Maida is here!

After a 10 1/2 hour drive home on Friday, unpacking and party-going on Saturday, and church Sunday morning, we finally got to meet Maida. Maida is a recent high school grad from Germany who will be staying with us for a few weeks to learn more English and experience American culture. The boys were very excited and were showing off for her all evening.

Bye Bye Binky

I just wanted to record that Luke has slept without his beloved binky two nights and one nap. The first night he screamed, kicked and cried pretty solidly for an hour. He was crying and yelling so hard that he started gagging! He finally fell asleep being so sweet, asking me to lay down next to him while he played with my hair. Naptime the next day was only a half hour of hollering, and last night, he asked for it only 5 or 6 times. Then it was over. He was resigned to his new binky-less life.

Patrick, however, was a little different. We started last night. He cried a very sad cry (as opposed to Luke's MAD cry) and asked for his binky about 800 times. for two hours, he continued. It was pathetic. I finally asked if he wanted to sleep with me to ease the transition. He agreed and cried himself to sleep. It didn't feel as victorious as when Luke fell asleep. It was just too depressing. When the baby woke up at 2am, so did Patrick. He just started crying and couldn't fall back asleep. I gave in and sent him back to his own bed with his binky. Maybe he's just not ready yet. Maybe I lost my only chance. We shall see.

Dinky T. Clown

Dinky T. Clown made an apperance at cousin Kolbe's birthday party! Here he is with all of the litte kiddos.

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Patrick and Luke help Dinky with a magic coloring book trick!
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Dinky attempts to put a needle through a baloon. In an earlier trick, he tried to make an elephant by blowing up a baloon so big. When it popped, he fell to the ground and Joe yelled, "Oh, no, oh, no! Your balloon broke!" He was very concerned.

Patrick wears Papa's straw gardening hat.

First Smile

Last Friday, baby Andrew gave us his first big toothless grin. It was SO heart warming!

Some quotables:

Joe: "I think that will get me very wet" when Grandpa gave him a regular cup of water at bedtime instead of his usual sippy cup. All of the boys sleep with their cups of water next to them in bed.

Patrick: "I'm sorry, Yukey" after bopping him on the head with his spoon
Luke: "I forgiff you"

Joe: "Joe drinks regular milk, Patrick and Luke drink soy milk, and Andrew drinks mommy's milk"

Luke: Holding up his shirt - "Baby Andrew want my milk?" (Thanks for trying to share!)

Joe: " When Andrew grows up, he will be my friend"

Sorry...

As you may have noticed, I haven't been posting lately. I've been in KC with the kids and away from my computer. We'll be back and running soon. Thanks for your patience!