Week 20

Remember how I said this kid saves his smiles for certain occasions or special people? Well, all that has changed. He will smile or even belly laugh at the drop of a hat...Literally. You could drop your hat right next to him and he would crack up. His whole face lights up when he's happy and it is seriously infectious. What a treat to have such a little spirit unite a family just by looking at us. We love him and all he does for us. Since he's already 20 weeks I guess I better stop oogling and start actually documenting him. Lately he has blossomed when it comes to being mobile and aware. He has started trying to roll over (he's not there yet but he's on his way!). He also loves to try and sit up, not that he has the capability to yet, but at least the desire is there. At dinner time he stares down our food like he's ready to pounce on it, and he drools and bites (no teeth yet!) like you wouldn't believe. He seems to be a mainstream baby and I'm content with that. As long as he's healthy and happy, we're all one big happy family.

Week 19

I know it may not seem like it, but this kid is just a touch past his 4 month mark. 4 months came and went in the blink of an eye and I'm still trying to gain a grasp on a life of 3. They're all great and lovable and messy and sweet, but this one seems to have stolen my heart for the time being. He is super duper happy all the time. He smiles through his tears. He's got just the right amount of squishy padding on thoughs thighs and cheeks to want to eat up. This baby takes the cake when it comes to cuteness. If all babies were as great as little Graham Cracker, I'd have a dozen more... or maybe just one more. Anyway, since he's 4 months now, I thought I'd write down his baby stats:

Height: 25 inches- 34th percentile

Weight: 13 lbs 5 oz.- 8th perctentile

Head Circmference: 42 cm.- 15th percentile

Graham's Blessing Day

Today Graham was blessed and it was a special day. Since we live far from everyone so we didn't really have any family come but that's okay because it was nice and simple and our ward here is like our second family. Graham was a happy baby through the whole thing and Kyle gave him a sweet blessing. One of the things that stuck out to me during his blessing was when Kyle blessed him to gain a strong bond with his siblings that they may be there for each other throughout the good times and the trials in life. I know Kyle and his siblings are super close and I would love for my kids to have the same relationship with each other as Kyle does with his brothers and sisters so I thought it was special that Kyle was mindful of that and blessed him with it.

I know normally people go home and have a celebration after church but we figured we'd just stay for the rest of church since our kids were begging to go to primary. Kyle took Graham with him to sunday school and priesthood because he fell asleep in his arms. About 10 minutes before priesthood ended, he got my attention in relief society and asked for the diaper bag. I ran out only to find the mother of all explosions in the diaper of little dude. I should rephrase that… in the diaper and the pants and shirt and sweater and socks of little dude. I've never seen him have a blowout of this proportion. And of all the days to do it, his blessing day?! Really?! I thought his blessing outfit was destroyed beyond repair but thanks to Oxi-Clean and some elbow grease, it's like there was never any damage. So needless to say, I didn't get any pictures of him in his blessing outfit and this was the only picture we got of the day, but I think I'll throw it back on him and do a little photo shoot later on this week. Anyway, it was definitely a day to remember. I'm so grateful for Graham and my sweet, crazy family and today I was reminded of the enormous blessings I have here on earth.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm one lucky girl to have such little cuties!

And this is what my other little cutie did when I asked to take his picture. I guess it's true when they say that it's pretty much impossible to catch a leprechaun because this one was as hard to snatch up as a four-leaf clover.

Week 18

We're going green this week, and I don't we're being environmentally friendly. Everything in our house is filled with rainbows, treasure, and green leprechauns. The little G man wanted in on the action so you can enjoy him here sporting his St. Patrick's Day spirit. He's definitely my little pot o' gold!

Attack of the Red Ant

When we lived in Texas, our great friends also lived in Texas about 5 hours away from us. One time when we visited them, their oldest girl got attacked by a village of red ants. Now this was not only traumatizing for her (as she had been attacked by another group of ants prior to this as well), but it was a devastating experience for Brighton also. I really wasn't aware of the trauma it left until today as we were leaving church. I told Brighton to get in the car when all of a sudden she starts thrashing around and screaming "Get it off! Get it off!" You could hear the terror in her voice. I was seriously worried that a scorpion had stung her or something. Then I looked down at her ankle where she'd been pointing and kicking it around and she's saying, "It's a red ant! Like Gracie's red ants!" I flicked it off, but not before it bit her. The entire car ride home she's bawling and asking if Gracie still has her ant bites all over. I assured her that they went away and Gracie had a ton more than she did, so she shouldn't be so upset, which kind of calmed her down. After that I just had to laugh to myself because you never know what is going to stay in your kids' brains and the fact that the attack of the red ants (which happened over a year ago) left such a scar on her was pretty random. It'll be interesting to see the things that are happening now in our life that will make an impact on them down the road.

*Did you ever have that fun dip candy when you were growing up? I used to love that flavored sugar but it was always hard to come by in our house. The kids must have inherited my love for the stuff because whenever we see it, they go crazy for it. Today, Brighton's primary teacher gave them some of it and the kids couldn't be happier. After seeing their green-dyed mouths, I now know why my mom hated us to have it.

Mustachioed 4 Monther

Graham is officially 4 months old today. I still feel like we are beginning to adjust to having a third little kiddo in the house. He started out a bit of a difficult baby, but now he is our little mellow child. Maybe we just can't get the newborn thing down or something?! Anyway, we love him and couldn't imagine our world without him. On a side note, our friends sent these super cute binkies which I love and since he doesn't take binks (just like the rest of our kids) I try about once a week to pop it in his mouth on the slight chance he'll keep it in. Graham is such a happy babe that when he smiles his whole face lights up, mouth fully opened and everything, so sticking a binky in is virtually impossible with this guy. Well, today on his 4 month b-day, he decided to let me see the cuteness for about 3 seconds. Then he got too happy and it fell right out. But not before I took my fair share of cute pics. Thank you rapid speed shot-taking camera. My favorite part is that he looks like he's lifting his hands up to curl the ends of his mustache like he's an evil villain in a 1920's silent film. Sorry, buddy. You don't have us convinced. You're too cute to have just tied a shrieking woman to the train tracks.

Week 17

I think we're on the tail-end of sickness in our house. Graham seems to be the only one with the last few symptoms and thankfully, Kyle is almost recovered, as today is the first day of school again (Did I mention he had a whole week off? It was heavenly! We did nothing and loved it!). Kyle caught something the second half of his break and was worried he was going into his last quarter of school (That's right! Only one more quarter until clinicals!) being all sick. But I think we're over it. Anyway, about the little chunk, he is still positively sweet. He's almost 4 months now and is perfectly content with staying on his back. He doesn't really try to move or roll yet, but I forgot when babies are supposed to start doing that. Is that bad? I think now that I have 3 it's almost easier when they don't start conquering those hurdles. Okay I'm starting to sound like a bad mom so I'll keep my mouth shut and just enjoy the time I have with this little chubby ball of goodness.

Week 16

It seems right after my race, everyone decided to get sick in our house. Little G has been a trooper through the whole thing, smiling through the snot and the coughs. He was so sick that when he coughed, it would be so hard he would choke himself with his spit. We had a few scares because of this so we took him to the doctor, afraid it might be RSV, but thankfully it wasn't. Honestly he was a happy little sicky here, but he was too curious about the tree outside to give mom and her camera any attention. Here's hoping he'll recover quickly and stay his chipper self.

The Ragnar

So I wanted to write down my experience running the Ragnar but it was too crazy/fun/amazing to put everything I want to down in one post, so I'll give the highlights.

This is a 200.5 mile running race across the Phoenix area divided into 36 legs. Each person has 3 separate legs they have to run. The way it works is van 1 starts at the starting line, the 6 people in their van run their first legs, and then the 2nd van (my van) starts where the 6th runner ends, we run all our legs, and then van 1 is up for their 2nd legs and so forth. Our team started at 8:00am on Friday and we all run through the night and day to end our entire race on Saturday evening at around 5:30. Now that I've explained the logistics a little, I can tell how it was for me. I've been pretty nervous about running this for a while because I haven't run since I found out I was prego with Graham and getting back into the swing of it was a little rough (Especially trying to squeeze in running with 3 kids and Kyle in school.). Don't get me wrong, I have wanted to do this race since Kyle and I were first married, but with other more competitive teammates, I was nervous about how slow I am. The fact that I had a baby a little over 3 months ago didn't help with my fitness confidence. Luckily, everyone was just in it to finish, which we did, and we had a blast in the process. All-in-all I ran 11.1 miles which was the perfect amount for me getting back into running. My first leg was in the afternoon time and was brutal. It was the hottest time of day which was like 80+ degrees and it was in the middle of the desert so the dust and the heat did not help.

After that, my second leg was @ 3:45 in the morning and it was nice. I was in the middle of nowhere, pitch black trail, van tailing and cheering me on, perfect running temps and I got quite a few kills (people I pass). Here I am marking it on our car for proof. Those aren't just mine though. It's our whole van's! I'm definitely not a fast enough runner to have that many kills on my own!

Anyway, when our whole van was done with our 2nd legs, we made it to the high school (where the last major exchange would be) to rest up and get ready for our last legs.

Our van: Melanie, Nate, Me, Sarah, Chris, and Jesica

Here I am waiting at my last exchange. I had only slept like 2 hours in the past 24 hours but I was hopped on adrenaline and gatorade and was ready to get my last leg over.

In this race, everyone meets at the end just before the finish line so we can all run across it together. And since it's such a wacky race, people dress up in costume, paint their faces, do anything funny to cross that line. For example, there was a team called Nuns on the Run who wore habits (made out of head sweatbands) and another called Babes with Babes who were obviously all moms and had kids so they all wore baby carriers (some with babies in them!) across the line. The kids loved it when a Sesame Street team came across and everyone was decked out in full costume. There was Oscar the Grouch, Count Count, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and a ton of other characters. Anyway, Nate in our van knew how to make balloon hats so that's what we all wore. It wasn't super crazy, but just enough to show our spirit. It's hard to see where I am so the arrows are there to help you out.

My favorite part about this race was seeing my family at the finish line. They were cheering me on and even brought a sign to show their support! I love the picture that Brighton drew of me running. That's what those wobbly legs are. Little did she know that's what my legs felt like by the end of the race!

Me and my crazy kids. This was the best shot we got all together, but I guess it shows their personalities as well.

They were a little happier in this one.

And I just have to give a ton of credit to Kyle. Without him, I would have never been able to do this. He took care of the kids (including a breastfed baby), he pushed me to train, and he supported me completely in this endeavor. When I crossed the finish line I actually got pretty emotional and gave him a big hug because he really sacrificed just as much to help me do this. He is my stronghold and I am so grateful for him!

Anyway, it was a great experience and I would do it again in a heart beat. It was really fun to be a part of something bigger than me. And the fact that everyone out there was doing the same thing as me made it super unifying and fun. I guess I should plan on more Ragnar races in my future so if anyone out there is into a crazy running experience, let me know!

Finished

2 vans… 12 people… 36+ hours… 200.5 miles...

I did the Ragnar!

*More info to come!

Week 15

I did this background today in preparation for a big race that I've got at the end of the week. It's called the Ragnar relay race and is an insane running race all around Phoenix so I knew my little baby would love to support me by sporting his road race backdrop with pride. More on that later! Anyway, little Graham Cracker is 15 weeks now and is a sweet little baby. He's happy, chill, and has started establishing a nap schedule which is a good and bad thing. Good, because we can get on an actual schedule and not be as tired. Bad, because with 3 kids, 1 of them being in school, and the others still desperately needing naps, it almost makes it impossible to go anywhere. I'm either putting one down for a nap while the other one is waking or waking someone up to drive Brighton to school. Forget about grocery shopping because it just doesn't fit into the schedule! I'm sure things will balance out and when Graham turns 6 months or so I will look back and think "How did I do all that?!" but for now we're managing. I guess Kyle will have to manage things as well on come Friday because I'll Ragnarring it up! Wish me luck!

Our Boston Statue

The purpose of this post is two-fold: First, to tell you about how obsessed with the Red Sox Porter is. Everyone who actually reads my blog knows about our inherited love for the Bosox as I've posted about it many many times. So our awesome Bostonian friends gave Porter this outfit a little while ago and the second he opened it up, he started screaming and running around the house chanting "Red Sox! Red Sox!" That was a few months ago. Since then every morning when he wakes up the first thing he asks me is if his baseball clothes are ready to wear. He sometimes says that's the only way he can be a real baseball player. On the days they are dirty (every other day), after a few fits, he mellows out and settles for something else. On the days they are clean he gives me a big hug and says "Thank you mom!" like it's the first time he's ever seen them. It's gotten to the point where I seriously have to do a special load of laundry more frequently so he can wear it 5 times a week (I am not joking on that number). Luckily, with a new baby, I never seem to run out of dirty clothes that need washing so it's not a big deal. We are ever grateful to those Meegs for sending Porter basically his entire weekly wardrobe. My dad got him his hat and today on this special day he decided to put the ensemble together to be an official Red Sox player.

The second purpose of this post is to let you know about the fun craze around here called 'statue game'. Porter's new thing is to freeze like a statue. He comes up with crazy poses and won't move until you bust up laughing or you tickle him to death. His favorite thing to do is hide behind doors in a statue pose so when you find him, you get startled and then have to laugh. He gets a scream out of you, and then a giggle. He also loves to do it when I ask him to do something and he's not listening to me, so instead of yelling at him to get it done I just have to laugh and repeat myself. He's a clever little scoundrel! Anyway, I thought I'd share a few classic poses that he is fond of (and that last one Brighton clearly helped him pose). There's nothing like an actual life-sized Red Sox statue living in your home!

Shakin' It Up

Every now and again I get a good idea for family night (it is a rare occasion I must admit). Last week I had one of them. I've had this recipe for easy homemade ice cream that I've been wanting to try so I thought we could make some. The kids each got a bag full of ice, vanilla, and milk and shook until their hands were numb- which took approximately 6-8 minutes, conveniently the same time it takes the milk to turn into ice cream. We even dyed their individual bags different colors. Porter had blue ice cream and Brighton had pink. They were over the moon. They ate it up so fast that they both got brain freeze but loved every minute of it. I think I'll file that idea under the go-to family nights that will always be a success. In fact, I see a repetition of the night in the summer months to come.

Bad Boys

Yesterday was Brighton's Valentine's Party at school. She came home with all sorts of goodies in hand and juicy gossip to tell. She spouted off who wanted to marry who in her class and saved herself for last, making it a big deal for us all. Finally, she said she wanted to marry a certain boy who was known as the 'bad boy' of kindergarten. I asked her why (because she has come home on many occasions telling me that she tattled on this boy for doing something naughty) and she said,"I don't know, mom. Sometimes girls just like the bad boys." If this is a foreshadow into her teenage years, we are in trouble.

Week 14

Seeing as tomorrow is a pretty girlie holiday and Kyle would be ticked if he saw our boy anywhere near something pink, this is as Valentine-y as Graham will get. I know he's got some girlish accents going on, but I couldn't resist celebrating him turning 14 weeks basically on the 14th just a bit. Anyway if you didn't already notice in this picture, his beaming smile is all gums. That is how he smiles or giggles. In fact, he is giving me a belly laugh in this shot and it's hard to see anything else but gums. With gums like that, it's hard to imagine in a few short months there will be teeth popping out of them. I guess I'll enjoy my little gummy bear smile while I can.

Week 13

My dad's family originates from Boston so my Auntie Cyn had the great idea of putting Graham on a New England Patriots background in celebration of them making it to the Super Bowl. I had already taken week 12 pictures so I thought for sure I'll do that the day after the game to celebrate their win. Sadly, that didn't happen so there will be no Pats spirit in this house today. Brighton was even bummed after the game. She said to me "Those stinkin' Giants. I am not a fan." I guess there's always next year. But on a happier note, Graham has been a bouncing bundle of happy. Maybe it took a few days to get it out of my system, but now that I'm off of dairy, this kid is loving me and loving life. He's sweet and smiley all the time. Sometimes I actually think there's something wrong with him because he's not crying every waking minute, but I guess it just takes some getting used to when your baby changes his personality 180 degrees. I"ll take the change though because our family life has been getting happy again too. Thank you little lactose baby for making our lives sweet!

Terrific Tubtime

Graham loves his tub time. If we've had a terrible day, we can just put him in his little tub and all is right with the world again. He is all smiles and belly laughs the second his toes touch the water. It reminds me a lot of our other two, although I'm sure most babies love the bath. I've heard it reminds them of the womb. Whatever it reminds this baby of, I just hope he keeps remembering it because he can't get enough of it, and we can't get enough of hearing him laugh and seeing him smile.

Week 12

I took about a bajillion pictures for Graham's 12th week and none of them truly captured his personality until I got to this one. He only made the face for a second and I only got one shot of it, but it made us all laugh like crazy because he's never made it before. He definitely withholds his smiles and expressions until there's something worth being happy over. His is a somber face most of the time, and then when you do something to make him laugh or frown or whatever, you know it's something big because he doesn't just throw his expressions out there like a piece of candy. Anyway, he definitely has been a happier child and it's been a much better week. I think it's the fact that I'm completely off dairy and chocolate. Coming from a cheese and chocolate (not together) lover that says a lot. But I guess it's worth it to see the infrequent smile on the little man's face.

Lemon fields

For family night this week we went to the lemon grove they have on campus here at Midwestern. I know you're asking yourself what school has a lemon grove, but if you were to drive down the road in Glendale, seeing lemon and orange trees is a common occurrence so it's not really out of the ordinary. Anyway, we went there for a family night activity to pick some lemons and it was a fun little activity. They even have some hybrid orange/lemons that we thought we'd try and they tasted like the most sour and disgusting oranges I've ever had. Porter seemed to be a fan of them for a minute, but once the sour started to kick in, he was done. Luckily, our little chunky was all gummy smiles the whole time so that made it more of an enjoyable trip.

Kyle just had to take some awesome pictures of me in the trenches of the lemon trees. If anyone needs an awkward fruit model, I am available for booking.