Summer Beach Trip

We had the best time at the beach this year with the Elverums and Croffords. We left Saturday morning at 4am and got there around 5pm. It was a long drive but well worth it. Seaside is my happy place - I really love everything about it. This year we spent every morning at the beach with packed lunches and went out every night for dinner. Many nights we spent in Seaside letting the kids run around, enjoying the concert in the park and children's play and eating tons yummy food. We also went out one night with just adults. The moms got to leave at 4 to shop and get some cocktails at Bud and Alleys before the dads met us. Then we had dinner at Cafe 30-a which is always awesome. Overall the trip was wonderful and we can't wait to go back next year!

Wright and Owen at the concert in the park.

Wright and Owen dancing...

It was hot but Wesley and Spencer had fun on the blanket with toys.

Wright's favorite treat to get was this green apple snow cone.

Posing at one of the Seaside houses.

All 6 kids - when we took this picture I think everyone within a mile was starring at us as we screamed to get them all to look at the camera.

The boys practiced playing frisbee.

Oh Spence...

Wanna play some football?

These older boys down the beach from us were boogy boarding and stopped to teach Wright and Jake to do it - so sweet!

Practicing.

Moms and kids posing.

Just playing in the sand.

My boys.

Dad and Spence.

Wright wanted this fishing net so bad but could not catch anything.

Spencer's favorite part by far was sitting in the chair eating his lunch.

This was our boardwalk down to the beach everyday.

Another attempt to get all 6 kids in a pic on our porch.

Spencer was very intrigued by Molly Mae eating her bottle. He kept laying next to her.

The boys waiting for dinner (minus Molly Mae)

Baby in a Bag

Love this pic!

Roughriders Game

We took Wright to the Roughriders game on Sunday. He had the best time. The highlights were the "dinosaur" (unknown mascot), singing "Take me out to the ball game", all the food (nachos, cotton candy, dippin dots, peanuts) and running the bases at the end. On the way home he said "I had the very best time at the baseball game!" Even though it was over 100 degrees, we were in the shade and it was just fine. All in all, a wonderful summer evening.

The Beards were in town and got to come with us.

Wright told Eliza Grace that he loved her :) Such a charmer.

Singing "Take me out to the ball game."

Most of the group...

Wright Can Write!

Today Wright wrote this all by himself. I am so proud and can tell our hard work is really paying off :)

Spencer's stats

Spencer had his 18 month checkup today and is 32.25" tall (55%) and 25.13 oz weight (55%). Average, average, average. So much for my theory that he was going to be huge. He did go from 25% weight to 55%, so that is a big jump. Dr Dreiling is still insisting that like Wright he will shoot up in height soon. He was also where he should be with his 18 month skills. I really feel like just now at 1.5 yrs he has finally caught up from being born premature. I've heard it can take 1-2 years, so that would make sense.

Oh Wright!

Oh Wright, where do I begin? He is quite a handful these days. So so so funny at times and a complete mess at others. He has been doing a lot of talking back and whining which I am hoping is either his age or fatigue and not faulty parenting :) We have been working a ton on review for school...tracing lines, mazes, letter recognition, fine motor, etc. He loves it and is learning so much. This week he could write every letter in his name, we just need to keep practicing the order they go in.

A few weeks ago, Wright was upset with us because we tried to make him go on the slide at the KC pool. He told me later that day that he did not like the slide because he got hurt on a slide once (this did not happen). Then he began to go into this elaborate story about how he has another family with a mom (Gina), a dad (Dado) and 5 brothers (3 that are really mean to him). He said he wanted to go back and live with his other family. So I played along for a while until I realized he was waiting at the door for Gina to come get him. I redirected his attention with a show and thought we had moved on. But, he has brought up his "other family" and "other mom" every few days since then, sometimes when he is mad at me and sometimes just to be funny. What an imagination!

He is also at the age where he is expressing his anger a lot more. Today in the car, he was so mad at me for not letting him have juice. He was crying for like 20 minutes telling me "I don't like you anymore.", "You are mean", "You are not being unkind" (loved this one) and "You're not nice". Then tonight when he was in timeout yet again, he was screaming "This is TERRIBLE!" over and over. It's awful that his behavior can be so bad but the things he says when he is angry kind of make me laugh. Is that bad?

Spencer is 18 months!

How is my baby 1 1/2? Crazy! He is so much fun. Here is what he is up to:

- He talks a lot more. New words are date do (thank you), bye bye mama, bye bye dada, puh puh (puppy), woof woof, of ew (love you), mommeeeee and noooooo!
- He is as busy as ever but is doing much better at obeying us and not running off as much. Thank you blanket time!
- He plays really well with his toys now. When Wright is not around, he will sit and play by himself for over an hour, happy as can be.
- He finally loves to read books and will look at them by himself and bring them over to us to read.
- He weighs almost 26 lbs (put him on the scale the other day). He feels so heavy. Like Wright, he is very solid and dense.
- He has the best, dimpliest smile and loves to share it all the time. He also loves to smile BIG at you when he knows he is doing something wrong. :)
- We go to the pool a lot and he is not really a big fan. He would rather run around the outside of the pool than get in.
- He still does not have any interest in TV.
- He just dropped his morning nap and sleeps 3-4 hours in the afternoon.
- He loves his blankies and lovies. I let him have them in the car because it keeps him quiet ;). As soon as I hand it to him, he immediately puts his thumb in his mouth.
- He has started screaming a lot again when he wants something that he can't say and he pretty much refuses to sign. Hoping this will end as he learns more words.

The "Mighty Warriors"

Some of my girlfriends with boys came up with a wonderful idea to have a character camp for all our kiddos this summer. We each lead one week and teach the boys about Godly traits like forgiveness, patience, perseverence, etc. The camp is called the "Mighty Warriors." Wright loves it, and it is such a wonderful treat for me to have a free camp to drop him off! This week, Emily and Elizabeth taught about forgiveness and the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. Wright was the only one of 8 boys who would put on the coat. Here are a few pics...

Cousins

Loved this pic from the family reunion.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cedar Creek

We had the most wonderful Memorial Day weekend this year. It was just one of those perfect weekends where we had great company, great weather, great food and all the kids got along with no fighting or complaining! Thank you Croffords for having us!

Ready for summer...

The inflatable pool was a huge hit as always.

Our hosts.

Just chilling while our kids were entertained.

Wright was in LOVE with Annabella. And the feeling just might have been the same on her end.

Slippin and a slidin.

Little Spence waiting for cake.

Gina, Mac and Wesley.

Wesley waiting for his 1st bday cake.

Wesley opening presents which were quickly confiscated by the older kids.

Unwinding with Snow White after a long day.

A Few Recent Pics

Spending time at the Science place.

Spencer loved the water table.

Last day of sports camp.

Spencer loved playing with his big cousin Sean!

School's Out For Summer!

Today was the last day of school and we had our big end of the year "Patriotic" program. It was so precious. Each class sang a patriotic song, they all said the pledge and several of the kids had patriotic quotes. What a great morning. Wright did a wonderful job performing his song and singing loudly over the other kids :)

My sweet class...two of these kids will be going on to kindergarten. I am so proud of all of them and will miss them so much.

Wright's class sang "Happy Birthday to the red, white and blue." It was a huge hit!

Getting ready for the big show.

Goodbye Mrs. Gibbons! We will miss you next year!

Pajama day on Monday was big fun! Wright said it was his favorite day of school. :)

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend this year. Saturday Brendan let me sleep in until almost 10 which was so wonderful! Sunday, we had to get up and get everyone ready to go to the Arboretum to get a family picture taken. It was actually kind of fun and I was so happy to get it done - we sadly have never had a good picture of our family and never a professional one either. Then we met my mom for brunch and she offered to have the boys over to her house for the afternoon. So, Brendan and I went shopping for my new computer which I have desparately needed for a long time. It was so nice to be able to spend time making a decision without the kids there screaming to leave the store. Then we went back to my mom's and rested while they were sleeping. All in all a very nice day and relaxing weekend. I am so thankful for my precious boys and wonderful husband.

Wright made me a special card for Mother's Day at school that had a flower on it and each petal he said something about me. I was impressed at how well he knew me. Here were his answers:
- Her favorite color is purple
- Her favorite place is the beach
- She loves pepporoni pizza
- She plays Hungry Hippos with me
- She loves flowers

Wright Update

First of all, funny story. Wright is getting closer to making it through the night without a pull up. So as a result, he is waking up to go potty at all hours of the night. We have spent a lot of time and effort training him to never come out of his room without us coming to get him which has always been really nice. But having him call "Mommy Mommy!" when he needs to go potty in the middle of the night was getting a little old. So I told him that he was allowed to get out of his bed and go down the hall to his bathroom if he needed to. Well, this has opened all sorts of doors. So, last night Brendan and I were working on my new computer in the backroom and heard his door open. We both assumed he was going potty but did not pay enough attention to realize we never heard it close back. About 45 minutes later we heard someone running through the kitchen. I jumped up thinking it was an intruder and saw Wright in there. I went after him and he went in his room and closed the door. So I opened it and asked him what he was doing to which he searched for a lie to get out of trouble. At this point, I could hear the tv on from our bedroom. So I asked if he had been in there watching tv and coaxed a "yes" out of him eventually. After much scolding, I put him back in his bed and went to my room to turn the tv off. There I found where he had made a pallet out of his blankets and stuffed animals, gotten the flashlight out of the outlet to see better, and guess what show was on? Real Housewives of New Jersey! He can't work the remote, so he had been watching that for almost an hour. I will never get that part of his innocence back ;) I went to tell B and we both couldn't help but laugh and wonder how long he had been planning this stunt.

He is also (and has been for some time now) giving up his nap. I have been really holding on to it because it is the only time I can get work done. But recently it has gotten really bad and he just doesnt want to be in his room for 2+ hours. So Brendan and I decided we would let him watch a movie for an hour from like 1-2 to wind down and then go in his room to "nap" from 2-3 or 3:30. Today was the first day we tried this and so far so good. I had to post this pic of how I found him in the den when I went in to check on him. So precious...

Spencer 16 months

I have been telling people Spencer is 17 months old! So sad, I can't keep track. Then when I figured out that it was 16 months, I told Brendan and he swore he was 15 months. Poor child has 2 parents that can't keep it straight.

What he is up to:
- His favorite activity around the house by far is going into every room, saying "bye bye" and closing the door. I frequently find him closed in rooms by himself. He also loves going around and putting things in other things. We are always finding stuff in the trash or hidden in a cabinet.
- He is still very easy going. We are constantly being told that he is just an "angel" when we drop him off at church or bible study, etc. He never cries with strangers - seriously has no clingy or stranger danger bone in his body.
- He has mastered saying "bye bye" and waving and is so proud of himself when he does it.
- He is still a pretty picky eater and eats hardly any fruit or veggies and very few meats.
- He thinks Wright is the funniest thing in the world and cracks up at him all the time. He loves to wrestle with Wright too and is constantly initiating it.
- In the last month we have discovered that he has a very manipulative fake cry that he does a lot when we tell him no or if Wright does something he doesn't like. It is like this deliberate "wah" and sad face and then he stops immediately and is ok.
- His favorite toy these days is his new phone he got for Easter. He is very protective of it and will grab it from Wright and scream.
- He finally is interested in books although his attention span is still much shorter than his brother's.
- He still has no interest in TV.
He keeps us on our toes for sure but is also the cuddliest most loving little boy and we love him to pieces.

"Bye Bye"