One Year Check-up

At baby Ben's 1 year check up, he measured 26.5 inches and weighed 17 lbs, 8oz. He is still below the 5th percentile. His doctor said that an average 1 year old weighs around 22lbs! That seems so big to me! Guess I'm just used to small babies, since all mine have been below the 5th percentile. They grow so fast, that I get the advantage of them being little a bit longer.

But they don't stay little for long. Josh is now in the 50th percentile while Zach is catching up at the 25th percentile.

No shots today though as Ben is just getting over a little cold.

Happy Birthday Baby Ben!

Today my baby is one!

Josh and Zach decided that we needed to go to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Ben's birthday. Ben got to ride the rides and Josh, Zach, and Sissy played all the games and won a ton of tickets that were cashed in for candy!

Then we came home to brownies! Josh and Zach blew out the candle with out even giving Ben a chance! I don't think Ben minded. He was eager to dive into the brownie. He ate it faster than we could cut the rest of the brownies! We had to let him nibble off of ours to keep him from screaming for more brownie!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ben!

New Years

Happy New Year!

We celebrated a New York New Year's with the boys and watched the ball drop at 9pm. It was hard trying to keep them awake but once they drank their sugar sparkling apple cider they were ready to stay up and celebrate a California New Years! We all laid down together and fell asleep. I think this is the first time in a long time that Sean and I didn't stay up until midnight (okay, maybe the first time Sean didn't wake me up at 11:59pm). We all slept through the new year. Faith stayed up...she was at a party with some cheer friends.

We brought in the new year as we always do, at the beach! We didn't actually bring it in that way, but we go to the beach every New Year's day. This time it was a bit different as there was a negative low tide (really really low), so we went to the tide pools. We saw all kinds of anemone, sea stars, and even an octopus! We couldn't keep Zach from stepping into the water between the rocks. He was determined to get wet and he succeeded!

Earlier in the day we took baby Ben on his first bike ride. He loved it! All the boys have loved riding on the back of our bikes. Josh is now old enough to keep up with us on his own bike.

We also enjoyed the sunshine and played in the backyard on the swing set. Playing in the backyard is rare for us as there are always so many kids out front that our kids want to play out front.

It was a great day to spend together as a family. I love bringing in the new year this way as it just seems to set the year off right!

Christmas 2009

Christmas is so much fun when you have little ones! Josh and Zach were so excited about Christmas. They knew Santa was going to come to our house and couldn't stop talking about it!

Santa did come and all of our kids had a great Christmas.

Faith got a new bike, a camera, a beta fish with tank, money, gift cards, earrings, and lots of other stuff! Faith's favorite gift this year is her fish (which died the day after Christmas and we exchanged for a new one)!

Josh and Zach, they share most of their things so they are together, got a kitchen set, a tee ball net and tee set, Thomas the train blanket and pillow, cars and trucks galore. Zach's favorite gift this year has to be a little shop vacuum he got from his cousin Bella. Josh's favorite has to be the Buzz Lightyear wings his sister bought for him!

Ben got a couple ride on/walkers, a ball popper, an activity table, clothes, and a new car seat! He has to fight Zach to use his ball popper and his ride on train. I love how these new "baby" toys are entertaining my 3 and 5 year old!

We had a great Christmas watching the joy on the faces of our children, seeing our family, and knowing that God sent his only son for us!

Tis The Season

Yesterday we did all the pre Christmas things that we love to do and more! We saw Santa, rode on a horse drawn carriage, and went to a living Nativity.

We took Ben to see Santa for the first time and got lots of great pictures. I thought Ben would scream, but we got a couple of good pictures with him smiling. We also took some photos of all the kids with Santa. Josh and Zach loved seeing him and told him what they want for Christmas, which is a kitchen playset, and trucks. I guess they're well rounded boys! Josh told Santa that he wanted a doggy, to which Santa responded with a lecture on who (mommy) would be taking care of the dog, etc. He did a great job of talking Josh out of wanting a dog! Then Santa turned to Faith and told her that he knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas. We were right next to the Apple store and I was sure he was going to say and iPhone or iPod, but he said I bet you want those braces off! Faith is getting them off right after Christmas and Faith laughed and said that was something she wanted. Then Santa told her to keep up her studies, read, and spend some time in the Library, all of which Faith needs to do! When we left, Faith asked of we called him first. He really hit the nail on the head! We love that Santa and will return to see him every year!

Then across the street from Santa they were offering free horse drawn carriage rides. So we took the kids on that and they were able to pet the horse after the ride. They really loved being in the carriage. There was only one family ahead of us for Santa and for the carriage ride. We got lucky!

Then in the evening we went to see a living nativity. I told the boys that we were going to see baby Jesus. Josh, who has lately been very interested in Jesus, first told me that Jesus wasn't a baby anymore and then asked if we were going to heaven because that is where Jesus is! It was so cute! I cherish these moments with him! The living nativity was great. But, we had to wait in line for an hour and a half for it. By the time we finally got to go through the gates to see the living nativity, Josh and Zach were tired! We all enjoyed it. It was so beautiful and well done. There were even Camel rides, but after waiting in line for the nativity we decided that we didn't want to wait in line for the camel rides, maybe next year!

Meet the Parents

I am in two completely different stages in my life. One stage is having a teenager and the other is having 3 boys under the age of 5! Sometimes I feel very stretched and other times I feel very grounded. When Faith gives me her teenage attitude I can play and laugh with the boys. And at the end of the day after doing everything for the boys, it's nice to know that Faith can take her own shower!

Now we are at a new stage where Faith has a boyfriend! I was not happy about her having a boyfriend, but have found that most of the kids her age have boyfriends or girlfriends. Guess it's the thing to do. I will allow her to have a boyfriend, but will not allow her to date. I think having a boyfriend and dating are two totally different things. I would rather her not have a boyfriend or date until she is 18, but I guess that's not very reasonable, at least not to Faith. When she does date, Sean and I are going to be one of those parents, you know the ones who sit behind them at the theater and are at the table next to them during dinner. So for now Faith has a boyfriend and he's a nice kid, but still a boy! We have known this boy since Faith was in 4th grade and know his family fairly well. We have been to their house several times, before they became a couple.

Faith's boyfriend of 3 weeks, yes you read that right it's only been 3 weeks, has been to our house several times for dinner. He came again last night. We ate, talked, and played board games. We try to have a normal conversation with him and try not to interrogate him, but we do ask a lot of questions. It's such a hard thing. What do you do when the boyfriend comes over to date your daughter? We joked about having a gun rack, but Faith already told him we would say that and he knows we don't have any guns.

This is a tough stage. I don't like it, but am getting used to it. I think lots of prayer is the only thing to help me right now! Prayer and playing with my 3 crazy boys!

Christmas Movie Time

I love this time of year when all the Christmas movies are on TV. I think our DVR is filled with Christmas movies. We have been watching them every night. My favorites are the old classics, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Josh and Zach aren't thrilled with them. They like the more recent ones, Shrek the Halls and Disney's Prep and Landing.

Last night I thought it would be fun to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and got the boys excited about watching it with me. We sat down with our popcorn and drinks, started the movie, and Josh blurts out "This looks old, I want Shrek!" Gotta love his honesty. So, we watched Shrek for the 10th time.