Lately....

I feel as though we've been busy lately, but then when I look back at the calendar, I'm not sure with what. I think you guys are just getting a lot busier and you're growing at a rate we can't seem to keep up with. For instance, today we went to Mason's 3rd Birthday Party at a place called Pump It Up. It's basically full of inflatable bounce house type obstacle courses and slides, you can't get hurt and you love it! My point is that we took you there probably around this time last year for another birthday party and you were so much younger and you really weren't that interested and couldn't really participate. As I watched you today I thought of that moment. I watched Finley and Brody struggle to climb up this inflatable rock climbing wall but they eventually got over it and went through the entire course. Something you never would have been able to physically do a year ago. And Quinn was just a newborn this time last year at the party but today she didn't struggle at all, she kept right up with you guys on most things, she went down the slides if someone helped her get to them, she bounced in all the houses and laughed every time she fell! So I need you guys to stop growing so fast!

Finley Paige....
You are literally 2.5 going on 14! I hear conversations that you either have with me or someone else and it's like there's a teenager living here sometimes. The other night Daddy was sad about losing a placement at work and you told him not to be sad b/c Gigi gave you money for your piggy bank and he could have it! So sweet sometimes, most of the time, but others not so much! If I reprimand Quinn in any way or tell her No about anything, you immediately jump to her defense and let me know that I should not tell her no b/c she will cry. Then if I tell you not to do something, your reply is usually, "I'm mad at you" or "Stop bossing me mom, or I'll put you in timeout!" Your favorite phrases are "of course" or "definitely." Today you told me that you wanted the Easter Bunny to bring you chocolate shoes. I guess you figured it would be bliss if you could combine your two favorite things on earth! You keep everyone in the house in line and taken care of. You tell Brody what to do and you make sure nobody is yelling at Quinney, unless of course you're bossing Quinn around. Your imagination is off the charts lately. You come up with some very tall tales and you talk with your hands and describe them so that someone may actually believe them! Everywhere we go with you, people love you! You draw people in with that personality of yours. Your favorite movie is probably still Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. You guys want a Dinosaur Birthday Party as of today, we'll see if that changes. Mommy's friends may think it's weird if I give a little girl a dinosaur party, but they don't know how much you love them right now. We can girl it up a bit...don't you worry! You are definitely all girl. Darla is still the center of your world. If I wipe your face, Darla's face is dirty too. Tonight you just went to bed and immediately called us back in there to say that Darla was too hot. You are always holding her and shooshing her back to sleep as you rock her with a blanket. Lately the whole house has got be constantly quiet b/c Darla and your other babies are sleeping! Nevermind when Quinn is trying to sleep, you guys don't have to be quiet then! Speaking of other babies and your imagination....everyone knows that you have babies named Darla, Carla, Marla and Parla...thanks to Daddy! Well now you have extended names for your baby. I referred to Parla the other day and you immediately corrected me and said, "No Mom, her name is Parla Daughter Finley Reichert!" Reichert is the last name of your pediatrician...I think you may have a little crush on him! Too funny!

Brody Andrew....
You are 2.5 going on 2! Lately you have gone backwards in your independence and we're not sure why. You want people to feed you, you still won't put your shoes and socks on by yourself, you're a touch more whiny than normal also. Dad's determined to change all this, he says you need more "dad time." I won't tell him that you told me that you wanted to take dance with your sister last week :). You are still an awesome eater. You'd still prefer fruit or another helping of dinner to any dessert usually. You still love milk and water with everything. You and your sister have recently fallen in love with having popcorn and movie nights every once in a while. This usually ends up with mommy sleeping on popcorn bits for the night since you insist on doing it in mommy and daddy's bed, but who's counting restful nights of sleep?! You have stopped crying when you wake up, now you just immediately start yelling "Mommy...I'm awake!" Still a definite improvement from the bear you used to be. And now instead of 6:30am, it's around 7:15am so who can complain right? Nevermind that both of your sisters out sleep you every morning! With all of the above said, you are still the sweetest snuggler in the house! You're still the most likely to give hugs and kisses and the one who wants to be held. Thomas is still your oxygen source most days. I would say that's still your favorite movie, although you have so many versions. You love to read books, you can recite a couple on your own. You run and jump everywhere and pretty much never sit still. My favorite thing that you say is, "I love you 50 million lbs mama," and you just say it randomly throughout the day! It may be the best thing I hear all week! The other day when I picked you up from school, you told me I love you right when I walked in the door! Simply the best! You still love your Turkey Sausage, Egg and Potato Bowls for breakfast, they're probably your favorite thing right now. You call it "eggs and potatoes." You still love pasta and all fruit. Breakfast for dinner is one of your favorite meals, along with everyone in the house.

Quinn Campbell....
You are a wild child! Up until yesterday, you were the perfect sleeping baby. Napping 2 times/day for 2 hrs a piece. Sleeping from 8pm until 8am. Never crying upon waking, we'd just hear you talking and go in to get you. You could just lay you in your bed, give you your glow worm and leave and you'd be out. Not anymore! Granted it's only been one day so we're still praying your old habits come back, but as of yesterday you cry everytime you see your bed! You refused an afternoon nap both yesterday and today. Took your morning nap decently. Cried a lot at night for bedtime and required a lot of work to get you to sleep. Either your ear infection is not cleared up or you have new teeth coming in, I refuse to believe my good baby has gone away :) There must be some explanation...typical third baby excuse right!? You are talking more these days, mostly just babble but you can definitely say mommy, daddy, hi, buddy, puppy, ball, bye. You call everything "budee." We're not sure if it's Brody...of course we think it is. You wave at everything now, only your wave is backwards, which of course is ridiculously cute! You give kisses now which totally makes up for anything you might do wrong ever! You go from person to person and kiss and then you make the noise, "maawaa." So cute! You think it's a really funny game! If you say to you, "Aw Quinney, love the baby"...you lay your head down on the baby doll, the dog, whatever it may be that you love and smile. You recognize more and more things and point and try to say it. You can tell you to get something and you will go get it and bring it to me. You know what your binky is for sure, you're perfect at getting that out of your bed whenever you're not supposed to. You help yourself at all times of the day to one of those! You help yourself to the Teddy Grahams in the pantry also. If ever I can't find you, I'll find you in the pantry with your little hands in the box having a snack! You love when I unload or load the dishwasher too, the utensils are your favorite. You've recently discovered the refrigerator and the towel drawer, you love to get the butter out and also the clean towels! Mommy can't keep up with the laundry!!! Not sure what's clean and what's dirty at the end of the day! You love to get our shoes out of our closet, only problem is sometimes they find their way into the bathtub (when it's full of water) or into the toilet! We can never find a pair anymore! You just pretty much mow through the house independently at your own pace. You hate being told No for any reason and your sister tries to make sure that never happens! You have a little keeper for now, we'll see about when you two are sharing clothes and other things later on in life! You still throw everything off your highchair tray. You are working on using a spoon. Changing your diaper is pretty fun these days...no sarcasm implied. You run everywhere. You LOVE books. You go get books from the basket all day long and bring them to us wherever we are and then you turn around, back up to our lap, and just fall wherever you land to be read to. It's pretty cute! You have the attention span of a pea though, you only last the first couple of pages before you move on to another book! Your favorite is still "Peek a Zoo" or "Millie Moo." You still love Baby Einstein anything. Glo Worm is your favorite toy, you play it all the time in your bed and smile when you see it. You're getting lots of hair and are FINALLY wearing hair bows! I thought the day might never come! You love to unvelcro your shoes in the car also so that when we pick you up to take you, your shoe comes off, sometimes in the parking lot or in a store making us have to retrace our steps...really fun game! Our life is never dull or boring with any of you! We wouldn't change a thing...well, a nanny to follow us around might be nice! :)

On the mend...

Quinn has sustained several minor injuries as of lately....I think there will be many more since she's constantly trying to keep up with her older siblings and isn't interested in anything age appropriate! She got her fingers smashed in a door in FL and also got a fat lip last week when she tried to ride her brother's tricycle...it didn't go so well! Her latest task is trying to go down the stairs, feet first! She's mastered the turn around and go down backwards approach so she feels it's time to move on! She's definitely fearless...but we feel this is going to lead to many trips to the ER in her future! Right now she's not feeling so hot as she has a double ear infection and had a high fever all weekend and didn't want to eat. That's how we know she's sick, when she slows down and wants to be held and wants to sit on your lap and watch Baby Einstein vs running around with the older kids...you know something is wrong with her! Normally she is a huge eater of just about everything and she just wants to run around and babble! She says a few words...mommy, daddy, buddee (which we think is Brody), puppy, and Grandma swears she heard her say turtle the other day, that remains to be heard. She also says bye bye and hi occasionally. Mostly she's not a trick baby still. She doesn't feel as though she needs to perform tricks on demand. She does what she wants when she wants to do it. She doesn't do peek a boo or anything else like that. We've entered mommy and daddy's favorite phase of crazy diaper changing...where it takes two people to change her diaper b/c she won't lay still for it. She can't be bothered by that either! I hope that one is short lived...so annoying, and really fun when it's a nasty poop diaper! She's recently gotten into books, anything with touch and feel pages, she will actually sit still and let you read it to her. Her favorite is "Peek a Zoo." She still loves Baby Einstein movies. Still an awesome sleeper. You just put her in her bed for naps or bedtime and she just goes right to sleep. She still takes about 2-2hr naps/day and sleeps from about 8pm to 8am. She sleeps in later than Finley and Brody every morning and goes down before them. While on vacation with our friends recently, they were constantly remarking what a great baby she is, how she never cries and just does her own thing...and she does!

The terrible 3's are here....early!

Brody has been going through somewhat of a rough patch lately. He for some reason wants nothing to do with his daddy most of the time. He only wants mommy or grandma's to do stuff for him. This can be really annoying for so many reasons. And it hurts his dad's feelings greatly. We've spent a lot of time in "timeout" recently for meltdowns that entail telling his daddy, "I don't love you!" or "Get out! I don't like you!" He can be downright nasty...I think the terrible 3's came early and we're hoping they don't stay long! He can be so sweet though sometimes. He still loves Thomas Trains, yes, they traveled to FL with us just in case anyone was wondering. He pretty much loves all food but his favorite breakfast item right now is a Turkey Sausage Bowl from Jimmy Dean. He eats that and a banana every morning, he loves a routine! He calls them "eggs and potatoes." That's what he says he wants every morning, sometimes at other meals too if we'd let him! He's really sweet to his little sister, he hugs and kisses her all the time. I think he's over his head injury. He's getting really good at riding his bike in the basement....so glad we put carpet down there! He doesn't cry in the morning when he wakes up anymore...now he just yells at the top of his lungs, "Mommy, I'm ready to get up now!" That wakes up the house just as much as the crying did but at least it's a bit more pleasant to hear! When he's fascinated with something (i.e. sharks, eagles, trains), he always says, "Mommy, talk about sharks"...and then you're supposed to just spit out all the information you know about said item. He does that all the time and he retains the information you give him also. He can read two books by heart that I know of and there's probably more, "Crack in the Track" and "Birthday Monsters." And he gets every word also, he does not paraphrase! He's had a lot more energy since having his adenoids removed, he jumps and dances everywhere he goes.

She runs the house....

Finley Paige is still our most social child in the house to date! She NEVER stops talking these days! She's either bossing her brother around or telling us how it should be, either way she must get the last word in...I just don't know where she gets this?! Her conversation skills are amazing though. Everywhere we go, people are always impressed by how both her and her brother talk. They do talk very well and clear for being only 2 1/2 years old. Sometimes too well! Her favorite phrases are: "I definitely will" or "Of course I do." I overhear a lot of conversations between Finley and Brody lately that go a little something like this:
Brody: "Finney, you forgot your baby...."
Finley: "Brode, just stop bossing me right now b/c you're making me sad and I'm gonna cry..."
Brody: "I was just trying to tell you that you forgot your baby..."
Finley: "Well you need to stop bossing me Brody cuz it's not nice and I'm gonna cry..."
And it goes on and on and on like that all the time! It's never a dull moment these days with you two in the house! The conversations are hilarious though. Daddy and I do listen to you and laugh all the time! Finley is such a great big sister though....she loves to help Quinney and she'll do most anything you ask her to, if she's in the right mood of course. She's becoming somewhat of a picky eater though. Her favorite foods right now are: chocolate, licorice, and chips...notice a pattern? Of course we don't let her eat just those things, those are saved for bribes when needed...she does also eat oranges, bologna, strawberries, waffles, green beans...she doesn't particularly like cheese. I'm not sure how we got a non-cheese eater in this family but we're praying for a change. She still prefers water or milk, the occasional capri sun, she learned about these while on vacation. Dirty Darla is still in the picture, just in case anyone was in doubt! One last funny story as of lately...the other night she was in the basement playing and she came towards her Dad with socks on her hands (pretending they were medical gloves) and a play screwdriver claiming she was going to remove his adenoids....she then proceeded to try and stick that screwdriver up his nose! Maybe she's going to be a Doctor??!

Indian Rocks Beach, Florida - March 2010

We were lucky enough to be invited to FL with our great friends Matt, Carrie and Faith Rufkahr. They are lucky enough to have awesome parents, Gary and Alana, that have a beautiful home right on the beach that we got to stay in.

Tuesday March 2nd, 2010 - we left our house around 1pm for the LONG car trip to FL. We are crazy for even attempting this with two 2 yr olds and a 1 yr old, we know! We were anticipating the worst though, so anything else was just a bonus. About an hr into us leaving the house, it was your naptime and you were all asleep at the same time. We thought, this isn't so bad right? We listened to the radio, coincidentally, this would be the last time you guys all 3 slept at the same time in the car for the rest of the trip and the last time we got to listen to the radio vs Disney movies. Soon you woke up and we stopped for dinner to avoid traffic in Nashville then we continued the drive to Georgia and stopped at a hotel somewhere north of Atlanta. This was you guys' first hotel stay so you were pretty excited to A) get out of the car, and B) see a hotel and find out what that was all about. As soon as we entered the room, you guys were wired! Keep in mind that it's now almost 11pm and WAY past your bedtimes. Finley immediately walks in with hands on hips and states, "this is really nice guys." Like she's been to a million hotel rooms before! You guys proceed to run around and test everything out, loving the fact that there are remotes, phones, and pens and paper all within your reach! Once we finally got you all settled in bed, Quinn in a pack n play staring at us, Brody in one bed with Mom and Finley in the other with Dad, it took a while for you guys to fall asleep. This sleeping with mom and dad in a hotel bed thing was pretty exciting...but you did finally fall asleep, thank god! Finley proceeded to fall out of her bed around 3am and cried and then woke her little sister up...needless to say, we're not ready for "big" beds yet!

Wednesday March 3rd, 2010 - After what felt like not sleeping at all and a quick hotel breakfast, it was back on the road again with FL on the mind! We arrived at the beach just in time for dinner and a beautiful sunset! Overall, the drive was not at all what we thought it would be and we're all here in one piece. We just hung out with Rufkahr's that night and had homemade pizza for dinner. Heaven to be able to eat your pizza overlooking the ocean though!

Thursday March 4th, 2010 - Dad, Matt and Gary go to the Phillies/Yankees Spring Training Game and us girls decide to venture out to a park to let the kids play for a while. The parks down there are either with sand or seashells instead of boring old mulch or rock like here in MO. They had a blast just running around and not being in the car. Then we came back and met up with the guys for dinner at Crabby Bill's. The restaurant tables were picnic tables where you could be seated next to people that weren't in your party on either side of you, which is fine until you kids that may or may not bother the people on either side of you. We had 3 2 yr olds and a 1 yr old. Needless to say I was a little worried when we were seated next to an older couple and another adult. They looked less than thrilled being seated with us. And they had placed Finley and Brody's highchairs right next to them! I warned them to be on their best behavior while visions of food (macaroni in cheese no less) flying onto these people's plates danced in my head! By the end of dinner, these people were best friends with the kids and had won Brody over by talking to him about Thomas Trains. They even complimented Andy and I and said we had some of the most well behaved children they'd ever seen in a restaurant! Whew! Crisis averted...b/c it isn't always like that but I will say you guys were on your best behavior that night!

Friday March 5th, 2010 - It's finally semi nice here, still windy but in the mid 60's and we're heading to the beach! We put Quinn down for her morning nap and Alana stayed back with her to get ready and we headed down to look for seashells. Brody is a man of many schedules and routines and was not crazy about what he'd heard the beach had to offer...sharks, sand, crabs, water, etc. He was already saying he didn't want to go to the beach. Once we got there though...they both loved it! We drove 18 hrs and it was definitely worth it just for this one moment...you both running around wind blowing like crazy chasing seagulls! Priceless! You had a blast chasing birds and picking up shells just getting to run around like crazy! You could have cared less that it was cold outside! After that it was afternoon naptime for kids and cocktails on the patio for the adults. Then we all got ready and headed to Clearwater for a pier festival type thing, they had a nice playground on the beach but it was really windy out on the water so we went to Jimmy Iguana's for dinner. It was good food with good friends and you guys were pretty well behaved that night also...until the end of dinner as we were walking out. You guys were looking a wall full of pamphlets and Daddy told you guys you could have one to take home and a fight ensued, not sure what really happened b/c I was changing Quinn's diaper. I just came out to Daddy slinging a temper tantrum throwing Finley over his shoulder and carrying her out of the restaurant kicking and screaming. She kicked and screamed pretty much the entire way home, approx a 15 min drive! She went straight to bed when we got home...at least we made it through dinner I guess?!

Saturday March 6th, 2010 - Our last day of family vacation! It went by way too fast for sure! We had a fun day planned though. It was beautiful outside, our nicest day here yet. We had plans to go to the Shelton's gorgeous place on the beach and swim and bbq on the beach. All was going as planned, suits were being put on, bags were being packed, and then Quinn got her fingers slammed in the door by her siblings. All three of fingers on her right hand completely in a heavy door with the door almost shut! Needless to say, she cried a lot. Blood everywhere, wouldn't let me touch them, screaming w/o taking a breath! I finally got her to calm down and let me look at them, not broken, but the skin of her poor little fingers was definitely gone. Can we say painful? This will be the 1st of many injuries she will sustain by trying to keep up with her older siblings! She just wants so much to be like them. So that kept us from a little beach time but after a little first aid, thank god mommy's a nurse :), we finally got to the pool. So worth it too! We swam and built sandcastles, had some good food with our friends...and then came the it's-naptime-meltdown! So our car headed back to our place and we put the kids down for a much needed late nap and Andy and I sat out on the balcony and talked and enjoyed our gorgeous view of the ocean and our last day at the beach! It was lovely! We had to wake the kids up to enjoy the sunset with us, that is the picture taken above. Minus Quinn's finger injuries, the trip was a huge success!

Sunday March 7th, 2010 - We have to start the long drive headed for home today :( We started on the road around 10am and had to make many stops for lunch, etc. We had to stop at a rest stop at one point just to let you all run around b/c you were getting so antsy in the car. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel just outside of Atlanta and then got back in the car and drove to Chattanooga, TN to stay for the night. Out of the car and into another hotel we go, we're less excited this time around :).

Monday March 8th, 2010 - We woke up and had some breakfast and then decided to try and tire you guys out a little this morning by taking you to the Tennessee Aquarium. You guys did love it and was very cool, but you were still antsy when we got back in the car! We stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell somewhere in TN and all was going well and we were getting ready to get back into the car when Brody and his sister ran into eachother and he fell backwards and conked his head pretty good on the ceramic tile floor. I heard it hit! As a mother and a nurse, I HATE that sound! Brody isn't known for his toughness :), so he cried pretty hard. The nurse in me was worrying about head injury and watching his pupils, asking him questions, feeling his head etc. But he seemed fine after a while and didn't complain too much. However, a couple of days later I would take him the ER b/c he kept complaining of a headache and they would go on to diagnose him with a mild concussion. So overall the trip was a huge success, minus the minor finger injuries and mild concussion my children sustained! All went well...we're looking forward to another beach vacation in Sept with my family...hoping it's a bit warmer this time though!

In wrapping up their thoughts as I'm writing this tonight, Finley loved the hot tub and Brody loved digging in the sand!