Funny kids

My kids love stickers and I have been using them as incentives for good behavior and to motivate Beck to use the potty. The other day as I was sweeping the kitchen floor Beck said, "mom you could get a sticker for sweeping" Then later that day he said, "you could get a mommy sticker for being nice to Kiera".

Beck has seemed so grown up with the way he has been communicating. He has been saying things like "________ makes me so mad!"

Beck has also been talking about his cousin Riley saying things like
"Riley's mom has a baby in her tummy"
"Riley says I'm a genius"

"Riley says I look like Josh"

I was thinking to myself how it has been over a month since Riley visited and I didn't realize they really conversed this much while he was here. Beck continuted with the Riley comments.

"Riley says I'm impossible" this statement caught my attention, so I asked what impossible meant and Beck responded, "It means I'm tired" Then Beck started saying Riley does this and Riley does that and it finally occured to me that Riley is his imaginary friend. I told Eli about his new friend Riley and Eli told me that he was aware of it and that he also had one named Tom.

It caught me off guard a little probably because I didn't think 2 year olds had imaginary friends. Too bad Riley can't teach him to go potty like a big boy.

Kate was sick this week and didn't get to start pre-school yet, but she has been carrying her backpack around with her everywhere saying "see ya later I'm going to school.

I asked Kate to get me a toy for the baby and this is what she brought

It is nice to have some entertainment during the days to break up the monotony

baby milestones

I haven't really posted much of the baby, so I thought it was about time. She is now 4 1/2 months old and has reach a few developmental milestones. She rolled over the day before she turned 4 months. She loves to spit and she cracks us up when she spits at her brother and sister when they get too close and she doesn't want to be bothered. she has discovered her hands and feet and loves to stare at them and play with them. She has been playing with toys for quite a while already and is very good at manipulating them.

She doesn't shreak or make a lot of noise, but she does sigh a lot when she is relaxing in the tub or when she has become bored with a toy etc. She loves watching her brother and sister run back and forth and loves when they talk to her and tell her stories. Beck is still learning how to be soft and today I caught him plugging her nose. Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken lately.

I love this one of the sisters

Kiera loves to sleep with her arms behind her head

She sleeps from about 9pm until 4am, so I am happy with that and I think it will get even better when she finally gets to eat some solid food.

She is getting the cutest little fuzz on the top of her head. I love it. I was worried she would have nothing for her first couple years except the wierd patch on the back of her head near the nape of her neck.

It is definitely harder to keep up with the picture taking with the third. I see why a lot of middle children don't have many baby pictures and I don't want to let that happen.

Finished basement

I was going to wait to post pictures of our newly finished basement because we still have to finish the bathroom and we still need to furnish it as well. It is so nice to be able to walk down stairs and feel brand new soft carpet on my feet instead of the cold cement. I am very happy with how it turned out and the colors we picked. It is a small addition, but it will allow my son to have an actual bedroom instead of a crib shoved into our messy office. We will have one room be the office and wash room since that is where the washer and dryer have to be and the other room will be a playroom for now. Then eventually we will have a bathroom finished as well. We still have some touch up painting and need to put everything back together before we can actually use it and I am getty antsy about being able to use the space. Eli worked so hard and learned a lot. He did great work especially considering it was his first time and he really didn't have much help.

Before:

During:

After:

I think it is a pretty dramatic transformation. The red is called Mexican Chili pepper which took 3 coats and the orange which took two coats (not including primer) is called copper river both Behr paint. Too bad the nicest and cleanest spot in the house is the basement that no one sees.

Family Reunions

We have had a lot of fun family time lately with cousins from Arizona and Colorado and then going with my family to Lava Hot Springs.They really did have fun at the Dinosaur Park even though they don't look thrilled in this picture.

Beck loves hanging out with the boys. I think he drove Riley crazy following him around constantly. I can't believe how big he is getting.

The 700 calorie plus sucker. People might think Beck goes without because of his allergies, but he probably eats more sweets than other kids without allergies. We had his blood tested and his milk allergy and cashew allergy have increased which is frustrating. His peanut allergy did go down as well as the egg. He is still positive on all of them and we will retest in another six months.

The family does more than just commemorating Pioneer Day, we tried to re-live it. I think the stick pull was pretty fun, but I was too busy trying to nurse the baby in the 100 degree heat. At least I didn't have to do that while wearing a dress like Amy's or in the back of a bumpy wagon.

This is the only picture I got of our trip to Lava. The kids loved swimming with their dad. I am glad he had some one on one time with the kids since he has been so swamped with work and finishing the basement lately. As we were leaving, Beck kept asking to see where the Hot Lava was probably because Kate kept calling the place Hot Lava instead of Lava Hot Springs.
I am starting to get a little bit of burn out from summer. I probably just need to do more of what these babies are doing and get more sleep, so I have the energy to keep up with the pace of all the summer activities.