Things I Like

Sometimes you find really random things that you love. For example:
*The theme song for Underdog. Don't ask why. I've never even made it through a whole episode.

*The Don't Let the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. Along those lines, the Knuffle Bunny book(s)also by Willems. And the Olivia series, which I hadn't read before last week but LOVE.

*Speaking of children's books,the boys have begun to listen so much better to books at night. I love reading stories to them. Before it was the same one or two stories before bed. Now we've graduated to seven or eight books, and I'm having almost as much fun as the boys. I also enjoy The Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer. If you've got some favorites, leave them in the comments please! The library isn't as good for browsing as it used to be, not with three kids making too much noise.

*Chocolate-cherry lowfat cookies. They are ruining my diet. But Yum, yum, yum...

*Success loaves of homemade bread. I just finished some honey-oatmeal. Again, bad for the diet, good for the soul. *The boys building their floor puzzle, then pulling out all the toys that "match" and putting them on top. See the picture below. They are super into things that match lately

*The boys are also into labeling things "mommy" and "daddy." So, they have little pilots in their GeoTrax Airplanes, and one is the "mommy" and one is the "daddy." But they take this concept and apply it to everything. Large clip, small clip= mommy & baby clip. Then whatever it is they carry it to me or Danica and say "matches". Sooo funny.

So, we didn't have things labeled very good because I messed up when I took the pictures off the camera last time, and now I don't know what pictures where taken when. Therefore, these may not be new since the last post. Oh well...

Look super close & you can see they've placed their toy cars/airplanes on top of the pictures of cars/airplanes, etc... BTW, they can almost put this together all by themselves! Danica on the boy's new duvet covers! "Flying" I was originally going to make little cars, but they requested airplanes. Except, our house is too small for wings & Gage wanted to climb on the couch & jump off so he could fly...but he couldn't get up while wearing the box. Not our most successful creative endeavor, but it gave me a good idea for Halloween costumes...

This one is new since the last post. I can tell because Gage's foot, which peeks in at the top of the shot near the end, has a sock on it. A sock he wore (for like a day) because he and Reid both caught a mild case of hand, foot & mouth disease. Really, they never got a fever or anything. But they had the bumps. So far, Dani's escaped. But since it has a 3-6 day incubation period, we're not totally out of the woods for a few more days. Anyhow, this video is Danica & her cutie-pie dimple. Love it!

Quick post here. First, I'd like to say I'm having a better time finding wins this week. I shouldn't EVER post on a Monday. Always a bad idea.

Danica continues to grow and be beautiful. For some reason Blogger wouldn't upload my video, and she's about to demand a meal, but trust me--her smiles have only gotten cuter. The top pic is of her today. I know she isn't smiling, but look how much hair she's growing! What a big girl.

I posted a few more pics of the boys in their big boy underwear. We aren't any nearer to potty training. It's all about being stubborn. Any ideas? Gage just doesn't want to give up diapers.

Nick's birthday was Tuesday. May I say, the boy is spoiled? He had a good day & thanks for all the birthday wishes.

Note: The cutie-pie big brother/little sister clothes were from Aunt Laurel. We're gonna get some real pics taken in them soon. SOOO cute.

That's all. I've got a more philosophical post stuck up in my head, but as I said...hungry baby...

Looking for a Win

First of all, congrats to Liana & Collin, proud parents of beautiful baby Lucy. She's a keeper for sure. As isbaby Joel, Cody & Tiffany's new arrival. Babies abound! Yea!

In other news, things here are going pretty well. Three kids isn't so hard, unless you're real attached to things like clean houses or warm dinners, clean laundry, showers, leaving the house, or really, sanity.
That makes it sound worse than it is. Reallly, It's not so bad. Here's the thing, as I wake up with an endless to-do list and a floor that hasn't seen a mop in months, I begin to think...I need some advice. So, to all you mothers out there who've been there before, and are way more experienced and wise, where do you find your wins? I mean, when you go to bed & you've eaten too much, exersized too little, and the house is a disaster, not to mention you haven't gotten to the (gasp!) two or three things in your life you actually do for you in weeks, where do you find your sense of success? I'm not particularly depressed, in spite of what this sounds like. It's just...I don't see myself getting on top of all this for awhile. In the meantime, I'm going to get depressed unless I find some wins here. So any advice is appreciated.
Meanwhile...
I really want the boys to potty train. Alas, they have other ideas. Dr. Phil has failed me. Gage is great at going if prompted at the right time; however, he isn't interested much in wearing underwear or even pull-ups. Likes the freedom of a diaper. We figured he'd be trained fast because he hates to be dirty/wet. Turns out he is one step ahead of us: you won't get wet if you refuse to wear anything but a diaper. Reid, on the other hand, still seems surprised when he wets. He was drinking water while wearing his underwear, and came up to me saying, "Water spilled. Went in my tummy down, down & spilled." In other words, he peed. So, while where pee comes from is understood, the control part is still a mystery. So, tips here would be helpful too.

Danica continues to be a joy. She smiles & coos. She is busy getting bigger and growing hair. The boys love her--sometimes too much.




Showing off her smile:

I'll fix this later. I'm typing one-handed now...