Halloween! Lots of pictures!

Okay! We've been working on these costumes for a little while. Rowan's took some assembling of parts. Niall's took some sewing. And Eleri's came on eBay. (I couldn't resist getting such a cute little thing for less than I'd spend in fabric to make it!)
So here you go!

First, Indiana Jones!

You can't see it, but his bag is filled with important archaeological artifacts. We decided to go without a jacket, since it was 80 degrees. Thanks NC! I also took more than one pic, but he's standing the same way in all of them.

Next up, Peter Pan!

Peter pan is sporting a felt outfit, and I even figured out how to make pointy shoe covers. His sword is tinfoil and cardboard, and is very dangerous and pokey. Captain Hook, be warned!

And finally, our Pixie!

What else could she be? She went trick or treating for the first time, but didn't get any loot. Her sole goal was to spread the cuteness across the neighborhood. Mission accomplished!

Here's the whole gang together. Two pics. Merge them in your head into something where they're all looking at the camera at the same time and no one is making a face, okay?

It is seriously hard to get a picture of all three of them, and we were under time constraints. Candy was calling.

So there you go! Our Halloween ghoulies this year. No one wanted to be scary. I'm sure that will come with age.

Yum!

Somebody liked her first taste of chocolate cake!

Happy Birthday Eleri!

Somebody is one year old today!

She got a dolly, an outfit that I made with the help of a friend, a hair clip that I made, some diapers and a white noise machine.

This year has been full of joy and hair. Devoid of dairy, but full of joy. and hair.

It's hard to believe that she's already a year old. I still vividly remember having her, that tiny tiny baby in the hospital. She's not all that much bigger now, but she is so sweet, and so much fun. She adores her brothers, and plots ways to get her hands on cords and hotwheels cars. She's doing much better with eating solid food, and loves red beans and rice. She is very, very loved, and is our Pixie Princess. I'm so glad she came to live with us!
But I don't understand... How did she go from this:

to this:

so quickly? Someone invent a time machine! These kids grow up much too fast!

Friday Flick - one day late

We've started trying to convince Eleri to nap for a reasonable amount of time in her crib. She was napping there, but only for 20-30 minutes at a time. I kept reading that they have to learn to fall asleep there if they're going to sleep for longer, so instead of rocking her all the way to sleep, I rocked her to drowsy and put her in.
She did NOT approve. She would NOT lie down. Poor thing was so tired, but soooo stubborn!



Every time I tried to lay her down, she'd get mad, and sit right back up again and do this. So I ended up swaddling her and she napped for a little while. Then this morning I swaddled her at the beginning, and she slept for 90 minutes. She was probably worn out from all her protest sit/sleeping.

Cue dramatic music

BUM BUM BUM!

We are in the midst of teething. It is going well. There is less sleeping than I'd like, and more fussing than usual, but compared to life without the amber necklace this is a cakewalk. I really wish I'd known about those things when Rowan was a baby.
So, someone decided to not have any teeth until she was 11 months old. And then she decided to get them all at once! She's popped 3 teeth in the past two weeks, and I believe there are more on the horizon. I present to you (crusty nose, random hair and all):

Two front teeth!

And on the bottom (accompanied by crusty black bean face):

In more tooth news, one of Rowan's two front teeth is loose. No pictures of that yet. We'll post a pic when it falls out.
In other news, the swine flu is going well. We are BIG fans of Tamiflu. No one else has started running a fever, so I'm hoping we're good. And yes, we will still be getting vaccinated. We have limp lungs around these parts. It's better to be proactive.

How much hair can you grow in a year?

A lot!

Thoughts

I posted this over the weekend on the Soggy Granola forum I'm a member of. It got a pretty big response, so I figured I'd put it out here for the rest of the world. Just some things I've been struggling with lately...
------------------

I posted a few days ago about missing having an uncomplicated life.
Remember when it used to be the usual to sleep in on the weekends? When the only one affected by your decisions was yourself, and maybe your significant other?
I was missing that. It's hard to have a family. It's a lot of joy, but it's a lot of work, too.

Part of what brought that on is that I'm in a much different place from most of my college friends. One of them is getting married next weekend, and I'm going to miss the wedding because of things outside of my control. She was in my wedding, and I really wanted to go. All the rest of our college friends will be there. Only two others have any children at all, and both of them have 1 infant... So, just a different phase of life.
I was missing when it was just me and John, and we could pick up and go and gallivant all over the country. It's hard having that feeling when you can't run away from it all, and you don't really want to, but having all these people counting on you and depending on you all the time is wearing, too.

I was envious of my friends who are just starting out, when everything is fresh and new. Or even the ones who are still dating. Beginnings are exciting.

But then I was thinking more. You know, all the exciting of beginnings and all, that all wears off. And even my friends who are just getting married and starting out are going to have to do the drudgery of cleaning the sink out and folding socks. They might be able to get their laundry done in one day instead of it taking all week, but they still have to do it.

And maybe they are trying to get where we are. Maybe they want the house and the kids and the dog. Maybe they even want the minivan. So while I'm fondly remembering where they are, they could be looking at what I have and wanting it, too.

What I have right now is hard. It's incredibly hard having small children constantly demanding pieces of yourself. But it's wonderful. It's so wonderful having these beautiful people as a part of my life every single day, and being there creating memories so that when they're adults they can say, "remember that time when..."

So I thought I'd write it here. Because I think a lot of us have these feelings from time to time, and it helps to see that someone else has these same thoughts. And this might not even coherent, because I've been interrupted so many times in the writing it... to send the boys to their room for picking up the baby, to appreciate John coming to stick his face on my neck and tell me that he loved me, to hold the baby for a game of "I'm gonna get you," to listen to Niall singing "Whistling in the Dark..."

So even getting my thoughts out is hard to manage some days. And isn't that a wonderful blessing?

Guess what?

Knock knock.

Who's there?
Interrupting pig
Interrupting pig wh...
OINK!

Yep. The boy has the swine flu.
We have a call into the compounding pharmacy to get some tamiflu for him. Everyone else is out. He has his fall break this week, too.

Ah well. We'll get through it. His fever is down with ibuprofen and Tylenol.

As requested

We've been a bit busy around here lately. See Rowan's Odyssey for details on that.
Mom's been asking for some pictures that show Eleri's hair off. It's such a strange color for a baby.
So, as requested, hair pictures:

What did you do this weekend?

I painted my giraffe.

ya ya

I know. I've not been posting. See the picture of the baby below? All that cuteness comes with a price.
Someone only naps for 20-30 minutes at a time. Someone is also up every hour all night long.
Someone is starting baby sleep camp today.
If you know me, you know I'm against making a baby "cry it out" alone. What, exactly, is IT? Their need for you? Their wet diaper? Their fear of the boogy man?
I am not, however, against rocking a baby who is crying at me because I'm providing a different level of comfort from the one she's accustomed to.
I've been trying the No Cry Sleep Solution. It worked great for Niall. Not so much now. We're going to be doing the Acceptable Level of Crying but Mommy Is Still Here With You Sleep Solution. And Daddy might be there, or he might flee to the couch. But no one is getting up at 1:12, 2:26, 3:12.... again. Got it?
I started blogging about the family waaaaay back when Niall wasn't sleeping and I was trying to get a handle on things. So the lack of sleeping baby isn't all bad - it started me keeping a family blog, which I then merged with this blog. So there.
But I'd like to request a 5 hour block of sleep now. Considering the bladder issues of late pregnancy, it's been over a year since I've had that. So it would be nice to have. Please and thank you.

More portrait work

Still working on learning, but I'm getting better!

Portrait session

Y'all know that I'm trying to learn more about photography so I can take our portraits here at home and save some money. This is in our dining area. Three are here, the rest can be found on flickr. Enjoy!

Yep.

He is his father's son.

First day of school!

I'm stealing a friend's idea to always take the first day of school pictures in front of the car, because that dates them. Then we can look back and remember when the van was new, or when we drove that van.

His hair is spiked, his collar popped (his idea. No I am not trying to revive the 80s), and he's ready to go.

It took a little over half an hour to get there. Traffic wasn't bad at all.

We'll see you at 3:10, Rowan! Have a great day!

Rowan's new school

We had open house and meet the teacher today at Rowan's new school. Here are a few pictures to show you what it's like.

They use these chains to figure out math problems.


Drawers with letter combos on the outside and objects on the inside for phonics.



Science. Rowan's favorite subject.

We're very happy. I got his school t shirt this afternoon for him to have for field trip and spirit days, and he hasn't taken it off yet.

Thank you, Fannie!

Dreamboat

Today was the perfect combo of lighting and patience to get pictures of the kids' eyes.
And can you just swoon? I mean, look at this:

He has his daddy's eyes. Isn't he dreamy?

And this?

We are in T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

And this...

Are those even real?

How many times do John and I look at each other and ask ourselves how we managed to have such gorgeous kids... And I have to say no to these eyes when they're begging. It's a tough job, I tell you. They don't make it easy!

Airplanes!

Yesterday, I finally finished the wallpapering in the boys' room. It's almost all the way done. I still have to make the curtain (machine is in the shop) and paint the other wall, but the wallpapering is done! Well, except for the border that will go on the painted wall. But still... done!

And here's the closet after a visit to Ikea.

I have cuts on the tip of one finger, and my body is sore from climbing up and down off that stool over and over again, but YAY! I think it looks pretty awesome, and the kite that Pop and Fannie gave the boys goes great with the rest of the room.