Smith Rock Race

 This last weekend the boys and I drove to Oregon to participate in the Smith Rock Sunrise running (well for us walking) race.  We did the 10k race with my Dad and Aunt Barb. Colten walked it with us and Dad pushed Carson in the jogging stroller.  Cooper stayed with my Aunt Fran so he could sleep in.

 Colten was the only kid to run (walk) the 10k, though lots of other kids competed in the 5k.  Colten was thrilled to win a medal for his age group.

 The rest of us didn't win any medals, but did enjoy the thrill of finishing a race with the family.  Even my grandmother finished the 5k walk!

 After the race we went back to the family's hotel and the kids cooled off in the pool.

 All us ladies got pedicures while the guys and boys went to a park. My color (blue flip-flop) was Limbo Bimbo, while my cousin Mandy's (green straps sandal) was Pool Boy Toy.  Such fun to remember our tastes in nail polish.

 No trip to Prineville is complete without a trip to their awesome city park.  My boys would spend hours there if possible.  Cooper still loves the swings.

 Carson was climbing the castle and Colten was heading for a bridge. It was a HOT but very fun weekend to get away from the cool wet weather. 

Pinewood Derby Day!

Today was the day of Colten's Cub scout Pinewood Derby. It was a big day in our house and everyone eagerly went to the school to watch Colten compete. I remember my brother building a derby car when he was in scouts, but I never realized how much planning and effort was involved in it. Colten was supposed to get his derby car at a meeting in December, but we couldn't make it. We went to another meeting to get it, but the leader had misplaced them. Colten got his car last week when another scout in his class was able to give it to him.

I'm really happy my parents live close and my dad has all the woodworking tools, because with only a week I know it would be difficult to finish Colten's car here at home. Colten and my dad looked up plans on the iPhone, drew out plans, and Colten did all the cutting, sanding, painting of his car. The trickiest thing was getting the weight right at the 5 oz. mark. I'm so proud of Colten for spending time and hard work to get his car finished. The best part for him was placing first in his age group and second over all. He got two trophies to take home and set next to his car. I know Colten was disappointed not to take first overall, but to take second out of fifteen cars total is really good. It's a good lesson for him to learn about being proud of his efforts and not always winning. Colten sanding his car
More sanding.....

Cutting the shape on the band saw

Trophies for 1st and 2nd place.

Colten painted his car to look like a lizard with orange paint and hand drawn scales. It even has eyes, and a mouth with a red tongue!

Catching up: The Boys

Now that the September panic is over with I can catch everyone up on what’s been happening in my life for the past month. There have been lots of milestones with the boys.

August 30th was Colten’s first day of 2nd grade and Carson’s was September 7th was Carson’s first day of 4-year-old preschool. Both boys have been doing well in school and are having a great time. This summer Colten was diagnosed with ADHD and we started him on some medication to see if it would help. While he still has issues, the medication has helped lots and homework isn’t such a battle anymore. Colten continues to get good marks on his assignments, we still need to work on reading fluency with him. Another new thing for Colten is he is in cub scouts this year. We went to the information night last week and our first official meeting was Friday. Saturday we helped the local Lions Club (the cub scouts sponsor) collect canned food for the Tenino food bank. This was Colten’s first time going door to door and he did a great job explaining who he was and what we were collecting. We got enough food to fill a banana box and then took it back to the Lions and got hot chocolate. At the next meeting we will be getting rockets to assemble and fire off at the end of the month! Colten is very excited for that.

Carson’s class visited the Tenino fire station last week for a field trip. He got to see all the trucks and ambulance and the firefighters gave all the preschoolers a bag with goodies and talked with them about fire safety. This next month Carson’s class will be going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.

Cooper has had a busy month also. He now has seven teeth and the dreaded molars are starting to push through. We are still waiting on one last incisor on the lower left side, but I think that Cooper may just have a strange teething cycle. I’m sure we’ll be paying for it later on in his life with orthodontia. Cooper also got his first hair cut! I held Cooper and my mom cut his hair with the clippers. I thought he’d freak out or cry from the strange vibrations and noise, but he just laughed and giggled the entire time. He looks so much different with shorter hair. He’s a little boy and not my baby anymore.

Cooper has also started walking!! It started with just a few steps to my cousin while in Wenatchee, but now he his walking just about everywhere! What’s really interesting is to watch him try to run, but he doesn’t have the coordination for it yet. We’re all still waiting for any real words to pop out of Cooper’s mouth. He is getting more and more frustrated with the lack of understanding what he wants, and I’m hoping he’ll start talking soon so some of the tantrums can stop. I never thought I would still be nursing Cooper at 14 months. He just doesn’t want to give it up. He’s fine during the day while I’m working, and he did pretty good while I was at outdoor camp, but when I’m at home and he’s upset, he knows what he wants. He’s certainly not nursing for nutrition so I’m content to get snuggles a few times a day for now.

Colten's 8th Birthday

Dear Colten,
How did it happen that I am a mother of an 8 year old boy?! It seems like just yesterday I was sending you off to preschool. You are no longer my little boy, but a big boy with definite boy interests.
You really like your Nintendo DS video games, riding your bike, and bugging your little brothers. You are so independent and do so many things on your own. Your favorite thing to do around the house is to go outside and play in the treehouse or the woods, looking at bugs and flowers. You've grown so big you no longer really fit on my lap to snuggle at all. It seems you are all arms and legs now. It also shows in your appetite too. I'm having to offer you seconds at dinner to make sure you get enough to eat. You'll eat just about anything too. Your attitude has also grown, but not in a good way. More and more often I am having to ask you to improve the attitude and be nicer to your brothers. It isn't easy to get you to do something you really don't want to do. You do chores, though you don't like them, but what you detest the most is the homework. I have the most difficult time getting you to complete homework.
This year for your birthday you wanted to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese's. We invited friends and family and had your party at the end of spring break. You'd been telling your grandma you wanted a monster truck birthday cake, so that's was she made for you. You had the time of your life at your party.

First day of 1st Grade

Today was Colten's first day of school in 1st grade. He was so excited to meet his teacher last night (and get ice cream). Carson wants to go to school too so bad, but he's not there yet. He kept wanting to know where his classroom was last night and I had to keep telling him he will be there in a few years.

I was a bad mom and put off registering Carson for preschool so now the classes are all full for 3 year olds. We're first on the waiting list and if enough kids get on the list, then the school will add another class. I haven't told Carson that I was bad and didn't sign him up in time. I'm hoping and waiting that someone moved, or wasn't ready, or that LOTS of kids sign up and Carson will get his spot. He is so into doing everything Colten does, he wants to go to school NOW!

Summer Fun

Colten did two weeks of soccer camp this summer. We haven't done any of the big sports teams with the boys, mostly because we want to have time at home to just let them be boys and not schedule our lives around practices and games. This was his first experience with soccer other than playing with friends at school. He really enjoyed the camps and I was impressed with the size, location, cost, and attention of the camp. Colten liked it so much we're looking into more soccer camp or team for this fall.

The boys are making pizza with my mom here.

The boys are sure excited for whenever Cooper will arrive. They are always patting and talking to my belly, telling Cooper to hurry up and get out!

Quick update

This is our adopted raccoon, Bandit. She is cute, but quickly becoming a nuisance! Don't let that cute face fool you! She is like a kitten on crack! She plays like a kitten, but really rough! She's getting aggressive towards the boys and the cats. Like a kitten she is curious, but she can climb and destroy so much more than you would think. She's flattened flowers, tossed stuff off shelves in the garage, and almost gotten shut in several doors. Pretty soon she will be taken to a beaver pond several miles away and left to find her way in the world.

Carson and I made raspberry jam this last weeks with fresh berries. It was GOOD stuff! The smell that I associate most with summer is fresh raspberries, usually jam. YUM!

McCord Airforce base had it's air show this last weekend. Tony took the boys (and let me have "me" time) and they all had a great time. They were gone all day and got to see and tour lots of great aircraft!

35/35 and random mumblings

I am 35 weeks pregnant today, and while that in itself isn't that big a milestone, it does mean that I only have ~35 days left of being pregnant! To sit here and think that is a little scary! A very real part of me is SO looking forward to holding this healthy baby, but part of me is sad to have this experience end. I know, I've only been pregnant 4 times, but knowing this is my last one, I want to hold on and enjoy every last minute of it.

It's my first week of summer and I've let some of the "nesting" urges drive my motivations this week. Cooper's room isn't anywhere close to being ready, but I have gotten things packed up to go in the attic, and then some day this next week I'll get someone (Tony) to pull all the baby stuff from the attic and put the boxes of boys clothes up.

This first week of summer has also inspired me to organize all my maternity clothes and pack up all the things I know I won't be wearing again. I've also dusted lots of stuff and swept up the cobwebs. Other things on my list are cleaning out the lower kitchen cupboards, washing down the walls in the stairs, and dusting the baseboards. Anal I know, but since I haven't been motivated to clean this much in over a year, and I've got the time and hopefully the energy, I might as well let the clean me out. It will keep me busier than sitting and waiting for this baby to arrive.

I've hung out with the boys lots this week. We've gone walking with my mom and to the parade in Yelm this week. The warm weather has been so nice to send them outside to play. One of the most memorable moments this week was when they were playing "army" outside and decided that the best way to get the perfect camouflage was to rub dirt over their hands and faces (and of course their clothes)! Typical boys! Tony helped strip them down and toss them in the tub to clean up. They've also gotten caught up looking at the bugs and spiders with the magnifying glass.

The closer Cooper gets to being here, the more concerned the boys both are about how he is doing. They like feeling him move and constantly ask if he's awake or if he likes cookies or ice cream. Colten also asks if the baby is still alive and worries about if he will die like the last one. Carson was too young to remember me being pregnant before, but Colten remembers when I lost Taylor. It is nice that Colten worries, but I don't want him worrying too much.

Carson's latest worry is about spiders. He wakes up at least 3 times a night screaming for us to help him. He's been dreaming that spiders are crawling all over his head. It is really unnerving as a parent to hear hear the fear in his voice at 2 a.m. Nothing is working to help him. He wants the light on, and that is fine, but the biggest problem is that he likes to sleep with his "lovey" on his head and that is what he feels is the spiders crawling on his head. Like any 3 year-old, telling him rationally that the spiders aren't there doesn't work. I have no idea what we will do to try to get some regular sleep. I am so tired already from Cooper waking me up that getting up with Carson and trying to get him back to sleep each night is wearing on me.

At least it is summer; complete with mandatory 2 hour naps and lots of play time for mommy to rest.

32 weeks and Glasses!

The boys wen to the eye dr a few weeks ago and it was discovered that he needed glasses. The glasses are mostly for reading or close work, but with some glasses and vision therapy, things will improve. Colten has his glasses now (cammo design) and it has made a huge difference in his reading already. Colten's been really good about wearing his glasses for schoolwork and puts them up when he's not wearing them. The only downer about his vision problems is paying for the therapy. It will take lots of green ($). There goes my summer savings.

I finally made it my dr yesterday for my check up. I was all ready to zip out of the lot right after school and discovered the lack of sleep finally caught up with me. I'd left my lights on and had a dead battery. I was lucky to have more wonderful coworkers and got a ride to and from the doc. I'm finally 32 weeks. I've got all my appointments scheduled up until my due date.

How Far Along: 32 weeks (two months left!)

Weight Gain: up 2 more pounds so 32 pounds total

Cravings: back to chocolate and goodies!

Contractions: Definitely getting some good ones. The practice ones I've had have been strong enough to make me catch my breath a couple times, but they don't last long, thank goodness!Good Moment: This boy had a growth spurt this last week! I can tell how big he's gotten in just a week. Now instead of having a nice round belly, my belly often has more pointy parts. I also got to talk with Colten about what the baby looks like and how big he's gotten. Both boys are excited about Cooper's arrival. Thankfully they are curious, but haven't asked the BIG questions; how did the baby get in there? and how does the baby get out? I can wait a long time before answering those.

What I miss: Deep breathes! I can barely breath sitting, but it is so much worse standing or moving around. The worst time is bending over to pick something up or tie my shoes. I need time to recover from doing the simplest thing!

Colten's Party and 25 weeks pregnant

I'm combining subjects here. Colten had his 7th birthday party with lots of his friends over last weekend. It's taken me almost a week to get pictures uploaded and posted.

I decided to make things easy on myself for decorating the cake. I make a quad cake for Colten. I took one flat chocolate cake and cut cupcakes (from the school party) to make quad jumps and then put the quad on the cake. A little chocolate frosting and some green piping, and I was done!

Colten enjoyed having all his friends over and Tony and I enjoyed having a good party in less than two hours. The weather cooperated so all the kids spent most of the time outside on the trampoline or playing with the new presents.

I am officially 25 weeks pregnant! I think Cooper hit a growth spurt lately because I'm certainly feeling bigger!

Here's the latest stats for me.

How far along: 25 weeks

Weight gain: +2 so 20 pounds total. Not bad for eating what I want, not what's entirely healthy! I've certainly grown bigger. I'm even starting to out-grow maternity clothes.

Cravings: Gummy stuff. I don't really care what, but gummy lifesavers, gummy bears, gummy worms, etc.. are what I WANT

Contractions: Yes, but only practice ones. I usually get them at night when I'm finally relaxing for the night. I feel them, but they don't last long and usually go away after I relax for a while.

Belly Button:It's an outie, but still flat. I figure a few more weeks and it will be showing through my shirts though.

Good Moments: I've been getting sleep. I was in the store this week and bought heartburn medicine and ear plugs to help me sleep. The checker was being nice and asked me if I was doing anything special that night, and I said that I just wanted a good night sleep. She didn't seem to understand until I moved from behind the checkstand and she saw I was pregnant. Once she saw, she wished me luck with getting sleep. I had to laugh on my way out the store.

Next week I'll be down to less than 100 days to go until delivery! It just makes it that much more real being close to double digits. Last week I passed 24 weeks, the time of viability. Not that I think I have any chance of having this baby before July 29th, but I like the reassurance of knowing if I HAD to deliver now, my baby would have a good chance of survival and doctors would fight to save him.

What I miss: My cute but smaller maternity clothes. I'm getting close to the "mumu" and "tent" stage of clothes. The tops I didn't even pull out because they were so volumous before, I'm needing to pull them out now and wear them because they're comfortable. My pants are getting a little tight too, though I'm sure that's the gummy bears and not the baby making it that way.

Colten Turns 7!

My big boy turned 7 today! He was so excited to go to school and was thrilled to bring cupcakes to his class. He got to wear his special hat for the entire day and kept wearing it at home.

There were some leftover cupcakes so we put a candle in one and celebrated with just our family. The party with all our friends will be this Sunday.

I can't believe 7 years have passed since Colten was born. I'm amazed at how fast the time has gone and how much he has chnaged. My "little" boy is gone and grown up into a moody "big" boy.

Easter Fun

So, this isn't Easter, but a few weeks ago Tony and I had the opportunity to enjoy a fundraiser dinner at church to help teenagers go to their mission trip in Mexico. We got all dressed up and sat with another couple from church, and ate gourmet food. We so rarely get dressed up we wanted a picture, though it is not my best. Definitely not the spaghetti feed fundraisers from the past.
Colten and Carson had a great time dying eggs for Easter.

The boys get only a little candy in for Easter, but it didn't take long for Carson to start chowing down on the jelly beans!

We had all of Tony's family out to the house for Easter dinner. Great-Grandma wanted an egg hunt, so the boys had a great time finding the eggs outside. I'm just happy the rain stayed away until after everyone left.

A goofy grin

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Colten has lost his two front teeth! He lost one at home the beginning of January, and lost the second one at a friend's house a few weeks later. Colten was excited because the tooth fairy showed up at their house!

Colten had a dentist appointment last weekend and everything is looking good. No cavities, and he has some big teeth coming in. Exciting for him!

First day of Kindergarten!

This is the picture taken this morning before heading off to the bus. Carson kept thinking he was going to school also, and was heartbroken when we told him he had to wait one more year. Colten had a great day and LOVED the three recesses and his lunch! The only problem was that the bus didn't stop to pick him up but he's now on the pick up list so he'll be picked up on Tuesday.