Happy Birthday Emma Claire!

A Quick note: My sister Katie is telling me that the pictures in this blog are "cut off" and somehow distorted. I am seeing them just fine on my computer, so please leave a comment letting me know what you see. I'm hoping it's just HER computer, but with my luck, Probably not. Let me know!

We had a fabulous time at Emma Claire and Patton's 4th Birthday Party! All 30 children enjoyed the gymnastics apparatus, especially the foam pit and trampolines! Wilson surprised us all by being "afraid" at first to jump in. I think seeing the gigantic moonwalk right when he walked in the door did him in - he is terrified of those and anything in big costume (i.e., Big Al, Chuck E Cheese, etc.) They freak him out! You can see by the picture below that he was very "cautious", just watching everybody else jump in the foam pit. It is so funny to see him scared of something b/c usually he is fearless. Emma Claire had a great time, I can't believe she is turning 4!!??? My how time has flown by - God has been so good to us to bless us with 3 healthy, beautiful children in such a short time! Emma Claire is such a good, responsible child and I thank God everyday for what a blessing she is in my life!

I finally caught Henderson's smile on camera - he smiles all the time, but by the time my SLOW digital camera gets around to taking the picture, he's not smiling anymore - he's such a joy!!!

I could just eat that face off of him!!!

A random shot of Emma Claire, Henderson and myself on a Sunday afternoon - Wilson is taking a much needed nap!

Emma Claire's newest thing is feeding Henderson a bottle- which is VERY helpful in the mornings when it is RUSH RUSH!!!!

A Great Visit and The Little Rascal

Thanks Aunt Katie for a fun visit last weekend - we went to the pool, made brownies and had lots of fun at home!

Now to the Little Rascal aka Wilson!!!!

This morning as we were getting ready for work/school, Wilson came into the bathroon with a large ziplock bag saying "Dat Dat" (meaning I want that - food). I knew he had been in the kitchen by himself (which is never good) so I immediately followed him in there to see what damage he had done. I don't have a picture, but he had emptied the drawer with all the ziplock bags all over the kitchen, emptied out my pump with all the accessories and emptied out the mini cooler (which held my drinks for the day) - but the drinks could not be found anywhere???? I asked Wilson "Where are mommy's drinks?" He said "Mommy's juice dat" and pointed to the lower oven - low and behold, there they were - in the oven. I guess since he can't open the refrigerator (Thank God!!!) he thought they would fit nicely in the oven. I'm just glad I found them before i turned the oven on - what would canned soda do in a 350 degree oven??? Hmmm??? I don't want to find out!

Last weekend while my sister Katie was here for a visit and at some point Wilson came up missing. I found him in my bathroom covered in lipstick. Back up 30 minutes, I had painted my toenails while Wilson looked on eagerly - but being a boy, I did not paint his - though he wanted me to badly. Well, little Wilson decided he would do it on his own. He couldn't get the fingernail polish open (again, Thank God!), so he decided lipstick would do just fine - every toe nail and fingernail and mouth and stomach and legs (floor)- everywhere was covered in lipstick. How he got it I can't imagine, I keep my makeup bag way to the bag of the counter at all times just so this kind of thing won't happen - maeup cost way too much for little hands to destroy it! He must have used his monkey hands and feet to pull himself up just high enough to reach it and pull it down! The bittersweet part was, he had just gotten out of the bath - good b/c he only had a diaper on, bad b/c back in the bath he went!!! Two tubes of lipstick gone and this is how he looked!

Henderson is growing fast - he is such a good baby - he loves his fingers and thumbs and he has found his feet!

We've been doing a lot of exersaucer time and tummy time - he's not so crazy about tummy time!

Wilson is getting ready for Emma Claire's Princess/Power Ranger party tomorrow - which will he be - a Power Ranger I hope!! :)??? I'll try to get lots of great pictures and post Monday!

These ones I love!

How can these 3 come from the same parents yet be so different?

Emma Claire is the compliant one who tries really hard to always do what's right. Responsible she is - even as a just turned 2 year old, I could trust her with her newborn brother. She is very even keel - never gets too upset or too excited. Didn't smile regularly until she was 1 year old (sad huh)? Only occasionally do you see her competitive spirit come out in anger when things don't go her way.









Wilson, on the other hand, is always the life of the party. Very extreme in all senses. You definitely know if he's happy - all smiles and excitement- or angry - hitting anything in sight, throwing himself on the floor. ( His sister has NEVER done that). You never know quite what to expect next with Wilson!!!

Henderson is a very laid back little baby - sleeps 13 hours every night, rarely cries, and sucks his thumb - neither of the others sucked on anything - and both were very high maintenance babies! There is hope that he will be very responsible like his sister, yet he smiles alot like his brother!

Emma Claire was born 2 months early and has always been eager to learn, can sit through anything - we took her everywhere as an infant and toddler and she never gave us any trouble! She can sleep anywhere and everywhere - cars, tubes on the lake (being pulled behind a boat)- yes! - Alabama basketball and football games, kitchen table - you name she has fallen asleep there! She loves to watch movies and plays. Very calm demeanor!

Wilson has never been still (other than sleeping, which he does very little these days) for more than 15 minutes. He's visited maybe 2 restaurants in his entire life and he can climb ANYTHING!!! Nothing stops Wilson and he's good at everything he does - climbing and running especially. He gets very frustrated when he can't do something on his own (i.e dress himself). He rolled over at 4 weeks and hasn't stopped since.

Henderson doesn't nap great all the time(like brother), but night times have been great since day 1(like sister). He also rolled over at 4 weeks, but does seem laid-back and happy. We'll see if he has his brothers' excellent climbing abilities in about 9 months!

Emma Claire can eat like a champ and has always been a good eater - drank bottles well and ate solid food well from the beginning. She is very neat and hates for her hands and face to be dirty (oh! how I love this about her!)

Wilson would rather do anything than eat, and at nearly 2 years old and only 20 pounds, you can definitely tell. He has lately developed a liking for icing and ice cream - just what you love to feed your children! We have been through countless doctors appoointments and surgical procedures to find the underlying cause of this and have found NOTHING, except that he is genetically small (I am 5 ft tall) but alas, dad is 6'4"????? He is a terrible eater - some days he eats nothing that I can recall, but he does love his milk - especially out of a bottle, which we are trying really hard to wean from- but when he won't eat, you kind of feel sorry for him after while!!?

Henderson is an OKAY eater - he nurses great and takes a bottle great, but like his brother he only takes about 2 ounces at a time. The only difference is that he doesn't scream all the time after eating like Wilson did. He has reflux and spits up all the time, but he eats his 2 ounces about every hour!!!!! He is on the growth chart at about the 25%. (Unlike Wilson at -10%)!!!

My 3 angels - so different yet so alike and loved so much!

Planning a Party!

I am in the midst of planning Emma Claire's 4th birthday party. It is going to be a Princess/Power Ranger party!!!??? What you ask??? Well, we are having a combo party with her cousin, Patton, who turned 4 in July. they are best buddies and are together EVERY chance they get (nearly every day, since we live only a mile from each other). He wanted a Power Ranger party and she wanted a Princess party, so why not combine them? It's always tough to have a Princess-only party and invite boys, so this is how you do it!

It's going to be at our gymnastics gym - which boys and girls both love! They get to be wild and crazy like they always want to be at home - without making a huge mess! That is until Wilson gets into the chalk - we'll just have to wait and see!??!! :)

This is a proof of the invitation (I hope this is okay to post!!??) There were some typographical changes that were made, but you get the jist of things! This was the hardest thing (creatively speaking) I think that I have ever done -- I am not a creative person usually, but I tried very hard - tell me what you think! Also, anyone who sees this invite, who doesn't receive one in the mail, is welcome to come if you are going to be in Tuscaloosa for the day!!!!

The Zoo, Dance and Thumb-sucking!

A few weeks back we took a trip to the zoo! I took all 3 of my children and we went with Ellen, my sister-in-law and her 3 oldest children and Louise, Ellen and Will's cousin, and her 2 oldest children. My mom and Will's mom went to help out with the 8 children in tow. We had a blast - Wilson and Emma Claire absolutely love animals and did their part in terrorizing the farm animals in the petting zoo. Wilson chased them around like a little puppy!

They cooled off in the foam zone and fountains. It was a blast! Here are some pictures of our adventure!

Emma Claire and Wilson have nearly a daily dress-up time - this one occured right after bath-time - no pajamas for me- I AM A PRINCESS (and a caterpillar)!

Emma Claire and Wilson love their baby brother Henderson sooo much - It's a wonder Henderson likes to be put down b/c holding him is necessary much of the time b/c of wild man Wilson - SUPERVISED time on the floor is about all the time Wilson gets with him these days -if not, Henderson would be squished!!!

These are some pictures I took of Emma Claire one day before her dance camp - the batteries in my camera died right after one of these shots, so no more were taken that week :(

Next, we have a thumb sucker!!! I have never had a baby who would suck on a pacifier or fingers - maybe this explains his contentedness!!! :)

Wilson just plain won't sleep anymore! He stays up til about 8:00 now and finally goes to sleep, then wakes up anywhere between 3:30 am(this morning) and 4:15 am - as wide awake as can be! He naps, but they have also decreased - from 3 hours to 1 hour, maybe 2. what is going on!?

Well, this is just a little taste of our "Happenings" lately - Have a great weekend!

Back to Work!!! :(

Well, I returned to work yesterday. It was a good experience overall, it flew by, before I knew it 12:00 had come and I was home. Emma Claire and Wilson were so excited to see me when I walked in the door, that it almost made it worth it to be gone for awhile. Though if given the choice, I would stay home with them in a second, but as anyone knows, the economy is not so great, I have a GREAT flexible job with awesome hours and what can I say, I like my nice house, I like my nice car and I love to buy the children smocked clothes!!!! All of which cost lots of money, so for now, I keep on working!

Our lives are somewhat normal, Henderson is a great baby - my best so far, as far as the crying and sleeping goes. He will just sit in the bouncy seat and look around - I have never had a baby who would just sit and be happy. He sleeps about 13 hours every night and has been for 3 weeks now - he goes to bed around 6:30 pm and wakes between 7:30 and 8:00 am, of course that changes when their school opens on Aug 7 and I start having to wake him up before 7:00 am -- doesn't that just make you sick- to wake a sleeping baby - what if I totally destroy his good sleeping pattern????? Well, don't be too jealous of my sleeping baby because Wilson has now started waking up at 4:00 am every morning and since he is now in his BIG BOY bed (thanks to his monkey climbing abilities) he will not go back to sleep. I have managed to get him to watch Barney or Elmo in the playroom, but nevertheless, he comes into our room about every 15 minutes to give us an update on his show. He climbs into the bed and does nothing short of a dive onto Will or myself. How about that for a wakeup call? Just kidding, I secretly love it, because Wilson never does anything without the biggest smile plastered on his face - he absolutely gets the most joy out of life that you can't help but smile with him!

Some of our latest Wilson stories - he broke Emma Claire's glasses that we had had a whopping 3 weeks - but thank goodness they're under warranty (which I didn't know until I took them in to get fixed - could have saved me a lot of nauseous feelings had I known that when it happened on a Friday night and spent calling all of the "mall" optometry places b/c ours was not open on the weekend - of course no one else carried our brand of glasses - guess you should start off at the cheap places, huh?) Back to Wilson breaking her glasses, he got into Will's closed office , climbed up on his desk, broke the hard plastic case open and then broke the glasses -- where was I you ask? Feeding Henderson - where I always am when Wilson does something mischiefvous!
Wilson also has this, what shall I say, fondness, for his own Poo Poo. If I don't catch him immediately after he does his business, he is covered in it - it's like he thinks it's play dough! We have started sleeping in zippered, footed pajamas, but I can't possibly keep him in those in the 98 degree days! He has received countless spankings for this, but just keeps on getting in it! Any suggestions? And the bad part too, he has on average 4 dirty diapers a day - I know, he eats NOTHING, but still he manages to poop ALOT!
Another Wilson happening - on one of the cool mornings we had a couple of weeks ago, I left the back door to the screened porch open to let some cool air in the house. No big deal, the children can come and go out the back b/c we have a fenced- in backyard. I was feeding Henderson of course (7:00 am) and Will came to me wondering if I new where Wilson was. I told him he was probably downstairs playing with Emma Claire or in the playroom. Well, will found him in our driveway riding his 4-wheeler - he had gone out the back and somehow gotten out the gate down to the driveway -- he is such a little fast monkey and always into something!! Luckily we have a VERY long driveway so he was very far from the street!

Emma Claire attended Princess Dance Camp at the Dance Centre last week and loved it - so we are now signed up for Ballet in the fall, in addition to gymnastics. We have dropped soccer for the fall, but will pick it up in the spring. And this is only 1 child - Wilson will begin soccer and swimming lessons in just 1 year and then we'll really be busy!

We are trying to get in the last of the swimming pool this summer before it closes - I have to say we made it more often than I thought we would, given the ages of my children. I think we went every day last week. Emma Claire has gotten really good at swimming by herself, she loves the slide and the diving board. Wilson even went off the diving board several times, which really shouldn't suprise anyone given his activity level! We have had a great summer and I am sad to see it end, but with that ending comes the great football season and the Fall which I so enjoy with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner. Well, for now it's off to work and a fun afternoon with the children!

Beach Bums!

We had a great time at the beach. I would say that it went very well considering Henderson cannot wear sunscreen yet and had to be in the shade the ENTIRE time and Wilson is still 3 months away from turning 2 years old. Boy did it pass by way too quickly! It was no relaxing vacation, but very much enjoyed! Here are some pictures!