Happy Birthday(s)

I can't believe this boy is looking so grown up! He was so excited to be turning 3 today! He had a special lunch with his daddy and was excited to wear his "tennis clothes" for his birthday.

This beautiful girl woke up dancing because of her excitement. She had a special lunch with her mommy. We went to a Mexican restaurant. She has a serious chips and Salsa addiction. I am willing to join her in that addiction.

We made our own pizza for dinner. You don't want to know how much pepperoni is under that cheese on Riley's pizza.

We had a Spiderman and Princess cake. We know how to party in this house.

Quinn ignored everyone's "Happy Birthday" singing by closing his eyes throughout the song. Riley loved the attention.

They were blessed with some awesome gifts from some awesome people.

Gotta love the outfit she had to wear. She made her own princess crown.

Quinton~ You bring so much energy to our family. I love that you are so strong-willed and aggressive, yet you can't say good-bye to anyone without kissing them on the lips. In a few years that may be weird, but for now, keep on kissing! Your big blue eyes and overall cuteness makes my heart melt. I love how your best friend is your daddy. In your eyes he can do no wrong. He is a great man to look up to, buddy. I can't wait to see you continue to grow!

Riley~ You bring joy to our family. You are laughing, talking, and dancing most of the day. Your love for people is inspiring. You always want to do your best at everything. I appreciate how great of a big sister you are to your siblings. I will always enjoy our shopping and Taco Bell trips. Your beauty and contagious smile are an outward reflection of your beautiful heart. I can't wait to see you continue to grow!

Happy Birthday kiddos!!!

Mom's Day Out

Every Tuesday a group of stay-at-home moms and their kids meet at 9:00am. There is no agenda, study, craft, or organized play time for the kiddos. We rotate homes and just fellowship. The kids run wild, fight, and sometimes pee all over the house. The moms talk over the chaos and drink coffee. Over the past couple years, those Tuesday mornings have meant the world to me. Its a place to go where no one cares about your sweat pants, unwashed hair, and screaming children. They all get it.

This past Saturday, some of us gathered for a "mom's day out". The kids stayed home with dad and we were able to be refreshed. We reserved a hotel room in order to sit, talk, play games, and eat unhealthy, but delicious food.

We even all put on our "mom suits" so we could relax in the hotel hot tub. We showed each other our beautifully imperfect stretchmarks and scars. These 7 bodies have birthed 23 babies.

Motherhood is hard. These mommies wake up early and go to bed late. Our current salary is $0. We all chose this path and we all understand that the sacrifice is worth it. We also understand that the sacrifice means many lonely days. Days all of us would love to just take a break from the laundry, the discipline, the lack of sleep. Days we all long for a lunch break, a nap, and a "thank-you". Thankfully, God gave us the rest we needed at just the right time. Of course, rest for a woman can include a little shopping. We tried on jewelry and clothes from the clearance rack. We then ate a quiet lunch out.

Rest can also include a few intense games of Dutch Blitz. We discovered a few of us are a little competitive.

I am so thankful for these ladies and the encouragement they bring. A couple of our husbands said we needed to do this more. I might just take them up on that!

Date with my little man

I knew we needed a date last week. It is always so easy to take Riley on special trips. She loves shopping and taco bell. The other day I decided it was time for Quinn to go on a shopping trip with me. I only needed a few things so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take him somewhere alone.

The trip was more difficult then I was expecting. During our short trip, his foot became stuck in the bottom of the cart, I ran him over twice with the cart, he screamed, and licked the beef jerky in the check out lane. Once we made it safely in the car, I knew it was time for a date. Not a shopping date, but a good old fashion bowling date.

He has never been bowling and was excited when he heard there was a ball and special bowling shoes. Once we arrived, I picked out a ball for him. After my competitive son only knocked over a couple pins on his first try, he proceeded to go get his own ball. He told me the one I picked for him didn't work. Of course, his worked better.

Gotta love the hair. I tried to comb it. I promise.

I then bought him a cookie that was bigger then his head. I was really hungry and kept asking for some. He continued to tell me no.

He finally decided to share after my many pleas. He was positive this was all I needed.

Here was his final score.

He was carried out of the building kicking and screaming Quinn style. He wanted to stay. I guess I don't blame him. Who wouldn't want to bowl and eat giant cookies all day?

Reese 9 months

Reese is a breath of fresh air. I can't fully explain why I feel that way about her, but she just brings something so new and different to our family. I love how all my kids are different and unique. My older two have a lot of energy, personality, and intensity. Reese is more sensitive and go with the flow, far from extreme.

She just started sleeping through the night more often. She goes to bed around 8 and will sleep until 7:30. She prefers no morning nap, but will sleep 2-3 hours in the afternoon. She is doing well sleeping with her big sister even though Riley has to talk herself to sleep.

She is definitely growing. She has not been measured or weighed recently, but as with my other two, it seems she has an abnormal amount of growth spurts. She has a  6-7oz bottle 4 times a day and has decided baby food is not for her. Her favorite foods are toast and peas. Here she is lying next to a sweet little almost-2-month-old. I can't believe she was ever that small. She was not happy we force her to stay still.

She is crawling everywhere and is pulling herself up on furniture, chairs, and unfortunately toilets. She still loves to be held, kissed, and hugged. I'm ok with that. She gets pretty fussy in the evenings, but is mostly content and happy the rest of the day.

She loves baths. A bath can make her crying instantly turn to laughing. She also enjoys ripping books, playing with stuffed animals, following her siblings, and listening to music.


When one of her siblings is having a tantrum in their room, she crawls to their door and "sings" loudly in order to reflect their crying. Tonight she sat by Quinn's door. He was screaming loudly and kicking his door. Here she is smiling and singing, just wanting to be a close to her out of control brother.

So thankful to have this little girl as part of our family! I can hardly believe her 1st birthday is drawing near.

Interview Questions

No, I don't have an interview. I took Riley to buy some gifts for an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. It is a really awesome way to teach kids to think about others during the Christmas season. We were given a questionnaire that Riley could fill out to give to the little girl who will be receiving her box. Her first answer made me laugh. Then I started asking Quinn the same questions and realized I needed to document a few of their answers.

{Riley}
Q: What Country do you live in?
A: "Africa"

Q: Why do you love Jesus?
A: "Because he died for me so I could go to Heaven." (wasn't expecting that one)

{Quinn}
Q: How old are you
A: "I don't know."

Q: What is your favorite toy to play with?
A: "Toys"

Q: What do you like to do when you go outside?
A: "Fly a kite" (He has never done that)

Q: Why do you love Jesus?
A: "Because I want to give him a toy"

Q: How many brothers do you have?
A: "2"

In conclusion, I think I need to teach Quinn some things... although he is more interested in balls, running, and fixing things. I love that boy!

Picture Post

Riley loves her new dance class. I can count on her not taking a nap on Mondays because she is too excited to dance.

Reese has been trying new foods such as eggs, toast, and cut up cooked veggies. I like to push independent eating early. On a side note, Riley and Quinn call Reese's Puffs cereal, "sissy's puffs".

Reese loves to eat books. I can't read even 2 words to her before the book is in her mouth. She has also learned to empty all the books onto the floor numerous times a day.

She loves to be pushed in the laundry basket.

Quinn loves to play with bugs. We get these nasty roly poly bugs in our kitchen. Our kids call them "killy killy pallers". I don't know why. I also don't know why he carries them around the house like pets.

We went to visit grammy in Michigan last weekend. We all had so much fun. Quinn loved to rake, but it proved to be very unsafe for all those around him.

Cousin Kylie played with the kids all weekend. She is now Riley's new best friend.

Daddy drove them around the yard.

I'm pretty sure this was Quinn's dream... being with daddy and driving a "tractor".

We went to a Trunk or Treat event tonight. Aren't they just the cutest dino and chef you have ever seen?

Here is the famous "throw all your kids on the couch and get them to smile at 3 different cameras" picture. Apparently, Emme doesn't like pictures.

Embarrassing story and pictures

Do you ever have those times where something significant or somewhat insignificant happens and you freeze? It is almost as if your brain stops and you panic. Well that happened to me yesterday. A few months ago we put the lock on the outside of Quinn's door. A strong-willed kid needs his door that way for many reasons. We were all in his room preparing to leave. I hear the door close and Quinn laughing. Yes, he locked the 4 of in there. My mind is always a little scattered when getting ready to go somewhere, but at that point, I could not think rationally. I panicked when I realized I was stuck in a small space with 3 children, no food, and no phone. I yelled. I told the kids we were stuck and could not eat until daddy got home. As I was literally trying to break the handle off the door, I realized there was a large window behind me. I know, obvious to most of you, but to a mom of 3 little ones, not so much. I then removed the screen and climbed out the window. Can you imagine watching me climb out a window as my children stood watching saying, "Mommy, where are you going?". Alas, we ended up visiting friends and eating that day. I can't believe I shared that information.Now to more important things. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks.

Reese loves her big sister.

This is Quinn's "girlfriend" Caroline. She is the only one he talks about when he gets home from any occasion in which she is present. Caroline calls him "Bin". Aren't they the sweetest?

What is it about a big blue eyed little boy brushing his teeth in his spider man jammies? Love that boy!

Quinn loves to pretend to play the drums. Hopefully he will be satisfied with plastic cups and spoons.

This girl loves shoes, boots, and clothes. She can run in those boots. Impressive. She looks like a model in this picture minus the cat pj's.

Below are their marshmallow reward jars. They get marshmallows when they are kind or help with chores. The reward for a full jar is ice cream. They call them smarshmallows and think they are going on vacation when their jar is full. I guess ice cream and vacation are the same in their minds.

She loves to dance. She took a class last week and loved it. I peeked in one time and all the girls were quietly practicing their dance moves. Riley was spinning in the air and leaping. Yep, that's Riley!

Maybe he just looks cute always. This chef outfit and baby girl hat make me want to squeeze him!

Reese 8 months (almost)

This one is all about my little Reese, the forgotten one lately. No, we don't really completely forget about her and she gets plenty of attention, however, her siblings tend to require much more of my time and energy. I forget how good of a baby she is because she just goes with the flow. I hold her much of the time for her own safety, but mainly just because I like to hold her. Every time I pick her up she grabs my face with her chubby little hands and proceeds to give me lots of kisses. When she is scared or upset she simply touches my face. She loves to play with my hair and hold my hand. Who wouldn't want to hold her all day. I ma totally turning her into a momma's girl. Oh well.

After I put her newborn picture in a frame earlier this year, a small child broke it. It took me 2 months to buy a new one. I recently put out her 6 month picture. Somehow a sticky substance got into the frame and ruined her picture. I spent 30 minutes this morning peeling off her little body from the glass. It seemed so wrong. I will protect her next picture. I swear.

I love 8-month-olds. It is such a perfect age. They start exploring new things. They are a little more content playing by themselves and are just so innocent. Reese spends a lot of time chewing on toys, books, and paper. She crawls like an inchworm. She does not seem quite as eager to be mobile as my other 2 did. I am ok with that. She loves jumping in her jumper and watching her siblings play.

She recently dropped a feeding and takes a bottle 4 times a day. She loves baby cereal with cinnamon. Every morning I am surprised she continues to eat that stuff. She loves eating Gerber puffs and can now feed them to herself. I love the independence! She will eat baby food, but is not a huge fan of it. I'm not ready to actually have to prepare food for her.

As you can see, her hands are in her mouth much of the time. She is a very slow teether. Her bottom two teeth have been making their way through the skin for about 2 months. Guh. I also had to take a picture of her little rolls. We are all about chubby babies in this family!

Reese is a very inconsistent sleeper. And like the other two, she doesn't require as much sleep as most babies her age. She could drop her morning nap and it wouldn't affect her much. If she sleeps in the morning, it is usually only for 20-30 minutes. She takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. At night, she sleeps from about 8:00pm- 5:30am. I feed her a couple ounces and she will sleep until about 7:30. She wakes up in the middle of the night a couple nights a week for no apparent reason. When I put her to bed, she crawls up to the side of her crib, pulls the bumper down, and smiles as I walk out of the room. That little face peeking through the rails makes my heart melt every time.

I am so thankful for that sweet little girl. Our family just wouldn't be the same without her.

Destruction and fevers

Active, bossy, dramatic 3-year-old + active, aggressive, strong-willed 2-year-old + teething 7-month-old = crazy, loud family. Last night at dinner Mark made the comment that our lives would be so boring without them. So true. I'm thankful for that. We are sort of a boring couple.

I have always thought I was a patient, calm person... until I had 3 little munchkins. I don't even know who I am. I never use to yell. Now I do. I don't like it. I have been praying that God would calm my spirit. Therefore, you may find it funny that yesterday this happened.

8:30am- my kids are quiet. never good. I walk down the hall to find blue bath paint smeared on the bathroom cabinets, walls, hallway carpet, bedroom carpet, clothes and bedroom walls.
9:15am- walk into the kitchen to find an entire bottle of Italian dressing dumped in the fridge and the floor.
9:45am- found a 2-year-old at the top of our hallway closet trying to reach the nail polish. He climbed up 5 shelves. I thought I was smart putting the dangerous stuff on the top.
10:00am- maple syrup poured on kitchen floor.
11:30am- discovered feminine products stuck to the walls.

What is with the destruction? I tried so hard not to stay calm, but by lunch, my blood was boiling. Once Mark got home, I went to Target. All is well.

We have had an odd virus in our house. The other day, Riley had a fever on and off, but no other symptoms. It was gone in 24 hours. Today I noticed Quinn felt feverish. He had a temperature and I sent him to lay on the couch. Here he is.

Don't let that picture fool you. 10 minutes ago he ate lunch and a cupcake for dessert. After lunch, he was running around the house. It wasn't until I told him he had a fever that he calmed down. I thought to myself, "I'm going to milk this whole fever thing". Over the last hour I have said things like, "You are sick, you should rest on the couch. Do you need any books or water?", "Don't get up, I'll get that for you", "You shouldn't get near your sisters", "This medicine will help you sleep". He did not move for an hour and a half. Shocking for that boy. I guess fevers don't have to be all that bad.

I will leave you with some pictures of those crazy cuties...

We have been getting books on CD from the library. She loves being in charge of turning the pages.

Deers in headlights...

Quinn took a picture of himself. I just keep imagining him saying, "Does this picture make my face look fat?"

Irish twins. Same weight, same shoe size, and 1 inch difference in height.

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?

"Mom, what is wrong with this family?"

Love that happy girl!