Brian's Second Calling

Tonight Brian made Chicken with Sun-dried tomato, eggplant and basil. He found the recipe on Food Network. It was so good. I felt like I had a personal chef serving me.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-with-sun-dried-tomato-eggplant-and-basil-recipe2/index.html

On a separate note, Lucas is starting to interact with Samuel a lot more. Up until this point he has pretty much ignored the fact that Samuel is in our family. Usually the only time he mentioned Samuel was when he was gone. He would say "Where's mamel, where's mamel? Sleeping?" But, today he would stop to make Sam laugh, he would tell him what he was doing, and he would share with him. It makes me so happy to see my two boys together. I cannot wait to see them play war, baseball, and cars together. I love them so much!

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I pulled out the camera very little this week. But I thought that I still needed to post even if life isn't exactly the most exciting right now. So, here are some things that I don't want to forget about our week.

Lucas is a climbing machine. I found him on top of Meghan's bar, on the counter top, on the table, all over the back of the sofa, and on the TV stand. We are waiting for him to discover that the new dresser is within a leg's reach from the bed. He has spent a lot of time in his room because of his desire to climb. I keep thinking that if we go to the park he will get all climbed out. But, I'm starting to think that he is just honing his climbing skills every time he goes to the playground. The picture below captures the face Brian and I see every time he is climbing on something. Its his naughty and excited face all in one.

Samuel has found that his toes are a yummy treat. I love getting pictures of toe sucking. Lucas used to do it all of the time. But Samuel is too into the camera to pose for me. He will be chomping on his big toe forever and when I pull out the camera he starts trying to grab it instead.

With a little guy that wakes up at every noise it's pretty difficult to get a cute sleeping picture. I waited until we had to go somewhere before I snuck one. He was going to have to get up anyway so there was nothing to lose. I think that he is pretty cute. I love my boys so much!

Anna Catherine

Anna Catherine

This is a photo my brother-in-law took of Anna. Isn't she beautiful? My sister and brother-in-law have a knack for making pretty little girls. Welcome to the family Anna. We cannot wait to see you grow. We love you so much already. You are such a blessing.

Here is some of the crew waiting for sweet Anna's arrival. Others were there and even more arrived later that day. We should take a group shot of all of us when the next baby comes. We are a large rowdy group that is hard to keep locked up in the waiting room. My parents now have five grandchildren and our families are still one-sided. We have two boys and my sister has three girls. Maybe one day we will mix it up.

Little Things

Life has be absolutely crazy. Its not a bunch of big things. But all of the little things put together make on crazy life. Because its so crazy, I have not had much time to take pictures (which I am usually really good about) or right in my journal or baby books. So, before I forget all of the things that I want to remember about right now I am going to list them on this blog. Here I go...

Baby Denton #3...Please come out! We all want to meet you. You were due today and you still have about 2.5 hours left. So come on!!!

Samuel is a rolling machine. It is so different to see a baby go from completely immobile to mobile. I turn around and he is far from where he started on the floor. I guess that I need to start vacuuming more often.

Lucas is talking non-stop. Some of it does sound like Chinese, but I'm sure that he understands what he is saying (or he is mocking me.) Today he walked around singing "Busy, busy dreadfully busy. Much much to busy for you" from Veggie Tales.

Brian and I got to go on two dates this month! We went to see a movie (something that we had not done together in year...not kidding...YEARS.) We also went to get dessert together one night. I feel a sense of freedom with Samuel sleeping a lot better. We are able to put them to bed and have a babysitter come (i.e. Lindsey or Melissa) without the kids ever knowing.

I dropped Lucas off at the church nursery on Friday night for our Lenten Meal/talk. This is a big deal because last year he cried a lot when I left him. A year makes a huge difference!

Last night Lucas went to bed with at least ten cars lined up against the edge. They can't be comfortable, but they must be good company.

I'm starting baby food next week. I plan on making my own, but we will see how long that lasts. I'm hoping to do better the second time around with giving my baby more variety. Hopefully he will not be as picky as the first.

Never buy a 2004 Pacifica, ugh. I think that we have put more money into it than we spent purchasing it. This week it smelled like burnt rubber. We feel like we need to sell it because its given us nothing but problems, but we have probably already replaced half of its parts. What else could go wrong...right??

Emily and Brett will find out where they will spend the next 3 years. I'm feeling anxious and excited for them. Can't wait to find out!

Well, I think that I should be done rambling. Hopefully the next post will be for our new niece/nephew. We cannot wait to meet her/him.

Success!

Introduction:

I love projects. Correction: I love imagining projects and starting projects. Finishing projects is another thing.

The interior designer in me loves to work on my home. Since we are renting our home right now I do not have the freedom to paint (which is killing me.) I told Brian the other day that I had an itch to paint something. So, after my mom offered us an old dresser that she had, I decided to scratch my paint itch. I forgot to take before pictures, but I have some after.

The dresser was Meghan's nursery furniture from when she was a baby. It survived 28 years and 5 girls. Now it is in my home and its in great condition!

I did a grey primer, a brown base coat and a teal top coat. I wish that the brown was a little bit darker. I was very scared to do something so permanent, but I love it. It looks great in our room. Every time I walk into our room it makes me smile. It adds a nice punch of cool to my very warm room. I would have taken a picture of the entire room but I don't make my bed (my mother would be so disappointed.)

I label this project an overall success.

Treasured Moments

As I mentioned before, Brian has been working a lot lately. We treasure the times when we can all be together as a family. Last night Brian was able to see the kiddos for about 30 minutes before they went to bed. Samuel kept touching his face like he wanted to remember what Daddy looked like. It was so sweet. Lucas wanted to sit with Daddy the entire time and read books. They were so happy to see him.

On a separate note: Samuel is conquering sitting!

New Tricks

After 5 months of laying on his back, stuck wherever an adult leaves him, Samuel has learned two new tricks. He is no longer restrained. Nope, he is a free man. Well, maybe not free yet but he is definately becoming less dependant.

All of the baby books say that a baby should be rolling over by 4 months. My babies are a little bit slow at that. That's okay. I've accepted the fact that they will not win gold medals for their rolling skills. But, Samuel is learning to roll a little weird. He is going from his back to his stomach. I would think that that would be harder than the other way. But, of course, he wants nothing to do with rolling from his stomach to his back.

The same week that he figured out how to roll he also started to sit up. He is not yet sitting up like a pro, but I can sit him on the floor and lean him forward and he will stay there for quite a while. But, once that head starts to fall backwards the rest of the body follows. Some babies get their feelings hurt when they fall. Not Samuel. He cool, calm and collected. He takes it like a man. Here is a picture of one of the first trials of independant sitting. Brian takes protecting his children very seriously (hence the wall of pillows) or maybe he just wanted five minutes to get something done without Sam falling over.

5 Months

I don't usually celebrate monthly birthdays for my babies. The only one that I usually focus on is 6 months because its their half-birthday. But, this week Samuel turned 5 months and it made me stop when I realized it. I cannot believe how fast the last 5 months have gone.

This is a picture of Samuel from his second day on this earth

This is a picture from 5 months

Days like today are hard with two kids. One is climbing on the potty while the other one is crying. The bigger one stepped on the little one and they are both crying. Frustrated, the little one wants to sit up but can't figure it out. Whenever I have doubts I try to remind myself that this will pass. We have nothing to worry about because God has blessed us with two little miracles. Its okay that they are aggravated with each other because they are each other's gift. They are lifelong support, competition, memories, teachers, and companions.

Happy 5 Month Birthday Samuel!

We love you so much. We cannot believe how much you have grown and how much you have changed our family for the better. We are so grateful that you are here and that we get to see your smiling face every day.

To Brian, and Daddy

This is going to be one of the longest months ever. Brian is working two full-time jobs on a regular basis lately. But March is going to be even busier by adding training and teaching to the list. Some of what he is doing he loves and some of it he hates. But he doesn't complain about any of it. He is working so hard for our family to get us where we need to be. He is doing all he can to provide for his kids and wife. Then, when he actually gets to come home, he is totally present. He plays with the kids and helps to clean and cook. He even manages to get "honey-do's" checked off the list. That is what I call a man. I cannot ask for anything more. We love you! Thanks for everything!

Ashley, Lucas, and Samuel

One day he might not be happy with me. But, this is too important of a day not to document ; )

Happy Birthday Sarah!

We attended Sarah's 3rd birthday party tonight. She had a Tinkerbell party. It is so fun to see her face light up at all of the girly things that she opened. She is such a sweet little girl. We love her so much and cannot believe how much she has grown. Happy Birthday Sarah!

Potty Time continued

The kids are asleep and Brian and I are taking a deep breath. We watched Lucas every step he took today. The second that he slowed down we were all over him trying to remind him of the potty. He did a pretty good job. The day got progressively better (no accidents after naptime!) Tomorrow is a new day. We are armed and ready: clean underwear, clean sheets, lots of treats for rewards, and hopefully a good nights sleep. Good job Lucas! We are cheering for you!

Potty Time!

This is going to be short and sweet...Im potty training Lucas. Its been a rough day, but I think that we are making progress. He has peed more in his pants than in the toilet. But, he made poopoo!!! At 2pm Lucas asked to go to bed. Im pretty sure that meant he needed a break. Sigh... It will all be worth it, it will all be worth it.

I will post again tonight with the progress.

What I want to remember about now...

What I want to remember about now...

Lucas, Sarah, and Abigail walked out of Abigail's bedroom in dress-up clothes. Keep in mind that they do not have many masculine outfits to choose from. He had a wand in hand and was chasing them around the living room. Its pretty amazing what Abigail can accomplish when he cousin adores her like he does.

The Halloween costume that I bought for Halloween 2010. We literally had to hold him down to get him to put it on. Now, he walks around the house in it. It's so cute to see the little tail in the back swing back and forth as he walks.

Lucas wakes up every morning with his blanky over his head. He calls it his "hat." He then walks into the kitchen, says "snack" two-million times. I fill his bowl with cereal and he opens the fridge to grab his milk. Then, just as this picture shows, he sits in front of the TV to watch "Bob" i.e. Veggie Tales while I make "real breakfast."

I know that the morning routine will change, just as it does every few months. But this particular one just makes me smile.

Sword fights with wrapping paper tube

My sweet happy baby. He is so content and so precious.

Brian and I were talking the other night about how blessed we are to have two amazing, healthy, happy children. Thank you God for our miracles.