Guess Who's a Big Boy Now......

Friday morning I took Jett to his 12 month well baby appointment.  I had it scheduled in December around his birthday but he wasn't feeling well so I decided to put it off until after the holidays.  Ok, clearly it's now after the holidays.

He was such a good boy at the dr.  (He's a good boy everywhere!)  I stripped him down to his diaper and he loved it!  He weighs 20lbs. 2.6oz. and is 30" tall.  Yay!  He's finally big enough to face forward.  But actually, I'm going to keep him backward for a while.  I'm just too lazy to switch the car seat around.

As you may remember, he's been very tiny from day 1 and hasn't been on the growth charts.  Nothing worrisome, he just wasn't a big guy.  He's now 10th percentile in weight, 50th in height, and 25th in head.  According to the dr. this is a HUGE growth spurt.  Yay for whole milk and table food!!  Yes, he's still nursing but not much.  Mostly just for comfort or anytime related to sleeping.

I know this wasn't the typical humorous post about the antics of my wild children and our hectic life.  I just wanted to share with everyone how big my little man is getting.  I can't believe so much time has gone by already.  It's slightly depressing.  Only slightly.  Potty training is not far around the corner.

Look at my cute little man!  He makes this face often.
Hopefully he doesn't have my upper lip.  Wait, I don't have one.

Look how chubby those cheeks are.  So kissable.

He loves to "swim" in the tub.
I have to fight to wash his front side because it means he has to get up.
He also dunks his chin and mouth in the water to make a bubble beard.  It's kinda hard to see...

Look at this chubby kid waitin' for the dr.
I love his toes.

I was worried she (the dr.) would suggest the "man-zierre" or the "bro".
Look at his little man-boobies!  We lovingly refer to them as his "moobs".  Hahahaha!!

"You talkin' to me??

He didn't appreciate how close she was standing.  Notice the scale!!  Woo Hoo!

Ok, that's all I've got for now.  I'll post some of Haiden's basketball game later.  I need to get in a different frame of mind for that one.....Until next time.

It's alright people....we're back on track.

Ok, I've conferred with the top dogs and we're back on track.  (Props to my girl, Tommy!!  Hollaaa!)  I can now do cute little pages, as you may have noticed.  If I want this computer to vomit hearts for Valentines Day, it shall be done!  You think you enjoyed this before....you ain't seen nothin' yet!  Haha.  I think it's more for me than anyone else so, oh well.  Here's to another day, another post.  Good night.

Technical Difficulties....

Apparently I'm a complete Ruh-tard.  Somehow, I've managed to screw up possibly one of the easiest things on the planet.  I'm having so much fun blogging, but not so much fun facing the fact that I'm slightly computer illiterate.  Please forgive the mess of a page I've created while I conference with my higher ups to see if they can remedy this little issue.  If not, you will see grass and blue sky for the rest of my blogging life.  The hot mess you're currently looking at is a result of my attempt to be creative.  That won't happen again.  Please forgive me.  And please stand by.........

It's a long one, but a good one....

Since we're playing catch-up, I thought I'd include a few pictures from the last couple weeks of random things that have been going on around here.
I know I posted it on FB, but the boys all got haircuts courtesy of mom....

Easily done with the distraction of a sucker.

The finished product.

My handsome boys!

 Jett is changing soo much!  It seems like everyday he knows something new.  He can show you where his nose is and giggles when he accidentally pokes his finger in that mysterious hole, though he doesn't do it for his own amusement yet.  He's also learning to find his eyes.

He's trying to talk more and more.  Aside from the "mama/mom" and "dada/dad" that he's been saying for a few months, he now yells for his siblings.  It's the cutest thing to hear from across the room, ......."ay-LAY" for Hailey and "ay-DEN" for Haiden.  Yes, the capitalized means thats the part he yells.  Haha.  He hasn't tried to say Ethan's name yet.  Probably because he's always with us.

He's also attempting to walk.  He's been cruising for a while now but he's just recently started letting go of the furniture and getting his grip on standing without holding on.  It's a rocky road but he's getting there.  The little stinker is a pro at climbing the stairs though.  He's mastered that craft and now works at being quiet and sneaky if we forget to put the gate up.  It's pretty funny when he's caught though....

Who?  Me?

Headed up...

This is what he does when he's been caught....pretend to be just hangin' out.

Proof on camera that he's a sneaky little terd.  He's so darn cute!

He loves to push around his Elmo push toy.  It converts from a walker to a pusher and I think he likes it more now.  I'm fearful of his driving in the future though since he just crashes into the walls and then drops to the floor and quickly crawls away.  Preparing to flee from the scene.....

Big man getting ready to walk.

He likes to look out the back window and talk to the dogs....except he can barely see over the window sill.

He likes to feed himself these days and I don't mind too much.  There's nothing that won't come out in the wash or the tub.

Checking to see if he got it all.

Mastering the fork.

Good to the last bite.

 His new thing lately is to watch/help me cook.  Since we've started our new budget this year, I've been making alot more homemade goodies.  Jett loves to get right in there and help....

Making breadsticks to go with our lasagna.

Compliments to the chef.

Ok, that's a lot to take in.  I hope you enjoyed catching up with our latest happenings......On to tomorrow.

Speaking of All-Stars....

So, with the buzz of Hailey's basketball season comes a new flame of interest from Haiden.  He's been playing soccer off and on since he was 5 and he's done pretty well at it.  At one of her recent games, he expressed an interest in trying basketball.  I took this with a grain of salt.

For those of you who don't know, last year we attemtpted wrestling.  That lasted 3 weeks.  Haiden is my non-confrontational child.  He'd rather laugh and make a joke about something then get physical.  Good for me that I don't have a bully on my hands.  Bad for him as I fear his smarty-pants mouth may earn him a date with Freida Phalangey and her 4 sisters one day.  It'll either bring on more tears or turn him into a man.  Either way, I'm sure it'll happen quickly.

So, back to his new interest in basketball.  We decided to sign him up at the YMCA to play.  His best friend at school is also on the team and I think that might be part of the reason he was curious.  Anyway, after only one practice, they had a game last Saturday.  Like an idiot, I forgot my camera but I can tell you, it was quite a treat to watch.  For many reasons.

I was so impressed with my son!!  For never playing before, and only having one practice under his belt, he did pretty darn good!  He even scored a basket!  Sadly, the team they played were the mini-me's of various NBA professionals, mostly Spud Webb since none of them were taller than Ethan.  I think it was 84-6 but fortunately for us they weren't keeping score.  It was bittersweet.  Haiden was so excited to actually be playing in his first game and yet he was getting worked harder than a 6 year old at a sweat shop.   (Was that inappropriate?)

Anyway, I told him not to let this first game get him down.  Without missing a beat, he said he couldn't wait for practice on Thursday and for his next game on Saturday.  There will definitely be pictures from the next event!  I'm so proud.

All-star Hailey...

This year Hailey decided she wanted to go out for Basketball.  This was a new thing for her and she has a rather subdued temperment so I wasn't sure if this would be her cup of tea.  Well, she's already surprised me and it's just the beginning of the season.  I can't wait to see how much she grows and learns the ins and outs of bball!
Her coach told her, "You're one of my tallest girls.  I need you to get aggressive."
I told her, "Pretend your playing against Haiden and he's irritating you again."

She's #11.  Already lookin' like she's got some skills.

I had to add this one.....she's running.  We had a talk with her about moving her tail and this is proof that she's really started to do it!

Going up for the block.

Her biggest fan!

I'm not sure who inspired her more but whichever the suggestion, it's working.  When thinking about how life would be when I grew up, I don't know if I ever imagined myself as "the sports mom".  I don't know if I gave it that much thought.  All I know is I'm really enjoying it.  It's so fun to be loud and obnoxious, wait, I mean....Cheer for her!  All kidding aside, it's really fun to see my daughter growing into a little athletic girl and I can't wait to see what the future has in store....

What day is it....??

Holy cow!  There's a lot to catch up on.  It's amazing how a little vomit bug can really screw up your schedule.  So, to catch you up to speed....a few things have happened in the last week or so.

We were trying to end the week on a good note, like we've been doing lately.  Saturday night we had family movie night and then a little Wii tournament.  It's usually one of the kids that spanks us all but I was the lucky bowler, scoring a 248.  Sadly in real life, I bowl as good as I hang-glide.....almost as if I've never done it before.  What a great night!

Then came Sunday.  We had lunch a Buffalo Wild Wings and enjoyed a little football before heading off to church.  Things seemed alright later as we got the kids and ourselves situated in bed for the evening.  I had been laying in bed with a stomach ache for a little while when I noticed the splashing and wretching sounds in my bathroom.  Clint was losing his marbles.  As you know, this is a man who never gets sick so I knew he must've eaten something bad.  Unfortunately, I knew I'd also eaten something bad.  Just as I'm pondering this thought, in walks Ethan.  He calmly let me know he'd just thrown up all over himself and his bed.

Thank you son.  I spent the rest of the evening trying not to lose my own marbles as I took care of Ethan.  Let's just say this is how we began our week.

Operation 6-pack...

I've made a promise to my children that I will make my best efforts to watch my sailor mouth.  It's my job as a parent and a MOTHER to not sound like the opening credits of Jersey Shore.  (I'm just guessing.  I've never actually watched.  Haha.)  My handful of years in the Army have taught me many things, one of which is cussing better than a junkie on a 5 day bender.  Growing up, I had a pretty good idea of the colorful variety of words to choose from but it wasn't until I became a member of the armed forces that I learned the many combinations in which you could use them.  For example, if you call someone a (@!!&*), that's actually a hybrid of (#$#&) and (?!!@#).  See what I'm saying!  The possibilities are endless!
I digress.  To uphold my promise, when an expletive happens to accidentally slip out, I owe them 20 crunches.  20 crunches per word, that is.  Let's just say I'm in the hundreds.  Apparently the count doesn't start over with each new day.  All I know is, I'm trying.  I'm either going to have the vocabulary of a nun at mass or the abs of John Cena.  (Have you seen that guy!  Wowza!)  I'm not sure which I prefer at this point.  I better get crackin' on the ones I already owe.  I don't know if I'll be this agile in the nursing home.

The Joys of Parenthood...

If only I had photos...
We decided to go out to eat tonight; something we haven't done in a while.  Now I remember why.  Normally we get complimented on our childrens' public behavior and exceptional table manners.  There's no way that would have happened tonight.  Maybe it was the open invitation of flinging peanut shells haphazardly on the floor, or the fact that they were all a little over excited by Ethan and Haiden's exceptional crane skills.  (At Texas T-Bone they give the kids quarters for the crane machine.  Haiden lines up the claw and Ethan hits the button.  They grabbed three stuffed animals at once.  It's not the first time we've defeated this machine.)  Whatever the case, Clint and I were reminded of exactly why we're hermits and have no social life.  Fortunately for the other patrons, we were seated in a remote location.  I'm sure they knew..

With stuffed animals in hand, the older boys were loud and obnoxious.  They were sitting by dad though so, that's their bad.  Haha.  Hailey decided she wanted to order off the big girl menu and then ate hardly any of it.  I told her she better roll up her sleeves and prepare to do dishes to work off that meal.  Oh, and she also better prepare to have fried shrimp and sweet potato for breakfast.  And lunch.  And dinner.

The highlight of the evening came when my plate arrived.  My poor little filet looked like it had been run over by a semi and then sadly taped back together with a scraggly piece of bacon.  Now, if you know me, you'd know that didn't matter to me.  I had one plan for that slab of meat and it wasn't a photo shoot.  Well, the owner came over to the table, saw my roadkill and said it was unacceptable.  I had another beautiful, picture-perfect filet brought out to me almost immediately.  At no charge, of course.  Always great service there.

So, wrapping up the evening, this is where our precious angel Jett comes into the picture.  He'd been such a good boy all night, eating salad and bread and sharing my steak and potato with me.  When he decided he was finished he started dancing to the music heard overhead.  Still precious.

I learned he was ready to go when he sweetly leaned over the side of the high chair and started spitting.  These weren't the cute little bubbles that babies blow.  This was a full-on, wish-I-could-huck-a-loogy gloppy spit!  And several in succession!  I then realized that he needs to stop watching me in the morning when I'm brushing my teeth.  Then, the startled look he gave signaled to us that it was time to leave immediately.  His face reddened, eyes watered up, and the grunting ensued.  After he filled his pants and got back to dancing, I looked around only to find empty floor space where a diaper bag usually goes.  I love to leave the house in a hurry.  Now we're here with naughty kids and stinky pants and then Jett had to go and poop.  Just kidding.  The stinky pants were his.

I found myself shooting a scene from the movie Mr. Mom.  There I was in the bathroom with my baby strapped to the poopy table and me with nothing in hand.  Well, I got rid of the mess, having to wipe an 8-ply disaster with 1-ply paper and then I made a make-shift diaper out of 36 yards of paper towel.  At least if he had a blow out on the way home, there'd be some sort of absorbency besides his onesie, pants, and car seat.  MacGyver would be proud.

On the way home, as I forced him to hold my hand, I told Clint we needed to go out without the kids one night and I saw a little tear come to his eye.  But, this is my husband we're talking about.  The tear wasn't for excitement of having some alone time together.  It was from thinking about leaving the house again.  Oh well, I got a second steak out of the deal.

In the beginning...

I think I should share, just quickly, the story of how 1 + 1 became 7.  Clint and I first locked eyes on March 23, 2005 in the gym on Ft. Carson.  We were both still in the Army and yes, we were total meat heads.  I thought he was a hottie and probably a total jerk because of it so I tried to be nonchalant.  Apparently, on his way back to the barracks, he was asking a mutual friend all about me.  That Friday we went out with a large group of friends, not intending to run into each other.  We started talking and that was all she wrote.  Before we knew it, all of our friends had left and we'd been talking for hours.  It was that easy.  We've been together for six years and married for two and a half.

Now let me figure a little math to show how the two of us eventually became seven....this is where the "yours, mine, and ours" fits in.  I had Hailey and Haiden, he had Destini, and together we have Ethan and Jett.  So, in the story of our life, 1 + 1 = 7.  I definitely got the prize.  I have an amazing husband who works harder than normal to provide for his family.  I couldn't ask for a better man.  I'm not sure what prize he won but when I figure it out, I'll post it....

Big Daddy

The love of my life....

What is this world coming to!

I felt compelled to share this....
So, there I am driving the kids to school this morning.  I'm almost to the drop off point at Haiden's school when the lady in the minivan in front of me decides to stop and chat with a friend she sees on the sidewalk.  The first thought in my mind is, "she's gonna pull over."  The thoughts following were obscene so I won't repeat them here.  I'm trying to curb my dirty trucker mouth.  Anyway, I sit and wait as she doesn't move.  She stops in the middle of the road, rolls down her window, and starts yuckin' it up with the guy, who's apparently just hanging out in the warm 11* air.  It takes a lot of self control these days when I'm out in public so I take a deep breath and realize, she's retarded, and now I'm pissed.  I'm trying to get my son to school and this idiot doesn't care that she's blocking the road!  See what I'm saying?  What's this world coming to?  How is it all about her this morning?  How rude.  It's okay.  I fixed it.  I'm sure the sleeping neighbors appreciated hearing my blowing horn at 8:15am.  I have things to do.  Get out of my way.  Oh, and it's people like her that give minivan drivers like me a bad name.  I drive mine like it's a Humvee, only not the fancy one you can buy at Phil Long.  I drive it like it's the one I had in Iraq, going over jumps and running people off the road.  It's dark green and lightning fast.  If you see it coming I suggest you get out of the way.

OMG! Here I am!

Oh man!  Is this for real?  Am I really a blogger now!?  This has been long overdue, I think.  I attempted this once before and, for whatever reason, I never followed through with it.  I didn't even make one post....but...anyway....  Apparently blogging is for those that have a lot to say.  (Tommy Jo, did I use "a lot" correctly?)  We'll see how this goes; I have been known to talk alot though.  (Damn, there it is again.)

I have this thing for proper grammer and spelling and was recently schooled by my BFF on the proper use of "alot" and "a lot".  Oddly though, when I typed her into the ol' Merriam Webster dictionary online, nothing came up.  Hmm....I may have to investigate further.  Until then, welcome to our crazy life!  I think you'll like it "ALOT".  (I kind of hate that word now.)