely's Mac so I bent the rules a little. I went to my personal folder in hotmail and found the sixth email on the sixth page. It was a picture from my step-mom. She emailed me this after a day visit. I remember it well. Andrew was asleep in the other room while this picture was taken of John. He has grown up so much.

Unfortunately, it ends here. I do not know who else actually reads my blog so I can not tag anyone. Ashley, thank you for jogging my memory.

Our precious boys

I am going in birth order and just citing some things that were said/done this weekend that made me smile. It would be so horrible to forget this stuff.

Andrew:

It made my heart smile so big to watch Andrew with Granny this Halloween. She has been having some health problems lately. Nothing too serious, but nevertheless it has been a reminder to me that she is getting older. If Granny has ever loved anything in her life, it has been our boys. She adores them. As anyone could tell on Halloween, the feelings are mutual. John was thoroughly thrilled to see everyone, but Andrew was beside himself with excitement over seeing Granny. He literally climbed up her to get into her arms. He hung from her neck, held her hand, land aughed with her. She went with us on a hay ride at the end of the night. It had gotten very cold and Andrew and Granny sat together keeping each other warm. Andrew across her lap, facing her, cheek to cheek, holding her around the neck. In the dim light from the tractor they both looked so peaceful. I wished I had a camera with me. It made me think...I know Granny won't always be here and I hope that Andrew will remember how much joy they brought each other.

John:

I was tucking the boys in tonight. We were picking out PJ's and taking off the pull-ups (they call them "undies") and putting on night diapers. I was changing Andy on the bed and JD was on the floor pulling off his shoes, socks and "undies" all by himself. I put him on the bed to put on his diaper.

John: "Andrew not take off his undies?"
Me: "Nope, I took his off for him."
John: "I take mines off."
Me: "I know JD. You are such a big boy for taking off your undies all by yourself."
John: "Daddy gonna be proud of me?"
Me: "Yes, little bear. Your dad is so proud of you."

Then the biggest smile broke across his face. So happy to make his daddy proud.


JD also did something really funny yesterday: picked his nose and offered it to his dad!!
Ash: "No thanks buddy"
John: "You not want my booger?"
Ash: "No, I do not want your booger. Thanks anyway for sharing."

Wyatt:
Wyatt and I nap together every Sunday. Today was no different. Ashley always puts the twins down for their nap while I take PatPat. I hum the same song every time and pat him on the bottom. He gets all warm in the crook of my arm and within minutes, his dark eyes start getting too heavy to hold open anymore. He dozes off in my arms and his breathing steadies. I am usually not far behind him. I hope that he will still nap with me when he is 5. I love that time together.

Potty time

So we bit the bullet this weekend and started potty training the boys. We started Saturday morning bright and early. Three hours into it, Andrew had gone through like ten pull-ups. He was not catching on at all. Introduce C-A-N-D-Y!! It's amazing what 2.5 yr olds will do for a few candy corns. We made it through the day with Andrew about pottying in the right place about 50% of the time and John about 75% of the time. John even told me he had to potty once and he actually did. Andrew faked urgency in an attempt to get more candy but we stuck to our guns; no tinkle, no candy.
So I was thinking, hey, my boys are doing pretty well. This is not going to be so bad. Then in Sunday School this morning Brian Comer told me that they are still trying to get AM to poopie on the potty and it has been 5 months. So now I am wondering if their teeth are going to rot out in the process of potty training. I guess baby teeth are not that important, right?!?!?

Halloween and playing catch up...

Our little Curious George with Nana!

PatPat looking over Pop's shoulder...

Our Halloween crew...minus Ash (taking the picture).

We celebrated Halloween in Chapin this year. Crooked Creek park had a Halloween carnival that was fabulous...and most importantly, indoors (mostly). Our night started on the Trick or Treat trail. The boys were more interested in the sticks and the candles along the trail than they were the candy. We held up traffic a lot.

Once we were finished with the trail, we went inside for games. The boys fell in love with a big inflatable slide and that was the highlight of the night. You would think that having two adults for every child would make the night easy, but we were still busy. The boys got special treats from Granny Meg and Nana and Granny. It was a great night.

Now for the playing catch up part...I have a lot to write tonight, so bare with me as I ramble.

John's baby

It was finally warm enough to play outside "a wittle bit" this afternoon. John held Wyatt so we could relax...
I mentioned that JD loves to hold PatPat's hand on the way to Heather's house every morning. Here is a picture to prove it. I hope that they are always this close. It just does not get any sweeter.

First Word

Our little P bear had another big first this week....his first "word".

Just like Andrew and John, his first word is a shout out to good ol' dad!

"dada dada dada"

Even if it's not "mama", it is still music to my ears.

Hand holding

Ashley takes the boys to Heather's house in the mornings.
Wyatt sits facing backwards with Andrew and John are on either side of him; every morning John holds his baby brother's hand the whole way there.

I can not think of many things sweeter.

Monday Already

We had another busy weekend and I can not believe that it is Monday already. I was really sad this morning on my way to work because I felt like our weekend went by too quickly and I wanted more time with the boys...all four of them (including Ash). :)

Friday night was pretty low key. Ashley and I both thought that not laying down on the couch during a movie would help me stay awake; umm, sorry Ash, no dice.

Saturday we split up; Andy and Ashley went to Chapin to check on our boat after a terrible wind storm came through and beached our boat in Ashley's parents yard. It was still there. Not taking on water.

(Do we actually have a boat? Oh yea, I remember when we used to go to the lake a lot).

Saturday I took John for a haircut and a visit with Granna Ann. PatPat came along with us...although you could easily forget that he was there. John saw his friend Eliza at Granna Ann's. He was a man of few words, but he loved the cheetos she had to share!

Later Saturday we went to our neighborhood Halloween party and then to a baby shower for some friends of ours.

Sunday took the cake. FBC had a Fall Festival complete with candy, food (ish), music and games. The boys had a ball. The loved the helicopters. I think we will continue to come year after year. Nana, Papa, and Chad came along with us which made the boys even happier. Hopefully they will continue to come with us; I can only imagine what it will be like keeping up with everyone once Wyatt gets mobile.

That was it. Weekend over. Monday already.

John's conversations

My conversations with John are usually about one of four subjects: trucks, chicken biscuits, trash cans, and daddy. He loves all these things (not in this order).

Tonight Ashley had SALT, a weekly Bible study that he has been a part of for a few months.
While I gave Wyatt his bottle tonight, Andrew laid on the couch begging for me to rub his head and John walked around pretending to talk on my cell phone.

(Phone to ear)
John: "Hey, Hey Daddy. Wha' you doooin'?"
silence
John: "You at church Daddy?"
silence
John: "You take you Bible?"
silence
John: "okay, bye Daddy"

2 minutes later....

"Hey Daddy. Wha' you doooin;"
"You take you Bible?"

3 minutes later....

"Hey Daddy. Wha' you dooooin'?"


You get the picture!!

New Pictures

Wyatt's head is actually bigger than John's; it's not just the camera angle.

If there is a re-make of "Home Alone", Andrew is ready. He is cuter than Macauley anyway!

Same ol', Same ol'

Our lives are pretty predictable. We get up to the sound of the twins talking, laughing or crying. I dress the boys and feed Wyatt while Ashley showers and gets dressed. He takes them to Heather's while I shower and get ready. I leave for work. Ashley works all day. I work all day. We talk on the phone a few times. I leave work and go get the boys. We come home. Getting them to come inside is a fight. I make dinner while Ash entertains the kids. We say our blessing and eat. I bathe the boys all at once, Ash cleans the kitchen. We all play on the floor until bedtime. I make Wyatt's bottle and Ashley reads to the boys on the couch. Wyatt falls asleep in my arms and I carry him to his room. The boys kiss their dad goodnight and I take them to bed. We say our prayers, give kisses and hugs and then I leave the room. It is the same thing pretty much every day. Same ol', same ol'. Some might find it boring. Mundane. Lacking spontaneity.

Of course there was a time in life when Ashley and I had no plan. We just waited to see what the day and night would bring and never thought about the next meal or bedtime.
Times have changed. We have changed.

It warms my heart to see Andy and John laying across their dad while he reads the same book 15 times with just as much enthusiasm the 14th time as he had the 1st. I love to watch my PatPat falling asleep, heavy eyes, mouth barely moving around his bottle. Breathing slowly, smelling so sweet.
I wish these days would never end.

Almost perfect trip

This weekend me, my mom (Granny Meg), and the boys went to visit my brother and his family in Chapel Hill. It was a fast trip and so good to see the my niece and nephews...and so good to see my boys seeing their cousins. We were also able to celebrate my brother's recent promotion to full professor at Duke.

It was a rough start. Mom and I could have driven to Disney in the time it took to get to Chapel Hill on Friday night. First, we went to see Granna Ann, then I got on I77 going in the wrong direction and was so busy talking that I did not notice until I had been on the road for 20 minutes. In my own defense, it was raining. I had wanted to leave in time to miss 5:00 traffic in Charlotte. Instead though, we were caught in 5:00 traffic in Columbia. And then did I seriously forget to pack diapers?? How does that happen? So, we had to stop. We wanted to eat at Chick-Fil-A. We saw a sign that there was one off of the exit....the sign failed to say it was 5 miles and 3 turns (2 of them u-turns) off of the exit. After eating dinner (John ate off the floor and fell out of the booth onto his head) we were finally on the road. We got in late, but it was good to be there.

Saturday we had my grandparents over for lunch and the kids played and played. Instead of "PatPat got a letter" (the boys' song for Wyatt taken from Blues Clues) David's kids sang "PatPat got a stinky"
Sunday we all went to my brother's church. Thomas actually read two separate passages. He is barely 5 and is reading like a third grader. And he is just as sweet as he is smart (just like my brother).

After a lunch at Firehouse Subs, complete with fireman's hats for everyone, we were back on the road. The trip was kind of a blur. 6 kids under 6 will keep you very busy.

It was almost perfect. It was missing one thing though...Ashley. Daddy. Uncle Ash. Sweetheart. Ashley stayed behind this trip and although we had fun, it was not the same without him.

Lots of first

Just when I was totally convinced that PatPat would be my most developmentally delayed child (due to girth) he has proven me wrong and been doing all kinds of exciting firsts! He is sitting up without assistance for long periods of time and even started holding his own bottle today!! Tonight we pulled the jumperoo out of the attic (in case you are not familiar, it is basically an exersaucer with springs) and P bear jumped his little legs off. If he keeps up this level of exercise for long, I fear that his rolls will disappear completely.

After baths the boys all played together on the floor. Below you can see the PatPat sandwich! The big boys love to hug and kiss PatPat. He is so lucky to have two wonderful big brothers. What more could a little boy want................except maybe a baby sister in a few years. (don't say no Ash. just think about it)

Man I love these three so much I can barely stand it!!

Alone together

Another fun weekend has come and gone. It was busy and fun like most of our weekends, but there was one big difference. Ashley and I were alone. Alone together. Quiet. No bottles to be made, no Noggin on TV, no fights to break up, no tears at bedtime.
Friday night Ashley and I went out to eat Mexican food and came home and rented a movie, that despite being an action flick, put me to sleep (sorry Ash, some things will never change). Saturday we slept late and for maybe the first time since we have had children, we did nothing. We did not go out to eat breakfast, or lunch, or go shopping, or buy groceries....we did nothing other than talk and watch football. Saturday night we went to the wedding of a friend of ours in Sumter. It was a gorgeous wedding and was a perfect end to our weekend together. There is nothing like going to a wedding to make you think about all the things that you love about your husband. It doesn't seems like long ago that it was us exchanging vows, grinning from ear to ear, holding hands, sweating.
Sunday we met Ashley's parents at church to reclaim our baby bears. Is it possible that the twins grew over the course of one weekend? Could Wyatt have gotten sweeter? I missed them a lot but I also realized that I had missed Ashley since we last spent time alone together. I hope we can do that again soon, Ash. You make me smile.

Boys' Big weekend

We had a wonderful and very busy weekend. The party got started at Country Adventures on Friday night. We met up with a bunch of our friends from FBC and went on a hay ride, picked out some pumpkins, ate hot dogs and morj (S'mores) and saw lots of farm animals. The bunny rabbit was the biggest hit.

We had a wonderful night. Wyatt and John were asleep before we got out of Blythewood.

The next morning Granddaddy Terry and GG came for a visit. After playing with their new toys (the twins got motorcycles and P bear got some stacking rings) all 7 of us piled into 2 cars and headed to see Krissy. If you do not already know, that means we went to the zoo; Krissy is the giraffe that the boys love. They were predictably happy to see her, but chickened out at feeding time. G-daddy Terry and Daddy had to do the actual feeding, but it was exciting! NOTHING however was better than the merry-go-round. Thank goodness for Ash. Just looking at the merry-go-round makes me feel sick to my stomach, so riding it is totally out. Their daddy always comes through for them!

After a few hours walking around the zoo, we headed to Fuddruckers for lunch. The big hit at Fuddruckers was the bacuum cleaner. :)

Sunday John was not feeling 100% so I took Andy and Pat to church. Nothing could keep me from being there to hear Kathy Ritchie sing God is Here. What an amazing and moving song!

Nana and Papa came by with some awesome surprises for the whole family that afternoon! Thank you Papa for our Fedex stuff! We love you.

If this post seems totally disjointed, Ashley Lindler's playlist is to blame. It is hard to type about your weekend while singing Rusted Root. Reminds me and Ash of our old days!

Smart Mouth

Ashley came inside tonight to find Andrew already out of time out. I let him get up...maybe too soon.

Susan: "Andrew, what do you say to Daddy"?
Andrew: "sorry, sorry daddy".
Susan: "Andrew, what are you sorry for"?
Andy: "I sorry for being a fart mouth".

Where's Jesus

Last night on the way home from Granna Ann's house Andrew asked from the backseat:
"mama, where is Jesus?"
Frankly, I was taken aback by the question. We pray with the kids every day and talk about Jesus, but until yesterday, they had never asked about Jesus by name.

"Jesus is in Heaven and also in your heart, sweet pea" I told him (thinking wow...we might be entering our first two way conversation about Christ).

"No mama, He sleeping. He take a nap. Jesus tired." Andy said.

Okay, so we are not quite there...but we are getting somewhere.

Today on the way home from Heather's, Andy asked me again, "mama, where Jesus?".
(Again, I start thinking this is it. Our first real conversation about Jesus).

"Jesus is in your heart Andrew. He is also in Heaven. He loves you very much."

"No mama, He working. Jesus at work."

Very true. Jesus is working. In me. In the boys. In Ash. Please keep working, Jesus. I have a long way to go.

Rained out

All week last week we had been promising the boys that if they were good, we could go to the Street Dance. They did not know what that meant, but they bought into it and every time they started to act up, we just had to give them a look and they would say "I be good. I wanna go street dance"!!
Friday rolled around and with it came rain...and cold. We could not go to the street dance but had to do something fun after we had been promising all week.
Ashley and I decided on Frankie's Fun Park.
The boys had a ball. They ran around like chickens and got sensory overload from all the lights, sounds and people.
After leaving Frankie's we went to dinner at San Jose. (John actually called Krissy, our favorite giraffe, out the window of the restaurant).
We packed in the car to head home and the boys wanted to know where we were going next.

John:"where andybody going daaad?"
Ash: "we are going home now buddy."
Andy:"we not going home dad?"
JD:"we not go your house daaad."

Andy and JD:"WE GO FRANKIE'S HOUSE"!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe we can go back to Frankie's house sometime soon.

Our prayers

ME: Lord, thank you for this day and for all the blessings that you have given us. Please bless our family, Lord.

This is where the boys take over.

A: Bess Nana and Papa!
J: Bess Mana Meg!
A: aaaaaaaaaaaand bess Pop!
J: and bess Honey!
A: aaand Pop!
J: aaaand Bess Doc Hudsit (Doc Hudson from Cars)
A: and Bess Krissy (the giraffe they feed)

silence....

Me: Amen
Boys in unison: YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Brought together by lindler5??

Today at church when we were about to pick up the kids I passed Merritt Pace and her husband, Steven. I said hello and Merritt spoke back to me and I wondered if she feels like she knows me like I feel like I know her. I read Ashley Lindler's blog all the time and of course I have clicked on all the blog's of her friends as well. As a result, I feel like I know people who I do not really know. Kind of weird I guess. Today I wondered if maybe they read my blog too. Do you know my kids' names and laugh at the funny things that happen at our house?

If so, please keep reading....and I will do the same. :)

Tonight at dinner I watched Andrew and John eat chicken Parmesan and garlic bread...with a fork. It is amazing to stop and think how far they have come in 2.5 years. They have gone from being fed through an iv, to a ng tube, worked their way up to being able to take all 8 bottles per day while breathing so that they could come home from the hospital...and now, 2 short years later, they are eating chicken Parmesan with a fork. It is truly amazing. From 2.5 pounds to over 25 pounds. Their growth has been truly miraculous.

We got our pictures made for the church directory this week. There was a crowd of people there waiting to get their pictures made; Ashley needed to leave for SALT. The boys were NOT happy to see their daddy go. They wanted to go with him and ride in his "big truck".

I was trying to convince three tired, hungry children that we are going home soon. They were not acting their best. Even Wyatt was fussing. Of course, whenever we are in that situation (it happens to Ashley just as often as it does to me) people always say "wow, you have your hands full." or "I do not know how you do it" or "Better you than me". Of course, there are times when they drive me a little batty (not Wyatt yet) but I am so glad to be doing it. We are so blessed to have three crying children.

We're even more blessed when they smile!! :)

Our little performer

Ashley recently bought the boys a little keyboard. It is not a full-sized keyboard, but it is not a baby's toy either. It came complete with a microphone stand and sheet music. The boys love it. They love it so much that they have not gotten a chance to play with it very often. Typically the keyboard gets taken away from them because they can not share.
Today John was into something else so Andrew had his keyboard all to himself. Ashley plugged in the microphone and Andrew turned on the charm. We are still trying to teach him that you do not actually put the microphone IN your mouth, but he is having a ball performing for the family. He sang Twinkle while Ashley played it on the keyboard. What a pair!!

Trips to the zoo

We have been going to the zoo a lot lately....last week the boys went to the zoo three times. We do not have a membership yet for some reason. I am sure we would if the boys didn't get in free. Each time we go to the window it's the same thing.

Me or Ashley: Two adults and three kids under three
Cashier: Three kids under three??

Yea, I know.

Between 10:00 and 1:30 you can feed the giraffes. Typically there is a crowd on the deck and you pay your dollar for a hand full of lettuce and the giraffes eat out of your hand. Ashley or I always actually feed them, even though the boys insist that they REALLY want to do it this time.
Sunday we went to feed them, but they were full I guess.
We called, but they did not come.

Come here Krissy! Come here giraffes. Hey giraffes, come eat!

We got a refund for the lettuce.

So this morning on the way to Miss Heather's house the boys started calling again...
"Come here Krissy!! Here Krissy!!"

They grin from ear to ear.

Maybe we will see her this weekend. Hopefully she will be hungry!

A few recent pictures...

Boys at the beach Boys on the swings
Fun at Frankie's Fun Park...they had only been once and did not remember it!
John was in Heaven at Frankie's!!
Sweet P in the hospital. Pat did not let a few iv's get him down!!

Please allow me to introduce myself

Ashley: JD, what's your full name?
John: Ashley Gilfillan

Ashley: No, that is my name. What is YOUR name?
John: Andrew Gilfillan

Ashley: No, buddy, that is your brother's name! What is YOUR name?
John: John Dabid Gilfiwlam

We all cheer!! YEAH!!
5 minutes later...

Ash: Hey John, what is your whole name?
John: Ashley Gilfillan

Heal this family

God, please heal this family.

That has been my prayer for the past two weeks it seems; every night I go to Him in prayer begging to make Pat well, heal John's stomach bug...and mine...and Granny Meg's...and Nana's.
Even though our ailments have been pretty minor, it is easy to get overwhelmed with what is going on and feel like I can not take it.

Then Friday Ashley and I just happened to be watching a special called Stand up to Cancer. The show was filled with stories of real people, told mostly by celebrities. It was sweet and sad and put a lot into perspective.

Lord, thank you for our health. Lord, what would I do if my child were terminally ill? God, please be with the man on the show who lost his 4 year old son.

Wyatt

For the past several months, really as long as I can remember, Wyatt has wheezed and coughed a lot. We have taken him to the pediatrician several times for it. Sometimes they hear what I am talking about, sometimes they don't.
Typically he has an ear infection.
Antibiotics. Re-check. Still infected. Rochephine shots. Two nights of sleep. Another ear infection. Great.

While we were in Hilton Head, Wyatt sounded bad. The last night we were there we ran out of Xopenex and I was not really sure what to do. We gave him all his other meds and called the doctor the next morning. The on call doc said to watch him and bring him in on Monday if everything stayed the same. Of course, things got worse.

Sunday morning Wyatt and I dressed for church thinking surely we would go to the doctor and they would send me out with a new prescription and we would come to church like we have 3 of the past 5 Sundays. Luckily Wyatt is really good, so he can sit with me in church and no one knows that he is there.

This Sunday instead of going to church, we went to the hospital. The doctor wanted to run tests because he has been such a mystery and because his respiratory issues have lasted so long. After tests for RSV, pneumonia and cystic fibrosis all came back negative (thank you Lord) he was started on asthma medications and started improving a lot. After IV antibiotics and observation by respiratory therapists and we got to come home on Tuesday.

He gets tubes in his ears tomorrow. Poor baby. He will be awake.
I can only imagine how sweet Wyatt will be without chronic ear infections. He is such a sweet baby and such a joy to our family.
His first six months with us have gone by like the blink of an eye. Hopefully he will be feeling a lot better in his next six months.

Playing catch up

It has been so long since I have had a chance to give an update on the boys.

Last Saturday we returned from a week at the beach with Nana and Papa. Nana and Papa found the place and we provided the entertainment!! Even though the weather was not nice all the time, we had a wonderful time. Sandra and I took the boys on long walks, Ashley took the twins for bike rides, we swam in the pool, the ocean and the bathtub together. We went to the park and jammed to the music of Shannon Tanner (Andrew did most of the rocking). I napped with the boys, they built us towers, threw ice in the lagoon, fed the turtles a sandwich (their way of saying a piece of bread) and played at the park (indoor and outdoor parks).

Ashley and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary while we were in Hilton Head. Nana and Papa were nice enough to keep the kids and allow us a day by ourselves to connect and talk about something other than time outs and trees being cut down (workmen were doing pruning in Palmetto Dunes and John got a little obsessed with it). I absolutely love those days we can spend together with no one to take care of but each other and no where to be but together. We are very blessed to have each other and it is easy to take it for granted...we try not to, but when you live with three people under 3 feet tall...just trust me. Ashley, I love you so much.

Okay, so back to the update on the bears.
Sandra and I got caught in a rainstorm/monsoon while walking on the beach with John and Andrew. Before the rain started we were collecting shells. Once the drops started, we headed back toward our stuff and within 30 seconds we were getting pelted with what felt like hail, but maybe it was just rain drops coming at us sideways at 35 mph.
Maybe I am being dramatic.
It was bad though.

She and I both picked up a baby and started running (seriously, running. In fact, I have not gotten that much exercise since before I got pregnant with the twins). Andrew was with Sandra and John was with me. Finally, we made it back to the villa!
Thank you God. Thanks for getting us back safely and thank you so much for ensuring that Wyatt was not with us.
At this point, we had switched babies. Andrew was not clinging to me like a little koala bear hanging on to his mommy for dear life. We got inside and he lifted his head off of my shoulder and whispered to me, "Here Mama!". He opened his tiny hand and there was a shell he had picked up while we were on the beach, before the storm, before the run back, before ducking through several parking garages.

He had held on to that shell. Now I will hold on to it...forever. Sweet gift from my sweet boy.

Like Father, Like Son

Ashley loves cars. We have been married for 7 years and I think that he has probably had 5 cars in that time. Don't get me wrong, he does not have extravagant cars, and he does not like to work on cars, but he likes cars. He can look on carmax.com as a means of passing the time; I prefer taking a nap. He likes something new (new to him); he likes to look at cars as we go on long road trips and comment about the "new body style". Typically I have no idea what the new body style is, or the old one for that matter. I like cars that would be more expensive to maintain for a month than the cost of buying the car. If it is old and boxy with a random color of leather interior, chances are I like it. So practical. Poor Ashley. He has no one to discuss cars with...until now.

John, at 2 years of age, is already commenting on cars. On the way to Mrs. Heather's house in the morning he can always be heard saying "Daddy, whoa, look at that big truck!" He loves trucks, "cool buses", tractors and lawnmowers. If it has a motor and gets you from point A to B, John is in awe of it. Today on the way home John said, "Mama, WHAT is that?" in reference to a convertible in front of us.

Our conversation was something like:

John: "Mama, WHAT IS THAT?"
Me: "John, that is some kind of convertible which means that it is a car that you can take the roof off of"
John: (getting more excited) "Mama what IS IT?"
Me: "It's a convertible, sweetheart. Do you like it? Try to say that word...con-ver-ti-ble"
JOhn: "Conbertiber"
Me: "Yes, honey! Convertible!"
John: "Mama, let me SEE that car (insert Boston accent for the word "car"). I wanna say hey to it!!"

Me: "John, you and your daddy are going to have so much fun together honey."
(About that time I pulled in the turning lane to make a left into our neighborhood).

John: "Mama, WE HOOOOME"

Love/hate relationship

I have had over two years to distance myself from the NICU experience that I had with John and Andrew...a place where it was not out of the ordinary to see your child get poked with needles, receive blood transfusions, have assistance breathing, etc. By the time Andrew was just over a year old he had only had one ear infection. The problem was that it lasted like 4 months. Our pediatrician said he needed tubes so we were at the ENT a week later getting tubes...right then and there...in the office. They strapped my baby down and put tubes in his ears. He fought hard and emerged beet red and sweating but he was instantly a new baby. I knew we had done the right thing.

We just found out this week that Wyatt needs tubes. I know from experience that they will make him well again. He will sleep through the night again; little Pat Pat will feel better. Even so, the thought of my sweet baby getting tubes in his ears at 6 months of age is enough to reduce me to tears as I type this. I love the fact that there is a treatment out there that will make him feel good again, but I hate the fact that he has to go through this.

Losing a son

I just started a new job recently...a very busy new job at a big company where I only know maybe 2% of the employees. It's very different from anywhere else that I have ever worked where I knew everyone very well, knew their children's names, knew what they did on the weekends and in some cases even knew what they ate for dinner the night before.

Today while eating lunch with 4 of the maybe 20 people that I know, I heard that someone who works there lost her son last night. He died in a car wreck. I do not know the lady whose son was tragically taken from her and chances are that I will never know her. I certainly won't hear stories about what she and her child did the weekend before.

I literally wanted to pass out just thinking about someone losing their son. All I could think is how I would be totally worthless if I were in her shoes. Unemployable. Unable to function except that I would find the strength to carry on for Ashley and my other two babies.
Sitting there wanting to cry for her loss my thoughts went to God. His only son, dying on a cross to save me...and my children...and anyone who accepts him. Absolutely amazing.

What's for dinner?

Two nights ago...

Me: "John, What do you want for dinner tonight?"
John: "Applesauce"
Me: "Okay, you can have that, but what else would you like?"
John: "Doughnuts"
Me: "Sorry John, we are not having doughnuts for dinner. Would you like chicken?"
John: "Doughnuts"
Me: "John, chicken or a sandwich?"
John: "Doughnuts"
Me: "Seriously John, chicken or a sandwich. You need something to go with your applesauce."
John: "Doughnuts"

Tonight...

Ashley: "Andrew, would you like to drink water or milk?" (No sugary drinks after 5:00 PM is a new rule in an attempt to get the boys to sleep through the night; we feel like it is reasonable to expect them to sleep through the night at 2.5 years old, but what do we know?)
Andrew: "Apple juice"
Ashley: "That is not one of the choices. Water or Milk."
Andrew: "I wanna water, milk, no apple juice."
Ashley: "Son, chose water or milk."
Andrew: "Apple juice"
Ashley: "Andrew do you want water?"
Andrew: "Apple juice"

Ashley: (with a smile/sigh) "Okay buddy, you are going to get milk."

While I am not exactly sure why we give them choices, I also hope that they are always brave enough to be decisive and persistent all the time...not only when it applies to dinner.

Our Little Singer

Both John and Andrew like to sing, but Andy especially LOVES music. When a good song comes on the radio, he pumps his little fist in the backseat and sways back and forth to the music. Not long ago, he could be heard singing Alicia Keyes "No one"...the chorus at least.

Lately his repertoire has grown to include "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Jesus Loves Me", "Ring Around the Rosey", and his favorite "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". His version is priceless. His dad and I put him up to singing whenever we think we can get away with it and what comes out of his mouth is music to our ears...

"Tinkle Tinkle Lila Saaar
Howa wonna whashoo arrrrr.
Uppa buva sky so high
Like a diamon in the sigh
Tinkle tinkle Lila Saar
Howa wonna whashoo arrr."

Been a while...

So much has been going on with us in the past three weeks that I barely know where to begin. Since I have last posted we have had a sick baby, two sick parents, a trip to the beach, a busted open head, a new job, and a lot of laughs! Wyatt, who is now weighing in at a whopping 19.4 pounds has bronchitis and an ear infection. He is on antibiotics and breathing treatments. Both Ashley and I have fought some kind of crud ourselves, but we are all on the mend.

We had a chance to go to the beach with our friends Shannon and Betsy Lockaby and their kids. It was very nice; we did not stay for long, but the kids truly enjoyed going to the beach and the pool. We were hoping that they were taking notes on behavior from Brenna and Aiden, but no such luck.

When we got back from our trip, I started a new job as the Program Manager for TechCentral onsite at BCBS of SC. It is a great position and I just hope that I am able to do a good job at work and at home. It's full time and the last thing I want is for the boys to suffer in any way from the added time away from me and Ashley. So far, so good though.

Hopefully I will start posting with more regularity again. The boys do so many things that keep us smiling.

Conversations at our house...

Right now our boys are all in the perfect stage of talking (Andrew and John forming their 4 and 5 word sentences) and making sounds (Wyatt cooing and gurgling). If I could tape record their every syllable and misused pronoun, I am convinced that I could make money selling it to moms and grandmothers everywhere. It is possible that I am slightly biased...maybe.

Since raising three young kids takes four hands (Ashley and I are both in the game at all times) all we can do is listen and watch while they grow up in front of our eyes.

Last night while making Wyatt a bowl of rice cereal, Andrew came over to see if I needed a "helper".

Andy: Mommy, I do'd it.
Me: No Andrew, let Mommy make Wyatt's cereal this time. ( I knew not to mention "rice" as that is currently his favorite foods and borderline obsession).
Andy: Mommy, I shake-a bottle.
Me: Actually honey, this is a bowl of cereal for him to eat (as I add water which is Andrew's other true love at the moment).
Andy: Fydo eata wadoo?
Me: Yes, baby, Wyatt is eating water.

This is funnier if you know how often "wadoo" is the topic of conversation at our house; they love to pour water, spray water, drink water from bottles, water plants, dunk their heads in water, splash water, say goodbye to water as it goes down the drain, etc.

And as I type a little water comes down my cheeks.

Books

I was an English major, although you would never guess that by reading my posts. My parents spent a lot of money for me to take poetry, Linguistics, Shakespeare's tragedies, Adolescent Lit (I am dead serious), etc...
Four years of English classes and now my writing is littered with grammatical errors. I leave entire words out of sentences and I do not even notice until much later, because I do not take the time to proof read. Now I write like I talk; I tell myself that it does not matter if it is perfect because I am just doing this so I won't forget how cute my boys are, but it is a little embarrassing if I am being honest.
I chose English as a major as kind of the path of least resistance. I like reading though...when I have time. When I was sitting in Keen Butterworth's Southern Lit class talking about Zora Neale Hurston or William Faulkner, I never dreamed that in ten years I would be reading a lot more Dr. Seuss than anything else!
We MIGHT have another English major in the family. Andrew loves to read. He goes to bed every night reading and wants me to read to him immediately when he wakes up in the morning!
What I really love is that he renames all of his books.
Some of his favorites include: "Carl's Christmas" ,"Stinky Face", "Cars", "Kittens", "What's Wrong Little Pookie" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"

Andrew refers to these books as: "Doggie Night Night", "Child", "Cars", "Kitty Kak Drinka Milk", "Pookie Eyes Wet", and "Bah-rown"

It is so precious to watch him listening intently while either Ashley or I read to him over and over and over and over. He knows all the upcoming sounds and repeats the last word of each sentence. He never seems to tire of these 6 books. John likes to hear the books as well, particularly "Cars", and will interject the next word in the story just when you think he is not listening.

So much for classics, I would much rather read about Mater and Lighting McQueen ("Light the Queen" is what John says)!!

This English major knows that book titles are supposed to be underlined, but guess what, quotes were faster.

Another first

Our little Pat tried rice cereal for the first time last night. He did not love it, he did not hate it. He took it with a smile (like he takes most things in life). Andrew and John cheered him on and wanted to take a turn feeding him too; I told them they could try once he got a little better at eating and after some fussing, they moved on to something else. It is so hard to believe that Wyatt is already eating cereal. Before I know it he will be crawling, then walking and then telling me "NO" like his brothers do now. It's amazing how fast time passes when you have children. I wish it would slow down and that I could keep them this age a little longer. While I look forward to each stage in their lives, I do not want to give up their sweet smell, their soft skin, their mispronunciations. Ever since becoming pregnant I have always heard that there is nothing like a mother's love. I used to wonder if they would ever know how much I love them (since they are all boys) but then I see their dad looking at them and realize that I am wrong....if they have children one day, they will know.

4 month "well" visit

Wyatt had his 4 month well visit yesterday. The first thing that they asked me to do was strip him down to his diaper so that he could be weighed. My poor Pat did not look well. His whole torso is covered in a rash (the leftovers from his virus). Luckily, he acted well. He smiled and cooed at the doctor while we talked about how he is doing. Then it was time for the physical exam. Poor Wyatt has an ear infection. Another first in his life...and not a good one. This has not been his week. He is taking an antibiotic and a decongestant and we go back in two weeks for his shots.

Wyatt is in the 90% for weight and 75% for height! He is BY FAR our biggest child. Pretty soon they will look like triplets.

Boo Bah Funny

If you have spent much time with John, you have heard him mention the name "Boo Bah" more than once. Boo Bah, whose name is actually Johnathan Arnold, goes to the Rabit's Nest with John. We talk about Boo Bah a lot at our house.

Susan: John, you are silly!
John: Boo Bah Silly!

John, you are funny.
Boo Bah Funny!

John, you are cute!
Boo Bah cute!

John, you are a mess!
Boo Bah may-us!

We can be driving into our neighborhood and John is still saying "Bye Boo Bah!"
John thinks Boo Bah is so cool...and he is! He is older, he tinkles on the potty, he can talk really well, etc.


I have always worried a little about John getting along with the other kids because, even though he has the biggest heart in the world, he is "the biter".

All my fears were laid to rest this morning though! When we pulled up at Heather's, Boo Bah opened the door and John squeeled with excitement...which is normal. But John was not the only one who was excited. I could not get John out of the car fast enough. Boo Bah wanted to know "Where's John? Where's John?"

Both of their little faces lit up when they saw each other! They hugged, threw a few rocks, got yelled at to be careful and went inside to start their day together.

My heart smiled on the way to work. John's little friend Jonathan loves him just as much as our JD "budge" Boo Bah!!

Just a virus

I think every mother probably feels guilty on a weekly, or maybe even daily basis. I know that I do. How do you find the balance of being supportive but not smothering your child(ren)? How do you make your children mind while still letting them have fun? If you have more than one child, how do you spend quality time with them all?
On the way to the ER last night I felt particularly guilty. I always thought John would be my first trip to the ER. John climbs on everything, falls down a lot, jumps from one piece of furniture to another sometimes (we're working on this), so I always envisioned taking him in for stitches or a broken arm. But, as it turns out, Baby Wyatt ended up being our first trip to the ER.
Last night when I began feeding him he felt hot. I did not think a whole lot of it and tried to feed him. He was not very interested in taking his bottle, which still did not alarm me really. I did decide to take his temp and when the thermometer under his arm shot up to 102 in less than 2 seconds, I removed it and thought "this can't be right". I hoped it wasn't right but took his temp again and it read 103.4. Yikes. My poor Pat Pat.
When the on-call doctor said to take him to the ER immediately, my heart started racing. Ashley stayed behind with the twins and I left the house with nothing but a diaper bag that contained no passy and enough formula for 1 bottle...good job, Mom. (Did I mention guilt?)

My mind just raced on the way to the ER. What could be wrong? What if something is really wrong? Maybe he is so laid back because something is wrong with him?

Finally we got seen by the doctor and (as if I did not feel bad enough about not having enough formula or a passy) the questioning started:
When did you notice he was warm? (umm, I am not sure)
Has he had wet diapers? (umm, yeah, I mean I think so)
Has he been acting lethargic? (ummm, he is always pretty laid back)
How long has he been this congested? (a long time, but I have taken him to the doctor for it before).

So much guilt came over me. My poor baby is sick and I have been so busy just doing the normal day to day things that I have not noticed anything. I felt like I was defending the fact that I do pay attention to my child.
So the doctor left and I cried, called Ashley and then decided to let myself off the hook; we all do the best we can.
After a lot of tests, the doctor said that Wyatt was OK. Just a virus. Thank you God.
By this point it was officially my birthday. 2:15 AM to be exact. As I walked out to the car with my sleeping sac of potatoes over my shoulder (who, by the way, weighs almost 17 pounds) I thought it appropriate to ring in my birthday with the person who had changed my life the most in the last year...my precious William Wyatt.

Happy Father's Day

Bye Boat.
Nana with the boys.
Andrew looks over the edge.
Captain Andy...


There are no cards, no gifts, no words to tell Ashley what a wonderful dad he is.
Thanks for taking us out on the lake, thanks for spending time with us, thanks for making the boys listen. Thank you, Ashley, for taking such good care of us all. We love you so much.

Past Tense of Throw

John: Daddy, Daddy, I throwed it. Daddy, I throwed it. Throwed it fence.

Susan: John, that is incorrect English. (Ignorning the fact that he left out "over the" in the last sentence.
Ashley: John, say "I threw it."

John: (smiling) I threwed it Daddy!!!

Stop It Mommy

Andrew's favorite new saying is "Stop it, Mommy". Here is a picture of the swating that goes along with it. :)

Here is a picture of our little Billy Idol.

Concert and Cookout

Sunday night at our church there was a concert and a "cook-out" (hot dogs and burgers inside). Nana, Papa, Uncle Chad, Ash, the boys and I all went and had a blast. A great group of young singers from Arkansas came to sing. It was a wonderful concert not because their voices were wonderful, but because their hearts were in it. Now that I have children I look at things so differently. All I could think during the concert was how proud their parents must be!

But...they could not be any prouder than I was of Pat Pat. He went to the concert with us because I could not bare to put him in the nursery twice in one day. He did not make a peep. He sat and listened to the music for a while and then went to sleep in Mommy's arms!

The twins LOVED the cook-out. They were so happy to see Nana and Papa and loved eating their hotdogs with c-pap (John's way of saying ketchup) and chips. John also had fun cheering for the winners of the desert contest!

Pat Pat the Chunky Monkey

Wyatt does not go for his 4 month appt until 6/19 so I have no idea how much he weighs, but I would guess that it is 15 or more pounds. He has been wearing 6-9 month clothes and they are not too big!

Last night before putting Wyatt in the tub, I actually had to clean lint out of the rolls in his neck.

This weekend Granny Meg thought that his sandals were rubbing his ankles wrong, but his skin was just red from not getting enough air in the rolls!

We also can not buy diapers in bulk for that little gummy bear because he outgrows them before we can use them all!

And he is just as sweet as he is chubby! We are so blessed.

Swimming

This weekend the boys went swimming, not once but twice in one day, in two different pools, in two different states. Our Saturday morning started by going to Granny Meg and Pop's house to pick them up before heading to the pool in their neighborhood. I think Pop was more excited than anyone else! There were so many of us that we had to take two cars. The pool was like bath water. John wanted to get in and out over and over again. Andrew enjoyed jumping off the side to me and Pop. He went under, blew bubbles in the water, kicked his feet and moved his arms. That boy is going to be on the swim team I think. Wyatt and Granny Meg stayed in the shade while the rest of us played for as long as we could stand the heat, which was not long. There were actually two other sets of twins at the pool. 7 kids total, all twins except for Wyatt. What are the odds of that?

After a PB&J lunch we hit the road for Gastonia to visit Coach, GG, Grandmama and Granddaddy. We arrived in Gastonia napped and ready to go! Well I did not take a literal nap, but I did zone out to the sound of my three sleeping beauties snoring all the way up I77. They are so beautiful when they sleep...long eyelashes and precious little chests barely rising and falling.

Swimming in Gastonia was even more short lived due to heat and misbehavior, but at least they got to get wet. We had a delicious dinner and headed for home.

I knew something was wrong when Wyatt started screaming (that baby RARELY screams). He was hungry...again. It takes a lot of calories to maintain that girth! So, after buying a case of water in order to get one that was not cold, Wyatt got his diaper changed and a bottle and he was as good as new.