Still Kickin'!

No blog entry for awhile, but we're still here!  Here are some pictures to prove it:

Hope finished up Fall Soccer on a beautiful, 76 degree, sunny November day (our first snowfall didn't come until this last week - 3 weeks later than average).  They had a great season, with a 4-2-2 record and two tournament championships.  She has now started indoor soccer which, thank goodness, is only 1 game a week - no practices!  She also got a lead role (Susan) in "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", the musical version of Miracle on 34th St.  She'll be putting in a lot of time at rehearsals over the next few weeks, but she loves it!  As always, she's doing awesome in school, and keeping us on our toes at home!

Ellis is obsessed with babies.  Pictured are some of the many babies and stuffed animals she must have in bed with her every night.  Many nights we find her asleep on top of a pile of babies, because there is no room in the bed for her.  We try to sneak some of them away from time to time, but she knows if one is missing.  She hit a "big girl" milestone this past week when the Twiddlebugs finally ate the last of her pacifiers.  We had some tragic days at the beginning, but she's seem to adjusted to life without them.  It's nice that we don't have to sift through the pile of babies in the middle of the night to find a pacifier anymore!  Ellis, also, keeps us on our toes.  Just today, she locked my mom in the back yard.  I think EJ thought it was much funnier than my mom did.

Is that not the cutest smile in the world?!?!?!  Beck turned 2 months yesterday.  He weighs 12 pounds 13 ounces - 75%ile - and is 2 feet tall!  That sounds a lot bigger than 24 inches, but either way, it puts him in the 90th %ile for height.  He is a smiley little guy and he loves to be snuggled.  He is trying hard to make his mommy very happy - he has slept through the night the past 3 nights!  The mere fact that he cannot yet talkback or run away from us makes him a pretty easy kiddo!

First Haircut

Since her hair didn't really even start growing until she turned one, we didn't have to worry much about getting EJ's haircut.  Now, at almost three, we figured it was time for at least a trim.  She went a few days ago and just got a couple of inches taken off.  She got to sit in a fire truck, watch Dora, and eat a sucker.  All was good!  Once I got to the cash register and found out how much it cost, things were not so good!  At least they included a little certificate and a lock of her hair.  I guess the cute "First Haircut" pictures made it all worth it.

                                                              "Before"

                     

                                                         "After"
                                                                       

Fun in the Fire Truck!

                   
                                                      "Cheese!"

                                                                                                                   

Next time, I may be doing the cutting.  We have a fire truck and Dora at home for a lot less money!! 

Happy Halloween!

As in years past, we stretched Halloween over several days.  We've been to the pumpkin patch, Fall Fest at church, parties at school, and, of course, trick-or-treating - at mom's with all of the cousins, and at home!

Pumpkin Picking

with Grandad and Gammie and Cousins

Fall Fest

School Parties

Trick-or-Treating

Happy Halloween!

EJ as Dora, Hope as a hippie, and Beck as a sweet pea (as always)

Wow!

Has it really been more than 3 weeks since I last posted?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Most days I can't even find the time to do a load of laundry from start to finish.  By the time Brandon gets I get the clothes folded and put away  it's been "fluffed" so many times everything is 2 shades lighter than when it went into the washer.

Why am I blogging right now instead of, say, putting laundry away?  Because Beck is eating.  And when Beck eats, I have one free hand to type with.  Unless I'm using it too cook dinner or wipe off counters or wipe EJ's #%%, because she's finally decided she needs to poop at the exact same moment that Beck starts eating even though I've asked her if she needs to poop 26 times in the last 30 minutes.  But right now I'm using my free hand to type. Hold on, I need to switch hands.  EJ is locked in her room "napping" aka taking every doll, animal, and book she owns and throwing it on the floor while singing loudly.  And Hope is playing "spa" in the basement with a friend.  I'm trying to just push the thought out of mind about what the basement might look like right now.

So to update, Beck is still growing way too fast.  He was 10 lbs. at his one month appointment and some days I feel like I can see him get bigger between sun-up and sun-down.  He is smiling and cooing, but still sleeps a lot and cries a lot.

The girls both had their Halloween parties at "school" today.  I'll add pictures to this post later.  Hope dressed as a hippie and EJ as Dora.  Beck just wore his pumpkin shirt.  Hope's still a soccer machine and has auditions for a Christmas play next week.  I'm hoping rehearsals won't be too many days a week.  Fall soccer will be over, but she'll start indoor soccer immediately.   EJ, advanced as always, is already embarking on the "terrible threes".  Though she has the tendency to be the sweetest, snuggliest little girl on the planet, the lack of a nap really starts to show right about 3:00 every. single. day.  Even the days she's actually napped.

So, life with 3 kids is crazy and yes I know there are people that have more than 3.  I don't know how they do it and at this point in time it just seems asinine, but, as the saying goes, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  We are crazy busy and the house is a mess until Brandon comes home from work and picks up but this time in our lives is already flying by and I know one day I'll miss it.  That's what I keep telling myself  - one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this, one day I'll miss this . . .

Champions!

Hope's soccer team took first place in their division of the Colorado Youth Soccer Cup last weekend.  After losing their first game, they went on to win the next 3 to make it into the finals.  They played a great team and it was tied 1-1 at the end of the game.  The score remained the same through overtime and they ended up winning in a 5-4 shootout.  It was about as exciting as 8 year-old soccer can get!  The girls were so pumped and us "soccer parents" were too!  We were so proud of the girls for coming back after that first game. 

Hope's become quite the defender!

5 soccer games in 2 days is a lot for a 3 week old!

Go United!

Light The Night

A couple of weekends ago Brandon and Hope participated in a Light the Night walk in Boulder.  They walked for Team Addison in honor of our friend, 6 year-old Addison Kleinhans, who was diagnosed with leukemia in April.  Hope is good friends with Addison's older sister, Madelene.  Addison is such a fighter and he is beating this disease.  He's now in the most intense chemo phase and will complete his treatment program in 2013 when he's 9 years old.

Light the Night is a walk put on by the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society to help raise money for blood cancer research.  Thanks to generous donations by our family and friends, Brandon and Hope raised over $500 for their team!  The walk was such a great experience for such a great cause!

2 Week Stats

Now that Beck is 3 weeks old, I'm finally finding the time to post about his 2 week appointment.  Here are the stats!

Weight: 8 pounds 2 ounces - up over a pound from his birth weight (50th %tile)
Length: 21 1/2 inches - 1/2 inch longer than at birth (75th %tile) - although I think this measurement is fairly arbitrary - they try to stretch them out and put a mark on the table at the head and at the heel and then measure.  Not real accurate, and I think I've even had kids "shrink" from one appointment to the next.
Head: 14 1/4in. (25th %ile) - he has a little peanut head! :)

Beck's wardrobe is further proof that he's growing - he is now in that "in between" stage of clothes sizes.  The newborn stuff is really too short for him and he still kind of swims in the 0-3 month stuff.  I also just bought size 1 diapers for the first time today.  They still seem too big for him, but the newborn ones just seemed a little snug. I can sympathize, I'm kind of in that "in between" stage as well!

We go back to the doctor next week for his 1 month check and his first shots. :(