At Home and Nothing Planned

I have so many emotions I want to record with my little ones.  This week was a hard week.  Even though last weekend was a "little bump", I wasn't as strong as normal.  Normally we have a day to recover, but this time we had to jump right back into a normal routine.  I was very emotional.  Here I am planning a one year mark celebration and then we are back in the hospital.  I probably could have used a day at home with my three babies, but reality was work.  I love my job-I say it a lot-I get to see my kids all the time.  This week we tried to bring Avery one day and she was feeding off my emotions and was back to crying again.  So, we made the choice to keep them all home together and recover.  Even though it was a short stay at the hospital, it takes a toll on us as a family.  It was hard knowing they were all at home and not feeling better and I wasn't with them. 

 

Mark and I made a promise to our kids this weekend we weren't going anywhere with friends and we weren't having any friends over.  It was all about them.  It was what we needed after our hard week.

Lincoln at the doctors office :)

On Friday I met them at the doctors office to get Flu shots and have Mack checked out.  He has an ear infection, but otherwise is doing great! 

 

When I got home from work, we make these cute snacks.  We had a dietitian come into our class as a guest speaker and made these. 

Clementine with a celery stalk=a little pumpkin and chocolate chips in a banana=a ghost

Then, it was homemade pizzas and a movie-and some extra sibling snuggles.

The Cardinal game was on, so they got to stay up a little late and have pedicures...yes, even Mack!

Saturday morning we stayed in our PJ's (again) made an apple pie, cooked up a batch of white chicken chili and did some crafts.

If you have any wine corks-we save them for crafts-hey worked perfect for painting.

 They added leaves to their trees!

After the pumpkin patch, we came home and laid around.  Avery put on a nice show for us and everyone was asleep by 7:45!

Hopefully this week brings a new outlook.  Going to a World Series game on Saturday will help:)!

4 year, 3 year, 18 months

They are a growin.  Growin like weeds!

 

This post is about 1 month late, but better late than never.

 

Mark and I took all three into the doctor's office for their normal checkups.  It was the first time EVER to leave with healthy kids, no prescriptions, and no future fears!  WOWZERS! 

 

Avery at school writing!  This was sent to me from her teachers!  Her teacher's passion for literacy (and maybe mine) show through when a 4 year old is using an ABC chart to write the word toast!

She heard tot!!!!  I give many cheers to our teachers at Stephens-I mean how many people have preschool teachers with their Masters???!!!??? 

Avery Elizabeth is so tall!  She weighed in at 41 LBS (86%) and is 41 1/2 (83%) inches tall.  This is one active girl who is going to be quite an athlete.  She has been enjoying soccer and practicing hitting the ball out in the backyard.  She loves to be outside playing and also loves to be inside reading-we've been reading the Children's Bible every night-We just finished after about three weeks.  She said tonight, "I think I've forgotten where we were!"   It's fun seeing them change into young kids!

 

Macklin and Avery had a special visit from daddy at school...he brought a whole dump truck on the playground filled with mulch for their butterfly garden.  Look at his face-he was so proud!

 

Normally I would say he was such a big boy, but he has lost about 5 LBS since being on steroids.  He is now 36.4 ILBS (86%) and is 38 3/4 inches tall (79%).  He is loving life.  most of his days are spent in a sand box!  At school, at home and at the playground.  Mack is one funny dude!

This is Lincoln reading in bed-he screams at night for more books...ahhhh such a teachers delight

 

Lincoln is fully healthy and can hear out of his ears again!  He has finally started talking a lot this week.  He weighs in at 25 ILBS and 3 oz (71%) and is 33 inches tall (67%).  He can make us memorized by his toughness.  He is a non-stop kind of kid!! 

 

To all my babies-you are all one of kind!  You are so different in wonderful ways, yet connect with each other in the most amazing way.  You are siblings that will be so close!

 

 

It's a New School Year For Us

Going back to work is hard!  It's especially hard when you are used to working part time.  I made the decision this year to go back full time-for my family.  It's not always about the money, but it will be nice to live a normal life again and contribute to Mack.  Avery and Mack will be going to half day preschool and I will be able to see them when I want!  Lincoln will get some one-on-one time with Meme and he will be enrolled in Little Gyms as well as swim lessons.  Our new change will be good for everyone! 

 

This past week was hard, so on Friday I decided to take Avery with me for the day.  She loves to hang out in my classroom and play-and hang on the playground.  Meanwhile, I received the most precious pictures of my boys!  They are becoming true brothers and I hope they never leave each others sides!!! 

 

I think our new world will be great and a great way to meet more families!

Play at Our House

This video is really cute how they play together, but it's also sad what their play entails. It shows how much they're soaking in during this experience! You can tell a lot from kids free play and being doctors in our house is popular. Who knows maybe it can spark some future professions-I would be proud!

The Things They Say

No need to explain...They have their own conversations and I think it's hilarious to catch them in action!

Lincoln is also beginning to make his bonds.  He tries to jump out of our arms when they are dancing or playing.  Here Avery is trying to snuggle with him:

It's a First

Avery has loved having a real baby around, but never wanted to hold him.  The other day she finally showed interest and wanted to hold him.  She did great a was really sweet with him!

Siblings-Enough Said

Avery had a boo boo...

and so did Mack!

As rough and tough as Mack is, he loves his baby!

He was very concerned about his temperature.

I went inside to check on dinner and came out to find this!

Our neighbors have a golf cart, so they went for a ride!

TaDa!

We Thought we Had Lost It

Lately my two monkeys have been fighting non stop!  Mack has been purposely pulling her hair and in turn, Avery pushes him down every time he comes near.  Now the biting has started.  Literally, I FEEL LIKE I AM RAISING MONKEYS.

I am not saying that they don't still do these things, but the last couple of days they have been very loving towards each other.  Avery's new thing is to have him sit in her lap-I hope this continues...nope she just bit his foot!  Well, at least we had a few good moments.

You can't see it in this picture, but Avery put her tooth into his head a few weeks ago (not on purpose)

The stories we will have-you can't make this stuff up!

Best Friends Forever!!!

I know I have blogged about this before, but goodness these two are cute together! My next goal is to get them on video when they both wake up. They get so excited and start hugging each other. I am so glad to have them this close-they will be close forever!

More Sibling Love...

Mack is loving his Johny Jump up! Avery loves it too, but tends to love it a little too much. She is all over him when he's in it. Like always, Mack is just happy to have his sister to look at. The other video is us outside on Sunday. It was finally warm out and felt great to be outside enjoying the weather. Mack loves to face forward in the stroller!

Sibling love

So I know there is going to be many fights and arguments in our future, but for now these two truly care for each other. I think having the girl first helps! She is such a nurturer and he is in awe of her. I believe these two are going to be close and have really built a bond with each other. We are impressed by their actions toward one another. Granted a picture can not capture the nature of their actions. Mack loves to watch her and Avery is loving feeding, burping and caring for him. Below are some pictures to try and show how they act together.