Happy New Year

And Happy New Blog......we have moved!

Please visit us at:

http://www.3inpink2inblue.blogspot.com

Another First....and Last

Lincoln got a taste of his first real food....Earth's Best rice cereal. It was a family affair with each of us "fighting" over giving him bites.

I'm sooooo completely kidding. Ok, maybe not.

I couldn't stop thinking as we were feeding him, this is the last time we get to do this "first."

Which is why I fought extra hard for my turn!

(what I wouldn't do for a view from the other side of this camera....we are all gathered around within inches of the poor kid. Its a wonder we didn't frighten him into the ugly cry.)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Eve of the Eve

Merry Eve of Christmas Eve.

Throwback Friday

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I ran across this video of my Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed from this past May.

Does anyone see Lincoln? ;)

Two in Blue

Ahhhh. Isn't this sweet?

Almost as charming as Gabe when he smeared an entire tube of hair gel into the carpet yesterday, showed me, and then proudly exclaimed, "I keen duh carpet!"

Even more fetching was last week after he downed an entire mug of my coffee (again) and then buzzed (literally!) around here for hours singing, "You are AWESOME, Mommy!"

But nothing was as charming as when he decided to experiment with loading TP into the toilet (stuffed tighter than a Thanksgiving turkey) and flush it just prior to my morning of errands with GLLAM in tow. Sharing the whole saga is one of those If Only I Had Time stories and would reduce me to tears, but suffice it to say that I arrived home just in time to spend the afternoon mopping up water and rounding up dehumidiers and fans from all my gracious neighbors.

And to think I have the blessing of chasing two in blue in another year or so.....

Ahhhh. Isn't this sweet?

My baby is looking all grown up. :(

I snapped this of her last night as we left for her choir concert.

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The choir surprised us with an audience-participation Deck the Halls as their encore.

(Madeline is to the left of the 2 boys in ties, just above the podium)

Baby Einstein Buying Back DVD's

Good grief.  Maybe its because I was up a good bit of the night dealing with 3 of my 5 children barfing their brains out (the 4th getting up to nurse and the 5th had a viscious hacking cold that made it impossible to sleep), but I heard about this latest Fleecing of America and wanted to scream.

Ok, breath.  That was a really bad run-on sentence.  Its all good.  Am I really that concerned about Disney's margins?

Phew.  I'm back.

It started last week after reading about the Carter's 2007 tagless clothing recall.  And I get that one. I'm a huge organic, chemical free, non-additive, no-fragrance-using parent.  Our soaps, shampoos, dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, lotions, deodorants (I think you're getting it here) are fragrance-free and as pure as possible.  I use the EWG's website Skin Deep for purchasing decisions.  Fragrance=one of the things killing us.  

Allegedly, the tags from 2007 contained a harmful chemical giving children rashes and such. Definitely not okay.  And Carter's is stepping up and giving all parents a full refund on any clothing they purchased for their children during that time period.  Yay Carter's.

However, when I hear about parents scouring used clothing stores and thrift shops, finding these items, and mailing them to Carter's for a full refund, I get annoyed.  I ran into an old friend last week who told me about a neighbor who is currently making her living by, what I consider to be, scamming Carter's.  (my opinion)

She laid eyes on the neighbor's latest "paycheck" for $600 and said, "Hmmmmm."

I'm leaving this.........at that.

So, we're on to Baby Einstein.

Apparently, they are in the midst of a PR nightmare where they are trying to save face with interest groups who do not consider these videos to be "educational" as touted by Disney. 

Really?? 

Parents are now furious because their babies aren't reading and writing by 6 months.

(Fine.  That's not part of the story at all.  It just sounded climactic.)

Here is a comment from the interest group that fought against the videos:

The refund offer is a wonderful victory for families and anyone who cares about children. Recent research shows that screen time is not educational for babies. Now parents who purchased Baby Einstein DVDs, mistakenly believing the videos would make their babies smarter, can recoup their money.

Seriously??  And when did research show that 'screen time' WAS educational for babies?

I own several Baby Einstein DVD's and they are occasionally viewed in our home.

By our children.

And I even consider them to be somewhat educational.  

(the crowd gasps in horror)

What I don't do, is use television to parent my children.  And I don't need Disney (or any interest group) to parent me.  Thankyouverymuch.

The summary of this post:  It is impossible to idiot proof people.

Happy Turkey Day

Ron playing in the neighborhood Turkey Bowl game today.  He's not a bit competitive.  Nope.

And.......Sleep!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

I miss the good 'ole days.

I am officially putting Lincoln on some sort of resemblance-of-a-schedule.  It was fun, while it lasted, to allow him to sleep wherever and whenever his little heart desired.  I told Ron this has all been "research" for the Sleeping 12 hours in 12 weeks book I may write someday.  If Only I Had Time.

He came up with an alternate title:  Maintaining Your Parental Sanity.

If Only I Had Time

If Only I Had Time....I would tell you the story of how my girls are able to navigate the library better than I ever could.  I would take credit but in all honestly, it is sheer neglect.  

Read: I'm chasing after the rest of GLLAM.

If Only I Had Time.....I would tell you about Madeline jumping up in bed with me and saying, "Mom, I gotta tell you something..." and sharing that some boy has a crush on her.  

(Ok, not only do I not have time, I already shed a tear over this once!)

If Only I Had Time....You would read about how Lincoln has me completely whipped and has yet to see his crib.  Oh, my bad, he did take one nap in there last week.  Despite getting weekly emails from mommies all over the country, I have managed to break EVERY one of my rules with this little guy.  And I'm lovin' every minute.

(Oops, was that plagiarism?  Pretty sure that was a McDonalds tag line at one time.  Or maybe a song by Loverboy.  I forget.)

If Only I Had Time....I would make you laugh by telling you about the girl's Biography/History Fair and how Madeline wore huuuge sunglasses and stumbled about introducing herself as Helen Keller to everyone that approached her booth.

If Only I Had Time....I would share with you how I told my husband I had scheduled a vasectomy for him.  It was via Google calendar.  And I got a call about 14 seconds later.

But I don't.  Have time that is.  These are all the stories I would share if I were tending to my blog.  Which I'm not.  So instead, I'll share a couple fun photos with you.  I snapped these after coming home from helping my brother and SIL move into their new house.  Ron had offered to take the day off and basically do My Job.  

Is that a jogging stroller?  In the kitchen??

(please click on this picture to blow it up and give yourself a better view)

A new way of taking out the trash?

If Only I Had Time.....

Throwback Friday

This was a loooooooooong time ago. Okay, fine. It was a few hours ago.

No frills. No talent. Definitely no real dance moves. And yes, we are in our jammies.

Baby Bjorn

Gabe hasn't had any problems with the adjustment of adding a new baby to the family.  Nope.   Doesn't bother him at all that Lincoln is being cuddled and carried and fed 24/7.  Hasn't phased him in the least.

Which is why he definitely did not insist on taking Linc's place in the Bjorn.

Edible or Not

A little snip-it from my morning:

Maddie:  Mom, what are black eyed peas?

Me:  Oh, they are a band.

M:  Huh?  
Me:  You know, a singing group.  Rock band.  Fergie?  (ok, she def wouldn't know that!)

M:  Really?  Cause in my book they are cooking them.....for dinner.

Me:  Ooooooooh!  Of course.  They are also a bean.  As in, a vegetable.

M:  Ok, can we get some and cook them?

Me:  Uh, yes?

M:  Cool!

I'm gonna be honest here.....don't even know where to find these in the grocery.  

FALL

by Madeline

The apples are red

The pumpkins are turning

I see colors all around

Like yellow, orange and red

The bright colors tell me that Fall is here

Fall, Fall, Fall.

I wish I had to time to detail out our conversation this morning.  As we are planning a trip to a local Amish restaurant, we've been talking about the Amish and their history.  Suffice it to say that Madeline is completely enamored and announced today that she'd like to become Amish.  The Ordnung holds no dissuasion for her as she has said, "I can live just fine without a television!"

Oooookay then.

Happy 1/4 Year Birthday Lincoln!

I might have cuddled on the coach with Lincoln yesterday instead of making dinner.

He might have yet to be introduced to his cradle or crib.

I might carry him from room to room with me as I do my "duties" knowing full well that I could pop him in the bouncy seat and he wouldn't make a peep.

He might have the most addictive smile in the entire world.

I might have cried this week as I packed up his first few newborn outfits that he has outgrown.

He might be the first of our children that isn't sleeping through the night yet.

And I might be enjoying every. single. minute.

Throwback Friday

Exactly one year ago.

I surprised Ron with a zip line tour through a National Park.  And got a first hand experience of what it would feel like to have a panic attack.  No joke.  Aside from that, it was really pretty cool.

We are very small.

Very. Small.

Peace

Simply stated.

Soccer Saturdays

Lauren's soccer debut

Lauren joined her sisers on the soccer fields this Fall and she is a complete joy to watch.  Its been interesting juggling 3 games each Saturday....and this is just the beginning!

My Babies

Madeline (8), Abigail, (6), Lauren (4), Gabriel (2), Lincoln (new)

Free Climbing

Free climbing: a type of rock (or staircase) climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend.  No artificial aids are employed to make upwards progress.

(in addition climber may yell, "Yook how high I am!" causing you to pause from dinner-making duties to check-in)

Best 3 Days Ever!

During dinner time, we often talk about the "most favorite" and "least favorite" parts of our day. 

Tonight we decided to change it up a bit and we asked the kids to share the "Best 3 Days of their Lives.....so far."

Madeline:

-Surprising Aunt Lizzie at the airport when she flew in from Cali last year

-Collecting and getting to bring home ALL my seashells from Outer Banks this year

-Swimming in Florida the time Daddy made me crunchy oatmeal (Christmas 2003)

Abigail:

-Flying to Florida on the airplane (2007)

-Going on family vacation this year

-Being in the delivery room when Lincoln was born

(at which point Madeline yelled, "I want to change one of mine to that one!")

Lauren:

-When Mommy took me on our Mommy/Daughter date night last week

-Going to the zoo

-Going to the park on Park Tour Tuesdays

Gabriel:

-When I go to my class (sidenote:  He absolutely refuses to attend any class, Sunday School or otherwise!)

-When I do my sand castle

-Mom, I all done with my questions!

Lincoln:

(he had some help with his) 

-Eating

-Sleeping

-Pooping

Say Cheese!

I love me some binky.  

Hey wait!  Where'd it go?  Somebody yanked it again didn't they?!

Oh Okay, Fine.  I'll smile.

Now give it back.  Seriously.  Somebody throw me a bone, *ahem* binky.

Your Steak — Medium, Rare or Cloned?

Be advised that you may soon be eating cloned meat and dairy.  And even worse, the FDA is not requiring it to be labeled.....so you won't have any idea.

Another great reason to buy organic.  Always.  No. Matter. What.

(click article below for details)

Your Steak — Medium, Rare or Cloned?

Throwback Friday

Some of my boys from Honduras.

Throwback Friday

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Gabe has been spending time coming up with his own hip hop dance style after watching a boy breakdance during the Talent Show at Family Camp.  

The only thing that keeps me from falling on the floor laughing is that he's super serious about it.  Watch out Diddy.

Again?

Apparently I did not explain plethora last time?

(bonus points for the re-hanging of the lavendar, btw)

This time we even got a little dry-your-hands-off bonus.

All told, 29 rolls.

Harvesting

We made a trip out to the garden this morning.  Packed a picnic and enjoyed some quiet* time on the farm.  There is nothing like a summer breeze in the country.  

*as quiet as it gets with gaggle in tow

Madeline surprised us with a dinner appetizer of fresh veggies, tossed with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  What a beautiful presentation.  I am fairly sure you will see her on the Food Network someday.

As I am about to hit, "Publish" Madeline walked in and asked if she could make a fruit salad to go with our dinner.  

Did I just win the lottery??

Family Camp Preview

We had an incredible time  at Family Camp.  It was amazing.  I don't think I've ever been so compelety whipped returning from a vacation.....but, that's ok!  

Here's a preview of our week together:

The challenge was to climb the pole, stand on top of it and try to wack the tether ball.  Many attempted, few were successful.  

It will surprise no one that Ron climbed that pole like a squirrel and wacked the ball with little effort.  That's my man.

Happy 10 year anniversary babe! 

Throwback Friday

Maddie & Abby enjoying their first taste of Starbucks.

And since all time for me is referenced by children - this was 2 kids ago.

(aka Summer 2006)

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Dad,

The Big 6-0.  You wear it well.  

Thanks for raising us well and encouraging us to do the same in our families.  Thank you for a wonderful example of a healthy, fun marriage.

I am blessed by God to call you Dad.

You are an incredible father and the patriarch of a large, amazing family!

Much love from your eldest (and wisest! ;)) daughter,

Wild Olive Launches Kids Line!

25% of the profits (WO always donates 10%!) from the CHOSEN tees will benefit Love Without Boundaries.  Please click here to learn more about this amazing charity!
Wanna win free tees for you and the favorite kiddos in your life?  Visit Wild Olive and enter today!

Nap Time

I just woke up from my nap. (hair is a dead give-a-way)

I'm a little more awake now.

Ok, I'm ready to go!

Throwback Friday

Last Friday night we were watching Maddie and Abby's theatre performance.  And maybe I just haven't had time to post the pictures. And so I'm using them as my Throwback Friday.  It is my blog.

Here is Maddie as the Wicked Witch (nice!).  She is inspecting the items that Red brought her.

Abby, as the Blue Fairy, waking Pinnochio from his sleep.

Note the incredible crispness of the photos....and also the heavy sarcasm.  I might have been nursing and therefore shooting photos with one hand....the 'ole lefty.  Whatev.

Whatcha Talkin' bout Willis

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UPDATED:

Ron walked in the door from work tonight, looked at Gabe, and said:

Whatcha Talkin' bout Willis!

Mystery solved.

-------------------------

I wish I could say I had the slightest idea where he got this.  He threw it out as we were making lunch today.

I was just thankful the camera was nearby and I was able to catch it on film.  Thank you Go Go Gadget arm.

Song For A Fifth Child

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

A friend sent this poem to me when I was pregnant with Lincoln.  Although I have to say its a bit dated -- I definitely don't 'hang out the washing' and I don't even get the whole 'poison the moth' -- I do love the message behind the poem.  

(On a side note, "hullabaloo" is a general term for a performance, celebration or other noisy even.  And here I thought it was just a game by Cranium)

Throwback Friday....and a Guessing Game

UPDATED:

Lincoln is shown in the first photo.  Gabriel is in the 2nd.  

Congrats to my SIL Amie who was the first person to guess correctly.  :)

Am I Gabriel....or Lincoln?

Am I Lincoln....or Gabe?

Any guesses?  Both pictures were taken in the same outfit at 2 weeks of age.

Happy 2 Week Birthday Lincoln!

Love, Your Big Sister Lauren

(p.s. Happy Due Date to me!)

Plethora of TP

I asked one of the kiddos to refill the toilet paper holder in the half bath.

Throwback Friday

Here's one of my bff's from high school....shortly after giving birth to our sons last week.  In the same hospital on the same day.  Literally, we delivered next door to one other.  

And no, we didn't plan it.  

We did make a memory though.  Traipsing back and forth to each other's rooms during the day and texting hilarious stories at night as we nursed our babies.  Good times.

One Week Later

....I have this beautiful little man.  

God is good.  Happy One Week Birthday Lincoln!

One Week Ago

....I was headed to the hospital with this!

Lincoln Speaks

Lincoln's reaction when the nurse tried to take him from his Mama shortly after birth.

Lincoln Jude - 6 lbs 9 oz 19" 9:22am 7/8/09

Our quiver is full!

Baby Makes Seven!

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I blog jacked Kristen's account to post these pictures! She is resting peacefully. Both Kristen and Lincoln are doing great. Thanks for your prayers and love! More pics to come tomorrow.

This picture was taken as he was being born....with 2 special onlookers.

Bunnies!

Had to quickly post a couple pictures of our baby bunnies.  And now I need to go have this baby!

Gardening 101 continued

I posted a few pictures of our garden from a few weeks ago here.  Well, it has grown like crazy since then!  We headed out yesterday to do a bit of harvesting.

Madeline picked the first cherry tomato.  And was begging to eat it before we even got home!

Here's the first bit of cauliflower.

Abby is cutting some broccoli.  

Gabe checking to see how the green and yellow peppers are doing.

Check out Ron snapping some beans off for our dinner.

Once again, we are finding this strangely addictive.  Ron and I couldn't wait to get home and wash all our fresh veggies.....and then cook some for dinner.