Busy Spring

For those who have visited us in the last nine months, here are some pictures of our new family room. Since Easter our house has been a mess with several house projects, the largest being converting attic space into living space. So now we have a toy room adjacent to a family room. Everyone is enjoying the new space, especially Mama since this means all of the toys can stay upstairs.




























































Preston has taken to riding with his siblings in the F150. Spence has to keep it in slow gear while he has a baby on board. And Aidyn isn't allowed to drive while Preston rides.

9 months

All over the place this month. One of his latest acts is trying to stand up in middle of a room. It's pretty funny to watch. He can climb the stairs about as quickly as he can crawl so life is fairly demanding on all of us now as we try to keep our eyes on Preston at all times. He has always been easy to put down for sleep time but in the past week he has developed some separation anxiety and now he cries when we go near his crib and he is wanting to be held more. And you'd think the carseat was a bed of nails if you saw his reaction to the thing. As we begin to place him in the seat he contorts his body and bucks up high so that none of him is actually touching the seat. He is still a happy boy though with smiles always at the ready.

Mr. Fixer

I was sitting in our backyard, holding Preston and talking on phone to our contractor, when Spencer dropped a cup on the patio and broke it. The cup was mine in 1980 and the kids like it because it has Smurfs on it. When I got off phone I looked up to find that Spence had glued the handle back on the cup. So he had gone into house . . . moved bathroom stool to the craft cabinet . . . opened craft closet doors and got glue stick out . . . then gone back outside to smear glue onto the cup right where the handle should go. I found him pressing the handle into the glue wondering aloud if this glue would be strong enough. He placed it inside to dry and the handle actually held for about a week. Is he a little three year old version of Grandpa???

Aidyn update

Many of you have called or emailed us to check on Aidyn, so I figured I should add an update here for everyone. Aidyn went to Bham in March to see a pediatric endocrinologist. Results of her bone exrays show that she is within the normal range in that her skull is the size of a 12 month old when she is 26 months old. Her bloodwork showed that her IGF1 was low . . . . not really sure how to explain this. Our friend Angela did a google search and sounds like this means an indicator associated with growth hormone is low and that results in Aidyn's small stature. Aidyn's doctor in Bham scheduled another appointment for autumn 2008 to do more exrays and more bloodwork to see if anything has changed. Our hope is that Aidyn will do some "catching-up" over the spring and summer and that she can avoid going on growth hormone. Her preschool teachers say that Aidyn is on target with the two year olds in her class and she is the only one potty-trained, so we are blessed that she is adapting well to life in the states. She loves her brothers and is becoming a good helper for Mama by wiping Preston's nose whenever she sees a need, bringing him clothes, and feeding his bottle to him. She seems to enjoy his mobility and thinks it funny when he stands and plays beside her. He is stronger than she is and can easily pin her to the carpet but she is taking it pretty well so far. Her speech is rapidly progressing and she should be talking in sentences soon. Hooray!!! She still has a wild temper but each month she is learning to curb it a bit more and is becoming more loving and playful, a right little monkey girl and hilarious to watch.

march madness

SuperCousins took over our house for five days. Eli, Shayne, and Michelle joined us for a fun Easter weekend beginning with Dean's Easter Egg Hunt and including flying kites, dying eggs, sword fighting, and lots of running. Aidyn loved being BatGirl. She asked to sleep in the Batman shirt and when I tried to dress her the next morning she cried and asked to wear it another day and so she did.






Eli and Aidyn didn't last long coloring their eggs but Spence enjoyed making his. And they all enjoyed hunting for them in the yard.






This is the kids receiving their baskets. Preston went straight for his eggs, knocking his basket over; and they all went for the Peeps.

Wacky Weather

Snow all night and most of day over the weekend and then 75 degrees during the week. Crazy weather here but the kids make the most of being outside regardless of the temps.

Spencer likes to eat the snow during snowball fights. And Grandpa builds a great Frosty. I'm not sure what the favorite part the winter wonderland was . . . . playing outside or drinking marshmallows with our hot cocoa--both are fairly messy endeavors.

8 months

Preston is 8 months now and you can see that we have "twins" at our house. Aidyn weighs half a pound more and is a bit taller but they can wear the same size clothes and diapers. Preston is crawling well now and he wants to pull up when possible. So he is officially into his siblings' stuff. They still love him though and so far they are being patient with him.

Shopping

Because so many of you laugh when you learn I like to buy our groceries online. . . . (great service wherein i order and jeremy pulls through the pick-up line on his way home from work) Today we did Walmart, Publix, and Kroger. Just me and the kids and several grocery carts. So here is what that looks like. Not surprisingly I'm the only mom I ever see out doing this with three little kids--they must all use the online service. Notice the kid's drums are coffee containers. They love shopping with me bc they want to drive the race car buggies. And they always love goofing for the camera phone.

GW

We are friends for life.
When we're together the years fall away.
Isn't that what matters?
To have someone who can remember with you?
To have someone who remembers how far you've come?
--Judy Blume






High school, 1992



And here is Abigail with Preston. She is the fourth child and is laid back like PK so they entertained themselves while the moms enjoyed a fun weekend. Sometimes I forgot the babies were with us bc they were both so easy. Abigail is 20 days younger than PK.

PK is on the move

Preston has been scooting for a couple of weeks and now he can make it across a room on all fours. He is still pretty slow going but I guess we can call this crawling. He isn't fitting the stereotypical third child in that he is becoming mobile at seven months and that's sooner than Spence and Aidyn. AND Preston is sleeping through the night now so everyone wakes up happy and well rested.

Happy Valentines

Thanks to everyone who sent us Valentines. The kids enjoyed opening their mail.

I got to be a helper mom with Spencer's school party. His teacher helped the kids make these cool mailboxes for all of their valentines. I liked this great shoebox idea and wanted to pass it along to everyone.

Snow day

Hooray we got a snow day. I got out of the shower and started getting the kids ready Wednesday while Jeremy was sick in bed. Rebecca called to tell me it was snowing and that Bible study and preschool was cancelled. So spence and I rushed outside to play in the snow. Since we were unsure how long it would last we just bundled up in layers on top of our pajamas. Spencer loved making snowballs and having snowball fights. Both kids enjoyed riding in their truck though the falling flakes--probably rode around for 30 minutes. Aidyn wouldn't step out of the garage to play in the snow though. She cried like she was scared of the flakes but she didn't want to go inside either.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

I was too busy to take good pictures, but maybe Niki and Angela can email some of their good photos of Callie and Maggie and the group from the CNY party. I took the kids to Atlanta for our third annual playgroup CNY party. The kids had a blast doing crafts and running around. And we all enjoyed the great Chinese food. Was good to see our friends again.

And in Nashville we attended a CNY dinner at our friend's (Zara, Zena, and Zola) house. We enjoyed meeting families and again doing crafts and eating great Chinese food. Zola and Aidyn were born in the same town. And Zola's mom, Rebecca, and Marsha and Jeremy attended the same university and we have lots of other connections too. We are really enjoying getting to know their family.

Artist?

Recently Spencer asked if we could bring the whiteboard in so he could draw some pictures for me. So I did. A few minutes later I came through the kitchen and he said, "Look mom. I drew a picture of you." I laughed pretty hard when I saw it. Then he drew daddy next to mommy.

Preston 7 months

Preston is still a happy baby. He can sit by himself now and is scooting on all fours. So crawling will be soon. He loves playing with his siblings. He is about to catch Aidyn in weight. He is almost 19 lbs and she is barely over 20.

3 smiling

3 smiling, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

3 piggyback

3 piggyback, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

aidyn full shot

aidyn full shot, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

spence ad

spence ad, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Spencer mug

Spencer mug, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

spence full shot

spence full shot, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

smiley aidyn

smiley aidyn, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

preston mug

preston mug, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

just like spencers

just like spencers, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.