Always catching up.

Well here we are again. There is SO much going on in our family and I've yet to document anything!! Our most exciting news is the newest member to the family. A beautiful Miniature Australian Shepard named Carly. 
We just adore her! She has most definitely made our lives harder, but she is oh so worth it!

 Her sweet doggie snuggles make you forget all about stepping in puppy poop with your bare feet. Almost...

We've been sticking to a very strict routine with her. We're following "The dog whisper" program and it seems to be working great! Some days are better than others of course, but I'm seriously considering converting the program from puppies to children. Carly is a better listener than most children in this household.

Chloe told me to sit the other day when I didn't give her what she wanted. Such a good Mommy that girl. :)

Noah is almost done with Kindergarten! Where has the time gone! Sometimes I look at his face and see my little baby Noah James and nothing has changed. Other times I see a toothless maniac (He's down 4 teeth!) who likes to push every button I have! He really is a sweet lil' guy. He is still very curious about everything, asks waaaay too many questions and just likes to be heard people!

I've always heard that boys are physically exhausting  and girls are emotionally exhausting.Well this kid is the complete package. He is destructive and messy, yet demands eye contact when drilling you about Star Wars or Kung Fu Panda or the latest, "Where do dogs come from?"

The other day I was driving him to school and he asked, "Mom? If a girl dog needs a boy dog to have babies, and we don't have a boy dog, why do we need to take Carly to get spayed?"  So I explained that it was the responsible thing to do. "A boy dog could come running up to her in the park or she could get out and a boy dog could find her." As I was saying these words I started to panic! I kept thinking "Shut up Cristina! You know what is coming because you said that!" And I was right. I looked back in the rear view mirror and instantly made eye contact with his big blue eyes and those questioning eyebrows. So I did what every good Mom does when they don't want to talk to their children in the car. I turned the music up.
"MOM!" he screamed. "MOM! Turn the music down!! How does the boy dog give his sperm to the girl dog?" (He knew all about sperm from a previous and still just as horrifying conversation.)  At this point we were almost to Noah's school and I figured I better answer his question before he got out of the car and posed the same question to his friends.  So I just plain and simply said, "With his hoodie Noah." Now if you don't know our family, hoodie is what we call the male part.
"Oh." he said. "With his hoodie?" I nodded and said, "Yes, with his hoodie. Have a great day at school! Love you!" And that was that.

To be continued I'm sure.

Well well well... If it isn't Robin, or spiderman or batman or whatever he is at the moment. Yesterday he must have changed his outfit 20 times! Ah, our lil' Spencenator. We love this child. He is still absolutely the funniest person I know. His timing is always perfect. Last week Nick and I were having a discussion at the dinner table about having manners. Chewing with our mouths closed, not using our fingers, you know, the usual. So, Noah asked if it was polite to eat your sandwich with your hands or if you should eat it with a fork. He demonstrated by picking up his fork and eating a pretend sandwich and saying, "Is this polite Mom?" Before I could even respond to Noah, Spencer sticks up his middle finger and says, "Is this polite Mom?"
I'm just happy we were home for that one.
Spencer is a kind, loving SMART human being and we love him to pieces! He is going to preschool and learning to read!

Then there is this one...
She is doted on by her three boys. Anything and everything she screams, she gets. She is one lucky little lady. She's been talking up a storm lately. She doesn't have the vocabulary her brother Spencer had at this age, but she definitely  has been blessed with the gift of gab. She LOVES the movie Tangled. I swear every other word out of her mouth is "PRINCESS!" She is constantly asking Nick and I to sing her the "Princess song" or  watch "Princess show" it's getting a little old...

Ahhhh... A voice only a mother could love.   LOOOOVE HER!

We are diseased ridden

And here I am. Months after my last post. Crap.

I've missed Thanksgiving AND Christmas posts. I know I'm going to regret it later on in life, but right now I'm just too tired to go that far back! 

I swear my poor little Chloe has been sick since November! Constant runny nose, fevers here and there. I keep seeing posts on facebook that say "the flu has hit!" and I'm bracing myself. The throw-ups are on their way. I can feeeel it.  My boys were never as sick as Chloe has been. I volunteer in Noah and Spencer's classrooms twice a week. Which means love bug has to go in the preschool co-op or be watched by a friend or my Mom while I help out my boys.  Not to mention I'm trying to keep my goal of working out at least three times a week.  (Which is harder then one would think with 3 kids!)  So little Chloe has been a frequent visitor to our clubs Kid's Corner.  

The consequence to this is having a sickly child. The other day she woke up with a rash around her mouth, on her bottom and hands and feet. I had an inkling to what it might be. Took her to the Doctor and sure enough, it's hand foot and mouth disease. 

Now why on earth would they call it something that sounds so horrible? Are they trying to freak a mother out? Of course when she told me that I got a little teary eyed. Then she asked me if Chloe was a daycare baby and I full on cried. I'm a stay at home mom, and my baby is getting neglected! Geesh if I am having her being watched so much by other people I might as well get paid for it!!! 

Well peeps, if you haven't noticed I've been having a full blown mommy guilt trip. I was trying so hard to be there for all my kids. Wanting to be able to go on every field trip with Noah, help out in Spencer's class and still be with Chloe every second of the day like I was with my boys. I obviously needed to learn how to let go a little. 

SOOO I've taken on a little less during the day. Cut back on playdates and just made time to play with ALL of my babies. As my children get older I realize how fast time is passing. I used to think that babies were so hard. Now I realize every stage of childhood is hard on a mother. Babies cry, poop and make mushy messes and throw your back out from carrying them everywhere. BIG babies cry, make lego messes everywhere and come with massive amounts of kindergarten homework. 

SO, I'm rolling with the punches. Chloe is having a different lifestyle than my boys had at her age because she has other siblings that need me. And that will make her grow in different ways than my boys. She will be strong and independent. My kids will grow up just fine because they will have my love, my life and my everything.  

I LOVE being a Mom!

Chloe's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe my baby girl is one. Time really has flown by. 

My pregnancy with her was stressful, (Nick was studying for the bar) and after her birth was extremely stressful.  I got mastitis and strep throat twice, and she was losing weight from me being so sick. It was a really rough year for us. Nick was studying for the bar, (again) and we were just having a tough time taking care of everyone. 

I have such mixed emotions about her first year coming to a close. We've grown so much as a family, and as individuals. We've grown closer together, and I'm thankful for the life lessons we've learned this past year. But geez, I'm glad it's over. 

I know we'll have challenges ahead, but I think I speak for my whole family when I say, we've learned what is most important. And we've learned to do without. We can't do much without the support of each other. 

I'm glad I'm a stronger wiser girl. I need all the strength I can to raise my daughter right!

So back to little miss sunshine...

I love this girl!!!!

I remember my excitement when I found out I was having a girl. She has been a sweet spot in our lives, and her Daddy just adores her. Whenever she isn't getting her way with me, she'll start crying for Dadda. Chances are, he'll come save her. :) 

These were my favorite jammies on her. She was so smooshy in them!

This beautiful girl is obsessed with letters. And I mean OBSESSED! She'll find letters everywhere and point to them and say "O!" or "A!" She can recognize O, A and E. But she'll also call every other letter an O, A or E too. But she's catching on quickly! She'll follow you around with a book and whine until you read her one. 

She can say,

Mamma

Dadda

Noah

Bo bo (brother)

Dog

Nana (banana)

Uh Oh

No (she can say that really well)

Papa

Ba ba (bottle)

She is right on track with her big brothers! I literally can't remember when the boys started talking, I swear our kids just come with the gift of gab. Must get that from their Dad. :) 

I can't wait to watch this little one grow. I'm cherishing every last moment I have with her. This Mom knows all too well how fast these years will go by. 

We love you Sweety pie!

"Just keep swimming!"

Two down, and one to go!

This summer I really concentrated on getting Spencie water safe. No one is ever completely water safe, but the more comfortable you can get them in the water, the easier it will be for them to get themselves out of a scary situation and save their own life!  

Noah is working on breaststroke and butterfly, and Spencer is starting to learn the basics of freestyle.   The video of Spencer is from earlier this summer. The goal before stroke technique is getting him to roll over on his back, take a breath, and if needed, call for help.  

He's got it down, and is ready to move on!! Yay! I can breath easier at the pool!  

A tribute to the birthday boy!

Back in September, our little Noah turned 6!

I can't believe how fast time has flown by.  He really is turning into one of the best people I know. He's honest, ( I can always count on him to tell me what's really going on.) he's a great friend, he's SUPER cute and extremely talented. Not trying to toot my horn here, (that's what a mommy blog is for!) but I really really think this kid is amazing! 

Noah is very passionate! He does his very best at everything! His teacher emailed me last week just to tell me what a smart wonderful kid I had on my hands, and I was like, "DUH!" :) 

Now, just so you're not super annoyed and jealous of my "perfect" child, i'll bring this back down to reality. While i'm blogging, I got out some stamps and paper for the kids. Spencer just went to the bathroom and I ran in to wipe him up. I walk in the bathroom and see Spencer on the potty with all of his clothes off and stamps covering every inch of his body. Including his buns, which were covered in hearts. Courtesy of big brother Noah.

We had a little swim party for him at the club. I think I'll have a swim party every year! It was so easy!!

All Noah wanted for his birthday was a speedo so he could swim as fast as his papa Bozo. (my dad) 

Noah has been obsessed with animals lately, so Auntie Rachael made him this awesome animal print cake!

Excuses!

That's right! I'm a loser... I've gone almost a full year without writing down a huge amount of hilarious things my boys have said. Beautiful first moment of my daughter and about a bazillion wonderful memories with my sweet family! Not to mention some awesome home improvement tasks i've taken on.
 When i'm old and decrepit i'll look back on my blog and reminisce about all the fun things we used to do.  I can't afford to miss out on one single memory! So, for the sheer entertainment of my elderly self one day, i've vowed to get back on the blogging saddle! 


For those of you who'd like to read along, here is a sneak peak.

Dark blue frosting = Blue poop the next day.

We're baaack!!!

Ok, So we've been on a bit of a blogging vacation. But, WE ARE BACK! Chloe's first year really took it's toll on us. Stress and children seem to come hand in hand. Am I right?!

 We've changed our look so it will be easier to navigate through all our posts. I'm really gonna have to retrace my steps and relay some memories up in this!

To view the full post, click on the title! See ya soon!