Sandbridge: Part I

{warning:  this is long.  grab a seat.}

In June, my Dad’s side of the family took a trip to Sandbridge, and we had a great time!  We made the big mistake of telling the boys a day in advance that we were going to the beach.  The morning that we left for vacation, Hudson was screaming and crying that he needed to go to the beach right now!  Patience is not part of our daily routine quite yet!  We made it in one piece, and we loved being together with our family for a few days in the sun, sand, and “big pool-tiny pool” at our house!

I love these boys of mine . . .

Sister took several naps by the pool or on the beach . . . I loved it!  Check out these lashes!

Mr. P enjoying snacktime!

Our beach pet . . .

We had a fantastic house with a great layout, and the boys loved the big tub in our room.  It got a lot of use from these tiny people!

Little Miss was quite the beach bunny!

There was much digging to be done, of course!

And, some snacking, too.  This boy loves his peaches!

The boys had a great time with Uncle J!

This little love is so cute!

Swimming was such fun for everyone!

I realize that this is not a great angle, but Auntie Katie and I could not help ourselves . . .

Oh, the rolls!

These four little fishies!

I love these pictures of Charlie grabbing Anna’s chubby thigh!!

Oh, MY HEART!

We had a great time snuggling with mamas and daddies and babes, too.

LOVE!

hold onto your cheeks, more to come!

Last week: randoms and a date

Well, we recovered well from William being stuck in the bathroom the other day.  He lives (and loves) to tell of his day of trauma, adventure, and rescue by his Daddy. 

Here, the tiny adventurer poses in the Children’s Farm at the Museum (please excuse the random man/father pictured in the background).

The above picture (William lacking a female counterpart) is one tiny example of why Harper should move back here.  These two turkeys played together at the museum in May of last year . . . Babies!

One morning this week, while I was getting food for someone from the kitchen for breakfast, I went back into the dining room and found Hudson missing.  This is where I found him:  on the bench reading one of Miss Jenny Bunny’s books about giving up diapers and/or pacis! Me readin’, Mommy!  Me readin’ Miss Jenn’s book.  Me YIKE it.  Me no need Yunch. (or breakfast.  whatever.)

Heyyy, Sister!

We have seen Mr. P more these last two weeks because he has been on vacation from school, which we love!  He came over the other day to visit Hatch, Hatch, Hudsey, Hudsey, and Baby.  He was a little sad that his favorite Hatch was not here (instead, he found me), but he was THRILLED to play with Hudsey, Hudsey and Baby!  He and the two Hudseys played grocery store.  It appears that Charlie was in charge of bagging the groceries!

Despite the fact that I am no longer his favorite (I used to be his favorite.  See below!) and that he has only said my name two times in his entire life . . .

he knows me well enough that he does not dare refuse my smooches, and this makes me very, very happy.

And, I had quite the treat the other day when I popped by my good friend’s house.  Her little love was refusing to nap and since Uncle J was at my house with my three sleeping chickens, I took my little friend Booker shopping with me!  He is so precious and it was so much fun to have a little date with him.  He was born just a few days after Anna, you know, so I feel like he’s mine (even though I know he’s not . . .)  I LOVED IT!

Anna is 9 Months Old!

Sweet, sweet sister is 9 months old!  I had a hard time believing it, and then I took her to the doctor for her check up and they asked me to make her ONE YEAR appointment and I about burst into tears right in front of the receptionist’s desk.  WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?  HOW IS THIS HAPPENING SO QUICKLY?  I need to be able to pause my life right now and just soak it all in!  Please, Lord, help me remember these sweet times!

How did we get from here

to here, so quickly?

Little Miss continues to be very laid back and such a sweet and easy baby (aside from her recent 5:30am bottle-cry—but she does go back down until 8am, so I shouldn’t complain too much).  She absolutely adores her Daddy and her brothers.  She and the boys play so much more now, and it is precious to see and catch glimpses of throughout the day.  Whenever she fusses or cries, Hudson bursts into a rousing rendition of “twinkle, twinkle Yittle Star” in order to calm her.  And, William will often wake up in the morning and ask:  “where is my baby?”  They just love each other, and it really warms my heart!

Anna continues to be our loudest family member, and she is really ramping it up in the drama department as well.  If she doesn’t want to sit or lay down, or if you say “ni night” and she is not particularly ready, you best protect your ears.  She is quite vocal and tries to talk and sing along with her brothers—although, her favorite place to join in in song is at church.  It is hilarious and so dear!  Anna now says MA MA all of time (which I love, you know), Da DA, Uh OH (and she even uses it appropriately, which is amazing to me), and every now and again, she will say ‘nana . . . which, I think means banana. 

She continues to be growing well, and we rarely go anywhere without someone commenting on her beautiful blue eyes!

I adore these chubby cheeks!  And, look at those eyelashes (courtesy of her father!)

Anna’s 9 months stats are:

weight:  21lbs (75-90%)

height:  28 in (50-75%)

(for comparisons sake, at 9 months, William was 20lbs 7oz and 28 inches, and big brother Hudson was 23lbs, 5oz and 30 inches long!)

Little Miss loves to laugh and giggle, and she rolls and scoots on her belly all over the place!  I thinks she is close to crawling, but I’m still not giving her too many chances to try . . . When I told the pediatrician that she was not crawling, she said “Lucky you!”  ha ha!

Her bottom two teeth have popped on through, and one of her top teeth is starting to make it’s way in as well.  I have a hunch we’ll have a wild week ahead of us in the teething department!

Anna’s hair is really starting to grow and get thicker.  We’re starting to see the first little curls at the bottom of her hair, and I just love it!  ohh, so cute!

And, here she is:  Our very own Olive Oil munching on her spinach!  She loves to eat and is quite happy trying to feed herself tiny pieces of whatever we give her (although, believe it or not, most of this mess was my doing).

I am pretty sure that I say it each month, but this little love is such a joy!  We delight in her, and we are so thankful that she is “our” baby!  Now, if she could just say this way for a tad longer . . .

Today

Surprisingly, today is not a Tuesday (more on what our Tuesdays are like here).

Today is a Wednesday.

We came home from a good, but busy morning seeing the doctor to a little bit of chaos. You see, we are still in the throes of potty training . . . and when potty training involves two year olds, (in my opinion) that means that it not only involves teaching them a skill but it also involves a bit of a power struggle over who decides when one needs to go potty. My little William is quite determined and was having a stubborn, independent streak and decided that he would rather play than tell me about his potty need. So, he had a big “accident” in his pants. He knew I was upset with him (it was clear that he chose to not tell me that he needed to go to the bathroom), and I told him to wait for me in the bathroom while I finished taking care of Anna. In his little fit of rage, he shut the bathroom door (which he knows he is not to do), and he locked it. We live in an old home with old doors and knobs and locks . . . and this lock is hard to “lock” and even harder to “unlock.”

Mr. Determination locked himself in the bathroom.

Being the wonderful mom that I am, I immediately called Hatch at work for help and I ran downstairs and grabbed the screw driver. I was able to get the knob and plate off the door, but I could not get to the locking mechanism. Meanwhile, William is screaming that he is ready to GET OUT of the bathroom, that he needs to go potty, and that he needs a grown up to help him. Bless his pointed little head, as my Uncle Fred says! Daddy and I determined that I had done all I could do, so he grabbed his cape and Super Hero Daddy flew in for the rescue.

William was quite upset, and I could see the big tears rolling down his red cheeks through the hole in the door where the knob used to be. I could tell that he was starting to panic and get scared, so we talked about the Bible verse that the boys have recently learned. My cousin, Kelly, gave us this great little bedtime prayer book for Anna’s Baptism, and the boys memorized one of the verses from a paraphrase of Psalm 23. So, peeping through the hole with big tears on his face, William said “The Lord is my Shepherd. I have everything I need.” We talked about what that means, and how we can tell Jesus when we are scared. We can ask him to help us anytime—with whatever we need. William and I prayed together: for Jesus to help him get out of the bathroom and for Jesus to help him not be scared. Through his sobs, William prayed these things. Right as we finished praying, Super Hero Daddy rolled on into the house—our very own Clark Kent—he showed up all handsome in his shirt and tie with his tool box and crow bar in hand.

Because of the layout of the lock, Hatch had to drill a hole through the door in order to manipulate the lock and get the door open. I would have had no idea how to do this. My next plan of action was to call the firemen, which would have been exciting, but having them break down the door would not have been too pretty, I’m sure!

Right before our very own Super Hero got to work on the door, we slipped William some stickers under the crack (never have I been so thankful for doors that leave gaping wide cracks underneath them!) to keep himself entertained. This is what we found when we got him out of the bathroom. The sticker in the center of his foot says it all: CRAZY.

(yes, this is my life.)

I am excited to say that now, about an hour later, our Super Hero has returned to his day job, two little boys are sleeping soundly in their beds after an exciting rescue mission, and Sister is sawing logs as well. Despite the fact that this episode was rather short-lived, I am exhausted. Exhausted, but quite glad that I will not have to buy a new bathroom door anytime soon. And, for the record, our bathroom door may never lock again. EVER. Super Hero is going to swing by the hardware store and pick out a non-locking knob and plate for our use from here on out. Consider yourself forewarned: our bathroom door does not lock!