Getting their sea legs

The boys are taking swim lessons!

They aren't expected to finish the lessons able to swim laps in the pool - the idea is water acclamation. Tate and I both love the water (can't you tell from our dark tans?) and hope the boys will enjoy it too.

Brett

Swimming seems to be good "therapy" for Brett. He has high muscle tone in areas like his legs (often stiff and toes curled tight) and hands which used to be in a constant fist but he opens more now. The water relaxes him so much it is amazing. He doesn't kick and splash on his own but enjoys when you help him and mostly just seems to love the feeling of moving through the water.

Peyton

Peyton will do well if he pays attention. The first week he wanted Mommy and this week he kept waving to Grammy on the sidelines.

Jackson

He may be our water bug. He seems bored with the splashing and kicking already and when we practiced jumping off the wall into the water he didn't even wait until Tate counted to 3!

Special thanks to Auntie Kerry and Auntie Nancy for their willingness to get in a swimsuit and be our 3rd so everyone has a swim buddy.

Here is some video of the boys in the pool in our yard with Auntie Kerry and Auntie Nancy practicing blowing bubbles (or drinking the water)??? Peyton is on the right and looks like he is bobbing for apples. Jackson on the left saying quack!

Sharing

So Tate and I are working with the boys on the concept of sharing - with varying degrees of success.

The other day at lunch Peyton insisted on taking his bib off over and over again. As my patience was wearing thin I said OK then "if you don't have a bib on you don't eat." He carried on and kept pointing to the chicken on the table out of reach. After waiting awhile I put his bib back on and gave him some chicken. He took his bib off, I took away the chicken (you get the idea). This happened a few more times until he thought it was just a game. So I said "that's it, no more chicken" and continued to give chicken to Jackson when he asked for more. Peyton carried on crying, whining and pointing to the chicken and I ignored him. Then the darnedest thing happened. Jackson picked up a piece of his chicken and handed it over to Peyton which brought huge smiles to both of their little faces ... and mine. You lose some, you win some. I'll take what I can get!

Happy Father's Day

One of my favorite things is to hear the boys say Dadada - It was one of their first words and they love to say it. Sometimes Peyton will even say Hi Daddy. In honor of Father's Day and because the boys say they have the best Daddy (and I agree) I thought I'd share some video of Peyton trying to call Daddy on the phone.

Happy Father's Day to our dads too and all the dads out there!

Road trip!

Me, Brett, Jackson, Grammy, Poppy, Tate and Peyton

eating lakeside at the local hangout's Tiki Bar

Two Sundays ago the sermon at church was about road trips. I found it very fitting since the next day I began packing for our first family vacation - an almost 5 hour drive to see Grammy & Poppy. As Tracy talked about God being with you wherever you go, we were asked to turn to another person and share our favorite road trip story. As I quickly flipped in my mind through a Rolodex of great road trip memories and selected one from a childhood trip to Michigan I remember thinking 'this next adventure could very well change my perspective on road trips. OK God, I'll hang on for the ride!' Tate and I both love road trips but, then again, we had never traveled with three little ones before! I am happy to say it was a successful trip all the way around. We left at bed time Thursday night - instead of putting them in their cribs we loaded them into their new "big boy" car seats with Jackson and Peyton traveling forward facing! (Brett still needs to pack on a few pounds).

Brett

Jackson & Peyton

They slept most of the way up and all woke during points in the drive but were all sleeping when we arrived around 11:30 p.m. Unfortunately the transfer from van to house woke everyone up and they screamed on and off (mostly on) for a few hours - but who can blame them? They woke up in a new place in the middle of the night with my family fawning over them! We did the ride home Sunday afternoon and Jackson & Peyton fell right asleep, woke up cheerful and said hi, car, truck and bus the rest of the way. Brett cried for about 45 minutes but then peacefully slept for three hours! I am happy to report that we not only survived but are excited to do more traveling now that - as Granddad says - we've got one under our belt!

The stay at Grammy & Poppy's was great! The boys were so happy to see them and had a blast wondering around their property discovering new things, watching squirrels, golf carts, playing with pine cones and Poppy's menagerie of "toys".

Jackson & Peyton

Brett

Brett

Peyton

Jackson

The boys (including Tate) also went to their first Threshermen's Show (pretty much a bunch of old tractors, engines and interesting inventions made from... old tractors and engines).

Grammy was great and had high chairs, pack n plays, beach towels and all the other big stuff all ready for us so we actually were able to pack pretty light.

Tate and I agree our favorite part was watching the boys experience the lake for the first time. They all loved it.

Here is a picture of their first dip in the water. Unfortunately our camera battery died and we didn't get picks of them sitting in the water in their swim trunks splashing, but they definitely had a great time.

Auntie Kerry, Brett, Tate, Peyton, Me & Jackson

Thanks to Auntie Kerry & Auntie Nancy we also had extra hands to help and were able to get some time to relax and sleep.

Auntie Nancy shoveling, Auntie Kerry and Peyton on the John Deere

and Tate supervising (he was on vacation after all)

What we eat

Since I have three sisters and no brothers I don't have much of a frame of reference for boys. But when we learned we were having 3 boys for some reason my mind jumped ahead to the teenage years and not what, but how much, they will eat. Funny where your mind takes you. But this thought continues to stick with me. I remember when we were teenagers opening and shutting every cabinet and then standing in front of an open refrigerator saying (or maybe whining) "there's nothing to eat". When there was a house full of food. But even as girls we ate our fair share of food - especially during busy sports seasons.

So everybody was always wondering when the boys were born how much they would eat - when they first came home and ate every two hours we were fixing about 36 bottles a day - although they didn't eat much it took them forever to finish and it felt like you were always feeding! Then we went to every three hours - about 24 bottles a day. And now it isn't so much the bottles and sippie cups it's the actual food.

Just at breakfast we go through almost two whole large bananas between the three boys. So that is 14 bananas a week! The boys are recently on a hot dog kick and Jackson & Peyton will eat 5 hot dogs between the two of them for lunch - plus a vegetable and formula (a growth spurt???)! Brett is still on pureed foods but he eats almost 3/4 of a banana, and several ounces of pureed food five times a day. No complaints though - we have worked very hard to help him coordinate his tongue, mouth etc. to eat - so it is a joy to see him enjoy his food!

Jackson will pretty much eat whatever you put in front of him. He loves his vegetables and has the ability to eat the inside of the green bean and spit out the shell and even eat the inside of a pea and spit out the shell! Here is a short video of him eating a whole nectarine - he got his hands on it and just got busy eating! Notice I don't have to worry about him choking on the skins. (That is Peyton commentating - he things Jackson has a basketball :)

Peyton is also a good eater - he loves his chicken and turkey and gobbles it up fast.

So I'm back to feeling like all I'm doing is feeding them - and so my fear intensifies - if two boys can eat 5 hot dogs at 13 months old - how many hot dogs will we have to fix when they are 16?

Since we are outdoors more the boys like to suck on rocks and eat dirt - I guess there's always that as a backup. Doesn't seem to bother Peyton!

Just for laughs

Just thought you would enjoy the laughter in the video below.

My nieces Caroline & Sophie spent the day at the zoo with their mom (Auntie Amy), Auntie Kerry and later Auntie Nancy. We were at the doctor but they came over to play later in the afternoon!

Credits : Ringleader & Lawnmower - Caroline 

                Silly girl in pink diaper - Sophie

                Giggly boy in diaper - Peyton

                Silly boy in green shirt - Jackson

                left - Auntie Nancy

                right - Auntie Kerry

                Silly girl in pink diaper - Sophie

Off camera - Tate, me, Brett & Auntie Amy