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.

More July

I had to take a quick stop from updating to fix my blog. I have no clue what happened, but it appears to be fixed. Enjoy the new background!

The first of July was busy with lots of fun things. The boys finished up their last two weeks of preschool ever!! I can't believe it, and yes you will hear me post about how I can't believe my babies are going to school in probably every post until they start school. They had a blast and loved being in the 5 year old class, hopefully this is a good sign for kindergarten. We then went to a birthday party at the fire station! What a great idea for a birthday party. It was fun, free for the parents, and what little boy doesn't love firetrucks? It was a great time!


Mack appropriately in front of the Mack firetruck

Mack turned 10 months old! Yet another, I can't believe my baby is almost 1! It really does seem like yesterday I was pregnant and giving birth. This first year has gone way faster than Cale and Carter's first year. I should have been blogging then. If I did everyone would find it amazing that we had another baby. Times were not tough, but unbearable at times. Our experience with Mack has been much different, completely opposite in every way possible. He is so happy and easy and we are so much more laid back and easy going. I wish we could have been this way with the other boys. Oh well, maybe we are this way because we learned so much from them.

Here is my cutie pie!


Here he is in his new bath seat. He loved it! He had gotten way too big for the infant to "toddler" bathtub. Really what toddler can fit in those things?! I love this seat. We had two with Cale and Carter and we used them until they physically wouldn't fit in it anymore, at about age 2-3.

July 4th (only a month late)

Sorry for the lack of posting in the month of July. It was a crazy and very fast month!! I can't believe it is already August!! Less than a month before my babies start school. Here are some pictures from the 4th. The boys in there festive outfits! Andy says that Mack's outfit is pink and I say it is light red. Please let me know what you think! I love that outfit.

Mack (still standing, I don't think he will ever take that first step!) and Cale

Carter and Cale on their buckets, I did go get them some little chairs after this.

Mack and Andy enjoying the pool. Mack loves to be on Andy's shoulders!