baby update

Colin is really generous with his smiles; he always has one available for his big sisters or anyone else who looks him in the eye and says, "Do you have any smiles for me?" His whole little face just lights up with the most precious, pure smile. His sisters don't seem to ever get tired of making him smile and they love to play with him. Baby smiles really are very cute, aren't they?


Click on the photo to see more pics of the boy!

We're still here

So sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. We've all been battling some yucky illnesses. No one has grown a curly tail yet, but this was likely the dreaded Swine flu. Or H1N1. Or what I like to call The Worst Sickness EVER! Phil got it first but Claire was the obvious front-runner for "Most Sick". She had a very high fever for a week, accompanied by a lovely cough. I spent most of my day trying to get her to cover her coughs with her elbow while I shielded her brother and sister from any potential germies that were flying through the air. We are finally all feeling better (knock on wood) and Maddie and Colin may have avoided this flu!

Phil's parents and his grandmothers were just here for a visit, so we'll post some pictures soon!

The Blue Exercise Ball

There is a big blue exercise ball in my living room. It does not coordinate well with the overall decor and it is not comfortable to sit on. It is not used (intentionally) for exercise. Why is it there? It's the ONLY thing that makes our little guy go to sleep. We bounce on that darned thing for hours, afraid to get up because he WILL wake up if we do. His big sister, Maddie, was the same way. I abhor the ball and the pain it causes me in my back, but I LOVE the ball for its ability to put my babies to sleep when nothing else will. I can not wait to throw the thing in the trash one day. In the meantime we're grateful to have it.

No photos of the ball right now, but Claire drew a picture yesterday:
She says that's Mommy bouncing Colin on the ball. He's asleep (you can tell by the green lines on his eyes), but not yet asleep enough to lay down in his crib. He's swaddled in a blanket. It made me chuckle that we spend enough time bouncing on the ball that our daughter drew a picture of it!

She's 3!

It's hard to believe that we had our little Maddie-kins 3 years ago. She's getting so darned BIG!

Our big girl chose a "hula girl" theme for her birthday party. (side note: The theme of one's birthday party is not taken lightly by my girls; she and Claire have been poring over the party catalog since last December). Anyway, the hula girl theme was great, since we still had some decorations from Claire's Hawaiian-themed 3rd birthday party almost two years ago. :) We had a lovely outdoor party planned, but ended up having to move inside due to rain. (Seriously, it NEVER rains here this time of year, but poor Maddie's party has been moved indoors due to weather for the past two years!) We had 18 children in our house as well as their parents. It was a bit chaotic, to say the least. I think, though, that Madeline had a GREAT time. Here are a few pics:

More photos...

Here are a couple of new shots of the girls from this morning. As soon as we get Colin running around outside, we'll have some of these shots of him, too. Happy Labor Day weekend!

Maddie looking for a push

And of course, a pic of the boy for all the followers out there (this was from last week, but it's still a goodie!):

Some Saturday Smiles

Here's the boy showing off some happy attitude.

The cattle drive!

The rodeo is back in town and this year we were prepared with our camera! The cattle drive came right through base housing so we walked out to see the longhorns and cowboys. Only in Oklahoma!

First day of dance

Madeline and Claire started dance class this week. It was Maddie's first time so she was really, REALLY excited. She woke us up in the morning with her leotard in hand, all ready to get dressed for dance. Too bad her class didn't start until 3:30! They both did great and I think they'll have a great time.

One month old!

Colin is one month old today (the 19th). Where did the time go? His milestones: he smiles social smiles VERY occasionally, he has rolled over once, and he is starting to coo a little bit. He is going to outgrow his size 0-3 month outfits sometime soon, but right now they fit him perfectly.

His big sisters have not yet tired of helping out. They're great for bringing burp cloths, pacifiers, etc, and they can even put his pacifier back in when it falls out. It's so nice to have help!

Space-A trip for Colin's baptism

Boy, did the stars align for us this past weekend! One of our C-17's from Altus was heading up to Chicago (well, OK. It landed in Gary, Indiana, but whatever...) for the Chicago Air and Water Show. And they had room on board for some passengers. Phil managed to get some leave, we managed to get on the flight, and our folks managed to schedule a baptism at their church as well as coordinate for our lodging during our stay and our pick-up and drop off to Gary Airport. It worked out GREAT (well, except for the Chicago traffic on our way to and from the airport, but that's just part of the wonderful city)!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. On Friday morning we got up bright and early to make the long trip to the passenger terminal here on base (heehee - those of you who have visited here know it's only about a 4- to 5-minute trip to get anywhere on base from our house). You REALLY can't beat that commute to an airport! We managed to get onto the plane, strapped everyone into their seats and settled in for our 2-hour flight. Landed in Gary and got picked up by Phil's parents. Then off we went to see a little of the city!

We visited Millennium Park, where the girls had a wonderful time. They both ended up riding home in various states of undress because they had a bit too much fun in the fountain and got pretty wet. Then we had a nice dinner at Phil's parents' house with my parents and Bill's family. It was so nice to be back "home" again!

Lots of pics, so here's a slideshow - for larger images just click one of the photos during the slide show

Saturday we had a lovely private baptism. My brother Bill is Colin's godfather and Heidi stood in for Phil's sister Nikki as godmother. Colin slept throught the whole ceremony, with barely even a startle response when the water hit him. After the baptism we all gathered again at Phil's parents house with all of my family there too. Hung out at the neighbors pool for awhile and tired out the children. That night the gals hit Babies R Us and Target so I could satisfy my shopping urges.

Sunday the whole crew gathered at my parents' house, joined by Phil's Aunt Marci and her daughter Jaeda. It was so nice to visit with everyone and let the youngsters all play together. They all get along so well (with only a few minor squabbles from the 2 year-old crowd). It sure makes me wish we could get together more often.

Monday morning we had to leave for the airport again. It's always hard to say good-bye at the end of a visit, but it's even more difficult to watch my children struggle with it. It was REALLY too short of a visit, but I feel really lucky that we were able to get up there for Colin's baptism!

1st day of school at ACA

Yesterday was the girls' 1st day of school. Madeline got to attend 3 year-old preschool (even though she's technically a few weeks away yet from age 3) and Claire started bona fide pre-K. She'll be going five days per week (I'm a bit sad about that. When did she get so big???) and Maddie will go two. They were excited to wear their uniforms, their new sneakers (pink and sparkly, of course) and meet their new classmates. Claire jumped right into things in her classroom and was ready to shove Mommy out the door. Maddie was a bit more shy, hiding behind Mommy when her teacher said hello to her. She quickly warmed up to the room, though, when she discovered the toys. After that she happily waved goodbye to Mommy and got back to her playing.

All seemed to go well, though Madeline came home with a Southern accent (bless her heart)!!! What the heck is that? We spent nearly three years teaching her to speak proper English - Midwestern twang with a hint of Chicago - only to have it ruined with 3 hours of preschool in the South. The word "cat" sounds like "ka-yat", with two syllables. "Big" sounds like "bee-ig", again with two syllables. Oh well. I guess that's the life of a military brat. And southern accents are cute, right?

Speaking of cute, here are the gratuitous photos:

Getting to know Colin

My parents (aka the Extraordinary Baby-Holders and Kiddo-Entertainers) left for home on Sunday morning. Phil and I did OK juggling the kids by ourselves. Then Phil (aka the Extraordinary Chef/Book-Reader/Baby-Burper/Baby-Swaddler/Baby-Walker/Diaper-Changer) went back to work on Monday, leaving me alone with all three of them for the first time. It was... not nearly as bad as I thought! We all survived and the TV didn't burn out from over-use.

Anyway, we are all adjusting pretty well and we're getting to know our new little guy. He likes:
Eating
Burping
Listening to singing
Snuggling/being held
Going for walks around the kitchen/living room/dining area circle
Any noise his sisters make

He does not like:
Diaper changes
Clothing changes
Naps in his bed
Silence