Touching traditions

It hit me today that my grandparents have a birthday tradition for me. Every year without fail they call me and sing Happy Birthday to me over the phone. Usually my grandma tries to pull a April Fool's joke, too. Today I got such a touching phone call, early. It was my grandparents singing me Happy Birthday. I missed the call, but now I can listen to their song again on my voice mail. Here's hoping my Birthday is as Fabulous as they wished it.

"I didn't do it"

Of all my kids Garrett is turning out to be the biggest shirker of accountability when things go wrong. That's putting it nicely. The other way to put it is that he is our biggest liar when mishaps happen. These are two conversations we had today.
First. I walked into the kitchen and Garrett had made a huge mess on the floor. I didn't even have to ask what happened. He just said, "me no do it. Emma did".
I knew for a fact that Emma did not do it, so I told him I knew he was lying. He said, "I no lie, Emma lie". I had to laugh at that.
Later. Garrett and Jude are playing and pull out a bureau drawer. I ask what happened. Garrett says, "me no do it, Judy no do it. I no know who did it". Please.

On to other matters that we're not supposed to talk about (for good reason) but I just can't NOT talk about it. I bathed the twins, took Jacob out of the tub and wrapped him up while John was standing up on the side of the tub waiting for his turn to get out. I dry Jacob off and turn around to get John and he hands me a log. Can you think of a better way to start the day than getting handed poop?

And lastly, I have to have oral surgery next week to extract my wisdom teeth. One is coming in and I've had a headache for over a week as a result. So, Monday is the big day. I'm a little scared, but feel kind of like I do at the end of a pregnancy. I know that what is to come is going to be painful, but I look forward to it because once that pain is over, the other aches and pains will be gone. I'll be glad to be done with these headaches.

A Mouth Full of Money

Grace showed me her wallet yesterday.....full of money. From what? Loosing teeth....lots of them. I think she's up to 8 now. At the same time she lost 2 teeth, the twins each got two more on the bottom taking their totals up to 8 teeth a piece each for the twins and 8 lost teeth for Grace. This is beside the point of my post though.....I've been thinking. Why is Grace getting paid for her teeth? Shouldn't I (or Jeff and I) be getting the money? We buy her tooth brushes and toothpaste, we take her to the dentist and pay for cavities and cleanings. And WE have to make sure she brushes them twice daily. So, I want to talk to the original Tooth Fairy and ask what SHE was thinking?

First (but perhaps not last) Mohawks

Jacob (L) John (R)

John

Jacob

The boys got their first haircuts today....well most of their hair, that is. What was left made mohawks, and I think they are so cute I made Jeff leave them for the day.

the shatoe beehind me

Grace and Emma were very busy last night writing their very first pop lyrics. They sang it to me, and it was amusing, but mostly just adorable. I had to record the words as copied from the original:
the shatoe beehind me
the shatoe's beehind me look't so scary so I triyde to tell them they are butifel butt thay wudend say a thing
no! no! no! no! no! no! no!
ya thay wudent say a thing
ya!
thay wudent say a thing

In case you need a little translation, shatoe=shadow and wudent=wouldn't. I love the contraction she made out of looked (look't), too!

How does one fall asleep eating?

Had to add this one. I couldn't believe it when this happened the next day. John (L) Jacob (R)

One of my favorite scenes is a baby who has fallen asleep in their high chair while eating. Grace did this all the time, but the twins NEVER do. So, I was a little surprised when I saw that John had fallen asleep eating. If you look closely, you can see a green Cheerio in his mouth. Too cute.

Portrait of a sick kid and his sidekicks.

Jacob doesn't look very sick, does he?

John

love this shot of Garrett

Emma decked out for spring

Grace-our resident school ditcher. She claims her stomach hurt this morning. I claim she was faking.

Just had to capture all their mugs today. Poor Jacobs' cold/virus settled in his lungs and he has pneumonia....I guess this is a testament to the fact that premature babies who needed breathing assistance really are more suseptible to respiratory virus' even if they are fat little sausages 15 months later.

Spring is in the air!

It has been a gorgeous week. Spectacular. Clear skys. Sunny. Perfect temperature (65 degrees). Look what's popping up in our yard to wish us a happy spring.

My heart stopping moment....

I think the title of this post says it all. I came downstairs to see what John-scratch that, Jacob was doing and found him like this. My heart literally stopped....for a second and then I realized what a perfect photo op it was. Luckily I had a helper that stood by the table to make sure Jacob didn't fall off.

What would I do?

What would I do if I was stranded on a desert island with no vacuum? The same as I am now....dying a slow death. ha ha. As each day passes I'm slowly going insane. My vacuum belt fried and so rather than find an Oreck store locally, I ordered new ones on-line. Big mistake. This means that I haven't vacuumed in two weeks. IT'S KILLING ME....just so you know.

A Switcheroo

One view of the boys room. It is hard to tell, but it is a cowboy themed room.

Entering the room..

Grace's room.....her favorite piece is the lamp.

One side of Emma's room.

The other side.

We've been busy the past few days....last night I decided that we should switch the kids rooms around. We decided to eliminate the nursery putting the three boys together in the two adjoining rooms. We then moved Emma into Garrett's old room and Grace into the twins old room. Grace LOVES her new room and it brings me so much joy to see how happy she is about it. Jeff spent the morning hanging curtains for her (and Emma and the boys), putting on her new bedding and putting up a pink message board. And, it is organized so well, which makes me extra happy. The part that makes me sad though is that she is growing up and getting so independant. She knows that it is a big deal to get her own room (must mean she's growing up) and she appreciates it. Now, that is BIG! She's also lost two teeth this past week.

Garrett isn't sure what to think about sharing a room. He keeps saying, "No baby, that's mine". I asked him if he liked his new room and he said, "No, I no like my bed in Emma's room".

I think this new arrangement will work out really well though. The twins are always wanting to play in the playroom, but to get to it, they had to walk through Grace and Emma's room and always found things to get into. Now I don't have to worry about them getting into the girls things.....well, unless they leave their doors open....

I'll post pictures tomorrow for those few of you who actually care. LOL.

Grandpa's

This is Emma's tribute to her grandpa's.

Today I was at a Mommy and Me class that I help with monthly and one of the helpers was a grandpa aged man who is so sweet and wonderful with the kids. He helped Emma with her craft and all the while he got her to talk, talk, talk. It was such a blessing to have him giving Emma some one on one time since it is rare these days. Anyway, she said a few things about her grandpa's that I have to record here. The conversation went like this,
"you can call me grandpa if you'd like...it's easy and I'm a grandpa".
Emma, "No, I already have grandpa's".
I guess I loved that she gets enough love from her grandpa's that she doesn't need to take on any others. Of course the response she gave wasn't kind in the strictest sense, but she was honest and I know he understood that she had no idea her response could have hurt his feelings.

Later on, I heard Emma tell him that one of her grandpas has someone elses heart, and although this is true, we've never told her that. I've always just said that he got a new heart, or if I'm talking to another adult, a heart transplant. I guess I was just struck that she knew his new heart used to belong to someone else.

Honesty

My "delights"

I've been thinking today about a lesson I read about honesty. It reminded me how important it is to Jeff and me to raise honest children. Children that don't have to think twice about doing the right thing. I love this scripture found in Proverbs:

"...they that deal truly are his delight" (Proverbs 12:22).

I pray that my children will grow up to be honest individuals who truly are His delight.

He's following the leader.....

John walked tonight. A lot. Today I was by the stairs and I saw Jacob walk around the corner from the kitchen, down the hall and into the family room. So weird. Now John is following his lead. John is so cute. He claps for himself after he reaches his goal. They're OFF!

Oh, and did I mention how BIG they are? Jacob is 22 lbs. 11 oz., and John is 21 lbs. 15 oz. They will be 15 months next week. I can't believe it. Also, Jacob's head has levelled out on the growth curve and so if it continues like this, we have one more worry we can cross off our list.

Friends.....

To my kindred spirits; my friends:
Love this quote.
What is a friend?
A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
-Aristotle

family anagrams...

I saw this on my friends blog, and I thought it was so funny. Here's the website to check out your own: http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html
Angie Lee:
a gene lie (my favorite)

Jeffrey Lee:
fee jeer fly

Grace Lee:
race glee

Emma Lee:
am eel me

Garrett Lee:
late regret (2nd favorite)
rage letter

Jacob Lee:
cajole be

John Lee:
eel John

Jacob is walking!

Jacob
John with his walking machine....

Tonight we were over at the Bush's house and Susan was playing with Jacob. Ryan called to Jacob and he walked over to him with a unique side step, but like he's been doing it for awhile. I couldn't believe my eyes. After he realized that he walked across the room to Ryan he practiced some more. Jacob is now a walker....not just a kid taking steps sometimes. Walking. My twinnie is walking.....any bets on when John is going to follow Jacob's lead?

Oh, for anyone with computer savvy out there...how do I flip these pictures right side up?

Best Friends

Yesterday I asked Garrett who his best friend was. Without hesitation he said, "daddy my friend". I asked him if I was his best friend too. He said, "no, you not my best friend". I had to laugh. One never has to worry about a child trying to be diplomatic. I'm glad that Garrett has such a good friend and daddy.

Garrett turned 3 this month and got some really cool toys.......here's a picture of one of them.

comparisons....

Everyone asks me about Jacob and John's personality differences. Their temperments are quite similar though, and until recently there were alot more similarities than differences. Here's a few new developments though:
*Jacob is our more aggressive twin when it comes to toys and food and basically anything he wants. As you know from a previous post, he's also our selective biter.
*John is hands down our cuddle bug. He loves to give hugs and kisses on demand.
*John is our fit thrower. And this is very recent. If he really wants something and things don't go his way he lays down and thrashes around for a bit before going on to his regular business. His temper is sparked more quickly than Jacobs. John also crys the loudest right off the bat when he is mad.
*Jacob is our messy eater. You'd be amazed at their different appearance after eating the same meal.
*John uses more words and sounds than Jacob and knows how to find an on/off switch on an electronic device quicker than you'd believe possible.
*Overall, Jacob gets into more mischeif than John.
*Both are just plain FUN!

Toe biting fetish?

I'm starting to wonder about Jacob. Does he have a toe biting fetish, or what? When we were in CA my sister was feeding her baby in her high chair while Jacob was standing up and playing by Sofia's feet. All of a sudden, Sofia starts crying and there's Jacob standing innocently by with her sock in his hand. I apologized for him and thought, "hum, I need to keep an eye on this". Today, new house, new baby. Baby is sitting in his high chair happily drinking his bottle when he starts to cry and Jacob is once again standing by with a sock in his hand. I go over and sure enough, there is a tooth mark in the babies toe. Fast forward. Floor play time. Again the baby starts crying, and there is Jacob with the babies sock in his hand and there is another bite mark. Are you kidding? The weird part is that he doesn't try to bite John's toes. Or his own.

Then I'd really start to worry.