FIVE (and a few months...but who's counting?)

I suck at this blog thing...I have good reason, though, and I'm not apologizing.  Up until X-man's 5th birthday on October 27th, I at least did a good job of getting birthday blogs posted within a few days of their birthdays, but I have certainly faltered this time.  So...I WILL get this thing written even if I have to do it a bit at a time.  Squeaky D has finally nearly perfected his sitting up technique over the last few days (see? I wrote this forever ago...the dude is crawling and now wants to walk in the worst way) and is delighted to be able to sit and entertain himself for a bit here and there which has made my life infinitely easier!  So, my sweet 5 (and a half) year old...here's your very belated birthday post!

It's been another big year...lots of growing has been done, another baby brother has been added to our family and I continue to mesmerize at the boy you have become.  Let's talk about the growing. At your 4 year appointment you measured in at a very tall 43 1/2 inches, which is the 95th percentile!  I thought that was amazing until your 5 year appointment where you measured in at 47 1/2 inches, which is the 97th percentile...4 inches in a year!  You are now in size 6/7 clothing and it seems as soon as something fits you perfectly, you hit another growth spurt, marked by a bottomless stomach and heavy sleeping, and then I'm left trying to figure out what I can dress you in...and where my baby went. :(

The year of silly faces...

Would you just smile for me, boy? :) 

Seriously??? *melt*

But, it seems we have found a way to keep that fleeting infancy stage fresh in our minds...keep having babies! :)  Squeaky D arrived on July 31st after another long pregnancy and your brotherly skills have continued to excel.  Leading up to his birth you were also an excellent mommy care-taker.  Thank you for that!  I often had your little sister on one hip and a giant belly pushed to the other hip, so you were the best of helpers when I dropped my keys on the ground for the 87th time in a day, scooping them up almost willingly, with only a barely perceived eye roll.  You also took great interest in all things pregnancy and we talked about, read about and watched lots of videos about the subject...all of which absolutely fascinated you.  There were many questions, but my favorite was not, "how does the baby GET in your tummy," but, "mom, how do you STOP having babies?"  You have really taken this big brother business in stride, but it became apparent during this last pregnancy that you are beginning to feel a little crowded.  You have expressed concern that we may run out of room in our house if this baby-having routine continues.  It's OK, buddy, we have the same concerns. :)

A natural...

Sharing HIS box! :) 

Showing baby brother all of his new birthday toys...

Trying to calm him down...can you see him saying, "SHHHH"?

Your Big Brother skills are stellar.  You are (mostly) so kind and nurturing to all of them, but you and Gokey have certainly learned to battle in the last year and a half.  There are days when all the two of you do is fight, but when it comes right down to it, that little brother of yours is your best buddy.  Recently, the two of you were jumping on the couch in the basement when you lost your balance, falling into Gokey, causing him to crash to the floor.  It was immediately apparent that something was wrong with his arm.  He screamed in pain and said he couldn't move it.  As I tried to figure out if it was broken or just sprained and was asking him questions, you were just standing by, seemingly unconcerned.  But then I mentioned the hospital and that he might need x-rays and suddenly you were a puddle of tears and between sobs you cried, "I just hate that this is happening to him because he is my best buddy and I love him so much!"  To which Gokey began to sob, "your my best brother!" and I sat between you both trying to console each of you, when truthfully, the moment was so sweet I was unable to stifle my own tears.

Helping with the grocery list!

At four years of age, I wrote that we were bombarded with, "what does this do?" and "what does that mean?"  This year has definitely been the year of "WHY?" You question EVERYTHING...even the most mundane of things.  A short drive to school in the morning, which happens every day, will contain 40,000 questions about why that bird flew in front of the van, why those cars are speeding, why the police officer didn't catch them, why there are white lines on the road, why that house is painted green...those are all reasonable questions from a 5 year old.  But then we come to the more complex questions...why does Jupiter have a storm that never goes away, why is Venus hotter than Mercury if Mercury is closer to the sun, what is DNA???  You have made me WORK! :) I often wonder how I ever would have survived you without the internet.  Google and Youtube are visited daily in order to satisfy your unending desire for knowledge and then you back it up by absorbing it all...nothing gets by you.  At a recent parent-teacher conference, your teachers both expressed that they had learned more about space and black holes this year from you than they had learned in their lifetimes.  Mrs. Castello also said that she has learned to never make you line leader if the walk that day is going to be a long one because the incessant questions that fill that time leave her exhausted by your destination.  My brilliant boy...you will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and that terrifies me.  That milestone seemed SO very distant when I held you in my arms for the very first time, yet here we are...in a blink!  Another blink or two and I will be sending you off to college or watching you board a space shuttle on your very first mission.  I will be proud of you then, but none of it will surprise me...you are one fabulous kid and I am so proud of who you are already.  Let's slow down and take our time, OK?  Happy 1/2 Birthday, baby!

Fearless...and already a darn good driver for Auntie Brooke!

He is his momma's son! 

Have I said fearless???

Have I said fearless??????? :) 

1st romp in the ocean...the only one of his brothers and
sister that thought it was GREAT!

I did it! :)

So serious...but TYING HIS OWN
SHOES!

My sweet sweet biggest little man...

PLEEEEAAASSSSEEE Bring Me Some Spring

I'm exhausted.  Is this really a new thing?  Not so much, but I am desperately longing for warmer weather to chase these illnesses and cabin fevers away.  I was struggling with a horrible sore throat last week that I finally kicked over the weekend, but there's never been time to stop and rest.  J continued replacing linoleum in our house with new tile by taking last Thursday and Friday off to do so.  At the same time he was nursing a foot injury from a jog he had taken the previous weekend.  The injury seemed to worsen during his cleanup of the floor project on Saturday when he physically felt and heard a pop in his foot as he crossed the living room floor.  Ugh.  He was fine, but it was concerning. This was all while I was at a birthday party with Gokey for one of his classmates. Following the party I raced back home to scoop up the rest of the crew to welcome my G'ma to her NEW home HERE in Wichita.  She has settled in nicely, but after a fall she had back in January, she is still recovering from a broken femur, so we have taken in her little dog, Ramos, to help in her (and his) transition.

During all of this rush, J ended up mentioning to someone that we had finally had everyone healthy for a week and he was hoping that would be the last of our slew of sicknesses this season.  Thanks, honey. In the middle of that night we awoke to Jilly crying out and found her sitting in her own vomit and miserable.  The poor kid couldn't stop and spent the following couple of hours continuing that trend.  By morning, her tummy seemed settled, but then the fever spikes settled in for the next couple of days.  More sleeplessness ensued.  Then X-man began to complain that his throat was hurting and I am pretty sure he has the same horrible sore throat I fought for a week.  Another little boy with a reason to get up in the middle of the night.  THEN, Tuesday he and Gokey were trampolining on the basement couch while I was preparing dinner and ironically enough, J was at Immediate Care having his foot x-rayed to rule out a stress fracture (no break...yay).  The story has been recanted numerous times that X-man was jumping on one foot, lost his balance, fell into Gokey and poor little Gokey went flopping to the floor where he somehow crunched his little arm.  He came up the stairs WAILING, but since wailing is second nature to the kid, I was unconcerned initially.  But, then he wouldn't let me touch his arm, and though I was pleading with him to wiggle his fingers, he insisted he couldn't and would SCREECH if I tried to move anything on him myself.  I texted J that we might have to make Immediate Care a family affair for the afternoon.  :)  He finished up his appointment, came home, examined the little man, scooped him up and off they went...back the way he'd come.  Thankfully, he also was unbroken, but they do think he may have dislocated his radius at the elbow and he came home sporting a tiny little sling.  The guy is sore...making another reason for another little body to be up in the middle of the night.

That leaves Squeaky D.  Easiest baby on the planet.  At least he'll sleep, right?  Well, you see, he's mastering this crawling thing.  He finally figured out how to make it all work on the slick wood floors on Tuesday and he has been practicing all day, every day since.  By the end of the day he's exhausted and he will FINALLY pass out only to jerk awake, spring to his hands and knees and continue practicing.  Add to that the very uncomfortable fact that he's sprung two little teeth in the last week and there's another one trying to push through still and we have another sleepless camper.  This is where I should have listened better when I was pregnant with X-man and people said, "sleep now before the baby gets here." Nobody told me it would be 5 1/2 years later and I would STILL be up all night. :)  But then I watch a sweet little sister crawl up onto the couch next to a sore, somber big brother and watch her try to comfort him by running her fingers through his hair.  Or a great big brother cheering his baby brother on as he perfects his very slow, deliberate crawl to a faraway, sippy cup treasure only for big sister to swoop in, save the day and sweetly deposit said treasure into his tired arms.  I would trade a lifetime of restful slumbers for these sweet moments.  But still...BRING ON SPRING! :)

P.S.  I should mention that we DID go on a small stroll at the zoo after the snow fell when we arrived to pick up X-man from school a little early one day.  Strange to see the contrast of tropical flamingos amongst piles of fluffy white snow.  I also have to brag about my new kitchen floors.  I can't help but admire them every time I walk into the kitchen.  Thanks, baby! :)  And...one last thing.  We had a trio of ducks (male and female mallards and male wood duck) come and nest in our front garden last spring.  She laid 8 eggs and we had the privilege to watch the whole process and 4 weeks later watch 6 little ducklings hatch out and waddle off.  Our trio is back...presumably staking out her spot again.  I'll keep you posted in the coming weeks as they do their thing.  Have I said "hurry up spring" yet???

You Know...Tie Shades

Gokey: Holding up his little snack cup after eating his last morsel of cereal, "Mom, are these tie shades?"

Me: Utterly confused, "are they what?"

Gokey: "Are these TIE SHADES?"

X-Man: Seemingly understanding his little brother, "no...are they shreds?"

Me:  Giggling, "WHAT?  I don't understand...it's a snack cup."

Gokey: Pointing to the leftover cereal bits in the bottom of his cup, "no, these...are they tie shades?"

Me: Giggling again...

X-Man:  "What's he talking about???"

Then we ALL break down into fits of giggles.

Me:  "You mean those tiny cereal bits?  Those are crumbs."

Gokey:  "OOOOHHHHHH.  I thought they were tie shades."

And people wonder what's wrong with me?!  These are the conversations that make up my day...and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Snacks & Naps

Jilly has decided that she wants to combine her snacking and napping into one event to keep things interesting (and to keep us entertained).  I don't know what it is about little kids falling asleep sitting up, but I find it hilarious and it cracks me up.  I especially love how she falls apart at the suggestion of a nap, though she's in the middle of one anyway.  Oh, how I wish I could fall asleep while eating...

It's Snow Fun!

For ONCE our predictions of snow have actually come through!  In fact, we have actually gotten more than the initial forecasts predicted.  After an exceptionally dry year, we'll take it.  Our kids have actually never really experienced more than an inch or two at a time and even then, flurries have been few and far between.

We woke up yesterday morning with promises of snow, but as X-man and Gokey dashed to the front window upon rising, there was nothing but clouds and expanses of dry, brown thirsty yards laying in view.  It was right around 8 a.m. while plodding through the house trying to get all of the kids dressed, fed and wrestled into shoes and socks, pleading for beds to be made and teeth to be brushed that Gokey yelled out with sheer delight, "IT'S SNOWING!"  Sure enough, the snow had started!  We piled into the van and headed to the zoo to drop X-man at pre-school and in the short 10 minute drive amongst bewildered Kansas drivers who were already appearing to be very overwhelmed, I had made the decision to not trek all the way back home after our drop-off.  We deposited X-man at school, piled back into the van and then stopped for a quick snack along the way and then killed some time at Hobby Lobby (great place for killin' time).  We arrived back at the zoo in time for dismissal, had one of the other dear parents heading in to pick up their preschooler offer to snag X-man as well (to which we were much obliged), the snow-covered little boy piled into the van and into his seat and we were on our way.  The 10 minute trip turned into a 25 minute trip, but we made it safely and there was already a good few inches on the ground at this point.

X-man had no idea riding bikes in the snow may be difficult!

Somehow I was able to convince the kids we should wait until Daddy was on his way home from work to go out and play in the fluff and play we did!  The big boys and Jilly got their first lesson in Snowman Construction 101 while Squeaky D snoozed the fun away and Daddy arrived just in time to shovel the driveway! :)

Mr. Cool...cold edition

Our evening went along uneventfully and we nestled into our warm beds for the night.  It was about 5 a.m. that I woke up in the guest bed, having migrated there in the middle of the night to feed Declan and then never being able to rouse myself enough to migrate back again.  I was snuggled up with him and he was nursing...again...and as I closed my eyes there was a piercing flash of light.  Initially, I thought I must have imagined it or was on the edge of dreaming it, but then there was a window-rattling boom and rumble that chased it.  Thundersnow!  Very odd, but apparently, according to J, I had been sleeping through it since about 3 a.m.  We both were obviously done sleeping at that point so we got up and around while the kidlins snoozed (Gokey had sought protection from the thundersnow in my place in our bed shortly before I awoke to it).  J headed out the door for work, only to reappear moments later.  Another 5 inches in the driveway on top of the 5 we cleared the evening before and no evidence of any clearing of streets convinced him he should take a snow day.  Instead of work, he began shoveling...off to a relaxing start.  X-man was up at 6 a.m. and immediately begging to help his dad with the shoveling, to which I bundled him up and sent him out.  He was in a while later, sat down for some breakfast, Gokey joined him and then they both bundled up and headed out and Jilly was right behind them.  By 8:30, J was FINALLY done shoveling the driveway (yes it took him 2 hours...lots of snow and a big driveway) and we ALL went out to check out the snow fort he constructed for the boys.  Around 10, they all decided they needed to put their print on the pristine snow in the backyard.  Lunch, then naps then back out into the back around 2 pm and again for a final time in the front (so mom could shovel...again) at 4:30.  SIX times coats, hats, mittens, dry pants and socks were put on each kid and SIX times coats, hats, mittens, wet pants and socks were taken off and thrown into the dryer to be prepped for the next trip out.

Supervising from behind the glass door (he was
laughing at Stella)

I can't neglect to mention that despite the fact that J dutifully spent 2 hours shoveling the driveway this morning, he then spent the rest of the day tiling one of our upstairs bathrooms and all that's left to be done there is the grout work.  How did I manage to snag such a catch?

All in all...a great day, and hopefully we will all sleep peacefully tonight...just to turn around and do it all again tomorrow!  School has already been cancelled, so more fun in store.  Too bad J will have to make it in to work tomorrow...I'm sure I could find some more tiling to be done (love you, honey). :)

Hearts Full of Love

Just a quick post today...I'm gonna TRY to be better about making more frequent (probably much smaller) posts.  Our (not so) little troop has been horribly sick the last week and a half.  It started with Gokey a week ago Monday.  He suddenly, over the span of an hour, developed pink eye symptoms.  I called our doctor and they had us in within 30 mins.  It was confirmed that lots of goopy eyes were in our future...big sigh.  We started antibiotics right away hoping to have it cleared up before Gokey's Valentine's Day party at school on Thursday.  A mere 24 hours later, he was looking perfect and everyone else's eyes were bright and clear.  Wednesday morning X-man woke up, ate breakfast and brought his plate into me with 1/2 a bagel still on it saying he didn't feel good.  This is typically the routine when he doesn't want to finish food on his plate, but usually bagels are not one of those foods.  I told him that was fine and 30 seconds later he was pleading with me to help him up to the sink to throw up.  I quickly pulled out the trash can, he did his thing and then ran downstairs to play before I could even ask him what was going on.  After an hour of completely normal behavior and his insistence that he felt completely fine, I chalked it up to a rough night of sleep (which he'd had) and his momma's sensitive stomach (which he's inherited).  I took him to school for his Valentine's Day party and he came home excited about the day's activities only to toss his cookies (most literally) as soon as we walked in the door.  Ugh.  Gokey started with it in the middle of that night and missed his party the next day.  To make up for it, I did some quick internet searches for some V-day crafts and pukey, or not, we had a blast. :)

We started the morning with some pink chocolate chip pancakes...the boys weren't too keen on the idea of eating, but Jilly-Bean thought they were great!  After the sun was up and everyone was feeling a little better we went to work.  I spread out long pieces of waxed paper for each boy and let them pick an assortment of crayons to munch into shavings with a couple of pencil sharpeners.  Gokey went with brighter primary colors and X-man decided to use Valentine's pinks, reds and purples. We spread the shavings out on the waxed paper, folded it over length wise and then ironed it (with an old cloth between the paper and iron) to melt and swirl the colors together.  Once it cooled and dried we traced out hearts on each with a dry erase pen and then punched holes on each side.  The boys decided to combine and alternate their hearts on a long piece of twine to make a sweet, festive Valentine's Day banner in front of our glass door.  We had so much fun with this project we almost forgot we were sickly. :)

Gokey very proud of his masterpiece

X-man taking a break to be sickly :(

X-man took control of the camera to get mom in action 

X-man erasing the outlines

Our finished product!  I can't make myself take it down 5 days later!

Next, the boys wanted to make some cards for Daddy.  Gokey had seen a picture during our internet search that morning of two foot prints, overlapping at the heels to make a heart and was sold on it...pretty sure it was the thought of mom willing to LET him make a mess with some paint.  I didn't get any pictures of the process because we were in a hurry to get his little feet stamped before naptime, but the end product was great!  X-man asked me to cut out a heart after seeing Gokey's card and drew some portholes on the outside of the folded heart (because it's a boat...DUH!) and because he heard my use of "feet" on Gokey's card and there was just a teeny bit of disconnect there in the play on words, he asked me to write the message seen on his card.  Love that kid! :)

X-man's boat

"I think you're Sea Captain" :)

Good thing Stella is a good sport!

Jilly Bean mostly supervised the whole process and kept the dog in line and Squeaky D gabbed our ears off the whole time while he perfected his "all fours" stance.  He's so close to taking off, but our slick hardwood floors aren't making it easy.








 
 Well...would you look at that...not so short after all.  Who would've guessed???

A Tribute

Grandpa with his favorite furry friend,
Ramos.

I'm lucky...go ahead, be jealous.  :)  I have known this for a long time.  Things just always seem to work out in the end for me (my Dad always told me this and he's right).  Today I am reflecting on this luck.  I have been TRULY, madly, deeply blessed to have and to really KNOW all 4 of my grandparents from the day I was born until yesterday.  Yesterday my G'pa, my dad's dad, passed away. This is where my luck, this gift of 35 years on this Earth living and breathing day in and day out knowing that my beloved grandparents are all doing the same, has failed me.  I am totally unprepared for this.  I mean, I know that it all has to end someday, but I just haven't truly considered it to be a possibility.  I know it doesn't really make sense, but I like to live in my little naive hole of denial sometimes and then am blown away when my perfect little world is rocked a little bit.  So, to help me through this, I am going on a little trip down memory lane and partaking in a little writing "therapy."

My Dad's parents have always been referred to as G'ma and G'pa in writing, but mostly I just call them Grandma & Grandpa.  My kids refer to them as Gigi Ma and Gigi Pa.  Their homes, there have been 3 that I remember well over the years, have always been places of whimsy and magic.  The first home I remember was a stone home on a big treed lot...it must have been on the edge of their town because it felt like it was out in the country and I remember that there was a hog farm nearby that you could sometimes smell when outside. I so fondly remember snagging dozens of fireflies and rolling down the little slope in their yard on beautiful Kansas evenings.  I also remember plucking blackberries (I believe) from a tree on the side of their house and savoring the sweetness as Grandma cleaned the house and watered her beautiful plants and Grandpa worked.  Early on in their residence in this home during one of my stays with them, there was a torrential rainstorm.  One that revealed the poor condition of their roof as water began dripping from multiple places overhead.  My little toddler self waddled out from my sleeping place to find Grandma and Grandpa placing pots and pans to catch the streams and drips, as Grandpa grumbled about the situation and I excitedly exclaimed, "It's raining INSIDE!"  I'm not sure if I actually remember that or that the memory has formed itself in my mind after hearing my Grandma's recitation of it once or twice in my life. ;)  My Grandma is a wonderful storyteller (and writer) and my Grandpa was a wonderful listener...perhaps why they "worked" so well.

Their next move took them into the beautiful foothills of Colorado and I think I was about 5 when they made this leap.  They lived on a large lot on the side of a mountain with a little horse next door, what more could a little girl, a self-professed tomboy, ask for???  In the summers we spent hours scaling "their" mountain, climbing the large boulders at the top or reveling in the view that the little meadow at the top held in its majesty.  In the winters, we would arrive to their house long after the sun had slipped behind the mountains.  Stepping out of our van after a 500 mile trek, the snow would crunch under my shoes and the crisp, still mountain air would almost hurt to breathe in, but provided just the rush needed to fuel an excited dash to the house to distribute hugs.  I can very nearly FEEL the wall of warmth that I crashed through as I crossed the threshold into their home.  The smell that is etched in my mind was a somehow wonderful mix of Uncle Ben's wild rice, bourbon (their adult beverage of choice) and coffee.  I know it sounds strange, but it's one of my favorite smell mixes now and I wish I had it in a bottle.  Funny how even the thought of smells brings such a flood of memories (and maybe even a flood of tears).

Through our stays, Grandma provided us with the names of all of the birds and trees native to the area and Grandpa provided us with a silent, gruff affection.  Our favorite book at that time (Ok...it COULD still be my favorite book) was about a large and growly bear who was looking for someone to scare.  Grandma would read that book over and over and over again during our week long stays and she would tell us that Grandpa was that large and growly bear.  I believed it with the very fiber of my being.  I was terrified of Grandpa.  I was a terribly shy kid and his grizzliness (I like to make up words...give me a break) intimidated me.

He was oh so proud of his steaks.  He could grill the PERfect steak.  Of course, as a kid my appreciation of this art was slim and I longed for a big glob of ketchup to help it go down.  Trying to sneak such errant behavior under his radar was a challenge.  When he was very focused on his meal or in conversation with other guests at the table, I would very quietly whisper my request in G'ma's ear, she would always smuggle the catsup (as she called it...we could giggle for hours about that) to the table and I would do my best to eat as politely and discreetly at possible.  Grandpa always won, though.  Even IF I managed to devour my ketchup slathered steak without his discovery, a "happy plate" was always Grandpa's cue to offer more.  If you declined he would respond with a deep, "You don't like it!" To which one who was not accustomed to this form of dry humor (possibly a 6 or 7 year old granddaughter) would look for one more helping of something on the table they could hopefully stuff into an already engorged belly to appease the beast.  At that age I didn't quite get him, but I discovered very early on that there was NOTHING greater than making the man crack a smile and if you drew a belly laugh from him, you were golden.

On one trip there, I was probably around 10 or 12, Grandma was making dinner and my brother, sister and I had been glued to the TV in the living room for quite some time.  Grandpa came in and sat in HIS chair and suggested that I should set the table.  I'm not sure what came over me, but I very sassily blurted out that setting the table was "man's work".  Immediately, I had a knot in my stomach wondering if I had just really messed up and he shot a glare at me, but I could see that rough exterior cracking and a little smirk on his lips turned into that dreamed about belly laugh.  I proceeded to jump up and set the table to which I once again was scolded for doing it wrong (I had no idea where the proper places for silverware were), and he very kindly taught me how to set a table correctly.  It was that moment that I caught on...the growly bear was just a ruse, a cover-up for the giant teddy bear that was hidden underneath.

Gokey meeting Gigi Pa for the first
time and already dragging him
around by his finger.

I grew up and they moved on and into a house near the previous one, but one that they dreamt up from the ground up.  The relationship I had with Grandpa was a special one and as frequently as possible (which wasn't near as frequently as I or they would have liked), I made my own way up there as I gained independence dragging high school and college girl friends and one particularly fabulous boyfriend (I love you, J) with me.  I always made sure to warn them about the "you don't like it" gig and they always got along famously.  I don't really know how to explain our relationship...there's nothing that stands out or is especially sentimental.  It's just that his love was big...he didn't say a lot, but when he did it was to express his love or his appreciation of a call or visit from his eldest granddaughter.  Grandma mostly did all the talking, but his quiet presence was steadfast, strong, supportive and fantastically affectionate.

So, back to the luck...I am furiously lucky...so amazingly lucky to have made all of these wonderful memories in the last 35 years that Grandpa had such a hand in creating.  And now, in his absence, I am feeling exceptionally grateful and lucky to have these 4 perfect little distractions to keep me moving.

 My last visit with Grandma & Grandpa a year ago.  That's
Jilly Bean in my arms. :)

Grandpa, I love you.  You've been gone for less than a day and I miss you fiercely and would give my right arm to see that smile one more time or hear your disdain for Texas drivers (no offense to my in-laws, but mountain driving is not your forte). :)  You are my favorite Growly Bear...see ya on the other side!