Update on these crazy boys!

Connor asked yesterday 'Mom, can I be an author when I grow up?' He later told me that he wants to write books about dinosaurs. He also loves to take pictures and practices on his little brothers. He took this picture of Brewer.

Harris is now walking fulltime! He also tells us what he wants and always wants it NOW!

Brewer has started to suck his thumb and is now sleeping in his crib all night - just one wake up around 2am. He is also eating baby cereal everyday now and LOVES it!

More homework photographs of my boys

Brewer-Brown-Eyes, Mr. Harris Blue Eyes, and My Green-Eyed Growler!

Connor at 4 and a half!

Connor might just be picking up a few things from his Mama. Not sure if that is good or bad - you decide!

Last night while vacuuming the kitchen after dinner (yes, my 4 year old has chores), he said to his brother 'Harry, if you didn't throw chicken on the floor, I wouldn't have to vacuum. Don't throw chicken on the floor, Harris!'

Then this morning he ran outside to check out the damage to the car (small fender-bender, everyone okay). Before he went out (just for a minute), he said to me 'When I come back here my grilled cheese better be ready and all of my toys that need new batteries better have new batteries!' ha ha ha

And here is my biggest throwing a fit on the steps of the Natural History Museum in DC because he was only allowed to buy two animals and not three and he REALLY wanted what Harris had. Although, this part of the post really isn't anything like his Mama at all! I never second guess myself! ha ha ha Or throw fits!

I can't end this post without telling you that while I am typing it, Connor has spent 5 minutes on his tip-toes cleaning his lunch dish at the kitchen sink! This is not a chore, this is what he wanted to do. Fabulous!

Harris is famous!

Check out this blog post by our friend at Dining with the Rissers!

Can you spot my Super Middle-Man, Harris?? He's famous!

There he is, munchin' with some mamas and some buds!

Tired and busy

I forgot how exhausting it can be having a newborn in the house. Brewer is 11 weeks old today and I think I'm finally starting to crash. But there is no 'sleep while the baby sleeps' when there are 3 kids in the house! But I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Mike gets home from work, helps with dinner, cleans the kitchen while I feed Brewer and then puts Connor and Harris to bed. In between all of that we squeeze in a family walk or game or storytime. So, he is exhausted also! But before we know it Brewer will be bigger and not need to eat as frequently and we will settle into our 'new normal.' In the meantime, the house will be a mess but who cares at this point!

This means we won't be updating the blog as frequently...not that we were getting around to it much anyway. But I will still post pictures. I just started a photography course and each week we have a homework assingment. So, you will get to see the kids growing through the homework. Probably not a whole lot of words to go along with them for a little bit. Here are the most recent pics of these beauties!

Birthday Boy!

Harris turned ONE at the begining of August! Of course, he loved cake. Not much that boy doesn't eat!

Baby Romeo is here!

Baby Romeo has arrived! Brewer Alexander joined us on 7/30 weighing 7lbs 5oz and 19.5 inches long. He was our longest cooked baby at 38 wks and also our shortest baby! Already he fits in well...napping on the couch with Daddy.

How about this face! The first time Connor heard Brewer cry he said 'he squeaks.' And so now Connor calls him Little Squeaker! Connor is also working on teaching Brewer how to rub noses!

Leaving the hospital!

Biggest one, littlest one!

G6pD update

In April, Connor got croup - bad. Poor guy swallowed a dime one day and the next day had croup. But he recovered very nicely. And what a sweetheart he was by trying hard to stay away from Harris in hopes that he didn't get sick. Well, keeping their germs separate is just impossible no matter how hard we try (these boys can't get enough of each other!)

Harris started feeling sick in the morning and by the end of the day his fever was 104.3! We managed to get things under control but after a few days of being sick, he stopped eating, got cranky, and started to look pale. A trip to the children's hospital for blood work showed that his hemoglobin had dropped to 6.2 - very low even for Harris who mostly stays between 8.7 and 9.7 The drop was triggered by the infection and fever. So our little vampire got a blood transfusion.

We were lucky enough to be able to have the procedure be outpatient but that meant that we were in a room with recliners full of other children receiving transfusions or chemotherapy. Harris needed to sleep so a nice nurse found us a room off to the side and Mike managed to get Harris to sleep through most of the transfusion which took about 2.5 hours. (100CCs of O).

Harris had blood work several times over the next few weeks and his levels climbed and have remained strong. Last test he was at 9.7. He had a check-up with the hematologist recently and while his spleen is enlarged, it is within the limits that are healthy for a G6pD patient.

We are so blessed to have a baby with G6pD and realize this every time we visit the children's hospital. On one trip we met a sweet 2 year old with cancer who could name all of her doctors. I can't imagine the emotions those parents must have.

So, HarBar is doing fabulously well. He is army crawling his way around the house and is slowly starting to climb (uh oh!). I'm pretty sure he hasn't turned down any food yet - seems to like everything! And we are learning how to survive in a legume-free home. Well, I guess I'm learning to survive. No one else seems to be an addict quite like me!

Baby Romeo Update - 33 weeks

Since I have no belly pictures yet (that will change this weekend!), I decided to use this ancient picture of the day Connor came home from the hospital! He was so little - below 6 pounds at this point. He sure did catch up, huh!

Baby Romeo is doing just fine at 33 wks. My belly is the right size and he is 'head-down.' Not that that matters for a scheduled C-section!

As of right now, the c-section is scheduled for August 9 but I think we are looking at a July baby. Somewhere between July 19th and July 24th, maybe? But maybe Little Romeo will surprise and be an August baby.

This baby has actually been easier to carry that Harris was which really surprises me. My leg pain is not constant yet and I'm sure it was already with Harris. Plus, I don't need to nap everyday! Most days, yes, but not everyday!

Romeo? No, we are not really naming him Romeo! That is just what we are calling him until he does have a name. Hopefully we will agree on a name before he comes home from the hospital! Suggestions are welcome!

Romeo's clothes are all hung up nice and neat in Harris' closet. Mike put up a second rack so there would be enough room. And, WOW! This kid will be able to change outfits every 10 minutes for the first 3 months! So many tiny baby clothes!

So many friends and family have been so generous! We have been given crib sheets, a crib, a double stroller, a crib mattress, clothes... We are so thankful!

Update on the boys

These two are still best buddies & Harris thinks Connor does no wrong - even if it is painful! We have had some hot-hot days and playing in the water makes everyone happy! Here is Harris standing at the water table for about 45 minutes at only 10 months old!

And what a good time he had splashing himself! I rescued him from Connor dumping cups of cold water on his head!

Connor has shown a lot more interest in playing a lot of sports lately - golf, baseball, soccer. We believe he is left-handed in sports which means it might be a challenge for us to teach him some things. He has also been practicing riding his bike - with no training wheels. He'll be taking off in no time! And he has started playing soccer with some other friends his age at a local sports center. He likes to be fast!

Here are the best buddies! Harris is only chewing on his thumb!

The ceremony

Soooo, the reason we had the opportunity to spend 2 fabulous weeks in Puerto Rico is because my baby sister and new baby brother decided to have their wedding ceremony on Vieques. Anyone else that wants to have a destination wedding and invite us, please do so!

The ceremony was very simple and filled with truth and committment while Beky and Dan were surrounded by their very closest family and friends. Beautiful!


I tried to get fancy with some pics of their rings in the sand and this one is a favorite.

And what's a beach wedding in the Caribbean if the bride and groom can't run into the warm, gorgeous water in their wedding outfits!

Vieques

Our week on Vieques, we stayed at La Finca Caribe with the rest of Beky and Dan's closest 'people.' La Finca is an AMAZING place - just don't expect a resort! Here is Connor under his mosquito net the first night - he wasn't so happy but soon got used to it! No AC meant a lot of open doors & windows so we made sure the boys were covered in case of a mosquito attack. There was never an attack! Although we did learn that there was at least one scorpion in our house - Mark and Whitney brought it home in their luggage!

Coconut on the front porch of Nueva Casa (our house).

Harris sat (successfully) in a high chair for the first time when we took a trip to Esperenza. Vieques is only 22 miles wide so all trips were easy.

Connor climbed a tree for the first time at La Finca. This is right in front of the main house where the majority of the group stayed and the wedding party was held.

Old San Juan

The original plan was to get a rental car for 2 days while in San Juan. One day for a trip in Old San Juan and one day for a trip to the rainforest. After one day in Old San Juan, we loved it so much we decided to rent the car for 3 days and have 2 days in Old San Juan and 1 day in the rainforest. (never made it to the rainforest - Connor got sick the night before. Too much fun & sun!)

Mike & Connor at the Old San Juan city wall. It is 22 feet thick.

Next is the view from San Cristobal, one of the 2 forts we visited. AMAZING views. San Cristobal has a dungeoun that we got to explore. I tried to get pics of Connor behind bars but he was too afraid he would be stuck there!



This is a view from the other, bigger Fort - El Morro. If it wasn't 90 degrees with a blazing sun, I could have looked at that view for hours. This is the Atlantic Ocean.

And here is Connor playing on some canonballs!

Waterbugs! Pool time in Puerto Rico

My boys are WATERBUGS! Here are a few pool pics from our two week vaca in Puerto Rico! The picture with Aunt Beky is from ta saltwater pool at La Finca on the island of Vieques. Harris went in with Aunt Beky while Connor practiced walking under water and holding his breath.
The other 3 pictures are from the resort pool in San Juan. By the time we left there, Harris was so relaxed in the water that he needed a little umbrella for his milk!

Many more pictures to follow!

August 2010 - lots of plans!

August of this year is starting to look like a very busy month! Here is a look:

- Beky & Dan's Michigan wedding reception for a week (this has since been canceled so we will have to celebrate
extra at reception here in June!)

- August will be Connor's last month before preschool! How exciting! He talks about preschool almost every single day and has even asked when he can go look at his kindergarten!

- Harris will turn ONE in August! I already have a G6pD safe cake recipe and I have a feeling Harris will like Cake much more than Connor did on his first birthday!

Here are the boys on Harris' 6 month birthday



OH, YEAH one other thing that will keep us busy in August: Harris will become a big brother! Connor has already let him try on his Big Bro' shirt! Connor was very excited with the news but not until after we explained that this new baby was in addition to Harris - not replacing him!



You read that right, our family has been blessed with a new little one due to arrive August 12. Drs have told us that it's a good bet that this one will arrive a little early just like his/her big brothers! But we aren't going to count on it! 8-)
And for those of you keeping track, yes this is 5 pregnancies in 5 years. Two boys to snuggle everyday, two girls at home with God, and new life growing bigger and stronger in a safe, warm place.

WE ARE BLESSED! (and tired, he he!)

Diapers - a guest post!

Hi, it's me, Harris! Mama asked me to write something on the blog like Connor used to do all the time. Well, I'm going to write about something very close to me - my diapers! I am very picky about what I use and why shouldn't I be! That's my skin down there!

Before I was born Mama & Daddy bought a fancy new washer that has a setting for cloth diapers so they decided to do a little research on these fancy diapers. They learned that they would save money in the long run by washing and reusing instead of buying and disposing. Plus, the manufactoring & shipping of a cloth diaper ONCE is much better for the Earth than the manufactoring & shipping of disposable (we call them sposies) after sposie for 3 years. Even the water used to wash my diaps is nothing compared to the pollution and energy use in making sposie after sposie. Also, once I become a big brother, my little sibs can use my diaps saving even more money and energy!
Besides, isn't this so much cuter than something that will just be thrown away!

Here is my original diaper stash. I have since gotten some new ones plus outgrown my first pre-folds. Plus, Mama got a fancy new wet bag for going to playdates. Oh, and Mama & Daddy use cloth wipes on me, too. I guess I'm a little spoiled on the pampering...he he!

And, because we are cute and best buddies, here is a picture of Connor and me snuggle-bugging. Connor only used disposable diapers. I don't know how he did it! I am very uncomfortable in a sposie and wake up a lot more at night when I have one on. I guess Connor's bottom is a little tougher than mine!

(Note from my Mama: Here is a good calculator to determine if you will save money by using cloth. And a spreadsheet to determine how much diapering will cost you over 3 years. Keep in mind that the cost varies depending on many factors including types of both cloth and sposies used.)

Pre-preschool

We never thought we would send our kids to preschool. The goal was for me to be home with them and to take care of teaching them what they needed to go to kindergarten. We work on reading comprehension skills, sight words, sounding out words, are starting to write the ABCs, etc. Anyone that teaches a young child knows that they just soak this stuff right up. And Connor is EXCITED about it! He asked to learn how to read about when he turned 3 and he told me the other day that he will take books to preschool and when he goes he will 'know the words.' Of course, ABCs and 123 s aren't all you need for kindergarten so we do a variety of other things too - music hours, storytime, etc where we learn to sit still, wait our turn, etc. And of course lots of fieldtrips - everything can be a learning opportunity even just helping with dinner! I've gotten a lot of tips and resources from homeschooling moms. I can't imagine ever being a homeschooling mom (I don't have the discipline!) but they have great advice for teaching prechoolers.

Then when we started looking at the public & private kindergarten options for Connor, we discovered something we didn't like at all - all of the kindergarten classes are full day. FULL DAY ! We talked about it a lot - a little obsessively maybe, and decided that Connor can not go from no school program to a full day school program. We feel that would be too much of a change for our little guy - even at 5 years old. Soooooo....the search for a preschool began and we believe we have found the perfect one. We went to the open house last week and Connor got the very last spot in the class we wanted! And is he excited about school! When we left the open house he said 'Maybe tomorrow we can go see my kindergarten?'

In the meantime, our little sneak (caught him on the counter getting goldfish from the cabinet) will continue 'school time' at home. Our latest project is flashcards around the home - on everyday objects. Connor LOVES this and walks around the house spelling out all of the words. When we wrote the words, Connor helped me to sound them out. Here's an example: