More fun in the snow

We enjoyed borrowing Cindy and Barnette's sleds today and having some fun rides! The boys really enjoyed it. We came home and Joshua and Matt continued sledding in our back yard. Oh, and though we thought our fence and dog collar were fixed, Pogo didn't appear to be home when we got back and I heard Matt come in from outside a little while ago and put him in the crate, so he must have run away to the neighbors again.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

(Okay, I'm singing the "Snow" song from White Christmas in my head..hence the title on this post!)

So we checked yesterday morning and had about 6 inches of snow. The boys and Matt played out in it a few times yesterday, but it was super cold. I went out one time and Matt rigged up a trash can lid to pull behind his truck, which I rode on down the driveway. It was a little crazy at first because Pogo was trying to run and jump in my lap or something, but I had fun. Sadly, the rope broke through the hole when I tried to pull Matt so he didn't get to experience his invention! The boys didn't want to ride, though Gray enjoyed being pulled around the yard on the lid. Looks like the snow will stick around for a few days and hopefully we won't get too stir crazy. It sure is pretty and it can be fun to play in, but anyone with kids knows that it's a lot of trouble getting them dressed and undressed for going in it. Of course Gray cried yesterday when we wouldn't let him go out in pj pants and a short sleeve shirt. He went and got his tennis shoes and said he was ready to go. I told him he couldn't go out like that and he said, "But I have pants on!" He's sitting here with me right now in shorts and no shirt:)

Julia and the brothers

Julia at One Month

I can hardly believe a month has passed since Julia was born! Not a whole lot going on new with her lately. She's doing a little better at night, going 3-4 hours between feedings usually. She is less fussy in that she doesn't cry much if you're holding her, but she wants to be held ALL THE TIME! I told Matt last night that I don't even know what I'm doing with her. I had a plan with Joshua and at least half of a plan with Gray, as far as helping them learn to put themselves to sleep and making them play alone sometimes, but with Julia, I just end up holding her or putting her in the sling most of the day. Sometimes she takes naps in her bassinet, but she usually has to be deep in sleep or she'll wake up soon after I lay her down and scream for forever. She takes her afternoon nap laying by me on the bed, just so I can get some rest, and if we're out running errands, she always sleeps in her carseat. She just isn't what I figured my third child would be! I assumed he/she would just be laid back and go with the flow and would hang out in the bouncy seat while the boys and I went about our usual day. Instead I've found once again that I am no expert parent and everything I expected her to be and me to be has gone out the window! Anyway, I do love having her and am really enjoying her and sometimes I just think I'd rather enjoy her than listen to her scream. So in a few months, you may hear me say that I can't get her to take naps on her own and I should have let her cry more, but I'm just not thinking that far ahead right now! The only other thing I have to share is that she smiled for the first time 2 days ago, at exactly the same age Joshua was when he first smiled. She hasn't done it much since and as you can see from the pictures, I tried in vane to get it on camera, but oh when she does smile it sure lights up my world! When you care for a baby day and night for a month and don't get any positive feedback besides when she stops crying, seeing her smile at you for the first time is such a sweet reward! We also think she might be a bit more of an early mover than the boys were. Last week she was laying on a thin pillow and rolled herself onto the floor on her belly. She has also nearly flung herself out of Matt's arms a couple of times. I can't say I want her to be getting around at an early age, as it was nice when the boys stayed put till they were older, but I think as long as she's a good talker like them, I'll be okay!

Father/Daughter pictures

A visit from friends!

We were very happy to have our friends the Queens come visit us today! We met this family when we moved to Washington, as Steve and Matt worked together, and as it turns out, Ashley has 2 sisters living only 8 miles from us! The Queens now live in Texas, but Ashley and the kids came to Durham to visit family this week. Grace was a little camera shy, but here are my boys and Hunter. Joshua and Hunter had been great playmates in WA (Gray was still a baby) and today they picked right up where they left off. I really enjoyed talking with Ashley and meeting her newest baby Jack. Wish we could see each other more often, but so cool that we have the Durham connection now and could be together today.

The trouble with Pogo...again

Most of you have heard of our problems with Pogo. He's chewed up everything from Joshua's precious Diego motorcycle to a nice rocking chair that was a special gift from Matt to a fairly new garden hose to the posts on our porch. He has dug lovely holes in the yard and destroyed my gardenia bush. Before we got the underground fence, he wreaked havoc on our neighbors and their things and brought us shoes and hats from their yards. He has caused countless tears from the boys because of knocking them down and/or jumping on them. He has to be on a leash during gym workouts because he won't leave the participants alone and won't stay out of the garage. But we have endured and tried to make life work with him. We can't bring him inside because he's so destructive and Joshua may have dog allergies, but we did get a crate and let him sleep in the laundry room on cold nights. We've removed everything we can from his reach to try to limit him tearing stuff up. We have the boys keep all their toys in the small fenced in area so he can't get to them. We clean up all the poop he leaves all over the yard. I take him for a walk every day that I'm able. Matt plays ball with him and the boys and I play outside most days so he gets some company. It was do-able. But just when we think we can ride out the puppy stage, he does something else to cause trouble. The line on the invisible fence got broken and he wasted no time in escaping yesterday. So where is this darling animal? Who knows? Probably over at the neighbors' house destroying who knows what. Matt tried to fix the fence last night by splicing the wires, but when we called Pogo to come inside for the night, he was gone again, so the fence isn't back up and working yet. UGH! Sorry, Pogo, but we definitely regret getting you. We knew having a dog would be an adjustment, but we didn't expect 9 months (and counting) of pure aggravation! Anybody want a sweet, smart, and destructive dog???

Misc. Updates

Hope you had a good weekend! Ours was pretty laid back. We made a Target trip and ate lunch and then went to the Eno River for awhile in the afternoon. The boys really loved it and didn't want to leave! It was cold, though, so think we'll enjoy going back on a warmer day. Julia did great on all these events and slept either in her carseat or the sling the whole time.

Sunday we went to or new church...think I mentioned we were joining a Hillsborough church plant a few weeks ago. This Sunday was our second meeting. The group consists of 40ish adults and a few more kids than adults. We are currently having a regular church service, which is much like the one at our old church, though a little different feel to it because of the small congregation and the location. That has been followed by a Sunday School type discussion time and then we all eat lunch together. The boys come in the service with us (Gray actually doesn't have to, but we tried it yesterday and he did great) for singing and then they go to their classes. Joshua's class is a lot of the same teachers and kids from CGS, which helped him feel comfortable right away. Gray is in with babies up to 2 year olds, but of course he is fine and enjoys just playing with toys. There weren't very many kids from his class (I think just one), but he doesn't seem to mind. Around Easter, I think we'll be actively trying to invite and bring new people to church, but right now are focusing on all getting to know each other and establish a good foundation. We have many acquaintances here, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know people better.

In other news, to update on Joshua's nighttime potty plan, it's going great! Apparently me taking him to the potty in the night for the last couple of months has created a habit of waking when he has to go. So suddenly he's starting to get up on his own before I make it up there. Hopefully this continues and my job will be done:) I really feel like if I had just left him in diapers, he'd still be soaking wet every night, so I am glad I tried this method.

Also, we have a seen a few other changes in Joshua. First, he's become so much more affectionate all of a sudden. He's been that way from the beginning with Julia, but now he is spontaneously telling me he loves me for the first time and is giving out hugs and kisses to everyone without being asked. He even hugged and kissed Gray last night on his own! Yay for this change! And then last night, Matt mentioned to me that we might try to find a sport for Joshua to play this summer and in the past, Joshua has seemed shy and said he doesn't want to do that, but now he is all about it. He wanted to start today! Don't know where this newfound confidence came from, but hope we can find a sport he likes and that he will jump right in and be ready to participate. He is really loving being a big brother to Julia still. He still tells me how much he likes her and lately has been wanting to help change her diaper and dress her. I wish I could say this has diffused some of his bossiness towards Gray, but no.

Well I think that's all that is new our way. Have a good week!

Another good meal out at Chili's

For the second time in a couple of months, we went out to eat at Chili's last night. Typically if we go out to eat, it's something quick and we often end up regretting bringing the boys because they don't want to eat the food that we pay for. But the 2 for $20 meal deal at Chili's has been a success for our family. We get the bottomless chips and salsa to share, Matt gets an entree, I get the big mouth bites entree and share 2 of the 4 mini burgers with the boys, and we get a really good dessert to share. It has worked well both times and we leave feeling like we didn't waste any money, but actually had a good sit down meal. Last night, we of course had Julia with us and I was a little worried about how she'd do, but she slept in her carseat the whole time. Gray didn't eat very well because he was sitting by Julia and didn't have me or Matt there keeping him on task, but in general, we still had a good time and were glad we went. Just thought I'd share for other families that would enjoy this deal too!

Not much to report, but...

wanted to post something.... Julia has been more pleasant the last few days for some reason. It's been a good week and I've even taken all three kids on several errands with no trouble. Makes me feel better to know I can handle everyday life, though I think it will be more difficult to go out once Julia isn't sleeping through those trips!

Prayer time with Gray

The boys have both really been into praying lately and last night, Gray was really cracking us up. We had read a little story about being obedient and I asked who wanted to pray that God would help us to obey. Gray volunteered and then launched into his regular prayer, which goes something like this:

Gray: Dear God (which sounds like Guide), Thank you for this nice time that we had tonight (it doesn't matter if it's day or night, but this is always the lead in) with Daddy and Mommy and Joshua and Gray and Baby Julia (this is an improvement from last week...he thanked God every day for our nice night with Amanda and Abby- who had already gone back home- and Carly and Jackson and Matt- who didn't even come) Amen.

Me: Gray, you were supposed to pray that God would help us to be obedient. Do you still want to pray?

Gray: Yes. (long pause as we get ready to pray again) Dear God, thank you for this nice time that we had tonight with Daddy and Mommy and Joshua and Gray and Baby Julia. Amen.

Me: Gray, what about praying that we would be obedient? I'm going to pray that if you don't want to.

Gray: No I'm going to pray. (another pause as we all close our eyes again) Dear God, thank you for this nice time that we had tonight with Daddy and Mommy and---

Well, you get the idea. Matt and I were just laughing at this point and Gray was looking at us like he didn't get the joke. Eventually he understood what he was supposed to pray and rattled off a quick "Dear God, help us obey, Amen." and we sent the boys to bed:)

Julia at 3 weeks

Thought I'd give an update on our little girl, who is 3 weeks old today! This week, Julia has started sleeping a little better at night, which has made my life a lot easier:) What's odd is that she was on a pretty regular daytime routine and was sleeping well for 3 or 4 regular naps, but this week that has ended. She is now much more unpredictable and not wanting to sleep at regular intervals. Somehow, I've still managed to have everyone down (or quiet) at the same time in the afternoon so I can take a quick nap. A lot of times, that means Julia is sleeping on the bed with me, which she likes much better than being alone in the bassinet! She is a pretty fussy girl and wants to be held most of the time. Even then, she has the typical cranky evenings where Matt and I end up taking turns trying to keep her happy. She seems like she's going to be a snuggly child to me. She can hold her head up well to look around when I hold her, but she often just likes to snuggle up against my shoulder. She likes her brothers and today she was screaming in her bassinet until Joshua came over and covered her up and stood beside her and then she just stared at him and was very calm. Anyway, in summary, Julia at 3 weeks is still a little hard to figure out, but despite the fussiness, I am really enjoying her!

Julia's First Bath

Finally the cord fell off and we could get this girl in the tub...or the sink. She loved it. I realized that my mistake with the boys' first baths was being afraid the water was too hot, so I made it too cold and they screamed. Guess the third time's the charm.

2-3 week pictures of all the kids..who looks like who? (or is it whom)

Go Pack!

We always take a picture of the new baby in NC State gear, so here's Julia!

She looks like she's smiling, but this was half a second before a scream!

Yes, she's already learning how to do the wolf fingers...and if you could hear her here, she was doing a wolf howl along with that.

This is Julia contemplating what it will be like to attend NC State in 18 years.

Julia at 2 weeks

Best of Both Worlds

Joshua: Mommy, you can hold a stuffed animal and still be a cowboy!

Looking for a new way to say no?

Try "Yes and I don't want you to look."

Example-

Me: Gray, did you finish your food?

Gray: Yes and I don't want you to look.

Me: Gray, did you turn out the light in the bathroom?

Gray: Yes and I don't want you to look.

Both times I looked. Both times were a "no."

Abby and Amanda visit

We've been enjoying our time with Amanda and Abby this weekend. It's been busy! Yesterday we had a friend's three children over to play while she helped with moving stuff into the apartment for the Burmese World Relief family. These children were similar ages to Abby, Joshua, and Gray and they all had a great time together. Amanda and I also had a good old Target trip and have been busy organizing our storage closet with the shelves I bought. It has definitely been a different dynamic with Abby here to play with the boys. There hasn't been much sibling rivalry between the boys and I think they've enjoyed having a change of pace. I've enjoyed having Amanda around to help and just have some one over the age of 4 to talk to! We'll miss you, Leightons!!