Just updating

At some point my life went from chasing toddlers around to taking girls to their sporting events and other activities. Where this change happened I am not really sure, it goes by so fast. Taking time out to blog seems almost impossible because the schedule doesn't allow it. I have for some time wanted to update this thing and today is that day. Yes the house is a wreck, I am not showered and there are truly so many other things I should be doing but I am choosing to make the time for this. I have gone back through my blog to read old stuff and if that doesn't motivate me to keep going I don't know what will.

Who wouldn't want to spend New Year's Eve with this crew? Ok I know most of you but we had such a blast and I am glad they were my dates for the night!

Brooke update

Oh this child is going to kill me!! I love her so much and I am so glad I get to be her mom. Brooke is just a big ball of energy. She hasn't taken regular naps in almost a year. A nap for her is a midnight bedtime for me so we try and stay away from naps. I love this picture below because I remember as kid how I would set all of the marshmallows aside and eat them first or last depending on the day.

 Brooke has always been able to sleep anywhere since she was a baby and I guess this is still true to this day!

 Believe or not Brooke is potty trained (daytime only). The only problem is she is still not talking a whole lot so when I take her places she is in a pull-up just because she won't tell anybody she has to go potty. At home we are straight panties and though we have a few accidents here and there it has finally clicked for her. We did go through a week where she was playing hide the poop. One day she emptied out the middle drawer of her dresser and climbed up in it. She then crouched down, took a poop, climbed out and closed the drawer. The next day she found a box, took a poop in it, put the lid on it and put it in Paul's office. That seemed like a lot more work then to just go on the potty but whatever she needed her learning process to be it worked in the end. She officially only poops in the potty now!

 Brooke turned 3 yesterday! It was the mellowest birthday we have ever had. The day before was my FIL retirement party so we were pooped. She got a few more toys to go with her toy story collection. She LOVES these toys!! She even treats Lotso as a bad guy and makes him go to the closet or he has to sit out in the hall while she plays with the other toys. She always really loves little people!

Brooke is such a smart kid. If she wants something she will problem solve until she can figure out a way to get what she wants. While I can't get her to say cow or simple words like that she is however put together small sentences. Like...."who is it", "oh come on" (when she is mad at us), "here you go" and a few others. She really does have her own language. We listen to her jibber jabber and she is using "words" again and again when referring to the same thing. I compare her to the little girl off the movie Monsters INC. When people come over to visit I do get a lot of comments of how much energy she has and believe me people I know. I would like to say I am exhausted but I don't have time for that with Brooke. She has however in the last 6 months had more and more human moments which gives her dad and I hope that we can again sometime soon join the human race and leave the house with her on a regular basis!

Katelyn update

I think this last year was a big year for Katelyn. She learning what it is like to be a middle child. She can't always do the things Natalie can do and doesn't want to do some of the things Brooke likes to do. She has definitely learned this year to find out what she likes and what she is good at.

I absolutely love captured moments like these. There is a whole empty couch and they choose to sit next to each other and get along! They truly are sisters and they are struggling this year to learn boundaries. Kate is such a sweet kid and she teaches Natalie so many things. Kate will tell you how she feels and has no problem showing her emotions. Natalie has not yet figured out the point of having any emotions (haha) Kate is seeing that this her strength and that she has stuff that she can teach Natalie. That has been a big ego boost for Kate. I think for so many years Kate just looked up to Natalie and thought I need to do it like her. Well Kate is taking steps to making her own path and I couldn't be more proud of her! 

 Katelyn is also playing basketball and is on the same team as Natalie. Kate is amazing at defense! I have talked with her coach and he and I both agree it is a rare find to have a kid be such a natural defender. Normally all kids want to do first is make a basket and you really have to work hard at teaching them defense. Her skills with shooting will come but for right now she loves that her coach tells her all the time what a great job at defense she is doing. I figured with my girls height that they would be under the basket and learn the post position but the coach has been teaming Kate up with some of the best ball handlers on the other teams. She is also really fast and light on her feet. I think this is from the years of her as a toddler walking around on her tip toes all the time.

Kate is shooting at the gun range on the weekend with dad and Grandpa which she is loving. I think she will be getting her first gun from Grandpa for her birthday. She is doing great in school and really enjoys the social aspect of it. We live in a neighborhood with a lot of her friends so she is never really lacking in playdates. This summer she is excited to have her tutor come back. We really lucked out with a great tutor and Kate has seemed to really bond with her. They will be seeing her 5 day a week and she will be taking them to all kinds of places. Katelyn sees these as adventures rather then learning experiences so I am happy she is happy.

Natalie Update

Natalie is in basketball for the second year now and she is improving all the time. Yes she does have the advantage of being a full head taller then most of the kids but her skills and aggressiveness are coming into play too. She has made several baskets this year and is getting better about getting in there and getting those rebounds.

At the beginning of the season she was really timid and basically hung back and let everyone else do the work (not really playing). Paul and I have worked with her about being a little more aggressive and her last game she was on fire.....maybe a little too much. I should say first that in basketball at this age there is not a lot of calls made. Generally they can double dribble and it is only traveling after 5 or so steps and getting them to line up for a foul shot is down right hilarious. But Natalie has put her practice to good use and this last game she was all over the place. She was rebounding, going after the ball and even stealing the ball. Then I saw something we are going to have to work on. Natalie got so into the game she started stealing the ball from her own teammates to dribble in and take the shot. Yeah....we can't have that so much! hahaha 

 

In other Natalie news....she tested into the gifted program at school!!! We are so proud of her! I am however a little nervous about homework. I have heard that it will be a lot more then what she has now so she is going to be a busy girl.

She has a membership to a local gun range. Every weekend she goes shooting with Paul and sometimes Grandpa. She will be entering competitions this summer. She really seems to have taken to it and Grandpa bought her her first gun for Christmas. That is just another activity for this girl. 

Natalie

I love this girl so much! A lesson was shoved in my face this last week.....I think I really needed to learn this lesson so it presented itself in away that I was not able to avoid learning it.
I realized that I am harder on Natalie sometimes then I should be because she is the oldest, and sometimes by the time she comes to me with a problem I am so drained from everything else that I don't think I give her my full attention. Not that I don't want to help her but I think she is older and she can handle it. I do put a lot of responsibility on her to help me around the house and with her siblings. While I do think kids should help and have responsibilities because that is part of being a family I don't think I was giving Natalie enough credit. So I have tried to change my behavior over the last few days and I can't believe the change. Natalie is asking to do things with me more often and she wants to spend more time with me which I am loving. I always thought Natalie to be a daddy's girl because Paul and her have so much in common but I just needed to be more willing to make the effort with her. I read this post and I hate how it makes me sound awful sometimes but I don't believe that is it. I am a good mom and I do try my best but I do think we fall into behaviors and it is hard for us to see what we are doing. I am grateful for all the lessons that my kids and others teach me or at least show me so I know I have to change.
Natalie is so special to me and I love her so much. She is so smart and I love watching her grow into the person she is becoming. While she hates to show emotions I know she has a sweet heart and I see it everyday in the way she interacts with her sisters. Just last night she told me that she wanted one more sibling and I had to explain to her why that wasn't going to happen. She said "I see other families with 4 kids so I know it is possible"....haha. I just told her I was too old and my body more then likely couldn't handle another one. I will leave the tid bit of how I mentally would crack if I had to care for one more kid and 3 is my max to when she has kids and can really understand that! haha

Mother's Day

 A good picture with all my kids looking at the camera, smiling and hair done is so hard to come by but I will take what I can get. I love mother's day now! For the longest time it was Paul putting stuff together and saying it was from the girls. Don't get me wrong I loved the effort he did try to put into it but it just never felt "real" to me. It is hard to explain. Natalie and Katelyn are now old enough that the things I do get come from them and mean so much more to me.

 Plants.....ugh I don't know what to say.....we have a love hate relationship. I love having them but I just can't seem to keep them alive. My girls have such faith in me that they wanted me to try them again this year. They did however not go for any flower plants this year. I think even they are getting discouraged due to the years when the flowers just die and mom throws out the pots because I don't want to be reminded of how black my thumb is. So the girls picked out the pots and the vegetable plants and Paul planted them.....a perfect gift!

 I think Paul is enjoying the girls being able to take the lead on this holiday. He had to plant the plants in the pots (which he knows I hate doing) and then he got to get me something he enjoyed picking out. I have been wanting a TV for our bedroom so I don't have to watch cartoons all the time. I wanted to be able to watch the news in the morning while I was getting ready so I loved this gift. The only thing I hated was that when I get something I want it setup in the next five mins because I know us and we can put the simplest things off for weeks. Unfortunately when didn't have the right screws to mount the TV on the wall so it had to sit there on a bench for a few days. (it did however get hung 2 days later)

This last photo doesn't seem like much but it special to me. I planted a couple bushes for our front landscape.....simple but anything more I would have hated. The special part is the rocks! Our neighbors got me those rocks and left them there that morning with a note saying how we rock. We have been really building a great friendship with them and they know how I kill everything and we have joked about how I will just be landscaping our front with bigger rocks to go with the smaller rocks. haha So this is what we got and I love them!
I think I had a skewed vision of how mother's day was suppose to go in years past. I had this image of sleeping in, not lifting a finger all day, and being showered with gifts. When in fact that is not what a mother life is like on any other day so why would I think it would be that way on that day. I don't get to sleep in with three kids even if Paul gets up with them. The noise they make doesn't allow anyone in the house to sleep in so up and at 'em. As far as not lifting a finger, what would be the point in that. I want to spend the day with my kids doing fun things which means there will be clean up and it will be a long day. Gifts....while I love them the ones that mean the most are the hand made ones from my kids. I get coupon books and I have yet to use a coupon because I don't want to give away any part of that gift because it means so much to me. I have come to the conclusion that Mother's day isn't for me....it is for my kids. It is a day where my kids get to tell me that they appreciate the things I do and tell me how much they love me and I wouldn't change it for the world!

Just for me....

 As I get older I hear myself saying "I don't remember that" more and more. I know that blogs aren't the thing to do anymore and because it has been so long since I have updated this that no one will read it but I am determined to do this for me and my kids. I want to be able to look back at good times, my struggles and old pictures at the click of a button. Sometimes it helps to remember what we have gone through to appreciate where we are at now! The picture up top is of our little beast!! If I thought for one second that there was nothing that Brooke could teach me that Natalie and Katelyn haven't already I was so wrong.....so wrong! All of my kids have taught me so much with their individual personalities....all I can say is apparently I had a lot to learn.
  I am learning what it is like to be a full time stay at home mom. I had to work with Natalie and Katelyn so I can tell you one way or the other isn't easier but they are very different. Brooke has been screaming I swear since day one. Her biggest thing lately is to scream whenever her sisters try and do anything with her which at the beginning it was easier for me to tell Natalie and Katelyn to stop whatever they are doing and leave her alone. Then Brooke figured this out and has been trying to use this as a way to get her sisters in trouble. Don't worry I am finally on to her and despite how much easier it is to get after Nat and Kate, Brooke is having some quality time in time out. I do have to say that it is our third and you just want the noise to stop so, yes my parenting styles have changed with the more kids that come in the picture.
  I took Brooke in to be evaluated and she was behind in her speech and social skills. As a mom I took this hard and cried off and on for two days. I just couldn't help but feel like it was my fault. Brooke was home with me and in my mind I determined that I didn't socialize her enough, make her speak, and we all were doing to much for her. After I met with her therapists and set up a schedule for a structured play group every Monday and speech therapy every other week and I started to feel better. I felt I was doing what I needed to do to help her along. Then came our first play group....we lasted 20 mins and we both left crying!! I made it out to my car before I wasn't just crying I was sobbing. I had expectations that Brooke would go in, have a great time and the teachers will tell me there is no need for you to come back (ridiculous I know) but what I wasn't expecting was Brooke screaming the whole time, slapping her teachers in the face and her being so out of control that I had no idea what to do but go sit in my car and call my husband. When I had my babies I wanted them to be perfect....I just don't want life to be hard for them if I can help it. Plus how dare you say there is anything wrong with my kid......I know WAY over the top! So here in lies the lessons Brooke is teaching me. I think expectations are good for kids but I am learning to generalise them a little more. I am learning to be open minded more when it comes to "trained" professionals telling me I need to see my children's weaknesses. I tend to focus on their strengths and ignore their weaknesses which isn't helpful to them or me. I have talked about this with a few people sometimes I just can't believe the feedback I get. My goal for Brooke is that she learns not to be so frustrated with her speech and finds a way to communicate with me until she does start talking. Truthfully I don't know how to do this and if she is a little behind then I should seek help rather then sit around and hope it fixes it self before I hand her off to the school system and she runs the risk of falling further behind. I know she is only 2 and her therapists have told me that they don't see anything developmentally or mentally wrong with her; they just think she is around older kids and adults all the time and that it is hard for her to pick up on the speech part of her development. All other areas are just fine. People stills think that it is OK to tell me that I am pushing her and she doesn't need this or other variations of that. That is another lessons that I am still working on.....how to respond to them without hitting them. HAHA
  Natalie and Kate are in swimming lessons and are loving it. Right now they are doing privates so they can get catch up. They love being able to swim together. The club that we have joined has a water park that will be finished at the beginning of summer and the girls will probably be living there if I let them. It has a bunch of other things for kids to do and camps during the summer, that is the main reason we joined. Brooke also loves the water and I can't wait for her to be old enough to do swimming lessons where I don't have to get in with her. Katelyn will turn on the hose in the back yard and it is like a moth to a flame for Brooke. She will stand in the stream off water until I go and get her out.
I hope to keep at this....I want my kids to be able to read this when they are older and see some of the things that we went through that maybe I have forgotten down the road.

The hamster died...

Kate's hamster died....yes I know it lasted less then a month but it was loved while it was here (I think over loved) haha! Natalie was very upset when it wasn't moving but it was still breathing when we got up on its last day. She went to the computer and google searched "how to make a sick hamster feel better". She asked me to read through the search to see what I could do to help it. At that point I had to have the conversation with the girls that the hamster was probably going to die. About an hour later it did so Natalie again went on the Internet and found a picture of a hamster that she thought looked like ours and saved it to her background on the computer. She said she did that so we would never forget what it looked like. Now while Natalie was crying on and off all day Kate was very happy to get a new hamster. It didn't seem to phase Kate that her hamster died she was just ready to go pick out a new one.

 The next day Paul and I asked if we could just throw the hamster in the trash and Kate said that was fine but Natalie didn't want it to end up in a landfill so we buried it in the backyard. I asked if Natalie wanted to say anything before we buried it she said "no" and seemed to be OK with it passing. (which is good)

I should probably say that it died because one, it was a baby so it was really tiny and the girls wanted to play with it all the time so inadvertently it got squashed a couple of times. I think the final stray was the girls let it out in their room but didn't put a towel under the door so it made it's way out into the living area and buster had a couple of mins alone with it. It wasn't dead when I figured out what buster was playing with but it was soaking wet so it defiantly spent some time in his mouth. Two days later it died. We have gotten another hamster but this ones is 4 times the size of the last one and it is really aggressive. It has bitten almost everyone in the house and the girls don't even ask to play with it. So this one might just survive! We are going to try and start handling it with gloves but if it doesn't calm down we might be taking it back and try and get one that is some what in between that last two as far as personality goes.

Summer Fun

I am loving summer here. The weather is so nice and my girls love being outside! Brooke loves to be outside...every time any door opens she bolts over to it to try and get outside before the door closes. She also loves water. She wants to be in the yard when the sprinklers come on so she can play in the water everyday! We decided not to set up the big pool this year but I think it will defiantly go up next year!

The girls are always playing with the neighbors!

4th of July

Our 4th of July was fantastic! We had a block party and blocked off the road so the kids could play and ride their bikes in the street. It has been so nice living in this neighborhood because everyone is so friendly. We got to hang out with the neighbors we knew and meet the ones we didn't know yet!

 Brooke helped us celebrate in the early evening but was in bed when all the fireworks started. She did sleep through all the noise which was good but I think she will love to see the fireworks next year!

 Natalie loved to ride her bike in the street and barely got off it that day! Now everyday all I hear is "can I ride my bike in the street?"

 My in-laws spent the 4th with us and the kids loved having Grandpa and Grandma Sherry there because they brought a lot of fireworks with them.

 Kate and her best friend....

 Water balloon toss at and the block party....

 Love nannie's face in this picture!

 Do you think Kate picked out her own helmet? haha

Kate's b-day

Katelyn's b-day was so fun! Now that I am a stay at home mom I got to plan the party make the invites and make the decorations for the party. I was so excited about doing it and I think it turned out great.

 Kate getting her hamster on her b-day! Natalie wanted to surprise her!

 Kate holding the little baby hamster for the first time.

 The hamster's new home!

 Candy bar......

 What would a party be with out a bounce house!

 OK I froze water balloons to keep the drinks cold and not end up with a hugh water mess when the ice melted. Almost every mom at the party thought this was a horrible idea because they thought the kids would think they are fun and start throwing them at each other! I can see their point!

Random

Some random photos and yes I know they are mostly of Brooke but she is so darn cute!

 hangin with dad....

 way to tired to eat......

 I can get on the table now.....

 Natalie ready for school.....

Got caught eating her foot....