Landon's Weekend

Having Landon home from school Thanksgiving weekend was so fun. I've really been missing him lately. He's seriously been cracking me up all weekend.I found these on Landon's door when I went to his room. For some reason I thought they were so cute! (He took them down when he realized that me and Isaac couldn't come in either!)

Landon was so excited to be decorating the tree that he just kept karte chopping. At least he was showing enthusiasm!
He got himself ready for church on Sunday - too small shirt, unbuttoned with a tie, but very cute hair!
I was in desperate need of a nap and Landon could not wait to tell me that he REALLY took care of Isaac. He was so proud of himself giving him a bottle and changing his diaper. Can you see his concentration?

Boys Will Be Boys

I'm starting to understand what Victoria Beckham said the other day on Ellen (k, random I know but I watched it because I was folding clothes and Austin was sleeping), "Raising three boys is less about parenting and more about crowd control."
It's becoming truer and truer as the days go by:
*There is a perpetual wrestling match going on all the time (Austin has even included Zac in the event a few times)
*I have become the take your shoes off, wash your hands, flush the toilet Nazi
*I have developed the art of "tuning it out" because it is NEVER quiet around here
*There are always little pieces of the kids laying around - a half finished puzzle there, a dirty sock here, a pile of school papers there
*I'm imaging my future as the "football" mom - do you think it's going to possible to keep enough food in my house for all my boys and their friends?

So, although I do feel like I've gotten into the crowd control business I have to say that I am learning to enjoy my kids more all the time. The other day I actually joined their wrestling match and by the end of it we were all on top of each other laughing like crazy. It's so fun.

Cam took the kids to a Hockey game the other night and they LOVED it. Austin came home and said, "it's not dancing, it's just my moves." Landon fell asleep on the way home and all he said when he got here was, "aren't you going to brush my teeth?" Obviously they both got something different from the game and neither of them actually watched it. Austin was there for the music and dancing and Landon was there for the candy.

Maybe they are rascals that love to be rowdy and noisy but their mine and I wouldn't change them for anything. Here's Austin's moves!

I'd Do Anything For My Kids

Well, this blog is fast becoming my family journal and tonight I just have something to say. Since we found out that Austin was always so sick as a baby because of food allergies I've often thought, "I wish I could take that burden from him." He is always itchy, always blotchy, and pretty much always hungry. I am always living in fear that someone will give him something with a peanut in it or something will make him sick. Tonight when I took him out of the bath he started sobbing that he was hurting and then I noticed that he had scratched himself raw because of an allergic reaction he had last week (something at a resteraunt was cross-contaminated). I wanted to cry with him and all I thought was, "I wish there was something I could do."

Now, I have been given the chance to do for Zac what I can't do for Austin. Zac has the same tendencies towards milk that Austin does. I really want to keep nursing him because I think that it will keep him healthier through the winter and help his brain develop and all that. People always say they'd do anything for their kids but cutting a whole food group out of your diet is SO HARD! I almost cried today at the grocery store. Everywhere I turned there was VELVEETA and CREAM CHEESE and CHOCOLATE MILK and YOGURT. So I was feeling so sorry for myself.

When I saw poor little Austin's legs scratched raw I didn't feel sorry for myself anymore. I feel awful for him. I really do wish I could take this challenge away from him because BELIEVE me - it is a challenge!!

Congratulations Cameron

This is a "Flashback Friday" post in more ways than one. Funny that even though Austin is two years older he still has that same expression when he's disgrunteld about something. Landon, of course, looks just as happy as ever, and Cameron - always smiling, joking, singing, or doing something happy. This picture was taken the second year we were here in Iowa and finishing Dental School seemed millions of years away. Now here we are near the end and I have to take a moment to brag about my WONDERFUL HUSBAND.
The Air Force made us apply to a residency program and when we were making our list we put Colorado Springs at the top because (another Flashback!) I lived there when I was young and it was the funnest time in my elementary years. I loved GARDEN of THE GODS, Pikes Peak, going to Denver for FUDRUKERS, my dad teaching me to ride my bike, practicing piano on our electric keyboard, roller skating in our unfinished basement, and pretending to marry Danny from New Kids on the Block with my friend April. My parents used to take us to the Airforce Academy to watch the new recruits come in - the campus is beautiful and it was funny to see how much one person could get yelled at (not exactly, "drop and give my twenty!" but close). I have so many great memories. I LOVED living in COLORADO.
We just got accepted to an AEGD (one year residency program to become hospital certified) program in Colorado Springs. This is the TOUGHEST residency to get into because it is at the Air Force Academy and only the top 3% of cadets are accepted there. I have NO IDEA how Cameron has been able to do so well in school these past years. Since his second semester of college he's been a FAMILY MAN going to school. He is so good at BALANCING work, school, family, church. He IMPRESSES me more than I will ever be able to show him. I'm so proud of him. I KNOW that he will always take CARE of us. I NEVER DOUBT how much he loves me and our little boys. We are so LUCKY to have him. We LOVE you Cam. Congratulations on all your hard work, DEDICATION, and endurance (just a few more months!). You make us PROUD. Thank you for being such a GREAT HUSBAND and DAD.

My Three Pirates - ARGH!

We started celebrating in mid-October. We had a church party, of course. The next night it was adults only for a super fun party. The next week Landon took it into his own hands that we hadn't carved pumpkins yet and I found him at the kitchen table, knife in hand, digging into his pumpkin. (Needless to say we had a long talk about how pumpkin carving is only okay with Mom and Dad's help). So Landon drew a ghost on his pumpkin and called it good until Monday when we carved them for FHE.
Halloween day started at Landon's school where Austin, Zac and I watched the parade (Austin described all the kids as "silly not spooky"). Then we came home and Landon decorated our "Brain Pudding" (red jello with crushed pineapple) with a spooky jack-o-lantern face and made "dinner in a pumpkin". After dinner the kids and Cameron took off to trick or treat while I took care of our youngest pirate who has his first case of the sniffles.
The kids made a haul and had so much fun. They came back smelling like candle-lit pumpkins and crisp night air. It was a great night.

First Smiles

Those fleeting first smiles are so hard to catch on film! Little Zac has recently started smiling and we LOVE it! It is so fun that he is responding and and so alert. The best way to make him smile is to lay him on my lap and talk to him - thus the way too close, blurry pictures (sadly the photos do not do him justice!) but I had to show off his new skill.
He is growing so so fast, I can't even believe that almost two months has gone by since he came into our family. It has been a blur of excitement, that's for sure. It really is amazing how a parents capacity to love can just grow and grow. I know, a little sappy but those smiles just melt me!