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...