Benjamin Eats!

Ben has starting waking every 1-2 hours again which is just not working for me, so I decided to start some solids at suppertime, since I wasn't making enough milk to keep him content before bed. It is a week sooner than the other two, but he is huge, so I gave it a shot.  He LOVES food!  Shocker I know, but I was really surprised at how well he did, he even tried hard to feed himself since I wasn't fast enough.  N & J also wanted a part of Ben's first meal... they both thought it was so funny to see him eating "real food".  We are just starting with some cereal, but we will see how things go over the next few weeks. Thanks Alane and family for the fantastic bibs!!

Noah's Gymnastics

February has been a really cool month because Gabe is working in the ED and is much more flexible with his schedule. We spent the rest of February vacation week watching high school tournament basketball and relaxing at home.  Here are some pictures from Noah's gymnastics class which he just loves and is really improving him gross motor skills. He certainly would not have done the balance beam alone or swung on the rings a few months ago:)

February "Stay-cation" 2012

This year during February vacation we stayed at Uncle Russell's hotel for a few nights. Luckily for us the hotel is quite literally around the corner from our house. The kids were thrilled to stay in a hotel and swim in the pool, Gabe and I were thrilled to not have to pack a lot or travel far. We did do more than just swim, but the only pictures I have are from swimming. The kids loved the water and both N & J did so well swimming on their own. They also loved playing with cousin Trey who can now walk, so that seems to make him more fun... or it could have been his "cool toys". 

Daddy's Birthday

We had an all day celebration of Daddy's birthday this year.  A new dollar store has moved in across the street from our house, so Noah and James picked out some pretty exciting birthday party favors.  For the first time ever in the 13 years we have been together I bought Gabe a cake...... as it turns out they don't sell birthday cakes at the grocery store on Valentine's day, so this is what we got and Noah put his "flair" on it. Noah was pretty disappointed about not making a cake for daddy, so I am sure that there will be a late birthday cake being made in the next week or so....  For Gabe's birthday we went out to eat at the Japanese Hibatchi for lunch (way cheaper!). Normally this is a once per year event on Noah's birthday since he loves it there so much, but we convinced him that we could pretend it was his birthday too.  Like I said, Noah loves Hibatchi, Benjamin was indifferent, and James cried for most of the time... he was eventually won over when Gabe covered his ears so he was free to cover his eyes.  He was so funny b/c he wanted the rice and food so badly and you could see his constant inner struggle between having his ears covered and eating.  

"V Week"

So we are getting back on track with learning fun.  We have been doing lots with science and using our senses to explore, but I haven't had the time to take any pictures. We learned about ocean mammals and experimented with "blubber", as well as density of what floats in fresh vs. salt water.  Anyhow, Gabe was home on Saturday morning when we started out "V week" (yes, I have gone to entire weeks for letters since I just don't have time to do it all in one day;)), so I did break out the camera.  The boys made some valentine's cards with a cool mixture of paints.  The pink is actually glue and shaving cream, so all easily washable and great for using brushes or fingers.  Since everyone was already messy we broke out the shaving cream for more exploring.  Noah got some on his nose while smelling it.  We explored baking soda volcanos, vegetables and vacuuming;)  

Superbowl 2012

Last year we had planned a big superbowl pary, made tons of food, then around noon Gabe started with a  GI bug.  This year we opted to skip the big party and watch the game ourselves, largely because we actually wanted to watch the game and not entertain. There have been lots of GI bugs going around at work and we were both joking about a repeat of last year.... Needless to say, Gabe woke up on Saturday and said, "you are not going to believe this"..... he was then quarantined to the cellar for the next 24 hours.  Thankfully my mom was visiting, so the kids and I still had a very fun weekend;)  Gabe was back to feeling better in time for the big game so we had a "party" with the kids. Gabe, Noah & James put on a puppet show for Ben. We made smoothies (Annie, these are the frozen blackberries you picked for us last summer:)), followed by pizza and home made french fries. Gabe has been "joking" about buying deep fryer for years, but more so in the last few months, so my parents brought him their old one and he was very eager to use it. We also dug out the homemade mozzarella sticks we had made for the last superbowl, which is what James is eating in the frozen form here......

Teeth, Teeth and Playing in the Snow

We have been having a very fun and very full winter so far.  We survived January with Gabe's night schedule. I have far less time to play with the kids now that I am working, so we are making the most of my days off:)  My house has never been so dirty and for the first time I don't really care. The kids are at such fun ages right now!!  A few weeks ago we took Noah & James to the dentist.  Noah did very well and we discovered that he has TWO loose teeth! That was certainly a moment of realization for us for just how big he really is getting. This was James's first visit and he was not a big fan, so we will try again next summer.  Speaking of teeth, yesterday Benjamin had his first tooth come through! We are pretty excited given that he has been drooling and chewing on everything for a while now.  

We finally received some snow!  Everyone LOVES to play in the snow, we have been getting outside everyday and it has been fantastic.  The plow makes a "big hill" at the end of our driveway that the kids have had a ball sliding down.  Noah slides down in a sled and James slides down without a sled.  Once a week we have enrolled Noah in a gymnastics class which he is very much enjoying.  It has been amazing to see his progress just in the first few weeks.  He is pretty proud of himself and practices all of the time at home.  All three boys continue with their music class at a local Alzheimer's home and are singing those songs continuously.