Andrew's Big Accomplishment

"Hey! Hurry up and look at me before I tip over!"

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"Timber!"

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We discovered that he could sit up last night while putting the kids to bed. There was much joy and merriment surrounding the big event.

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Did anyone notice the cute brown hair that is starting to come in? His fuzzy hair is all gone except for a lovely patch on the bottom of his head that looks mulletish.
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In other news, Joe's first day was a success. The teacher commented on how polite he was and how easily he assimilated socially. The assistant mentioned that after he finished his snack, he said he was still hungry. When I asked him what he did in school today, he said, "We had a snack!" Wow, we sure can see the family resemblance!
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From what we can gather, on Joe's first day, they read a book about Corduroy the bear, made a construction paper bear, sang some songs, and said their prayers. Joe also played in their "centers" with the Thomas trains. Today, he was assigned a different center (the best I got was that he played with seashells ??) and had a little trouble understanding that he couldn't play trains again. Other than that, they made a cute craft with his hand print and a drawing of his family. Well, sort of - they're yellow scribbles in the white box that says "my family"

First Day of School

Today was Joe's first day of school. I think Scott and I were more nervous for him that he was for himself.
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Getting ready: "Aw, mom, not the hair!"

. The back view of the new backpack that just arrived on our door step this morning. Just in the nick of time! Isn't it huge on him?

. Enough pictures, already!

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Dad announces that it's time to go. Joe sprints to the car!

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Another big change this morning was the first use of the new carseat - a booster. Joe's not quite 40 pounds, but he's close enough.
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This is Joseph with the assistant Mrs. Meyer and his teacher Mrs. Frank. We took this picture yesterday. The school had an open house orientation so we could meet everyone and drop off our school supplies.
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After putting up his backpack and finding his seat, he promptly began to color. When Scott and I were saying goodbye and asking if he needed anything else, he asked, "Is it time for you to leave yet?" Mrs. Meyer and the other parents around got a good chuckle. Mrs. Frank thought that was a good sign.
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One problem this morning: The belt. Joe has never worn a belt before. I wasn't thinking about that until this morning when I realized that he didn't know how to put it on or unbuckle it. This is a problem when he needs to go to the bathroom. Once he had it on, he didn't want to take it off, and we didn't want to have a fight about it. Hope he doesn't drink too much juice today!

Happy Birthday, Granddad!

An oldie but goodie -- the picture, not Granddad. Okay, Granddad, too. :)

Scott, newborn Joseph and the birthday boy. Hope you had a great day!

Vacation?

We ventured out of the house for an unprecedented family vacation!

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Our first stop was the hollowed halls of Notre Dame. Instead of visiting all of the sights of which I was so fond, we spent quite some time in the Bookstore trying on silly hats.

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(Patrick, Joseph and Luke)

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(Patrick)

We did get to the Basilica where we pointed out everyone’s patron saints on the walls and ceiling. The boys got restless before we could find St. Andrew, but baby Andrew didn’t seem to mind.

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At the Grotto, we lit candles for my college friend Sara's mother who is dying of ovarian cancer and for our family. The boys all wanted to help with the actual lighting, but were happy to carry the unlit candles and to pick out a special spot for them. They all said a Hail Mary together in the Grotto, too. It was precious. Of course, we had to say hi to the ducks around the lake.

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Next we headed to Ann Arbor. For two days, we met up with my college friend Heidi and her little boy Daniel to visit some local parks. After the parks and a PB&J lunch at the hotel, we took naps and woke up to daddy being done with work.

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He took us to dinner at Macaroni Grill one night and the boys stuffed their faces (literally!) with spaghetti (without sauce, darn dairy allergy)

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Luke had a tiny breakdown in the restaurant and we had to make a quick exit after that, but things went well considering.

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At night, we got into our jammies and watched movies!

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Daddy and Andrew had to do some work.

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Finally, it was off to the BEACH!! We went to Michigan City, IN, where we enjoyed the clean soft sandy beaches of Lake Michigan. I had some college friends with family cabins along this same beach, so it brought back a lot of fun memories for me.

The boys had fun burying each other,

Getting sand on their faces,

Splashing in the waves,

and making sand castles with our makeshift buckets (Good old Meijer was all out of sand buckets so I bought a set of Ziploc containers)
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We all enjoyed the boys' general excitement of being at a beach for the first time in their lives.

The Essential Andrew

Andrew wanted to share with you some of his experiences so far in his young life, so, in his own words:

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I’m a pretty easy going kid. Give me a full tummy, a clean diaper and a binky, and I’m usually content. A good tight swaddle at bedtime and I’m out!
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Today, I held a toy for the first time and even managed to get it into my mouth. This was quite a feat, I assure you.
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Some of my favorite things are watching my brothers play, getting tickles and love sniffs from mommy, batting at toys under my play gym, and playing stinky feet. I will warn you, though: If you want me to smell my own feet, be prepared for the motor-boating or diaper-filling that will inevitably follow. I love giving super sloppy kisses to anyone who sticks their face near mine, especially my brothers. I like nursing mommy’s chin, and if she wiggles her jaw while I do it, it makes me giggle. I also love standing up (with help, of course) and “baby boxing” with daddy. I’m really good. You can ask him.

Every morning, I love to sit up on the table in my Bumbo and watch my brothers eat breakfast. I’m a part of the family, too, and it’s fun to be at eye level. Of course, once everyone is done, they sometimes forget about me and I have to holler and arch my back to get some attention.
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I’m most grouchy and inconsolable when I’m tired. Not even eating will help then. I also HATE getting my nose aspirated. With my tiny little nose passages, mommy puts me through the torture a few times a day. She always follows it with a bunch of kisses and some food, so that makes it better.
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It’s a great life, being baby #4. Mommy and Daddy seem to know how to handle me most of the time (I get them flustered every once in a while!) and my brothers give me lots of love. I can’t wait to grow up and play with them. Thanks for reading. I think I’ll go back to sucking on my first two fingers. Yum!

Love and Logic take two

We are once again trying Love and Logic. Things got a little out of control for a while there, especially at bedtime. They would be running around, jumping on their beds… it was a disaster. It took only two ‘enforceable statements’ to fix it. The first was “Little boys that use their mattresses correctly get to keep them.” I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that one. The first jump came from Luke. I calmly went in and said, “Oh, no! The mattress has to go bye bye!” Of course, I felt stupid dragging a toddler mattress out into the hall. Luke was devastated when he realized his nap would have to be on the floor. Luckily, they both learned from that one experience. On a side note, Patrick begged me to “take my mattress, too!!!” so I did. The empathy was sweet, even if no one napped that day.

Our other big victory is ongoing because little boys are forgetful and not always as tired as we would like them to be. The two rules for bedtime are to stay in bed and be quiet. “Little boys that follow the rules get to keep their animals,” is all we say every night. This gives them three chances since they each have three animals: Cow, Giraffe and Doggy for Luke and Piggy, Monkey and Puppy for Patrick. Scott went in tonight to some noisy boys and kind of misspoke. Instead of giving each boy a choice among their own animals, he said, “Uh, oh! That’s so sad! Should I take piggy or cow?” Immediately, Patrick responded, “COW!” (No empathy from Patrick tonight!)

Another classic quote from Patrick came when he brought me an unwrapped piece of gum. This always strikes a little fear in my heart wondering about the rest of the pack of gum. I asked Patrick, “Why did you get out this gum?” He very seriously responded, “You NEED it, Mommy!”

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The above pictures are of Patrick and Joe dusting. Yes, dusting. Another part of Love and Logic is making kids do chores to help out the family. I just wanted to document the occasion, just in case it never happens again.

Today, we had a follow up exam for the boys’ kidney issues. They each had to get renal ultrasounds. We got a sitter for Joe and Andrew and off we went. I was *shocked* at how absolutely wonderful they were during the procedure. They both lay perfectly still and tried very hard not to laugh or squirm when it was obviously tickling them. The technician confessed that she wasn’t looking forward to the appointment. Two-year-old twins can be totally unpredictable, but they were so great! Way to go, boys! Will someone please remind me that their next appointment is in 13 years? (Apparently everything was okay!)

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What a lovely date, huh? Today is my sister Shannon and her husband Jeff's TENTH wedding anniversary. Congratulations, you two. We love you!

Wishing you a happy birthday...

What do you mean, it's my Grammie's birthday? How come no one told me earlier? Dang it, the card isn't even in the mail yet! Come on, people, throw me a bone here. I just discovered how to suck on my fingers yesterday. You think I can remember a birthday?

VBS YES

Joe went off to Vacation Bible School at the neighborhood Lutheran church this week. Most of the Catholic churches around here do not offer VBS, so we'll just consider it Joe's Lutheran indoctrination week. No separation anxiety on Joe's part when I dropped him off, but there was a considerable amount on the twins' part. Patrick and Luke asked over and over again when we were going to pick up Joe, and where was Joe, and talking about when Joe gets back from Bible school. It was pretty sweet. I think they will really miss him when he goes to school in a few weeks.

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He got stickers on the first day and he decorated his little brother with them. We all thought this was pretty funny, even Andrew, although all of his smiling and laughing pictures didn't really turn out.

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When he got home one day, Patrick asked him what he did there. He replied, "we sang and colored, and we told stories, but there were no beds there!" I guess we only tell stories at bedtime in our house.

Fair Fun

Are you seeing a theme for our posts these last few months? Lots of FUN!

We went again to the Ozaukee County Fair this year. It's wonderful for us because it's small, parking is easy, and if you go in the morning, you get to see all of the exhibits without the rides being on. The three boys wanting to go on just one ride a piece costs $9 to $12. Of course,they would not want just one ride a piece and someone would have a meltdown and the rest of the trip would be nearly impossible. So, for us, it's just best to avoid the struggle!

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Instead, the boys got to ride John Deere and International Farmalls in the kiddy tent. They had lots of dried corn kernels to play with like sand.

If you notice, all of the boys are wearing their cool John Deere shirts that Grandma and Papa got them. The twins' shirts say "Getting dirty since 1837." Perfect for little boys. Thanks!

A pig we met.

A cow we met.

With all of the other interesting things to see and do, we stopped in an empty tent for a little rest and snacks. The open stage was too much for the boys to resist, and they treated us to a lovely performance.
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Good bye, fair! See you next year!

Fun with Maida

We got to see Maida one last time before she leaves for Germany on Tuesday. The boys were happy to see her again. Maida could always make little Andrew giggle.

Maida missed them on her trip, especially Andrew.

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Patrick, Andrew, Maida, Luke and Joe. This was the best (!) of the 10 or so shots I took. No one was really in the mood to take pictures, especially Joe, apparently.