Tater

While I have 4 boys and it's true that we have had our share of stitches, staples, a broken femur, and a body cast, I have never had a true climber. I can not turn my back on this kid for 2 seconds without him climbing up something. It's getting to be a lot of work. A few days ago I was filling up the tub for Tyson and I walked in and found Tate, fully dressed and already bathed sitting in the tub. It's the tub in my room so the side is pretty tall. He now regularly climbs in when it is empty and tries to climb up the bathroom counter (which luckily he can't do...yet). Shopping carts can not keep him contained. I buckle him tight and he can wiggle his way out and stand up. His newest trick is climbing on the arm of the couch and jumping onto the cushions. He's not very steady and I'm waiting for the day he falls the wrong way and ends up on tile. Let's hope we don't end up back in the ER.



I will come into the kitchen and he will be walking around on the table. It takes him 2 seconds to get up there.

This is his scariest trick. We have now decided to ditch the high chair. It doesn't matter how tight he is buckled...he will get out.

His new trick...

He tries to climb up the counter from the dishwasher but hasn't been able to yet. We don't give him enough time to figure it out.

Cousins

While both my sisters were in town we went to get the annual cousins picture. While we were there we decided to have each family take their own pictures too. Here's what we got......



This cousin picture is actually the best we have ever taken. I wish I had the pictures from years past on my computer to show the improvement. Now that the kids are getting older, it's getting easier to get their picture (this picture was by no means easy, but compared to years past it was a breeze). There are 14 kids 7 and under and 10 of them are boys so the fact that the place was still standing when we left says a lot....

*click on the picture to make it bigger. It's funnier that way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to RYAN!! He turns 6 today! For those of you just now realizing my two oldest boys are a year and 2 days apart, I'll wait while you change your underwear........ Blake was only three months old when I found out I was pregnant again. It was hard at first but now I love having them so close. Ryan is our peace maker. He is always willing to share and will do whatever he can to make sure everyone is happy. He loves to clean and man, you should see his vaccum lines!! Both of his kindergarten teachers have asked me if they can take him home to clean their house but due to child labor laws he is not currently available for rent. Happy Birthday Ry! We love you! Ryan at his kindergarten graduation

Ryan and his cousin Lane.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to BLAKE! He turns 7 today! I can't believe my first baby is that old. I know I say it way too much but time really does fly. It's been nice to have him get a little older and be so independent and such a great helper. He constantly tells me I can leave and he will babysit. If only that wasn't against the law..... Happy Birthday Blakey! We love you! Blake and his cousin Ashley a few nights ago at the Bellagio.

In a Nutshell....

Here is basically how our 4th of July went down...


Ryan was so exhausted from swimming literally all day. His eyes were red and he was barely hanging in there. He lasted for about 20 minutes, 2 smoke bombs and a sparkler and then he insisted on going inside and laying on the couch and watching cartoons. We tried to coax him outside several times but he was just too dang tired.

Tyson is freaked out by the sound the fireworks make so he stayed inside and watched through th window while wearing ear plugs.

Blake is a pyro and so are his 2 cousins. We were letting them take turns lighting small things but at one point we caught all three of them with their own lighters sticking kabob sticks in coke cans and lighting them on fire. Don't worry we didn't have to call 911 this year (unlike last year due to my little sister and a roman candle).

I thought this was a picture of Ryan. It's not. And I have no idea how to remove it.

Me and John pretty much doing nothing (which is probably how the kids wound up with lighters). Tater was still asleep at this point and we were enjoying it.

Tater. After having been woken up by illegal fireworks on both sides of my mom's house. He wasn't scared and he didn't cry but he never let go of me or John. It worked out well because we didn't have to chase him!

4th of July

Just a few of the reasons we don't have a nice family picture. Every year I try and take a picture of the boys on the 4th in their matching shirts and this is usually how they turn out. I didn't even post all of my attempts. John helped me for the first little while and then after like 10 pictures he had the good sense to walk away. What you don't see is me sweating, yelling, waving my arms, and then finally saying whatever and not so much walking but more like storming away. It's funny now but not so much then....



I know, seriously, right?

10 Miles......

A big thanks to my sisters Heather and Stacey for agreeing to run 10 miles at 4:30 this morning with me. The girls in my running group are all out of town and I would have had to go alone if they hadn't come with me. They both have 4 kids and are visiting from out of town and even though I had to run because of the marathon, they didn't. But they dragged their butts out of bed and did it anyway. THANK YOU!!

It was really fun to run together and since Stacey lives in Texas we have never gotten the chance before today. We missed our other 2 sisters Jenna and Amanda and wished they would have come!

**This picture is after the run so please excuse the hideousness of it.....

Apparently this is me....

At least I look skinny right? A special thanks to the artist, Tyson, for making me look so good....

Because we have nothing better to do with our time..

John was pretty proud of himself for "training" Tate to do this. It's funnier when Tate starts off standing up but of course when I busted out the camera he wouldn't stand. I need a girl.