Hoodies and Smocks

I think we can all agree that footie pajamas, or even just pajamas in general are the cutest things that kids can wear. It makes you want to chew their cheeks. I've also found that a close second is little boys in hoodies.
Exhibit A:

And apparently hoodies give you secret powers. Like amazing abilities to leap over furniture. Excuse weird placement of furniture.We are doing our floors and everything's jumbled.

Also, apparently hoodies make your cheeks look more edible as well.

Almost as cute as hoodies I discovered today are smocks. The boys got to paint at the Y and wear smocks for the first time (aka oversized shirts) and they.were.thrilled. 

And when I say thrilled I mean I peeked into the boys room to see them painting with gourds and I saw all the kids quietly painting at the tables and then I see Cole jumping up and down waving his arms to make his t-shirt sleeves flap and exclaiming, "I superman, I superman!!". Homeboy's getting a smock for Christmas.

20+weeks!

At least half way there, woot woot. I would take a belly pic tonight but I'm in my cozy pj's (shocker) so I'll attempt to take one next time I'm wearing a decent outfit. It may be awhile folks :o)

How I'm feeling: Great! No complaints, feel little girl move all the time but it's not uncomfortable yet, lot's of energy and I've only recently been united with my pregnancy "brother husband" aka: third pillow in the bed. Pat's thrilled of course. My only slight complaint is I feel my sciatica starting to flair up but I'm hopeful to start going to the chiropractor which always seems to help in my pregnancies.
Cherished Moments: If Pat is taking the boys on a run in the jogging stroller, Fin will come up and hug me first and then lean and kiss Lilah goodbye. He has the sweetest heart.
-My neighbor knitted Lilah the softest blanket ever. She has been so sweet about us having a girl and having anything handmade is so special to me. Now I just have to keep the boys from claiming it as their own. They are blanket horders.
Not a fan Moment: At my appt the doctor told me she is breech, which honestly at this point means NOTHING. Like, really nothing, she has plenty of room to move around and can definitely move. All it served to do was make me think about a c-section. Folks...it's not happening. She will come out my nose before she gets cut out of me (please Lord!). It's half I'm terrified of the recovery and half, this sounds so silly, but I really love my labors. They are fast, they are not that painful (gracias "brother husband dos" aka epidural), and it is so so special to me. Seriously, I look forward to it my whole pregnancy. I'm just going to think positive flipping thoughts and pray for peace about it all, and just not think about it.

Favorite Moment: Fin told me after our ultrasound that he saw little fires all around her helping her cook. Note to self: Your four year old will think she is literally cooking in there until she comes out.

Just another morning...

Despite swimming for 2 hours with their dad the night before and going to bed late, the boys got up at 6:05 am on my morning to get up with them. Awesome.
In my bleary state, Fin said to me, "This is what I would look like if I had 6 toes..."

Sharks tooth in his foot. I wish I could say this weirdness wasn't normal in our household, but to me this was just another morning.

Sugar and Spice

Soo I haven't blogged about the fact that we're having a girl yet. As in, not a boy. As in new territory.
And I'm not sure why it hasn't been blogged except for the fact that I've just been letting it sink it. To be honest, I thought there was zero percent chance we would have a girl. I know boys, we get boys, boys are us. So when we went into the ultrasound at 16 weeks and the technician said got the money shot, I just kept thinking, "where is the weiner? She needs to find the weiner". And then when she said, "It's a girl", I was floored. It felt kind of scary. I know boys...girls are new territory. It was neat having the boys there for that ultrasound. Fin was so excited when we got outside that he took off his Crocs, threw them in the air, and they immediately bounced down the rain gutter....gone forever. Good Memories son, good memories.
    So I just kind of let it sink in for the last few weeks, getting more excited for that sweet mother/daughter relationship and allowing it to feel more real. Still haven't bought anything girlish...I'm still working up to that.
We had another ultrasound today at almost 20 weeks and I told Pat going into it, "There is a 30% chance they will find a weiner today". Nope...Def still a girl. Sitting through the whole ultrasound with her head propped up on her hand.
      Fin was there with us while Jamie watched Cole and afterwards he and I went to Panera and gorged ourselves. I always do this after an appt b/c I figure I have a month to work it off before another weigh in. It was a special time with Fin, he always soaks up one on one time.

While we were out, Cole was having the time of his life at Jamie's. Love these little imps :o)

I am so so grateful that our little Lilah is healthy, growing right on schedule, and a girl! My mom is my best friend and so it makes the whole "raising a girl" thing a lot less scary when I think of the relationship I will hopefully have with her. Also, seriously...Pat with a little girl? Melt me now.

Parkin it up

Everyday that it is sunny, you can usually find us at a park. It's free, it burns energy and it's beautiful outside lately. A little glimpse into our park days...

90% of the time you will find one or both in superman/batman capes. I like to think they enjoy the same effect of the capes as girls feel about their hair fluttering in the wind. Also, obvi it makes you climb things easier...

Cole mocking me that he's about to fall to his death probably.

Fin striking a pose as he sits atop the dragon he had just slain.

Whenever we go to a park the boys are allowed to pick up to 2 small toys to bring to play with (capes count). Cole's choice for swinging playmates were of course spiderman...

...aaaaand Wolverine.

Spotting a Fin. 

State Fair 2012

I.Love.The.Fair. Solely because of the food, but it's still love. Pat could take it or leave it but as long as he's hanging with me, he's taking it. We always go in the morning so it's not crowded and we only stay about two hours, b/c that's how long our little fair budget of money lasts :o) This year was Cole's first year and for the first hour he was so solemn just sitting in his stroller taking it all in. I guess it is a pretty overwhelming sight. The first glance at a Carnie alone will leave you breathless ;o)

Fin's first ride was something that was too scary for me! That's not saying much but still, it just went so fast. He did it b/c Pat convinced him and actually loved it. I loved seeing them ride it together b/c Pat was so protective and had Fin buried in his giant coat for protection. He's the best dad.

Fin is CONVINCED every year that he pops the balloon with the dart. It's never happened but I love his optimism. He got superhero stickers for "popping" it.

While Pat and Fin rode the swings...

...Coley stood on the ground with me, watching the dream of his life happen. The boy LOVES swings and just kept crying, "I do dat!" as he watched his dad and brother fly overhead. It was pretty sad.

Deciding at lunch where to go next. Map reading requires at least two men to navigate :o)

Why is sweet Cole contained in his stroller for most of the fair?

Because the boy is cray-cray.

When we visited the barnyard animals, there were about 25 roosters crowing as we walked in. Coles reaction was, "WHOA".

Fin's reaction was, "These roosters are obnoxious", and he kept his ears covered the whole time. I kept my nose covered the whole time.

Fin did the huge slide all by himself b/c Pat was riding the carousel with Cole and I wasn't allowed to slide. He.Loved.It and immediately went down it 3 more times. It was such a great note to end on before we left.

Coley and I rode his favorite thing in the world, a choo choo. Dreams do come true in the form of three tickets each :o)

It was a great time as a family capped off by eating cotton candy in the car on the way home. No better way to prep kids for naps then to feed them pure sugar right before ;o)

Around...

October so far has been full of weddings, birthday parties, rainy cold days with sippy cups full of hot chocolate and marshmallows, beautiful fall days of Fin bringing me 29803 special leaves, and realizing high waters are not in style and scrounging up pants for my growing boys.
Some little tidbits from our days...

                               One rainy cold Saturday morning, the boys and I got rain boots for ourselves. I was sick of trying to carry both boys out to the car when in rained b/c if I didn't they would find the biggest puddles to stomp in and then complain about how wet they were. Trust me, this happened more times then you would think possible. They are both obsessed with their new boots and clomp around the house in them.

Blurry picture of Cole crashing Pat and I's date night while Fin was at Awanas. He SUCH a sweet lovey right now. Just the happiest kid ever. My favorite thing is when a noise scares him now he looks at me with huge eyes and says, "Mama, dat scare you?". If I assure him it did and ask him if it scared him, he nods so solemnly. Two is the cutest age.

Super hero day at the Y. It took us 12 costume changes to arrive at Hulk and Superman. 

Birdie Frame for our birdie coming soon from my mother in law. I love it.

Nothing cuter.

Afternoon out with Aunt Sarah.

Pumpkin day

Yesterday we had our second annual trek to the Farmers Market for breakfast and pumpkins. Let me tell you, I was waaaaay too excited for those Mickey Mouse pancakes. There is no place better to eat in my opinion. And with three adults and 5 kids ages 4 and under, breakfast was actually not that chaotic. It may have been due to the fact that my boys ate their body weight there. Cole ate 2 biscuits, most of his pancake, scrambled eggs, and some bacon. Respect.

After breakfast we let the kids play on those weird random animals and toys outside.

You can tell there was a lot passive aggressiveness over the spiderman car.

Cole climbed up next to spiderman, patted him and said, "Hi spiderman". Like it was totally normal that spiderman would be his chauffeur. This could be due to the fact that his brother lives in a spiderman costume.

This photo cracks me up. So very weird with the mini cowboy in the middle.

Go Pack.

My sweet boys. 

A cheesy pumpkin.

Telling me something about his elbow that I'm sure was important. It is near impossible to get my chatterbox to stop talking long enough to take a picture.

The gang all together. 

Random loves

None of these snap shots fit into a category. All of them I love...

Fin at Kadens rainbow birthday party.

He (and I) thought it was the coolest thing that all the food was rainbow colored and that the cupcakes had every rainbow color.

We've been working really hard each week to learn our Cubby verses for Awanas and Finley finally earned his vest. He was the most excited kid on the stage when they called his name and basically acted like he won an Emmy. Meanwhile I'm in the audience tearing up, restraining myself from shouting, "WE DID IT!" like a psycho in front of all the parents. Because folks, this is a group effort. Memorization at this age is no joke but it is SO good for me to learn these verses too and I've actually really been enjoying it.

Fin and Cole at our favorite playground.

Helping me make monster cookies/ "is the batter mixed yet so we can lick the beaters?". They're like vultures.

Well go ahead and help yourself sir.

Pat and Cole have had lots of cuddles lately. Today they laid in bed when Pat got home from work just watching a Baby Einstein on the ipad together for like 30 minutes, cheek to cheek. Fin kept coming to get me saying, "Look how adorable they look together now". We're some sappy suckers here.

Pat having the boys guess what he's drawing. Unless it's Snoopy, it's usually a crap shoot guessing his drawings. He can draw an amazing Snoopy though.

Uncle Will spent the night with us Saturday where we ventured out to Qdoba, Lowes and ended the night playing Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, and a screaming goat through the projector onto the living room wall. Seriously, Youtube "Screaming Goat". You won't be disappointed. Thank you Aunt Sarah.

Every other Sunday we watch Noah while Jamie and David take the kids to Awanas. Here's the men watching football while I cooked supper. It's a modern day Little House on the Prarie.

It's such torture having to watch Noah. All the smiles and coos and sweet baby smells. Especially when he looks at you like this...

People shouldn't be allowed to be this cute. Its a good thing I'm cooking a baby of my own or I'd steal him.