5:00 AM

Andrew has taken to waking up at 5:00 AM (for the day) about three times a week. He has never been a great sleeper but when he was younger, we would just ignore the crying and he would quickly go back to sleep. The 5:00 AM wake up calls only lasted a few short minutes and then the house would remain quiet until close to 7:00 AM. Lately, however, Andrew has learned to get out of bed and beat on the door. I lock them inside of their room so that they won't roam the house or accidentally hurt Wyatt, so Andrew screams at the top of his voice "Mommy, up" (OVER AND OVER AND OVER) and beats on the door. This is really frustrating at 5:00 AM considering it is usually not the first time that we have been woken up (although Wyatt is almost making it through the night). So anyway, this morning the screaming started. I dragged myself out of bed and went in and told Andrew to hush. When I got back in bed the screams were actually louder than they had been previously. Ashley and I both laid in bed, equally tired and frustrated, when he finally got up and headed for the bedroom. I cringed, so I know Andrew did. It was magic. Within two minutes Ashley was back in bed and we never heard another peep!! I was really happy for all the surface level reasons at first: more sleep, peace and quiet, not having to get up again, etc. But as the day has gone on I am more thankful for the reasons that really matter. My boys have a consistent father who means what he says and they respect that, even at their age. They already know that there is no point in testing Ashley because they will never win...and that guy is in my corner! That is something to truly be happy about!

Hair cuts

Yesterday John and Andrew got haircuts!! Granny Meg and Wyatt went with us. Granny Meg almost always comes along for back-up! I have actually only taken them for haircuts by myself once because you never know how it is going to work out. There was one time when mom and I took them that I actually had to put Andrew in time out (still wearing his haircut cape) in the corner of the salon. Everyone looked at me like "wow, there is contestant #1 for the Mother of the Year contest!". Much to my surprise, both of the boys were AWESOME yesterday. They sat in the chairs like big boys eating their suckers while Ms. Denise transformed their near-mullets into the cutest little cuts that you have ever seen! Even though they are older now, I still hate to see that pretty blonde hair hitting the ground. During John's turn, hair fell on his sucker and he said "may-us" (that is "mess" said in most Southern accent possible) several times, which was very cute. Both boys got new hairless suckers and thanked Ms. Denise very nicely when we were done. Then we got to run through the rain back to the car. Wyatt, Granny Meg and I were all so proud of the bears!

Memorial Day Weekend

The boys had a great weekend...and so did Ashley and I!! Sandra and Will, the angels that they are, offered to keep all three boys for us this weekend so that we could have a break. It was wonderful for everyone! Andrew, John and Wyatt had a great time with Nana, Papa, Granny, Vicki and Earl and Ashley and I had a wonderful time eating out, going on the boat and relaxing! We got the boys back on Sunday after church and we were welcomed back to parenthood with a bang...or a scream. John had an upset stomach in the nursery that ruined his shorts and his socks. Everyone was hungry on the way home so all three boys screamed all the way from downtown to home. Ashley and I just looked at each other and smiled thinking "they're baaaaaaack!" The rest of the weekend was great though. Yesterday the bears and I went to see Granna Ann. She let Andrew and John ride on her new walker that has wheels and they loved it. They played outside and had a great time. Yesterday afternoon we finished up the weekend by playing outside in the sprinkler. Andrew is a bigger fan of the sprinkler and the hose than John. He loves to squirt the hose and each time before he squirts the water he says, "watch this John". Their new thing to say is "ready, set, go" which actually comes out like "RET, SET, Gooooooo". They are so cute....

And Wyatt....he is the sweetest baby in the world. I could just eat him up. He seems to be getting fatter by the day. We actually have to take his diaper off to let his rolls "air out" at night. We are so blessed to have these three beautiful boys in our lives. As Andrew would say "Thank you Jesus!!"

Another week...

Even though has been about a week since I have written anything about the three boys, there has not been a dull moment around the house. Last night we were reading books and talking about body parts. I am trying to teach them all the body parts. They know the obvious ones of course, but we were brushing up on elbows, toenails, etc. I pointed to my knee and asked John and Andrew what is was called. John, my rough and tumble child, who is constantly getting cuts and scrapes said "that's boo boo"!! I guess he has heard that he has a boo boo on his knee so many times that he thinks that is what you call a knee.

Last night Wyatt reached a particularly sweet milestone!! Just after he finished his middle of the night bottle, he started laughing hysterically! He was grinning from ear to ear and belly laughing like he has never done before. What a sweet sound.

Andrew was out of his crib (again) this morning when I went in to get he and John ready to go to Ms. Heather's. That little stinker has the best tan. He has a farmer's tan from playing outside and when I dressed him I thought about what my parents used to say to me all the time as a child..."you're as brown as a berry!"

A couple of pictures...

Wyatt smiling... John and Wyatt on the couch! John LOVES his baby brother. In this picture John is holding "wata fassy" (this is really only funny if you have actually heard him saying it).
Andy looking like a cherub...
Check out Andrew's saftey goggles that came with his Home Depot tool bench!

Middle of the night

Last night Wyatt woke up about 3:00 AM for his feeding and I dragged myself into his room, half asleep still and half annoyed...then I laid my eyes on that beautiful baby. We got on the couch together and I just looked and him and thought that instead of being annoyed with being awake, I should cherish that time that I have with him. Since Wyatt is the third, I hardly have any time alone with him. So, there we were in the quiet, in the dark, looking at each other and that little sweetheart gave me the biggest smile! Milk actually fell out of his mouth! He is going to be a lady killer. My heart has already been melted!!
So, I put him back to bed, got back in my bed and before I knew it, everyone was up again. I walked in Andrew and John's room to find Andrew chilling in the rocking chair (out of his crib AGAIN) and the chaos started. Why is it such a big deal to get your diaper changed? You would think that the boys would welcome someone coming in and removing a 5lb urine soaked diaper from their bottoms, but NOOOOOOOO!! So, my eyes are barely even open and I am already fussing....which makes me feel guilty, of course. Why can't I be more patient? They finally get the table and milk will not do...only "APPIE JUICE!!!" I guess I will feel more guilty when their teeth rot out.

Note: If I misspell a word, it is b/c I am writing it like the boys say it!! :)

Sweet Wyatt

I realized that I have been writing more about John and Andrew and less about Wyatt, so I wanted to devote some time to that sweet baby! It is so hard to believe that he will be three months old in just four days. He coos and smiles all the time. At night after the twins are in bed, Ashley and I put Wyatt down on the floor and play with him. He kicks his little feet, shakes his arms and grins from ear to ear. Wyatt is truly a great baby! He can sleep through anything and he just goes with the flow....he is such a blessing to our family.

Yogos

If you have kids, you know what yogos are. So, I totally forgot to mention something funny that happened over the weekend. The boys and I went to Granny Meg and Pop's house while Ashley cleaned our house (Happy Mother's Day to me). :)
They have a bluebird house outside and Pop lifted John up to look inside at the egg that had been laid there with no nest (sad). So, Kenny lifts John up to look inside. He saw the egg and squealed "YOGOS!!!"

Cribs

Okay, so last night Ashley spent a long time (I am not sure how long, but it was a long time) taking apart the boys cribs so that we would gain about 5 inches in height (making it 5 inches harder for them to crawl out of bed). I think that they knew that we were plotting against them b/c both boys were hysterical when it was time to go to bed. John even got a spanking from me (which then made me cry at dinner...and can I mention that we did not sit down to eat until around 9:00 PM).
So at 4:00 AM we had not heard anything from Andrew and John. I was so excited. Then at 5 ish the howling started. Andrew screamed at the top of his voice, "mommy up, mommy up" for a long time, but I tried to ignore him because he was stunk in his crib. Ashley and I even had a "conversation" about it where I remember him saying something about being consistent. So anyway, at 6:00 I heard Wyatt crying and got up and guess who was in his room!! ANDREW! He was standing by the crib whispering "no cry, Wyatt". Then when I asked him what he was doing in there (loudly) he said, "Shhhh, John's seeping"

Mother's Day weekend

I am so tired that I feel like all the funny memories are blurred together; what a wonderful Mother's day weekend!
The twins are ready to move out of their cribs...I'm not ready for this though. For the past week, they have been crawling out and this weekend was no different. Ashley and I keep putting them back in bed. We go check on them through the bathroom that connects their room with Wyatt's. We peek in ready to bust them for crawling out of bed, but end up spending most of the time laughing at the crazy things they do.
Saturday Ashley checks on them and comes back laughing...John has the blanket over his head and is sitting up and falling down over and over. Then I hear noise and check on them....both boys have their blankets over their heads and are jumping up and down in their cribs. Finally, I make a palate on the floor and Andrew goes to sleep. John never sleeps and the rest of the day is filled with fussing as a result.
Sunday...I wake up on Mother's Day with Andrew in bed with us (even though I barely remember bringing him in)! One of the first things he says (after his dad tells him to) is "Happy Mommy's Day"! That was a gift in and of itself.
The Lord has blessed me with three beautiful sons and we got the honor of dedicating Wyatt on Mother's Day! What a special day to introduce our baby to the church and promise to raise him to know the Lord! The big boys acted slightly crazy at church, but it was cute. Andrew could be heard on TV saying "mommy's funny" and John ran from my arms to sit with Nana. We had Granny, Will, Sandra, Meg, Kenny, Terry and Gail over for lunch afterwards and had a great time. Once everyone left, we tried naps...ended up on the floor again.
Last night Ashley peeked in several times and heard andrew talking to john...."HAY DOWN JOHN!!" We can not wait until they actually start having conversations!

new at this...

since keeping baby books for the boys has fallen by the wayside, i have decided that i will try to blog in order to keep up with the funny things that they do and say.

it amazes me how smart andrew and john are getting. they know the routine in the morning so well. this morning after putting them in the car i told john, "i will be right back". he shook his head and said in his precious voice, "foffee" (meaning coffee). he knows me well. i can not leave the house without it in the morning!