I Forted

That's a

FORT

not a 

FART

Christian is not feeling too well

So he slept most of the morning

And what better way to entertain the big boys

Than a fort

So we moved the couches and arranged the pillows

waa-laa

 It entertained them for about an hour

Long enough for me to get some Christmas cards addressed

RANDOMNESS

We have a double closet off of the dining room

Odd place I know

But it works

It's the shoe closet

We keep our coats there too

But it is referred to as the shoe closet

I make the boys take off their shoes as soon as we come in

They are great about it

My germ phobe makes me freak out about all the nastiness on the bottom of shoes

(I just got the chills)

We all have a bin

Except for Mark

He doesn't obey the rules

Your bin is for shoes, socks, a toy 

Gloves and hats in the winter

Anything you might need to grab as you head out the door

There are also hooks on the inside of the door

Hung low for little people

But for some reason 

It always looks like this

 Which causes me to turn into

CRAZY MOM

every time someone says

"I can't find my shoe"

GGRRRRR

Got this little diddy for my birthday

From bestie Amy

I love it

We are having a cold week here

The temp is actually not too bad

But the freaking wind

COLD WIND

bbrrrr

The boys and I have all been snotty

But each day we are better

So by week's end

We should be back to normal

Our elf flew in today

We named him Mickey

I hope this fellow does his job

Colton has taken to pooping his pants

Nothing can make you feel like a failure of a mom

like a potty trained kid deciding he's over it

He doesn't even want to wear undies anymore

He wants to wear a diaper

1 diaper

all day long

That's right

Full of pee

NICE

I am totally missing my job at the Barn

I find myself wanting everything now

Plus I miss my time away

Talking to women 

about womenly things

like decorating

Mark and I are on a diet

It's this 21 day cleanse thing

He does it a couple of times a year

For several years now

I have never participated because I have always been
Prego or Nursing
(shocker)
I am doing it more for weight loss
He does it as the cleanse
It is basically all fruits and vegies for 2 weeks
Then the last week you add in fish and chicken
I am doing pretty well
But I have had a diet coke
I need something
The really sad thing is
I have hit an all time high with my weight
Not counting prego time
Christian just turned 1
And I am back into some prego weight
I might as well be 4 months pregnant
I can't believe I am even writing this
My fat clothes are tight
So my goal is by Christmas
The fat clothes won't be tight anymore
Then I will go from there
I could give my right arm for a glass of wine


So there you have it

Better go find a new perch for Mickey

Boy Talk

This is going to be a new segment

Obviously entitled

"BOY TALK"

It is going to be a way for me to keep record

of the lovelies my boys say

to me and to each other

It may not all be funny

or entertaining to you

But

it's not really about you now is it?

Con-mommy, this house smells like old lady
(nice because he is referring to our house)

At the dinner table:
Colton-I put dis poopy in de potty?
me-what? (as Mark and I eye each other, thinking did we hear this right)
Colton-I put dis poopy in de potty?
me-sure
And he comes around the table holding his poop
Mark and I can't stop laughing long enough to help the poor kid
Hey, at least he cleans up after himself


In the car driving home from the grocery store
Just me and Connor
He is rambling something about a hospital
And before I can get the answer to his bazaar question out of my mouth
He has moved on
Connor-I'm not gonna have a mommy and kids
Me-you're not
Con-no
Me-Well don't you want a wife?
Con-Well you can just come over
Me-umm, ok. But don't you want kids?
Con-no. What do you call someone with out a wife or kids
Me-A bachelor
Con-OH ok, well I guess I will have a wife and 4 boys and 4 girls. Did you know that makes 8?
Me-Yeah, good math. But that's alot of kids
Con-Ok, I'll just have 2 boys and 2 girls. That makes 4
Me-OK
Con-And I might not live next door. I might just live down the street in one of those houses with a pool
Me-Well we can get a pool put in
Con-Well I don't know how to make a pool
Me-Well we can hire someone to build it
Con-OK then I can live next door to you

WOW! I am glad that that is settled!!!!

Happy Saturday

Turkey Day and one 1st birthday

Let's back it up to the day before

Wednesday

Prep Day

Entertain the masses day

And I am referring to kids out of school

Not family in town

Cause it was just us

Cleaning Day

If you are that kind of person

I'm not

(And I'm ok with that)

The boys finished up their pine cone turkeys

I think they are hilarious 

And this might be our new seasonal craft

 Wednesday morning with a list of things to do

And very energetic boys

It took us 2 hours and 5 timeouts to get out of the house

I threw my plans out the window

And decided running around the park was the best bet for us all

Besides it was an unseasonably 80 degrees

with freezing temps knocking on the back door

At Colton's request we went to the duck pond

Really the local kids fishing pond

But with stale bread and tortillas 

They flock to you

Then a few feet away

One of several playgrounds in the park

Connor is getting great at his balancing act

Tried to pose for a picture

unsuccessfully

This is also the day I was no longer allowed to call Connor by his birth name

Had to be called Dan

from this new show DINO DAN

I obliged

It was just easier

While the boys napped I prepped my dressing

Granny's dressing

And let me just say

Watch out GRANNY

I did an excellent job

If I do say so myself

After dinner we decorated our cupcakes 

While the big boys helped 

Christian cleaned out the drawers

I was so proud of myself for keeping the kitchen clean all day

With each pot and spoon I used

I washed it up or loaded it in the dishwasher

But in the 20 minutes we spent here

The place was destroyed

And of course 

Christian melted quickly

So we headed straight upstairs

Then Mark entered

into the war zone

 And our result

These cute little turkey diddy's

But they were not easy for a beginner baker

Needless to say

I only make about 8 of them 

The rest got 1 spread of icing

Maybe a few sprinkles

Doesnt' matter

I am about to toss the 2 dozen cupcakes

We will never eat them all

Good Morning

Happy Thanksgiving

and

Happy Birthday

I was prepared for the day

with a cooking plan in place

All while feeling a bit

sad

for lack of a better word

Turkey in by 7am

then dressing

followed by sweet potato casserole

then the rolls

Green beans and mashed potatoes going

Pecan pie made the night before

Lunch at 11

Naps at noon

TOTAL PLAN

And it all worked out

 The first turkey

Pretty proud of myself here

FOR REALZ

I was most nervous about having to stick my hand in there and pull the junk out

So I made Mark do it

Hey, what are husbands for

Only to discover it is just a sealed, non clear bag of juicy stuff

Just sitting inside the bag

No big deal

I can barely stand to watch Martha Stewart prepare a turkey

Something about raw white meat that grosses me out

It started when I was prego with Connor

Couldn't even eat chicken for a while

Let alone cook it

But I stuck my hand under the skin and everything

It turned out a bit dry

But the flavor was good

And what Thanksgiving table is complete 

without a can of jellied cranberry sauce

No one ate it

But it was there

And the boys plates remained untouched

SHOCKER

Mark is always my honest food taster

Even though I get mad at him

He agreed the turkey was a bit dry

"I've had worse"

he said

The sweet potatoes were not sweet enough

I don't eat that, so I have to take his word on it

He said it needed more brown sugar

My recipe did not call for that

But when he said it

ding,ding,ding

A little bell started going off in my head

I know I read brown sugar somewhere

And I know I did NOT get it out of the pantry

at all

So I grabbed my recipes out

And sure enough

There was suppose to be brown sugar in the pecan pie

WHOOPS

Good thing we had 2 dozen cupcakes 

Over all a good lunch

Not bad for my first cooking

And Princeton the Turkey

turned out very full

Lots and lots to be thankful for

Mostly the zoo (from Colton)

all though it was probably more requests than thanks

After nap we celebrated Christian's first year

I plopped him down in the middle of the table

with his own cake

in an effort to recreate his pictures

Don't you know

he was not so into this time

But it was still great

He was not so into unwrapping gifts

But the birthday cards were a big hit

And lucky for us

We have a 4 year old who is a great gift unwrapper

He got a tricycle from moms and pops

A chair from us 

Pj's from Connor

A nativity scene from Colton

Clothes, book, and an ornament from Aunt Sissy, Uncle T, KK, and Thomas

A turtle that puts stars on the ceiling from Ilan and Castel

Such a wonderful day

Except for the big boys and I are getting sick

If you want to watch some video you can do so here

Now it is time to get my Christmas cards out

(If I don't have your address please email me)

And plan Colton's party

Here or in TX?

I can't decide

Happy Birthday

From his BIRTH day

to 

His 1st birthday

I can't believe it's been a year

I have added

500 pictures

For your viewing pleasure

As I revisit these photos

These memories

I have to wipe away tears

I could have a dozen babies

if they didn't have to turn 2

(kidding)

sort of

I could give birth 

over and over and over

This has been a crazy year for me

For us

A new baby

A new house

A new city and state

Lots of changes

Plenty of challenges

And while my sweet Christian

STILL

does not sleep through the night

My love for him continues to deepen

I am so sad to see the "baby" days

come to an end

But look forward to the baby nights end

(if I'm lucky)

The busy toddler days lie ahead of us

So things are about to get even more exciting here

with

Life with Boys

And I can handle it

As long as I continue to get

sweet kisses like this

Even spaghetti kisses

I won't lie

There have been moments when I have thought

What was I thinking?

I cannot handle this!

But God knows what He's doing

Christian continues to surprise me

I think because Connor and Colton are so similar

Looks and Personality

I expect the same from my Little Bit

He is going to be his own man

From his blond hair and blue eyes

To his lack of snuggling

But always wanting to be held

I can't wait to watch him grow

And pray I don't screw him up

TOO MUCH

And it looks as though my 3rd baby

is turning 1 with only 2 teeth

The other 2 had 4 on their birthdays

He is not walking yet

But it won't be long

On Monday when I dropped Colton off at school

I was looking at all the moms walking in with new borns

I realized I was no longer the prego one

or

the one with 2 little ones and a baby

Now I am just a regular mom

Trust me, it's not boring

But it is a new phase

The best baby things
(that I know I will still enjoy a bit longer)
His perfectly smooth baby skin
I can and do rub on it ALL the  time
His sweet sweet baby breath
The best smell in the world
I take a big sniff every morning
The faintly sweet smell of his feet
especially after he has worn socks
The giggle
over a game of peek a boo
All the sweet noises
All the sweet silence
And the love in those gorgeous blue eyes

GOSH

All these weird thoughts

and emotions

I am just rambling

So....

HAPPY 

1ST

BIRTHDAY

CHRISTIAN

So much to be Thankful for