Reef's 4th Bday Party

On April 24, we celebrated Reef's 4th birthday. He's really into fire trucks right now and had been for more than a year, I guess, so he decided on a fireman party...again. To make it more special this year, we asked him if he would like to visit the fire station for his party, and he of course jumped at the idea! We limited it to 5 friends of his choosing since we didn't want to overwhelm the firemen and wanted each child to have a chance to try everything.
As Reef was picking his friends, we mentioned that Mr. Lloyd and Mrs. Francie would be coming for the party too. He was very excited about this and wanted to cut his friends down to 3 since Mr. Lloyd and Mrs. Francie would make 5! He was just as excited to learn that he could have 5 PLUS the Jones'.
For our goody bags, we filled fire hats with a "to go" lunch (sandwich bar, juice, fruit snacks) and a craft to do at home. I think they turned out cute!

For the cake, Reef surprisingly didn't want a fire truck cake. Originally, he wanted a dirt bike cake that he picked out of a magazine, but, one day while I was clipping pictures from a magazine, he fell in love with these monkeys. They were super easy, very yummy, and really cute!

After a few minutes of playing, it was time for the cake! His friends were Kourtney, Ethan, Leyna, and Jayden.

Blowing out the candles.

Lachlan was there too.

Loving the cupcakes!

After cake, it was time for our crew to head to the fire station. We were very blessed that our friend, Missy, arranged the demo with her husband John at his station. He ended with an extra shift, so we missed him, but the other guys gave us a great demonstration. Reef was a little nervous at first, and I worried he wasn't having a good time.

Ethan tried on the jacket. Reef said No way.

Jonas tried on the hat, but Reef still said No way.

But when they invited the kids into the truck, Reef was all about it. He loved that part!

Still a little nervous in this picture.

Much happier in the driver's seat!

Loved the CB radio.

The best group shot I could get.

On top of the ladder truck.

And finally, he wanted to try on the mask. I would've thought it would be scary in there, but he loved it so much he tried it twice!

I was extremely impressed with all the attention we got at the station. I would highly recommend it for birthday parties or playdates. I'm sure Reef will remember this party for a long time!

Busy Week

Last week was CRAZY busy. Sometimes I feel like our life is in a rut but after last week, I would glady welcome the rut. Here's what it looked like:
Monday: Clean, preschool for Reef, make snacks, host HS girls Bible study
Tuesday: LBC, no nap for Lachlan, dr for Lachlan (ear infection #5), Troy takes boys to dinner while I go to pharmacy, Ladies Fiesta Night
Wed: host playgroup, cook dinner, Troy goes to church meeting
Thurs: preschool for Reef. This was our only "normal" day of the whole week!
Fri: dr for Reef with all 3 in tow, bloodwork and xray for Reef (mysterious bum pain-diagnosis: constipation) with all 3 in tow, ice cream reward for all, Lloyd arrives, dinner out with Troy
Sat: Reef's bday party, baby shower, dinner out with Lloyd
Sun: church, clean, host life group

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it all again! Thankfully, this week was a little calmer!

Ode to Chick Fil A

I'm almost ashamed to admit that we've eaten at Chick Fil A twice in the last week, but life happens... Anyway, I was amazed at the customer service on both of our visits!
Last week, we ate at the one in the Rim with Erin. It was raining, and a girl met us at the car with an umbrella! They don't even do that at nice restaurants. We were also impressed with the bowls of cheerios for babies and the waitress coming around to refill drinks.
We also ate there in Conroe since they had an indoor playland. We were met at the door by a waitress who said, "You get a seat and I'll bring everything over." She came to our table with a high chair (which she cleaned before I put Lachlan in), 3 disposable placemats, and hats. She also offered several activities that we should enjoy while we were in town. I was just so impressed!
Here's Chick Fil A's newest spokesperson.

Plans change...

Last weekend, we decided to surprise my mom for her birthday. The plan was to leave after a birthday party at 11:30 and be there before dinner for the big surprise. Of course, we were having so much fun at the party, that we got a 45 minute late start! It was also raining, great...We were still hopeful about making good time though...Until the van started making a funny noise.

BANG! Our tire had gone flat and then blew out on the high way! In the rain! We knew our tires were old and needed replacing, and I had been worried that we would get a flat while I was out on my own. So, I was thankful that Troy was with me, even though it meant a change of plans was surely in order. He was able to get us pulled over, get our shredded tire off, and the spare put on. We didn't run over anything to cause the flat; basically, just drove a hole in the tire!

So plans changed...

Troy drove (slowly!) back to the house, where I would stay while the boys napped, while he went to the tire shop. The original time estimate was an hour and a half, perfect timing to get on the road after naps and be in Conroe by bed time. It actually took about 4 hours, though, so plans changed again...
After a crazy afternoon of no napping for all 3 kids, I was so ready to hit the road when Troy got home at 4:45. The new plan was just to head straight to Grandma's house for the night and surprise my mom with breakfast. The big boys were already asleep in the van and transferred great. Lachlan had other plans and wanted to play for awhile before going to bed. He finally crashed around midnight and was still the first one up on Saturday!
Before heading to my mom's, we picked up an amazing spread from Panera Bread. Reef and Jonas rang the doorbell with birthday card in hand. Gigi was so surprised to see them! I was impressed that Grandma, Taylor, and I were able to keep the secret for several weeks. It was a great morning of visiting, and Aunt Taylor and Jacob joined us too.

At lunch time, we decided to head to Chick Fil A for some food and to let the boys blow off some steam. It also gave my mom some time to rest. Then it was back to grandma's for a nap. After nap time, we enjoyed the sun finally coming out and spent the afternoon in the backyard. They spent a lot of time mastering the art of bubble blowing. I think they're finally getting the hang of it.

Then Troy did the blowing while they did the chasing.

I really can't stand the stickiness of bubbles, so Troy did the dirty work for me...

Grandma made a great dinner for the whole family to enjoy, and then it was back in the van for the long ride home. Whew! What a fast trip, but it was so worth it!

Milestone Memories

This last week has been a big one for Lachlan! He's cut tooth number 3, with the next sure to pop through any day. He also started army crawling everywhere. This is a new one for me because Reef and Jonas never did it. It's keeping me on my toes, though, because I have to watch the toys he has and make sure the other boys know where he is and don't jump on him! He's also pushed back up into sitting from his belly and started self feeding. I'm excited about both of these because it makes life easier for me. It's crazy that he's accomplishing everything all at once. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Erin's visit

Last week, I was lucky enough to have my best friend from college come spend a few days with us. It was a great time of catching up and also nice to have an extra pair of hands. I love that, even though it's been almost 2 years since we've seen each other, it was so easy to pick up right where we left off. Hopefully, we won't let it be that long before the next visit!
While she was here, Erin and I took the boys to the library, the park, and Nordstrom Rack. We also got an evening of outlet shopping on our own, thanks to Troy. It was a good week!
Here are pics from the park.
Love this smile! He's finally grown out of the "frown for the camera" phase.

Never let a poop explosion slow you down at the park!

Monkeys

Lachlan is very ready to play with the big boys.

This is the Don't take my picture pose.

What a weekend!

Let me tell you, this last weekend was NOT fun. Lachlan finished his drugs for ear infection #3 on Wednesday. We were at the doc's office for Reef on Thursday (bum pain-a whole different story!), and I had him take a peak at Lach's ears to see if the infection had cleared. He said there was a little fluid but no signs of infection and to follow up in 3-4 weeks.
Well, Friday found us very fussy all day, and I chalked it up to teething most of the day...Until I took his temperature right before dinner and it was 102! Too high to be just teething! Of course, by this time, it was too late to see the pediatrician! We loaded him up with some Motrin and prayed for a good night. All was well until the drugs wore off around 3, when he woke up with another high fever and chills. Every time I got him back to sleep, he'd start shaking again and wake him up. He finally crashed again around 5. Luckily Troy was home, so I got to sleep in with Lachlan on Saturday.
His fever seemed to be under control and he was in a little bit better mood, but I decided to visit Good night Pediatrics anyway. Apparently, every other sick kid on the north side also needed to see the doctor because the place was packed! After a 2 hour wait, we were seen and diagnosed with an infection in the right ear. Ugh, I knew it! Since he'd been on so many antibiotics, the doc decided to go with a shot of Rocephin. She also asked me to come back Sunday for a re-check.
Saturday night went well, and I was actually planning on skipping the Sunday re-check and seeing our regular doctor on Monday instead...until my poor baby woke up with 102 fever again on Sunday and feeling worse than before! The nurse told me not to come until 1 or 2 (after the morning rush), so we went to church and took a nap before heading back to the clinic. After a much shorter wait, the doctor said the right ear looked a little better but now the left one was red! So, another shot of Rocephin was ordered.
We saw Dr. Gulde this morning to get his take on things. I was so thankful to get an early appointment and that Theresa let me drop Reef off early and that Melynda watched Jonas for me! After looking in both ears and declaring them both infected, Lachlan was given yet another shot of Rocephin. These shots are painful, so I feel so bad for him. Dr. Gulde took a lot of time getting all the details, and we agreed that it's time to see the ENT. I called to make the appointment, though, and first available isn't until June! I'm really praying that all these shots will clear this infection and we can get squeezed in at the ENT before he gets another one!
Praying for a good night's sleep and better day tomorrow...

Happy Birthday Troy!

We celebrated Troy's 36th birthday on the 7th. Can you believe he's 36??

We actually celebrated all week long, which is funny because he never makes a big deal out of his birthday! On the Saturday before, I surprised him with a breakfast at Panera just the 2 of us. It was nice to be on our own for the morning, maybe because we didn't have the chance to be tired yet! And, because it was before Easter, Panera had hot cross buns!

Then on Monday night, we had dinner with the Miles' at PF Chang's. I'd never eaten there before since I'm just now starting to eat Asian foods. It was really good food and great to hang out with old friends!

Our final birthday celebration was Wednesday night, his actual birthday. The requested dessert was panna cotta. Of course it would have to be something that had to refrigerate for a long time so you don't know until the last minute if it turned out! Well, the first try did not work but luckily Erin saved me with extra heavy cream so I could try again! We enjoyed the panna cotta with new friends, Jonathan and Stephanie, after church and that was lots of fun too.

Looking forward to seeing what this next year will bring!

8 months old

Yet another month has flown by! Lachlan continues to be such a happy baby. A girl from the nursery told me the other day that he was really the happiest baby she'd ever seen. Things to remember about this month:
-You're slowly extending your night time sleep. Usually I feed you between 4 and 5 now. Hopefully in the next month, you'll completely drop that night feeding.
-Finally 2 teeth popped up on the bottom! The next ones aren't far behind; I can see them just under the gums on top.
-You're sooo close to crawling. You can get up on all fours and rock but haven't made gone forward yet. I think you'll have it in the next couple weeks and then life will change around here!
-When you want something REALLY bad, you can get to it with a combo of rolling and a weird army crawl with your legs and head. It's almost like your arms just get too tired!
Here are some pictures from this month:

Can you see my teeth?

The photo shoot with the bear this month didn't go as planned. Lachlan was much more interested in eating the bear than sittign with him...but he's still cute.

Then the big boys joined in.

Reading already!

Easter

Easter was pretty low key for us this year. Troy had Good Friday off, so we enjoyed that extra family day. The boys spent it moving and re-filling the sandbox with new sand. And then they played in it forever. We've discovered that if you want to renew their love for something move it to a new place or pack it away for a few days/weeks.
Anyway, on Saturday I decided to try egg dyeing with them again. I found it pretty stressful last year as they launched their eggs across the table, hoping to get them in the cups. Learning from my mistakes, we moved the process outside this year and limited it to only 3 colors. We only had 9 eggs in the fridge so I didn't see the point in making all 9 colors. Now I don't have to buy a new kit next year! Things were much better this year, but it went so fast that I kind of wished we had more eggs to do. They would have kept dunking the eggs if I'd let them, but I didn't want them all to turn out brown!


Of course, on Easter morning, all 3 of them woke up WAY too early, and the Easter bunny had to scramble to get the eggs hidden.
Their baskets were filled with books, play doh, a bubble gun, and a new lego animal.


Except Lachlan's...I'm sad to say that I was finished with the shopping before I remembered that he needed stuff for his basket! Poor third child! He did have fun just playing with the basket though...

Ready for the egg hunt...Do you see how dark it is outside? I told you it was early!

We filled the eggs with fruit snacks since we were tired of all the candy they had been getting. I've got to remember that idea for next year!

After our egg hunt, it was off to Bible class. After church, I asked what they had learned about. This is what they said:

Reef: Jesus died on the cross.

Jonas: Jesus was crying. Birds were singing (he's very sure about this.)

R: But Jesus isn't died on the cross anymore.

J: No, the toon is empty!

Looks like the main idea of the story! Next year we'll work on the details.

Playgroup Egg Hunt

Be sure to scroll down to catch all of our recent updates.
On Wednesday, my sweet friend Kathryn organized a special playgroup for everyone. First we rode the zoo train. Always a big hit with my little conductors!
Here they are with friends Leyna and Lily Kate.

After the train ride, we had a nice picnic lunch. It was a super sunny, warm day but they were all very patient waiting for lunch and even wore their hats the whole time.
Here's Lachlan with his new girlfriend, Lily Kate.

After lunch, Kathryn organized an egg hunt for all the kiddos. With 13 kids that was a lot of eggs to put together!
Here they are waiting to get started. Kathryn was trying to tell them that Easter is really about Jesus, not the Easter bunny. I'm not sure they were listening, but I'm glad she was trying. I need to be better about putting the emphasis on Jesus and not the cultural traditions, so thanks for reminding me, Kathryn!

My hunters finishing up.

And finally, an attempt at a group shot. Not very successful.

Thanks for putting together such a great day!