White Trash Entertainment at its Finest

Look what MaKaty discovered! Cru doesn't get much bouncy seat time anymore...it's got a new job!

The Traveler

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending a weekend date with my littlest man. I know...you are all jealous. He was a perfect gentleman. Of course, he's not big enough to open doors or pay the check, but he was courteous enough to travel 600 miles by car in approximately 48 hours, and did so without crying. Well, he may have cried once, but it was really more of a whimper. He spent much of the weekend like this:

Our weekend trip was in honor of this cute girl:(the one in pink) who is about to have her first child next month. Good luck Rachael! Thanks for giving Shauna and I the excuse to make the trip!

I enjoyed spending some time with only 25% of the number of kids I am usually juggling. Especially since this one is non-mobile still. I have realized that I have to force myself to remember to spend time with Cru. He's such a mellow little dude that he can get forgotten easily. He simply doesn't demand the attention. He gets fed (obviously) and gets his clothes and diapers changed, but he doesn't get nearly the attention he deserves. The curse of the fourth child, I suppose. Spending the whole weekend with just him was good for both of us. He thrived on the one on one time, and rewarded me with smiles, giggles, and coos galore.

It was a great opportunity to enjoy meeting up with friends that we don't see often enough. We also enjoyed delicious vietnamese egg rolls and Bun Cha. mmmmmmmmm, fish sauce.

One of my favorite moments of the weekend was when we first arrived at the house of Ruthie and Pat, who were hosting us. Their daughter Chloe, age 5, was staring at Cru. Finally she said, "Your baby is cute." I said, "Thanks. He has chunky cheeks doesn't he?" (She was obviously staring at his chunky cheeks). To which she replied, "And a chunky belly, and a chunky neck, and chunky legs..." I just had to laugh.

While I was gone, Rick and the kids spent the entire time pouting and crying and lamenting my absence. I'm sure that's what they were doing while they:

• went to a movie
• went to jumpin jacks
• went to pirate island pizza
• went to the builder's workshop at home depot
• went to Del Taco

Seriously, my kids are already begging for me to take a "mommy weekend" again.

Thanks Shauna for doing the driving, and for listening to me chat.

Thanks Pat and Ruth for housing us.

Thanks Rachael for the baby growing.

Thanks Carly and Katie for the super fun shower.

Thanks Tommy and Kristi for the cookies and visit (albeit too short).

Thanks Rick for wrangling the other children at home.

Thanks Shanghai Cafe for the delicious food.

Thanks Eliana for the impromptu song about "Restaurant Manners".

Thanks Cru, for being such a sweetie, so that I could enjoy it all!

Safety Town

If it weren't for the fact that I attended this program some 25 years ago...I would have thought it was created for Seth. If ever there were a life skill that Seth needed to learn...safety is it. If you don't know what I am referring to...let me give you a run down...

Frozen steak to the head, split eyebrow, concussion, asphalt lodged in the head, broken leg, split open back of the head, swallowing magnetic marbles, and the scalping incident. The kid has had 4 staples, 3 stitches, 4 x-rays, dermabond, a splint to the hip, and a cast.

Needless to say...safety is an issue.

Hannah attended safety town as well. She enjoyed it. But it wasn't nearly the necessary learning experience that it was for Seth. They covered such concepts as Stranger Danger, 911, Fire/Smoke Safetly, Bike Safety, Bus/Street Safety, Poisons, Helmets, Pet Safety, etc. I was a little worried that Seth wouldn't get as much out of it as he needed to, due to the fact that his buddies Frank and Alex attended with him, but they seemed to do well.

OK, so they could have done worse...

They had a cute little graduation. OK...cute may be too generous of a word. They had a graduation involving far too many children at once, and a painfully bad magic show given by Ronald McDonald. And to add insult to injury...they didn't even hand out the free kids meal coupons we were promised. Shameful. But it was really about the safely learning anyway.

The poisons lesson may have prevented the whole swallowing marbles thing...the pet safetly lesson may have prevented the broken leg...the helmet lesson surely would have prevented the asphalt lodging in the head. I'm not sure anything could have prevented the staples in the back of the head. I'm pretty sure they didn't have any safety lessons on not trying to jump over pianos.

So, what do you think? Will his tri-annual (that was for you, Shelly) trips to the ER continue? Only time will tell!

But one thing is for sure...he has learned to sing every word to "Sometimes you've just got to yell and scream!" He's definitely got the "noisy as a fire truck" thing down.

Happy Father's Day to our:

sandwich maker, knight in shining armor, horsie, evil villain, monster, story reader, tinker toy builder, ice cream disher, owie kisser, scripture reader, campfire builder, teacher, experimenter, provider, pitch thrower, protector, piggie back giver, snuggler, popcorn popper, breakfast maker, and connoisseur of cheeses and sushi...

a.k.a. Daddy.

We love you.

ETA:

I have been requested to show pictures of the photo blocks...up close. So here you are...there are four new ones, and the two that I made for Father's Day in '06, when we had half the number of children! Enjoy.

Hannah is One of a Kind

Exhibit A:

This is the book she wanted to check out from the library. Outbreak: Plagues That Changed History. I checked it out for the sole purpose of taking a picture and blogging it. She was not allowed to read it. It was....quite horrid.

Exhibit B:

She planned to sell her artwork. This was the first off the "assembly line." I bought it for $.25. Sunshine and rainbows might reach a wider audience, though. What do you think?

Exhibit C:

She felt that we needed to post some rules for the summer. This was the result.

Exhibit D:

I found this little number buried deep in her class journal. I have to wonder if her teacher ever saw it...

Exhibit E:

Thanks to a quiz book called Coke or Pepsi...I learned the following things about Hannah.

• When asked whether she would be the villain or the superhero...she responded with "victim."
• She secretly wants to learn to pick locks.
• She is related to someone famous...but wouldn't say who.
• She would rather watch professional bowling than read Shakespeare.
• She would rather be a mime than a puppeteer.
• She prides herself in being a good whistler.
• She claims to have cheated on a test.
• When asked if she had any enemies...she replied, "Absolutely."
• She would rather be a rose than a wild flower.
• She couldn't decide between traveling through space and living in an underwater world.
• She would rather be a wildlife photographer than the paparazzi.
• She prefers high heels to flip flops.
• She would rather have a broken arm than a broken heart.
• She doesn't know what grits are.
• She would rather live in a world without airplanes than a world without birds.
• She wants an iphone.
• If aliens asked her to leave town with them, she would say "yes.Goodness, I love that girl!

Three Months (and one day)

I hope that I will never take for granted what a sweet baby Cru is. I feel like every day he gives us a gift. The gift of being sweet, mellow, and patient. The gift of quick smiles and long naps. The gift of soft laughs and sweet "goo"s.
He has learned to laugh this month, and we love it. Sometimes just talking to him will make him laugh. It usually doesn't take much. He is "talking" so much more...using new sounds, and sometimes scaring himself with his own voice. He is somewhere in the 16 pound range. I'm getting some buff arms! He is sleeping like a champ. Usually 10 hours a night...and still taking good naps in the day. He is already starting to watch us with interest. Especially the kids. He also likes to watch us eat. He won't take a binky...but he rarely cries, so it's no biggie. He still sleeps all swaddled up. He drools like a St. Bernard. He his holding his head up really well, and starting to push up when he's on his tummy. He will imitate you if you stick your tongue out at him. We could not have asked for a more perfect baby to end on. We love him so much!
Some of my favorite things about Cru at 3 months are:

• his huge smiles
• his fat rolls and dimples
• how he sleeps 10 hours at night
• how he "talks" to me when we play
• how he kicks his feet and throws his arms around when he is excited
• how pretending to have the hiccups makes him laugh
• how, ironically, he laughs until he gets the hiccups
• the way he holds onto my clothes or my necklaces while he nurses
• how he sighs in his sleep
• how his eyes almost disappear when he smiles
• his cheeks
• the way he uses his eyebrows to express himself
• how he sounds like a whimpering puppy when he cries
• his blue eyes
• his pouty lower lip

Summer Loving and Summer Learning

It gets hot here in the summer. Really hot. But we haven't quite hit the state of hot where we are sick of it yet. Right now we are just loving it. On this particular night, we happened to get our swimming in just before the rainstorm hit. It made for some really cool sky shots.


It's like stop animation:

Here is one of Hannah's last trips off the diving board. She tripped while stepping onto the board and hurt her knees. She got over it.
Seth got in a little surf action on Daddy's back.
So cute!

Katy hung out on the steps mostly:

And Cru chilled in his seat:

Life is good.

Also, I have started a second blog to document our summer "Home School" stuff. You can find it here if you are interested.

Smile On...

Ok, so I know that Cru has been smiling for a month or so now...but I am finally getting around to uploading video. I would suggest viewing without sound so that you don't have to hear my obnoxious "get baby to smile" voice. Enjoy the smiles, though...I know I do!

For Brandon, on his birthday

And to Courtney, too.
And belated wishes to Alison, Tom, Lisa, and Bob as well...