4

Four.
Yesterday was Quinton's birthday. I can't even believe that it has been four years since the nurses first placed my baby in my arms. I remember so many things about the day leading up to his birth. Quinn was born on a Monday around 6:30pm. The day before was Easter, an unusually early Easter. We had spent the afternoon at Dan's parents. When we got home we walked a few miles to get a Redbox movie, stopped by a friends house and went home. I remember feeling pretty regular contractions to whole time but thinking it was just because we were walking. We made some popcorn when we got home, I put up my feet and we watched a horrible movie. I remember turning off the movie in the middle because it was so bad and I was starting to get uncomfortable. We finally headed to the hospital a little before midnight. It wasn't until 6:30 pm the next day that he was born and I heard the words, "It's a boy." Dan and I both thought that he was going to be a girl but were thrilled with our healthy little boy. I think it goes without saying, but it was a long day and the whole time I kept wishing that I had eaten something more substantial for dinner. Since we missed dinner at the hospital, Dan's parents dropped us off Subway. Ever since that day Subway always has a special place in my heart and it always makes me think of Quinn's birth day. I've missed dinner with every one of my children's births. I'm always so jealous of people that have early morning births and they get to take advantage of the whole day at the hospital!

I don't think I could ever comprehend the love that I would feel for my Quinn. I don't think I could ever comprehend how much my life would change. I don't think that I could comprehend how much my heart would delight in my son.

Quinton's first week. I just want one more snuggle with him like that!Quinton's 1st birthdayRight around his second birthday. Near his third birthday.My parents came on Thursday to celebrate our 4 year old. Quinn got to open his gift from them when they got here. They bought him an AWESOME bike. Huffy, with flames on it. We wanted him to open it early so that he could show off while they were here. Aunt Kelly got him a helmet to go with it. Adult size for his big Rude head. I'm sad that I don't have any pictures of him riding it yet but he has taken off. He has this huge proud smile the whole time he is riding it. You have to encourage him to pay attention because he wants to glance back at people and make sure they are watching him. He is such a hot shot on his new bike.We celebrated A LOT yesterday. Quinn was thrilled to have Nana and Papa here and Dan was not speaking this week at church so he got to spend much of the day with us as well.

An excited smile was across his whole face when he woke up. His only question was, "Will my name still start with Q even when I'm four?" Dan had some meetings in the early morning but came home while we were eating breakfast with a present for him to open. After breakfast we played for a while and headed to Caribou.

If you are not already aware, my family has a slight Caribou addiction.

This was Quinton's first Caribou visit at only a few days old. Quinn looks excited doesn't he.Four years later and we are still loving it! Only now things get a little more expensive when we go. More mouths to feed.Four years, plus three more children and this is what our Caribou outings look like now.After Caribou it was off to the park to swing, slide and go down by the river to throw rocks. Back home for lunch, biking, naps, although Quinn opted out of his nap. He didn't want to miss a minute of Nana and Papa time or his birthday. When everyone was awake we walked to Dairy Queen for ice cream, the more playing, dinner on the deck, more playing before everyone, including Nana and Papa, passed out! I'm pretty sure it was a perfect day. Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect 4th birthday for my favorite oldest son. I had requested a Grow Board from my dad and as always he came through. We had a grow board growing up. We always got measured on our birthday. It was always so fun to see how much we had grown and how we compared to each other at the same age. My dad even marked where I was at my different ages on the board so we can compare and see how tall I was at different ages. What a guy! Quinn came in an inch less than I was at age 4. I'm pretty sure he will surely pass me up in size!Dan and I quite regularly talk about what an wonderful boy we have. He is growing up so fast. I can start tearing up at just how quickly four years have gone. Delighting in my son daily. Blessed beyond words to be the momma of such an incredible four year old.

Plaid

Titan is officially part of the gang at my house these days. He made it into the, "dress me the same way as my brothers so no one is sad Club," yesterday morning for church. I don't think he would have been totally devastated to not be wearing the same thing as Quinn and Rex but it was still fun to put them all in

PLAID SHORTS!
Yes, they all wore plaid shorts for church yesterday and man did they all look like studs. They also, minus Titan, all wore stunning scrapes and bruises all over their legs. They are battle wounds on Quinn, Rex and Myla's legs displaying their incredible love for running, jumping, wrestling, and making the most of the outdoors. Their legs are seriously covered with bruises and scrapes. They look like most kids legs in the summer. Oh how I love that look!

I need to buy some new sunscreen, I have heard that it is important to buy new sunscreen every season for it to maintain effectiveness. Is that right? My kids came in with little pink cheeks the other day. Who would have guess that I would need sunscreen in March. Glorious.

I have noticed an overwhelming amount of pictures on my camera of Titan. But seriously, who wouldn't take an overwhelming amount of pictures of this stud? I also think he is the only one of my wee ones that sits still (because he is not going anywhere very fast yet) long enough for me to capture all the smiles. And he is constantly growing and changing so much I must capture it all. I felt the need to "pop his collar" Rex is such a goof ball. I was standing over him trying to get him to look up at me. He was laughing so hard but not looking up. I finally got him to look up and this is what a captured. He is such a delight.Titan is thinking, "Did you seriously just bring me outside this morning to take pictures of me? and did you seriously pop my collar?"

Yes, Ty I did. I needed to add a little spunk to the preppy look. I love watching the dynamics between these three.I'm looking forward to more matching outfits. I'm going to interpret that as they just really love each other. There is no doubt in my mind that they do and I'm so crazy about my little studs!

1st Popsicle

We enjoyed our first popsicle of the season the other day, March 14th has to be a record for that! And we set another record today, we busted out the pool! Oh YES! The pool! It was awesome! I did add some warm water to it but they had a blast!

Ok, back to popsicles! My kiddos were so excited to enjoy a popsicle outside. Titan is all up in the mix these days and seemed to catch on quickly to the popsicle craze that goes on in our house once the warm weather hits.

This weather is absurd! I don't even know what to do with myself. I keep checking the 10 day forecast waiting for it to say snow but it continues to to have record breaking temperatures in the forecast. Amazing. We are definitely making the most of the weatherWe started with shirts on, something new I'm trying. Then I thought, who am I kidding, it's going to be everywhere. So off came the shirts....Check out Ty. He fits right in!Here is my really big boy. I can't even believe it.He is all grown up!Titan and I did share this popsicle but he really enjoyed holding on to it.Now it's starting to get a little cold....My little chunky babe. He's got rolls everywhere.Now I just so happened to capture a Rex "sad face." This was because Titan was trying to grab his popsicle. He's just crushed! Quickly smiling again after I moved Ty.Water is always a hit so I brought some out to wash up in.All my kids have a fake smile...I have forgotten to mention that my Titan can clap! If you sing to him or shout "Go Titan, Go Titan." He starts clapping. It is so fun to see all the new things that he is learning. My big kids love to teach him things to and are always wanting him to clap which means there is even more singing and cheering than usual going on in our house!Titan enjoyed the water as well! He kicks excitedly like a crazy man when I start the bathtub so I'm guessing he is going to be quite the fish this summer just like his siblings. After popsicles it was back to playing as usual. They sure do enjoy each other!Can't say enough how much we are enjoying this weather. I didn't really take very man pictures of them in the pool today. I had to have my hands on Titan constantly. I have a feeling that it won't be the last time in the pool in March. Oh, it's amazing.

I Love My Daddy!

Let me start out by saying that I am still Titan's favorite! I am going to hold onto that title as long as possible. But his love for his daddy is quickly growing.

Being the 4th child he usually ends up in my arms as Dan chases the big kids around. It's not that Dan doesn't try and snuggle him and play with him but there are usually three little monkeys hanging on Dan's legs and Titan is fully aware that Dan can't meet his hunger needs. But despite all that, Ty is realizing what the rest of the world already knows, HIS DADDY IS AWESOME!
Like totally and completely AWESOME!
All he has to do is nuzzle his head into Titan's tummy and he goes crazy!
There is something truly special about a father/son relationship and I am so blessed to watch their relationship grow and unfold right before my eyes.
I hear almost daily how much my little Ty looks like his daddy. He's going to grow up to be one good looking guy if that's the case.
I'm loving watching these two boys together. I can't even imagine what our house is going to look like when Titan is wrestling, running, jumping along with the rest of them. Sooner or later Dan is going to get over powered by our children. We might have to form alliances to gang up on them! Loving my wee ones. Loving that Titan's loving his daddy!

Kitchen Progress

My kitchen is slowly but surely coming together.
After my impulsive painting extravaganza, thank you again to Julia, I have been dying to get things up on the walls. There is one problem, I am horrible at designing things, putting things together, figuring out what matches, envisioning things.

I'm pretty sure that 10 different people could come into my house and design it 10 different ways and I would love any of them. I don't feel like I'm too picky. A friend asked me my style, the only thing I could come up with is "clean." I like things clean. Is that a style? Oh, and I love BLACK! My favorite color.

The picture online that I used for my inspiration for the color of the walls had a couple of black and white decorations in the room. I can do that. Clean, Not a lot of thinking involved.

Wrong.... I must still figure out what I want to put on the walls, what height, how to arrange it, how many frames should go on a wall. It's exhausting and I still have a long way to go.

I do know a few things that I want to include. One of them was a white board drawing area on our big empty wall. Since our fridge doesn't hold magnets I thought it would be a perfect place to put up some letter and number magnets and to work on our artistic skills.

Ta-da!
Step one complete. Now I need to order some magnets.Each of my children are dressed in their favorite thing to wear these days. My boys, of course, in their basketball shorts with their shirts off, and Myla in her new pajamas, thank you Shelly! They would each wear these clothes day and night if I would let them. However, I do require them to change, put on "real" clothes and get ready for the day. The boys, although usually reluctant, change. Myla has put up quite the passionate fight these past two weeks. She LOVES her "toasty heart pajamas." And when I say Love I mean LOVE. She barely wanted to sit in the bath tonight because she knew once she got out she could put on her "toasty heart pajamas." I'm interested to see what happens when it gets too warm to wear them or she grows out of them.
I realize that the white boards are still new and exciting but I think that we will get a lot of use out of them. Dan and I have discovered that we are horrible artists. Our kids are always asking us to draw this and that and although some of the things seem like they would be easy to draw, they never are. It is funny what they guess some of our drawings to be. So, in all my free time I might need to sharpen up my drawing skills.

They are all doing a happy dance because they like our white boards.Quinn and I dreamed up a picture together. We had a whole story to go along with it. Quinn came up with the idea of putting a whale jumping into the pool. I like how he thinks! Quinn and I worked on some numbers and letters the other day. He loves playing learning games. I love getting to see his mind at work. He was quite pleased with himself.My almost 4 year old smarty pants.Dan is so wonderful. He is always willing to hang something for me if I want, but has little opinion about where things should go or what they should look like. So, anyone who is good at design feel free to stop by anytime. I have a handful or frames and some ideas, now I just need some help! I'm excited for the finished product!