Growin Up

So, each year around this time I start to feel a little old. I always seem to find more gray hairs and wrinkles and then I realize my birthday is just around the corner. There are also perks to getting older. For example, my sweet friend, Brooke, never forgets my birthday and always sends the most thoughtful little thing my way. This year's item did not disappoint and I am trying to find time to bridge the three-hour time difference to call her and thank her and catch up.
Another perk to getting older is watching my children learn and grow as well. Landon is pretty much potty trained. He still has an accident now and again when he is too busy to stop what he's doing. But, for the most part, he will un-pants and go potty all on his own throughout the day. Grayson is getting taller and his feet are growing so fast. We just bought new shoes and we already need bigger ones. Ethan had the most exciting week, as he lost his first tooth, had a visit from the Tooth Fairy (he got a dollar, hey, hey, hey, hey), and learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I was so proud of him and told him so. I also told him he should be so proud of himself and he promptly replied, "I am Mom. I am awesome." I love his confidence and the way his face lights up when he has accomplished a goal. And I can't forget Miriam. She has decided to start rolling all over the place and is learning that her smile can get her most anything. We are in trouble!
All in all, these gray hairs and wrinkles are worth every experience they've brought with them. I am blessed.

Baby Food

Stacey bought me the Weelicious cookbook at Christmas. I have been trying a lot of things and now that Miriam is beginning to eat baby food, I decided to make my own. Today we made squash. It was incredibly easy and so much more affordable than buying those tiny jars at the store. Check it out.

 

 Roasted a butternut squash for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. (Cut it in half first and remove the seeds.) Once it cooled, I spooned it in the food processor and pureed it like no tomorrow.

 

Smooth and creamy butternut squash. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge and 2-3 months in the freezer. Stacey suggested I freeze it in an ice cube tray and transfer it to an airtight plastic bag once frozen. Great idea that worked splendidly. Now I can just grab the serving size I need! Stacey, you are a genius.

 

 

Miriam LOVED it! She gobbled this stuff up.

 

Landon was helping Miriam enjoy her squash. Aren't they so cute?

Summer Fun Brought to you by Android

My phone has been capturing our super awesome summer moments. They will help you see what we've been up to the last couple of months.

 

Digging in the dirt, running in the rain, basically getting REALLY dirty!

 

 Dressing up! Grayson wants to be a cowboy in this photo.  He has also been a variety of super heroes, a missionary, and Harry Potter. Maybe my boys are too young for Harry Potter, but we've let them watch the first three this summer (all rated PG). They love them. They now do magic and Ethan even speaks Parseltongue.

 

 Baby Blue Jay we found in the yard. Hopefully he made it home okay and did not get eaten by a snake or other wild animal.

 

 Hard to see, but this is a yellow jacket hive we had to eradicate from the front yard. It was the size of a basketball (a hole in the ground). A bonafide bee man came to the house and bee suited up and took care of the whole thing. He said in a nest this size there would be from 90 to 100 THOUSAND yellow jackets. What?!

 

 I live near Downtown Orlando and yet we see wildlife all the time. Here is a cute raccoon taking his daytime nap in an oak tree in our neighborhood. He should probably nap higher in the tree, but I was glad we got to see him on our walk/bike ride.

He is so cute.

 

 Heading to the library!

 

 Playing with our cousins, Hunter and Kalia, at Grandma's house. They came for a visit and the boys thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them.

 

 Building awesome train tracks!

 

 Checking out the playground. No one was here that day because it was raining. We didn't care and had a great time all by ourselves.

 

Riding bikes and scooters in the driveway.

 

  Cooking!

 

Going for walks. This is also in Downtown Orlando about 2 miles from our house.

So beautiful.

 

 

 Snuggling and watching movies!

 

 Playing in the pool out back.

 

 Hanging with our backyard friend, Frogio (Grayson named him).

 

 Baths! Isn't Miriam sweet in her hooded towel? Aunt Melissa made it for her.  We love it.

 

 Chilling in the Bumbo seat.

 

 Swimming with friends.

 

Fourth of July fun!

Miriam is 5 months

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I have been busy potty training with Landon. This face says exactly how we both feel: Are we done yet? Potty training is probably my least favorite activity of the toddler years.  Landon is doing pretty great and is excited to be a "big boy" like his brothers. My goal is to feel confident that we will be accident free by end of summer. We'll see how we do.

In the midst of the summer fun and potty training, Miriam has become quite the young lady. She is five months old now and is growing so fast. We actually went in for a sick visit last week (boo to ear infections) and she weighed 18.8 lbs. That is 1.5 lbs more than she was a month ago at her four month check up. And, we just started solids in the last week! She is amazing. She is wearing 9 month clothing already. Below you will see her snuggling with two of her big brothers, looking a little crazy eyes after a bath, and chomping on her hand (teeth must be moving around up there).
Miriam is rolling over again.  I say again because she was a super baby and was rolling over all the time by about 3 weeks.  Then she put on some pounds and stopped rolling over.  She loves to watch her brothers. They are fascinating.  The boys love her so much. They are always kissing her or touching her feet or singing to her. Ethan sings her actual songs and Grayson just sings his thoughts. Both are adorable. In the doctor's office last week, she was especially distraught after her examination. I had to help the doctor examine Landon, so I couldn't soothe her as long as I'd like. Ethan and Grayson took care of her. They sat by her car seat and sang to her. It was adorable.

Super Happy Fun Time

I've been reading Amy McCready's book "Don't Make Me Tell You One More Time." It is supposed to help reform me from a mom who yells, nags, etc to a mom that doesn't. I don't yell a lot, but enough that I get angry at myself for losing my cool. I have been going slowly, so that I can actually implement the tools she provides.  I am about 1/3 of the way through the book and the first three tools have already proved pretty helpful.
The very first tool she shares is for each parent to set aside a minimum of 10 minutes, twice a day to have individual time with each child. Okay, I felt completely overwhelmed thinking about this. For me, that is an hour and a half minimum  per day. I didn't know where I was going to find this kind of time. Jared works a lot during the day, so we determined he'd be a success if he got in one ten minute session per child. I am home all day, so I figured I could probably reallocate 1.5 hours and find a way to make this work. 
The goal behind this tool is to help each child feel a sense of significance and belonging.  In theory, they will have guaranteed Positive attention daily and will be less likely to act out just to get attention (Negative attention, that is). I have found that this makes a huge difference. Tool number one is a success! It is also a lot of fun. Laundry doesn't get folded as quickly, but I get to play with my children and learn more about them. Seems so simple, that I had to ask myself, "Why didn't I think of that?"
If you're not already doing this, you should. It is awesome.

 Puzzles, cinnamon toast, and chocolate milk with Grayson!

 Doing math puzzles with Ethan!

Just a cute shot of Miriam!