Slacking Again

This Angry Bird caught an "angry bird" - thanks Aunt Pam and Brady for the new hairstyle!

A little snuggling before school (BA and G)

Well, look at the time! Where has it gone? So I really think that when I was working out of the home and had far less free time, I was MUCH better about writing on our blog - I think it was a form of release for me. :) What have we been up to these last 6 weeks? I can hardly say. Fall has truly arrived and while the boys are enjoying the weather and seasonal delights Brady and Aidan especially are concerned that the trees will never have leaves on them again. I have assured them this is normal and they have seen trees in the winter with no leaves (OK, so they were 15 months old), but they are still pretty worried. :)

Our first leaf piles to jump in! (A&B)

Cutie boys (AGB)

A walk with grandpa K (GBA)

My life at home has been fairly even-keeled. We certainly have our moments, but my re-entry to life in the US is far easier than Curt's right now. We have found two babysitters who 1) live across the street - nice feeling that parents are there 2) the boys seem to like! So barring the sheer expense of hiring someone to stay with "sleeping" kids while we go out for a couple of hours, we may actually be sort of set to be able to have a date night at least once a month! :)  Woohoo! I have to say, the boys are just so delightful most of the time. We watched the wedding video last week and they were pretty much mesmerized seeing cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents they know, but couldn't figure out why THEY weren't at the wedding. Brady asked me at one point, "Mom, why are you uncovered?" I asked what he meant and he said "You can see your skin." "Oh, you mean why am I wearing a strapless dress? Umm, I just liked that style" Clearly he is used to me being quite covered from the cooler temps and for having lived in Doha for 5 years. :)

All trains, all the time (clockwise from top: BAG)

We had our first camping trip out at the Coralville Reservoir on the first day of fall - it was GREAT fun! It was also one of the coldest nights we had had yet, so a little bit of a challenge for us. We were pretty sure the boys would not be down with sleeping on their own, so the 5 of us snuggled in to the tent. I think Curt and I slept about 8 minutes, but it was worth it. Having the fire, both at night and first thing in the AM thanks to Curt, roasting marshmallows, hotdogs and having hot chocolate and the quiet cold air was refreshing. No one fell in the fire or got eaten by a wild animal and the boys thought peeing in the woods was great fun (we were the only ones within an 8 tent area)!

Our first camping trip! (A&B)

Our little campsite

Brady helps roast hotdogs while Aidan eats chips. YUM!

Those are chips, not colorful leaves, Gavin is holding - we love camping food!

BAG (clockwise from top)

G and A try to cheer Brady up. He's not having any of it in my lap.

The morning after - we didn't freeze to death! (BAG)

I finally got up my nerve to ask some parents of the children the boys have been talking the most about if they want to come over for a play date after school. So far all have gone well and I've had a chance to talk more with several very nice moms. We have had 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls over) and the change in the tone of the play times is tangible. Boys are just different than girls. Luckily my boys seem to like to do things with both genders, but the kids who seem to have only played with a single gender were a little shocked by the sheer boisterousness (which should be spelled BOYS-terousness)and by the willingness to sit and draw or play trains quietly of my kids. The boys are all taking a huge interest in how things are spelled and our dry erase board in the kitchen is filled with people's names and other words with us underlining letters they have in common with the boys' names, letters that make similar or different sounds (hard and soft sounds, for instance). I LOVE seeing them on the road to reading. It is so exciting seeing them piece it together and seeing their sheer joy of achievement and understanding is awesome.

Helping mom cook waffles (BAG)

A & B help dad make banana pancakes!

Gavin decides just to wait for them to be served. :)

Brady has become very concerned about things blowing away. Last week our neighbor was hanging a tent over our fence to air out and the next thing I know Gavin is dragging it around inside our house. When I ask him why he brought it inside, he says "Brady didn't want it to blow away." I take it BACK outside to hang it up and Brady is VISIBLY distressed that her tent might blow away. After trying to reassure him that 1) it wouldn't and 2) if it did, it wouldn't get very far and 3) it's not our problem if it did I left him to his watching. He stood holding onto the tethers for about 15 minutes while Aidan and Gavin played soccer and our neighbor happened to come out to get her tent. I think we would have had a problem had she not come and gotten it before they had to go in for nap time. A few days later at school, Curt and I were picking them up and we were a little early, so we sat in the car watching them on the playground. Brady was sitting on the basketball court by himself while A&G were running around with other kids. Turns out Brady told me later that he was worried the COATS he was sitting near would blow away, so that was why he stayed with them. Whew!

Grandma does some reading (A&B)

A good friend of ours from graduate school had an Oktoberfest celebration up in CR at the beginning of the month. It was CRAZY busy - tons of kids and, get this, PAID BABYSITTERS ALREADY THERE! So we could actually sit and talk with other adults. If we ever have a party, we will DEFINITELY do this. Such a luxury. It was at this party that we met the most amazing parents ever. They are parents to 5 adult children. A girl and identical QUADRUPLET BOYS who are now 19. They had the girl and when she was about four they found out they were pregnant with triplets and then at about 28 weeks, found out they were having Quadruplets. WHAT????? and 6 weeks after they found out she was pregnant with 4 babies, she gave birth to them. CRAZY. Anyway, they were delightful people and we found we could relate on so many things (duh), especially in those early days when you are just attempting to stay alive, no higher goal than that. The boys got to try rootbeer for the first time(were actually sort of weirded out by the bubbles), and then after we got home that night, Aidan got another trip to the ER. He was trying to take his sweatshirt off as he walked into their room and he tripped and fell on the foot of Brady's bed and split his lip WIDE open. I think the first thing he said once he realized he wasn't dying was that he was really tired. Poor kid. We did go to the ER b/c we weren't sure if it would need stitches (it bled A LOT), but luckily for him it did NOT need anything other than ice, tylenol and neosporin.

Aidan's lip - and don't worry about his nose, that is from Gavin throwing a clipboard at him during gymnastics that week. Nice.

In other news I took the GRE at the beginning of the month. I killed the verbal and the analytical writing sections. I was massacred by the quantitative section. I am like a low functioning 7th grader. But that's OK. if the program I am considering won't consider me because I can't remember geometry, even though I have already completed a Masters degree successfully, well, so be it. It is good to not have that hanging over my head, I tell you.

Gavin's favorite place in the back yard. Other than the dirt.

Daddy airplane ride (G)

This week Gavin and I had one of our first conversations where I felt like we were truly having a back and forth and he was truly listening and engaged. It was a good feeling. There are many times we will ask him a question and he will go off on a tangent telling you about something, but not necessarily anything to do with your question. We were in the laundry room and his brothers were playing upstairs.  He had come in to ask me if I would play trains with him and after telling him I would when i was done, I said "Gavin, what's your favorite toy to play with?" and he looked right at me and said "At school?" with this sweet smile on his face. I told him "Sure. What's your favorite toy to play with at school?" and he proceeded to tell me about this truck and all of the colors on it and what he does with it. Ordinarily I would expect him to tell me about the toy he is playing with RIGHT NOW, so this was pretty awesome. Unless you have experienced these communication challenges with your child, it's hard to describe the glow I felt all afternoon, but it stayed with me the rest of the day. Heck, i feel it now as I type this. :)

I love this one - they are going through a toy catalog page by page. GBA

And on to Halloween. I think i understand why parents just tell their kids what they are going to be. I would love to be that mom who can make all of these creative costumes, but I know that 1) that will require a lot of time for 3 kids and possibly a sewing machine, which I may not be able to swing (time) and I do not have (sewing machine) and 2) the boys actually sticking with the costume they say they want to be seems unlikely. I DO NOT want to go out and buy them a pre-fab one just yet. I'm sure that day will come and I still remember LOVING the snoopy mask I wore for my Halloween when I was 4 (which I reused for later costumes), the smell and taste of the cheap plastic is one of those deep memories for me that always makes me smile. But anyway, I think we have our three costumes. Gavin seems really happy with the idea of being a construction worker with the toys and hats and stuff we already have around. Brady seem SUPER happy with being a soccer player with the jerseys we have around. and Aidan wants to be a rock star. or Spiderman. or a bat. or a soccer player. or . . .  so, yeah. I'm hoping at least two will stay on point for their costumes and we can at least narrow Aidan down to something do-able at the last minute. :)

Aidan is a fireman here. The mask and the blood pressure tube are for him to be able to breathe and the girl scout vest is to protect him from the heat. awesome.

Happy Fourth Birthday!!!!!!

At Lincoln Park in Chicago over Labor Day weekend (AGB) - the Hawks were playing in Chicago that weekend, so we had to represent.

Who can believe that our little boys are four years old today? And they are not so little any more. We had a weigh in for their birthday and Gavin rings in at 39.2 lbs and 3ft 3.5 inches high; Brady at 37.8 lbs and 3ft 4.2 inches high ; and Aidan at 32.8 lbs and 3ft 2.6 inches high. We started off the birthday celebration by bringing cupcakes to school on Friday to share with their classmates. I think it went over well. :)

Brady with Ms. Jenna - he could barely hold still!

Gavin was the first student to sit down to wait for the cupcakes to be handed out. Eager, anyone?

How adorable is Aidan in his work shirt he chose just for the "birthday celebration at school" occasion?

The last time boys have to wait in line for the bathroom - preschool (Brady).

After nap that day, we headed to downtown to get dad after class and to attempt to see President Obama on the Pentacrest. After that we tried to avoid the Presidential motorcade (poorly) and headed to Des Moines to celebrate with the Des Moines family.

Brady and Aidan with Dad at Obama Rally on Pentacrest

Aidan and Mom at rally

Dad and Gavin at rally

We were so blessed to have the Carroll's, cousins Kathy Jo and Katie and Cousins Julie, Shelly and Jadyn over for a party, BBQ and CAKE! This year we made a train and the boys practically demolished it before we were even able to cut pieces for people. It was awesome.

Gavin camps out in the tree-perfect

Aidan wants in on the fun!

All three (AGB) were dancing around saying "it's a PAAAARRRTY! We're having a PAAARRRTY!"

The bday cake! I was so nervous about something happening to it I took this right after we finished that night. And had crazy dreams the boys were trying to get into it before the party!

Gavin and Grandma K have fun with hats

GBA - Happy Birthday! They were so patient to wait until all of the candles were lit!

They were so earnest about trying to get those candles out and trying not to get burned. It was pretty cute!

AND . . . digging in.

Umm, boys? There is supposed to be enough to share with all of the guests. Boys?

This morning we had an easy wake up and the boys got to open presents from others in the family who weren't able to be there for the party. They got mom and dad's gift (KILLER TRAINS THEY CAN DRIVE!!!) and we did some tree climbing, cuddling and all around enjoying our four year old boys.

Angry Birds RULE! (ABG)

I truly thought I was out of the picture . .boo. Well, we love our new jackets and cars Grandma and Grandpa V and Aunt Pam and Uncle Tony!

Who the boys are today:

Aidan was a Santa Rock Star

Aidan:

You are so even-keeled in your day to day adventures. You are sneaky and love playing tricks on people, you have creative ideas for hiding during hide and seek, you eat any thing and every thing it seems. You are concerned with justice and people treating one another well, though sometimes you "try out" being a little tougher and naughtier than you actually are. You love to sing and make up your own lyrics to your own tunes (who can forget "Garbage men who sing! I'm a garbage man who sings!" or "I love my reindeer, Santa loves his reindeer!"?) You have started asking to give us a hug and kiss, and are often telling me "I love daddy so much. I am going to hug and kiss him when I see him". You LOVE wearing work shirts, especially to school and you are often the first student to help cleaning up according to your teachers (and what we see at home). You are a FISH in water and are so excited to take swim lessons this fall you have told me you want to sleep underwater. You love being naked and singing silly songs about your body parts with your brothers - you can get them going like no one else! You are also missing our Doha friends fiercely these days. I know that moves are hard, and i'm sure you are getting sick of only playing with your brothers. I promise to work to reach out to other parents and have some play dates with other children soon. VERY soon. (It's just hard for me sometimes!) :) And of course keep in touch with our Doha friends as well.

Birthday Cupcakes are the BOMB! (Brady)

Brady:
You really do put things together I would NEVER expect for a child your age. You can tell when you have told a joke - a REAL joke and you like being able to make people laugh with you. You are Sensitive - Capital S Sensitive - and while you seek attention, you only want to be the center of it if it is something you have initiated. You enjoy setting the scene for how you want to play with people, often telling us what to say so that you can give the response you want to give. You are incredibly loving with everyone in our family - if anyone is hurt you are the first to offer to bring us something or give a hug and kiss (if you weren't the perpetrator, that is). When you do find yourself in a time out, I am always positively struck by how much you have thought about what just happened. While you still react physically at times, your need to understand your world is so great that you are already working out ways to change the situation for a different outcome. You remind me I need to hold my temper more. You have more questions than I will ever know to answer and I promise to try and answer them all. I really do promise. :) You love figuring out how to use your body for athletics - soccer, baseball/tee ball, jumping, etc. And you are GOOD at it. You also tell me often how much you love each person in our family. Several times recently you have asked Daddy or I if we would snuggle with you on the couch after dinner. Who can resist that?! While you miss our Doha friends, you seem content to know that we can talk to them whenever we want, we just have to plan for it. I hope to be able to foster close family friendships like we did in Doha for you and your brothers.

Gavin the "old man!" (that's a car in his mouth)

Gavin:
You are a powerhouse of emotion and strength wrapped into the most muscular body I have ever seen in a preschooler. You are quite particular these days about where you want to sit, when you want to go downstairs, who you want to play with you, what you want to play with or eat or not eat and you have become very good at EXPRESSING those emotions. You still love music and know the words to so many songs it is mind boggling for someone like myself who seems to have no musical abilities. Letters and numbers are your thing and it is only a matter of time before you are reading, I am certain of it. Your laugh is so belly-achingly delightful. You have become fascinated with climbing trees and got yourself a little does of it at Grandparents this weekend - I think you may be hooked! You LOVE the train set the Carroll's gave us. Capital L Love. You also ask now and again for me to hold you and carry you like a baby and you just like the closeness and snuggling. You are drawn to animals and they are drawn to you. When we see someone walking their dog, Aidan may be the first to yell "Hey, can i pet your dog?" but you are the first to say to the dog "Kiss me!" and get down at muzzle level for a big sloppy kiss. We went to the Des Moines zoo several weeks ago and they had an exhibit where one could feed budgies (little parakeets). Several people told us they were not going in to feed the birds, and I didn't get why until we went in and the birds SWARMED us. Like St. Mark's Basilica in Venice Pigeon Swarm. Brady and Aidan and myself were NOT cool with it (but i tried to put on a brave face!) but you just seemed so calm and taken with the birds as they landed two and three on your arm and hat and hand and the feeding stick. And you had no compunction about shaking them off when they got annoying to you. I can see your fascination and love of animals very clearly.

Daddy horsey rides are the best! (GAB)

A little fun at Lincoln Park Zoo - GAB (head covered)

Hey, that looks like fun - me too! (AB)

Gavin enjoyed their hot dogs. Very much.

Public Transportation is awesome! We love the CTA! (AGB)

As the boys grow older, I am starting to realize I'm not necessarily wanting another child, but that i want THEM again. I feel like so much of their baby and toddlerhood was lost in the day-to-day job of staying alive that I miss their squirmy adorable selves as they were eating from bottles and the middle of the night wake-ups and the baths and the first solid feedings and their first mobility milestones and early talking. In my less sleep deprived days I long to re-experience all of those stages again, but slowed down a half-turn or two.

Aidan - because this is who this child is. When no one is paying attention, he is wearing these glasses on the back of his head. Wonderful.

The other day after nap, Brady was the first one awake and Aidan and Gavin were still laying in bed waking up slowly. I had crawled in with Aidan after I snuggled Gavin and Brady gets up and says as he lays down on Aidan "Do you want me to snuggle you Aidan?" and Aidan nods yes, so Brady does for a few minutes. They begin to giggle and sort of paw at each other, their precious faces that perfect peachy cream color. Then Brady turns to Gavin's bed and says "Gavin, do you want me to snuggle you?" and Gavin nods yes, so Brady lays down on him as well. They too begin to giggle and tickle a little bit, but very low key. Just laughing and smiling at one another. My immediate thought was (after watching the Democratic Convention and all of the family shots of the Obama's) that I would KILL to have a family photographer who just followed us around and got shots of the times like these. The light just so, their faces so full of love and joy, the up close shots i can never seem to get without them noticing and then playing to the camera instead of doing what they were doing. I really do try and take mental shots of these moments and hope my squirrely brain will store these memories away so that it is easy to find them in the future.

Gavin did not want to take his new jacket off, even after he was sweaty (GBA)

Happy Fourth Birthday to three of the sweetest, most amazing children in my life. May we have many more to celebrate together!