William's 15 month check-up

I took William to the pediatrician on January 24th for his 15 month check-up.  At his check-up he weighed in at 25 pounds 2 ounces and is 30.5 inches tall.  He is in the 60th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.

William is excelling in both his motor skills and his vocabulary.

William is a climber.  He climbs on anything he can.  His favorite place to climb is the dining room table.  We no longer leave the regular chairs up to the table.  If we do, he pulls them out climbs on the chair and then onto the table.  So, one chair is against the dining room wall and the other three are in the living room. He won't move them if they are not up to the table.  He is also into climbing onto the couch and the chair in  his room.

William is very vocal.  He loves to jabber and yell.  He really LOVES to yell.  If his sisters are around he doesn't use his words as much he points and says, "ah, ah".  This sound drives me crazy.  I am working with him on using more words.  He signs and says more.  He can also say mama, dada, papa, ball, balloon, basketball (bah-bah-ball), yes, no, please (pease), thanks (tanks), and a few more words.  I LOVE that he is talking and using words.  I love asking him yes and no questions because he gets excited and can answer me.  He also understands a lot.  I can tell him to go find a book, his pacifier, one of his sisters, or a number of other toys and he can do it.  He interacts with us so much and I love it!!

William is just like his mom and dad and LOVES snow.  If a door gets left cracked for a second he is out it.  He loves to play with the snow.  I can't wait to get him out to play in it when it warms up a bit.  I haven't had a chance to take him out in it yet because up until a short time ago, he wouldn't leave shoes on.

What a great time this is with William.  He is adventurous and his laugh and smile are contagious.

Enjoy the pictures!

My house is being invaded...

My house is being invaded by light sabers.  The little neighbor boy (Connor) LOVES Star Wars!  In fact, I have recently learned he sleeps with his light saber instead of a blanket or stuffed animal.  While I am not a Star Wars fan, Brian is.  But since the girls, especially Katelyn, have been playing with Connor alot, he is rubbing off on them.  Brian loves this, I don't mind it.  I love kids that are well-rounded and play with a variety of toys.

When we were down in Kansas City for William's 15 month check-up we went shopping and spent Christmas money and gift cards.  Julianne and Katelyn both really wanted light sabers when we were at Target.  Julianne got one because she had a gift card for Target, Katelyn had to wait until we went to Wal-Mart.  

So, we were the proud owners of two light sabers.  A green one (Julianne's) and a red one (Katelyn's).  However, having 2 light sabers was causing a problem.  The girls didn't want to share with William and he wanted one!  So, off to Wal-Mart again to get William a light saber.  He got a blue light saber.  He loves it! The girls love it also because they do not have to share theirs with William.  Since buying the light sabers I have learned that the bad guys in Star Wars have the red light sabers, oh well. 

Today when I walked into the kitchen, here is what I saw:

And since getting home with the blue light saber Katelyn traded her red one for William's blue light saber.  William doesn't care, as long as he has a light saber!

Prayers

This morning I found out that my Dad took my Mom to the hospital in the middle of the night because she wasn't feeling well out all.  She had an upset stomach, headache, chest pains (I believe that is what he said), and a few other things.  At the hospital they were able to rule out heart attack.  After some tests, they believe it is her gall bladder.  She is in her own room right now, waiting to hear from a doctor and surgical team.  It sounds like she will probably have surgery sometime this afternoon.  I am praying for my mom & dad, the doctor, the surgical staff, and all those who will be taking care of her.  Please send prayers her way.

I also found out that my sister was in the hospital overnight with labor.  After progressing for a few hours the labor stopped and she was sent home.  She is now at home waiting for the arrival of Murphy.  Please pray for her and her family that Murphy makes a safe arrival into this world.

I will update as I know more!

A Tribute To Our Logical Mothers

Note to readers: I did not write this.  I do not know who did.  I got this in an email and I wanted to share it with everyone.  I can relate to so many!

A Tribute To Our Logical Mothers  1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.  "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."  2. My mother taught me RELIGION.   "You better pray that that will come out of the carpet."  3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.  "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"  4. My mother taught me LOGIC.  " Because I said so, that's why."  5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .   "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."  6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.  "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."  7. My mother taught me IRONY.   "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."  8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.  "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."  9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.  "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"  10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.  "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."  11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.  "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."  12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.  "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"  13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.  "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."  14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.  "Stop acting like your father!"  15. My mother taught me about ENVY.  "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."  16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.  "Just wait until we get home."  17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.  "You are going to get it when you get home!"  18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.  "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."  19. My mother taught me ESP.  "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"  20. My mother taught me HUMOR.  "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."  21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.  "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."  22. My mother taught me GENETICS.   "You're just like your father."  23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.  "Shut that door behind you.  Do you think you were born in a barn?"  24. My mother taught me WISDOM.   "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."  And my favorite: 25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE  .  "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

Perseverance

Do you ever have one of those mornings that when the alarm goes off you don't want to get out of bed?  I mean really DON'T want to get out of the bed.  Not the I am just too tired to get out of bed, but the I just want life to pause for one day so I can just stay in bed and be lazy, not have to worry about getting the kiddos ready, or remember who needs to be where at what time.  This morning was one of those mornings for me.  I do not really remember the last time I had one of those mornings, but if I was going to guess, it would probably have been sometime last February when William had about a 6 week stint of ear infections and burst ear drums and I was also sick.

Anyways, today, I DID NOT WANT TO GET OUT OF BED!

I had to though.  I got up, got the girls moving, and got ready.  The morning routine is pretty normal around here.  However, if you were watching somedays you wouldn't think that.  It is not uncommon to hear, "Mom, what do I do next?".  So, I once again repeat myself.

Out the door we went this morning, my butt dragging along.  I am not sure why the sudden laziness, but it was there.  I tell myself, I need to keep moving.  First stop, Dewey school to drop Julianne off.  Second stop, the post office to put pictures in the mail.  Third stop, the Y.  Hopefully I can gain some energy.  My workouts seem to help with that.  However, this morning that was not the case.  I started working out and I just wasn't moving as fast as I usually do.  I think to myself, come on muscles and brain work together!  I am 6 minutes into my workout on the elliptical and I am still struggling to keep my normal pace.  I keep pushing.  I keep telling myself one more song and you can be done.  I do this until the timer on the elliptical beeps at me.  YES!  I made it thru.  I made it thru and persevered.  Instead of my normal 35 minutes plus cool down, I did 40 minutes and cool down.  It was a struggle every minute, but I did it.

I could have just went home this morning and skipped the Y, but I didn't.  I pushed myself.  Success for me is going to come thru determination.  Today determination WON!  The little devil on my shoulder fell off for the day.  I made it thru my workout and was productive at home.  Another workout done and another day of living!  Tomorrow will be tomorrow, but today I will celebrate because it is a present.

Becca

PS.  I hope no one construes this as whining or complaining.  It is my motivation to keep moving and I have to remind myself that is okay.  I also hope that it may be motivation for others to push thru when they want to quit or take a break.  Have a great day!

Mischievous William

Crawling onto the elliptical.  He got himself stuck!

His shirt reads, "I Make Noise and Trouble"!

Climbing, climbing, climbing

Emptying out the lazy susan!

Yes, he climbed all the way in it!

I was trying to unload the dishwasher and when I turned to put the silverware away and turned back he was on the dishwasher door!

He can climb up onto the dining room chairs and then on the table.  So, the chairs are no longer up to the table!

Katelyn cleaning up for me after William emptied the cabinet out.

Merry Christmas Mason!

With limited rooms at my parent's house for Christmas the 3 oldest grandkids were in the basement family room.  The girls were on air mattresses and Mason, my nephew, slept in the pack-n-play.  It was going fine until Julianne had pushed the pack-n-play a little too close to the table (on the right of the 1st picture).  My mom had wrapped presents for friends and extended family on the table, well they were wrapped before Mason got ahold of them.  

So, here is the story (I may be messing it up a bit, but nonetheless it is still funny):

One night Josh (my brother-in-law) laid Mason down for bed.  All seemed fine.  The girls were asleep back in Brian and I's bedroom.  Us adults decided to play dominos upstairs.  About an hour after laying Mason down Josh and Rachel heard him hollering for one of them.  So, down Josh went to check on Mason.  Shortly after that Josh was hollering for Rachel.  So, all the adults headed downstairs.  We get down there to find almost every present that had been on the table wrapped, was now unwrapped.  Mason told Josh, "I unwrap presents".  We all just laughed.  Mason did a great job opening the gifts and didn't break a single one and there were quite a few breakable gifts!

After opening each gift he would throw the paper and the present on the floor or the air mattresses.  

We took a few pictures and then picked up the mess.  Thanks to Mason we all got a great laugh that evening!!

Mason with all the presents he opened!