She's so much funnier than I am...

Carol finally posted on her blog about hanging out here on Valentine's Day. How is that we can post about the same photos, but her captions are so much better? The post is here. I laughed so hard I cried at the last two pictures. Good stuff.

Guess what baby does...

The other night, I was lamenting to Carol that Cael is not "getting" the whole signing thing. Yes, I know he's 9 months old. I know he's pretty young to sign. Just seems that with as much as he loves food and as much as we've been working on signing to ask for "more", he'd be an expert by now.

Then we ate dinner. Sure enough, Bret signed "more" and then Cael, ever the attention-getter, signed "more" also. Good boy.

Bittersweet.

(Yes, I know he's not too happy about this photo session... but I "had" to get a picture, you know...)

My previous "stats" post AND my friend Wendy made it obvious that Cael has, indeed, outgrown his infant car seat. It was just so handy! He still naps when we hit Target or on the way to co-op. I'm able to put him on the grocery cart or snap his seat onto the stroller without waking Ole.

No more. He's too long (he's actually 28"- 40th percentile- I remeasured) and he's too heavy.

sniff, sniff...

Here's his last picture in his "baby bucket" and his first for comparison.

I had to give that baby seat away immediately, lest I change my mind and continue to put baby in it. I took it and a giant tub of infant clothes (another boo-hoo event) to Amber last night. I want to bless my friends and I know I don't need this stuff anymore, I'm just quite attached to the memories. Seems I'll just have to make new ones while I enjoy her new baby boy (in June) using all this cute stuff!

For you, Wendy. A picture of Rhys napping with baby Cael the day we came home from the hospital. Aren't they sweet?

Buddies.

Bald, baby boys...

It's like looking in the mirror, isn't it Bret?

Stats.

After talking to my friend, Kelly, about how her children have grown, curiosity got the better of me. I weighed and measured each kiddo just for fun.

• Rhys is 55" (30th percentile) and 77 lbs (50th percentile) for an 11 year old. He'll be 11 in 6 weeks and I'll bet he's going to do some serious growing soon.
• Kjersten is 47" (45th percentile) and 45 lbs (20th percentile) for a seven year old girl.
• Brennen is 40" (50th percentile) and 35 lbs (50th percentile) for a four year old. He'll be 4 in 7 weeks.
• Cael is aprox. 27" (20th percentile) and 22 lbs (75th percentile) for a nine month old. I couldn't get a good height on him, so I'm going to assume he's taller that that...

This, of course, is indicative of nothing. What matters is that they follow their own curves on the chart, ensuring that the kiddos are indeed growing. But it seems to confirm our suspicion that our children are NOT going to be tall!

Happy boy.

Did you know happiness can be found in a drawer, right next to the Ziploc baggies?!

Eggs.

Likes those too.

Brennen and the bath...

I love bath time mama!!!

Hooked a big one, did you George?

Checking out the raisins (toes)...

Happy little thing.

Cael doesn't like something....

Yeah. He opens his mouth. He lets me spoon the green beans in... Then he politely scrapes them out of his mouth with his fat little fingers and plays with them. He'll let me feed him the entire bowl. He just won't keep them in his mouth. Oh well... we figured there was at least one thing he wouldn't like...

Jason laughed at me...

I can't even tell you what happened because you really do NOT want to know. Jason came home to me bathing Brennen tonite at 8:30pm. He NEEDED a bath immediately! I had already spent the better part of the 8 o'clock hour cleaning. You don't want to know. Suffice it to say, three year old potty-trained boys cannot be trusted with personal hygiene. Argh!

And Jason found my description funny. Gross. Whining. Graphic. Cranky. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. But funny? Not even! Of course, he assured me that I would find it funny at some future date. Ha ha.

Lucky for you, no pictures of this either...

Baby news...

'Tis no small thing, to be loved by something so fresh from God"

~unknown

Meet Abigail (Abby) Jean. This is my dear friend, Wendy's, newest addition. Born Monday morning, weighing 9 1/2 lbs. and 19 1/2" long. She joins four older brothers and two older sisters. Looks like all the others! You can see them here.

Welcome baby girl. We're glad you're here...

"Kjersten... Where's Cael?"

"In the laundry basket. He's resting and drinking some water.""Ummm... okay, I gues..." Poor baby boy. He's just an interactive play thing for the seven year old. He doesn't seem to mind, however.

Remember "cankles"?

Ankles + calves = cankles. Pregnancy affliction. Unless you're Cael.
Who else has a fat roll on their calf (leg, not cow...)

Weird yolk... again.

Almost didn't use that one. What on earth makes a yolk that shape? A bit creepy...

Lunch with a view...

She is going to be a great baby sitter. Who wants to sit at the table for lunch when you can look at the local wildlife instead?

She loves her PJs....

Lou got this Disney t-shirt from Jason's aunt, Sheila. Jim & Sheila have six boys. I think she said she bought it on a trip to the Magic Kingdom hoping that some day... Well, when they babysat Rhys and Kjersten so we could go to a Minnesota Vikings game, she brought out the shirt to use as PJs and sent it home with us. Wonder where Brennen was? Just barely growing in my belly. Yup. 4 1/2 years ago.

Yes. She still wears the shirt. Still loves it. I need to send Aunt Sheila another thank-you note.

Valentine's gift...

No... not from Jason, but from my friend Carol. She and Bret came and played with kiddos so Jason and I could go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. She even brought dinner for the kids. No cooking for me! (Her hubby had band practice so it's not like she ditched him to do this!)

Carol and Bret.



Carol's helper and fellow photo journalist for the evening.


Thunk!!!! Who's watching the baby, Carol? Oh... yeah... You're taking pictures! :)

Sure, we both fit in here...

Bret (with Cael crawling on his back).

Hey Bret, What is this thing?

Hmmmm... I ate all my cheerios... Wonder if Bret will share some of his?

I, on the other hand, will share my toys.

Check out those fat little hands.

Oh.... Bret's bald head....

On your marks... Get set... Go!!

Bret with teeth. Cael with drool.

Well, hello friend!

Dinner delivered...

My friend, Cynde, brought us dinner for Valentine's Day. She knew we were going out but brought it out knowing we'd make it sooner or later. Cute heart shaped pasta, alfredo sauce, and homemade Red Velvet cupcakes.

Turns out, I went out to dinner with some MOPS moms the following night. Jason was more than happy to have pasta and chocolate for dinner. Thanks Cynde!!!

Another 1st....

Of course, no one seems to know how this happened... I was hiding in my bedroom talking on the phone to my friend, Carol. Obviously, things like this happen when the mama isn't supervising...
Seems Ole likes Oreos. Who'd have guessed? The other pictures (with giant smiles) were blurry and didn't have the added bonus of George picking his nose. Gotta love dads taking photos!

Why we simply must have health insurance...

Or why Jason thinks kids must have daddies. I suppose he's right. I mean, what mother would plop her precious 3 year old on a blanket and send him careening across the house, narrowly missing the kitchen island? Note how concerned the three year old is...