New Hair

My sister wants to see what my new hair cut looks like. I got it cut a while back to chin length. Neither Matthew or I liked it. I took in a picture of Meg Ryan back in the 90's. This is what I got back.

These are both taken with my phone, so not the best pics. Its a pretty low maintenance haircut. I wash it, apply mousse and some hair texture stuff and let it dry. Sometimes it looks really good, and sometimes I don't like it. Matthew likes it better cause it looks like I try to do my hair. I can't just pull it up in a pony tail.
It doesn't look like Meg Ryan to me. But I think my hair is just too thick. 

 

Here we have a cute little pic of Reagan. McKinley applied the big skirt. Reagan can officially crawl. Actually she started crawling about a week ago. She's pretty good now. And she can finally sit up. She started crawling before she sat up. That is usually reversed. She doesn't have any problems sitting though. (no falling over or anything like that) Silly little girl. Hopefully she crawls for a long time and puts off walking. She still weighs in under 13 lbs. Well, she might be over now, but at 5 months, she was 12 lbs 12 oz. Tiny little squirt.

Boys: Noise covered in dirt

Our friends have a saying on their wall that kind of makes me laugh. "Boys: Noise covered in dirt." It seems that our boys prefer their dirt moist. Very moist. Like mud! 

Perhaps you remember from a while ago (click here June 2009) the following picture of Gavin sporting a handsome mud goatee when he was 2-ish. We blew this picture up big and hung it with one of McKinley when she was 2 in their room.

Apparently he thought Jamison has come of age and needs to know firsthand the joys of playing in mud. What better way to teach than to do? Gardens make excellent mud patches.

We'll blow one of these up big and hang it on the wall so we have a happy smiley Jamison at age 2 forever. We may have to hang their pictures in our bedroom so that when they are teens and all mopey and grumpy, we can remember how cute they once were....

Reagan

I finally got a good picture of Reagan smiling.

She is starting to smile more now, but there for a while she would only smile for me and only in the morning hours. She's kind of a grumpy baby. I'm not one to keep a food diary and see if its something I'm eating, but I have determined that she is sensitive to caffeine. The 2 days after I drink a Cherry coke are pretty brutal. Needless to say, I'm trying very hard to not drink them. Oh...and she can roll over! Cute, tiny little thing. She's coming up on 4 months. Its going by too fast. I'm barely starting to feel like I have a handle on my housework again. And that's only because Matthew has been doing the dishes.

We have yet to decide who Reagan looks like, if any of the other kids. I'll post pictures of them all about the same age. Then anyone who is bored or interested can weigh in.

Jamison-3 months

McKinley-3 months

Gavin-3 months-He was so fat!!

And can I just say, "I love my veggie eating kids!". They will eat more salad than pizza, more veggies off a veggie tray than bbq pulled pork, and they will ask for "healthy" snacks. Who knows if its genetic or not, but I remember eating plain lettuce as a kid. And my mom always told me my skin would turn orange cause I ate so many carrots. (always with ranch) I love vegetables! These pictures are just way too cute!

Can you guess what his favorite color is?

If you guessed green.....you are correct!

McKinley will eat whole lettuce leaves, too. They will all eat raw spinach. I've been eating a lot of that lately for lunch. Toss in a few strawberries, mandarin oranges, canned chicken, and a raspberry vinaigrette......So Good!
Well, Matthew is telling me that it is time for bed. First night for Reagan in her crib. She's getting to wiggly for the bassinet. Hopefully she doesn't wake Jamison up.
Night, all!!

My comments on camping

You should probably read Matthew's entry first. Its the one right below.




Done already? Read on then.......




So, I couldn't figure out how to write at the bottom of Matthew's post. Blogger changed the way we do things and we are still trying to figure it out.
Now you tell me.....how many women with 4 small children, one being the age of 3 months, would want to go camping in the pouring rain and temperatures down to freezing at night? I know of a few that did it. They were the mothers of Matthew and his cousins. However, I wonder if it was raining that year they had a 3 month old? Or if their 3 month old personally soiled more laundry than the other 3 children combined?
I do appreciate Bryant letting us use their old little camper. It kept us warm and dry. And I appreciate Morgan and Sophie letting Gavin and McKinley sleep in their tent. My children are always much more entertained when their aunts and uncles are around. McKinley has taken to Sophie and loves everything she does. She also loves her aunt Emily. Sophie is really in to bird watching and is teaching my kids to classify birds. Its pretty awesome. Sophie always worries about turning my kids into nerds. I don't mind. They are so much more willing to learn with other people. Mom just isn't that cool. (until it comes to me handling blood. They do think that's pretty cool.)
As Matthew mentioned, his extended family has been less enthusiastic about camping in recent years. Not to mention the change in dynamics of Matthew's own immediate family with the divorce of his parents. This camping trip was definitely different.  It is fun to see the brothers together, though, manning the boats their dad and uncles use to drive. Its always kind of poignant seeing the next generation take over what their father's use to do. We missed having Devin with us.
I very much enjoyed it once the rain stopped and it warmed up marginally. I spent most of Sunday morning in the camper with Reagan, trying to keep her warm and dry. Then the children came back from a very wet, rainy boat ride. More trying to keep cold, wet children warm, dry, and entertained. I was extremely pleased when the rain let up and we could all get outside again. We did go on a drive farther up the river. The boys and Reagan all fell asleep. It was a peaceful drive which I thoroughly enjoyed with Matthew and McKinley.
I was extremely pleased that I caught two fish whilst carrying Reagan. It makes me happy to catch fish. We ended up keeping one of mine and one of Gavin's as the hooks were too deep and the fish didn't survive the removal. Gavin was very excited to eat them! He thought we were going to cook them over the camp fire and was some what disappointed when we told him he had to wait till we got home. Silly boy!

Here is a picture of me, Reagan and Jamison, first thing in the morning. Matthew loves taking pictures like this. We have a very similar one of me, McKinley, and Gavin several years ago. I  mostly wanted you all to see little Reagan up close. She's so cute! (she proceeded to spit up all over right after this pic was snapped. In fact, I believe Matthew got a picture of that as well!)
I love my kids. And I love my husband. And I love that my husband wants my kids to learn to love the outdoors. And I love the outdoors.......when its not constantly raining!!! Even then, I don't mind it. I just wished my children were a little older during the rain. We'll pack more games next time. Old school games. No electronics allowed while we camp!! NEVER!

First camping trip of the season!

Memorial Day is and has always been a camping/fishing weekend for my family. Rain or shine. Erica finds it difficult to pack up and head camping whilst it is raining. It rained all day Saturday and Sunday until about 4:00. After that it turned out to be an enjoyable day and a half. It used to be a big family affair with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Nobody really came this year, even Dad had stuff going on so he couldn't come camp. It was just the brothers. I love my brothers, and although it is extremely difficult with children sometimes to go camping (especially in the rain) I had a fantastic time. There is just something about being in a forest by a river.

Here is one example of difficult children. As I was packing I could only find three pairs of socks for McKinley, the rest were probably stuffed under the back seat in the van, under her bed, under the couches, or some other random place. She gets out of the car and starts running around through the tall, wet grass in her tennis shoes, after being told to put her rain boots on. Pair of socks #1 now soaked. Rain boots now on. Time to go walk through puddles deeper than her boots are tall. Pair of socks #2 now soaked, as well as having wet boots the rest of the time. It's almost funny how as much as you try to keep children dry and warm, they seem to want to be wet and cold. Notice I said almost funny, meaning it is not funny.

We had a good time though. We took the boats out on Monday and have a good day. The fishing wasn't great but we did catch a few.

Enough talking. Let's look at some pictures. I'll leave a spot at the bottom for Erica to add any comments she sees fit.

Jamison jumping over the river that drained off the tarp while it rained.

Fish!!!

McKinley's first driving lesson. We all survived.

Erica and Baby Reagan caught a couple fish. See this one in the boat?!

Gavin was navigating Cold Springs while McKinley rowed with an oar.

Men-folk fishing

McKinley had fun too. How can you not have fun while riding in a boat called the 'Puddle Jumper'?!

I'm a soccer dad!

I don't really enjoy soccer that much but watching you kids play makes it bearable. Watching little kids play is almost humorous. All of the missed kicks and random wandering is funny. McKinley and Gavin have played for almost two months and I finally remembered to bring the camera on the last week. Gavin's team played a bunch of 3-yr olds who didn't last very long. I was waiting to get a few more pictures but then they quit.

Here is a funny picture of Gavin. If you click on it and make it big, you can see the intense look on his face, even though he missed kicking the ball.

If you look in the goal you can see three of the opponents lined up in the goal blocking. Good strategy huh!

Let's move on to McKinley's game. She is kind of silly. Her games are a little more exciting but she is not very focused. Most of the pictures I took were kind of silly. When the action is going on, I got distracted and forgot to take pictures then. She likes to talk with her friends during the game, among other things. See the photos below.

Here is McKinley performing her in-game stretches.

She was being goofy and putting her arms and legs inside her shirt.

Here is McKinley getting scored on. She was not exactly in the right spot.

And last but definitely not least, enjoy this short video of McKinley's mad soccer skills.

We are glad that they are done. They each had practice on different nights and Gavin's games were Saturday morning and McKinley's were in the afternoon. We went and got ice cream to celebrate the end of the season. It's hard to take up my time with the kids' hobbies when I've got things that I want to do. It seems that it is only going to get worse as they get older. I guess that is part of me growing up too. My time is a very precious thing, its hard to see it go other places.

Till next season, soccer fans!!!!

Not for the faint of heart....graphic pictures.....consider yourself warned

This was too cute not to post!  (Gavin and Reagan)

I always thought that McKinley would be the first to break a bone, get stitches, or otherwise injure herself seriously. She is much more daring than the boys are. Fell down the stairs multiple times as a toddler (which is terrible to watch), jumps high, rides hard, runs fast....all the elements for disaster. However, both the boys have beaten her to the punch.
Jamison joined Gavin in the "I've had stitches" club. Sadly, it was not some manly accident he can remember for years. He's young enough he won't even remember!! I bought a 3 pack of marinara sauce from Costco. They are glass jars inclosed in plastic wrap. Somehow they got knocked off the table, hit the chair, and somehow Jamison got cut in the process. No shattered glass. The plastic kept the glass from shattering. I have no idea how he got this cut, but it was nasty!!
Here you go.....(these were taken with a phone)..If you are of a weak constitution, do not continue to view ...
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.Located just above his right ankle on the front of his little leg. Even to me, these look bad! Right out of my nursing text books. You could see the subcutaneous layer...which is the layer of fat underneath all the skin. Not something you should see on a two year old. Not two cuts, just two different angles.

Here is the after party shot. One with flash, one without. I couldn't decide which one gave a better view. It looks like a bite mark. Nope, just a marinara mark.

 

He was a trooper at the Dr. office. The dr had a couple more stitches to go and Jamison pipes up, "I all done mom. I all done". He starts to pull his leg away and everything. Poor kid. Me: "Do you want me to carry you or do you want to walk?" Him: "I walk". Literally went jumping out of the office, none the worse for having a massive marinara bite mark. Tough kid! We love you, little man!