TTT: Season 3, Episode 13

1. Another busy, but fun week! I've been struggling to get my posts done before the Thursday hours expire each week, which means there's been so much going on that I haven't had a chance to write-as-I-go like I used to do. One major project that Mark and tackled this week was replacing our kitchen sink. It's something that we've wanted to do since we moved in nearly a year ago (eek!), but just A) haven't had the funds and B) haven't had the time. But a nagging leak behind the cabinet doors finally made us pull the plug on our builder grade cheapo sink and faucet. We "fixed" it several times, but the parts were rusted out and inevitably, we'd either be paying a plumber a lot to come check things out probably just to find that it needed to be replaced. Since we wanted to do it anyway, we just decided to go for it. That is, after we cleaned out the puddle our cleaning supplies were swimming in. Now, I say we were planning to replace the sink. But when I say "we," I mean "me, Mark, and the friendly installation team from Home Depot or Lowes." But when the salesman informed us that installation was $300 plus another $60 for delivery of our items, we decided it was time to get brave and do it ourselves. And I must say, we seriously underestimated ourselves! The hardest part was lifting the cast iron sink and setting it in correctly. The whole process was far easier than we thought it would be. Really, people. Everything you buy comes with instructions. And there's oodles of videos online to help, too. That, and working on a house that's only nine years old as opposed to our Lubbock house that was over thirty years old makes a huge difference. As Mark says, I'm the brains behind the operation and he's the brawn. After a few hours of work while the kids took naps, we had a brand new shiny sink, faucet, and disposal. I'm one happy lady, and considering Mark does the dinner dishes every night, he's a pretty happy fella too.

The old basic-of-the-basics sink. And in barftastic condition.

Mr. Fix-it, hard at work.

The new beauty! We have white corian counters, so we could have gone with an under mount sink, but it would have required refinishing the counter top edges as well. And I've heard mixed reviews on those, as it is. And I know that stainless steel is all the rage, but I really just wanted to go classic since we have the white counters and white appliances. It's very clean looking. And clean is good. I especially love that it's extra deep and has the lower divider in the middle. Great for washing pans!

2. My little nugget turned nine months old this week. It's going by way way way too fast. And I have to admit that eight to nine months is my favorite age. He is just so cute, loveable, hugable and happy. Full of life, full of adventure, full of excitement, this guy is ready to take on the world every waking second. When I say he's all over the place, I mean all over the place. He's obsessed with trying to get on the stairs. As I've mentioned before, the bottom to stairs on our staircase have no walls so the gate is on the third step. He climbs those bottom two, stands with his hands on the gate and just looks over waiting for someone to spot him. As soon as I holler out a long "Graaaaaaaant..." he bursts into a smile as if to say, "Heeheehee! I got on the stairs again!" He's got two shiny teeth and even though he only gained two pounds since his last check up a few months ago, he's still in the 85th percentile. He's thinned out some but is still so squeezable and fluffy. He's developing great friendships with his brothers, especially Kolbe. They love to play together and Kolbe is so patient with him. Grant is eating more and more new foods and isn't afraid to try anything. Pickles are still his favorite when I let him get ahold of one. He's still a barfer. But like two to three times a day instead of two to three times an hour. And he'll even let strangers hold him now without freaking out. We love this little guy. He's fabulous. If all babies were like him, I can't imagine anyone being afraid to have children. :)

My doll baby

3. Today I got to do something really cool in my books. One of my high school girlfriends who now lives in Nashville was in Houston with a Christian band that she travels and plays with. We made arrangements and the boys and I drove to the school she was performing at to meet up with her. I haven't had a chance to see any of my high school buddies in ages. When you move several states away to go to college, not many people can just meet up for lunch from time to time, if you know what I mean. Bethany and I were friends through our show choir, The Front Line, which was the cool thing to do at our high school. And I'm not being sarcastic. Seriously. It was. We've stayed in touch via Facebook through the years, and while our lives have taken different paths, they've also remained the same in many ways. I know that if we lived in the same city, we'd still be close friends. It was wonderful to see her! And other than Rudy wetting his pants in the car, causing us to divert our travels to  the nearest Walmart for new undies and shorts, the boys did fairly well too. (They perform well for an audience.) Hopefully when Bethany comes through town in the fall, we'll be able to meet up again...maybe sans kids for a little shopping! Who says long distance friendships don't work!?! And all my other high school friends, if you're ever near Houston, please let me know!

An oldie-but-goodie...me with my sweet friend, Bethany D!

The church had an Easter egg hunt for the kiddies on Sunday, complete with face painting. We made it home with two cute little bunnies.

We discovered that Mr. Blue Eyes is great at using a straw! He loves sipping water while the boys eat.

Ever need to burn ten or so minutes with the kids? Teach them how to play paper football. The boys love it. Please excuse the gnarly kitchen table. It's a good 25 some odd years old and falling apart.

Last night we celebrated Pinkie's birthday, even though it's not until April 5th. She's leaving for Lubbock for 2 weeks so we had to celebrate early. Pay no attention to the candles...she's actually 39....again.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 12

1. Spring has definitely sprung around these parts. Other than the permanent layer of pollen coating just about everything outdoors, I love this time of year. Oh, and one other thing. It happens every spring and every fall: the bi-annual switching over of the wardrobes. It just never seems to go smoothly. It always entails piles and piles of clothes, bags labeled this and that, bins needing to be pulled down and rearranged...you get the idea. And all of that with three kids climbing all over the place. The most frustrating part is just finding the time and space to do it. For example, I managed to get all of the twelve and eighteen month summer clothes out,washed, and stacked for Grant. And then he took a nap so the project had to be abandoned. Later, I got all of the winter stuff out of his drawers and closet and stacked. And then it was bed time. The next day, piles of both summer and winter clothes covered his entire room. And, of course, big brothers felt the need to mess with said piles every time we entered the room. Eventually, everything was in its rightful place, including multiple items in the donate box that left me scratching my head and asking why in the world did I keep this!?! There are stains all over it! Poor Grant...the third boy and still on the same lot of clothes with only a handful of new items here or there. But I digress. The dreaded clothing switch-over of Spring 2012 is finally over and I think we're set for the hot summer ahead.

2. Two weeks ago I mentioned a big need for us to get back on a schedule and vowed to get to it last week. I wrote this in haste, as I wasn't thinking about spring break and the visitors we'd have in town. We were the farthest thing from a schedule last week! But this week has been much smoother, and I must say, it feels great. I actually wrote out on paper what an "ideal day" would look like for us. Not down to the minute or anything, just a loose schedule with a certain level of structure and regularity. Like "7-8 breakfast, dress boys, clean up kitchen" as opposed to "7:50- unload dishwasher." Lord knows I'd never meet my own expectations with that! Heck, it's been a struggle to meet my expectations with the loose schedule. I'm still working on tweaking it a bit, but maybe I'll share it on here, once it gets to the point that I'm really comfortable with it. And I'm also proud to say that I've included a little cleaning schedule within my daily schedule as well. Part of my 2012 bucket list is to develop a cleaning routine. I've had this sneaking suspicion that if I did 5-10 minutes of cleaning each day, it would be so much less stressful than panicking and doing it all on one day. I can almost always squeeze in 5-10 minutes somewhere within the day. It's just making myself do it! And this week has been great. I've just got to see if I can make it stick. But if I can, I'll share it with you too. Ah. I love me some structure!

3. Back to clothes. But this time for me. Mark and I worked on cleaning out our own closet this past week, and man, there were a few things in there that I found myself asking why in the world do I own this!?! We definitely went with the if-you-haven't-worn-it-in-a-year policy and ended up with several bags to donate. And lots of empty hangers. Begging for cute new spring/summer items. Really, here in Houston, you need very few winter items and lots of summer stuff. And sadly, when I look through my stuff, it seems like all I wear are basics. You know...solid color fitted T, jean/khaki shorts/crops/pants, sandals. I really don't have much money to spend on new spring/summer wear, but if I can scrounge up a bit, I definitely want to get some tops that aren't the basics. There are so many styles out there right now that are cute and feminine and not so blah. I get frustrated, too, because of what I consider my "nursing figure," (I'm sure you can probably figure out what that means...) but I really want to not totally fall in the "mom" look just because I have three kids and am turning thirty this year. I feel like to be the best mom and wife that I can be, I need to take care of myself and feel good about myself and not just let myself slide down the drain. Capisce?

We went to our favorite sandwich shop, Potbelly's, while Abby and Andy were here and Grant had his first run in with the splash pad. He LOVED it! Of course, I was just aiming to get a picture of him with the water, but I love how this picture turned out. Check out the two other little hooligans plotting in the background!

It's wildflower time in South Texas! One of my favorite times of the year. And these pretty bluebonnets are right in our front garden. Love them!

We rode our bikes up to the neighborhood park on Saturday...the first time this spring and the first time since Grant has been mobile. Needless to say, he had a lot of fun!

The obsession with doing Mama's hair continues...everyone loves a good shampoo.

A little blurry, but I love this picture of all four of my guys cuddling in a little twin bed

My family always had an Easter tree growing up. It seems like you hardly see them anymore, but I decided it was time to make our own. A few branches from Hobby Lobby, a few packages of little Easter ornaments, and an hour or so of kiddie decorating later and this is what we ended up with. It's prettier in person. I promise.

We swung by Old Navy after mass on Sunday to pick up a few things and I nearly died over this little hat. Grant looked SO cute! I had to peel myself away....

TTT: Season 3, Episode 11

1. Spring break is in full swing here! It's funny, because as a college student, it was a week I anticipated for months and months. Now, it just kind of happens upon us and is a welcomed break. Since these kiddies aren't  in school yet, every week is the same. But luckily, spring break still manages to bring people we love to us! My brother Dave came down Monday night and stayed until yesterday morning, so we got to spend a good chunk of time with him on Tuesday. The boys love their Uncle Dave. And then last night Andy, Abby, John, and Baby Will all arrived in town and are staying until tomorrow. We finally got to meet our itty bitty new nephew and he's precious! Of course, his big brother and parents aren't so bad either! I love weeks like this where we have a break from our norm and get to be with people we love. Even though it's far more busy than our typical week, it's somehow refreshing.

2. Part of Andy and Abby's reason for coming down was for Andy ("our attorney") to perform a will execution ceremony for both my mom and dad as well as Mark and me. Yes, Mark and I broke down and got a will. It still seems pretty funny to me, considering we don't have much to "leave behind." Andy says that we're worth more dead than alive, though. And I suppose the most important things that we have to leave behind are our three precious boys, and we just wanted to make sure that in the case of the unthinkable, everything would run smoothly for them. It's one of those "Why are we doing this?" type things, that when further pondered just makes a lot of sense for peace of mind. That, and it makes us feel all grown up. Ha! Now I can officially say, "Kid, don't make me write you out of my will!!!"

3. Though Rudy has had a pretty good imagination for quite a while, Kolbe is just now finally starting to enjoy "pretending." One of their favorite new activities is called "Santa Claus." Not only is it fun for them, but it's one of the most precious, endearing things for Mark and me as well. At night, before bed, the boys insist on Mark and me pretending to go to sleep in their beds. (after leaving our play-food cookies by the door) Then, they take their pillow cases off of their pillows and head out to the play room to load them up. Next, they bring their packed bags to the entry of their bedroom and carefully take things out one at a time. My favorite part is when they oh-so-quietly tiptoe into the room with each item, stand in the middle of the room, look back and forth between Mark and me as if to decided who should get the gift. Like they are actually putting real thought in to it! And then they pile the gifts high on the end of our beds. And scramble as fast as possible if either one of us "snores." It's so adorable! We let it go on for a good twenty minutes or so, and then of course we have to wake up to "the best Christmas ever!!!" They jump up and down in giddy excitement watching our excitement as we discover what St. Nick left for us. Really, it's such a small thing that will probably die in popularity in the weeks to come, but I know will stay with me forever. They are so precious and their joy is so tangible.

Somebody crashed with Dada on the couch

We finally broke down and took Rudy's birthday giftcards to Toys-r-Us and invested in new bikes! These two love to ride bikes at Pa's, but now they can ride bikes with Mama and Dada too. (mainly, I'm aiming for a mode of transportation to get us to the neighborhood pool once it opens!)

We took the new bikes down to the waterway with Dave on Tuesday and Pa brought along some bread to feed the ducks. We didn't end up seeing many ducks, but the fish sure were happy to get a snack!

Cousins at our family's favorite Mexican restaurant...Los Cucos! Poor little Will doesn't know what he's getting himself in to! And we sure wish Jackson and Kennedy were here too!

We've got a gate set up at our house, so Grant hasn't had any practice with stair climbing at home, but at 8 months, he sure did manage to make it to the top of Pinkie and Pa's stairs in under a minute. He is all. over. the place!

Two brothers getting ready for St. Patrick's Day with shirts that G-ma sent!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 10

1. It's 9:30pm and I'm just now sitting down to write. Yup. Kinda been one of those weeks. Not a bad one--just sort of all over the place. We had a really busy weekend, which was a lot of fun, but sort of got the week started off a little awkward. Plus, we're currently having an issue with sleeping, but I'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, I know that the kids and I really thrive on routines. Not exactly a "schedule," but just some sort of structure. Unfortunately, I feel like we've really gotten away from even a quasi-routine. It's sort of turned in to just whatever happens, happens. I like to go to bed at night having at least a very rough sketch of the next day! 'Cause when I'm not prepared for the next day, what tends to happen is I get frazzled or overwhelmed while the boys are still expecting me to be prepared and it either ends up turning in to lots of acting out by the boys or me "dumping" on them. ("Here, color this picture while I get this or that taken care of.") Trying to have a little more control of each day is definitely high on the priority list for this coming week.

2. So I mentioned sleeping issues. Ironically enough, I think the only person not having sleeping issues in our house is Grant! Mark started his new job last week and while they do finish up much earlier than his previous job, they also start a lot earlier. It's definitely not a bad thing...just a bit of a transition. We are loving having him home earlier, but he's pretty much ready to go to bed when the kids go! Speaking of the boys, that's where the biggest problem lies. To start with, the boys share a room, and they love sharing a room. But the rest of their sleeping patterns are completely opposite. Kolbe has given up his nap; Rudy still needs one. Since Kolbe doesn't nap, he's ready to go to bed early. Since Rudy still naps, he's still ready to play when Kolbe is crashing. And even though Rudy needs the nap, he's fighting it like crazy because he knows Kolbe is awake. See the problem? Like yesterday, Rudy started acting sleepy around 12:30 which would be the ideal nap time. But did he fall asleep then? Nope. I finally had to banish Kolbe to the far ends of the house while I laid down with Rudy until he quickly dosed off shortly after 2:30. And with that late of a nap, of course he was still bouncing off of the walls at 8:00pm. Then there was today. Rudy woke up from his nap roughly ten minutes after it started because he needed to go to the bathroom. Never went back to sleep so he was fighting to stay awake by 4:45pm. They were both in bed by 7:30pm. I'm sure you get the point. I just wish we could come up with something that works for both of them. And me! I still really need my little break in the middle of the day, but if I'm not going to get it, then I need them both to go to bed earlier so I can have a break at night. And I'm sure the looming spring forward time change will just throw another wrench in the whole scene. As much as they love sharing a room, I have a feeling some changes may need to take place to maintain my sanity and everyone's health.

3. So while Grant has been sleeping like a champ, the whole nursing situation is definitely going south. I suppose that's what I get for unknowingly turning in to a nursing snob after having the perfect nurser in Reagan. I foolishly thought that since he nursed so well, I would have the same success with any subsequent babies. You may remember all the issues I had with nursing Grant in the beginning. Though I haven't mentioned them in a while, they really haven't gone away. I still have major circulation issues that cause a lot of pain. Not to mention the fact that I've had mastitis three times in eight months. And a clogged duct once, too! And now the bigger problem is the distractions. When I nursed Rudy, there were hardly any. Sure, I had Kolbe, but he was only fifteen months when Ru was born. And Kolbe didn't even start talking till he was two! It's a completely different story with Grant. He's reached the point where he's totally aware and interested in Kolb and Ru and all they're doing at all times. He thinks he's one of the big guys and can't stand to miss out. Sorry for the "graphic" nature, but this little comic cracks me up and is fits Grant perfectly.

About the only part that's not accurate is the book in my hand. Yeah, right. Heck, even when I've pumped and feed him with the bottle, he's all over the place. And the whole "go to a quiet place" that all the baby gurus recommend is so far from realistic that it's not even funny. But hey, I'm determined and still feel like as long as I can, I should. We'll make it to one year. And I'll never, ever, ever, ever have the nursing snob thought that "it's easy" ever again!

He got banished to a pillow on the floor after trying to crawl off a good five times while I fed him. Squirmy Worm!!!

Part of our busy weekend was spending Saturday morning at The Woodlands marathon. Two of my cousins ran the full marathon and we were SO proud! Kristen (not pictured) has run several in the past year but this was Helen's first. Not only did she make it, she finished is 4 hours and 33 minutes. That's roughly 26 ten minute miles. Are you kidding me!?!?!

Rudy fell asleep in the car on the way home. He walked in on his own will and swore he didn't want to go to bed and wanted to eat lunch. But we found him asleep on the stairs a few minutes later. See!?! Sleep issues.

On Sunday, my parents treated us to a last minute Texas Tech baseball game down at Minute Maid Field. (where the Astros play) We had a blast getting to explore the stadium with a much smaller crowd than the 'stros games. The boys love baseball!

In front of the stadium there is a mock field with iron sculptures of players in action. Grant's head fit perfectly into the hand of the guy on second! I know. We're wierd. But he obviously thought it was hilarious, too!

Kolbe loves to brush my hair. And I can't say that I mind. While I usually end up looking a little crazy, it feels great!

He styled Grant's hair for him, too. Yikes.

"Here...color this for a minute while I make your lunch..."

TTT: Season 3, Episode 9

1. Mark started his new job this morning! As with all new things, there's always a certain level of anticipation anxiety, but this time there's been quite a bit of excitement, too. As I mentioned a while back, this new job seems that it will be a much better fit for Mark and for our family. His last day with the old job was on Friday which meant we had five whole days with Dada! We did get some relaxing in, but also stayed busy getting lots done around the house. (finally got the deck refinished! Yay!) We took a trip downtown to the Houston Children's Museum and the boys even got to go fishing with Dada and Pa and I managed to get my hair trimmed. Oh, and I think Mark and I rented and watched four different movies. Thank goodness for the Redbox right around the corner! Back to the real world now. I guess that's not so much of a bad thing though. You know how I love a routine! But man, it sure was nice to have my partner in crime for a few extra days!

2. We've all heard of the terrible/trying twos/threes. Is there such thing as the defiant fours? I feel like that's what we've hit with Kolbe. No kidding, in a span of one week we had three major public meltdowns with him. (in public is the only place these things happen, don't you know) It always happens when things aren't going his way, he's not getting to do what he wants to do, or we say we need to leave and he doesn't want to leave yet. We're not talking pouting and putting up a protest. We're talking full out wailing, kicking, screaming, heck, the one he threw on Sunday after mass resulted in barfing all over the inside of the van because he had gotten so worked up. I certainly didn't plan on spending my Sunday afternoon shampooing van carpeting. Why is it so hard to get the point across that, while the world does spin on an axis, he is not that axis!?! As much as we'd like to think that the boys will just figure out obvious things on their own, the truth is that the majority of the time we have to teach them how to handle and deal with certain things in life. I mean, if he's going to be in a big family he really can't think that the focus is on him all the time! Anyway, I know it's something that we're going to have to continue to work on until the point is made clear. Kolbe is definitely a strong-willed, bull-headed little guy some times. (I have no idea where he gets that from!) We just have to channel that into positive things! The barfing meltdown happened at a little bagel shop near our house, so we tried something new this time and decided that if he can't eat with our family in public, he can't eat with our family at home either. He had to spend dinner time sitting separate from the rest of us. It was so sad! But I know that it drove the point home for him. The other part of his punishment was having to write sentences. This is the first time we've done this with him as well, but I remember it working well for me as a child, and since he's so much like me and I'm trying to get him to work on his writing skills anyway, we gave it a shot. The joys of parenting continue! Results below:

3. As I mentioned up in numero uno, we finally visited the Houston Children's Museum this week, thanks to a Groupon I purchased a while back. (yes, almost everything we do outside of the home is either free or Groupon/LivingSocial related.) I can now totally see why it's the number one children's museum in the country! Wow! I think Mark and I were just as impressed with some of the exhibits as the boys were. There was so much to do and all of it was hands on and very educational. Even little Grant had a blast. Some of the exhibits were right at their age level, while others will be more interesting the older they get. Of course, there were several different schools of children there on field trips so we had to navigate the place so as not to get stuck at one exhibit with eight-nine other kiddos, but otherwise, it was so fascinating and fun. Mark and I loved getting to watch the wheels in boys' minds turn and turn. A trip like this is one of those things that we realize we'd never be able to do if we didn't live near a big city. While we still love slightly smaller scale living, this is definitely one of the perks. We will surely be going back...as soon as there's another Groupon, of course!

This guy is now 8 months old! And here he is in all his baby goodness showing off his first and only tooth that he got on Valentine's Day!

Ok, let's be realistic. He's not always a lump of baby goodness. Sometimes he does look like this. God forbid I not let him roll over on the changing table and try to pull himself up on the blinds!

Kolbe and Rudy are becoming quite the fishermen.

At the museum's fitness exhibit they have a massive 3 story climbing apparatus...the boys loved it!

And of course the kiddie sized store was a huge hit with the boys. They loved working the register with Dada!

Learning how to play Go Fish...we're not quite coordinated enough yet to keep our cards hidden so it makes for a very obvious game. :)

My guys. I'm the most blessed lady in the world!