Oh, boys!!!

When faced with hours upon hours of time inside, due to cold weather, etc, the boys continue to come up with interesting and creative ways of entertaining themselves. It's times like these that I am SO VERY thankful that they have each other! Of course, it goes without saying that their creative playtime usually involves loud decibal levels and much clean-up! :)

Yesterday, for example, after a good 15 minutes of letting the boys play upstairs, I wandered up to see what they were doing. They were singing, in unison, "We're organizing our books... it's organize time! We're organizing our books... it's organize time!" As I heard them, I smiled to myself. It's so funny to hear them making up songs and playing so nicely. THEN, I saw what "organizing their books" actually meant. My smile faded as I witnessed three near-empty bookshelves and two boys proudly filling their dresser drawers with story books. Eek!! "What are you doing?!" I asked, with the panic of someone who DID NOT want to be spending the next 30 minutes putting books back into the bookshelf. "Mommy, we're organizing our books! It's teamwork! It's time to organize!" They were so very proud of themselves... it took every ounce of restraint for me not to completely freak out. Instead, D.R. used this as an opportunity to fix the back of the bookcase and we slowly started the process of putting the books back.

This sort of industriousness is something I see as a good and a bad thing. I love the fact that the boys are NEVER bored. I LOVE THIS. However, their "projects" often overwhelm me!! :)

Here are a few of the other ways they're keeping busy, these days...

Their attempt at a rocket ship quickly turned into a space shuttle fort. WAY FUN. Forts are a daily occurence for us, lately. The bigger, the better. If Baby Shea is content to stay inside with the boys, that is the ultimate!! Here, Dex is captain.

Also a daily happening, the afternoon wrestling match... usually lasting a good 1-2 hours. Theresa can verify. It's like clockwork!!

Dex, as Spiderman, trapping me in another web.

I think it's a twin thing (maybe a twin-boys thing?!), but neither boys has any personal space. This means lots of cuddles/wrestling for any visitor. Here, the boys get as close to Grama as possible!

Dex, as Indiana Jones.

Jax, as Indiana Jones.

Rarely, are the boys actually Dexter and Jaxon, anymore. More commonly, they are Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, Indiana Jones, astronauts, aliens, Chicken Little, Bruce Wayne, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Optimus Prime... the list goes on and on. It doesn't matter that they've never seen the movies, they've seen pictures and they've heard us tell them the stories. I think my new favorite is when they're Indiana Jones and they go on treasure hunts. At first, they would gather up toys while singing, "We're going on a treasure hunt.... to look for gold!" and pile them high up on the couch. After a day or two of this, we tried the reverse treasure hunt. At the end of the day, we would treasure hunt for toys and then place in the toy bin. A much better way of cleaning up!

Just for fun

I get such a kick out of these video clips. Granddad, wrestling with the boys... and Shea, watching calmly (you can tell she sees a lot of wrestling!). Also, Shea trying to inch her way toward a toy... so cute.

In the past few days, Shea has started doing the famous baby-rocking-on-her-hands-and-knees move that we all know and love. The best, however, is the look she gets as she's rocking. It's as though she's saying, "Okay! Now what do I do?!!"

Shea's Baptism

The kids were really happy that Mimi and Graddad were able to come into town the night before Shea's baptism. Jaxon was especially hoping that Mimi would share her birthday DVDs with him. :)I took absolutely NO photos, believe it or not, so these are pics that other people were nice enough to send to me!!! Shea with her family, godparents (Chad, Meredith- with Jake & Henry- and Theresa) and my dad, who baptized her.Shea- enjoying BOTH of her grandmas at the same time!!Of course, the boys were MORE than happy to help Shea open her gifts.

And THRILLED at all the fun beverages available to them!

And I just love this shot of T and Jax.

More smiles...

A few of the things that make me smile... D.R. and Shea. No explanation needed. They just make me happy!

A few days ago, I came downstairs to find the boys with my electric pump turned on, each trying to pump milk from their belly buttons. When they saw me, they just smiled, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It cracked me up. I tried to get a photo of it, but by the time I grabbed my camera, they had moved on to trying to disassemble the whole thing. I did, however, get one shot of Dex giving his belly button a second try. Too funny!

And lastly, the boys and I decided today that they needed a code word for their non-stop wrestling matches. Frequently, what starts out as a fun game ends up with one boy smothering another. I asked them what the code word should be and they were in complete agreement that it should be "chicken little." What?! So now, in addition to the hilarious sight of the boys loudly attacking each other ALL THE TIME, I hear random shout-outs of "CHICKEN LITTLE!!!!"

What a sleepover!

I had the GREAT pleasure two week-ends ago of getting a visit from my mom, my sis and my nephew, Ollie. Of course, it flew by and it only made me miss my family even MORE... but I'm so glad I got them for the short time that I did. We had wrestling matches, fort-building, smiley-face sandwiches, three boys-in-a-tub (those will be fun photos to show the kiddos when they're older!) and late-night girl talk. Given the limited bed space in our apartment, Sarah (7 months pregnant, mind you), Ollie, Shea and I shared my bed (D.R. was working nights... probably wouldn't have been enough room for him!) and Mom slept with the boys (they thought this was asolutely AWESOME).

It's so hard to have my sister so far away, but I'm hoping to see her when her new little guy is born. In the meantime, I'll think of all the fun we had and look forward to the next time we can see each other!

Ollie LOVED Shea. What a good big brother he will be!

Here's Dex, showing Ollie one of his favorite puzzles.

Jaxon thought cuddling with Mimi was so much fun!

Of course, Shea was all smiles with Mimi, too.

Showing off her Valentines Day look.

Mom watched all the kiddos while I ran errands. Yay, Super Mimi!

What silly boys...

Such a sweet cousin.

Busy, busy

Most days, I find myself in a state of maintained chaos. I'm permanently frazzled and trying desperately to keep the house from falling apart. Don't get me wrong, I understand this can be a completely normal part of having two exceptionally energetic, busy and noisy three year old boys and a six-month old who prefers to be within a foot of Mama all day long. And I'm not complaining. Not in the least. There are moments, when amidst the craziness, I find my cheeks hurting from the smiles and my belly aching from giggling so hard. Of course, there are also days, like this afternoon, when I found myself counting the hours to bedtime, desperate for a moment of peace... Then, I get the kiddos in bed, wash up the dishes, clean up the toys, sit down to enjoy my first "me" moment of the day and I realize, I miss my kids. It's so easy to miss them when they're asleep! Then, I feel overcome with guilt for ever having longed for bedtime as much as I did... and I yearn for a rewind button on my life, so I can go back and redo this afternoon... with more energy and more appreciation for the busy little ones that keep me, well, so busy.

Maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm smiling about the way Jaxon sang the two of them to sleep tonight, repeating the chorus to "One Little Slip," a Barenaked Ladies song that's found in the movie Chicken Little, which we checked out from the library last week. I'm smiling about the way Dex turned to Jax this afternoon while they were hiding behind couch cushions and said, "You okay, Jaxon?" And Jax replied, "Yeah, I okay. You okay?" These little check-ins make me so happy. I'm smiling at how mischievous they can be. Last week, within a ten minute period, Dexter both ruined the icing on one side of Shea's baptism cake (by running his little fingers through it, of course) and snapped those same little fingers in a hidden mouse trap... both of which he knew he wasn't supposed to touch. Jaxon has a history of slinking into a room with the guiltiest of smiles, just waiting for me to ask what he got into. Then, with a mixture of pride and shame, he innocently escorts me to the scene of the crime. Oh, these boys!

Six Months Old

Here is Shea trying on her baptism shoes for the first time, a few weeks ago. She just loves how sparkly they are!

The past six months have gone amazingly fast. I look back on the boys' first three years and I'm always stunned at how it has flown by... but with Shea, things seem to be moving even faster. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that life is a little bit busier!

Shea continues to bring so much joy to our lives. She is a little bundle of energy, just like her brothers. She adores being held and would be the happiest girl in the world if she was receiving constant attention. Luckily, for her, with two brothers, a doting dad, and a mom who doesn't mind wearing her on my hip, she is happy almost all the time. :)

Her six-month old visit went well. We're still in the clear, as far as ear infections go, so I'm really hoping that she doesn't follow in her brother's footprints as far as immunity issues go. Thus far, she has made it through two minor colds very well. She's 15 lbs 10 oz (35th%) and 26" long (50th %). She giggled through her vaccines for the second time, which had the nurses giggling, as well. I know that won't last long... but I'll take it as long as I can!

She continues to be a great sleeper (like her brothers), is eating well and even taking a sippy cup. Go Shea! I'm trying to savor being able to carry her with me wherever I go, as she gets more and more wiggly every day and I know it won't be long before she'll prefer getting around on her own. I'm not the only one who enjoys carrying her, however. The boys like to drag her (they lift her from behind, wrapping their arms around her chest... very carefully) around the living room, pretending they are returning the baby hutlett to Jaba the Hut. It's pretty adorable.

Tickling Shea

T taped me tickling Shea a few weeks ago. It's getting easier and easier to get Shea to giggle. I love this. There's just something about a baby giggling...

Of course, there is much going on in the background...

Obviously not the last catch-up

Shea was baptized today. It was a fantastic day and all three kids had a blast being surrounded by loved ones. I'll post photos eventually (we know how great I've been at that in '09!) We missed Jon and his family, but are celebrating all the improvements Jon has been making, recently. D.R. even had his first conversation with his brother in nearly two months yesterday. There is so very much to be thankful for.


A few other things to be thankful for...

Dexter, explaining to Shea which toys she can touch and which toys she CANNOT touch.

I took these photos about a week after Shea started sitting up. I love the fact that she has a baby toy and a spiderman toy... and the fact that she's sporting a cute outfit from Great Great Aunt Norma. :)

I love how the boys share their space. They eat next to each other, they sleep next to each other, (they even use the potty in tandem... SO wish I could post a photo of that!!) they play side-by-side, wrestle almost constantly and basically just love to hang out with each other. This makes me so happy. Here, the two of them get comfy for movie night. It also cracks me up that they usually feel the need to bury themselves in pillows.

So thankful for Theresa and her energy!!

Dex, showing off his new seat. I love how three-year-olds think the goofiest things are funny. The two of them will do something silly and then repeat it over AND OVER again. The "aren't-I-funny" expression has become one of my favorites.

I'm so thankful for the brief, but special, visit we had with my family in late December. We were home about 15 hours, but it was good.

I got to see my little bro, Jonathan. SO wish he was closer!

LOVED watching the boys deem themselves gift passer-outers. Jax, in particular, was quite proud of this title/responsibility.

Seeing my children with my siblings and parents (as well as D.R.'s siblings and his parents), gives me an immeasurable amount of satistfaction. It's completely heartwarming. Here, Shea with my little brother, Seth and his fiancee Nichole.

Shea, trying to get in on the gift-opening action with her brothers and Granddad.

Game of the day

Today, Jaxon walked up to me holding the two plastic ice picks/hammers that came with the game, Don't Break the Ice (thanks, T!). He said, "Hey Mommy, you wanna play a game with me?"

Me: Sure. Don't break the ice?

J: No, a different game.

Me: Well, how's it work?

J: You take these two hammers and you hit yourself in the head, like this (hitting himself in the head).

Me: (Trying not to completely lose it. SO funny.) No, I don't think I want to play that game. Thanks, though.

J: It doesn't hurt!!! See, I'll show you! Come here!

Me: (Laughing uncontrollably) No! That's not the game for me!

J: (Shrugging and walking over to Dexter) Hey Dexter, you wanna play a game with me?

D: Sure!

J: Okay, come here!

I stand by and watch as Dexter kneels in front of Jaxon so he can be hammered in the head. They both smile at each other proudly and begin to giggle and giggle and GIGGLE.

Me: So, what's this game called?

Boys (in unison... how do they do this?!): Hammers Bang Head Game!

Seriously!