TTT: Season 3, Episode 39

1. My little Grantness had his fifteen month check-up this week. Shockingly, he did gain weight and weighs twenty-five pounds now. I say 'shockingly' simply because in the past few months he has figured out the power over eating. Yes, my babe who used to eat everything you put in front of him has now become a picky eater. Kolbe and Rudy both went through this phase too so I'm not surprised. And definitely not worried either. Grant is no stick figure. And considering Kolbe asked for broccoli the other night and Rudy eats tomatoes like they're going out of style, I have no fears that Grant will return to a good eater before long too. Since his one year appointment three months ago he has mastered the art of walking, picked up several words like 'dada', 'ball', 'book', and his favorite- 'this.' Or as he likes to say, 'dis.' He has also mastered the stairs going both up and down though I'm still terrified of him doing the down part without me watching. He loves books but gets horribly frustrated if it's not a board book. He can't quite figure out how to turn the paper pages. He's constantly under attack from his two big brothers so he's learned to be quite defensive, poor guy. He'll let you know if you're treading on his territory! Oh, and he's gone from four teeth to ten. In just thee months. So yes, we've had our share of whiny, fussy days. But for the most part he's still a happy fella. Wild and adventurous as can be but oh, so smart. And in a good way! He already responds appropriately when I say, "Grant, go put this in the trash for Mama."(train him early to help out!) He has struggled quite a bit to give up his morning nap. Some days he takes one, some days he doesn't, but he still loves his sleep. Which is great for him and Mama! And he still loves to dance. Can't wait to see him at my cousin's wedding in a few weeks!

Don't worry.... no, I'm not already potty training my 15 mo old! But his latest thing has been going and standing by the potty before his bath, tugging his diaper off, and then  trying to set the little seat up on the toilet. Sure, I imagine he's just imitating what he's seen his brothers do at times, but hey, why not let him!?! He hasn't actually gone yet, but who knows. He may just be my easiest (and earliest!) yet to potty train! (Though Rudy is hard to beat.) He's a smart little baby.

2. As I'm sure you may have seen on my facebook page, I survived my Locks of Love haircut! It actually ended up way longer than I thought it would. The last time I did Locks of Love I ended up with a super short 'do. I knew this would be at least a little longer, but didn't think it would be long enough to touch my shoulders and pull into a little ponytail. So I was happy not to have to endure the major shock of long hair to pixie cut. But a week later, I'm almost wishing it was a little shorter in some parts. I told the hairdresser that I'd still love to be able to pull it back, tuck it behind my ears, and make a ponytail if possible so she didn't do any layering around my face. Yes, I can do all of the things I requested, but the lack of layering in the front and on the sides just makes it pretty blunt of a cut and kind of heavy. I'll keep it for a few weeks and see if it grows on me (no pun intended), but who knows; I may end up back at the salon before too long for a more styled cut. Regardless, after looking at pictures, I'd say I definitely look better with shorter hair, though I never regret growing it out and doing the Locks of Love thing.

My hair right before I left for the salon. Looooong!

Super creepy 10" ponytail that's on it's way to West Palm Beach, Florida.

The results!

3. Speaking of things I'll never regret, it's been just over four years since I started blogging. Hard to believe. Four years! Early on I just did sporadic posts about our family, and then, of course, I started my Three Thought Thursday in January of 2010. Having a scheduled weekly post that I hold myself accountable to has been challenging at times but it is something that I will never, ever regret doing. I've said this before and I constantly find it to be true that I am writing the story of my life. And my childrens' childhoods. Something I believe Mark and I will read and re-read time and time again. And hopefully something that Kolbe, Reagan, Grant, and any other littles will find to be heartwarming as they mature into adults and possibly (hopefully!) parents as well. I can't imagine being able to go back and read through my childhood. And I love knowing that no matter where we go, if there's internet available, there our story will be. Mark sent me this text a week or so ago that brought tears to my eyes:
Just taking a moment to read your blog. It's so heart warming to go back and read from the few years past. I rarely tell you, but I think your writing is a great gift from you to our family. No matter the time, I'll be able to relive the times when our kids were little. Our boys are so sweet and you've done a marvelous job. I wish so deeply that I could give them what you give them. Thank you! I love you!
I know. My husband is the bomb. But really...while the blog does warm my heart too, it warms my heart even more to know that something I started as an outlet and "memory book" of sorts is becoming our story. Our successes, failures, hopes, dreams, smiles, cries, milestones, complaints, praises, joys. Our life. 

The layout of our family room is totally non-conducive to having a coffee table. So our old coffee table has made its way up to our game room. The boys use it as their coloring table and it also fits our train tracks perfectly. But I figured we could put it to additional use so I bought a can of dry erase board paint. (I didn't go with the chalkboard paint because for one, I didn't walk chalk dust everywhere and for two, Grant eats chalk. Like whole pieces.) Many, many, many coats of paint later and we now how a huge dry erase table. Here, the boys had me draw a "city" where they could decide what they wanted on each block. Tons of fun!

Kolbe's game face at his soccer game. Taking a much needed water break. It was hot!!!

Kolbe is totally soccer-crazy right now. He LOVES it! So despite his earlier game, we still had to go back up to the park after dinner on Saturday for another family game of soccer.

And man, isn't this guy just precious!?!

We're trying to get back into the habit of having a solid Sunday dinner as a family. Since Mark's work schedule can be somewhat erratic during the week, it's nice to have at least one meal that is special for all of us. Over our Labor Day weekend trip to Dallas, Cristi made us The Pioneer Woman's pot roast and it was delicious so we decided to give it a try and our house and it did not disappoint! Best pot roast ever!

Can't decided what's more delicious...the ice cream or that face! Mark took Kolbe to his soccer practice on Tuesday evening and they went for their own little Dada and Kolbe time afterwards. The older the boys get, the more they want to connect with us. And we certainly don't want to let the opportunities pass us by so having these one-on-one times is so special and so important. They have so much to say and are just so, so precious.

TTT: Season 3, Episode 38

1. Tomorrow is a big day for me...I'm cutting my hair! I'm kind of nervous because I've gotten so used to my long hair. The convenience of being able to just pull it back in to a ponytail, being able to let it just air dry and not look all that bad, the fact that my little boys love it. Overall, when looking at the whole of my life, I've pretty much been a short hair person. It was short through most of high school and short through most of college. Super short at one point. I grew it out while Mark and I were dating and it was long for our wedding. But within days of returning from our honeymoon, I chopped it all of for Locks of Love. Then, it proceeded to stay short through Kolbe and Rudy's births. I got tired of looking like a page boy and decided to grow it out again shortly before we moved. And since then I've only had it trimmed once or twice. (I know...that's horrible. Even when you're growing it out, you should still have it trimmed, right!?!) I decided why not do Locks of Love again so I've just continued to let it go, but now it's to the point where I look in the mirror and just know that it's not doing anything at all for me. Let's face it: the celebrities that have long, gorgeous flowing hair have extensions in. Nobody's hair is naturally that luxurious while also being that long! And mine has reached the "that long but now nappy" phase. But hey, I've pretty much run the gamut on hair styles. Really, if you check out some of our early family portraits, it's hard to tell if my parents had four boys or five. And did anyone else out there rock the perm? I did. In a very un-natural way. Seriously...no one's hair naturally looks like that!!! I mean, unless she was struck by lightening. So yes, I do have reason to be apprehensive about tomorrow's cut. Because of Locks of Love I'll definitely be losing at least ten inches but this time it's even longer than last so hopefully post cut it will be long enough to still at least look somewhat attractive. (No pageboy.) My biggest requirements are that I have to be able to pull it back, have to be able to tuck it behind my ears and the cut absolutely, positively cannot involve the clippers in any way whatsoever. Say a little (frivolous) prayer for me around 10:00am tomorrow.

2. Life is full of "seasons" or "phases" and I'm so happy that right now we are finally in just a normal, steady season of life in our family. Summer time is always fun, but chaotic. So fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants. Out of routine, here, there, and everywhere...it's full of adventure but just so unstructured. And, of course, the winter holiday season is all over the place too. Lots of traveling, lots of activities, parties, etc. But then in between you have these periods of just normal-ness that are so nice. Sure, the calendar is filled with this and that but it's all routine. Things that last their scheduled hour or two at the same time and place every week and that's that. It's nice. It makes me feel somewhat in control of our little family! And really, considering we always seem to be going through some major life event, it's nice to just have nothing significant going on for a while. Life is good.

3. Each week when I sort through my phone pics to add to my post it always surprises me how as the weeks pass, different kiddos seem to steal the show. I never realize it's happening as the days pass but then I go to set up the pictures and find seven of Grant and one or two of the others. Or a whole slew of Kolbe and not much else. This week, my little Rudy seemed to steal the show. Like I mentioned last week, he has been such a sweet boy through all of the changes going on with Kolbe and one of the things I've loved most about Kolbe going to his little pre-school on Tuesday and Thursday is getting to spend some quality time with Rudy. He's so, so unique. And though they're connected at the hip, he oh, so different than Kolbe. For example, some fabric that a customer of mine requested came in this week. Upon opening it, Kolbe sees it and says, "Mom, that fabric has Os all over it." And then Rudy interrupts with "Kolb, those aren't Os. They're glazed donuts. And these ones are donut holes." (polka dots)  He's definitely my creative, imaginative one. He sees things through different eyes that anyone else. And as always, he's just the biggest (and best) tender-heart around. I love everything about my Rudy. He's a dreamer, that one. And I can't wait to see where all of his dreams take him.

We had a lot of rain on Sunday...the kind without thunder or lightning so we went out for another round of playing in the rain! And this time turned in to a great round of making mud pies. We detached part of the gutter, moved a bunch of the rocks, and had the perfect little mud pool. Rudy was the ultimate mud pie chef.

But all three boys got in on the action!

Pa joined us for dinner last week while my mom was hosting a get-together for the ladies on her street. He loves to play "wrestle mania" with the boys. They usually choose some object (in this case, his keys) to be "the power." Pa is the owner of the power and it's the boys' job to try and steal the power from Pa!

Another bolt of fabric or a typical creative hide-and-go-seek spot for Rudy?

Rudy fell in love with this awesome tweed fedora at Old Navy today. He wore it home and proceeded to keep it on the rest of the day. He wears it well, I'd say! 

And, of course, your weekly dose of yummy baby. It's the obligatory picture of Grant, because he's just oh so precious!

TTT: Season 3, Episode 37

1. Mark's 29th birthday was this past weekend. Twenty-nine....such a young pup! ;) Months ago I decided I wanted to set up a little surprise birthday weekend for him. He's constantly making comments like "Let's get out of here, Mama." Or "I just need to get away for a day or two." And I know that there are certainly stretches of time where we go months without doing anything just the two of us. Since Mark is rarely one to ask for something specific for a gift, I figured planning a little getaway for just the two of us would be the perfect gift. Originally I planned on it being a surprise but then I decided that it would be kind of cruel to just up and leave the boys for a full day without giving them a heads up. Anyhow, we didn't travel far...just went to a nice hotel in Houston for the night down by the Galleria and spent the day shopping, eating good food, and enjoying each other's company. My parents watched the boys for us for twenty-four (short in our eyes, long in theirs) hours. It was my first time to leave Grant for a night and he allegedly did just fine. While we didn't come home with many purchases, we definitely did have a good time together and followed our trip up with a little at-home cake and ice cream so the boys could be in on Dada's birthday too.

2. Last week was Kolbe's first day of "pre-school." This week was Kolbe's first week of soccer practice! It's been lots of exciting first for this guy lately, and so far, the transitions have gone pretty smoothly. We've talked about signing Kolbe up for sports for a while but just haven't completely follow through. We didn't want to do it unless he was truly interested and wanting to play. (Nobody wants the kid on his team who is being forced to be there by his over-driven parents.) Recently, our neighbor brought over a set of soccer cleats in Kolbe's size. Her son only wore them once or twice before realizing he needed a bigger size so they were in fantastic condition. Kolbe instantly became hooked on the cleats and wanted to wear them everywhere. After begging and begging, we went ahead and signed him up for the fall soccer season. We all headed out as a family on Tuesday night to witness his first practice. It was entertaining to say the least! Kolbe is a natural at dribbling and kicking with the ball on his own. Not so much when other kids are competing for the same ball! And his team is quite the crew of four to five-year-olds. Everything from the kid who sat on the sideline and refused to practice, to the kid with the mom who stood beside him out on the field the whole time, to the kid who ran around chasing fireflies while his grandma ran after him with a cane shouting, "You get your butt back over there and pay attention!" None of them get the concept of staying in bounds or which goal they're supposed to go for, but I guess they've got to start learning at some point in time. Their first game is on Saturday and should be just as comical.

3. Tidbits:
- My sweet uncle, Don, passed away this week after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Such a kind, gentle soul, he was greatly loved by our family and we're so happy that he no longer has to suffer and can rest in God's love.
- I had another doctor's appointment with my lupus doctor today. About a month ago I thought I had what was an ingrown finger nail. It felt just like an ingrown toe nail but on my left index finger though it never got infected like how toes do. I didn't even mention it to my doctor today but during his exam he noticed the damage to my finger from it and said I had actually experienced a thrombosis (blood clot) in my finger due to my very poor circulation/ Raynaud's. He somehow could identify it just by looking at the purple tissue and detached finger nail. Creepy. I know. Most of you have seen my purple fingers, so it's nothing new, but I hate that I'm starting to develop other issues because of my circulation. Grr.
- With all of the changes going on with Kolbe, Rudy has been the best little boy. One would think he might get jealous of all of the attention Kolbe has been getting but instead he has been genuinely happy for Kolbe and excited and supportive about everything. He's such a sweet, sweet little boy and I can't wait till next year to see all of his firsts. Actually, I can. He needs to stay little Rudy forever.
- I haven't done a Grant update lately...he has his fifteen month appointment in a week or two, so that will be coming shortly, but let me just say that I never, never, never should forget how unpleasant teething is. Especially multiple teeth at a time. And for real, molars should count as like four teeth considering they seem to come in one corner at a time. Sheesh.

Enjoying our Happy-Birthday-Mark Trip!

Helping Dada blow out the candles

Bubble Bath Beard! Or I guess that's more of a goatee.

Mark, Kolbe, and Rudy hit their first high school football game of the fall last Friday. It's their favorite thing to do...Mark loves watching high school football, the boys love taking everything in, and I love the Friday evening break!

Grant is definitely in to blocks right now. He's a pretty good stacker for a fourteen-month-old!

After a few "cooler" mornings, I finally decided to brave the park on Wednesday. Of course, Wednesday decided to be back to full on summer mode. We were all a sweaty mess by the time we got home. 

I love how Grant's hair curls up in the humidity. He loves being outdoors!

Future soccer star!

Future movie star!?! (Ha!)

TTT: Season 3, Episode 36

1. It's been a loooong day. And a long week, too! But a good one with lots to be happy about. First of all, my sweet little Kolbe started pre-school today! I really can't believe he could be possibly old enough to do anything but be my little boy. Forever. But alas, he's been getting the itch for a good year now and today was the big day. Pre-school! Granted, he's only going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2, it's still a big milestone for him. And me. This is the first time any of my babes have gone off to any kind of "school" whatsoever. I'll go ahead and say it went smoothly, though we did have just a little bit of a hiccup at drop off. Actually last night Kolbe got a little weepy after we put him to bed. I crawled in with him and asked if he was nervous about school. He insisted he wasn't and swore that it was because he was sad that I painted his room. Which happened months ago. This morning he woke up all chipper and ready to go. Mark had a morning surgery that he snuck out of early so that he could meet us at the church. All was fine and dandy, and even I was not feeling overly emotional when I dropped the dreaded words on him: "Give Mama a hug and a kiss." I squatted down, got my hug, and he immediately started his silent whimper. One of those I-swear-I'm-not-crying-please-don't-let-anyone-see-me-not-being-brave type of cries. And as if on cue, my tears had no problem appearing in an instant. He was so worried about his classmates seeing that he was crying that he refused to pull his little face back off my shoulder so we both wound up sitting on the floor for a minute or two until he gained his composure. Sure enough, once he got his little burst of emotions out, he did just fine. He was nothing but smiles and eager when-do-I-get-to-go-backs as soon as I picked him up. So overall, it was a great success!

I'd like to say that things went as smoothly on the home front but we pretty much bombed our projected schedule. Grant ended up taking two fifteen minute naps both in the car instead of the goal of one long nap at home from 11-1:30. Rudy took a one hour nap, but not during either of Grant's sleeping times. Grant did take another nap when we got home from picking Kolbe up, but of course, by then I was back to referring the shenanigans of two attached-at-the-hip brothers who had been separated for five hours. We made homemade pizza together and had a good time talking about the first day of school, but by the time they finally all went to bed, I was pooped. Must figure out a workable routine for school days or I might go insane! I've got to have at least thirty minutes to an hour a day of no babies. Seriously. It's for the greater good of all involved! Otherwise, Rudy and Grant and I did have fun together. Rudy tends to be the back-up singer to the show-stopper, Kolbe, so it's nice to get to spend some one on one time with him without "interruptions." Rudy is such a smart, unique, sincere little boy and his ideas tend to be drowned out by the big brother dictator. I love getting to see him as the big brother, the "boss", and the decision maker. This will be a big year for him as well.

2. This past weekend we went to Dallas to stay with Mark's brother and sister-in-law, Brian and Cristi, and meet up with Mark's parents as well. As always, we had a blast! The boys love the change of scenery and of course, getting to see their  grandparents and aunt and uncle. There's always no shortage of treats and snacks, and Aunt Cristi makes the best food whenever we go. She has become quite the chef! If only I had the time and lack of children hanging off of my legs, I'd get her to train me! We spent a fun day a local pool, went to mass, watched a little college football, stayed up way too late having normal adult conversations (yes, in our world that's notable!) and enjoyed countless Popeye the Sailor Man shorts. (Kolbe loves Popeye and Brian and Cristi have a DVD with 100 shorts on it....it's the only place he gets to see Popeye so naturally, it's his favorite thing to do at their house!) We're so grateful that Brian and Cristi are so welcoming for all of us to "meet in the middle," even when it was the weekend after the first week of school. (All of you teachers out there know how exhausted you are after that first week! Poor Cristi, having house guests! She's a trooper!) Such a fun weekend...can't wait to see everyone again at Thanksgiving!

Mark's birthday is on Saturday so more fun to come! The rest from this past week is in pictures!

Miss Lora surprised Mark with a cake from our favorite baker in Lubbock,  Kerry. Best. Cake. Ever. Though probably just over 2000 calories per piece.

Oh no. He's not looking much like a baby anymore. But man, he's got great eyes!

Making burgers with Aunt Cristi! Kolbe has always been a great sous chef.

Dada: sleepy. Grantness: ready to party.

My little Sunday napper. Anyone else jealous of those lashes!?!

I can't remember the last time I got to take a snooze with my Rudy. Ahhhhh. Felt great!

Rudy cuddling up with his G-ma.

Nothing like a Texas road trip sunset!

I finally finished putting our "new" room together, though you can't really see it all. I have turned this house upside down trying to find the charger for our normal camera and I can't find it anywhere so I'm left taking not-so-good cell phone pics. They don't do it justice, especially because this room is so hard to photograph with the wall full of windows, but oh well. I painted the entire room, made new pillows for the bed, made a new 133" curtain rod, made full length curtains that can close across all of the windows, oh and a room full of new furniture that you can't even see in the picture. Mark and I both love it!

And I finally finished painting the nasty trim in the bathrooms too! Mark thinks I'm crazy, but he's also color blind so he doesn't count. I took the picture above to prove I'm not crazy. You all can see what I'm talking about, right? There's nothing like crisp white with a light blue wall. The cream/off white/beige/yucky had to go. See? Not crazy.

My oldest babe. I just want to reach in to this picture and grab him and squeeze him and force him to stay just like this forever. He really is that adorable.

Kolbe and Dada outside of his school. He was so excited that Dada showed up to drop him off for his first day, even if it meant leaving surgery just to turn around go right back. Kolbe loves his Dada. And Dada is so proud.