The 411

It is so hard to find time to sit down and put into words what my tribe has been up to. I struggle with remembering it all, so I find myself writing little notes every time the boys do something funny and/or memorable. The trio will be 22 months and Harper will be 5 and a half on Valentine's Day.

Harper has been OBSESSED with time lately. He is constantly telling me what time it is, asking me how many minutes have passed since ________, how many hours until ______, what time was it when I asked for a snack, etc, etc etc. I can never find my phone to check the time, so I say "I don't know" a whole lot! I feel like I say that all the time these days. He is very inquisitive and asks good questions, but oh my goodness, he can make his momma feel dumb! I dropped him off at preschool last week and he said, "See you in five and a half hours!"  Obsessed, I tell ya.

He continues to be the best big brother. He refers to himself as Bubby and always talks in third person. He loves to play basketball, legos, chase, dig in the sandbox, and read to the boys. It is pretty cute! They absolutely adore him and call him Bubba, until recently, and now they can say "Haaa-per."

Harper is growing up right before my eyes. He has started to take on more responsibilities and is a great help around the house. He is now responsible to for brushing, flossing, and rinsing twice a day. Yep, SIX cavities at our last dental cleaning will light a fire under me! He has the biggest sweet tooth (like me) so we are working on cutting back on sweets...which is easier said than done!

Ducky Dynasty is his favorite show. He has seen every.single.episode. When we were driving the other day, he became star stuck when he thought he saw Uncle Si driving in Conroe!! He usually asks to watch an episode every night before bedtime.

He continues to excel in Kindergarten Prep as we prepare for Kinder next year. He earned all E and S on his report card!! Hopefully he will take after his daddy scholastically! Harper has started to show interest in reading. He knows a ton of sight words, but I haven't really pushed the issue. I recently got out some level 3 reading books and he flew through them!! I was in shock, because he has never brought home a book from school to read. Hopefully he will enjoy reading like me.

These next 3 pictures sum up any given minute at our house..happy.crazy.crying.....

The little boys are officially toddlers. They are not babies, except for the fact that they sleep in baby beds and wear diapers! They are little people:) Recently they have discovered toilet paper and love to take it all off of the roll. It gets dangerous when it gets quiet, I can always find them in the bathroom!! They are learning to share toys. It melts my heart when they give another brother a toy to play with. Also, if someone is crying they will go find a paci and bring it to them. Very sweet.

Hampton still loves his paci, mama, and oatmeal...in that order! He is constantly wanting "dis" and fussing until he gets his way. Taking away the paci (next month) is going to be tough. Hampton is such a little flirt and can be so smiley, and giggly BUT he can also throw the biggest tantrums. We are working on our meltdowns and banging our head on the wall.  Mercy.

swinging with cha cha

LOVES kale smoothies

Being independent=messy

The balloon is like the shopping carts at Ross, you can always find him!

Hogan is still our active guy. He is usually the first to try something daring...like climbing out of his crib! He has climbed out three times over the last month. Hogan is obsessed with legos and building towers. He is easily entertained by music and loves to dance. He continues to hate diaper changes, so we usually change his diapers standing up. Recently he has become a little more reserved and likes to be held. He says, "Hold me" and reaches up with his arms...precious. He weighs the most so this can be a challenging and should count as part of my Crossfit workout.

We are currently patching his left eye for one hour a day. The doctor is hoping to strengthen his right eye. At the beginning of March we will reassess the situation and see if surgery is necessary.

Hudson is still our serious guy, especially to strangers, but this kiddo is funny!! You can get him to belly laugh and it is SO cute! He has started to make a "Grape face" which was a Harper-thing. He puckers his lips and squints his eyes. It it so funny to us. He loves to marching and has a little pep in his step when he runs. We recently brought out the basketball goal and he loves to shoot hoops and get "2" when the ball goes in. He is an accessories kid too...he loves to wear mismatched socks and shoes. He is always styling and can usually be found with a pair of "worker" classes on too!

Grape face

I think things have to get harder before they get easier. I find myself saying, "I've got this" one minute and then the next minute feeling overwhelmed.  I feel like the boys know that I am not enough. The 3:1 ratio for the majority of the day is tough. I desire to have special one on one time with each of them, but it is not possible. My recent prayer has been "Jesus, please fill up my kids where I can not....and please redeem my parenting failures." I know that my little family was all part of God's divine plan, he doesn't make mistakes, but I often feel overwhelmed...I think I need to be an octopus!!

But amongst all the chaos, I am thanking God for the absolutely beautiful weather we have had in January because we have had lots of fun outside!

Fun Friday is back

I took the kids to Wonderwild today. It is an indoor playscape with lots of room for the boys to run, climb, jump and slide. Cha Cha gave us a membership to this wonderful place for Christmas. It is going to be our new "Fun Friday" activity. It dawned on me this morning that I won't be able to just load up the boys on a weekday and do this next year. Harper will be in the new world of public school where attendance is important! Tear.

 Today was the first time that I witnessed Harper sticking up for his brother. There was a little boy who was being unsupervised while sliding and refused to wait his turn. He would plow over Hampton every.single.time. Harper finally had enough and shouted at the boy to stop hurting his little brother! I think he could have said it a wee bit nicer, but I was proud of him for protecting little Hampy.

My heart was so full watching the boys run and squeal together. There was minimal quarreling and bodily contact today! Woohoo. We are only 3 months shy of the trio's 2nd birthday, I think each day gets a little easier!

AND, more importantly we all got out of the house!!! I think I finally earned my "Fun Mom" status back today!

Be wise IMMUNIZE

The Patient, as you can tell he was very sick! haha

Boo a member of my crew has the flu! Yep, that's right Harper tested positive for the Flu on Tuesday. He woke up blazing hot Tuesday morning and we were sipping Tamiflu 3 hours later. No Flu Mist for him this year. Cam and the trio were vaccinated, but mama and Harper were not. I made two attempts for us to get the shot, and then just forgot about it. Thankfully the Tamiflu is working like a charm and the prophylactic Tamiflu is keeping me well. My parents took Huddy to lighten my load a little bit, so we've survived the last week with no school.

Harper has not acted sick one bit. He is being his sweet, little demanding self! We have been playing nonstop and only squeezed a nap in one time this week. No napping is tough for this mama of 4. I think I need to eat more protein! And, so far Harper is the only sick one in our household!! Praying it stays that way!

Christmas

Once again we were truly blessed with a great Christmas. Harper woke up to a few presents from Santa Clause and was thrilled that he got more nerf guns! Santa must know how much I love finding nerf bullets because he left 102 more!! Harper woke up bright and early so we had our "First" Christmas with him for about an hour. Then the little boys woke up after the adults had a few cups of coffee to become alert! Harper was in rare form, just SO excited that it was finally Christmas. He could not wait to unwrap his presents and see what was under the tree! 

Harper saved his allowance to buy everyone in the family a present. He bought out Dollar Tree!! Addy got some sponges, Poppy got silly straws, Daddy got some baseball kleenex, Hudson got balloons, Hogan got a balloon pump, and Hampton got bubbles. He was so excited when they opened their present. Once the balloons were opened nothing else mattered. Balloons are by far the coolest...according to the trio. And nerf guns are the coolest to a certain 5 year old. 

We dined on Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon rolls, which will be our new "tradition." I stayed up until midnight making them because I wanted something "homemade!" We decided to skip the turkey and have Honey B Ham instead....best decision! I did not want to be in the kitchen for Christmas.

We stayed in our pajamas ALL day and enjoyed our time as a family. My dad turned all of our family videos into DVDs so we watch family movies all day...sorry Cam! What a blessed Christmas we had, so thankful celebrate the birth of the KING!

Christmas Eve

Addy and Poppy came over Christmas Eve Day so we spent lots of time outside letting the boys be boys. Outside is their happy place, so when the weather permits you can usually find us out back. The little boys love to mimic Harper, so of course they had to play baseball too. I love looking at these pictures because it encompasses each of their personalities so well and the fact that they are toddlers!!

I caught Huddy with a half smile--hooray!!

When it got dark we bundled up and walked over to our neighbor's light extravaganza. Harper couldn't wait to show A&P the lights and get a candy cane. It was such a fun little outing especially since we were playing "man to man" 4 adults to 4 kids! We each got to have special time with a kiddo and enjoy this truly magical time of year.

When we got back to the house it was already bedtime, but we decided to snap a quick pic before tucking everyone in....A truly rare occasion that everyone still had the same clothes on after a meal or a nap!!

It snowed!!

My fam.. in ABC order..Hampton Hogan Hudson and big bro Harper

The Grands with the littles

After the little guys were in bed it was time to make some cookies for Santa Clause. We "made" snowman cookies...I just didn't have it left in me to make sugar cookies..there is always next year! I have a new found appreciation for my Aunt Kay, Grammy, and mom as they usually hosted Christmas. Hosting is a lot of work and I didn't even make a turkey! It is hard to be "in the moment" and also entertain/cook/and be a mom. So Pillsbury it was... with a little hot cocoa:)

His note to Santa in highlighter orange, his fav, requested nerf guns.

Christmas with the Heathcotts

We celebrated Christmas with the Heathcotts a few days early this year. It was kind of nice to spread Christmas out over a couple of days. Harper was a little more thankful and appreciative of each gift. The boys love when we have company, so they were extra good and loved playing with their new golf clubs and light up balls. Here are a few pictures to remember the night. 

Hudson

Hampton

Vests!!!

Cha Cha

Bearpa

Cam's new gun