"I think I was just mistaken"...

This is a quote from Matthew at the dinner table tonight. He still had quite a bit of food on his plate and told me that he wanted to be all done. His tummy hurt and he was done eating. I told him to clear his table and he cheerfully asked for dessert. Mmmm... I reminded him that he just told me that his tummy was hurting and that he was all finished. Thus, the above quote.

There were four in a bed...

...when the littlest one couldn't settle herslef down and the mama brought her into snuggle, and then when the 2 yr. old woke up crying and made her way to climb in with the girls, and then when the 4 yr. old stood next to the mama in the dark of the night and whispered her name causing her to nearly jump out of her skin...when the mama finally said, I'm crowded, roll over...that's when Sara and I took to Ella Jane's bed.

If you haven't guessed yet, it's musical beds at our houuse. We all start off in the right place but then invariably end up somewhere else by morning. Such is this time in our lives.

Today we had a fun family day at a place called The Mines of Spain. It's a large park, hiking trail area honering Julien Dubuque; the founder of the city. Matthew loves nature walks and both kids really thrive on family outings; packing the snack, deciding what to wear, bringing the right hat, and then finding the perfect trail.

Above are pictures from the "hike", early morning hours with the girls, and Sara's bathtime.

The passy patrol...

It's funny, I think I bought about 6 pacifiers before Sara was born and we are down to one. I know they are here in the house, but where? Whenever Sara starts to fuss, I send one of the kids running..."who's on passy patrol?" It gives them a job and me a break!

Whinnie the Pooh...

Glorious. Sara and I were napping and the big kids were downstairs watching a movie. Or so I thought. Matthew woke me up all frustrated that he couldn't get the hair off of his hands. In my delirium I told him to go wash his hands while vaguely contemplating the question "why does he have hair on his hands?"

I woke to find Ella Jane's hair one big sticky mess and quickly got the dreaded answer. Honey! Once I put the pieces together I realized that they were covered in it. Did I mention they were naked? They love to be naked these days. So here they are all naked and sticky in front of me. As I was shooing them into the shower I asked "Were you trying to be Whinnie the Pooh?" Matthew, all mad, said "NO!" Little did he know the better answer here would have been YES.

Eyebrows and eyelashes

Sara, at 17 days old now is starting to get her eyebrows and eyelashes. Perhaps she's had these all along but they've just been too faint for me to see them? It's fun to see these parts of her develop and grow. She's getting to be a little beauty.

We had her first visit to the doctor today and she now weighs 8lb. 2oz.! She's gained a little over a pound and grown a whole inch. It's tough being a newborn. All that growing...

Roots and all...

She's still so tiny

The only one of our children to wear a hat as a newborn. MJ and EJ were born on 100 degree days in Southern Maryland!

Life as we know it...

So the other night Jim had the kids outside while he was mowing and I was feeding Sara inside. Every now and then Matthew would come in with a flower that he had picked from the yard and was so happy to give it to me. I told him how lovely they were and to put them on the counter; that I'd be able to put them in a vase after I was done feeding Sara. Well one thing led to another and pretty soon we were putting kids to bed and Matthew had asked if I'd put the flowers in a vase. Ooops. I quietly asked Jim, "Is there a lot of them?" He chuckled, " yep, roots and all."



I go downstairs to indeed find a nice pile of flowers from the yard with roots intact. Both kids wanted to help put them in vases and I realized that this was important for them to be a part of. So bedtime was a little delayed and each child has a nice little vase of beautiful flowers to admire.

Jim, prayer, and the jumbotron

It's Graduation Day! Jim has been busy with all the festivities that involve that and today he is at the ceremony to give the opening and closing prayers. Because it's such a large group there will be two jumbotrons so that the people in the way back can see what's happening up front. Jim and I both laughed at the thought of himself on the big screeen...praying.

On the homefront, Matthew woke up yesterday with a nasty case of pink eye in not one, but both eyes. He's also got quite the cold so he's pretty much a mess when he wakes up; eyes are all filled with gunk, and nose is crusted in snot. It was his camping day at school and I had to be the one to tell him that he wouldn't be going. He was heartbroken and very disappointed. Jim, being the great dad that he is decided to give Matthew his own camping day downstairs in the basement. He set up both tents, got out all of our gear and even made hot chocolate. Both kids have been LOVING it. I understand we are all sleeping down there tonight? We'll see how that goes...

Simply wonderful...

she is that. Simply wonderful to me. I am in awe of how beautiful she is; she is our daughter, our sister.

Sara is doing well at home. Perhaps the best out of all of us! She is a big sleeper with a few awake times at night but even then they are at a minimum. You'd think I wouldn't be so tired; I make it sound so easy. But it's juggling three...nursing, diaper changes, helping big kids to the potty, making meals etc. that take its toll. All that can wear me down in a hurry but then I have moments like today and I think, "wow, I LOVE my job." And I love having three.