I figured it out!

I got the pictures from the camera to the computer...seems like I am missing some, though. Most are from outside since that's where we are spending much of our free time right now.

Here's Justin - fast asleep. He sleeps exactly like Grant with his hands behind his head.

This is one of my daycare children, Trinity. It was such a nice day outside yesterday, that she just climbed onto the swing and fell asleep.

Here is Christian playing in the sandbox - pink sand (Grant's idea).
This was back in March when it wasn't quite warm yet, but we still bundled up and went outside anyway.

Justin loves to swing - the faster the better. He giggles a lot. I need to get it on video.

Have a wonderful Spring!

~Andi

Late Bloomer

I'm certain I won't have much time to write...one of the seven sleeping children is bound to wake up soon, but I'll just take advantage of the quiet while I have it.

Here it is April already. March actually turned out to be quite a busy month for us. Justin had a 9-month checkup, Grant had an eye exam, dental exam, and medical exam/immunizations to get all ready for Summer Enrichment Preschool this summer and Kindergarten this Fall. His kindergarten registration was also in March, so he got to see his school and meet the two kindergarten teachers (we won't find out which one will be his teacher until this summer).

Everyone had another cold in March, just to make sure winter didn't go away without us going through at least 3 more boxes of kleenex. The illness was short-lived for everyone except Brian, and Justin's runny nose kept hanging around and making him kind of miserable. We all seem back to good health now though. This beautiful weather is certainly helping.

Justin turned 10 months yesterday. He is double digits now! He is 29.5 inches long (85th percentile) and 21 pounds (50th percentile). He still has no teeth and still is not crawling, but his checkup was good and he is excelling verbally. He already says lots of words with meaning, and he is really showing his personality to us now. He loves to be played with, especially by his brothers. He is very social and will cry if he is left alone in a room. He also cries if I take him into the bathroom without giving him a bath. He LOVES baths. I think he's cuter than ever, and other people are constantly telling me how cute he is, so it must be true. I would post pictures, but they are all still on the camera. Brian made some changes to the computer and the old way of transferring pics to the computer doesn't work, and I haven't figured out the other way yet...but as soon as I do, there will be pictures. We did have family portraits taken in March, and most of you who read this blog will be getting copies of those pictures if you haven't already received them.

Have a Happy Easter, everyone.

~Andi

Grant's reverse-evolution

Last falls PBS premiered a new children's show that airs every morning called Dinosaur Train. I have personally come to really enjoy the show, and it has done a fantastic job of making Grant and Christian up and coming dinosaur experts. I also loved dinosaurs as a child, and the way this show is put together is ingenious in my humble opinion. The songs "Hungry, Hungry Herbivore," and "Every Dinosaur Poops" should be required viewing for children of all ages world-wide.

A couple nights ago, this dinosaur fascination reached new heights in our family. Grant was chasing Christian around the house after dinner with a T-Rex toy he has, and that quickly turned into me suddenly getting eaten by this toy. As I rose from my chair and declared my lack of fear for a tyrannosaurus-rex, justified by my bold announcement of being a Daddysaurus-rex, I delighted in the screams of my two oldest sons as they ran down the hallway towards their bedroom to get away from the family's newest version of the daddymonster. My joy was short lived...

Upon reaching their bedroom, the boys realized that they had effectively trapped themselves and guaranteed their quick demise. This epiphany held Christian in wide-eyed giggling fear as the Daddysaurus-Rex slowly came down the hallway, shaking the whole house with each step. But this epiphany did not have the same effect on Grant. In one of those moments of fatherhood that completely amazes you, my oldest son stepped in front of his younger brother and thundered at me in complete and total defiance of his fear the following:

"I'm not scared of the big bad Daddysuarus-Rex, because I'm a Monkeylawfulsaurus!!! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

After this shockingly brazen statement of fearlessness, I did not have a moment to think or act or respond in any sort of way before I had this new and unknown creature flying down the hallway at me with nothing in its eyes other than reckless abandon. Imagine my confusion and shock- I was the Daddysuarus-Rex, the terrifying king of the household, and I was suddenly being attacked, ATTACKED, buy this strangely courageous new villain. So great was my shock that I could not respond, I was spellbound by the defiance, the boldness, and the hilarity of my sudden change of circumstance. "Monkeylawfulsaurus? How the heck did he come up with that?" I thought to myself as I was pushed down the hallway and into my bedroom by my new nemesis. I was still chuckling at the name of my attacker as I was shoved onto my bed face-down. My mirth, however, quickly turned to utter horror as the reality of what a Monkeylawfulsuarus was capable of doing to a Daddysaurus-rex. Who would think that such a silly little creature with such an hysterical name, would be so devastating? My laughter became screams as the Monkeylawfulsuarus ferociously plunged his face into the small of my back, shaking his head violently back and forth, roaring like a bloodthirsty demon, and using JUST enough teeth to make me wonder if I was about to get bitten for real. The worst part was that it tickled. It tickled TERRIBLY!!! For a solid five minutes I lay face-down on my bed writhing in agony, screaming like a little girl while under the assault of this fiendishly wicked man-eating monster. I begged for mercy, I screamed for help, I flailed anything I could flail, but it was to no avail. From the dining room I faintly heard those most cruel words ever shouted, condemning me to my fate:

"Sorry I can't help you right now, I'm feeding Justin."

Eventually, the villain had his fill and victoriously climbed off his prey, turned off the light, and left the room, shutting the door behind him while I was gasping and choking for air. Never before have I known such fear. It is difficult for me to sleep at night now, knowing there is a Monkeylawfulsuarus lurking in the very next room. I do not know if I will ever be attacked by one again, but it is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I have been permanently scarred, psychologically speaking, from this terrifying event. Does Aflac cover Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? I should look into this. In the mean time:

FEAR THE MONKEYLAWFULSAURUS!!! AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!!!

Christian Speak

It seems like Christian is talking and talking nowadays. All of a sudden I recognize about 99 percent of the words coming out of his mouth. However, just because I know the words he is speaking, doesn't necessarily mean I understand what he is trying to say! And sometimes he makes up funny words on purpose - just to throw me.
His imagination is just exploding right now, too. He loves to pretend that he is a character from a book or movie that he has read or seen. And the rest of us always get assigned a character as well. It is really fun to see who I get to "be" each day.
Recent funny things Christian has said:
One morning I came out of my bedroom before sunrise and heard a little voice saying something, but couldn't quite make out what it was...The door to Grant and Christian's room was open a crack and the hall light was on. As I opened the door to the boys' room, I saw Christian put his hand over his eyes and say "Aaaaahhhh! It's the Ghostlight!" This will only be funny to you if you have seen the movie "Cars". It was so funny to me that I am still laughing about it.

The other day Christian was sitting cross-legged for a while and tried to get up and told us that his foot was "broken". We think he meant that his foot was asleep.

Today he was playing a game with Grant called "Hullaballoo" (not too sure of the exact spelling). At one point in the game, Grant was supposed to do a dance. Grant's idea of dancing is running around the room as fast as he can. When he was finished Christian said, "Grant, that's a great funky dance!"

Amazing what little it takes from my children to elicit a smile from me.
~Andi

Grant's Sleepover

Grant's sleepover went off without a hitch. He was such a big boy about everything - he even packed himself. It was interesting spending that much time with Christian without Grant. He seems so much better behaved without Grant around...imagine that. It was quiet, too. Grant is our little "bossy boiler" and thinks he runs the show around here. While it was a nice break from him Friday night - both Christian and I were happy to see him on Saturday.
~Andi

An Update...How's That For a Catchy Title?

I can't say that I started this New Year off quite the way I wanted to. January is nearly over and I haven't even posted Christmas pictures yet. By way of excuses, the rest of the family (and daycare) and I have been sick for over two weeks now. We've all had a cold, and just when I thought I should be getting better by now, my ears started hurting mercilessly. Good thing I gave in and went to the doctor yesterday - I have a double ear infection. Apparently adults CAN get ear infections. I just don't think I've had one since I was a child. Antibiotics - what wonderful inventions! This is the first time in two weeks that I have had the energy to do much of anything after putting the boys to bed for the night. Unfortunately, my post will still be short as I have A LOT of housework to catch up on as well.

If the Christmas pictures look like they were taken by children, it's because they were. Grant and Christian both received "Kid Tough" digital cameras from Santa, and they took lots of pictures, about 300 each to be inexact. Most weren't worth saving, but they did manage to get some good ones. Grant's favorite subject is Justin, so he took lots of pictures of him. That's great since he is growing and changing so fast right now. I can't believe he will be eight months old next week! He had a checkup earlier in the month, and measured 28.5 inches long and 18 pounds, 3 ounces. His weight was (shockingly) only 50th percentile, but his height was 90th percentile. I could tell he was tall, as he has already started wearing some 12 month clothes, but it didn't really hit me how tall until that checkup. He is doing well, now that he is mostly over his cold. He still has a lingering cough (we all do), but he is back to sleeping through the night and smiling and laughing and being himself. Christian is mostly potty trained now. At least he is staying dry most of the time...number two is still a work in progress. He is not too happy about leaving nursery for Sunbeams in primary, but he is adjusting slowly. Grant, on the other hand, seems to really enjoy being the older brother in Primary. He takes Christian by the hand and walks him to the Primary room, and has even started participating at times. He has another "big boy" moment coming up this weekend. For Christmas, his Grandma Pabst gave him a little red duffle bag and told him that he could use it for sleepovers at her house. Grant has never slept over anywhere without Mommy or Daddy. He thinks he is ready now, but Grandma lives in Hannibal, and he wants to do a trial run a little closer to home. This Friday night he will be sleeping over at "Grandmommy's" house without Mommy or Daddy there. He knows we are just across town from them, so he will be fine. We'll let you know how it goes. All my babies are growing up. It's exciting and scary at the same time.

Happy New Year!
~Andi

Grant Turns 5

I have been trying to complete this post since Grant's birthday over two weeks ago. I keep getting interrupted by children or other things, so I'm just going to go ahead and post what I've done so far. At this rate I'll be posting Christmas pictures before I get done with Grant's birthday.
~Andi










Hard to believe that my baby is 5 years old. I think he had a fun birthday. He kind of got two birthdays since his birthday fell on a Wednesday, but we didn't have his party until Saturday. On his birthday, he got to pick everything we had for dinner. I even made his favorite homemade French bread - a first for me! After dinner, he wanted to go to the last MU volleyball game of the year. The Tigers lost the game, but Grant still seemed to have fun watching Truman and the game. My favorite part was Grant pretending to be grumpy with the team that they lost on his birthday...how dare they? On Saturday the 28th, we took the boys to Going Bonkers to play before going home for cake (carrot cake, which made Daddy and others happy) and ice cream and birthday presents. Bonkers was made all the more fun for Grant by having Uncle Eric, Uncle Kevin, Grandma & Grandpa Pabst, and Aunt Sarah join us there. At home, we were joined by Aunt Brenda and Grandmommy and Grandpapa (Moegling). Grant got so many nice things, I'm not sure what there is left for Santa to bring him for Christmas...although according to Grant there is still plenty he needs.
Grant and I are so much alike that we butt heads a lot, I'm afraid. He can be a little obsessive compulsive about things and a bit of a control freak. He has a photographic memory (mine used to be, but it barely exists since having children), and he loves to learn new things - especially about construction trucks, outer space, dinosaurs, or sports. He likes things to make sense to him. He has an unusual desire for someone so young not to be embarrassed. He will not do the "silly" actions to the primary songs - not in public, anyway. He is very cautious about anything new or unfamiliar. He is however, still a boy at home. He is loud and plays rough with his dad and brothers.