1st Day of School

Kids went back to school yesterday (woo hoo!)

Riley's now a big 2nd grader!


Cade is going to do the Pre-K program (again). Because of his birthday he should start Kindergarten this year but we are going to wait to start him until next year... so he'll be the oldest in his class now. I take him at 1 and he comes home on the bus at 4. During which time Brooke naps so I have really good mommy and J.P time.


Here's all the bus stop kids...


Don't know who is happier, the kids or the moms?
(Hint...It's the moms. We we're so giddy we practically all skipped to the bus stop!)


I didn't have the problems I had last year letting them go...guess I have my hands full at home. I was super excited to see them come home though. I asked Cade what special treat he wanted after school and he told me, "potato chip cookies" Potato chip cookies? he meant chocolate chip cookies. And they were waiting for him when they got home.

Video Link

I just tried to watch Cade's video and it looks way too dark on my screen. I hope you are able to see it.

Adorable little ones...

The 3 oldest were all in Wade's cousin's wedding this past weekend.
They were all so adorable and actually behaved themselves exceptionally well!

Riley was a Jr. Bridesmaid

Brooke the flower girl, and Cade the ring bearer.

J.P. went too...

Of course, the kids favorite part was the dancing. Check out this video of Cade. We may have to rename him J.B. (for Mr. James Brown)...Would that be confusing? JP and JB?

ps. I don't know what happened to the audio but you can see why he was the star of the dance floor.

The whole family...how lucky am I?

Through the Eyes of a Child

This morning I had the TV on and someone was promoting the new movie "Funny People". Adam Sandler is in it and the kids recently watched his movie Bedtime Stories and so Riley asked if we could go see the movie.
I said, "No, you can't see it because it's an R movie...that means its only for adults"
She said, "Is it because they use potty language?"
I nodded and said "yep"
She said, " So they say like 'shut up' and 'suck' and 'stupid'?"
Made me smile, how innocent she is...

Our 4th Celebration

Below is a snapshot of what our 4th looked like this year.

One of our family traditions is that we go blackberry picking every year...not necessarily on the 4th, but because of the OK weather this season a lot of crops didn't make it (and if they did they were delayed in producing fruit). This year we woke up early on the 4th to go picking and got just over 2 lbs before the skies opened up and drenched us in the fields. The rains (unfortunately) didn't let up and our neighborhood parade got cancelled. The kids were pretty disappointed as we had already decorated our wagon, scooters and bikes. But the weather eventually let up and by afternoon we were poolside. Wade grilled delicious ribs and we had plenty of yummy sides. For dessert? Our flag cake (see slide show), *fresh* blackberry pie, and homemade ice cream. It was such a great day. I LOVE the 4th...the weather, the kids excitement with the fireworks, the food, and just hanging out with family and friends without the pressure of gifts and travel.
What a blessed life we live...reminds me of a quote by Erma Bombeck: "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence...with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness."

No Job Like It

Father's Day at the Lake

This was definitely among the best Father's days we've had. We decided to spend the day at the lake and although it was hot (when isn't it hot in Oklahoma) we had a blast.

We did a little bit of everything...fishing,

swimming,

tubing... (this is Riley and Cade)

We were so worried about how J.P. was going to do...but he was a champ. He loved the boat.

Brooke, Riley, Clark, and Cade lovin' the water...

Now I desperately want a boat. *hint hint Wade...next Mother's Day ;)

2 Month Check-Up

We had our 2 month checkup last week and what a boy we have.

He weighed in at 14.25 lbs (which is in the 96%tile) and was 24.25 inches long (90%tile)

He is a HUGE baby. Very unlike our other babies. There's no worrying if he is getting enough to eat.

I finally rejoined the living these last 2 weeks.

Rejoined my monthly DDD Alumni dinner. This was really the first night I had without J.P. Mixed emotions...was really good to get away, but felt like no one can really take care of him like I can. Wade is a good daddy, but 4 under 7 is a lot for anyone to take on.

Finally made it back to Book Club...Wanna have a baby? Join our book club...we're pretty fertile. Charlie is next to J.P...he is a month younger. Harper is next to him and she is a month older. Kay is newly pregnant and we're not sure what she's having yet.

Natalie came in town and we all wanted to meet little Emma, so Jennifer hosted a mini Tri Delt playdate at her house. I'm sure I provided some good birth control for some of them. Of this group only Adriane has 2. Ashley has 1 (and one on the way), the other 3 have only one so far, (2 have none). My crew may have scared them off from wanting more. It was a lot of fun to get the little ones together. Times sure have changed. Can't believe I graduated college 10 years ago. I'm officially old.

Got some great pictures from Father's Day at the Lake and the 4th. Will try to update again soon.

Been there...there now...(again)

How do they know just what you need to keep going?

Some pics of the new guy

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures. I need to go through them, but thought I'd put a few out. JP getting bigger--he is a chub...I've already given up carrying him in the baby carrier...

Dreaming of scoring some touchdowns like daddy

A little too small for the jogging stroller...

We've gotten a few smiles from him

"I wuv KP"

(Brooke cant say her J's so she calls him KP)--she is totally in love with him...she stares at him like this all the time.

Welcome J.P.

Here's our newest little dude...

He's 3 weeks old and just lost his umbilical cord stump a couple days ago.

I forget how exhausting it is to have a newborn...the sleepless nights are not as easy as they used to be, probably because I still have to get up and get kids out the door and on the bus. But I know it will pass...

This is JP throwing his 'west side' gang signs...

JP had his first playdate. This is Harper, she's a month older than him...look at the cougar trying to grab his hand...robbing the cradle, literally.

I have lots of photos to upload on the computer, but haven't had a lot of time to do that, so this will have to do for now. Enjoy.

Hoppy Easter

Had a really nice Easter. The kids did the usual...colored eggs, neighborhood egg hunt, scavenger hunt for baskets. Tried to cut back on the candy this year seeing as mom has a hard time keeping her hands off it, but couldn't help buying some of the faves. I love these munchkins (4 legged one included).

Our Final Vacation as a Family of 5...

3 Weeks ago was Spring Break. We wanted to do one last trip as our little family of 5 but because I'm so far along I had to stay close. So we decided to spend a couple days in "the City" (a.k.a. Oklahoma City) and then on down to Dallas for a few days. We jam-packed the trip but we all had a lot of fun. The kids favorite part were the pool in the hotels...go figure (we could have checked into a Super 8 here in Tulsa and saved some moolah).
But we really had a lot of fun. Thought I'd share a few pictures of our trip.

OKC:

We visited the OKC Memorial. Incidentally the 14th anniversary of the attack is about 2 weeks away, it happened the year I moved to Tulsa. All the little details of the site are fascinating.

The chairs are in 9 rows (for the 9 floors of the building). They have a chair for each victim. The 2nd floor was where the day care was so the 2nd row has the smaller chairs for the children killed. Most of the chairs are in the middle of the "field" to indicate where most of the deaths happened (where the bomb went off). 5 chairs are on the outer edge of the "field" to indicate the victims that were killed in the street (and one rescue worker). A part of the original building remains and all the survivor names are etched in the stone there. There are a lot more symbolic little touches throughout.

Wade and the kids in front of the reflection pool and survivor tree.

Other highlights of OKC were meeting up with Jody (a dear friend from college) and his wife Kelly. Spent some time in Bricktown and took the kids on this 3-D dragon roller coaster ride (which they loved, but it was pretty, oh...whats the word...lame. ) And we went to the Omniplex, a children's museum. Let's not forget the pool in the hotel...the kids fave.

Dallas:

Didn't really have a chance to catch our breath here. Had a little playdate with Holly (one of my DDD sisters and old roommates), went to the Ft. Worth Zoo with the Chadwicks (on the day that the rest of Dallas decided to go too). Met up with Jarrod and Brody and met Jarrod's fiance. Had dinner on St. Patty's day with Randy. Of course we had to stop at the outlet malls on the way back to Tulsa, although it's not really fun to shop when you can't try things on, but we got the kids some great things and lots of new stuff at the Banana outlet for Wade. I did buy a BCBG dress for $19 (originally $109)...sorry you cant pass up a price like that. Someday I'll be able to fit in it.

The zoo had the funniest little kangaroo (Shaina and I called him the "playboy kangaroo"...it's almost like he was "posing" for the crowd.

That's our spring break in pictures. Saw lots of friends, had lots of fun, and am glad we had a few days to recover in Tulsa before returning to the real world.

Spring Snow

Somebody forgot to tell the weather here in Tulsa that it's nearly April.
It's spring, that means tornado season, but we got this freak snow system on Saturday. It doesn't snow much in Tulsa and if it does you better get out in it because it will be gone the next day. There are no traces of snow today, being as it's 70 degrees, but Saturday we got about 6 inches here in Tulsa.

I thought it would be fun to get out and build a snowman, but it turns out that I can't really bend over that well being 8 months pregnant. But we managed to put together a pretty good Frosty.

Today's Pregnancy Tip

Pregnancy survival skill: How to get out of a soft chair
Put your feet flat on the floor and bend from the hips.
Push on the armrests with your hands!
Use your stomach muscles.
If upward motion is still elusive, pick up your magazine and yell for more mint-chip ice cream. (Standing up is totally overrated anyway.)

A Sweet Day

Krispy Kreme Field Trip

Cade had a field trip with his preschool class to Krispy Kreme yesterday. Probably the best field trip of the season... I still remember my field trip to the "Twinkie" factory in grade school.

They showed us how the "powder" becomes dough, how the different donuts are formed, how to "fill" a jelly filled.

They can make 270 dozen donuts an hour.

Cade's favorite part was checking out the glaze waterfall.

The highlight was that each kid got to "make" their own donut.
Cade got more sprinkles on his donut than any other kid.

Cade with a pre-cooked donut hole.

There's this kid Jaden in his class. Jaden is one of those 'know it all' kids who tattles on everyone and always has to one-up everyone. He CAN be very sweet, but he chooses not too be most of the time. On the bus ride, he turned around and this was part of our conversation...

Jaden: "Cade brought a gun to school today...a squirt gun, he showed it to me".

Me: "He did?"

Jaden: "I have a gun too"

Me: "Wow, well Cade really only has pretend guns"

Jaden: "Mine are real"

Me: "Really, aren't you too young to have a real gun"

Jaden: "I have a shotgun and a pistol...they're real"

Me: "Yes, you said that" (remembering I add...) "Cade has a nerf gun too, do you know what that is?"

Jaden: "Yeah, I have ten!"

Of course you do...I just had to laugh. Funny kid. I wonder what my kids say sometimes when I'm not around to hear them.

Cade's teacher told me a sweet story. They were explaining to their kids that their parents could go on the trip and they could either meet them at Krispy Kreme or that they could pay $1.00 and ride the bus with the school. He said, "my mommy can get some money out of my 'piddy bank' cause my mommy ran out of money".

Such a "sweet" kid!

A little Funny

I get this weekly email that updates me on how the baby is growing and developing each week and at the end of it was this little "Question & Answer" segment on Childbirth class---it made me laugh and I thought I'd share a portion of it.

Q: Will keeping a hand in a bucket of ice during class really approximate labor pain?
A: Yes, more or less — just imagine the ice is the polar ice cap and you're slowly being crushed under it while somebody jabs an icicle in your spine.

Q: Will there be men in the class who snicker every time the instructor says the word "vagina"?
A: Yes.

Q: Will my husband be one of them?
A: Probably.

Victory

We had a huge victory in our house this past week.
Brooke has been sick with the Rotavirus (which is a nasty vomitty, diarrhea-y high fever illness). She was so dehydrated they sent us to the hospital to get some IV fluids in her. We were there most the afternoon and night. She's doing much better now...but the huge feat was that no one else got it! Usually this house is sick for 2 weeks with one kid passing it to the next and this time no one else has gotten it!
I was talking to my brother tonight and he mentioned how impressive that was considering how "VomitFest '08" wickedly spread through multiple families and spanned 4 states.

Also I have a new nephew...my brother Heath just had his first! Which, according to Riley now makes him an adult (she doesn't think you are an adult unless you have kids). He's a cutie. Makes our total 4 nephews and 2 nieces.

Catching up on 08...moving on to 09

Ok, I get it...I'm a bad blogger.

It's been a month and a half since my last post. I guess since my dad is back from Afghanistan I dont feel the sense of urgency I had before. But for the other 2 people who read this here are the highlights since my last update...

Christmas Train! Had to get a few of the pics out there because in re-reading my last post, I said I would...

NYC has the Rockefeller Christmas Tree...Tulsa has Rhema Bible College. A 'must' Tulsa tradition for any family at Christmas time.

Christmas was good. I was actually sad when Winter Break was over. I didn't want the kids to go back to school. Of course Wade was home for 2 weeks and we had so much fun doing silly family stuff. If you ask the kids their favorite part of Christmas Break they wont say Christmas...we let them stay up as late as they wanted one night and watched movies, ate popcorn, made cookies...no one told them what time they had to go to bed. Brooke and I were the 1st ones gone (12:30)....Riley and Cade followed soon after. Wade put us all to bed. Riley was so mad when she woke up. She had wanted to make it ALL night. This picture to the left is Christmas (mid-morning) with my kiddos and our nephew Clark at their grandparents house.

Wade and I were in charge of the meat this year and made my mom's famous Prime Rib. It was delish. I made twice-baked potatos and a 'Legal Seafood' seafood casserole, homemade rolls (Carol's recipe...is there any other?) and this "Snowman Cake". It would have been much easier to just have the dinner at our house, but there's something about going to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner...so we schlepped it all over there. The snowman cake was made out of oreos and chocolate pudding...it was out of a kid's cookbook...but it was actually pretty good. It's hard to go wrong with Oreo's in anything.

One of my oldest friends (23 years now) got married...perhaps the most fabulous wedding we've ever been too...it was unbelievable. It made me want to do it all over (of course with Wade again!) And Mandy looked gorgeous. She went all out and it was just the most amazing reception. Here's a pic of us...me in my big fat prego dress... Wish I had a better picture but like I tell Riley 'you get what you get, and you dont throw a fit'.

Here is a group of us preggo's from Natalie's shower, lined up in order of our due date. I've got the 2nd to last due date and somehow I look like the biggest one out there.
It's funny when I was pregnant 7 1/2 years ago with my 1st I didnt have any (Tulsa) friends with kids. Now that I'm pregnant with my last everyone is pregnant...it goes way beyond this pic...Riley is going to be able to babysit for all their kids.