Pancakes, pancakes & more pancakes! :)

I think all parents of toddlers could use this secret recipe.  It is amazing.

Our current answer to toddler eating is PANCAKES.  In the most untraditional of ways.  G currently eats mostly grain free, dairy free and soy free.  And very little fruit.  And he only really likes one vegetable: sweet potato in the form of homemade sweet potato fries.  He doesn't like the ones from the store.  That leaves us with eggs, meat, corn tortillas, some questionable dairy free "cheese" and "monkey snack" (aka Gorilla Munch cereal).

The pancakes.  He LOVES pancakes in all forms.  My wonderful friend Megan called a couple months ago with this recipe: 2 eggs + 1 mashed banana = pancakes.  The dietician helped me realize 2 eggs + about 1/2 cup of anything else also = pancakes.  The only other thing I've tried so far is acorn squash.  I did add a little bit of cinnamon and maple syrup, but G loved them.  And if he doesn't eat them all in one serving, I can make them into peanut butter sandwiches.   Perfect little snack.

My second most favorite new thing is chocolate avocado pudding.  There are a whole bunch of recipes out there.  And honestly, Gavin has yet to try it.  But I think it is amazing and he keeps asking for it.... it is just the toddler in him who is unsure about trying new things.  So, I'm making it again today.

Happy toddler feeding and Happy Thanksgiving.  :)

Just. Can't. Win.

A random catalog came in the mail sometime last week.... for outdoorsy, camping type stuff.

It had a picture of a cartoonish Paul Bunyan on the front.  Elijah and I had just finished reading a book about Paul Bunyan so he took a quick interest in the catalog as I set it on my desk.  The conversation went something like this....

Elijah:  "Mommy, can I take it and look at it?"

Me: "No."

Elijah, being the ever questioning 6 year old: "Why not?  I just want to look at it?!"

Me, likely in not the most patient of tones:  "Because what you're going to do is take it downstairs or some other random place in the house, look at it for 2 minutes, then forget about it, set it down and it will just be one more thing for me to pick up.  So just leave it on the desk."

Tonight I find it downstairs in the middle of the floor as I'm cleaning up.  

Marty left it there.  

I'm glad I can see the humor in it or my head just might explode.  :)

What the ?!?!

This is just a silly little story, but my house is quiet and I am avoiding about a million things, so I am going to write it down.

Gavin, Owen and I went to the grocery store this morning.  It was great.  The boys were cute and happy and all was well.

At the end of the shopping trip, Gavin generally gets a penny to go ride on the little pony machine as long as he has made good choices.... which he generally does.  Today, just as we finished paying for the groceries, three little kids got in line to ride the pony.  We were already in a rush because we needed to go pick up Elijah from school, didn't have much time to spare and couldn't wait for the three kids.

I made a deal with Gavin.  He gave me the "one little one" (penny) and I gave him "two big ones" (quarters) and he could get a prize.  Seemed like a good enough trade to him and he went over the vending machine to see what he would get.  So exciting..... there were little guys, dice, mini hand-cuffs, monsters.... so many cool prizes in this vending machine.

Out comes the little container and he is so excited to open it and find out what is inside!

Guess what it is!?!?  A random piece of rubbery plastic.  In the shape of nothing.  Not a monster, or a guy, or well.... anything.

Gavin was all excited and exclaimed with excitement "MY STICK!" (which actually sounds very similar to the inappropriate comments mentioned in the previous post.... but that is old news)

So, our fifty cents bought us a piece of rubbery plastic.  In the shape of a stick.  Made in China.

What the ?!?!  Really.  I didn't expect much for my fifty cents.... but can it get more random than that?

Ok.  I am off to actually unpacking my new fancy pants kitchen.  Hope to have some before and after pictures soon.  :)

Completely Inappropriate Humor

*Disclaimer:  If you are easily offended or don't find somewhat inappropriate things absolutely hilarious.... this likely is not the post for you to read.  

Alright if you made it past the disclaimer, welcome.

Gavin.  2 1/2 years old and is really working on mastering the art of speaking.  His language skills have really skyrocketed in the past couple of weeks and it has just been a joy.  He speaks in two word phrases and then expects us to fill in the rest.  Some boring examples are:

"No, Mommy." (very standard)

"'Yay-yay', wake"  (translation:  Owen is awake).

"More hatty" (translation: I want to wear my hat)

In the past couple of weeks we have been busy with a contractor in house remodeling the main level.  He has just been great and Gavin REALLY enjoys him.  He is great guy and he also really enjoys all the boys.  His name happens to be Dick.  Which is where the inappropriate humor comes in.  Even as I think of all the examples over the couple weeks, I chuckle to myself.  Part of it is that Gavin speaks about everything with such a level of passion and excitement.... oh, just too funny.  So, some examples.

* Dick's truck and Marty's truck are nearly identical.  One day as we were pulling up to the house Gavin was trying to ask if it was Daddy's truck or Dick's truck parked in the driveway.  What came out instead was "Daddy's Dick, Daddy's Dick" over and over again....

* The last week of the remodel a plumber named Mike was here a few days.  Gavin was having a tough time saying Mike, so he renamed him "Two Dick".  And every time we saw him, Gavin would stop, point and yell "Two Dick"

* We made a few trips to Home Depot or Lowes during the remodel project.  Gavin would see tools that he thought looked like they should belong to the contractor.  He would go down the aisles yelling "MY DICK" (meaning, those belong to the contractor.... someone should really return them to him!).  It was so hard not to chuckle, but to just repeatedly tell him "It's okay Gavin, Dick has his tools at our house".... mainly just loud enough for the other patrons to hear so they would be less concerned about his word choices.

* Gavin has his first dentist appointment last week.  The prize he picked out was a tiny little monkey.  When we got back to the house, he wanted to show it to the contractor.  So, he ran up to the house yelling "MONKEY DICK, MONKEY DICK"

That's all.  You get the idea.  Maybe only really funny to me, but maybe it will make someone else laugh as well.  :)

Every couple years....

We really like to pack up all our belongings.... just to see how many boxes it might take.  

We especially like to do this when we have a baby who is somewhere in the 8 month to 11 month range.  These adventures haven't ever been planned, really.  It is apparently just how we roll. 

When Elijah was a baby we got tired of 'having discussions' out the window with the college students who lived behind us.  These chance discussions regularly occurred somewhere in the 1am-3am time frame in the middle of the week.... and since we were usually up by 5am or 6am to go to work.... it wasn't our favorite time to catch up with them.  We decided on a whim to list our house to see what would happen and a month or so later we moved across town.

Elijah and our-former-dog, Kiley, around the time that we moved.  I know I have one of him in a box... but I can't find it.  It has been a couple years.

Then in 2010, when Gavin was almost 8 months old, we moved to Oregon on a total whim.  No planning involved there whatsoever.  So, once again, we packed up all our stuff with 2 little kiddos and moved.  

Gavin and Mommy - on our way to Oregon in November 2010.  

It must just be in our blood or something.... so since we have been throwing around the idea of remodeling the main level of our house for a few years, now seemed like the perfect time to do it.  This time around we got to pack up all the stuff and move it upstairs, downstairs, or into storage in the midst of taking care of 3 kids....  It is getting to just be a part of the routine.  :)

Owen, in the midst of packing up all our stuff...  he found the laundry basket.

Our "kitchen" set-up is currently in our bedroom.  Thankfully, I am currently in Iowa with the kids.... but we will have about a month where we will be able to eat breakfast in bed every day - literally.  It is going to be an awesome adventure.  

This is what our kitchen looked like after Day 1 of demolition:

The next 2 days got even "better".... the contractors took out all the drywall in the ceiling and in part of another wall.  Marty sends texts or emails with updated photos.  Now they are starting the slow process of rebuilding everything and scraping the "popcorn" off the ceiling.  

So, instead of being in the midst of the drywall dust, we are in the midst of corn harvesting dust.  It is great fun.

Kyle (cousin) and Gavin looking at the pig. 

The pig was equally as interested in looking at them. 

Elijah and Gavin helping Grandpa farm. 

Elijah was riding in the tractor with Rex.

Gavin riding in the combine with Grandpa.  

One year from now....

One year from now, this GF diet thing is going to be no big deal.  I am positive.  Right now, it is not so easy.  I really feel like it should be, but it is not.  This is another post for my own personal reflection - mainly so that in a year I can look back and say "YES - we have this figured out!!!!"

I have had a few people ask me if we are eating a lot healthier now that we are all GF (more or less) in our house.  The answer to that is a giant resounding NO.  We are eating more processed food than we have in years.  YEARS.  Cooking is ridiculously overwhelming..... mostly because we have cut out way more than just gluten.

Here is the deal.  Celiac disease actually damages the villi that absorb nutrients in the intestines.  Which means that while switching to a GF diet is the most important part, there are other foods that Gavin really can't eat right now.  I have this amazing book "Real Life with Celiac Disease" that has been my saving grace at the moment.  A quick summary of our dietary restrictions:

Dairy:  Damage to intestinal villi is making it so that G has a negative response to dairy (negative response = intense diarrhea.... or as he calls it "more, more poop".... as it is ending up all over everything).  Anyways, issues with dairy is really common when first diagnosed with Celiac disease.  The pediatrician, Pediatric GI doctor, and gal at the Celiac support group all recommended steering clear of all dairy for at least 6 months.  But I just read today in that amazing book that the issue is LACTOSE, not dairy itself.  So, I just gave G some Colby Jack cheese (really small amount of lactose) and we have not had an incident yet.  Which means we could add some cheese to his diet.  That would be HUGE.

Oats: This has been a big deal for us.  Even GF oats are out of the picture for a least 6 months, and then he will likely only tolerate small amounts of them.  Prior to a few months ago, we ate oatmeal or granola nearly every day for breakfast, but it causes that aforementioned intense reaction in G.  This has made breakfast a real challenge for all of us since I don't like making oatmeal for the rest of the family and telling G he can't have it.  Stink.  The reason is that there is a protein in oats that can cause the same response as gluten in people affected by Celiac.  (Another thing I learned in the amazing book).

Soy: Soy causes a pretty intense reaction as well.  Uck.  From what I have read, it is just a difficult protein to digest in general.... than you add to it some intestinal damage and you get some messy results.    I am amazed at how many things contain soy.... A LOT of GF items are made with soy flour or soy oil..... which has limited buying some pancake mixes, cereals, etc.  I tried a new cereal last week that had soy oil pretty far down on the list.  Let's just say it didn't go so well.

Then there is the GF aspect: The gluten free part isn't terrible.  Nor is it great.  Turns out, no one in our family loves quinoa for breakfast.  Cream of rice cereal also has not been a big hit..... no matter how much syrup I put in it.  Baking GF is getting easier but also presents a challenge.  All of the GF flours contain more fiber than white or wheat flour.... white flour has 3.5 grams of fiber/cup and on the far other end is coconut flour with 50 grams/cup.  The recommended amount for a kiddo G's age is 19 grams/day (more info from fantastic book).  Which means if he eats pancakes or a cupcake.... well, too much fiber is not a good thing.

But you know what, we will figure it out.  There is really no other option.  G eats a lot of bananas and peanut butter.  Lots of popcorn.  Chex cereal.  Meat - he loves meat.  Chicken, steak, lots of stuff. And I order more pizza than I ever have in my life because I just don't know what else to do.   That is obviously just for the rest of us.... then G has something different.  Maybe I'm a bit dramatic, but for me it is overwhelming.

That is my rant for the day.  And it is going to get better!  I have it all in writing and in a year I can reflect on how much easier it is.  :)

Celiac Spruce

Six months ago had I read the title of this post, I would have thought that we were planting a new tree in their front yard.  Isn't that kind of what it sounds like!?!  I would now consider myself somewhat of an expert on this topic.

Here's the deal.  Let's just say that neither of the older boys have ever had a problem with constipation.  EVER.  I asked the doctor about it numerous times with Elijah and always heard the same thing "It is toddler's diarrhea and he will outgrow it by the time he is 5."  When he was about 4 1/2 I started to seriously doubt that and we did some blood work, cut out dairy (again), I fretted a bit, and sure enough.... a few months later everything worked itself out.  (Aren't you glad to know these details about my young kids?  When they are older, they will be so upset with me... but I want to remember this journey, so they will have to deal with it, I guess.)

So, as Gavin ventured down the same path, I didn't think a whole lot of it.  We avoided dairy half-heartedly but since he didn't seem bothered, things were all hunky-dory.  Until the end of March.  He got RSV, then he got some other bug, and another bug, and something else..... he was sick constantly and couldn't seem to get over these colds.  His doctor had recommended we do some food allergy testing since a food allergy can really weaken your immune system.  We started with a 2 week log of everything he ate and the reaction- we had it narrowed down to milk & wheat.  Skin testing = negative. I requested the allergist also run blood work for Celiac disease = inconclusive.  The allergist told me that Gavin likely did not have Celiac disease, but could avoid gluten to see if things got better.  Well, I didn't really believe the allergist and I knew that in order to test positive for Celiac disease you have to continue eating gluten.... so I wasn't sure what to do next.

Somewhere around that time we learned that Elijah does indeed have asthma.  Like "not a little breathing issue here and there".... more like "an overnight hospital stay type asthma".  Whoops.  Mommy fail and now we know when he says he can't breathe he actually isn't kidding. 

Anyways, then Gavin started waking up at night - 3 times or more. Sometimes as often as every hour - literally. He was snoring a lot so we took him to an ENT who recommended getting his tonsils out.... and said that could be causing other issues if he wasn't getting good sleep at night.  So, we debated on that for a bit.

Then he got a few stomach bugs.... he would throw up, but no one else got sick.  At one point I took him to the pediatrician's office feeling at a complete loss and she said he likely had rotovirus.  Uhmmm... in retrospect, I had been feeding him the BRAT diet (lots of toast.... not good for someone who shouldn't eat gluten).

Then came "the night when everything changed".  June 7th.  It was just me and the kiddos that night.  I had just gotten to bed when Elijah had an asthma attack - got him taken care of.  Then Gavin was awake, so I brought him into our bed hoping to get some sleep.  He snuggled in and we slept for a bit.... only to wake up a few minutes later to him throwing up all over our bed - and then promptly laying in it.  Yuck.  (I know, it was gross).  Owen picked that moment to be ridiculously hungry.... and needless to say, I spent the rest of the night awake.... cleaning up vomit, cleaning up a two year old.... it was not good.

The very next day I decided Gavin was going to go gluten free.  I just didn't know what else to do, but I knew something was wrong.  Now that we are nearly 3 months into this journey, eating gluten free does not seem like a huge deal.  But on Day 1; HUGE deal.  I walked into Natural Grocers, stood in their snack aisle and teared up.  I made myself pull it together and when an employee walked by asking what I needed help with I muttered something about needing snacks for a 2 year old who can't eat dairy or wheat.  He went into the back of the store and returned with a list of all their products that are gluten & dairy free - sounds good, but not a huge help when trying to find snacks for a 2 year old.  I came home with a variety of packaged things that I hoped would be as enticing at future play dates as the ever-coveted-Goldfish-crackers.

Three DAYS after eliminating gluten, Gavin slept through the night for the first time in MONTHS.  Within a couple weeks, he was talking more than he ever had.  He stopped wanting to be rocked and/or held constantly.  He wasn't sick with colds constantly and he didn't throw up randomly.  He started actually EATING real portions of food which he had never done.  We were still having some tummy issues, but things were SO MUCH different.

We didn't get the final Celiac Spruce disease diagnosis until August 10th.  It is not easy to diagnose, but it was a bit of a relief to finally know for sure.  Even though we had been gluten free for about 2 months at that point, we hadn't been concerned about looking for trace amounts of gluten because we weren't certain he had Celiac Spruce.   Turns out, his daily multi-vitamin has wheat.  And his shampoo (it's only an issue if he ingests gluten, but since he is 2, bath water still ends up in his mouth).   He reacts if he eats jelly out of a jar that had previously touched wheat bread.  We are still learning all the intricacies of managing a mostly GF house, but we are getting there.

**A quick explanation of Celiac Spruce: for whatever reason the body decides that gluten is the enemy.  Whenever it is consumed, the small intestine is damaged.  The result can be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.... OR it can be completely silent and have NO symptoms whatsoever.  Most importantly the body is unable to absorb necessary nutrients.  In a huge way, it is such a blessing that Gavin did get so sick.  I have since read studies about the detrimental effects that Celiac disease can have on people who remain untreated through adulthood.   Untreated Celiac disease is linked to different cancers, mental health concerns, and malnutrition.  It has a strong genetic component and is estimated to affect nearly 1% of the US population - but most of those individuals are undiagnosed. **

Back to Gavin - he is doing A.MAZ.ING.  Really.  He has grown 3/4 of an inch in less than 2 months. (Now he is up in the middle of the night because he has growing pains - I'll take that!!!!) He no longer has any issues with diarrhea or vomiting.  He will not come near Goldfish crackers - or any crackers- or really even any food without first verifying with Marty or me that it isn't going to make him sick.  The kid is not even 2 1/2 and he will ask if something is going to make him puke before he will eat it.  It is so amazing and just verifies how miserable the poor guy was feeling.

I love to bake, so that has been a big change.  I used to bake all our own bread, but I haven't baked a single loaf since the end of May.  I have tried some gluten free baking.... but so far it has not been amazing unless I use a mix - but I really prefer to bake from scratch.  I will figure that part out.  All of the condiments in our frige are labeled "GF" or "NOT GF".  I have called companies to find out if products are manufactured in a way that there is gluten cross-contamination.  I have spent COUNTLESS hours researching Celiac disease, connecting with the local support group, reading company websites to find their individual policies for labeling GF foods, checking to see which brand of hot dogs are GF.... and forgetting and checking again 2 weeks later......  We wash our hands after using Play-Doh because it contains wheat.  I read, then I inform Marty.  We both watched a great informational DVD about raising kids affected by Celiac disease.  So helpful.  That was when we checked all our medications - did you know many contain gluten!?!

It is all SO worth it to see this little guy smiling more.  And feeling happy.  And not throwing up all over my bed at 2am.  :)  I am so happy that Gavin is in our family and that we get to love on him.  He is great.   Just seeing his cheesy grin makes me smile and makes my heart feel happy.

1 mom, 3 boys, 27 hours.... in a car.

We all survived!  The drive to Iowa was actually A-MAZ-ING.  Really.  Hardly a peep from any of the kids.  There was a minor incident when we were about 2 miles from my parents house.  Owen decided he was hungry (uhm, he was screaming - he doesn't do that) and I didn't want to stop to feed him, so I made the conscious decision to speed to just get there already! And a wonderfully nice County Sheriff decided to drive by.  And I got pulled over - literally 1/2 mile before the turn to my parents house.  Literally.  I may have cried, but I did not get a ticket.  Whew!

We had a great time on the farm, with my parents, my sisters and all the cousins.  It is best described with photos, so enjoy! 

Leaving all the smoke in Colorado!  This is the plume of smoke behind our house... a few days before we left for Iowa.   I was hopeful that we would come back to no smoke, but there was a lot of smoke yesterday from a fire in Wyoming.  Sigh....  

YAY!  Sleeping with one of his "prizes" from the Dollar Store.  He ate precisely 2 bananas and 1 million cookies on the drive to Iowa.  But he did not cry.  Success!  :)

My sisters and all the kids (minus Owen).  

Elijah on the slip and slide.  A big hit with the "oppressive" heat and humidity in Iowa.  "Oppressive" was the description used by the meteorologist on the news there.

The "big" cousins taking a break from the slipping and sliding for a photo opportunity.  :)
Morgan is the only girl.... then there are the 7 boys that follow.

The water guns and pool were also a big hit!

We had an early birthday party for Elijah so he had a chance to celebrate with his cousins.  

Crazy clouds on my parents farm.  We just don't see clouds like that in Colorado. 

Owen and his cousin Kyle. 

Dalton playing his DS and Elijah watching/soaking it all in.

Derek & Kyle (brothers) doing the same thing.

Morgan and Gavin watching TV.

Another day of TV watching and snuggling. 

Grandpa worked on teaching Elijah to drive the Oliver 66.  I mean, he is almost 6, so he really needs to master this skill.  I believe I was driving the tractors by myself around the age of 10.

Gavin watching and waiting for his turn on the tractor. 

All the kids!  Kyle, Dalton, Derek, Elijah, Morgan, Owen, Alex & Gavin

Alex.  He is just too cute. 

I took the big kids on a geocaching adventure.  It was all fun until we got to a point where we were supposed to go back into those weeds behind them.  Uhmmm.... no thanks. 

That sums up the trip!  It was a lot of fun.  The drive back to Colorado was significantly less fun.... turns out the kids were tired and didn't want to spend numerous hours buckled into their carseats.  But we made it home without incident.  Looking forward to adventuring back again soon.  :)

Fast Forward....

Happy Memorial Day!

We enjoyed a fantastic weekend up in the mountains with the Santos family.  It was great fun and exhausting!  Traveling with kids who are two and under requires a lot of stuff (pack-n-play, booster seat, etc, etc) a lot of patience..... and a very small amount of sleep.  The first night there.... I slept from about 10p-11:30p.... and then basically didn't get back to sleep until 5am..... only to wake up again before 7a.  Really.  What in the pants?!?  At about 3am, Marty really wanted to get in the car, drive down the mountain and put the non-sleeping child to sleep in his own bed.  I instead sent Marty down to sleep with the other kids and eventually got said child to go to sleep.

We were discussing this event on the drive back home today.... and how to make it go more smoothly.  In the end, the conclusion we reached was that our children aren't going to be little forever.... and in just a few short years a trip up to the mountains is going to look SOOOO different.

Which got me thinking what this trip will look like in just 5 years.  5 years is not that long.  I mean, it has been 15 years since I graduated high school and that seems like yesterday.  Crap.  I am old.  Anyways, 5 years from now.... the boys will be 5, 7 and 10!!!!  HOLY COW!!!!

I wish I had more pictures, but we have 3 little kids.  We don't have enough hands to also manage a camera most of the time.

In 5 years:

* I won't be trying to strategize how to convince my children to eat a meal.  I will instead be wondering how I am going to afford to feed all 3 of them when they are teenagers.

* Most likely, they won't be playing on Leapsters or LeapPads.... well, maybe the 5 year old will be.  I am sure they will still have some type of electronic device, but it will be much more involved than learning their alphabet.

* No one will be throwing cars off the porch only to try and convince an adult to go get them.

* I won't be taking pictures of my boys' feet.  Unless they are ridiculously dirty or something.... but not because they are cute and tiny.  I also won't be hiking with my favorite baby carrier or with a kiddo in a backpack.

* Dora the Explorer, Aladdin, and Shaun the Sheep will not be the hit movies of the weekend.

* No one will be knocking on the door to my room at 6am saying "mama, mama" and wanting to snuggle in bed with me.  I will probably enjoy my coffee in a much more quiet environment and *hopefully* no one will drop their chewable vitamin in it when I am not looking....  I won't be changing their diapers.... I might still be planning the hikes, but I probably won't be the person leading....  The idea of going to the swimming pool will seem more like a fun adventure than an exhausting excursion (the little boys and I didn't go.... swim diapers and changing clothes, etc, etc was just too much to tackle)....

All in all, the kids just won't need us as much.  We won't be dishing out all their food and wiping their bottoms.  In that quiet morning coffee that I am anticipating in 5 years.... I am going to miss this weekend..... the loud, crazy, screaming toddler throwing his car over the edge of the railing.... the tiny baby feet.... and having the 5 year old boy being the one who was "in charge" instead of the baby of the family.

It is going to go fast. I am going to do my best to enjoy these sleepless nights, baby babbles, and hikes with backpacks.  Love these little guys.

Gavin is TWO.....

I like blogging/writing.  I cannot believe that I have not posted anything in more than 3 MONTHS!  These little boys keep me busy.  :)

Since my last post, Gavin has turned 2 YEARS old!  I cannot believe that it has been more than 2 years since we were bringing him home from the hospital.  He is so much fun - and so busy.  All 2 year olds are busy - and Gavin is definitely no exception.  An early childhood teacher was commenting last week on how we should really work on teaching Gavin things like "slow" and "gentle".... hmmm.... funny.  He knows nothing other than "hard", "fast", and "make-people-laugh".  Turns out when a 2 year old does everything at warp speed with so much intensity, all you can do is laugh because it is so stinkin' adorable.

Some things about our most favorite 2 year old:

- He does flips of the couch. He has no fear of the landing.
- He runs on gravel/dirt trails downhill as fast as he can.  To the point then when he wipes out, he ends up with a mouth full of dirt, skinned up elbows or bumps on his head.... but after a quick check for broken bones and a kiss from Mommy, he just keeps going.
- He would prefer to throw EVERYTHING.  If I had a dollar for every time I said "No Throw...."
- Eating is definitely a secondary consideration to anything that would involve running or making people laugh.  Therefore, his favorite place to eat is in his carseat.  There is little opportunity for moving or making people laugh, so as soon as those buckles are fastened, he realizes he is starving.  :)  Love that little guy.
- His favorite words at the moment are: "stuck", "broke", "yuck" and "truck".  He will also throw "walk" and "rock" in there.   He is just starting to say "me" on a regular basis.
-  He loves to be cuddled and rocked to sleep.
-  He loves being a big brother to Owen and will try to calm him down when he is upset.  He calls Owen "yeah yeah".  He also loves to steal Owen's blankets.  Thankfully at the moment Owen is not very attached to them.
- Gavin enjoys animals and being outside.  He stands at the back door to watch the squirrels or he will lay on blankets in the backyard to watch for airplanes in the sky.

Leaving you with a few photos of our adventurous little boy.  :)

Throwing rocks.  One of his most favorite activities.

Say "cheese".  Oh, Mommy was trying to take a picture of Owen?  Never mind that.... I'm cute.

Lovin' bath time and snuggles with Daddy.

Daddy was getting ready to go on a fishing trip in April.  Don't want him to forget his net!

The Little Things

It is all the little things with the kids that really crack me up, bring a smile to my face, or frankly - drive me crazy some days.  So, here are some of the little things from the past little while.

ELIJAH:
We 'celebrated' his 5 1/2 year birthday this past week.  I use the term celebrated very loosely.  It is just an excuse to make/eat a cake.  This year he wanted to strawberry cake.... so I made a from scratch strawberry cake - complete with pureed strawberries.  Yummy.  :)

GAVIN:
He has taken on the role of our in-house clown.  He is always trying to make us laugh and just being silly.  The toddler phase is pretty entertaining.... some of my favorite examples recently.

* Do you know The Muppets song "Mahna Mahna"?  It is recently been redone by "The Fray"?  Well, Gavin has taken to singing the "Mahna Mahna" part.  SO CUTE.  But he will NOT let me get it on video.
* Seeing a small dog, pointing and saying "meow".  Obviously looks like a cat to him and just makes me laugh.
* Food combinations:  For example, dipping orange slices in ranch. Ick.  He LOVES maple syrup... to the point that when he is done with the pancakes he will use his fingers to get the rest of the syrup.  And if that doesn't work, he just starts to lick the plate.
* We went out to lunch over the weekend.  He ate almost nothing while sitting at the table, but as we were getting ready to leave, he started to pick chips off the floor to eat them (the same chips he had thrown there moments earlier).  Why?!?!?!  Toddlers are funny creatures.

Cheesy grin.  Love it!  He loves to get in Owen's bassinet.... we borrowed it from a friend who obviously has girls.
Shhhh.... don't tell Owen that he slept in a bassinet with a pink bumper. 

OWEN:
I had heard about babies like Owen, but I honestly thought that people were just exaggerating or wanted me feel like a failure while my babies were screaming for some unknown reason.  But Owen is the real deal.  HE PUTS HIMSELF TO SLEEP.  No, really, I am not making this up.  It is not all the time, but on a fairly regular basis, when he is tired he will close his eyes and go to sleep.  Really.  Amazing, huh?

Example:  This weekend - changed his diaper on the living room floor.... left him there for a moment, knowing he was getting tired.  Come back to find this....

Owen - fast asleep on the living room floor.  And excuse the funny outfit.....
He was in need of new pants while we were at church and the sleeper was the only thing in the diaper bag.

MARTY:
He's just a great guy.  Our anniversary is tomorrow.  Happy 8 years of marriage!  :)

Marty and me in 2003.... just a couple months before our wedding.  :)

I have super powers.

Don't worry if you didn't already know this; I didn't either until just recently.  You see, after Owen was born I spent about 36 hours in the hospital.... during that time we had some wonderful family and friends who helped out A LOT with the big brothers.  Marty also had the opportunity to spend more time at home than normal.  It was then that he discovered that I must have super powers.

While I was in the hospital Marty washed out his first poopy diaper (we use cloth diapers and while Marty regularly changes diapers, under no previous circumstances has he ever washed one out).    I didn't think that leaving a poopy diaper sit around the house until I got home was a good idea, so I encouraged him to take some gloves from the hospital room and wear those to wash out the diaper.  All went well.... until he accidentally flushed a cloth wipe down the toilet.  Whoops.  So, after I was home, he had the opportunity to unseat the toilet in order to remove the cloth wipe.  Thankfully, with some assistance from his dad, it was a success!

It wasn't that incident alone that earned me the honor of possessing super powers.  The moment Marty was aware of the mommy-super-powers was a couple of days after Owen and I came home and he hadn't yet gone back to work.  It was just a standard day in our home..... children screaming, possibly throwing things, using an innocent toy as a weapon, or a sippy cup to crush Cheerios on the tablecloth.... any one or more of those things was likely happening when on top of that came the questions.  You know the big "Why?" questions and the "How does that work?" questions that seem to fill every potentially silent moment in our house.  THAT is when Marty announced that I have super powers.  It made me smile and that comment has really stuck with me.

Then, this week, at about 2am I knocked over my glass of water on my nightstand while feeding Owen.  Marty got out of bed, got a towel and cleaned up the water.  When I told him "thanks" (in my barely awake state) he told me something like "thanks for taking care of our baby".  I think he helps give me super powers.  He also unloads the dishwasher almost every morning.  It might take him 5 minutes, but with the help of our small children, that task could take me all morning.  I have a great husband.

And while I thought it was the coffee that helped me make it through the day, I now stand corrected.  I kind of want to get myself and all my mommy friends capes.  We have Super Powers.  :)

Elijah in March 2010.  He also has super powers.  

And then there were FIVE!

First family photo:  Owen is 2 1/2 weeks old

Owen is almost one month old!  I cannot believe how the time is flying by.  He is a big guy, so there is already clothing that I am setting aside that is too small for him....

I've been asked a lot in the past 4 weeks how the transition has been with adding Owen to our family and I have to say it has been better than expected!  I am usually asked by other moms who then go on to tell which family-growth-transition was the most difficult for their family.  Some say from one child to two children.... others from two to three.....

This time around, it really helped that my mom was here for 2 weeks.  Amazing.  I was able to catch up on some things around the house, she cooked and cleaned and I got to focus on recovering from childbirth, getting to know Owen and playing with the big brothers.  It was an amazing time.

For us, the most difficult transition was from zero to one; also known as adding Elijah to our family.  Definitely, hands down; that transition rocked our world.  I wasn't one of those women who just knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.  I wasn't even confident that I was going to enjoy being a mom - I clearly remember talking to Marty while I was pregnant with Elijah and questioning how women could be so certain and so confident about mothering (and/or choosing to stay at home) before they had children - for me, I had no idea what to expect prior to actually being in the "mom shoes".

Being a mom is great - and I love it - and it completely and totally stretches me in new ways every day.  By kiddo #3 I am a much more laid back mom than I was with kiddo #1.... and yet I am still ever so thankful that we only had one colicky baby.

So, that's that.  Loving being a family of five.  It is busy and chaotic and great.

It's a BOY!

I think that anyone who might possibly read this blog already knows that we have another boy in our family, but I'll go ahead and post it anyway.  :)

Super abbreviated version of events for the evening, appropriate for all readers: after finishing up that last blog post on "Baby Stow #3's" due date, Marty and I sat around and watched "Parenthood" on Hulu.... just as we were heading to bed, I started having contractions.  We eventually called our wonderful friend Merrielle to watch our boys and then got to the hospital around 11:30pm.... around 12:15am the wonderful nurse, Deb, arrived (the hospital was full, so they needed to call someone in)..... at the point they talked about sending me home because labor wasn't progressed far enough..... at 1:20am the nurse said things were progressing and I was not going to get sent home..... the midwife arrived at 1:48a..... and baby Owen arrived at 1:58am!  It was a super duper speedy all natural delivery.



And here is beautiful baby Owen Anthony - born at 1:58am on 1/11/12.  He weighed 8 lb 3 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

Owen's first picture - welcome to the world little buddy.

Gavin snuggling his little brother on his first day home. 

Owen and his big brothers.

6 days old.

2 weeks old