Growing Up

So much has happened in the last 3 months that I don't even know where to begin. I have really neglected this blog. I first started it because scrapbooking just took too much space and time and I thought this would be a fun way for our family and friends to see how we are doing. After starting this blog I began working two jobs and then had baby number 3 and never felt like I posted enough. I really don't see how some of the mommy bloggers have time to post multiple times a day. This past fall has been the busiest I have ever been! The twins started kindergarten and are in separate classes, so I feel like there is so much to keep up with and remember what and when to send stuff in. Then Mack goes to mother's morning out 2 days a week and I have to pack him snack and lunch those days and snack and lunch for the other kids. On top of all that I started a new product in my business, appliqued tees and onesies, and those have been a huge hit! My business has probably tripled in the last three months! Which has really kept me busy. I have literally only had time to sew and be with the kids and Andy. I need an Alice!! We have squeezed in a couple weekend getaways and a nice Thanksgiving trip to see families. Those have been especially nice this year. Well now that my shops are closed for a Christmas and New Years break, I have time to do stuff I want to do! I am so excited to have a couple weeks off and I am really looking forward to being more relaxed. I finally have all my Christmas shopping done and boy am I thankful for Amazon this year!! The only problem is now everything is still in the Amazon boxes and packed in our bedroom and closet. I am hoping to get it all wrapped in the next couple days.

I will start off with October. We took a nice weekend getaway with our small group to Andy's parents' mountain house. That was a lot fun. We went canoeing and that was a little stressful. It made me remember why it had been 10 years since Andy and I had canoed. The boys continued to do good in school and have been adjusting well. They had a fall festival at school and it was a lot of fun. It was organized chaos. For Halloween Cale and Carter wanted to be ghosts. I tried so hard to change their minds and they wouldn't budge. That meant I had to make their costumes. I do not make costumes or clothes! I don't like how the costumes turned out and told them next year they would choose a nice normal store bought one. Mack wore the the monkey costume that the boys wore when they were that age. It was my favorite. I may buy him another one for next year! For me work started to really pick up this month and I was very grateful!

On to November. We had yet another busy month. Another weekend getaway to the mountains with Andy's parents, brother and his kids. The boys love playing with their cousins! For me, lots and lots and lots of sewing!! I had a huge hit with the turkey shirts. I probably made 150 or more of those things. Mack started talking, barely. He says the word, Yeah. It took me a while to be convinced that was really what he was saying, but sure enough when you ask him and if he wants it he will say, Yeah and then take off or clap when you give him what he said yeah for or giggle when you reply to him. He loves to play outside and dance. He doesn't know a stranger, which makes me happy and nervous! A couple weeks ago I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in years and we hugged and Mack wanted out of the shopping cart immediately. I picked him up and he reached for her and just had the biggest grin on his face! It is almost like if I think someone is nice then he is like, ok this person must be ok. I attended two Thanksgiving programs and fests for the boys. It was so cute! They boys were so excited that I came and Andy and Mack were able to make it to Cale's, so that was a treat for him.

For Thanksgiving we headed to Greensboro to eat some turkey and yummy food with my family. Then on the day after, after being up most of the night shopping online for good deals, we headed to Sparta for Thanksgiving with Andy's family. While we were there we got a tree at a Christmas tree farm. It is a fun time. They have a hayride, and food and of course Santa! It was so funny, we put Mack on Santa's lap and he turned around looked at him, like who are you, then turned looked at me and smiled! All the while, Cale and Carter refused to go anywhere near Santa. They finally agreed to get in the sleigh because their cousins got in, but they were as far from Santa as they could be. We chose a super large tree this year because last year when we got the tree home it was much, much shorter than we anticipated. I like big fat trees, so I wanted to be on the safe side. It was a little large, kind of felt like Griswolds before cutting the string, but it wasn't quite that bad. It is a beautiful tree and I am very happy with it!

Now for December, well so far, hopefully I will post again next week. It has once again been a busy month! I started the month off doing a big holiday shopping event with my business, so I feel like that consumed me for awhile. After that things started to slow down a little for me. I just had to keep up with online orders. I still was a little overwhelmed, so shopping continued online. Thank you Amazon!! I did get to go help both the boys' classes build gingerbread houses. I have never done that before and it was really fun! Mack is still growing and happy as ever! He has kept an ear infection in his right ear for about a month. The only way I know it is bothering him is when I lay him down he screams. This is his first ear infection, so we are glad it took so long before he got one, but if it doesn't clear up soon then we will be talking tubes again. YUCK! Mack had his 15 month check up the other day and is still in the 70th percentile for height and 50th for weight. He is a tall kid, unlike his brothers. He did get three shots and immediately after he calmed down and went straight to the nurse that give him the shots. She said that had never happened before and he made her day! He is a sweetie! Everyone in his class at church and mmo love him and it is a comforting feeling for me to know he is getting lots of love when he his not with me. Tomorrow I am subbing at preschool and he is going into the one year old class for Monday and Tuesday. I really hope he doesn't choose now to start crying when I leave him!

I can't believe it has been so cold this month!  It has already snowed twice!!

We tried to get the boys to want to tell Santa what they want for Christmas or even write a letter, because they can actually do that now and it is so cute, but they will not. Cale told me today that he didn't care what Santa brought him as long as it wasn't a lump of coal! Carter says he wants a video game and Uno Attack, but says that if Santa doesn't bring it to him then that's ok because he is sure he will like whatever he gets! How did I get so lucky??!! These kids are great!! They really don't ever ask for anything in stores and if they do and we say not today then they just say, ok. We really have too much stuff and it is mostly all used or been given to us, but it seems like too much. Even though we have a playroom full we do try and teach the boys that stuff isn't what is important. They told us yesterday that they know what the real meaning of Christmas is and it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. So glad they get it since most adults don't!

I am so in love with my children. I feel so blessed more and more everyday. Sometimes I know that the days are long and some feel much longer than others, but I am now truly understanding that saying that the days are long, but the years are short. I just can't believe how old the boys are and how fast time goes once they started school. I really don't want them to grow up and I try hard to keep Mack as a baby. But they are all growing and too fast. My prayer is that they always stay true to themselves and know that Christ Jesus is the purpose for all they do and all they have been given in life. I pray this Christmas and New Year that everyone realizes that and that everyone can look at their loved ones and just realize that is the only thing that we need in life and that our belongings are not what is important. I know I definitely get caught up in that at times, but I am really going to change. I don't care what people thing of us, we live in a kind of wealthy neighborhood and we are not (we just love old houses, so we bought one). So it is hard not to feel like you have to keep up with the Jones', but lately I don't care. I know so many people that are having struggles and I just feel blessed that we have happy and healthy children and that Andy and I are happily married and we have wonderful family and friends.   Please remember to count your blessings daily because we are so lucky to have them.

Mack is ONE!!!

My last baby is now a year old!! I can't believe it!! Here are some pictures from his first birthday, I will post more in a little bit in slideshow form. He had a great birthday! He had to go get his 1 year old check up, so sadly he had four shots and blood drawn. He handled it pretty good, but is also cutting his top teeth, so he was kind of out of sorts anyways. He had a good check up. He gained 4 lbs since 9 months!!! He is now in the 75th percentile in height at 30 1/2 inches. His blood issue that he has always had had completely cleared up! His whatever counts were totally normal!! We were sure it was nothing, but it is always a relief when you find out that everything is now normal. He got the ok for whole milk, which he hates. Even though his birthday was a week a half ago we finally changed his car seat around yesterday and so far he loves it. For his birthday dinner we chose what is probably one of his favorites, Chik Fil A. Then we picked up some Cafe Carolina cupcakes for for dessert. This kid loves cake!! The week before his birthday I had his pictures made with a cake and him digging in. It was so cute!! I did the same picture with Cale and Carter and they barely touched it and didn't like the cake. Not Mack!! He dove right in and loved it. By the end he had two fist fulls and was eating in between getting cleaned up. He smelled very cakey the rest of the day!

With his remote. I got him a fake one for his birthday, but he didn't fall for it.


With his remote and watching his favorite show.

Loves being outside and swinging

Still got the remote!

Yummy!  Finally a kid with a sweet tooth!

I love how the baby is smiling great and it is the 5 year olds who are not!

A Little Catching Up

I always tell myself that I am going to blog more and I even have really crazy things that happen that would make interesting blog posts, but to sum it all up I just don't make time to do it. I like writing about what the kids do and what is happening, but I just forget and remember when I am not at the computer. Well here are somethings that have happened to us lately and I am going to try hard to keep blogging more. I really want to do more crockpot recipes. I think I have some labeled, but I am going to be better at labeling my posts.

Last month I was at the outlet mall in Morrisville. If you live around Raleigh and have never been, you aren't missing much except for the Carter outlet. Well Andy has always worried about me going there and will not let me go at night, so I usually go during the middle of the day. He says this because there are never many people there and he says it looks "sketchy". It doesn't matter what time you go either, it is almost always dead in there. Well last month I had to go out to the Carter outlet to get some onesies for work. I pull in the parking lot and the way the parking lot looks, it overlooks the driveway in front of the mall. So I am sitting my car getting ready to get out and I notice a man looking suspicious and walking fast across the driveway. Then he starts running and these cops and a man in a suit are chasing him! Then he is running towards my car! I totally freaked out and locked the door. I thought, oh no is this guy going to pull out a gun? Is he going to car jack me? Are the cops going to pull out their guns? I should mention that I did not have any of the kids with me and this was a weekday afternoon. The man runs and jumps in the car right next to me, so of course before he gets in that car I think I almost had a heart attack!! After he jumps in I noticed there was a girl in the drivers seat and she starts to back up right away. All the while I am just sitting in my car. Then the cops and the man in the suit jump on the car and the cops grab her door and open it and grab the keys. Then when the car was stopped they grabbed the guy out and threw him on the pavement and handcuffed him!! Remember, I am still sitting next to this car and am still in my car! So then when I feel it is safe I just get out and walk into the mall. As I am walking past the guy on the ground in handcuffs, I kind of felt like it was like a Seinfeld episode or something. There was another lady who was walking by the car on the other side and she had almost been run over by the cops. So once we got down the steps to the driveway, we were talking about how crazy that was. That was definitely the most scared I have ever been, at least crime wise. Now I am definitely more observant when I go to that mall.

On a happier note, Mack is just so smart. He is totally obsessed with the remote and my keys. We let him play with the stinkin cable box remote because I can't even get the channel to change without holding my tongue just right, I figure he is not going to do any harm. Well in the last couple weeks Mack has begun getting the remote and pointing it at the tv pushing buttons. He will only watch one show, Special Agent Oso. I don't know why, but he loves that show. He will also only watch the ones that we have taped, so unfortunately that means the same two all the time! Well now whenever the list of dvr'd shows comes up he thinks he is going to watch his show. If you ask him if he wants to watch Special Agent Oso, his face lights up and he starts to giggle. It is so cute, but Andy is wondering what have I done to this child?! It's not like he watches it all day long. This past week he did something new. I asked him if he wanted to watch his show and he got all excited. Then I asked him to bring me the remote, so he went and got the remote(he didn't have it for once) and brought it and opened my hand and put it in there! Last week he brought me the remote and started grunting and pointing at the tv. When he does get a hold of my keys the first place he goes with them is the back door and tries to reach the door knob with them.

Here he is pointing the remote at the tv, not a good picture because it is with my old camera.

August Beach Trip

We took one last beach trip right before the kids started school. This time we went to Surfside Beach just south of Myrtle Beach, SC. We had a pretty good time. We got off to a major bad start. We realized when we were half way there and had to stop because of Mack's screaming in the car that we left Mack's bags at home! They were sitting all packed and ready in his room. What happens is that I am responsible for packing everyone up and all stuff and all Andy does is put it in the car. I think I have the raw end of the deal! I swear I am loosing my mind as it is.
We don't like having to drive to the beach everyday, but it is nice. The boys enjoy the beach and we did some new stuff this time. Myrtle Beach redid their boardwalk and made it really nice. That part of Myrtle is always sketchy at night, so we were hesitant, but we went one night with my parents and the kids. We walked to the arcade, which Andy had never been before. They all had so much fun, eve Andy!!! The boys and Andy loved playing a baseball pinball game. My mom thought it was funny that I had to teach Andy how to play. At first she thought I was teaching the boys and then my dad told her I was teaching both! We then played the classic game of Skeeball. I love skeeball. We had a great time, but the long weekend was way too short!

Cale and Mack playing with trucks. I love seeing them play together!


Carter riding the waves on his "sorf" board.

Mack or Bernie (as in Weekend) sleeping again on the beach

Carter and Cale riding the waves! They had a blast!

Mack's Firsts

It has been a while since I update Mack's accomplishments. He has now started walking and he is improving daily! It is so funny how much he walks now. He is to the point where if he falls he stands back up instead of crawling. So sad that my baby is growing up!!! He also has a couple teeth and is working hard on his top teeth and maybe more, as his whole mouth is puffy and he loves his cold teether.

He has two little teeth on the bottom.

He also started mother's morning out this week. Since his birthday is after September 1st he wasn't old enough for the one year old class at preschool and he is in the infant room at his MMO. I guess he will pretty much be the oldest in his class always! He is at the school the boys went to for a semester when they were two going on three, except they were in the preschool program there. The mmo people are super nice and Mack seems to do really good while he is there. Poor guy likes to sleep, so I just need to get his sleeping schedule worked out. He does nap while he is there, so that is good.

This was actually after I picked him up, because of course I was so busy that morning that I forgot to get his picture!


Up and running!

He loves those little windows

First Days of School!

Cale and Carter started kindergarten last week! They went on Monday for their assessment day and then Tuesday they found out their teachers and Wednesday was the first real day. I was extremely nervous as to how they would do, since last years fiasco with Carter refusing to go into the preschool he had attended for three years. Well, they did great! They came home and said they had a good time and couldn't wait to go back! Andy and I were so relieved. We had one hurdle down and one to go...being in separate classes.

Before their assessment day

 We talked to them about how they would have their own teachers, own friends and how Mack was going to school and wouldn't know anyone either. Then Wednesday came and they went to their classes wonderfully! I made Andy go with me, because of what happened last year, and he took Carter and I took Cale. They seemed very excited to get their day started. I have to admit I was still a little nervous, even though they liked school I was afraid once the newness wore off they would not like being away from each other all day. I was wrong, at least so far, they have enjoyed seeing each other briefly at lunch and on the playground and have made some new friends. I thought maybe Carter would be a little sad at first because their were a couple girls from preschool in Cale's class and a friend of ours is his assistant teacher, but nope Carter was ok. He does know his assistant from preschool and his teacher does a treasure box, which is a big hit with him.

Before leaving for school


Outside of school, not sure what the leaning is about.




Cale in his class

Carter in his classroom

It has been a week now and everyone is still happy, except for Mommy!  I was definitely not sad when they started school, but I hate change.  I am having a hard time getting into a routine and adjusting to a new school and lots of traffic and different teachers and things to do.  It has just been a lot of transition.  I know they like school and are smart boys, for example Carter walked up and started reading what I was writing, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed I tell Andy I am just going to home school!  Anyone who knows me knows that must be crazy talk, because after two days I would go insane!!  I really hope that we all adjust soon.  It has been hard on Mack too because he also started a mother's morning out and his afternoon nap gets interrupted to go get his brothers, which means by 4:30 he is super cranky.  I feel like it is Cale and Carter as toddlers all over again! 

Better Late Than Never

I kept forgetting to post about our July beach trip and now that we have just returned from another trip I figured I better post! So now that it has been a month later I will post some pictures. We took a nice trip to Topsail Island in July with some friends and it was so much fun! The older boys love the beach and Mack is pretty fond of it too, although he can't last quite as long as them before he is done. The boys love jumping over the "big" waves and driving their trucks in the waves. Mack loved the water and didn't mind the sand. His brothers HATED the sand when they were one, so hopefully Mack will be a more adventurous child then they were. I know, what mom would say that? Well when you have two 5 year olds that will not get their faces wet or do anything that is even a little bit daring it makes for a boring time sometimes. Now I don't want Mack to jump off cliffs or anything, but just be more willing to do something different.

Carter



Cale and Carter

Mack enjoying the water

Did not care about the sand at all!

Mack the Mischief Maker

I figured Cale and Carter had a few years of post with just pictures of them, so here are some 10 month pictures of Mack. I do have an update about Mack's weight gain, had only gained 1 lb from 6-9 months. Well we had to take Carter back to the doctor in July to finish having his 5 year old check up, he refused to cooperate at the original one, so I had them weigh Mack to see how much he had gained in a month. Well, he gained 2 lbs in one month!! I couldn't believe it! I had been pumping him full of formula and food. I am still nursing in the morning, but getting ready to stop because he pushes me away. I guess sadly he is ready to grow up. I was trying to wait until 11 months, like I did with Cale and Carter, to get rid of the bottle, but he would also rather drink from a sippy cup. He still gets a bottle at bedtime, but actually drinks better from the sippy. I should be glad he is giving all this up on his own, but I don't want my baby to grow up. He finally cut his first two teeth!! They still are only barely through and it has been two weeks. Poor kid is going to have trouble with this I think. He may also be working on more, because he has been kind of out of sorts lately. I hate teething!

This kid is seriously into everything!! I have rearranged my living several times over the past month. He seems content for awhile and then all of a sudden when your guard is down he attacks!! He will escape or flip his toys or go for the TV. At the nursery last week he pulled some kids hair, climbed on the cubbies, flipped the activity tables. I think they thought I was a parent that let my kids do whatever, but he is only a baby. They said, maybe he learned this from his older siblings. They obviously have never met Cale and Carter because they are NOT destructive and never have been. They do laugh when he pulls their hair, but Mack has always just been so fascinated with hair. Hopefully he will do better this Sunday. Honestly I don't know how I am suppose to stop him now, I truly believe he is too young for time out. I said that when he starts getting into things I put him in baby jail and then they seemed shocked when I said that he had toys in there. He is too young for timeout!!! I think the other boys were closer to 18 months when we did the naughty mat thing. My feeling on the matter is, in my opinion my first two children turned out just fine and are well behaved, so I am not going to let what other people say bother me. I am going to raise my children how I want to.


He loves to do flips! today he had a ball flipping on the couch, with my help. I wish Andy had been here to video.



Smiley!

I love this! Look how excited he is about his pappy! He isn't really attached, but is finally teething and loves chewing on them.

Eating O's. Excuse our messy house, it will never be spotless again I am afraid.