Ben and I were listening to the words to this song tonight....it's our life. It just hit us, we have boys and they are going to do the things boys do. Ben knows all about it. I think I am content not knowing....this is going to be quite the wild adventure with four boys!

First Bites

Zeke had his first bites of cereal last night. Usually the first time the boys had cereal, they cried and didn't care for it much. This was NOT the case with Zeke. He acted like he had been eating for years....he barely spilled a drop on his bib. He slurped it right off the spoon....



And only cried  screamed  when it was gone.....

I missed something here....

Last night, my eight year old son left for a football meeting with Ben....and without consulting me, he came home a teenager??!?!? My future flashed before my eyes when he walked in the door wearing his football helmet and pads.

Ben took the older boys camping last night. We have been wanting to take them and it is has been so hard with a newborn all summer. Eli, Zeke and I went over to the campsite for supper and smores. Eli was very sad to come home with me....when he got in the car and we started on our way home, he said "I want to camp with the big boys. I Daddy's camping buddy." It was at that point I almost turned the car around and dropped him back off. Poor buddy. It is just too much work for one person to watch him around the fire and the woods and everything else and keep everyone else safe. He will be excited to see them when the come back today!

4 months

Zeke had his four month appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 17.1 lbs and 27 inches. He is a big boy and the doctor said he looked just perfect!

It is fun to compare the boys' stats....

At 4 months:
Evan 17 lbs 14 oz and 26 3/4 in
Isaac 15 lbs and 25 1/2 in
Eli 13 lbs 15 oz and 25 in
Zeke 17.1 lbs and 27 in

4 months

It is so hard to believe that four months ago we were doing this........


we welcomed Zeke into our lives just four months ago. It seems like he has been here forever! He is such a sweet baby. The boys still fight over who he looks at and who can hold or talk to him. They just love him up every day and miss him so much when they are at school. I am enjoying it because once this boys starts moving, I know things will change! For now, we are just loving the smiles, giggles and all the cuddles this boy gives us.

Dinner Time Prayer

Every night before supper, we say our dinner prayer:

Bless us oh Lord,
For these our gifts
Which we are about to receive
From thy bounty
Through Christ, our Lord,
Amen

Eli can't get all the words so he just randomly shouts out words, trying to keep up. The other night his prayer sounded a bit like this:
"Bless us oh Lord....
(long pause)
BOUNTY HUNTER
Amen"
(how does a two year old know what a bounty hunter is? Can you tell his has big brothers?)

Tonight, as we prayed, he just shouted out "My body....Firetruck" (not sure where that came from)

It is hard to explain, but it is very funny when it happens. Ben and I try to be a good example and not laugh, but it is nearly impossible!

Toes

Zeke has found his toes. As soon as he lays down, he is immediately grabbing for them. He loves it when he gets them in his mouth...he laughs and laughs and can't chew on them anyway because his mouth is wide open from his smiles.

Early Out....

We have an early out today due to heat. The temperature is hot outside, but not nearly as bad as in the classrooms. The building I teach in is a big, old three story building. I have my office and classroom on the third floor....it is 90 degrees in the classrooms on third floor!

I know people see schools on the news that get out early and wonder why we aren't "tougher"..... just for the record - it is miserable today! I am going to go home and appreciate my air conditioner.

Evan Update

Last Spring we headed up to Mayo with Evan to get his blinking checked out. It was at that appointment that he was diagnosed with having a tic disorder. His blinks were very frequent and progressively getting worse. After I had Zeke and was home on maternity leave, Ben and I noticed that they had almost gone away. I was picking the kids up from school one afternoon and his teacher pulled me aside to mention that she hadn't noticed them. (It was her concern that validated our concern, which is how we ended up at Mayo...we thought it was just something that we were seeing but she brought it up at conferences and so we had it checked out). All summer, they were completely gone. We were all pretty happy!

About a month ago, we noticed that they were coming back. They are here and in full force. We were very disappointed, but also know that it is something that is probably going to come and go. It may get worse, it may get better, it may stay the same. He handles it well. He knows they are back and is disappointed too but he has a good attitude and good friends so he will be just fine.

How does this happen.............

Where has the time gone? I get pretty emotional looking at these posts from the past two years. How did these boys grow up and where was I????

Last Year

Two Years Ago

1ST AND 3RD GRADE

The boys had a great day at school. Isaac was a bit disappointed they took away play time in first grade and you have to learn the whole time!

Eli was very upset that he couldn't go with....he cried and cried when he had to go to daycare and the big boys got to go to school.

I am not sure what happened or when it happened, but they are so grown up. When we got to school, Evan decided I didn't need to stand with him. He told me he was fine by his friends, and that I could go with Isaac. When Isaac got to his line, he told me he thought he was fine by himself too. He wanted to try going in by himself. That's where I drew the line and told him I needed to go in with him. So....he walked in his line and my friend and I (who had just experienced the same things by her 3rd grade and 1st grade daughters) walked in together....much behind the big kids!

Zeke Rian

Sorry Zeke, Looks like you don't get a nice family picture on your baptism day......we tried!

Zeke's Special Day