A Boy In A Box!

The other day when I was shopping at Costco I of course ended up taking home one of those giant boxes. This time it was a grape box. Jack loves to use Costco boxes to make pirate ships or all sorts of other things. Lately Ella and Zeke have been playing more and more together...I think he really misses having a playmate home all day long! Usually their play involves Ella with paper and a pen and Zeke in a bed of blankets and pillows. A few days ago Zeke was using this box as his bed and when it was his actual bed time he wanted to sleep in his box. I figured why not! I put his box on his bed and tucked him in. He looked so cute...like Garfield! I don't know if he actually ended up sleeping in there or not....I forgot to check before I went to bed. The next morning he told me that he slept a little in his box and then a little in his bed and then a little in his box and you get the picture. The next night when it was bedtime he did not ask to sleep in his box again!

At Home Slumber Party & French Braids!

I completely forgot to blog about me and Ella having an at home slumber party. It all started because our church was having a slumber party for the girls that were in 1st grade - 6th grade. Even though Ella is only in Kindergarten Ms. Colleen said that Ella could come as long as I came and stayed the night as well. Ella was super excited about it and I thought it might be a fun experience for us to have together. I borrowed my mom's twin air mattresses so we didn't have to sleep on the hard floor. The slumber party was on a Friday night and it started at 6:30pm. Ella's normal bedtime since she's started school has been 7:30...earlier in the week I let her stay up in 8pm and it was awful! She had a total meltdown and that's when I knew that we were NOT going to the slumber party. I decided that we would have our own stay at home slumber party and we would just sleep on the air mattresses in the playroom together. I really wanted her to think it was her idea to stay home so I really sold it to her...for instance she would get to pick the movie we were going to watch and she would get to pick the snacks. If we went to church she wouldn't be in control of those things. She bought it! 

Earlier in the evening we had been at our neighbor Rachael's house for a Tupperware party so we didn't get home until around 6pm. Ella wanted to watch Frozen and we did our nails at the same time. We also ate popcorn. I had planned on doing our hair as well, but we just didn't have enough time. 

When it was time for Ella to go to bed we got the air mattresses all aired up, put sheets on them and covers. I explained that Mommy wasn't tired yet and I wanted to go spend some time with Daddy, but I would come in later and sleep with her and she'd be able to snuggle with me when she woke up in the morning. She was fine with this arrangement since she got to sleep in my big bed at Seabrook for one night. 

I kissed her and tucked her in and then went downstairs to watch TV with Michael. Around 11pm I came up to go to bed. Ella was tossing and turning a bit, but so was I. Sleeping on an air mattress isn't the most comfortable. She was also coughing a little bit. After about an hour she made this noise and a cough sound and I knew what was going on. I grabbed my blanket and threw it over in front of her and told her to puke on the blanket. I was a little late so some of it got on the carpet. Normally our routine if one of the kids pukes Michael is the one that takes care of the mess while I take care of the kid. Since Michael had just gone to bed I didn't want to wake him up. I took all the covers downstairs and put them in the washing machine. I knew there was no way we were going to sleep in the playroom...for one there was puke on the floor and on the air mattress and second...it was the nastiest smell ever! I was trying not to puke myself. After cleaning up Ella I got her into bed and then went in and tried to go to bed myself. First I felt something cold on my chest...yep there was puke on me. So I changed my top and tried to go to sleep. I could not get that nasty smell out of my nose though. I was laying feeling sick to my stomach. Then I went to roll over and I reached up to grab my pillow and grabbed....puke! It was on my pillowcase! Thankfully it didn't go through to my pillow since it's one of those expensive contour neck pillows. I got up and changed my pillowcase and then I ran downstairs and got my diffuser and some of my oils and brought that upstairs so I could get the smell out of my nose. Finally around 1am I was able to get in bed and stay in bed. Of course Michael did end of waking up during all of this. He thought I had puked! No, but almost! Needless to say it was the night from hell and I'm SO happy we decided to stay home and not go to church. I could not imagine being THAT mom that brought my puking, sick child to a slumber party. Plus the whole thought of dealing with yucky covers, a sick kid and having to drive home...no thank you! The next day Ella was fine. She wasn't acting sick before bed and she didn't act sick the next day. It was just a one time thing!  

On a side note: I have finally figured out how to make a nice looking French Braid in her hair! 

Burning The Midnight Oil!

We have been really busy and have not been making Ella and Zeke take naps. On this particular day it had been maybe 3 days since Zeke had taken a nap. Michael sat down on the couch to read a book to Zeke and he crashed! 

Our kids never fall asleep on the couch unless they are sick and even then sometimes they don't. He was just plain tuckered out though! 

Michael just kept reading the book and he just kept on sucking his thumb! 

I've been telling him recently that if he wants to suck his thumb he has to be in his bed....I made an exception for this though! 

You know when the thumb comes out he is really gone! In fact Michael had to get up and go help the older boys and he still stayed asleep even though he was laying in the weirdest position. I was reading to Ella so I didn't get a picture of that. Ella was yawning up a storm and I kept asking her if she was tired and she kept saying no. Then she got a really bad headache and I talked about how that happens to me sometimes when I'm really tired. Zeke woke up a couple minutes after that and I took him potty and then put him and Ella to bed....it was 6:30pm! They both ended up sleeping over 12 hours! When you are tired...you are tired! 

Night Owl!

 Since basically the beginning of summer we have let our kids bedtime fall back an hour. I'm not gonna lie at first I fought it. I was being selfish with my time. I love those 3 hours from 8 - 11pm. It's actually been nice though! Now we let the kids play until 8:15 or so and then we start Bible/Praise/Pray time. After that the kids get to play in their rooms until 9pm and then it's lights out. Now the kids actually go to sleep and we don't have to run upstairs a half dozen times getting more and more frustrated each time. 

This boy is such a night owl! He loves to play in his room and we let him longer than the others. He's usually asleep by 10pm. The other night he came down to show us his new creation. Let me just start be saying my kids do not play with LEGOS...they don't follow instructions and they don't create things using their imagination. Sorry kids you got that from Mom! 

After seeing The LEGO Movie on Tuesday Owen decided he needed to make a spaceship. If you've seen the movie you know the scene with the astronaut. It was Owen's favorite part and he laughed hysterically! It was fun to see him decide to make something...who knows maybe one day he'll be a Master Builder! ;)  

Sweet Sleeper!

 The past couple of weeks Zeke hasn't really felt good. He's been teething...those darn 'I' teeth are killer! He's been taking really long naps and he's also been so clingy. I can barely get anything done without him crying at my feet.

He is such a good sleeper. In fact sometimes the boys will be awake and they will be standing on the front of his firetruck bed being loud and he'll sleep right through it. These particular pictures were taken one morning last week. The older boys were up and had already gotten dressed and gone downstairs. I came in to wake him up thinking he'd wake right up once I turned on the light, but nope! He just kept on sleeping. That's a 4th child for you! 

I love those sweet chubby cheeks and those pouty lips! 

 

After snapping a few pictures he started to wake up, but he just consoled himself with his thumb. He is an even worse thumb sucker than Ella. He will suck his thumb in the van and sometimes for quite a while after we've gotten him up. He's actually brought food up to his mouth while he's been sucking his thumb and you could tell there was an inner conflict going on....thumb, food, thumb food! It was hilarious! His poor thumb is always dried out and it even has a callus right where is teeth sit. I have a feeling he's going to have a hard time giving that habit up! 

Fire Truck Bed!

These pictures aren't the best since they were taken on my phone. Back in May when Ga-Ga and I went to the Mill Creek Garage Sales Ga-Ga bought this for Zeke.

 

 

Our kids are always out of their cribs early so I imagine Zeke will be using this around Christmas time. Right now it's in the garage and the kids have been having so much fun playing in it.

 

 

Zeke already thinks it's pretty cool!

 

 

They play in it almost daily which of course means tears are shed because of it almost daily.

 

 

It is pretty big so I'm going to have Michael move it down to our basement until it's time for Zeke to sleep in it. Our garage is so full of all sorts of kids contraptions it's a bit ridiculous!

A Day At The Zoo!!

 On Thursday the kids and I headed to the Point Defiance Zoo to spend the morning with my friend Stephanie and her daughter Kodi.

Since Wednesday was so yucky out we weren't even sure if we were going to go to the zoo, but Thursday's weather report looked promising so we decided to risk it. When I was getting the kids out of the van it was quite windy, but once we got down into the zoo it wasn't so bad. 

We got to the zoo around 9:45 and for the first hour it was like we had the whole zoo to ourselves. It was great! Plus since the sun was out all the animals were soaking up the rays. 

 

Owen was trying to speak to the arctic fox. 

At the Polar Bear exhibit I had the kids growl like bears! 

 

Close up shot of the growlers! 

 

It was so nice of Steph and Kodi to invite us to come along as guests! Once we were ready to break for lunch Steph and Kodi headed home.

Zeke had been holding out on falling asleep, but once we stopped for lunch he was out!

Logan was like, "Hey enough pictures...I'm eating my sandwich!"

 And what do you do after lunch at a zoo....roll down the nearest hill of course! 

 Next stop was the aquarium where the boys pretended to be dead in the sharks mouth! 

After our only potty break it was time to go let the kids run and play. 

 

During the potty break Zeke woke up so while the kids were playing I fed him his baby food.

 

 Jack conquered the hippo!

Later alligator! 

 

After I was done taking pictures of the kids sitting on the alligator Owen just let Zeke fell straight to the ground...thankfully he wasn't hurt! 

 

He was quite ticked though on the way to the van. That walk up to the parking lot was rough since I was carrying him and pushing the girls in the stroller. I pretty much felt like doing this as well, but you know at least one of us had to keep it together! 

When we got to the van I went to change Zeke's diaper and realized why he was so ticked...he leaked everywhere! Then to top it off  it was super windy in the parking lot so Zeke was super mad about being changed since he was so cold. Then we had a little visitor! 

Seriously this is NOT zoomed! Mr. Peacock was really interested in us and I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that we had food in the van. 

 

I even talked to Mr. Peacock and told him we weren't sharing our food. He was deterred. After trying to shoo him and having the kids growl and all sorts of things I figured out the best way to get him to leave us alone...

Take pictures of him! Worked like a charm....after three pictures he was out of there!

7 Months Old!!!

My Zeke Man is 7 months old today! Seriously...what is going on!!! How can that possibly be???

 

So what is Zeke Russell up to...

 

- He is eating like a pro. He eats 3 meals a day and will eat almost a whole jar of baby food at each meal. He knows what he likes and doesn't like though. He could eat peas at every. single. meal! He can not stand bananas. If he doesn't want to eat what I've made for him he will just lower his head, cry and not open his mouth until I get him what he wants. We are SO in trouble!!!

 

- He is nursing about 5 - 6 times a day. He gets distracted really easily so it can still take up to 20 minutes to feed him. Sometimes he thinks that sucking his thumb is more important that nursing and that gets a little annoying!

 

 

 - He has discovered his feet! I love this stage! He will just grab them and try to rip his socks off or bite them. It's so cute!

 

- He is FINALLY rolling over from his back to his belly. He still won't do it when he's in his crib though so one of us has to go in there and flip him over to his belly.

 

 

- He is teething like a mad man! All that acidic drool has made his poor face all red. I've tried putting cream on it to see if it will get better, but nothing really does. It's hard when he's drooling all day and then when he sleeps he drools and his face lays in it.

 

- He is the only one of our kids to still have a concave chest like Michael. Ella had it when she was first born, but it slowly faded. The Dr thinks Zeke's is here to stay.

 

 

- He is starting to babble a lot. He makes squeaky noises and fake laughs and then sometimes I swear he's telling off his toys. The other night he was babbling and he was saying "Da da da da da"...we've also heard him say what sounds like "Ella" before. I love hearing his little voice.

 

 

- He is really starting to get into toys. By far his favorite toy right now is one of those infant Tylenol containers with the dropper. He loves to chew on the part you squeeze for the dropper.

 

- He is a good sleeper. He goes to bed around 8 and then is usually up around 6:45. Before daylight savings time ended he was sleep from 8 until 7:30 though. He still takes two naps a day. His morning nap is from 9 - 11 or 11:30 and his afternoon nap varies, but on a good day he'll sleep from 1:30 - 4.

 

 

I can't believe he's been in our arms for 7 months now. It's crazy how time flies! I love this little boy to bits and I can't wait to see him grow and develop even more!

Halloween 2012

On Halloween Michael had a dentist appointment in the afternoon so we were able to leave early to head down to my parents house. This was both a good and a bad thing...good in that we didn't get stuck in the really bad traffic and bad because that means we had to wait until dark before it was time to trick or treat. That was tough!

 

My rule is always that we don't get to go out until Ga-Ga & Pa get their first trick or treater's. For some reason this Halloween people got a later start. Finally at 6pm I looked outside and saw other kids walking down the street so it was time.

 

 

Ella had fun twirling around for Pa...she even did a curtsy!

 

 

Beautiful golden shoes! Ga-Ga found Ella's Belle dress and shoes at a garage sale for $10. I hope it still fits her next fall...we are planning on taking the kids to Disneyland.

 

 

 

Jackson was a bit out of his element on Halloween. I tried to have him take a nap since he has a cold and I knew that all that walking would tire him out. No such luck though...he wouldn't nap. I think we were at the fifth house when we heard him say, "I'm getting tired" for the first time.

 

 

Silly Owen boy...he was in the lead most of the night running up and getting candy before Ella and I even got to the door. As he was running by me he'd say, "I said Thank you!"

 

 

Sweet little stinger! By the time we went out Zeke was super tired so I wore him.

 

 

Ready!

 

 

 

First stop Mr. Tim's house...there were no robotic spiders this time though!!

 

 

It wasn't long into the trip and I looked down and Zeke was out.

 

Checking out his bounty!

 

Usually we go down the street behind my parents house, but all the kids were done so we just stuck to the one street. Thank goodness too...my mom had bought a ton of candy and they just didn't get as many trick or treaters as they normally get so we went home with probably 10lbs of candy all together.

 

Lots of yummy treats!

 

 

Ella was so cute posing with her hands in her lap. She did really great she did get a bit scared at a couple houses and Daddy had to carry her every now and then. The only really bad thing that happened was she felt down at the last house. It was kind of ironic because that very same thing happened to Jack two years ago as well. Maybe we should just start skipping the last house!

 

We ended up being getting home at the normal bedtime. Jack had of course fallen asleep in the van. You'd think they would all crash and be out, but that wasn't the case. They weren't all hyper from candy though. Poor Jack and Owen both woke up crying from nightmares and Zeke had a terrible time going to sleep...poor baby can not keep himself from rolling over onto his back!

 

Unfortunately it was a bad night for Michael too...it was his turn for the stomach flu! Sicktober sure went out with a bang!