Give me two dollars!!!

Checking out the merchandise...Look at me... buying my very own Batmobile. Here's your two dollars!!

Nice doing business with you!

I also have some other great stuff. Could I interest you in a Spiderman car?

So... I have Thanksgiving photos I should be posting, but it may be next year before I get a chance to go through them! In the meantime, here are a few pics of the boys playing store. I love it! Jax is in the green, Dex in the beige. I get such a kick out of watching them negotiate price. Inevitably, everything winds up $2!

Much to be thankful for...

Last week, we saw the pediatric neuropsychologist that originally diagnosed Jaxon with PDD-NOS at 19 months. We were scheduled for a follow-up in February, but someone cancelled at the last minute and so we jumped at the chance to get in to see her. As it happened, D.R. had the day off, so we were both able to attend.

The appointment was to be four hours of autism-specific testing, followed by another appointment of developmental screening. After about two hours, the doctor stopped the testing and told us that there was no need to go any further. She said she was removing the medical diagnosis and that we had a very typical, imaginative and spirited (or strong-willed...difficult... pick your adjective!) three-year old. I'm sure I don't need to go into just how powerful that moment was. When I think of how devastating our first meeting with her was... how much fear we lived with over the past year and a half... all the phone calls, research, therapies, waiting lists... the prayers and hopes and celebrations...

This was the heaviest burden I've ever had to carry and to have it lifted in such a way... just a few days before this holiday of Thanksgiving... was so fitting.

Never would I have imagined how happy I would be to have someone tell me I have a stubborn little three year old! Now, I just need the continued patience to help him deal with his constant need to be the boss of everyone around him, his difficulty in dealing with frustration/disappointment and the intensity that accompanies all of his emotions.

What do you think?

It's official! We're doing a zygosity test to see whether the boys are fraternal or identical! It should take about two weeks for the results. I am so looking forward to the day that I have an answer when asked if they're identical or fraternal... instead of just answering, "I don't know!!" (which sounds kind of strange coming from their mother).

So, to make it kind of fun, if anyone wants to post a comment with their guess, we can see how many people guess correctly! Come on guys, play along!

D.R. is guessing fraternal. My mom is guessing identical. I'm undecided (I'm allowed!!).

100 miles an hour ALL THE TIME

I'm truly starting to dread winter. Sure, it will be fun to see the boys playing in the snow. Yes, I happen to LOVE Christmas. But, the thought of several months of cabin fever is enough to send shivers down my spine! These boys have energy. SO SO SO much energy. When I'm the ball, and have projects, games and activities to throw at them, and when I'm able to shower them with the lavish attention they so love, they are the sweetest and most fun little boys. When I'm not able to do all of the above, however, it is pure chaos. The wrestling, screaming, running, etc. is completely out of control! A few of my dear friends have witnessed these bursts of energy explosions and can most certainly attest to the fact that I am not exaggerating.

So, my survival tactics will include: 1- warm winter clothes and daily excursions outdoors. Let's just hope I'm brave enough to keep this up with Shea. The boys truly benefit from the opportunity to run around outside. 2- planned activities/projects for my busy little boys. Today, we started the day with Monopoly money and I had each of the "buy" the toys they wanted to play with. They loved it and it gave them a chance to work on numbers/money concepts. For a good hour, the two of them played store with their favorite toys, a couple of price tag labels and $10 each. Of course, as soon as the game was over, they played Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader (Jax is always Luke and Dex is always Darth Vader)... and it was loud... very loud. Oh, boys!!!!! 3- Plenty of patience for all the moments of bouncing off furniture, sword fighting and non-stop wrestling... oh, I hope I can be the patient, loving mother I so want to be.

In the photo above, the boys are working on little constructions with balls of playclay and cut up straws. I love that they like stimulating activities, like this... I just wish I was able to give them as many of them as they wanted! Maybe when Shea's a little older...

Another best bud!

This is Lucy with Shea. Lucy is about 6 or 7 weeks younger than Shea and just cute as a button! It was so fun for me to share in pregnancy with her mommy, Alicia, and I'm so looking forward to watching our girls grow up together.

Sharing the boppy.
The girls with their big brothers. Yes, my boys were far more interested in showing off their action figures than showing off their little sister, but look at how well Caleb holds Lucy!! Quite impressive!

Shea's Sweater and Wake-Up Story

I made this sweater for the boys and they wore it until they were 6 or 7 months old. Shea is three months old, so I pulled it out the other day for her to try on. As you can see, it's already snug... and her little belly pokes through. Since I'm not ready for her to start showing off her midriff (will I ever be?!), I had to retire the sweater. Here are a few photos from her half-day in her first Mommy-made sweater. Showing off her little belly button. Oh, Shea!!

And, of course I need a cute story of the day, so... Yesterday, while I was cleaning up from breakfast, the boys heard Shea waking up on the baby monitor and decided it was their brotherly duty to go get her, "make her feel better," and carry her down the stairs. I, however, was not in on their secret mission, so I continued to tidy up the kitchen before going up to get her. By the time I got upstairs, the two of them were gently leaning over her, stroking her little head and telling her everything was going to be okay. When I tried to swoop in and pick her up, they seriously informed me that it was their job as superheroes to do the carrying (yesterday they were Luke Skywalker and Han Solo... I got stuck being C3-PO). So, I bravely allowed them to walk in front of me holding Shea (with my arms underneath theirs). Of course, when we got to their stairs, the superheroes had to leave the carrying to Mommy! Oh, how lucky Shea is to have such brave little defenders!

Last scenes of fall

Just prior to Shea's birth, we decided to have someone come and help me with the boys a few times a week. I was big and pregnant, and with the looming c-section, I knew I would need to help during my recovery, as well. We were lucky enough to find Haley, who has the energy, patience and super-fun spirit needed to hang out with the boys on a regular basis. Here we are, three months after Shea's birth, and she's still the biggest help to me. Two mornings a week, the boys get her undivided attention (which they LOVE), while I get to run all my errands, do laundry and even squeeze in an occastional visit, with only one child, instead of three.

Here are a few photos she took while the boys were playing outside a few weeks ago. Yes, it's Bat Jax and Dexter. :)

Conversations with Shea

They may be short, but they are certainly sweet. I just can't get over her little noises! She's been a bit quiet today and I'm missing my little chatterbox! This little clip was from a week or two ago...

Shea Shea

By the time the boys were three months old, we had hours of videotape and hundreds of photos of our little monkeys. Poor Shea will have considerably less documentation of her early days! That's not to say that I'm not thoroughly enjoying every second, however. She continues to be the sweetest little baby. We're seeing more and more of her precious little smile and hearing more of her "talking." She is still out super sleeper... last night she wowed us with 10 hours, a bit more than her usual 7-9. Daytime napping, however, isn't quite as smooth sailing. Due to the fact that our days tend to revolve around Dex and Jax, I haven't even attempted establishing a napping routine with Shea. Honestly, she has yet to nap in her crib. I've tried twice and she would have nothing to do with it. She's more than happy to nap in my arms, in the baby bjorn, or in her swing... so I guess that will just have to do, for now! At least she's not avoiding naps, that would be harder to deal with! Her newest "trick" is rolling from front to back and she just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Honestly, as crazy as our days may sometimes feel with three munchkins, it's all going far-too quickly for me. All the more reason to take the time to record these little tid-bits, right?

One day...

One day, I will miss the little fingerprints on our furniture.
One day, I will miss the hour-long wrestling matches and rowdy games of tag.
One day, I will miss the non-stop requests for piggy-back rides and the tired back that accompanies them.
One day, I will miss the CONSTANT begging for one more story, one more drink, one more game, one more puzzle, one more, one more, one more...

Little Obsessions

One of the many things I love about the boys is how passionately they fall for new interests. It's always been this way. As toddlers, there were never-ending requests to go watch the industrial garages across the street. Then, it was construction vehicles. There were matchbox cars, DVDs, song-obsessions, leafing through Entertainment Weekly... even checking the mail became all-consuming. Of course, as one little obsession ends, another one begins. More recently, it's been Batman, legos, jigsaw puzzles, the transfomers, playdough, toy catalogues and board games. The playdough has been getting a bit tedious for me, as they will do it daily (several times a day)... sometimes for more than an hour without tiring of it. I love their dedication, but am getting SO tired of cleaning it out of their clothes, out of the carpet and finding it under the dishwasher!! :) I do love their dedication, though!

I am loving their interest in boardgames. I adore being able to sit (yes, SIT) with the boys while they play their game of choice. The kids' games go over well, complete with rules and turn-taking. The adult games become instantly transformed into the boys' idea of how they should operate. I'm always amused with the rules they come up with. Above, they are trading trivial pursuit cards as rewards for quickly filling in the pie pieces. Love it.

A Giant Plug

I have to put a big plug on my blog for our very good friend, Doron, who announced his run for Minneapolis City Council last week. For those who live in Ward 1, as we do, he's running for us... so please check out http://www.doronclark.com/.

Of course, the boys were thrilled that their first political event involved steamers and Shea thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a nice, little nap.

Halloween!

Jaxon, eating way too much chocolate with Taylor.

Shea, feeling nice and cozy with Hailey.

Lovin' the loot!

We had a great Halloween, this year! Of course, the boys HAD to be Batman and Shea HAD to be Batbaby. I found it particularly endearing to see how excited the boys got about Shea's costume... very sweet, indeed.

Trick-or-treating also went well. We were all able to walk around our student community together, which was truly a lot of fun. The boys had the funniest habit of walking up to a door and shouting, "Knock, knock! Anybody in there?" Then, they would periodically inform us that they had bags full of candy... it was all just too good to be true! Naturally, Shea either smiled or slept through the whole affair. Let's hope next year goes just as smoothly!

What I want to remember, however, is how cute the boys looked walking down the sidewalk together. You have to understand, they were walking in big black boots that were a good two sizes too big and carrying bags that they insisted on holding wide open with both hands at all times. It made for the silliest sight. Top that with their proclamations of "Happy Halloween" or "Let's try the next door!!" and it was enough to bring anyone to giggles.

I've also included a few photos from our Halloween get-together with Ang and Allison and their munchkins. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of Audrey or Lily, as the boys were in full sugar overload by the time they arrived (yikes!), but I thought all the girls (and Carter, too) were adorable. It's a great Halloween tradition that our families can enjoy costumes and goodies together... even if the gathering gets a little more chaotic each year (in large part, thanks to our rowdy family!).

In their element

The boys are into so many fun things, these days. Yesterday, it was Mommy and Daddy's boardgames. They sat in the living room making up their own rules to Backgammon, Scrabble and Monopoly. It was truly hilarious. They decided the Backgammon pieces were money. They arranged them all on the board, then took turns rolling the dice to see how many "coins" they could pick up and put in their own cup. It was so cute to see them come up with their own system of playing! Anyway, there seems to be a checklist that needs to be met for ultimate fun. 1- Common interest: computer, puzzle, boardgame 2- Mutual agreement to do same thing at same time (amazingly, despite the fact that they can bicker over the smallest thing, they continue to adore playing together 90% of the time) 3- Pants must be removed... yes, games are WAY more fun in your underpants!!

And, Shea... our little sleeper... rocking it 80's-style. Love it.

Girls' Day Out

Shea and I went to Ang's baby shower two weeks ago and had so much fun together! It's a rare occasion that my hair isn't in a ponytail, so we had to document this occasion for all posterity. :) Times like this one make me realize that we need to be making more of an effort to go out with the boys one-on-one, as well. No reason Shea should be the only one to enjoy all this attention!!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun with all the gals that afternoon. Ang's mom and sis throw the most fantastic showers. Shea was happy to see her friends Audrey and Erin, too. :)

A couple more reasons to smile

Sometimes, you just have to smile...

After washing the dishes the other day, I turned the corner to find... this. Smile.

The fun of fall

I am loving how excited the boys get about projects, these days! Since fall has always been my absolute favorite time of year, it's so rewarding to be able to celebrate the season in doing relevant activities with the boys. Above are a few of our recent endeavors. The boys made beads out of homemade playclay, patiently waited a few days for them to dry (or not so patiently!), then painted them for Halloween. There have been many pumpkin-themed activities, as well as the apple prints we did after our trip to the apple orchard. Recently, we've been talking a lot about acorns, so in addition to carving their first jack-o-lantern this week-end, the boys want to go on an acorn hunt. The funniest thing ever, though, is when we sing "I'm a little acorn brown..." and Jaxon says, "Don't be an acorn, Mommy! Just be my mommy!"

Before she outgrows it...

Sure, it's wrinkled from a ride in the carseat, but I had to capture Shea in this dress before I lost another opportunity. She's growing SO fast, these days and this was the first dress she was ever given... a gift from Mimi. At the time, it seemed HUGE!! Anyway, as much as I love dressing the boys (there really are pretty cute boys clothes our there), I adore dressing Shea and she just looked too sweet in this dress. Thanks, Mom!

Another best gal pal!

How lucky is Shea? Three of my friends have had baby girls within a matter of weeks of Shea's birth! This is Sylvie, my friend Molly's little girl. Isn't she a cutie? Unfortunately, it was Shea who was refusing to smile for our little photo session, so this was the best I could do! Although Shea wanted only one thing (to eat, what else?), Sylvie was all giggles. Too cute! Won't it be fun to see these two grow up together?