Sweet Dreams

Our poor, poor Nate. His cold finally got the best of him and he nodded off in his chair while having his night time bottle. He usually makes it upstairs to finish it before he falls asleep. This was the second night in a row that James carried him up the stairs like this, I just had to take a picture.

Merry Christmas!

Wow, what a busy couple of days! Gage turned two on Saturday, and we had some of James' family in to celebrate. James and I took Gage to the Legislature Grounds to see the lights before supper. He was pretty excited, and kept saying "Look at THAT tree!". He had a pretty good time, climbed the steps of the Legislature with Dad, and licked the wall. (Hey, it's cold stone. I'll bet you've always wondered what it tasted like.) Of course, my pictures were mostly blurry with the shivering and all. But these two did turn out.





I went to the hospital after everyone went to bed that night, thinking I had something in my eye. Nothing except pink eye, just in time for Christmas.

Uncle Grant sent souvenirs from Las Vegas for the boys. I couldn't get a good picture of Gage in his hat, though he didn't want to take it off. I did get some of Nate and Jude in their bibs.





We opened some presents Christmas morning at home. James and Gage did most of the work. Nate did eat some paper though. He thought it tasted really good.



After breakfast, we went to the farm to see Grandma G, Grandma and Poppy. Kerry, Aaron, Sean and Connor were there, too. Poppy bought antlers for all of the boys.





Poppy had made a track in the (really deep!!!) snow with his tractor, and we went for a hay ride. Nate, Jude and Connor slept, but Gage and Sean stayed awake. Gage sat with James and kept saying "This is fun!" I think he had a good time. James said it was his first hay ride.



And my Mom is gonna kill me, but here she is, all dressed up for the hay ride.



After the hay ride, Gage and I played in the snow and I got a picture of him in his snowsuit.



Our trip home from the farm was eventful, too. We stopped not too far into the trip to give Nate a bottle. A short time later, my phone rang, we had left our formula and my purse at Mom and Dad's. Back we go, took the bottle out of Nate's mouth because he was asleep. Ok, we were on the road again, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. James drove for a bit and I slept, then James was getting tired, so we pulled into a rest stop and changed seats. Nate woke up, but we kept going until we finally decided to pull over and give him a bottle, which he didn't want. I decided to do a U-turn on this side road to get back onto the highway and all of a sudden we just sank. I drove right into the ditch, just the edge of it. I was about ready to cry, but James pushed us out. Nate cried the whole way home, but I was not going to stop again. I was about done, and the boys were all tired too. Everybody was crabby and then Gage pulled up his chair to the high chairs and fed his brothers their bottles. You just can't help but smile.



And so today we are going to take it easy, play with new toys and go for a walk. I think we all need the break, we all have a cold now.

AHHHHHHHHCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

...cough, cough, cough!

Well, it's happened, all three of the boys have colds, and so do I! We've got humidifiers in the boys' rooms with Vicks inhalant in them, and that really seems to be helping them sleep at night. I'm going to run one downstairs during the day too, so that I don't have runny noses all of the time.

James and I have said that it might be harder right now to have them all sick at once, but at least it won't drag on for a month with one boy getting sick and then another boy getting sick. Hopefully it won't last too long.

Babies in Motion

Nate enjoying his favourite activity. He LOVES the Jumperoo (thank you Nick and Paul!).



Jude is desperate to crawl. He can get his legs going, but his arms dont' go anywhere. Unless of course, he puts his forehead on the floor, and then he swings his arms widly around and moves his legs. It's hilarious, but I couldn't get that on the camera.



Of course, all of this playing makes for very sleepy babies at the end of the day.

Big Shoes to Fill

Gage was going to work just like Dad the other day. It's too bad James doesn't wear a tie anymore, or carry a lunch box, that would have been too cute.



Nate and Jude playing with the busy beads, sitting up on their own.

We can have fun too!

Just to prove that James and I do get out and have a good time. This was taken Saturday at my company Christmas party. We are with our very good friends, Tammy and Derek. Grandma and Poppy had the boys, so we got the hotel room and drank far too much! It was great!

Boys

Just a quick photo of the boys, all sitting on the couch together.

Earning his keep

Gage has discovered chores. In his eyes, they are fun. I guess that if Dad does them, they can't be all bad. Today it was laundry. He was practically inside the dryer trying to get the last sock out. He pushed me out of the way so that he could put the clothes in the basket. Then, he helped me sweep the kitchen floor. I told him that he almost knows enough to move out on his own.

The other day, it was helping Dad vacuum.



Nate is a proud sitter. He has gotten really good at it over the last couple of days. Except when he is excited, then it's over he goes.



Jude is trying to crawl. He has mastered getting up on his hands and knees, and rocking back and forth furiously. He has even tried to move a knee. I'm not too sure that I'm ready for this.



The boys playing on the couch after breakfast.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Gage

Gage's Spider-Man pyjamas. The eyes glow in the dark. I'm not sure who likes them more... Dad or Gage.

Family

Lee and Kelly were kind enough to come over and take a few pictures of us as a family. Lee worked the camera and Kelly was in charge of smiles. If our smiles look a little odd, it's because we were singing the Alphabet Song for Gage!

PARTY!

I know that Gage isn't two until Christmas, but we had a party for his this weekend, with his friends and some of ours, too. He had such a good time, and Nate and Jude were well behaved. It was so nice, even though there wasn't a lot of time for adult visiting with all the kids around.

Six Months!!!

Oh, it's so hard to believe that it's been six months already! But, here they are, trying to crawl and have an opinion on what they should be doing and everything! They have such little personalities.

Jude



Nate

Snack Time

The boys are in their high chairs having crackers now in the afternoon.



Gage having his snack of yogurt. Notice how the shirt is on and kind of clean this time!

They're baaaaaaack...

Everyone returned home Sunday afternoon safe from their journey. And though I enjoyed my time very much, I am very glad to have them all back.

Gage wearing his wife beater. I should have had him in his ripped jeans, it would have been the perfect trailer park outfit... maybe for next Halloween.



Nate tried and tried, and finally did get his sock off.



Nate and Jude are finally learning how to sit. It doesn't last long, and it's not quite "up", but it's sitting none the less.





Gage was playing the piano this morning. I think he really enjoyed it. Jude was laughing, but Nate slept through the whole thing. How, I'll never know.



And this was my yard this morning. Yuck!!! You cannot navigate this stuff with a double stroller!

shhh

Ah, the sounds of silence!

James and the boys have taken off to Lac La Biche to visit Grandma and Grandpa (and Aunties and Uncle), and left me alone at home. I had some really great photos of the boys that I took yesterday, but James took the camera, so I will have to post them later.

So far, I have cleaned my house, gone grocery shopping and done the laundry. I think I'm just trying to keep busy so that I will not miss them as much.

I do have some stories about the boys in lieu of photos this time.

Super Gage
Last weekend we went to my Mom and Dad's for lunch. Gage was crawling around under the table saying "Super, Super" which usually means Super Grover. When I asked him what he was talking about he looked at me and said "Super Gage". So now, he's a super hero. Defender of all things Elmo.

Hot Hot Hot
We were making supper the other night, Jude was asleep in his chair and Nate was in his saucer laughing at Gage. We always tell Gage that when we open the oven it's hot and to stay back. James and I looked over at Gage, who was dragging Nate's saucer across the floor. He knows he's not supposed to move the saucer when the boys are in it, so we were just about to tell him to stop when we heard him telling Nate, "No, no, Nate. Hot, hot, hot." Apparently he was taking Nate away from the hot oven so he wouldn't hurt himself. Some days he's so protective of them, other days he sits on them and steals their toys.

Spit Up
I was on the phone with Kerry, and Jude was in his saucer on the floor. Suddenly, Gage went over to the table and found the receiving blanket that I was using as a burp cloth (I had hidden it behind a bouncy chair so Gage wouldn't steal it). He dug out the blanket and came running over to Jude and started to wipe up the spit up that was on the saucer and then wiped Jude's chin.

And finally, for all those waiting for the results...

My big, fat thyroid lump is just a lump! Hooray! We are still going to have surgery to remove it, because it's grown so much that it's starting to interfere with swallowing sometimes, and it's generally annoying. I have a consultation on December 11, and we'll book the surgery. Which means, in Alberta, that I will have surgery in the next 3-4 years.

Hodge Podge

Just a bunch of pictures again. We went to the farm for Halloween, but I didn't take any pictures of Gage's costume (he was Eyeore), because he just was not that into it.

Gage showing off his pearly whites.


Poor Nate got the worst of the dog pile the other day.


The boys watching Gage playing. They just love him.


The boys are drooling. Jude is the worst.




Nate in his snowsuit. Believe it or not, it's the happiest he's been in his car seat.

Eating, Sleeping and Finger Painting

James was feeding Jude the other night, and Jude just could not keep his eyes open. Notice the moving mouth, even with the eyes closed!


Nate was happy to be able to sit up in the Bumbo chair and play with some toys.


Jude is teething, and really likes to chew on this frozen Oreo cookie.



We introduced Gage to the wonderful world of finger painting the other day! He had so much fun squishing the paint between his fingers.

Measurements

I just had the boys weighed and measured today, they are 5 months old. Nate has gained two pounds this month (!!!!!) and is 15 lbs 6 oz and 25.75 inches long. Jude has gained about a pound and a half, and is 16 lbs 10 oz, and 26.25 inches long. They are both sitting up for very short periods of time, and Jude made it about three feet across the floor today on his tummy, pushing with his feet. They both got a kick out of Gage crawling around last night, and dancing for them. They sure do like their older brother.

Lollipop Lollipop

Just some pictures now that everyone is feeling a little better.

Jude's rattle. He's actually licking it like a lollipop.


The boys eating cereal...




and cereal with carrrots... mmmmmm



Gage playing with his blocks.


Gage talking to Elmo on the phone.


Nate was totally possessive of his bottle the other day. Whenever I tried to take it away, he would open one eye and glare at me.


And finally, Jude just hanging on the floor.