Summertime

Boy, are we enjoying our summer here in the Hall house!  As usual, we are busy busy busy, trying to create a little bit of fun every day.  A few investments have really helped to make our days memorable:  swim lessons 4 mornings a week for 6 weeks, a pool pass, and a gigantic blow-up pool for our backyard.  Yes, they all involve water, but it's been ten thousand degrees here for the past few weeks, so it's been nice to spend the day keeping cool.  Most days, we go directly from pajamas to swimsuits to pajamas, with no need for real clothes in-between.  90% of my laundry is beach towels and swimsuits.  I love it!

All of this time in the water has really made little fishes out of my older boys.  My favorite part of the day is watching them learn how to swim each morning during their lesson.  Tanner is improving SO MUCH -- it just makes my heart want to burst.  He is trying hard to learn an actual freestyle stroke.  Right now he is in "alligators," but hopefully he will move on to "penguins" for the last session.  Landon is very timid during his lesson, but has no fear during free swim time.  He acts to his teacher like he's fearful of getting his hair/face wet, or scared to jump in off the side of the pool.  Once lessons are over, he'll spend an hour jumping in the pool all by himself, swimming underwater with his goggles, and following Tanner to where he can barely touch the bottom of the pool.  I keep telling him that he won't graduate from "turtles" to "alligators" if he doesn't start showing his coach what he can do.  He just looks at me and smiles his little Landon smile.  What am I gonna do with him?

We've also been enjoying several minor league baseball games watching the Kane County Cougars.  We found out the first game that we all get in free (with really great seats) for the entire season since Jon is a veteran.  So, we've been going to games almost every weekend that we've been home.  The boys LOVE the food, the fireworks after the game, and then running the bases after fireworks.  I'm not sure they realize an actual sport is being played.  They just think its a big snack bar with fireworks.

Tanner had his birthday a few weeks ago.  I can't believe how much older and more mature he's becoming!  I think 5 will be a good year for him.  He officially rides a 2-wheeler, can swing all by himself, and is working hard to master the monkey bars.  I'm constantly looking at Kellen (who is basically a clone of Tanner as a baby) and I wonder where my first baby went.  He is growing so fast.  We celebrated his birthday with a Scooby Doo party at home with friends.  I wish I had lots of pictures, but unfortunately, I was a crazy lady trying to run the party in 105 degree heat.  I think it might be the last birthday party I host at my house.  It's so much work the entire week before, and ends up being just as expensive as if we had it somewhere else.  We also had our annual beach birthday bash with the grandparents and  Uncle Eric on July 4th.  Once again, I think the temperature was over 100 degrees.  He got some really great gifts -- an iPod, some headphones, and -- drumroll, please -- a dream lite :)

Landon had a very hard time being the "birthday brother."  The conversation in our house this past month has been dominated by birthday talk.  Everytime we're in the store ... "Mom, can I have this for my birthday?"  Every disagreement involves "well, you're not invited to my birthday party."  Apparently, as of now, I am NOT invited to Landon's party, but I AM invited to Tanner's next party.  Tanner is invited to Landon's party, but Landon is NOT invited to Tanner's.  Did you get all that?  Will someone please inform Landon that he doesn't have a birthday for 9 more months? 

Kellen, oh Kellen.  He's nothing but a big chunky bundle of joy around here.  All four of us completely adore him.  He has been loving the pool, too.  As soon as I bring him into the water, I have two big brothers on me in seconds -- trying to kiss him and hug him and love on him.  They love to make him smile and laugh.   Just this week he started rolling over.  The boys are always clapping for him and cheering for him when he does it.  He's a lucky baby, isn't he?  He is still not sleeping through the night, but every once in a while he'll give me a 6 hour stretch.  I'm trying to have faith that one day he'll sleep all the way through.  We gave him his first turn in the exersaucer yesterday.  He liked it for about 2 minutes, then he was crying.  Maybe it's a little early.  We'll keep trying :)

Jon is competing in his second triathlon of the season this weekend.  We are all excited to go and cheer him on.  He has taken the summer off from school and we are so excited to have him around for bedtime several evenings each week.  He and the boys have all these little made-up games that they play together, complete with scoring and everything.  I'm a total outsider during these times, usually just listening from the kitchen as I tidy things up from dinner.

I feel like I don't really have time to do ANYTHING these days.  Literally every minute of my day is taken up caring for my boys and my house.  I can't wait to just take a shower and crawl into bed at the end of every day.  I'm trying hard not to wish this time away, but I just keep thinking -- its got to get easier than this!  Fortunately, my parents have given us several opportunities to get away without the kids this summer.  Once for Jon's first triathlon, then for a wedding trip to TN, and in a few weeks we'll get another break as we travel to Ohio for another wedding.  It is so nice to have a day or two without little people to take care of, and I know they LOVE spending time with their grandparents.  Plus, its a great feeling to really miss them and count the minutes till we see them again!  

I was actually able to get away for a long weekend just this past week.  Several of my Colorado Springs girls met in Indiana for a girls' weekend.  We had the BEST time together and I feel like we picked up right where we left off 5 years ago!  What a treat it was for me to visit with these ladies!  I was able to bring Kellen with me and he was a dream baby.  I thoroughly enjoyed my special time with just him.  I think he did, too :)

Here's a few recent pics.  Enjoy!  

Baby Love

Has it really only been 3 months

since this sweet baby boy was born?  

Because I feel like I've loved him 

FOREVER.

Life With Three Kids = BUSY

Originally, I wanted to document how our entire day usually goes, but by the time I got to 11:00am, I was EXHAUSTED just reading about it!  So ... 

Here's a look at our typical summer MORNING:

7:00 Wakeup 

• Landon is our resident early bird and has usually already made his way downstairs, turned on the TV, helped himself to a granola bar, and set out a cocoa packet for me to make him when I get downstairs.  

• Kellen is usually sleeping in bed with me after his EARLY morning feeding.  I just love to snuggle him during that time -- he is so soft and sweet!  And it buys us both a few more hours of sleep. :)

• Tanner makes his way into my bedroom, turns on the TV, and asks to hold Kellen.

• Jon has left the house much earlier in order to hit the gym on the way to work.

• I check my email and the weather while I nurse the baby, then change him and get myself ready for the day.

7:30 Downstairs

• Make breakfast for the kids -- usually pancakes.  Try to avoid syrup ending up all over the bottom level of my house.  Race around the kitchen refilling milks, cutting up more pancakes, pouring more syrup, etc.

• Unload dishwasher

• Start a load of laundry

• Pack a lunch -- we'll probably be eating at a park, pool, etc.  

• Determine what's for dinner.  

• Clean up syrupy mess that has spread across the bottom level of my house.

• Kiss someone's boo-boo.  

• Yell at the boys to stop fighting

8:30 Prep for Morning Outing

• Get kids dressed, brush teeth, etc.

• Pack swim bag

• Pack bag for whatever we're doing afterwards

• Start loading up car

• Remind the boys how lucky they are to have each other.  Plead with them to stop fighting.

• Put Kellen down for a nap (he's a champ, btw -- I can lay him down awake and he puts himself to sleep -- thank you, LORD!!!)

• Kiss someone's boo-boo.

9:30 Time to Go!

• Tell the boys to put their shoes on

• Fill up water bottles

• Threaten boys that we will have to stay home if they don't put their shoes on.

• Transfer Kellen to his carseat

• Pretend to call swim coach and tell her we won't make it

• Boys finally put their shoes on 

• Tell boys to get in their seats in the van.

• Run back inside at least 4 times to gather last minute things that we need.

• Come back outside to find that boys are in the 2 front seats, pretending to drive.

• Put on a show for the neighbors to hear as I yell at my children to GET. IN. THEIR. SEATS!!

• Kiss someone's boo-boo.

• Try to collect myself as I head to Dunkin' Donuts for my Medium Iced Coffee with Coconut, Cream, and Sugar.  Order a 5 ct munchkins for the boys to share as a snack after swim lessons.

10:00  Swimming

• Gather my crew and head into the pool building

• Rush into the teeny tiny locker room with both boys and a stroller, along with 30 other moms/kids, and make my boys go potty.

• Undress big boys and send them into the pool area with cheers and kisses and an earnest reminder to listen to their coach.  Remind Landon NOT to splash coach in the face.

• Sit down, get out my nursing cover, and start feeding Kellen.

• Shock teenage male pool manager along with a few other spectators by escorting T or L to the bathroom to go poopy while I continue to nurse the baby.  

• Chill for a few minutes and watch the boys swim.  Make sure to give Tanner a few thumbs up.  Make a V with 2 fingers, point to my own eyes, then to Landon so he knows I'm watching him.

• Fold big boys into a towel hug and tell them how proud I am as they exit the pool and I try to dry them off.  

• Head back into teeny tiny crowded locker room.  Get kids changed into dry clothes.  Listen to another mom tell me that I have my hands full … that I'm done having kids, right???  Wait … unless I want to try for a girl, right???  

• Tell her with a big smile how much we enjoy having boys and that we don't know if we're done and that if we did have another one, we would most certainly welcome another boy.  Hope that she's doesn't live in my neighborhood and wasn't privy to the scene in the garage earlier that morning.  

Are you tired yet???

Sturdy

It's a good thing...

he's so sturdy ...

because this 2.5 month old ...

is WELL-LOVED ...

by the big boys :)

Has it really been several weeks since my last post?  Time is just flying here.  Today at the park, a neighbor asked me how life was with three.  The only thing that came to mind was "busy."  That's probably an understatement.  Truly, most days I feel like I don't even sit down until after all the kids are in bed, unless I'm nursing the baby ... and even then sometimes I'm walking around -- LOL!!  This last part drives Jon nuts, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, and when all three kids are in fits, something's gotta give :)

First and foremost ... our littlest man is not so little anymore.  (sniff, sniff)  I just took out our six-month clothes about two weeks ago, and already they are quite snug.  I'm just hoping there are some summer clothes in the 9-month bin, since that will probably be coming out next week :)  Kellen turned two-months old last week and had his check-up this Monday.  He is 24.5 inches long (95th percentile) and 15lbs 8oz, which is way off the charts.  Most of the time I feel like I'm carrying around a 6-month old.  He is the absolute joy of each day for me (and probably my boys, too).  He really is such a sweet sweet baby, all smiles and usually content unless he's hungry, tired, or needs changed.  In the midst of all the whining and tears from my older boys, all I have to do is get a little snuggle from the baby to remind myself why I love being a mom.  Ahhhh .... babies are the BEST, and this baby just MELTS me.

Stealing kisses from Grammy at the zoo

Love him!

Our biggest boy, Tanner, has had an eventful few weeks!  He brought home the stomach flu about two weeks ago and spent 4 days on the couch.  It was the worst!  Poor guy.  I HATE the stomach flu more than any other sickness.  First of all, it makes me sick just wondering if and when the rest of the family is going to get it.  Secondly, we are stuck in the house, trying to keep healthy kids away from sick kids.  And most of all, even though I'm the one who has to clean up all the puke, I'm still the bad guy because I can't let the victim have anything to eat!  UGGGH!  Just when I thought we were done with it, Landon started throwing up.  He's not a very good patient, btw.  He literally lays on the couch SCREAMING all day.  SCREAM.  ING.  It was a long few days with him.

By the grace of God, nobody else got sick.  We were all able to make it to Tanner's preschool graduation last Wednesday evening.  MawMaw even came into town for it!  Even though he'll be back at the same preschool next year for Pre-K, he was still able to go through graduation with the rest of his classmates.  It was pretty adorable.  They all paraded into the gym with little graduation caps, then stood with their classmates and sang a few songs for us.  Tanner had to use the restroom SO BAD, he had both hands on his crotch and pretty much danced through all of the songs.  He waited until they were handing out diplomas to finally tell a teacher that he had to potty.  Thankfully, she ran him out to the bathroom and they made it out just in time for him to receive his.

I was kind of sad knowing that he is saying goodbye to all of his classmates, who will be going on to Kindergarten together, but I know it's all for the best.  Here is a picture of him with his best friend, Scarlet, from school.

How cute are his little ears sticking out from his cap?  

Tanner also started his first soccer league a few weeks ago.  Jon and I literally toasted each other with our coffees as we drove up to the fields the first week.  We were SO excited (probably way more excited than Tanner was).  The beginning of sports with our crew ... so fun!  After the first two games, we're not sure if soccer is really his thing.  He doesn't appear to be having much fun, but we're really trying to encourage him as much as possible and celebrate our Saturdays at the field together as a family.  Grandpa Hall gave us a piece of advice after last week's game (Tanner looked like he was ready to fall asleep on the field).  He said to give him a shot of maple syrup right before next week's game -- he used to do that for all of his boys before their Rocket Football games when they were little.  We'll give it a try!

Despite the huge smile in the picture below, Landon has been going through a little rough patch.  I'm hoping it's just a phase!  He used to be so pleasant to be around.  Now, he is just whining and crying and screaming ALL OF THE TIME I feel like.  My sister reminded me that Tanner went through a similar phase when he was three.  He's trying so hard to be independent, but he gets so frustrated SO quickly!!  One thing that's been really positive for him this week is camp.  I signed him and Tanner up for a three week session with the park district.  It's in the morning for three days/week and he is in class with Tanner.  Miss Lori, our most favorite preschool teacher, is the leader and both boys are really loving it.  They get to pack a lunch each day, do crafts, and play outside.  I get to have a few hours to run errands or be at home with JUST Kellen.  I told my mom on Monday that it was the fastest three hours of my entire life!  LOL!!  

My Terrific/Terrible Three-Year-Old

Ready for the first day of camp ...

With the weather getting nicer out, I'm so excited to have a fun summer with my boys!  Every once in a while, when I'm running through the neighborhood, I see another mom and her three elementary-age boys outside.  The mom looks pretty athletic and they are always shooting hoops, hitting balls, or playing some sort of game together.  I hope that in a few years somebody will run by my house and see the same thing:)  I'm so thankful for my little crew of boys!  Thanking God at the end of every overwhelmingly busy day for those little souls!

Another Picture Update :)

Check out the Chubbs :)

Looking more and more like Tanner's Baby Pics

Typical Kellen:  Passing out in the middle of the playroom while the big boys play around him.  I think I need to record the big boys' voices while they play together ... maybe use it to help get the little guy to sleep at night and nap time :)  

This little man has brought nothing but JOY to our family.  Love him!!

And this guy, too!  I feel like he and Kellen are growing at similar rates right now.  Landon just seems taller and more mature each day.  I'm so in love with his funny and sensitive personality!

My three guys at Easter.  This pictures makes me feel like such a lucky mom!

Truly the best, most gentle, kind-hearted big brother ever.

Sweet Boy

So happy to be outside at the park!

Best buddies licking their fingers as we make Landon's "Poopy Cake" to celebrate the big day :)  Not sure who's more excited -- Landon having done the deed, or Tanner getting an opportunity to eat chocolate cake!

Happenings

I love being a mom to three little ones. To me, the more the merrier. I usually don't feel stressed, I just feel BUSY. Busy dealing with one disaster after another some days. But mostly just busy making more food, cleaning up more messes, wiping more butts, folding more laundry, ... Life is good.

Here's what we've been up to:

1) Landon has now been in underpants for 10 days without an accident. This is HUGE. HUUUGE. We had some serious poopy issues going on. As in ... there was no poopy happening at all. You can skip the details if you want, but I have to document this so I remember :) Last summer, we thought Landon was potty-trained, but he would hold his #2 for days on end in order to keep his underwear clean, and never did end up going on the potty. It was so painful to watch. We decided to just put him back in pull-ups indefinitely and he basically stopped using the potty at all. A few weeks ago, I started trying to really encourage him to go on the potty. He wanted to be wearing underpants, so I let him, but it was one accident after another. The hard part is that I wouldn't notice his pants were wet until long after the accident happened. I would ask him about it and he would always just tell me he cleaned it up, but wouldn't tell me where in the house it happened. UGH!

One morning, after noticing he had wet pants, I told him that we needed to wash his bottom off before we put on new pants.

L: "Why do we need to wash my bottom?"

ME: "Because if the potty stays on your skin, it will really start to itch and burn."

L: "It will burn? There will be fire on my skin?"

T (yelling from the other room): "No, but it will feel like fire!"

That seemed to REALLY get his attention and his eyes got wide. I decided to pounce on it.

ME: "Oh yeah, and if you poop in your pants, that will burn your bottom, too! That's what happens once you turn three. Your poopies start to burn your bottom."

I KNOWWWW ... so mean. But guess what ... it WORKED!!! Thanks to a little MiraLax, he had no other choice but to go in the toilet :)

2) Landon pooped on the potty for the first time last Wednesday. Just minutes after he dropped my iPhone in the toilet. Thankfully, I fished the phone out before the action took place, but still, I had to buy a new phone. I can honestly say it was all worth it, though. :)

3) Kellen is growing exponentially. At his one month appt, he was 11lbs 3 oz and 23 inches long. This little boy is WELL-loved. I can't even tell you how many times I have to say throughout the day, "Back off boys! Give him some room!" It's not uncommon for me to have two big boys climbing all over me trying to get to Kellen while I'm nursing.

The other day, I gave Kellen a bath before breakfast. He smelled so good and was so fresh and squeaky clean. A few minutes after cleaning up the breakfast mess, I went to get him out of his swing and he had a big patch of syrup in his hair -- the result of syrupy kisses from his big brothers, I'm sure.

In fact, he's been getting so much lovin' from the big boys that we had to make a trip back to the doctor this week because the little man was sick. He was inconsolable Sunday night from 6 until about 3 in the morning. I was so sad for him. I thought it was probably a tummy ache, but he did have a goopy eye and a bit of a temp (100.2), so I decided to take him in the next morning. It's a good thing I did. Poor thing has an ear infection, which is a scary thing for a newborn. The doctor was very concerned about meningitis and also that he might become septic, which FREAKED me out. He's on antibiotics now and seems to be doing much better. THANK YOU, GOD!!! I've pretty much been sending up a prayer for him with each breath I take.

BTW ... he weighed in at 12 lbs 10 oz at his sick visit. Yes, that's a pound and a half in just 7 days, folks. LOVING his chubbiness!

4) Tanner was up all night last night with an earache and sore throat. We made another trip to the doctor today (my new home away from home) to confirm that he does have an ear infection. Poor babe -- he had to miss his first bus field trip today, and he was so looking forward to sitting next to Scarlet :) With two sick kiddos, one of them a nursing baby, I'm getting my first real taste of sleepless nights since Kellen's birth. Getting up twice a night to nurse is one thing, but doing that on top of taking care of sick kiddos during the night is quite another. Can't WAIT until Grammy gets here tomorrow night and I can just rest a little!

5) Tanner has started talking about having kids over from school to play. Actually, one day last week, he informed me that Brady was coming over the next day. "Ummm, Honey, in order to have a friend over, I need to talk to their mom first. I'll have to get some phone numbers." So the next day, I go to pick him up from school and he hands me a sheet with a bunch of numbers on it that he says are his friends' phone numbers. The problem is that some had too many numbers, some didn't have enough. It was pretty funny. His teacher laughingly said to me on my way out the door, "I hope you know, you have 4 kids coming over tomorrow!" LOL! It's kind of weird -- because he's my first, all of his playmates are my friends' kids. This is my first experience with inviting kids over from families that I don't really know.

One of the friends that he wants to have over is Josh. Here was our conversation the other day:

Me: "Buddy, what is Josh's last name?"

T: "Oooah."

Me: "What?"

T: "Oooah, Mom!'' "Josh OOAH!"

Joshua. LOL!!!

5) I just booked my first photo shoot of the spring. I'm a little bit excited, a little bit nervous. I was just kind of getting into my groove at the end of the fall, and actually haven't taken a ton of pictures since then. As you can probably imagine, I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands for photo-editing at night. But I do love taking pictures. I'm hoping God will give me exactly what I can handle and nothing more :)

Okay, that's it. I'll work on some more pictures! I guess that's how it is these days -- words in one post, pics in another:) Oh well -- gotta just do what I can when I can :)

Photo Update!!

My Three Sons ... LOVE them!!

Tickets for the birthday boy!! He ended up with about 300 ... which got him some smarties, a straw, and a temporary tattoo! LOL!!!

Watching him for 30 seconds all decked out in his crown, medal, and goggles made the party worth every penny!! Hilarious!

Family pic ... minus the sleeper

So excited to get his own power wheels! Isn't Tanner the BEST big brother??!!

Out for an afternoon walk/drive around the neighborhood

We call him Freaky Fingers because they are so long!!

Big Brother Extraordinaire leading the way!!

My guys with "Cutie Pie Lanier," as they call her

Putting their heads together ... LOVE this pic!!

Sharing in their iPhone addiction

These people are nuts ...

... but I love 'em!!

Worn out

Couldn't quite keep his eyes open watching Tanner and I play Hi-Ho Cherry-O

Brother Love!

My newest ...

My oldest

Love him

SO

MUCH!!