babies

What it's like to take a picture of five babies:

sick

My poor baby was sick over the weekend.  :(  Kinda started showing signs of it at the end of the week, but then had a bad night Friday night.  He originally went to bed okay, but then woke up around 10pm and would NOT be comforted.  He just cried and cried and cried...  Eventually I got Mike up because I just didn't know what to do with him - it sure helps to have another set of hands to hold a baby and another brain to pick in the middle of the night...  Levi would cough and it was obvious it hurt him.  I think around 2am or so I finally got him to take a restless nap in the recliner with me.  Ugh, SO THANKFUL we don't have to deal with nights like that all the time!  Saturday he was definitely not himself, but took nice long naps.  He had a low fever, watery eyes, coughing, runny nose, and just wanted to snuggle.  Sunday was similar but we could at least get a couple smiles out of him!  Now he's much more himself, just has lingering congestion and cough.  It's just lovely when he has to cough right after eating....the congestion will kind of make him gag and he'll burp and cough and everything all at once and a LARGE portion of what he just ate will come shooting out - Mike and I have both had the privilege of being shot with the fire hose...  :)

Caleb and Logan are both coughing, but seem to be kind of on the fence with it. Mike and I are also both feeling it a little bit, but after a few days it's just not progressing to anything worse (or getting any better!).

Monday (Christmas Eve) I made my annual shopping trip with my dad to help him get my mom's present.  He always has an idea of what to get, just needs a little help in making it happen.  :)  We got to the mall almost first thing in the morning and it wasn't bad there at all.  Found what we needed fairly quick (walked all over checking several stores and ended up back at the second store we had looked in), and then still had time to meet up with my mom for coffee and a bagel afterwards!

forward

Levi has started scooting!  He's been on the brink for several weeks, trying to push with his foot to reach a toy.  The other day I kind of saw him move a few inches forward, and he definitely did it yesterday.  And, can you believe I wasn't here for it?!  I was going grocery shopping with Logan and Mike called to tell me.  I got some video of him scooting this morning though.  At one point in the video notice that Logan says something to me about how I used to spit up when I was a baby....lol!
I had Levi in to the doctor earlier this week for an infection (I survived taking all three boys by myself!!  :), and he's now 20lbs 13oz with clothes on, that's 85th percentile.

He's getting much better at sitting up, but still not good enough to leave on his own.

Here's a video from a couple days ago of us trying to get Levi to clap for the camera.  Claps all the time, but doesn't want to perform on command.  He was happy to talk, though!

fast

My baby is growing up too fast!  First, it still throws me off that he's wearing clothes that Caleb and Logan were wearing at an older age.  Levi's into pj's and stuff that they were walking around in - it's like I expect him to all of the sudden be walking or standing up in his crib.  :)

Also, we discovered this week that Levi knows his name!  One time Mike said his name, and he turned and looked right at Mike.  Then Mike tested it out by using a different name and he didn't respond to that.  Then Mike went back to calling "Levi" and he just turned and looked right at Mike and flashed him a big toothy grin.  :)

Life with boys.....we had a couple random minor injuries this past week.  One day Caleb and Logan were running around without their shirts on (they often claim they're hot - it's more like they just prefer to not wear a shirt...) and they were playing with a fake snake.  It's really stretchy and they like to stretch it out and snap it (guess who they learned that from).  Of course, it snapped and got Logan pretty good in the back.  It must have stung pretty good, left a nice, long, squiggly red welt on his back.  Then, either that night or the next, the boys were expending some energy by doing a little race through the house.  Somehow Caleb fell of the back of the chaise in the playroom and hit either the window or window crank.  Got a pretty good goose egg on his forehead and a mark by his eye, too.  You can see the bruise now.  Knock on wood, I really can't believe we haven't had any injuries bad enough for the ER yet!

stars

My boys are stars!  Well, sort of.

This past Sunday evening was our church's Christmas program and it was the first one Caleb and Logan participated in.  (Since they turned two RIGHT before the program last year they weren't in it then.)  Like any parents (I think), Mike and I were so excited.  We'd been talking about the program with the boys for quite awhile leading up to it - singing their songs nice and loud.  Apparently we didn't talk enough about how to act up on stage...

Things started out so well!  I saw my boys walk up on stage and I could hardly believe they're old enough for this now.  They stood there nice, barely singing, and holding up their finger for "This Little Light of Mine".  A couple minutes into it we saw Caleb's attention start to waver - he was getting bored...  He stepped out of place and then went to sit on the little stage that was right behind where they were standing.  The other problem at this point was that he starting leading other kids astray!  (Mike reminded me that a couple months ago Miss Brandi, their SS teacher, said there were a few instigators in the class and Caleb is one of them...)  Caleb started doing a funny monkey crawl across the stage then got up and just kept walking the wrong direction.  I was laughing so hard I was crying and thinking, "I can't believe my child is the one doing something 'memorable' this year...".  At this point the teacher went and got Caleb and brought him back - hanging onto him for a bit to keep him in place.  Logan stayed in his spot and did great!  :)

The whole church got a good laugh, and we got plenty of comments afterwards.

 "This Little Light of Mine"

 Caleb getting bored with singing...

 monkey crawl

 Bringing the wayward sheep back to the fold...

Miss Brandi hanging on tight.

doctor

Caleb and Logan had their three year check-up at the doctor this evening!  We tried to get them excited to go (they don't know anything about shots yet, don't need any until next year...).  They both got a little scared once we got in there, but overall it went very well.

For some reason Logan was very intent on asking "Why are you a doctor?"  He tried to ask the nurse first, then still asked the doctor when he came in.  He made sure to tell about how he got to pet a shark at the zoo.  :)  Logan is 30.8 lbs (40th percentile) and 3' 1 1/2" (44th percentile).  Caleb is 36.4 lbs (86th percentile) and 3' 3 1/2" (88th percentile).  So, they are both very proportional!  :)  They are very healthy, for which we are so thankful.

vacation

We survived our first family vacation with the five of us!  And, I think it could even be classified as "fun".  Mike and I do NOT want to take any sort of road trip with the kids anytime soon, but we're glad we did this.  :)

Monday morning we left for Indianapolis.  We had a package deal that included hotel stay and tickets to the Children's Museum and the zoo - it was a great deal and really worked out nice.  We were very happy with the hotel - they put us on the first floor just a few steps from the pool and breakfast area, that was SO handy with the kids!!!  Mike, Caleb, and Logan did A LOT of swimming.  Logan is our little fish, he does an awesome job swimming.  Levi and I got in the pool once, but mostly the other guys swam during times when I was trying to get Levi to take a decent nap.

Tuesday we went to the Children's Museum.  It was alot of fun!  The weather was rainy that day, so it worked out nice that we were inside.  A few hours there was definitely enough for two three-year-old's attention spans and energy levels.

Wednesday we went to the zoo and we loved it!!  Going during the day in December means there is almost NOBODY else there.  We got to see lots of cool animals (bears, lions, tiger, elephants, giraffes, sharks, dolphins, sea lions...) and didn't have to share the space.  It's so much more relaxing walking around with little kids when you don't have to worry about losing them in a crowd, too.  :)  In the late afternoon we left for awhile so the kids could take a nap in the car - we just drove around downtown for a bit.  We came back in the evening for a dolphin show and their Christmas light display.  There were more people around then.  The Christmas lights were really cool, it was neat to see.  We totally enjoyed the dolphin show, too.  I was torn between watching the dolphins and watching Caleb and Logan's faces and how they were enjoying it.  Who knew you could get so much joy from watching your child enjoy something?  :)  We took a little train ride through part of the zoo that was fun, too.

This morning after breakfast we loaded up and headed out!  Everybody went to the bathroom right before we left, but of course, about half an hour into things we hear, "I have to go pee!"  For awhile it seemed like we were going to be stopping every half hour or so, but we eventually made it home.  :)

It was certainly interesting having the five of us in one hotel room.  The first night didn't go the best, but the next two nights were a little better thanks to the boys being tired out.  I am also very thankful Mike and I don't have to share a double bed at home.  :)

Levi was a trooper through this trip.  He got pretty sick of his car seat and stroller, but overall did well with not getting his regular naps and such.  I DID have to do laundry partway through the trip mostly thanks to his spitting (soooo ready to be done with that!).

three!

My babies have been three for a whole week already!  We've been a little busy and I've gotten behind...

Caleb and Logan have been looking forward to their birthday for so long now - talking about cake, candles, and balloons for months now, basically since my birthday in the spring kicked off the discussion.  Throughout the day Logan kept asking me, "Is my birthday coming soon?" and I just kept saying, "It's here!  It's now!"  :)

They had a fun day.  In the morning I took them to the bank to deposit some birthday money into their savings account, and they also got a little birthday treat there.  Then we went to the dollar store so they could each pick out a balloon.  After that we picked up a little treat at McDonald's to visit Mike at work for a minute.  Late afternoon all the grandparents came over for cake, ice cream, and presents.  Caleb and Logan got lots of neat toys - we are so blessed!

Both Caleb and Logan are very into things matching right now.  For example, I will randomly give them a jelly bean for staying dry and they always want to choose one that matches whatever shirt they're wearing.  It's like that with lots of things right now.... "Hey!  That matches my shirt!"  :)

Also, Caleb especially likes to spot the letter "C" and always says, "Look!  A "C" for "Caleb"!"

Sunday morning Logan did a GREAT job sitting through church.  It's a little harder for Caleb.  They both struggled in the evening, which I can understand - to ask active little boys to sit still for a long period of time twice in one day does seem like a stretch.  :)

potty clap

No, we don't have a special "potty clap" that we do around here.  :)  First of all, Caleb and Logan are doing SO good with wearing underwear!  Feels like we're making many, many trips to the bathroom (are their bladders the size of a pea at this age?!?!), but they are doing great at telling us when they need to go.  Caleb has not had one accident since he started wearing underwear on Wednesday.  He has been dry all through the night every night too, so tonight he's in a pull-up - not ready to make the leap to underwear overnight, but we'll get there!  Logan has had some accidents, but overall is doing well.  I'm trying to randomly reward him throughout the day for staying dry.  I'm so glad the timing worked out the way it did that we started with this right before a long weekend with Mike home.  It'll be interesting to see how they do on our little trip to Indianapolis coming up - I'm thankful that it's not a long drive!

Second, Levi has started clapping!  It's so super cute.  Like with most things babies do for the first time it just kinda happened by accident it seemed like, but now he definitely does it.  He's got that beautiful smile with his two little teeth sticking out and then his two little hands clap together - LOVE.  (It started either yesterday or this morning, I'm not sure, things are kind of a blur...)

We've had just a little bit of sickness here.  Yesterday afternoon/evening Logan was having some bowel disturbance, which of course doesn't help the whole potty training thing, so he ended up in pull-ups and diapers.  And, this morning Caleb was pukey sick.  Spent quite a long time laying on a towel on the bathroom floor, and then came out and laid on the living room floor and even slept there for a bit.  After he woke up from that nap he was perky and wanted to eat.  I let him  have some applesauce and toast (it's very hard to explain to a three-year-old why he can't have a big glass of chocolate milk or other such things that he wants....), and since he still wanted more to eat I set the timer and told him if he didn't puke I would make him some other food after the timer went off.  So later he ate two hot dogs and a grilled cheese.  :)  And by late afternoon he was back to normal running around like crazy!  Really, really hope nobody else gets the pukes...

Logan has loved stories for a long time.  He's always asking for Mike to tell him a story, and now he's really gotten into telling stories himself.  He says, "I gonna tell you a story" and then leads into something that has happened in the past.  His stories are usually true stories, but sometimes he kinda combines events.  It's so interesting to see what he remembers!

Caleb especially is constantly asking SO MANY questions!  Always wanting to know how something works, why something works the way it does, what things are made of, where things come from, etc.  I really don't know how to answer his questions sometimes!  If I'm finding his questions hard to answer now, what am I going to do as he gets older??  He also has to be "in the know" - he wants to keep tabs on everything that's going on.  If he didn't hear something I said to Logan, he's gotta ask what I said; or he asks why I'm going into the kitchen, etc.

It's LATE!  Time to check on my boys and get to bed.

thankful

Wow.  It's Thanksgiving again!  Seems like it was just Thanksgiving 2011.  My heart is brimming with everything I am thankful for.  Certainly, I am thankful for salvation through my Lord Jesus Christ.  How wonderful to have that blessed assurance.  Sure, that doesn't make life a piece of cake, but I can't imagine going along without it!

I am thankful for our three healthy, active, funny, inquisitive children.  And, guess what?!?!?!  Caleb and Logan started wearing underwear yesterday and they are doing GREAT!  Yesterday morning they decided they wanted to wear underwear (I've been waiting for that), and Logan has had two accidents, but otherwise they are doing awesome at letting us know if they need to go.  There were times it was a little crazy yesterday (both needing to go, in the middle of feeding Levi....), but I managed and now Mike is home for a long weekend, so that's nice.  We did put them in diapers overnight - sometimes they wake up dry, but we're not going to tackle the overnight training just yet.

The list of things I am thankful for is endless, but you know, I don't have time for a big, long, well thought out post just now.  :)

dark

It is dark out.  It is dark alot this time of year.  Boo!  Caleb and Logan are especially now into paying attention to whether the sun is coming up or going down.

We've been busy!  Nothing new there.  Last Saturday Mike worked all day on the corn harvest with my dad.  The boys and I managed to meet up with him for lunch and then ride in the combine a bit as well.  We got all 5 of us in there!  On Tuesday Mike took the day off of work to help finish up the corn harvest.

Sunday I spent both the morning and evening service in the nursery.  Yay.  Oh well!  Hoping for better "luck" tomorrow and that I'll actually get to sit in a service!  :)

Monday night was the 5th week of the class Mike and I have been taking.  We are really, really enjoying it.  Gotta keep reminding myself each time we pay the babysitter that's it's worth it, but it totally is.  This time it's a 20 week class, so it'll take us right through the winter.

Wednesday morning Caleb and Logan went to their friend Benjamin's house to play.  I had everyone loaded up and out the door by 9am!!!  I didn't have major plans (usually I make a huge to-do list when I have opportunities like this, but things are so crazy I didn't even have a chance to think about what I should do!), so Levi and I just went to Target to get a few things (the new Target in Grandville - don't get me started......grrrrrr......) and then headed home.  After getting Levi to nap, I got a few things done but then laid down myself for a bit!  That's a very rare treat!  Didn't have a ton of time before I had to get Levi up to feed him so we could then leave on time to pick the other boys up, but any bit of peace and quiet is treasured.

Thursday evening I met up with my friend Jen from college.  She's a professor at WMU now, and teaches a class one night a week at their GR campus downtown.  She lived in Florida after college up until this summer, so it's nice to have her closer now!  On my way into downtown I was reflecting on my years working at Crowe, and I gotta say, I do NOT miss it!!  I am so glad to be out of it!  Even though there are plenty of times now that I think I'm going to go crazy and I desperately wish to get out of the house (and be leisurely about it, instead of rushing around to get alot done before I have to get home again...), I LOVE being a stay at home mom and am so thankful that I can do this.

Yesterday was a fun day!  Mike worked a half day then we dropped all the kids off at his mom and stepdad's.  We headed over to the mall to see Lincoln (movie just came out yesterday, it was really good).  We haven't been to a movie in YEARS.  And it's so weird to go to one in the middle of the day.  We did a little shopping afterwards and then in the evening our Sunday School class from church had a get together.

We didn't have any specific plans today, but things still always end up a little crazy.  I went out for groceries this morning while Mike stayed home with all the boys.  This evening Mike is out for a bit with Caleb and Logan getting dog food (which means they went to Meijer, so I'm sure they're spending time looking at the fish and riding the pony).

Caleb has gone on the potty several times today.  He didn't want to wear a pull-up, and he's gone in it a couple times, but he's also been using the potty some, too.  So I don't know where we're at with that.

Logan has been asking pretty much every day this month if we can put the Christmas tree up.  One more week!  That also means it's almost their birthday. I'm not ready for that!

Logan definitely seems to be more sensitive.  The other day was kind of rough, and during quiet time I was in the office upstairs on the phone with Mike for a few minutes and I was crying.  Logan was in their room down the hall and must have heard me.  Way later, after suppertime, Logan said to me, "I forgot to make you feel better upstairs."  I didn't know what he was talking about and asked him to explain.  He said something about me crying upstairs.  Melt!  What a sweetie-pie!

Levi is "talking" more - he's got some new noises.  He's gone from doing just the "ahhhhh" noise to now doing more of a "da-da-da" noise.  And he loves to talk A LOT!  I love having a conversation with him - he really enjoys it when we go back and forth.  He's not quite scooting yet, but we're right on the brink.  I'm totally fine with him staying in one spot for now.  He's really good at a couple of his toys - he likes to play with the music table, and he can do the one toy where you push a button/pull a lever and it pops up.  He loves watching what's going on.

I definitely can't leave Caleb and Logan alone in a room with Levi yet...  The other day the three of them were in the living room and I was in the bathroom getting ready so I was watching them in the mirror.  Levi had bumped one of his toys with his foot and Caleb thought that was cool and wanted him to do it again, so first he kinda just grabbed Levi by the foot and turned him a little, but then he actually started to pick him up....Caleb had Levi about halfway off the floor!  Yikes!

growing

Levi is growing, but a little closer to normal now.  :)  He weighed in at 18lbs 10oz at the doctor tonight - I think that was 74th percentile.  He's a happy, healthy little boy, for which we are very thankful!  And, we actually don't have to go back in for him until his 12 month check-up (no 9 month)!

behind

Uh-oh, I'm falling behind!  So, pardon the not-very-well-thought-out post as I just try to cram a bunch of stuff in that I don't want to forget.

One night last week I took Caleb with me to the grocery store.  He got to ride in a cool cart, and afterwards we walked over to the Hallmark store because he noticed they had a Christmas tree up, so we checked things out over there.  He really liked seeing all the Christmas stuff.  (Speaking of Christmas, Logan frequently asks when we can put the Christmas tree up...)

On Thursday I went to a friend's house to help her with her photo editing software, and took just Logan with me.  He got to watch tv with her kids (who we often have playdates with) and then he and I went to the new Target together.  He got to choose out a little matchbox plane for himself, and he chose one out for Caleb, too.

I LOVE it when I have the chance for some one-on-one time with my boys!  The dynamic is so different than when I'm trying to manage the chaos of all three at once.  :)

For Halloween Caleb and Logan dressed up like pirates and went trick-or-treating to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I stayed home with sick Levi.

So, yeah, Levi's been sick with a cold.  He's still kinda snotty, but he's finally napping better this week than he did last week.  Last week was kinda rough with him.  It sure seems like he's teething, too, but I don't see anything ready to pop through.  There was a night last week that I was up 3x with him, 1x with Logan, and Mike was up 1x with Caleb...  Otherwise Levi's been doing great at night - thank goodness!  Caleb and Logan are more and more often waking up scared or needing help with blankets or something.  Not sure what to do about that...

Sunday morning was Levi's dedication at church.  What a blessing to have that opportunity, and to share it with some of our family and church family.  It was a little nerve-wracking going up in front of church with a 6-month-old that spits up profusely and two almost three-year-olds, but we did it!  Levi didn't spit up at all - the pastor held him and we don't have a dry cleaning bill to pay!  :)  Caleb and Logan liked the sound their steps made on the stage, so they stomped around a little, but not too bad.  Right away they spotted our friend, Edina, in the front row with her camera so they were smiling like cheeseballs.  After church our family came back to our house for a brunch.  The baby of the hour napped through the whole thing!  Which worked out really nice.  :)

Levi is 6 months old already!!  I can hardly believe it.  It's mostly a blur of chasing his older brothers around with a little bit of feeding and diapering him thrown in there.  :)  He can't sit up on his own yet, but it seems like it won't be too long.  He seems awfully close to scooting - earlier this evening I was noticing him pushing with his foot trying to reach a toy.  He is very happy - smiles and laughs alot (especially at his brothers!).  He is ticklish in his ribs.  :)  He's got a pretty good grip - will grab my face and give big "kisses" (really, he's just trying to find something, anything, to chew on...).  He's  been eating all sorts of stuff: avocado, banana, applesauce, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots...  He takes three naps a day and has four meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an evening snack.  He's been waking up earlier since the time change, but it's been working out okay.

It's taken 6 whole months, but yesterday Caleb just started imitating me feeding Levi.  :)  He had a stuffed animal (frog) and was holding him and told me he was feeding him just like I feed Levi, and he even had to change his diaper later.  :)

Yesterday after Mike got home from work we loaded up the family to go vote.  The boys got a bunch of stickers, which they loved.  Logan must have heard a volunteer telling a voter that if they wore their sticker they would get a discount at Crazy Horse or Salt & Pepper, so on our way out Logan asked where we were going.  I told him we were going home and he got all upset.  I asked where he wanted to go and he said he wanted to go to Crazy Pepper!  :)

fall

It's fall, celery harvest is done, and I'm lovin' it!  Still gotta get used to having my hubby around a little bit in the morning.  :)  He hasn't been going in until 7:30am - and it's for real 7:30, not say start at 7:30 but actually show up at 7:15...  :)

Last Saturday Mike, Caleb, and Logan got to go on an adventure with Uncle Harold, Will, Tyler, and Alyssa.  They all road in Harold's vehicle and went up to the cottage to take the docks out of the lake, and shoot down a huge wasp's nest (Mike had been looking forward to that forever!).  They also went to the Muskegon River to see if any salmon were running, and then to McDonald's for lunch.  That gave Levi and I the morning to ourselves!  We, of course, went to Hobby Lobby - that's one of my top choices of places to go when I don't have all three kids with me.  That place will be the downfall of me yet...

Mike got home just in time (barely) for me to take off for a photo session.  In the rain...  This was a continuation of the session from the weekend before.  The weather was so iffy I didn't want to call it off, and I'm glad I didn't, but we did start out in the rain.

Oh yeah, a couple nights before that we had our friend, Scott, and his son Benjamin over for supper.  Scott's wife, Edina, was in Hungary and Italy for a couple weeks (she is from Hungary, and they are headed to Italy for missions).  Benjamin is almost exactly 1 year older than Caleb and Logan and they all love playing together.  Caleb and Logan got rather wound up (jumping on beds, etc.), but they loved having a friend over.  We sure will miss Scott, Edina, and Benjamin when they are overseas!

This past Tuesday and Wednesday Mike and I had a little kids-free staycation.  It was wonderful!  We dropped the kids off at Mike's mom and stepdad's around lunchtime on Tuesday, and didn't pick them up until after supper on Wednesday.  We also borrowed my parent's car and that was fun.  We enjoyed eating out, running some errands, and just being at home with no kids!  It was so quiet and we did start to miss them.  :)

Yesterday for lunch the kids and I were able to go to my parent's house and meet their guests from Russia.  I would have loved to actually have the chance to visit with them, but lunchtime is pretty crazy with two three-year-olds and a 6 month old, so I basically got to meet them and that's it.  Our exit wasn't the best either, Caleb was throwing a fit so I just got him in the car without even having him say good-bye.  How embarrassing...

Today Mike is spending some time combining corn, so we're not in total relax mode yet.  :)

money

Took the kids to the dollar store last week so Caleb and Logan could spend some of their money for the first time (they have jars we put coins in for good behavior).  They each chose two things - Caleb got a remote control car (it's not broken yet!) and a train, Logan got a remote control car and a Native American headdress thingy (he saw the bright colored feathers and had to have it...of course now the feathers have been torn off the headdress and end up all over the house...).  They went up to the counter to pay and of course it was a pretty cold, emotionless older lady working.  How can you not smile and be friendly to two cute little boys putting their purchases on the counter and giving their coins to pay??  Good thing the boys didn't notice, it only bothered Mike and I.  :)

Also, Caleb and Logan put money in the offering plate at church last night.  Logan did great, Caleb tried to take some money out and then after putting his money in he said, "What do I get?"  :)

I had two photo sessions this past week!  I've chosen not to do much photography work because I'm having a hard enough time just keeping up with being a mom right now, much less having extra work to do, but it was nice to do it again.  One was a newborn session for a friend of mine (whose baby ALMOST beat Levi in size...), and the other was a senior session.  We might do another session for the senior this coming weekend since the weather was not ideal and we'd like to get a few more outdoor shots.

I'm not sure if I've made a note of this before or not, but something I want to remember about Logan is how he gets so attached to little random things.  I've really got to get in the habit of checking pockets before doing laundry...  Before soybean harvest whenever he had the chance he'd shell a few beans and hang onto them/have them in his pocket.  Or stones.  Or a piece of fabric.  Or whatever.

Caleb is turning into a bit of a bossy firstborn.  He'll try to tell Logan what to do, or he's got to be in the know when something happens and Logan is getting disciplined.  (Is he going to get a 'panking'?)

They are SO observant and we can't get anything past them anymore!  The other day Logan was putting his toy phone in his mouth and I told him not to. Caleb said, "But Daddy does it."  First I said, "No, he doesn't!"  Then I kept thinking and realized that sometimes when Mike's hands are full and he has to answer his phone, he'll put it up against his mouth to flip it open.!!  There have been other similar situations.

Levi had some squash for the first time the other day, and seems to like it fine.  He did make a funny face at it yesterday, but I think maybe I just didn't get warmed up enough for him.

breakthrough

MAJOR breakthrough around here:  Caleb and Logan have been doing great at playing on their own lately.  This just started last week, maybe a little bit the week before.  They actually want to play on their own (rather than being my shadows all day), and they've been getting along better (certainly not perfect, but much improved).  Sometimes they go up to their room and play in their closet with flashlights (pretending about giants and spiders...), sometimes they're hiding out in the corner of the playroom behind the chaise, sometimes they're in the living room jumping on cushions.  Interventions are still needed to keep them in check, but compared to just a few weeks ago this is HUGE.

Logan seems to be giving up naptime as well.  Sometimes he doesn't fall asleep at all, and yesterday he did but I woke him up in hopes that it would help at bedtime (they haven't been doing so well going to bed at night).  In general quiet time in the afternoon goes okay.  Today Logan kept calling to me for a bunch of things, but many times he'll read or play nice for awhile.  Caleb does pretty well playing on his own in the playroom (or "payloom" as he says) for quiet time.  Caleb has been saying alot lately that he feels tired.  Not sure about that.  He acts totally normal, just keeps saying, "I feel tired."

Tonight Caleb and Logan were pretending they were going to a party and they were bringing brownies.  (Last Friday I was making brownies and when the boys asked about them I said I was bringing them to a party, and they really wanted to go and have brownies...)  So they were pretending to eat the brownies and Logan kept saying, "Mmmm....dishlicious!"  :)  They were also pretending some about a "paceship" (spaceship).

Levi hit the 5 month mark last Friday!  Did I write about that in the last post? Talk about a blur.  Definitely seems to be going quicker this time around than when Caleb and Logan were babies.  (Yesterday I had a photo session with a newborn who was 10lbs 9oz when he was born two weeks ago and he seemed so small!!)  I just love how interactive he is, this is such a fun age.  He smiles a ton, "talks" ALOT (growls like a little lion), still spits up like a fountain (really driving me nuts), and reaches for me.  He's getting stronger and stronger, but not ready to sit up on his own yet.  Eating rice cereal like a champ, we'll start with fruits and veggies soon.  He loves watching Caleb and Logan.  Right now he eats 4 times a day, and usually takes 3 naps.

Mike is ALMOST done with celery harvest, just a couple more days!  He's had some real headaches lately and is definitely ready to be done.  The weather certainly doesn't help - it's hard to have much patience for other problems when it's cold, wet, and windy.  He's finishing with a bang - early loads plus feeding cattle while my parents are gone, so I think he's getting up at 3am or something crazy like that.

dark

Completely out of the blue we've got two little boys that are now scared of the dark.  We've tried leaving either the hallway light or closet light on for them, but I think that's contributing to them now staying up later again (we had 2-3 good weeks...).  I got a couple small night lights yesterday, hopefully they give enough light to keep them from being scared, but not so much as to keep them awake...  They did go to bed good last night, but it's possible they were just totally wiped out.

Caleb woke up at 3am a few nights ago very upset about a spider in his bed.  We have no idea if it was real or a dream.  He would NOT get back into his bed even with one of us - he was absolutely terrified.  I offered to let him sleep in his sleeping bag on the floor, and he was fine with that.  I laid down with him for awhile (boy, am I glad I'm not pregnant anymore!) and tried a few times to leave when it totally sounded like he was sound asleep, but he'd start to cry.  Finally I said that I had to go back to my bed, and he seemed okay for a little while, but then there was some sort of commotion (we think maybe he tried to get in Logan's bed) and so Mike went back up there.  He used "bug spray" (a water spray bottle) and that must have been enough to get Caleb through until it was time to get up.  The next night Mike had a hard time getting him into his bed, but eventually he did and so far he hasn't been up in the night again.

Caleb also got sick last week.  It was like a 3 hour bug or something...  When he got up in the morning I knew he was going to puke at some point.  I tried to be all prepared, but still ended up with some clean-up.  :)  He was thirsty, I so I let him drink some juice.  Then I put him on the couch (covered with a sheet) with a bucket and a little while later he started crying (that's his precursor to puking).  All the juice shot past the bucket, soaked through the sheet in the couch, and there was also a nice puddle on the floor.  Pretty easy clean-up, though.  :)  A little while later I was in the kitchen giving Levi a bath and Caleb starts to cry.  Uh-oh.  I've got a naked, slippery baby, and a three-year-old that's going to puke in another room.  I was hollering at him, "Get it in the bucket!  Get it in the bucket!"  I quickly got Levi in a towel and made it to the living room in time to help Caleb - success!  After that he was fine.  He wanted to eat lunch later so I let him and he was totally normal the rest of the day.  Strange.

Both Caleb and Logan, but especially, Caleb started this past week with the "why" question.  All. the. time.  Also, for probably a few weeks now, they, but especially Logan, have gotten into answering me with "nothing".  Me: "What are you doing guys?"  Logan: "Nothing!"

There was a night this week that I took just Logan on a "date" (all we did was go to Target).  It was so nice, and I think he really enjoyed it, too.  With Caleb not napping I get fair bit of one-on-one time with him in the afternoon, but I don't get enough with Logan and I think he really needs it.  When we left it was dark already, and he hasn't been out much after dark so the main topic of conversation all the way there and back was how dark it was and he couldn't see anything.  :)

Logan was also practicing the other day at taking a shirt on and off.  He was doing really good and then wanted to show Mike at dinner time.  After he did it we cheered and "played trumpets" for him and I SO wish I had a picture of his face that whole time.  He was so proud and just eating up the praise we were giving him.

Thursday morning my mom came over to stay with Levi while I took Caleb and Logan to a special storytime at the library (it was for Pumpkinfest in Zeeland).  It was okay.  I think they were a little intimidated at the size of the group and not knowing anybody, and they were not into the craft at the end so we got out of there pretty quick.  What a treat to be out with just my big boys, though!  The weather was gorgeous, so we took some time to walk around downtown and check out the pumpkins.  Didn't spend TOO long doing it though because they wanted to pick up every single pumpkin we walked past, and weren't doing a real great job at obeying.  Thursday evening we went again with Mike to walk around and get an elephant ear and they did a little better.

Friday night I got to go out for a girls night with a group from church.  We just had dinner out and then dessert at a friend's house.  It was so nice and we had a good turnout, so I think we all needed it.  :)  So thankful Mike has fun being with the boys and doesn't mind doing bedtime by himself so that I could go!

Last night was our annual skeet shooting party with Mike's brother and his family, and their cousin.  Not the best weather, but at least we could still do it!

fall

Hard to believe it's fall already!  Time flies when you're having fun.  :)

Levi is grown out of his infant car seat already.  :(  Makes some things kind of a pain since he's young enough that it would be nice to have him in a carrier still, but I'm sure we'll manage.  He seems to like his new seat fine, and of course, he's "christened" it with plenty of spit-up already.

Speaking of spitting-up...  Sunday evening we got to church a little early because Mike had to usher.  We just all went into the sanctuary with him, rather than sit in the nursery and wait for a worker to come.  So, I'm sitting on the end of the back row holding Levi (Logan was standing nicely by Mike helping greet people, and Caleb was not listening and running around...).  The offering plate was on the floor on my end of the row, Levi spit-up, and yup, right into the offering plate.  And not just a drop either.  Nice.  Wiped it right up and I think it's okay...  By the way, Sunday morning in church Caleb and Logan did great in the service - they made it partway through the sermon!

Last week I had such a *perfect* moment with Caleb.  It was in the afternoon and Levi and Logan were both napping.  It was a beautiful day and Caleb and I went outside.  We saw the mailman come so we were walking down the driveway to get the mail.  Caleb put his hand in mine.  There was no traffic, it was quiet.  Caleb looked up at me, the breeze blew my hair, and he said, "Your hair, you pretty, Mom!"  Melt my heart!

Logan has been good lately about saying "thank you" unprompted.  It's a little glimmer of hope in a storm of what feels like near constant correction around here.  :)  Something Logan's not doing so well with lately is biting.  Sunday night in nursery he bit Caleb.  And last night he bit Levi.  Sometimes it's clear that he does it when he's upset and his first reaction is aggression (throw something, hit something, bite...), but with Levi it was out of the blue.  Maybe it was an attention getting thing??  We were all in the kitchen/dining room.  Mike had just gotten home and I was making supper.  Nothing in particular was going on.  We didn't see Logan actually bite Levi, but he was right by him, Levi started screaming, then we saw the bite marks on Levi's finger.  Really hope we can conquer this problem soon.

Levi does seem to be a bit of a momma's boy.  :)  Besides it being fairly normal because he's a baby, he definitely hasn't had as much time with Mike as the other boys did when they were babies - it's his busy season, plus when he's home it's only natural that he spends more time with the big boys while I take care of Levi.  So anyways, on the few occasions that Mike has changed Levi lately, Levi gets MAD.  And, I think he's actually reached for me a couple times (I can't remember when they start doing that...).

Saturday evening we went to a corn maze in the area.  The weather was perfect, and it was fun!  We got a tiny bit lost (their map was very hard to follow), but thankfully we had plenty of daylight, and we at least knew which direction we had to head ultimately.  The boys seemed to enjoy it, only a little tired by the end.  Caleb found a toad partway through, which was a highlight.

Dealing with some sickness around here again.  Levi has been congested/runny nose.  Logan has sounded congested, but otherwise seems fine.  Mike feels like he's getting a cold.  Caleb puked this morning.  I knew from the time he got up this morning that he was going to puke, so basically I was just waiting for it.  Tried to be prepared, but I still had a bit of a mess to clean up after the first time.  Second time I was able to help him get it in the bucket - yay!  :)  I was finishing up a bath for Levi in the kitchen and Caleb was on the couch watching tv.  He started to cry, and that's his signal that he's going to puke (glad I get a heads up!).  While trying to quick get Levi out of the tub, I'm hollering at Caleb to use the bucket.  I was able to get there in time to help him.  Phew.  After that he seemed to feel much better.  He wanted lunch, ate pretty good, and so far it's staying down.  Hope I'm not dealing with a pukey Logan or Levi tomorrow...

go away

For awhile now when Logan gets mad at Mike he tells him to go to work.  A little over a week ago he started telling me to "go away" when he gets mad at me for something.  I asked him, "Where do you want me to go??" wondering what in the world he would come up with since I can't "go to work".  He told me to go to the grocery store!  Ha ha!  I would love to!  :)

Friday evening Mike and I went to a party with our class from church.  Another friend from church wasn't going to the party since her husband had to work, so we dropped all of the boys off there (they have three kids, as well) and left her with the craziness for a couple hours.

Saturday morning Mike took Caleb and Logan out for a little while.  When they came home Caleb and Logan came running in the house and said something like, "We just talked about you died, Mommy!"  What in the world?!  I guess Mike had driven through a cemetery and they were asking what it was.  Mike explained and then they pointed to a spot and said that's where they were going to bury me, and then they were nice enough to say that they would bury Mike right next to me.  So thoughtful!  :)  A couple days before that Caleb had said something about being sad when Sadie dies.  They still talk about Macy alot, but they never seem sad about it.

Saturday afternoon Mike and I carved the boys' pumpkins.  Caleb and Logan weren't all that into it (it's not like we can let them work with a knife anyways...), but they were pretty excited once we were done and later that evening we could put candles in them.

Some of my favorite words that the boys say:

• "basek" (basket)
• "efelant" (elephant)
• "hockuhlopter" (helicopter) - Caleb says this

They do so good at remembering things!  Sometimes things end up just a little bit jumbled.  Mike was having a discussion with them the other day about various relationships (wife, husband, co-worker, etc.) and the next day Logan said something to me about Brad being Daddy's "working-co".  :)

Levi has been down to four feedings for about a week now and for the most part it's working pretty well (how did I manage to feed him 8x/day when he was a newborn??).  Some of his naps are great, some are just so-so, but he still sleeps awesome at night, which is wonderful.  Today he was extra spitty (which I can hardly believe is even possible with him...).  This morning we took a little walk and I had him in the Baby Bjorn - thought maybe he'd like that view better than when I carry him in a sling, but it didn't take long and my back was KILLING me!  The sling is much better for my big boy.  I'm about ready to retire his infant car seat since he's almost too long for it.  I'm kinda having a hard time facing the fact that he's about grown out of it, and it makes things harder that I can't have him in a car seat with a handle to carry him around...

fun stuff

On Saturday (after pumpkin shopping and a quick lunch) Mike dropped Levi and I off at the craft fair in Hudsonville and then took Caleb and Logan to the park.  I just love going to something like that, and my manly man hubby just doesn't get it!  :)  Thankfully, even though he doesn't understand it, he supports it and works it out so I can go.  (He understood a little better after I asked him if he would enjoy just walking around looking at various pieces of heavy equipment...)  It was a beautiful day, and Levi were able to check out the crafts for an hour and then walk over to the park where the boys were playing.  Caleb and Logan were busy chasing a bunch of squirrels around.

In the evening after naptime, we headed to downtown Grand Rapids for the Mexican Festival.  GOOD food, and the boys had fun playing in a bouncy house.

Sunday morning we had one of those great parenting moments in church.  Caleb and Logan were doing really well in the service, but right before the sermon was going to start Caleb was just starting to get a little restless so I asked him if he wanted to go to nursery, he said he did so I started to take him out.  Well, he apparently changed his mind and right when it was nice and quiet he very loudly says, "No!  I don't want to go!"  Nice.  I just got out as quickly as possible.  Otherwise, compared to some of our other Sundays, the boys did pretty good.

Monday afternoon Caleb and Logan went to a friends house to play.  Our friends Scott & Edina have a little boy almost exactly a year older than Caleb and Logan.  We then went over there for supper in the evening - Edina's an awesome cook.  When we were about to leave I thanked Edina for having the boys over and she said "Anytime...well...maybe in a few weeks..."  Ha!  She said the boys behaved well, it's just kinda crazy keeping track of three of them!  :)  Levi and I had a nice time running some errands after we dropped Caleb and Logan off (I love going to Hobby Lobby, but can really only do it if I have one child or less with me...), and then for the rest of the afternoon I got a few things done but not much since my little stinker wasn't going to nap well.

Tuesday morning I dropped Caleb and Logan off at Grandma's for the day, and first Levi and I headed out to a photo shoot!  And, no, not me being the photographer, him being the model.  :)  A girl I know from high school owns a cloth diaper company and asked if Levi would come be a model for one of their new diapers.  She was going to have about 8 babies in all (ranging from newborn up to 2 years) and when we walked into her house it was just crying, unhappy babies - things hadn't been going so well so far.  When it was Levi's turn I got him changed and he just stole the show with his million dollar smile and big, beautiful smile.  And, I'm not just biased either!  :)  He really did do well, didn't fuss at all (didn't even spit up!), and they got what they needed with him in just a couple minutes.  Seemed like he was the turning point - from what I saw things were going better after his turn.  (The company is Smart Bottoms - check out their facebook page for some behind the scenes pics from yesterday, there is one pic of Levi.  I don't know when the actual photos will be out on stuff.)

Once we got back home I had a chance to get some work done.  I've been wanting to paint a few of our doors for a long time, and finally got around to it.  I've been debating and debating on color and finally just went with gray.  I made the wreath on the door, too.  Look at me gettin' all crafty.  :)

Yay!  Levi napped great and is just waking up now!  I actually had a chance to get some blogging done.  :)  Gotta run.

pumpkins

I think it was early last week Caleb and Logan noticed the pumpkins at Palmbos' (I usually get in there 2-3 times a week for produce) and were pretty excited about them, so on Saturday we went there to pick out their pumpkins.  Caleb had his picked out before I could even get over there, and Logan didn't take long either.  For now the pumpkins are just sitting on the porch - I had intended to get away with just painting their names on or something, but apparently Mike talked to them about carving the pumpkins and putting a candle inside so that's what they've been talking about - thanks, Honey.  :)  And, they both picked out a little gourd for Levi.  Oh yeah, before getting there Caleb said he was going to choose a white pumpkin, which concerned my dear Mr. Traditional, but Mike was very pleased when Caleb chose a completely normal, traditional orange pumpkin.  :)

 Caleb's pumpkin.

 Logan's pumpkin.

Logan changing his mind on his pumpkin...

peace & quiet

All three boys are sleeping right now - a rare and much needed treat!  It's been a busy few days, so Caleb and Logan needed the extra rest.  Our morning started out nice, but really went downhill and I had them in quiet time by 12:30pm (much earlier than normal).  I had a chance to talk to Mike for a few minutes (another rare and much needed treat!) and was wondering what I'm doing wrong with these kids - feels like we're CONSTANTLY dealing with behavior issues (and not just little stuff - big tantrums, fighting, biting, disobedience...) - he reminded me that sure, we're not perfect and there are things we can do better in our parenting, but we're also dealing with a very challenging situation right now.  Having two almost three year olds and a baby is not for the faint of heart!!  I know there are always going to be behavior issues no matter their age, but I think I'll be very glad to get through the tantrum throwing age.  Kinda stinks, though, because there is so much that is fun about this age, too - I'm doing my best not to wish it away.  :)  I LOVE my boys, and our good times are a blast, it just seems like there are so many behavior issues that they crowd out and overshadow the fun moments.

In general Levi has not been napping well.  He goes to bed great at night, but we've been struggling during the day (which is great when I've got two other boys that are downstairs either: a) fighting with each other, or b) doing something naughty together...).  I'm trying to adjust the schedule to see if that helps things.  He went down good for a nap a little over an hour ago, now let's just hope he stays asleep for awhile!  Levi had his first cereal feeding yesterday.  Of course he didn't actually ingest much of it, but at least he didn't scream through the whole thing - I think it was Logan that screamed through his first cereal feeding.  Partway through the second time we did it, Levi was already doing much better.  Still figuring it out, but before long I'm sure I won't be able to get it in him fast enough.

laugh

Kinda hard to record nice when I'm holding the camera AND trying to get Levi to laugh, but it's still pretty cute. :)

moves

Caleb and Logan were dancing on the boat where we had lunch in South Haven.

noodle

This was from last week sometime.  Once in a while, if I remember, I try to record the boys being upset about something.  This'll be great to have to show them when they're older...  :)

chomper

Levi's first tooth is coming through today!  I was a little suspicious yesterday that it would be coming soon, and this morning I could see it and by this afternoon I could feel it just a little bit.  It's a bottom middle tooth, and the other one isn't far behind.  My baby is growing up!  :(

This past Saturday we spent the morning in South Haven and had alot of fun.  It's nice to go somewhere close to home and still feel like you're on vacation.  Walking around downtown we stopped at a bakery (Caleb and Logan each chose a donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles), looked in a fun toy store, and met several dogs (the boys want to pet EVERY dog they see - we got to meet one lady walking with her two dogs who moved up here from Louisiana after Katrina).  We ate lunch on a boat (Mike and I actually ate there when we were in South Haven for our first anniversary) and the boys had fun looking at the ducks in the water, one waitress even brought them crackers to feed to the ducks.

 Donuts.

 Lake Michigan in the background.

Lunch.

Saturday night we made our annual visit to my brother's who were both camping with their families at Holland State Park.  The boys always have fun with their cousins, and were VERY upset when we had to leave.

Sunday morning we headed south again - to Benton Harbor for one of Mike's new niece's baptism.  We did actually get to see her baptized, but that was about it.  I had to feed Levi, and the other boys only made it through a few minutes of the service and there wasn't really an 'official' nursery, so Mike stayed out with them.  Good thing, too.  They were not on their best behavior.  Overtired, I suppose, plus being in a strange place.  They fought over a toy and Logan bit Caleb pretty bad, so Caleb was just kinda off after that.  Sunday night  there were baptisms at our church, too - pretty interesting for the boys.  

I've still been recovering from my cold this week and Mike's had longer days at work again, so we're just doing what we gotta do to get by.  Just now Mike took Caleb and Logan and Sadie to work for a few minutes before the rain comes to get a pallet moved inside that has cardboard on it.  I've got just a few minutes before Levi wakes up and wants to eat again...

more

Just a few of the questions I got from Caleb in the last few minutes:
You drawing ABC's?  (writing in my planner)
What's that?  (x10 while making grocery list)
Our car have gas?
It going to run out?
We go to gas station?
Where Papa?
Where Grammy?
Where Boden?
Where Heidi?
Where Caleb?
Where Logan?
Where Levi?

questions

If only I had a quarter for every single question I get.  I love it that Caleb and Logan are so observant and inquisitive, but, boy, sometimes I could use a break!  "Where's Levi?  He sleeping in his room?  You going potty?  Did he poop in his diaper?  Where you going (when going from one room to the next)?  We gonna have quiet time?  What's his name (asked about anyone or anything)?  Where's Daddy? "  And the list goes on...endlessly...  :)  Yesterday at lunch our discussion was all about doctor's (because I told them I was taking Levi to the doctor in the evening) - they went through quite a long list of people and animals they know and asked if they had a doctor, and what their doctor's name is.  That's been a big one lately - asking people and animal's names.  Logan does this especially and he hasn't figured out yet that Mike and I don't know EVERYONE - although Mike comes pretty close.  :)

We've been sick this week and it has not been fun.  It started with Logan and he's still fairly snotty and has a cough - he has been terribly cranky, too.  Today has been a little better.  Caleb still has a cough.  I'm congested and tired from being up with Levi the last two nights because the poor guy has been really congested, too.  He seems somewhat better today, but yesterday he was super sneezy with a runny nose, watery eyes, and cough.  It's worse at night, of course.  Thankfully I think Mike just has a bit of a cough, but doesn't feel too bad.  It's been a busy week, especially because of their food safety audit on Wednesday.

Last night was Levi's 4 month check-up with the doctor.  My little guy is starting to be a little more normal on the charts.  :)  He's 92nd percentile for height (26.5 inches), and only 75th percentile for weight (16 lbs 5 ozs).  Caleb and Logan were about that size when they were 9-10 months.  Levi checks out good and healthy - the doctor doesn't think he's going to be slow to move either.  :)  We can start feeding him cereal anytime - I may hold off for a bit because I certainly don't need to complicate things, but I'm gonna have to do it sooner or later.  He did get a few shots last night, and his lungs definitely work fine!!  He does seem a bit extra sleepy, probably thanks to both the cold and the shots - doctor was fine with giving him the shots while sick, said we might as well get him feeling yucky over with all at once.

stomach

Well, I guess Levi has turned into a stomach sleeper.  Kinda drives me nuts, but he's doing fine with it.  Last week I wrote that he was rolling from back to tummy and getting mad about it, now he's content with it and as much as I try to keep him on his back he always ends up on his tummy.  At the cottage on Saturday, when he was hanging out on the living room floor for a while, he rolled all the way over a few times, so now I know he really can do tummy to back, too.

Just the way he's always acted (even in the womb!) I don't think he's going to be slow to crawl/walk/run...  I've already got my hands full, this guy is supposed to go easy on me!  :)  He's quite the little stinker at diaper change time - always wiggling and pushing back with his heels.  He is super smiley and it's just the cutest thing - I especially love watching him smile at Caleb and Logan.  He totally watches them and gets a kick out of what they're doing.  Caleb is good at getting him to laugh.

Because I like to look back at this kind of info...Levi is currently eating 5x a day, and napping between every feeding.  Sometimes he doesn't nap much between the 11am and 2pm feedings or in the evening because of being out and about or whatever, but I don't think he's totally ready to drop those naps.  He started sucking on his bottom lip the other day - it's pretty cute, but maybe he's teething??  And, anything within arms reach goes in his mouth, watch out, he's pretty forceful about it!

Caleb and Logan are both sick right now.  :(  Try keeping two snotty, sneezy, coughing two-year-olds away from their baby brother!  I'm also working on teaching them they can't just wipe their nose on anything in the house - blankets, pillows, couch, chairs...  They each have a hankie and do decent at using it, just need to be reminded once in a while.

Saturday was our last cottage day of the year!  Hard to believe summer is over already.  Mike and I got to take Caleb and Logan out on kayaks, which they enjoy.  Logan did awesome swimming - I love seeing him enjoy it and do well at it.

Sunday Logan was too sick to go to church at all, so Mike stayed home with him in the morning while I went with Levi and Caleb, and then in the evening I stayed home with Logan and Levi while Mike took Caleb to church.  In the afternoon while Logan and Levi were napping I took Caleb to the park - Mike needed some peace and quiet to do some paperwork (food safety inspections coming up at work this week...).  It was fun, and a rare treat, to be with just one - hope I get a chance to take Logan out soon!

Yesterday was Labor Day and Mike didn't have to work.  I was able to take Levi and go run a few errands.  We borrowed one of my parent's vehicles so that Mike could still take the boys out for a bit, too - they went to Schreur's and walked around.  There was a fair bit of crankiness yesterday due to being sick - so thankful Mike was around to deal with it.  Now today he's back at work and it's rainy out, could be a long day...  :)

roly

Yesterday Levi started rolling from back to tummy.  For quite a long time now he has slept on his side, but not gotten all the way over.  He's not a fan of being on his tummy, and apparently can't figure out how to roll from tummy to back, so he gets mad about it.  New bedtime challenge.  :)

A couple of fluke times he has rolled from tummy to back - when I have him propped up on his arms and he falls over - once a couple months ago and once just yesterday (and I actually happened to be taking his picture at the time!).  He probably could do better, but I honestly don't give him much of a chance.  The two major factors are that when he has tummy time he's guaranteed to spit-up, and when he's on the floor the chance of being trampled by big brothers greatly increases...

Today I had a couple of my college friends and their kids over.  I can hardly believe it!  It's been 10 years since graduation and I just don't see how that's possible.  :)  Amy lives in the area and we get together frequently, and Jen just moved back to Michigan from Florida - she took a teaching position at Western Michigan University...she's a professor...Dr. Foster...that's just crazy!  I was nervous because generally when we have friends over the boys get HYPER.  Beforehand I kept telling the boys that Jen's daughter, Savannah, was smaller than them and not used to playing rough like they are, and they did great today!

From l to r: Alyssa (Amy's), Caleb, Savannah (Jen's), Logan, Grady (Amy's)

fast

Wow, I am super fast at getting things up on the blog!  :)  Okay, I've had trouble falling behind lately (I wonder why...) but tonight I decided to get right on it.  Levi got to meet his Uncle Steve and Aunt Erin for the first time tonight.  They are avid readers of the blog, and I'm glad I have the chance to give them a little shout out.  :)  Steve and Erin are on a whirlwind tour meeting 4 of the 5 new babies in the family.

details

I'm going to try and record and bunch of cute things I don't want to forget.  :)

Levi has started sticking his tongue out, it's pretty cute (pretty much everything he does is cute!).  He hasn't been the best napper, but he's rock solid at night, so that's pretty great.  Often when he's sleeping he's on his side with his thumb in his mouth and feet up on the side of the crib/pack'n'play.  :)  He smiles a ton, and sometimes he laughs.  Actually, the other day he was in the pack'n'play in the playroom and I asked Caleb to go talk to him to try and keep him happy for a few minutes.  Caleb started jumping on the chaise right there (something we don't totally crack down on, but I'm not a huge fan of...gotta pick your battles...) and Levi was totally cracking up, he was laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.  I got these visions of Caleb and Levi getting into trouble together in a couple years...  I tried Levi in the exersaucer tonight and I don't think he's quite ready - he really weighs down the bouncy seat and I thought he'd like being more upright in the exersaucer, but I think he's actually too tall for it in a way.  Caleb and Logan were able to be in them around this age, but they were small enough that they were kinda down in the seat and just putting a towel around them would keep them secure enough.  But, Levi sticks up out of the seat more and even though his head control is good, he can still be kinda jerky and I think he'd end up hurting himself in there.  So, we'll hold off on that for now.

Caleb stopped napping a couple weeks ago.  He still has quiet time where he has to play on his own, but it still makes the afternoons a little hectic.  (ex: I check on Caleb and he needs a diaper change, Logan is calling from his room upstairs that he wants to go pee on the potty, and Levi is crying and not going down for his nap...)  The last couple of nights he's actually fallen asleep much earlier than what's been normal for the last few months - so hopefully that continues.

Speaking of Logan going on the potty...he's been doing pretty well with it.  Still keeping it casual, but he frequently asks to use the potty, so we're headed in the right direction.

Some cute things they've said lately:  We had to take Mike's truck to the mechanic.  (Ugh.  So not pleasant to spend around $1000 on a truck we don't even want anymore...)  Caleb and Logan were asking lots of questions about it, and according to them we took the truck to the "chemanic".  :)  Also, Caleb's word for "helicopter" has changed from "hockuh-hockuh" to "hockuhlopper".  A few nights ago I showed them a picture of my parents on vacation.  Caleb and I were talking about it (he was pretending to drive a tractor and he said he was going to drive it up north to Papa and Grammy) and I could see him starting to think and he asked, "They not at home?"  When I said they were gone on vacation he said, "I miss them!"

fair

Last week was fair week already!  Every year it's hard to believe the summer goes so fast (summer is basically over after the fair...).  Caleb and Logan were excited to go to the fair, and they really seemed to enjoy it.  We went two nights - the first night we met up with my parents and Eric and Lea Anne, so the boys had their cousins to run around with and were HYPER.  They had fun checking out a bunch of different tractors and checking out animals.  They also got their faces painted and it was really cute - Caleb chose a turtle, and Logan got a lizard.

 Sitting very still for face painting...

Boden, Caleb, Logan, and Heidi show off their "tattoos".

 Dessert time!

 Checking out the horse barns.

Isn't this sweet?  :)

The second night we went and met up with Mike and Emily.  Mike and my niece Natalie have a tradition of riding on the Zipper together.  We walked around by the rides for awhile.  Talk about overstimulation for the kids!  I must be getting old because I could hardly handle all the noise and lights and people. :)  A couple times we had to deal with Caleb being disappointed that he wasn't big enough for a certain ride, but they did get to ride on a little train and go in a fun house with Mike.  Caleb and Logan also played a game and Caleb won a goldfish!  The fish only survived one day - when we were talking about it later (I didn't tell them it died until the next day) Caleb was worried that it had jumped out, and when I told them that Mike had flushed it down the toilet Logan was bummed that he didn't get to pee on it.  Boys!

 Caleb about to win the goldfish.

 Mike and Natalie waiting in line for the Zipper.

Caleb and the goldfish.