Christmas, New Year's, etc.

Look at all those stockings!!


When it has been this long since a post, I just don't know where to start! In November I started couponing, and haven't posted since. :( The couponing has taken so much time, but has saved us hundreds of dollars. This week I got the kids to help me!



The 3 big boys and Peter all went to the store with me today. The Bigs found deals that they liked in the circulars, and then they compared prices at Walmart. I think it was a good experience for them, and they were excited about some of their purchases. We got home just in time for "Friday Afternoon Play with Dad Time." Mostly Tim is playing with Zack, but the Bigs are getting to play Minecraft, so that's okay with them.





So, to catch up, how 'bout a bunch of Christmas photos, then our trip to the lake for New Year's, then my Peter Pictures...

Christmas came and went in a blur in our house. It started with fondue, and ended with presents.



Playing Tripoley...



Fun Felt Christmas Tree Grandma sent...



Christmas morning...











We spent New Year's at the lake. I mostly stayed inside with Peter, but did take one excursion with Tim, Trevor, Zack, and Peter. Trevor took us to look at a cool mushroom :) It was a weird shape and color--very interesting! I also really enjoyed all the textures in the woods...amazing balls of moss on the ground and hanging Spanish Moss in the trees. It was fun to tramp around with my kids.















He just needs a little encouragement to get a smile :)



Now, random pictures:

William made some cookie dough...



Zack blanket-attacked Samuel (who is SUCH a good sport with Zack)...



Trevor got another Karate trophy at his Christmas party! Way to go, Trevor! He also made a pretty sweet house of cards.





Zack has been enjoying bubble baths and climbing in trees. He still keeps wearing that cape!







He had a blast getting into my makeup. That's fingernail polish and cream blush on his tummy. It looked awesome with his grubby jeans, over-sized-hand-me-down cleats, and cape. He was so pleased with himself. We've since had a talk about asking to play with makeup first.



Zack has also been enjoying Peter. He likes to put hats on his head, give him kisses, take baths with him, watch videos with him, etc. etc.













And now, check out how Peter is changing!





He loves to sit in his Bumbo. He can finally grab toys and "play" with them. Notice: No Bib! He is spitting a little less. We still get bombed daily, but the constant stream of goo has slowed down.



He is totally filling up his swing these days.



He found his toes, and loves to hang onto them.



Starting to like to play on his tummy...


He LOVES the bath...


Speaking of Who--I'm needed! Happy New Year!

Electronics Hiatus

I feel pretty, oh so pretty!



I don't have many pictures, but still wanted you to see this pretty baby. Aunt Tami made this pretty little outfit. Wish I had a better back drop :)

Peter has been working hard at trying to sit up. He's still not laughing or reaching for things, but he does like sitting in his Bumbo more, and also in his walker (I went ahead and left that spit up there, just to prove a point).



This week Zack brought me a bracelet to wear. I recognized it as one that I keep in my jewelry box...inside my pj drawer...up high in my chest of drawers. Yikes! I walked into my room and found my hamper pushed up in front of my dresser (apparently hampers make good step-stools). And my jewelry box sitting on the floor. The lid was shut. Zack said, "I already cleaned it up!" Sure enough, the floor was clean. But just as I imagined, the contents of the box were a total wreck.

Later that same day I walked into the laundry room and found him sitting on top of our washer (which is on top of a little step, so pretty high) sorting out our battery basket, taking flashlights apart and testing their batteries!

He's three!!

He likes to get up on the counter and make tea or coffee. He likes to get into my makeup drawer and play with hair clips, chapstick, etc., etc.

But, sort of, this is great! A while back he was following me around asking to play on my phone. Or watch a video. All-the-time!

We (that is, Tim and I) hit an electronics wall a couple weeks ago. We took a week off--no wii, no phone games, no Minecraft. It was hard. There were tears. But after one week, the kids had started playing actual games again. And playing puzzles.

Then we decided to take off the month of November. This week the kids drew and traced pictures like crazy. For the first time ever I found someone laying on the couch and reading. For fun. It was so thrilling to see!

Then a couple days ago William stumbled onto this you tube channel: The King of Random. This guy has made all these videos of how to make all kinds of things--like little "guns" made out of popsicle sticks and matches. (Grandpa, I think you would be entertained by this guy. You might even be inspired!) Well, William got to work making some things. Not surprisingly, he is really good at following directions, and working with his hands. I'm so proud of the hard, careful, persistent work he has done. I would love to get a video to show you. Today, all the other big boys (including Tim) got into it, too.

This no-electronics thing has been challenging (I've lost one of my keep-them-busy-tools!) but rewarding!!

"Spitter Peted!"

We are settling into a rhythm here in boy-ville. We made it to church again today, and the boys are plugging along in school. We haven't taken any more camping trips, but we did go to a neighborhood Halloween party (pictured above) and made our first trip to the lake as a family. Once again, it's been so long since I blogged that my pictures have accumulated and seem out of date...but I can't just skip them, now can I? :)

I love these: I took the the boys (minus Trevor, who was on his way to Washington D.C. with Mom and Dad) to an antique car show at Landmark Park. It was such a bonus to see that they had inflatable jumping toys!







Being super-cute (and perhaps wearing a Dora bandage on your face) has it's advantages. At the show the owner of the motorcycles let Zack sit on several of them, and even cranked one up and revved it for him!





Peter is growing like a weed. I think he is around 16 pounds by now. He eats and sleeps great.



For the record, I will say that he is a spitter. I'd heard of babies that spit up a lot, but never had the honor of growing one myself. Boy oh Boy. One of the boys had one of those word blunders lately and announced that, "Spitter Peted." There's a name for that kind of slip, isn't there?

Peter spits a hundred times a day, I'm sure. I decided to make you a pie chart to express his very fine spitting abilities...



"Dabs" refers to the little spits that just dribble down his chin onto his (ever-present) bib. To clean these spits, just use the edge of the bib, or a nearby rag. These he does every few minutes, all day long.

"Splashes" refer to his medium-sized spits. These spurt out way bigger, and get on his clothes, and often my clothes, or on whichever lucky person is holding him, and then splat onto the floor, or pool on the couch. Or perhaps he's in his bouncy seat--then the spit runs far past his bib, down his past his lap and pools in the seat. These require a fair amount of wiping. Everyone is left soggy, but given time, it dries up. These he usually does at least 3 or so times after every feeding. I will absolutely need to wash all the cushion covers and get the carpets cleaned once he is done with this soggy season.

The "Total Outfit Changes" is rather self explanatory. These spits are SO gigantic and forceful that they drench us both. No amount of wiping our clothes is sufficient to salvage them. This happens at least once a day, and sometimes up to 5 times a day.

One day I took him shopping. After driving to the store, I pulled his carseat out of the car and as I did so he did a huge spit that not only got us both wet, but also splashed all down the seat of the car, onto the running board, and all over the parking lot.

It's just astonishing how much he can lose, and yet be happy and gain weight. How I can continue to be astonished when it happens daily, I don't know, but each time he does a "wipe" or larger, I still exclaim out loud. I'd love to take it calmly, but I haven't learned to yet. :)

Here's a classic "Splash." What you don't see is the towel I'm holding between my knees to mop us up. This was our first picture of our Christmas card photo shoot. Nice.



*Experts say that as long as Baby is happy and is gaining weight, spitting is not a worry.*

Other than his off-putting digestive manners, Peter is a sweet and friendly baby. He loves attention and will talk your ear off if you give him encouragement. We love him so much.



Here I think maybe he looks like my Grandpa Wilkins...What do you think?



Zack still enjoys Peter. I started Peter on brown rice to help him sleep better, and Zack likes to help feed him. Here they are on our trip to the lake...



Zack enjoys all the brothers, and likes to wrestle and snuggle with them.



This is a strange picture. Trevor likes to keep an eye on his start chart app on the iPod. There had been a solar eclipse coming, and the day it came we loaded up in the car and drove up to Westgate Park where the trees wouldn't obstruct our view. We made some little homemade viewing devices to try to see the eclipse. They didn't work, really, so that was too bad, but it was still a good adventure.