Photo Fun!

We are heading to Tallahassee tomorrow! My brother, Ricky, graduates with a degree in Chemistry tomorrow! We are so proud of him. In August he is off to Boston for an internship with the Brothers of Hope.

We are all staying in Joey's room tomorrow night which should be interesting. Joey was kind enough to offer us his room and he'd sleep downstairs on the couch. So, the girls will be on the floor in sleeping bags..and Nelson, Joshua and I in his bed. Hoping this doesn't put us two steps back when we come home and he goes back in his crib. I think he should be fine for one night. There's no way there will be room for a pnp....the girls are awesome on the go travelers and I want the babe to be easy too, so we'll see :).

I meant to update that Nelson and I finally made a decision about the girls' school next year. We decided to keep them registered at the new school. We didn't come to this decision lightly...but, we are positive that we made the right choice. We are going to be able to save money. The girls are going to be excited to have a chance to go to school with the best friends they have had since they were 1, and if there's something they don't get at school they will get from me at home.

So, I discovered a website http://www.picnik.com/ and I'm totally addicted...

The girls' mini photoshoots were so telling of their personalities...Mikayla LOVED posing and working the camera. Brianna kept asking when she could take my picture...my little actress, and little director :). I would really love to get a nice camera and make this more than a hobby. I really have a passion for taking pictures. How could I not with some of the best subjects ever :)

Joshua update: He is such an absolute joy! He is no longer a tripod sitter, and can sit for longer periods while playing with toys! He eats oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch and a veggie for dinner. He nurses 5 times a day, and gets a bottle of formula once a day. He puts everything in his mouth and absolutely hates when I clean his face after meals ;). He LOVES to splash in the water, and lights up when he watches his sisters in action. When you ask him where (mama, dada, sister) is he looks around and then smiles when he sees them. He grunts when he wants your attention, and if he's in arms reach he pats you (rather hard I must say ;) ). I think he'll be a baseball player because he pitches his pacifier SO far. For example, he was sitting in his car seat, and threw his paci to the back of the van. He's got quite an arm. He hates to sleep, and wants to be a part of everything going on. He smiles at everything and everyone and totally has me wrapped around his little finger. I sure do love my boy.

Weekend came and went...

What a whirlwind of a weekend. Saturday we got up bright and early and did our walk for March of Dimes. It was a beautiful day, and felt great to have raised money to save babies. Our good friends, Sara and Dan and their son, Evan, walked...this was our 2nd year walking together...fun tradition with our families. We also went to touch-a-truck. It was a great day. Then, Cortney came over to babysit and that's where the weekend went downhill...FAST.

Nelson and I were excited about getting out and seeing, "Date Night". Well, right when we got to the theatre we got a call...Brianna threw up. Got a call 5 min. later, Mikayla threw up. Cortney was AWESOME, and wanted us to stay and watch the movie. She washed their bedding, gave them a bath. Well, we got home and a little bit later the girls were up sick again until 2am. We got them to drink pedialyte because we were really worried about dehydration. Today they've been on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesause, toast)...and they were sick again today. Hoping tonight we can sleep and they do well. On top of that I've been sick all day. Nelson's had to be Mr. Mom today and around noon he was done...haha. My mom made chicken soup for us tonight :). Hoping this week we all get better because Friday we head to Tallahassee for Ricky's graduation!

What a day!!

So, I picked the girls up from school today-and the director was waiting in the car line to help the girls in. She asked me to call her in the morning, and told me a scholarship is available for one of my girls next year if we can pay for one of them to continue to go there. This is huge. They go 3 half days now...for pre-k they would have to go 5 half days. With twins the price would be almost 600 dollars next year...so we opted for another pre-school. Well, with the scholarship we would pay less than what we are paying right now to send them. So, I am so so torn.

The school they are already registered at is where our friends' kids go, and the girls are excited about seeing them at recess. It's also completely free, so if we sent them there we would have no expense. Whereas, where they are now we'd still have to have monthly payments for. A big factor for me is that I do want to work there someday IF there is a spot that opens up when Joshua is in pre-school...so I feel like such a kind offer was extended that we should take it. Also, I LOVE their school, I get the safe, wonderful feeling when I go there. I am worried about not having that wonderful feeling if they go to the new school next year. Who knew pre-school would be such a big decision???


A totally different topic...
I was changing the baby next to Mikayla earlier. She said,"We're only allowed to see Joshua's penis, right Mommy?" "Yes, Mikayla".(Mom) "When brother's older we won't be allowed to see it though, right?(Mikayla) "Right, just like your brother can't see your privates". (Mom) Then, Mikayla said, "Will it look different when he's older?" Seriously, what 4 year old wonders things like this? Oh boy...parenting sure is an adventure.

Unbelievable....

So, I used to teach pre-K. I interned in Kindergarten classes. I love this age and one of the big reasons is their kindness and inability to see negative things. Well, the world is changing. I remember interning in a kindergarten class and there was a little boy who was a little person. The kids loved helping him, and were so kind to him. I've always seen there was no discrimination or ugliness at that age.

Well, my 4 year old got teased in pre-school. Her little face telling me the story broke my heart. I was getting her snack packed for school, and was pouring water into her Mickey water bottle (Mikayla has a princess water bottle). Brianna said, "Mommy could you please put my water in something else?". Her little eyes were pleading me to not put the water bottle in her backpack. I immediately agreed and asked her why. She said that, Jaylee, a little girl in her class told her that her Mickey water bottle was for babies. That only babies like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She was mortified. UGH. She is four!!! Four year olds can love MMC!!! This made me so upset for her even though it was something small...no one can hurt my kids :).

Anyway, maybe this is why they now LOVE Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life with Zach and Cody. Last night over the monitor we heard the girls saying..."I'm going to marry Max" "I'm going to marry Justin" and then giggling like crazy (these are characters from Wizards. Then, I went in to tell them to quiet down because the baby was trying to fall asleep 5 feet away, and Brianna said she was marrying Cody and Mikayla was marrying Zach...oh geez :). I would much prefer MMC over them at 4 years old having tv crushes ;).

Baby is 6 months!

Joshua is six months old...seriously half of a year has gone by?!?!? This is craziness....he's huge too...like overnight, huge. I'm emotional about my last baby getting big...but it is fun seeing the new things he's doing. We had his 6 mo. dr. visit today, and he's doing great. 50th percentile for weight ( 16 lbs. 12 oz) and 80th percentile for height (27 inches). He's such a happy boy, he's finally in his crib (since Monday!)...he wakes up at 3am to eat and I bring him in my room until he's up from 7...but the fact that he'll sleep in his crib until 3 makes me think that once he's sleeping through the night he'll do fine in his crib...WAHOO! He also loves to eat. His favorites are: sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, green beans, pears, peaches...he's not a fan of peas or prunes (but, can you blame him?)....he also loves oatmeal and hates ric cereal. I love this age where he's easily distracted. He'll get fussy and so I'll read Goodnight Moon (his favorite), or do the itsy bitsy spider and immediately he's happy.

The girls are officially 4 1/2....craziness...they are now closer to FIVE than four. UGH. They are so wonderful, sweet and smart. Nelson is absolutely loving this age. I do love it too, but they push my buttons more at this age. The whining, and arguing....really I thought that was a teenage thing...wasn't ready for it in full force already. Mikayla is still such a girly girl...she loves putting on "lipstick" (chapstick) and wearing dress-up shoes all day. Brianna is such a quick thinker and can spin anything to make it work to her advantage...she's always been my little lawyer :). Brianna is on her 3rd ear infection of the year, and the Dr. said today if she gets 4 in one year they usually refer to a specialist. So, I'm so hoping she does better. OK, off to get stuff done around the house...all 3 kids are alseep at the SAME time :).