New Developments

WOW! There is a lot going on around our house!!

We'll start with Rider. He is now 4 months old, and can sit on his own for about 3 seconds before he topples over. He also rolled over from his back to his belly for the first time this morning. He was in the living room playing on his playmat, and I was feeding Brice breakfast. I KNOW I put him on his back, and when I went back in the living room, he was on his belly playing with a toy!! I still didn't believe it, so I put him back on his back to have him do it again...sure enough!! Only problem now, is that he doesn't like being on his belly, so when he rolls - which he has done numerous times since then, he gets rather upset. He can roll the other way (well, at least he could a couple months ago), but he won't....so he's stuck - or so he thinks. We've also started trying to work on Rider's sleeping. His naps have been better - still not great, but at least taking one good long nap a day. Night time is another story. He goes to sleep fine, but sometime around 9 or 10 every night, he wakes up. He isn't hungry then, but has a hard time getting back to sleep. So, we've started letting him cry some. So far, we've done it for 2 nights, and it hasn't worked very well. We will keep trying...once he does finally go back to sleep, he sleeps pretty well until morning...if only we could get him past that 10 o'clock hour!! So, that's Rider's world...he's a happy, energetic little guy - with a smile that lights up his whole face. I love it!!

Here he is showing off his new sitting skill!

On to Brice. Brice had his first visit to the dentist yesterday. He wasn't too sure about laying flat on his back to let the hygenist look into his mouth, so all we did was have him lay back to let the dentist count his teeth and check them really quickly. Otherwise, the dentist was a fun trip for him...while Darren and I had our teeth cleaned, the assistants had a blast playing with Brice. He's quite the flirt! On to other news...we have started potty training. Let me start by saying that I was fine waiting at least another year before we started this. Brice had other ideas. First it started just by taking his shorts off - all the time. Then yesterday, he took his shorts and diaper off and peed on the floor. So, I decided we should give it a shot. We went and bought him a potty, and let him sit on it last night. First time on, and he peed! No, it's not that easy! Today, we've been working on it, and we have not peed in there at all! Oh well - I am really in no hurry - it is just rather time consuming to sit him on the potty every 20 minutes. Oh, and we'll be securing Daddy's job because we're using M&Ms as incentive to sit on the potty!

Here's a picture of Brice at the dentist...

And because I can't end my post with such a distressing picture, here he is afterwards in his cool sunglasses...

And just for fun, one of the boys helping me cook

Goodness, I'm tired just talking about all the changes going on!! So glad it's almost Friday, and that Grams and Papaw are coming to visit next week!! Mama could use a break!!

Chopped!

My side of the family all went on vacation a couple of weeks ago...everyone...8 adults and 5 kids (all 3 and under!!). It was as relaxing as having 5 kids all in the same house can be. We took lots of walks to the beach, went to the pool on a daily basis, and drove to a couple of beaches. Having kids made us take it easy - we didn't try to do too much since they needed (and I mean needed) their naps and early bedtimes. A typical day for us was ...wake up (times varied depending on the children - we were up early because our precious Brice likes to wake up early), eat some breakfast, walk to the ocean, play, eat lunch, go to the pool, take naps - the kids and sometimes the adults, play, maybe walk back to the ocean, feed kids dinner, baths for kids, bed for kids, adult dinner (more about that later on), then dessert and maybe a card game or two. Sounds crazy, but by the end of the week, we had it down to an art, and it wasn't too bad. Since the kids were outnumbered - for now at least - there was usually an extra set of hands if someone needed help or needed to rest. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week...you can check out my album on facebook for the rest of the pictures.

Our home for the week...it was just as pretty inside!

Just too pretty not to post.

Rider showing off...

"Boat boat"...Brice's favorite game to play...point out every boat he sees (and doesn't see).

Mommy and Brice at the beach.

Darren caught a shark...a baby one, but hey - it was a shark!

I promised (and I know you are dying to know) that I'd talk about our dinners. You might remember my post a while back about my dinner challenge. Well, that idea blossomed into a fabulous dinner menu for the week. Now, the kids all still ate mac 'n cheese, ravioli, hot dogs, avocados, etc. But, the adults - man, we ate good! So, each couple created a list of 4 ingredients (a la another Food Network show - Chopped), we drew names and traded lists. Every night, during the kid dinner, bath, bedtime, one couple was releived of those duties, and got to cook dinner for the adults. (May not sound like a good trade off, but trust me, not having to feed, bathe and put kids to bed every now and then is VERY nice!) Each couple paid for the groceries they used for their meal, and it was fun to see what we could eat for - no one's dinner was over $10 a plate, and every dish would have easily been more than that in a restaurant. So, here's what we created...

Beth and Clark...Sirloin Oscar with Spinach noodles and a lemon, garlic sauce. The sauce on the sirloin was a crab bernaise sauce...sounds fancy, and it was delicious!

Brad and Crystal...Shrimp Scampi with linguini and a lemon caper sauce and a fruit salad. Theirs was my favorite!

Mom and Dad...Toasted walnut grouper with a fruit salsa and mashed sweet potatoes. Can't get much better than fresh - and I mean fresh! - fish!!

Darren and I...Bacon wrapped cream cheese and jalepeno stuffed chicken with an adobo peanut butter spread and jalepeno spoonbread and salad with avocado vinagrette dressing. In our defense - our ingredients were by far the most difficult...jalapenos - no big deal, peanut butter - what??, ritz crackers - what??, and polenta (we used this, but it was not very tasty the way I did it...maybe I'll try it again someday). Oh, and I made sopapilla cheesecake for dessert...thanks to my friends for their help with the recipe! :)

What a fun week - it was good to get home, but Brice still asks to go to the beach...almost on a daily basis. I'd love to be able to grant him that request! Maybe next year buddy!

You can check out a couple other blogs if you haven't read enough...my sister, sister-in-law, and dad have also blogged about our time together!