He never does things by halves

Jace lost his first tooth tonight! And it was the most memorable tooth pulling experience I have ever seen! We're all still laughing about it. Jace is the funniest kid...he's ridiculous. And all four kids were so into the tooth pulling! It was great.



And yes, that's me at 27.5 weeks pregnant. I shudder to think what I will look like come July! But it's all worth it for the adorable baby boy I saw on another ultrasound this week! I think he looks like Seth, but I have no good pictures to share, unfortunately. He's big, though, already measuring a few weeks ahead. Following in his big brothers footsteps. Hopefully he decides to beat them when it comes to gestational age at birth, though!

Now I'm off to study some Statistics. Super fun, let me tell you!

We're off to see a wizard

It's late and I'm about to fall asleep, but I didn't want to break my streak by not posting tonight. I have a houseful of sick children, and there has been way too much projectile vomit going on in this house today. The kids all got flu shots recently, so I don't know if that's what's causing this, but all four of them are sick. Whiny, achy, vomity, sickly children. Now you really want to come hang out with me, huh?

Just after Christmas Ava and Jace and I got away to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We had read the first book together over the summer (I have ready them all about fifty times a piece and have been wanting to go for a very long time...nerd, I know), and they've seen the first movie. So we braved the week-after-Christmas crowds and headed in.

It. Was. Insane. So packed, and so, so cold. We almost died. Not joking. Those aren't awkward smiled, they're chattering teeth. The early morning was brutal. Even by northern standards, according to all the tourists there.

We had to wait two hours in line to go into Ollivander's wand shop just to spend a ridiculous amount of money on wands. But...and this will prove to you how nerdy all three of us are...it was worth it. There were lots of really cool little things to look at in line, like the windows of Flourish and Blott's and a set up of Quidditch gear. 

The whole place is extremely immersive and realistic looking, and we had a great time wandering around with the thousands of other people in the park. In fact, it got so crowded they couldn't even let anyone else in until 8 pm that night. 

We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks and I failed to sample a butterbeer. I don't know. I need someone to tell me what it tastes like before I try it. 

Even in the cold, we had a great time, and Ava was just thrilled with the way she could finally see everything we'd been reading about. We saw the rest of Islands of Adventure as well, but the Harry Potter section of the park is definitely what the kids came home talking about. 

In fact, now they can't wait until they turn eleven to find out of these faulty wands will ever work, or if they'll be sentenced to being Muggles for the rest of their days. Jace, especially, thinks that there aren't many things worse than being a Muggle and not getting invited to Hogwarts. He is still squarely in the "suspension of disbelief" phase of life, while Ava is inching out of it, but I have to admit I love how seriously he takes things. He's also changed his name to Harry Potter, thank you very much. I think I know what their halloween costumes may be next year! I think Seth could be a great Draco, personally. 

Okay, now I'm seriously off to bed. Let's hope there is not more vomit tonight!

Jace-Ism

Me: Jace, can you pick up the play area before we eat?

Jace: By myself?

Me: Yep, this is your mess, so pick it up.

Jace: You cannot be serious. I can't do this alone.

Me: Yes you can. I believe in you...just pick it up.

Jace: Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mom. I seriously can't do this alone.

Me: What? Who are you? What five year old says that?

Jace: Me, Mom! I'm Jace. We've met before.

Happy 5th Birthday, Jace!

Today, the Knight of our household, the bug killer, the quality cuddler, the non-stop talker in our family...today, he turns five. 

Actually, I should say he turned five at 1:35 this morning. The night I went into labor with Jace, I was 35 weeks pregnant. I was sure it wasn't labor at all, and we went for a typical nightly walk downtown. My contractions kept coming, though, and finally, after I made sure Ava was in bed and asleep, I agreed to go to the hospital just to check things out. I stood at the door, waving.

 "We'll be back soon!" I said, smiling. "I'm sure it's just a false alarm!"

On the thirty minute drive to the hospital, though, things got more intense. I remember holding onto the bar at the top of the Jeep. (Growing up, we called them Oh Shit! bars, and for the life of me I can't think of a better name for them, so there you go, I've just sworn on my blog.)  I was hanging onto it for dear life, thinking that this labor thing...it was not so fun. But before I knew it I was in a room. I was obviously in denial about being in labor, and so when my water broke right there in the room, I said to my husband "I guess you can call people now. I don't think they can send you home after your water breaks." Then I immediately turned to the nurse. "Or can you?" I asked. 

She assured me that I was being admitted, which made me realize that I was having a baby. As I was laboring, I turned to John, whose birthday was the 22nd. "I'm sorry. I haven't had a chance to get you a present!" He assured me it was okay and shortly thereafter, Jace was born screaming. I should have known right then that a baby who was yelling before he was even out would never stop talking. 

,

It was a while before we noticed anything was wrong. Jace was seven pounds and six ounces, a nice, big size for a 35 weeker. His apgars were good. But over time we noticed he was really struggling to breathe, and he just kept getting worse. After five hours he was finally taken to the NICU and before we knew it he was on a ventilator. It was nearly a week before I would hold him again. 

Pneumonia and premature lungs combined to throw Jace some rough curve balls, but when he finally recovered and came home, it was like he'd never been sick. Jace was an incredibly happy, self sufficient baby. He crawled before he was six months old, walked and talked (and talked and talked) on time, and then he turned one and went completely insane. 

I'm telling you, we didn't leave our house for a year. Jace was the most stubborn, independent toddler I had ever seen (until his brother Seth came along, who learned all  his tricks and then some). Finally, when he turned two, he found some self control and we were able to go out in public again. Life with Jace has always been exciting and never ever boring. 

My five year old is sweet and loud, exuberant and sensitive. He is funny and a great dancer. He tends to hide food under his bed so that he can have a snack at night and then blames it on his sister. He is his sister's twin born a year later. I have never seen two siblings more bonded together. He loves fiercely and intensely and will stand up for anyone. He says he's going to live at home with me until he's eighty, then get married. Maybe. 

I'm pretty blessed to have such an amazing oldest son!

Happy Birthday, Jacie!

Splish Splash

Today was one of those perfect, perfect end of summer days

It was amazing...We had the pool to ourselves and we all just hung out

I'd love to just repeat this day a few more times

Seth has fallen in love with splashing

And Jace kept me laughing as usual

Evany loved floating around



It was so peaceful, even with four crazy kids all around



I'm loving watching Vivi grow into her personality



And seeing my girls bond was beyond cool



What a great day

Maybe we'll do it again tomorrow

The Man of the House

He's my very own bug killing, imaginary animal swording, cuddle bugging, non-stop talking, man of the house. 

I was shopping for his school uniforms tonight online and it hit me...he's growing up. He'll be five soon. He's finally starting his educational career at the best school ever, where he'll be right down the hall from his sister. I thought this day might never come! He is a bundle of contradictions. He is wild yet sweet, very distractible and very bright, and even though he's a non stop ball of energy he will stand holding a door open for anyone and everyone until I physically drag him away. He is a gentleman in the making in the midst of being a fun loving little boy.

He's the best. 

They're ready for their close ups!

Ava and Jace were in the mood for a photo shoot the other night after we finished reading. They wanted to pose with different "faces". This was there take:

Show me mad!

Show me....sad!

Okay, now let's see happy!

Okay, how about excited?

Alright, now show me your very Jace-est face!

And show me a look that is totally Ava!

My oldest two get less blog time than the babies, since they rarely sit still enough for me to photograph them and they're busy being big kids. But I thought their different expressions of, well...expressions, was pretty great. Of course, they are my kids...I think they're pretty great regardless, even when they drive me up the wall being the little know it alls they are!

The Grad, Part 1

This is Jace's Pre-K teacher with Jace.

Maybe you can see from this photo why I was crying like a baby when he graduated on Wednesday.


This lovely lady has brought Jace so far this year that I'll be indebted to her forever. She's been there for me, for the kids, and I'm thrilled that Seth will be starting at her preschool next year.


Luckily, there were funny moments, too, and the story is coming soon. But for now...I just had to share this picture that is worth way more than a thousand words to me.

For Sale: One Four Year Old

Don't let the innocent expression fool you.

On Saturday, the kids and I went up to the rodeo (The same rodeo we went to this time last year. Jace got a little wild then, too). We had friends up there with their kids as well, some older girls and younger boys and when we got there, they all ate lunch together and then went to watch the races. We, being the super responsible parents we are, watched them from the main picnic table area thing and assumed the older girls would keep the younger ones in check.

Are you laughing yet? Be nice to me, I didn't mean to lose him momentarily.

Not fifteen minutes after they ate lunch and went off to play, the announcer stopped calling the barrel racing times and issued an announcement. A public service announcement, if you will. A very pointed public service announcement.

"There is a BOY running around slapping horses on the butt and pulling their tails! SOMEONE needs to find their son and rein them in or someone is going to get hurt and it will be NO ONE'S fault!"

I immediately knew it was Jace, even though no description had been given. I threw the baby at my friend Christy and ran down the steps only to see Jace running towards me full tilt. "I did not pull his tail! I didn't! I was just trying to run my finger through his tail hair and my hand got stuck!" Tears were rolling down his face and he was inconsolable. "It's a lie! I didn't hit him!"

It was the saddest thing ever. He got in trouble anyway, of course, for wandering off from the pack and getting way to close to the horses for my comfort (and I grew up around horses, and the kids do know how they're supposed to behave around them). Luckily he didn't get hurt and I made sure to pay much closer attention to him from that point on. Definite parenting fail on my part. I just thought he'd stay with his sister.

And I thought the drama was over then, but as we were getting ready to leave, a girl rode her horse up to the watering trough and Jace lost it all over again and took off after the horse, yelling "Stop!" as it lowered it's head to drink. I caught him by the arm before he could rush the horse and asked what in the world was going on, and he flipped out, saying he couldn't let the horse drink because it was going to eat all the fish and he was trying to protect them.

I was really confused and thought he was either really imaginative or really crazy until I found out there really were fish in the trough. Apparently they eat the mosquito larvae and so they keep the troughs stocked with them. You learn something new every day. It was still impossible to convince Jace that the horses weren't mortally wounding the fish, though. He was dead set on protecting the poor defenseless things.

He's going to be the death of me.

Serenade

Our Christmas gift to you all is Ava and Jace singing a song just for you.

And no, they're not wearing pants. That's just how we roll. Who needs pants?

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas Eve!

I think they're kind of happy

Seth was already asleep when we finally got discharged, but Evany still had a welcoming committee at home!

We're settling in at home and so happy to be here. Kind of delirious with exhaustion, but so glad to be under one roof.

Can't forget the Knight...

I just can't do cute photo posts of both Ava and Seth without throwing in some cute pictures of my man of the house. Yes, these posts are short on content but long on cute! Besides, I'm feeling dramatic tonight and believe me, you do not feel like hearing me kvetch. Like, for instance, did you know that my dishwasher is broken? I tried to fix it but I broke it more. That was frustrating. And I still only have one working bathroom, although I have done just about everything with a toilet snake you can do, and I will forever feel a little dirty because of it. And my refrigerator is making a very strange sound. My houses organs seem to be slowly shutting down. But...oh yeah, this is a post about Jace, yes?

Yes. Such a happy boy...he is in love with his Pre-K teacher this year, and he thinks she is the prettiest girl in his class. She is pretty amazing, I have to say. He left his sweatshirt at school today and when he realized it he told me "Wow, that wasn't a very good idea. I really should have remembered it." Totally rational response. You might not think much of that, but if you saw him last year, when he got sent home from school because he couldn't recover from the trifecta of broken potato chips, uneven socks, and a wrinkled rest time towel and had to be picked up early because he had the tantrum to end all tantrums, you would see how far he's come. (Wow, that was a crazy long sentence. Sorry.) I am loving four on Jace so, so much more than three. Three was a tough one for us.

He loves his brother and sister and is excited about the new baby and is already asking when we can have another one. "Let's have ten more babies!" He tells me all the time. I tell him maybe we'll take it one at a time. I guess it's a good thing that he looks at new siblings in a positive light, but there is no way I am having ten more babies. Seriously, dude.

He's starting to branch out with his career choices, and he's now contemplating either being a knight or a clown when he grows up. Because those are both definitely up and coming professions in our area, you know. He also says that the main thing he is going to do when he grows up is never, ever move out of my house and live with me forever.

Fine with me, buddy.

Jace & Sara

Jace and Sara, one of his best friends, escaped into the field behind their preschool this morning. Her mom and I  tracked them by following Sara's very unique and singular voice calling Jace's name, as we reminded ourselves to get that priceless sound bite ("Jaceeeeey!) on tape soon. They started off frolicking across the field together, but then we noticed them getting a little squirelly.

After a mischievous glance back at us, Jace started running, and Sara...well, Sara started chasing him down. 

After some halfhearted games of chase, Jace let himself get "caught" and deigned to pose for a quick picture with Sara.

Apparently Sara wasn't thrilled with the expression on his face, so she started pouting, like girls do (Okay, not meaning to generalize...like I personally always did when boys didn't behave the way I liked).

After doing a great job practicing using the lip to get him to bend to her will, he managed to rustle up a more enthusiastic expression for the next photograph.

Are they not just the cutest things you've ever seen? What cracks me up the most is how adorable and little Sara is...they look like they have the same proportions as a grown up couple, which never fails to make me laugh.

I love that they have been friends literally since before they were born. I hope they stay friends for a long time!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween and lots of fun sneaking their kids candy!

Hanging with Mickey

The kids were super excited about their trip to the Magic Kingdom. Ava insisted on a photo op in front of these pumpkins, which, she said, were much better than the pumpkins we carved because they won't rot. It's true...our pumpkins are already a black, moldy mess on our porch. Florida sucks sometimes. Also...the cold snap is over, if you couldn't tell.

Ava and Jace were big old fans of the 3-D glasses for Mickey's Philharmagic. Seth was also a huge fan...he put his on about fifty times and snapped them in two before the show even started. Every time he got them onto his face, he would bounce up and down excitedly then rip them off, and do it all over again. It was lots of fun, especially the first twenty times.

Jace was crazy about this elephant. He was convinced if he could somehow get up high enough, he could ride on it's back. I had to discourage that, seeing as it's a big shrub. He wasn't impressed.

This is Ava and Jace on the way into Snow White's Scary Adventure. That's why Ava looks a little manic...she was giving me a running commentary on all the scary things that were about to happen. I love how Seth looks like such a big boy hanging onto the bar.

All three kids got their very first pairs of Mickey Ears...if you can't tell, they chose and assembled them on their own. That's why they're ugly. Or unique. Whichever. If you know me you know it was a big leap for me to let them pick whatever they wanted without guiding their choices. The green ears glow in the dark, which they thought was the coolest thing in the entire world. And no, I don't know why Jace is being weird and grabbing his shorts. They were jumping up and down, he's a boy, I don't know. Weird.

But really, can you believe how big this boy is getting? He had the time of his life at Disney and he's just so cute I totally want to go wake him up right now just to cuddle with him. I won't, but I want to.