"the rootinest, tootinest..."

Thanks to Aunt Nancy and Lance and Kayla we've got the happiest cowboy in the wild, wild (pacific north)WEST!

I've been sick...

Yuck.

But, I'm feeling better now!

Here's hoping we all get a little more "shut eye" tonight.

The most reverent 3 month old in the world ;)

She's such a lady!

Made me laugh...

The boys were out in the backyard playing this morning. I was sitting by the back door reading a book so that I could hear them outside but also hear if the little miss woke up from her nap. At one point it got pretty quiet outside. I looked up and saw Asher dumping a ton of old leaves all over the top of Caleb, who was laying on the ground. I said "Asher, what's going on?" He said "We're protecting Caleb from the scary dragon!" I asked "Caleb, are you having fun?" He thrust his chubby little hand out of the nasty pile of leaves and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up then yelled "Dragon no find me in here!"

Welcome to this episode of "Animal Sounds" with Caleb...

Hey Caleb, wanna play a game?

What does a pig say?

"oink, oink"

What does a cow say?

"moooo"

What does a cat say?

"meeeoooow"

What does an elephant say?

"[insert adorable elephant noise here]"

What does a caterpillar say?

"uh..."

What does a tiger say?

"roar"

What does an owl say?

"whoo, whoo"

Caleb, you're good at this! Are you having fun?

"yep-o"

What does a monkey say?

"ooo, ooo, ahhh, ahhh"

Thanks for watching. Until next time!

I love mother/daughter moments...

For the life of me...

I can't catch this girl smiling!

I swear right before this picture she had the biggest smile ever. I guess Justin and I need to double team her and see if we can make it happen since she'll only smile when she can see your eyes.

"You pretty!"

After I got Sis dressed Caleb saw her and said "Oooo, you pretty Babe." (something he says multiple times a day. super sweet.) Then he asked me "You take picture? Me come?" I was happy to oblige.

Caleb was standing behind me still saying "Ooooo, you pretty!" He must have said it 150 times in the 15 minutes we were doing this.

Sweet babies.

His silly side...

(Asher getting his sister to laugh by making funny faces and wearing her hat.)

This kids sense of humor cracks me up. Yesterday I cut an apple for his snack. Before he started eating he said he needed to go to the bathroom. As he was walking away he said (in a very concerned manner) "But Mom, while I'm gone my apple might start to DECAY!" I kind of just looked at him blinking. Then he said "I'm just teasing you, Mom. It takes a little longer then that!"

Another thing that I love is before he starts something (ie cleaning up toys or throwing something in the trash) I've heard him whisper to himself "I can do it. I'm a brave man!"

Asher, you're awesome!

Why, yes I do like the taste of my own hands...

Thanks for asking.

my eyes are welling, my heart is swelling...

seven years ago, today.

(happy sigh.)

a favorite old picture (you see?! i was listening when you showed me how to use the scanner :)

a favorite new picture. (don't take that face personally. we love your kisses!)

happy anniversary!

To the people who told me it doesn't snow very much here:

I want my money back!

Snarly halloween teeth...

I asked the boys if I could snap a picture of them wearing their scary teeth (before I threw them away. shhhh.) After I took the picture I helped them take the teeth out. Asher said "Mom, that was disgusting." and Caleb said "Me teeth back in!" It's funny to watch their different personalities.

Oh my...

Happy one month Miss Jocelyn Noelle!

Well, I've been here for a whole month, and I've gotta say, I'm loving life on earth! I get to sleep, and eat, and sleep, and snuggle, and sleep, and smile, and sleep. It's great. I keep everyone busy (especially my mom), I'm growing fast (but don't worry i'm still tiny), and I love my brothers (they are really great). Well, before I go to sleep (again) I just wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to my Auntie Gretchen! Can't wait to meet you!

Casual dinner conversation with a 3 year old...

Asher (holding a purple wildflower): "Dad, do you see this green, and purple, and yellow? It's pollen, and bees carry pollen to make more flowers."

Me (amazed and astounded that my 3 1/2 year old knows the word 'pollen'): "You're right Asher, good job! Where did you hear that?"

Asher: "No where, I made it up myself."

In case you're curious, after a little coaxing he confessed that he learned it on Sesame Street. Or was it The Cat in the Hat? Wow, little kids really are sponges. Especially this one.

Side note: Yesterday evening after work I took the boys to run a few quick errands (and give Abby a needed break); as we were headed to the bank Asher says, "Dad, we should get Mommy some flowers." After another brief "what an extremely smart kid" moment, I whole heartedly agreed. He continued, "we should get ones with different colors...like red, and blue, and orange." These boys sure do love their mom. It was really sweet, especially after a rough day for them all.

This photo...

...was the only cute thing about this morning. Yikes.

You win some, you lose some.

Sweet baby J...

Well, none of us can get enough of our little girl. She's been kissed countless times in her short life (89% of which has been by Caleb. he LOVES kissing her head!) The boys are now way more excited about seeing her in the morning than seeing me (i guess i understand). And I'm loving this feeling of comfort and completeness in our little family of five. It was so wonderful to tuck all three of our babies into bed last night, then sit by Justin and laugh almost harder than my post-partum pelvic floor muscles could handle. What a crazy ride we're on :)

Here's Jocelyn trying to decide if she was going to leave the almost-as-big-as-my-face flower on her head or not. Josie said yes, but Caleb said no. It got in the way of his kissing.

Oh, I love big baby yawns!

Well, mom...

...I'm pretty sure I'd rather just sleep in your bed. On your pillow.

Yep, pretty sure that's what I'm gonna do.

Happy belated birthday Peter!

Happy 30th from one brave firefighter to another ;)

Hope you had a good one! We love you!

So, this year I was a little busy (having a baby and such) and didn't get around to thinking about halloween costumes until the day of. Oh, well. So, the boys wore their pajamas. Asher was Superman and Caleb was a firefighter. Justin threw on his Ukrainian outfit and they all had a great time. Happy Halloween. See you again next year.

Jocelyn's got style...

This little lady makes me laugh. We were just snuggling after I gave her a bath and got her dressed. I looked at her and had to smile. Now, don't get me wrong, I think she's the cutest thing to grace this big planet, but what kind of an outfit is that?! Then, I started thinking about how I get to teach her about fashion and style and thought "Oh, boy. I'd better get me some of that, pronto." Well, I'll try... but if I don't step up my style before it's time to teach you about it... then I'm truly sorry baby J ;)

Even when she's sleeping...

...he has to be close to her!

Asher parked himself right under the swing while Jocelyn was dozing yesterday. He is so smitten with her. Someone told him he was adorable the other day while he was out with Justin and he didn't know what it meant so he asked. Justin said it meant "really cute". Now, multiple times a day, he tells Josie "You're adorable! That means really, really cute! You're my best baby ever." Such a great older brother.

So, this is my 500th post. Wow. 500 funny stories about my kids (with pictures). I hope they enjoy reading the stories someday. I hope the grandma's and grandpa's have enjoyed it too ;)

I'll leave you with one more: Yesterday I was asking the boys what they wanted to be when they grow up. Asher had lots of ideas and we talked about it for a while. Then, I asked Caleb "What about you kiddo? What do you want to be?" He thought, he scratched his head, then he said "Me be Andy!" (Andy is Caleb's super cool older cousin).