"I Heart NY" Family Pics

We got these T shirts a little after Christmas from Sam's parents, they had requested that each of their children and their families take pictures. They have been serving in New York on their mission. I tucked them away, I had Rowan, and totally forgot that I needed to take these pictures. So finally! We have a gate in our backyard that opens up into this nice grassy area with big trees, and what a perfect place to take the pictures.
Of course, a side from just simply putting these "I heart NY" shirts on and taking a family picture, New York actually does have a special place in my heart.
My first visit to New York was with my girlfriends, it was a few years into college, and we had wanted to take this big trip. The first night we got in we stayed at hotel in Brooklyn, and took the subway the next morning, when we walked out of the subway I looked up in the middle of Times Square and fell in love with the big city. There was something about it. I loved the hustle and bustle, I loved that Broadway was right beside, I loved the crispness of the air, and I loved that I was with my friends. It was unlike any trip even to this day.
The second time I was there I went with my parents as a college graduation celebration. I was a little concerned that the second time would not measure up to the first time, however, it was just as great. The company of my parents, who are two awesome people to have a fun time with, in New York City was an amazing combination. We had so many laughs, and great conversations, with great scenery. I have never been disappointed visiting.
Then, of course, to live in New York for a couple of years, and though we were living in Long Island we were still in New York. I truly do "heart" NY.

Happy Fathers Day 2014

Another Father's Day celebration with yet, another child to celebrate with. We tried to spell out "I heart dad" on the little feet in our house to then take a cute picture, and give that to Sam for Father's day, and needless to say, it was the hardest picture to ever capture in the history of photography. Rowan runs in place like he is training for a marathon constantly, and with his movement, and the attention spans I was working with I only had a couple a pictures that even close to turned out, and this was one of them. It was actually really fun, because these boys are fun and so cute, but still difficult to capture. 

But, I just wanted to write a little about Sam today.  Sam… he is a unique man. There are many sides to him, and he can be the fun, funny, and playful dad, and other times he is quiet and patient, and really intent on teaching the boys lessons. 

We got out the boys bikes the other day that we got for each of their birthdays so they could practice more. They are getting better at balancing them, and it helped a lot when our neighbor boys who are twin 4 year olds ride on their bikes all the time. Sam said one night, "maybe now was not the time to get them bikes." Disappointed that they didn't ride them more often, and I suggested, "Well, if you rode your bike around with them, I guarantee they would ride with you." One evening we got their bikes out again, and Sam took a moment, and then got his bike out, the moment he was riding with them they exclaimed, "You are riding with us, dad!" I think that he still realizing how much the boys really admire and love him, and want to learn things to be more like him. I think once he realizes this, it will be a game changer.

 I talked with a mother who had 4 kids whose ages ranged from 7 to 13, and she reminisced on how difficult this time is with small children, and that is very true. I sometimes don't know how I get through each day still smiling, well, probably because some days I am not smiling, but I am still sane. It is nice to have Sam not only reiterate to me how hard it is,  but what a good job he thinks I am doing, and that he will support me any time I need a night away. Being a good husband, and a good dad go hand in hand. We love our boys. Rowan is now 5 and 1/2 months so I can also say with confidence that Sam also really loves him now too. Ha!

 This is an adventure, and an adventure I couldn't do without Sam. 

Not Running Away From Home

 A few days ago I was at the peak of frustration, and it was only 8 in the morning, and I just couldn't believe I had to get through the rest of the day. Josh was not even close to behaving, and with Rowan screaming and crying in the background while dealing with Josh amped everything up. I gave myself a time out first just for a moment to see if I could breathe, calm down, and deal better with the tantrums surrounding my life. It did not work. Josh was continuing his craziness, and then it was his turn for a time out-keeping in mind-Rowan was still going ballistic. I sat outside the boys room and just bawled up. I wanted to cry, and scream, and mostly I wanted to run away from home. Kaj sat with me and said, "Mom, it will be OK." I didn't say anything. "What's wrong, Mom? Are you sad, Mom?" Kaj asked. I told him that, yes, I was indeed sad. I mumbled "I just want to run away from home." Not so loud that Kaj could hear me, and frankly it surprises if I am listened to the first I say something at a normal decibel let alone a whisper. But, Kaj had heard me, his big brown eyes filled with tears as he said "Mom we be so sad if you run away from home. Dad would be so sad, we all would be so sad. We love you." And, I looked at him, and suddenly I didn't want to run away from  home anymore. Kaj really is so tender hearted, and sweet. He has all those very sensitive qualities I saw in myself as a kid. And with that, it has both negative and positives sides. But, if I could teach him to pay more attention to what is going on around him I feel like he will be able to uplift others around him also. I learned a lot from Kaj in that moment. I was so thankful that I have such a sweet boy to realize that even Mom can be sad, but it quickly turned my day around all because of him.

Summer Time in Bend

We moved to Bend last fall in mid September. I was also very pregnant at the time, and we were mostly in transition-hybernation mode with intermittent appearances in the social setting, but summer time in Bend is whole new story! I love it. It is the most pleasant of temperatures every day mid 70s to 80s with a breeze. So amazing! We are frequenters to the river, and the pool, we recently took a ride around the old mill area on a group bicycle called a surrey-I have wanted to do this since I first set eyes on the wonderful invention and is now a must for anyone who comes to visit us. It is so fun, and the boys absolutely loved it! I will say that it confused me a little at first-no not the having to pedal obviously I was doing that-but there are two steering wheels, and as I was steering us around the first loop making sure that Sam and my steering was perfectly in sync with each other so we didn't hit passers by, or run in to any poles, I then realized his steering wheel was the only one with actual control, so duly noted. I have started trail running the loop by the river in the evening, and I couldn't ask for a more scenic run. It actually makes me want to run it-which is saying something. I like to take the boys to walk around by the bridge, and we usually get an ice-cream cone, and look at fish or the ducks, and all the people who float the river. The point is- visitors-come in and visit in the summer. 

The one down side is that there was a wildfire a few days ago. I first smelled it, before I noticed that the whole sky was a dust cloud, and the smoke coming from it was humungous! There was ashes falling from the sky for a day, and it ended up burning 600,000 acres. It has now been contained, but it was a little close for comfort for a day. 

But, because that it not an every day occurrence it should not deter anyone. So it took me a good 8 months to really enjoy it here, but I can say now, I am really loving Bend. 

I Have a 4 Year Old

 Kaj turned 4! I am very late in updating this seeing his birthday was a couple weeks ago, but I also can't just not say anything about this little boy. It is crazy to look at this boy as baby, and see how much 4 years can change. In 4 years we have moved to New York, finished grad school, moved to Oregon, and had 2 more kids. That's what 4 years can do! And that is wild stuff!!

Kaj has always been very tender hearted, and sensitive. I am enjoying him more and more. We have definitely had ups and downs, and challenges, and I am certain there will be many more. But I find that he is very good brother, and cares very much about Josh and Rowan, and wants to protect them. He loves to be with Sam, and he is starting to think of things he wants to do sometimes out of nowhere. Last night he got out of bed, and ran over to me, and asked, "Mom, can we go swimming!?" And when I said yes that we would be going swimming, he exclaimed, "YAY!!!" And when Sam got home from work he wanted to tell him goodnight, and about swimming.

Dictated by Kaj:
Likes:
Playing outside
Playing with his brothers
Angry Birds…(still)
Go to the playground
Play
Have some fun
Go on the Slides
Get on the stairs
Mac n Cheese
Help mom
Help Rowan


Friends:
Alicia and Mom
Conner
Joshy

Dislikes:
Not finding letters

So, there is Kaj for you. Though I would definitely add that he dislikes eating. Actually he is getting much better. But, lets just say at the doctor's appointment for 4 years he is 5% for weight. No surprises here, but my doctor didn't love that. Kaj has always loved the outdoors, and I know Sam is very excited to go skiing with him more, and biking with him more. I know Kaj would also love this. He also loves spending one on one time quality time with people, it could be me or Sam, Mor-Mor or Pappy. I have decided to make a chore chart now that he is 4, and a reward chart as well for good behavior, and when I thought of what his reward could be when I came up with the idea of doing Daddy-Kaj or Mommy-Kaj dates night, I knew that is the perfect thing for him. 

Kaj starts school this fall. I can't believe it. It is only 2 days a week for a few hours, which is perfect for everyone-including me. I think he will enjoy school. Kaj is very smart, and I think it will give a chance to interact with children differently than just playing. I am excited to see what this year will bring for Kaj. I love him very much. He is sweet, kind, and thankful. I know that I need to better and reminding him of what a good boy he really is. 

The Mom Award of the Year Goes To...

Me!!! Why you ask? Well, last week we had a streak of awesome weather here in Bend. It was sunny, and breezy, and delightful to be outside. (cue the song: "Good day Sunshine") (did you sing it?? Perfect.) So, some friends and I planned some outings to take advantage of the delightfulness, starting with a day at the river. This is a river that moves at a snail's pace, so it is not as if we are taking small children to the sit ashore the the Parana River (which turns out is the 8th fastest river in the world) We took them the week prior, and they mostly played in the mud, built sand castles, or dug holes, and maybe get their feet wet, but definitely got their clothes really dirty. It had been a normal day for me thus far. A little frazzled here and there, but mostly things were running smoothly, but of course, a little frazzled when I was arriving, because just the mere task of getting all 3 boys out the door, and with a packed diaper bag is a small miracle. The particular spot we like to go to has a trail, a park, and shopping all nearby so parking can be tricky, and by "tricky" I mean I will most likely be parallel parking. I should have known after I missed my turn twice to go into the parking area altogether going back through 2 round a bouts that this was going to be a bad idea, this frazzled me further, because I felt I was already running late.
I found an awesome parking spot. I tried my skills at parallel parking. I then had a parallel parking fail Once. Ok. Twice. Half way into a third, and then moved up to another parking space that I thought I could luck out and parallel park the first time. And luckily totally rocked it that time. I jumped out of the car, Rowan already crying. The list of: "How this is going down" began to form in my head. Grab Josh, then Rowan. Wait no, I need to get the stroller out of the car, then Josh, then Rowan, then Kaj. Grab the diaper bag, throw it into the bottom of the stroller. Kaj can sit in the back, click the carseat into the front, Josh can sit on the top while I hold on to him, and then we are all systems go. That was the plan. My van does this awesome thing. When I turn off my car it automatically opens my door, it does not open any other door, so I got to the part of the plan that was get the stroller. Dang it. The back was locked, go hit the button of my door to indicate all doors unlock, just as I realized I hit it the wrong way, locking all the doors, my door shut. My purse, my phone, my keys…and my CHILDREN all locked in the car. Expletive. Rowan was already crying, and it was a rather warm day. New plan. Run as fast as I can to my friend who would have her phone, run as fast as I can back to the car, call the police (I knew the police had to come unlock the car promptly if they knew kids were in the car) but encourage Kaj to unlock the car with his feet. (I had seen him do this many times) This time the plan was executed perfectly. So, as unawesome as this moment was, I did stay calm, and Kaj did end up being able to open the door just as the police arrived to help.
So, just to top off the day, almost to reiterate the kind of day I was having- that night Josh pooped in the tub. The water was drained, and Kaj told me what happened as he jumped out of the tub. I walked over apprehensively to see what mess I would be cleaning up, and Josh was still standing there, apparently unbeknownst to him what the big deal was. I asked Josh to hurry and come to me, and then he turned around, got frightened, and has not been able to look at the tub the same since. Living the dream over here.

Sweet Moments

This first picture captures my life perfectly right now. Leaving the house, not realizing that I had two completely different shoes on. Only when I was driving home did I look down and notice my error. I consider myself lucky if I am getting out of the house at all. Rowan is now 3 months. He is starting to smile, laugh, goo, and he tends to run in place quite a bit in fact, he is quite fast in the horizontal running event. I am seeing more and more of his sweet personality emerge, though he still can get sad throughout the day, it is not nearly as bad as it was. When he cries now, it sounds like he is saying "mum" over and over, which kinda melts my heart. 

The other two wild and crazy boys have had a moment each where I felt I had to document it. The boys were all downstairs on a Sunday putting shoes on, and as I was coming down the stairs ready for church Kaj said: "Whoa, mom! You look beautiful!" It was so adorable! The Josh moment came a week later. Sam had gotten him out of bed, and he had been hanging out in the play area for a bit, I was still cuddling with Rowan, though I was awake, and then I saw Josh coming into our room, he took out his pacifier, and came up to the bed to give me a kiss. Oh! I just love these boys sometimes! I love them all the time, but those sweet moments, make me so happy! 

Kaj and Josh are continuing to become the best of buddies every day. They love running around together, and wrestling, and wearing blankets over their heads to crawl around in, and their energy is through the roof. On the Sunday of spring break it was really crowded with visitors in town, and so our family as well as many others ended up in the foyer for whole meeting. Kaj was sitting with me practicing drawing all his letters, and Rowan was sleeping. Josh, on the other hand, was running around like a crazy man, he would run over to this bucket of salt in the entry way, wait for us to tell him to stop, laugh and run away, and do that a few hundred times, he wanted drinks from the drinking fountain a hundred times as well. It doesn't help that he gets a kick out of himself, and it probably helps even less that he actually is pretty hilarious, but Sam was chasing him down the whole time. Sam made the comment that we need a "horse tranquilizer for this kid." That is probably not far off. 

But, as always, I am very grateful for my crazy boys. And I love them to pieces!

Best Buds

Making Cookies

Kaj asked me one day "can you take a pictures of Kaj, mom, and dad?" coming from the boy who never wants to take a picture

Went with my friends and their kids to the museum between 4 girls and 14 kids total there is only 2 girls