Summer fun

We've had lots of fun times with family and friends lately. Maybe that's why I'm behind on blogging. But, it's been well worth it. We've gotten to see lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins in the last few weeks.

We did our annual summer b-day gathering. There are so many family birthdays we just let anyone who wanted a candle in their cupcake have one!

Liz & Cayla put on a  fabulous dance performance. Of course, EK couldn't wait to join in the fun!

We've had lots of time for sibling bonding this summer :)

All 3 kids were out of school the last week of July. So, I loaded them up in the 100+ degree heat and headed to Deanna Rose Farmstead one morning. Despite Will being terrified of animals and a traumatic run-in with some geese, both of the older kids raved about how much fun it was. Go figure.

Will wouldn't get anywhere near the buffalo. (Notice two fences between him and us.)

And this is what Patrick did the whole time.

Such a big boy!

Patrick now has two bottom teeth and has been doing a great job sitting up by himself. He loves playing with toys and is growing so fast. I can't believe he'll be 6 months old next week!

4th of July

Look at this! I'm posting about a holiday in the month it actually occurred -- amazing!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun 4th of July in Topeka. (I must admit that Wednesday is my least favorite day for this holiday to fall on since we worked the day before and day after.) Anyway, we started the morning visiting our friends from Texas. We don't get to see them nearly enough!

You try getting 5 kids to look at the camera and smile.

W loved this silly bandana. He got it the day before at school and wore it all day.

so sweet!

There's a lot of cheese in this picture! But I love seeing these two dad with their growing families :)

Then we went swimming and had lunch with J's family. The older kids (and by kids, I mean adults, too) did fireworks that night. EK was scared of the noise and Patrick was asleep so I missed the show, but Will sure enjoyed himself!

Grandpa & Will during the afternoon fireworks

Cousins

Patrick & Aubrey

Will's coordination has gotten much better so he & Nathan had a great time playing the Wii.

Who's that kid?

I've thought and said all along that Patrick looks very little like Will & Eleanor did. Now I have the photos to prove it. Here they all are at about the same age, sort of in the same pose...

I know there are similarities, but doesn't he just look so different?! Their chins are similar. I really think P's blue eyes and lighter complexion just really change his looks. It will be so fun to see how they compare as time goes on!

Who needs sleep?

I heard Patrick making noise shortly after I'd put him down the other night. So, I went to check on him and saw these big blue eyes staring at me. Now that he can roll, he has turned into a big-time tummy sleeper. For awhile this was great because I was getting 4 hours blocks between feedings. (that has since faded...) But, the fact that he can push his head up and see outside the crib is a whole other dilemma!

I really shouldn't complain because it could be soooo much worse. But...I'm gonna whine for just a minute. You see, I haven't had a full night of sleep since before Patrick was born. That's right, he has NEVER slept through the night. We've had a couple stretches of 5 hours or so, but that's it. He's regularly up every 3-4 hours. I know he doesn't need to eat, but he's in the habit now. We'll have to break that soon. I just have to get up the courage and stamina to change the habit. And really, he is darn cute. And he is usually happy when he wakes up. So I really shouldn't complain....

"Hey, Mom...are you getting me outta here or what?"

Will's swimming lessons

Due to some changes at work, I was able to enroll the kids in swim lessons this summer and be confident that I'd be home in time to take them. Will's 2 weeks of class just finished. For it being his first lessons, I'm pretty pleased. He looked timid, awkward, and terrified at many points, but he had nothing be positive things to say about it. He's doing a much better job going under water. They worked a lot on glides and floats. He still isn't great about jumping in from the side and is not doing any actual strokes yet. Maybe he'll get there. I love the water and would really like my kids to be comfortable swimmers. But, of course, that takes time and dedication. And, well, we don't spend a lot of our "free" time at the pool. Maybe when the kids are older. Nonetheless, Will is very proud of himself for completing his lessons and he had a really fun time. Ellie Kate starts hers on Monday - that will be very interesting! I probably won't have pictures of hers to post, though, since I'm in the pool with her for her lessons.

There were 3 boys (including Will) in the group.

Front float. Will's teacher, Hannah, was awesome! So patient and fun!

This is just a pic of the pool - pretty cool, huh?

Ellie is convinced her lessons will be over with all the toys....I'm trying to manage the expectations.

Back glide

Jumping in

Mother's Day & Father's Day

It's taken me so long to do a Mother's Day post, I just decided to combine Mother's & Father's Days. We spent a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day at home. The kids were so excited to bring me breakfast in bed (read: they loved getting stuff from the bakery and having a picnic on my bedroom floor). It was really cute :)
Below are the cards the kids made me at school. Totally priceless...and hilarious - I don't know who the mother they talk about is! It is certainly not me who likes to cook and clean!

A note on "she looks at the computer": as best I can tell, she's thinking of when we look at pictures on the computer. I am really never on the computer when she's awake otherwise!

I am so thankful that their teachers are creative and take time to do this with every child. It's awesome!

This past weekend we celebrated Father's Day with some much-needed family time at home. The kids' cards for Justin are below.

Patrick at 4 months

Our happy little guy is 4 months old! He's getting so big -- sturdy, I say :) At his 4 month check-up:
17 lbs 6 oz (88%)
26.2 in. (86%)
head circumference (92%)
I told you...sturdy. He's happy and healthy. He has not maintained his good sleeping from the 3 month check point, so hopefully we'll get back on that schedule soon. He's eating about every 3 hours at night right now. We can stretch it out during the day, so hopefully he'll start to do so at night too. He has really good head control, is starting to grab and chew on toys (see below) and has fully mastered rolling from his back to his tummy. His eyes are still blue...I keep waiting for them to change, but no sign yet.

I love his little tongue in this picture.

We tried rice cereal for the first time this past weekend. He did remarkably well. Definitely knew what to do with it and kept some in his mouth. I call that a victory.

Really, Mom? What is this stuff?

Hmm...ok...not half bad...

Let me have that spoon!

Ahhh....full belly!

What's that? I get this again sometime?

Hooray!