BTS '09

First day of school was today, 09/09/09. Andrew only had a 10 minute "interview" with the teacher this morning, but he got himself all dressed up and ready to go. He starts his regular Nursery schedule on Monday, September 14th. Caleb started grade 3 and Joshua is in grade 2. How time flies!Natalee managed to get herself into the exersaucer...

And this was Wyatt looking all smiley and happy for his 9 month photo shoot. :)

Mainly Wyatt

It'll be sooner than later that our little one will be crawling! From scootching along the ground by pushing with his toes and moving his arms then up to all fours...he manages to get around!

Joshua feeding his baby brother :)My baby's! Yes, they're going to be the same size soon!

Joshua's newest fascination - catching spiders. Better than catching snakes or wasps!

The Fab Five

The weather finally cleared up and we got out of the house for a walk this evening. The mosquitoes were a little annoying, but we still had fun! New pictures of all five kids!!!

Found a cool tree to climb. Caleb, above.

Natalee

Andrew

And Joshua, below.

New Beds, New Wagon

The good thing about not being able to go anywhere this summer (because of our fussy baby) is that we had money to spend on things we needed. I talked to a friend of mine who had this same wagon. She said she used it all winter long to pull two healthy toddlers with no problems. I am proud to say I put it together by myself with very little instructions.
Caleb and Joshua's new bed! The bottom part is a futon that folds up into a couch. They are now completely moved down into the basement to give Wyatt his own room to work out his sleep problems in.

Andrew and Natalee have moved into Caleb and Joshua's old bunkbed. They have made this transition well, although Natalee was a little upset when she couldn't find her clothes in her old room. I showed her where her clothes were now (in her new room) and now, all is well in her world.

Wyatt asleep in his crib. :) Sleeping baby's are wonderful!!! He also is making the transition surprisingly well. He is getting more sleep and we are getting more sleep. Everyone is a little happier these days.

Caleb Makes Wyatt Laugh

Caleb started throwing a small toy up in the air and Wyatt responded.

Stampin' Up stuff for sale

My 8 year old took most of these pictures :) As these items are purchased, I will try my best to delete pictures promptly. Feel free to ask any questions.

2 pieces of Chipboard petals - each full board of chipboard is 9" x 9" $4.00 for both boards.

Plaidmaker - 2 sheets of plastic, one for large plaid lines, one for smaller plaid lines. Each approximately 12" x 12". $2.00.

28 wooden blocks, 56 words (double mounted). Words: thanks, just, brother, boy, daughter, girl, family, my, sister, son, father, your, mother, stamp, together, for, favorite, all, vacation, fun, birthday, happy, !, time, Halloween, fall, ", laugh, special, sweet, ... , wish, grand, good, winter, joy, Christmas, peace, friend, best, summer, day, imagine, dream, & , and, spring, baby, valentine, love, * , hope, celebrate, party, { , little. $14.00.

"On the Spot" 1 large background stamp, approximately 5" x 6", $12.00

"Love Without End" 9 stamps, 2-step stamping, $12.00.

4 cute little stamps, about 1.5" x 1.5" each. $6.00

The above 2 pictures are from the same stamp set "Decorator Shelf". I bought it off on eBay and ended up paying over $60.00 Canadian because of customs, etc. $20.00.

Stampin' Glitter Chunky Essentials - red, black, white & silver. $8.00.

Sanding blocks (package of 2) $2.00

"Big Blossom" background stamp, approximately 5" x 6" $12.00

Stampable Wrapping Paper - Kraft (dull finish) and White (smooth finish). Originally 25 yards each, very little actually used. $2.00/roll.

Fiskars paper crimper, $5.00.

Encore! Gold Metallic Ink Pad (probably needs re-inking) $2.00.

Seven Years Old

Here's the Birthday Boy! His cake at home. I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart Kids' magazine - it's a layered Rice Krispie cake with a chocolate marshmallow layer in the middle. The chocolate marshmallow layer was a little too soft when we put in on the bottom layer and kind of ran off the sides. But it sure tasted delicious! Caleb and I decorated it with Smarties and string licorice.

Daddy and the baby's.

Joshua was thrilled to get his birthday ice cream complete with "fireworks!"

The "twins" :) They've been getting more twin comments again lately. In fact, this morning, a man asked if Andrew, Joshua, and Caleb were triplets!

More "fireworks" for the birthday boy!
Wyatt hangin' with Dad. He's been sleeping better at night now that he has his own room. Hopefully things will only improve!

Joshua - 2, Caleb - 2

In the last week, Caleb has lost two teeth! Yes, these are the first two teeth he has lost. Joshua has already lost two, too. Wyatt doing his "side plank". A rather awkward picture, so I included this other one too, with Natalee trying to get in on the camera action as well!

He'll turn his head up and look all around. I am very impressed with his core strength and balance.

Sitting!

Yesterday, Wyatt sat by himself a couple of times! The Chicken Pox are not bothering him and I don't think he has any new spots today.

The Many Faces of Chicken Pox

Caleb and Andrew got their Pox on the same day. However, Caleb lay on the couch for nearly three days, and Andrew only had two extra naps over those same three days. Chicken Pox is DEFINITELY easier the younger they are!

Wyatt's sucking on his toes here. You can see a few of his pox popping up on his hips.

Natalee was the second of the children to get CP. She looks horrible here, but really she hasn't complained at all! No fever, no major itchiness, no emergencies in the middle of the night, unlike the others. She had about 3-4 pox under her right eye and it looked really bad on Saturday. It looked like she had a black eye. I started putting my magic medicine (breastmilk) on her eye twice a day and today her eye looks so much better!

Andrew...

Caleb napping...he had a pretty tough time of it on Saturday and the oatmeal baths and Tylenol weren't working, so I made a quick trip to get some Benadryl for him. That seemed to do the trick! I was thinking it would be nice if I could provide a breastmilk bath for him! :)

On Monday, Caleb was starting to feel like his old self again. I noticed he had some pox around the inside of his lips, and together with his loose tooth (his front left), he kinda looked like a freaky Leprosy guy!

Wyatt showing off his Pox. He had a fever Saturday late afternoon and slept most of the evening, but woke up Sunday feeling better but with more spots. It seems that when they have fewer spots (like Joshua, Natalee and Wyatt) the spots tend to be bigger, and with more spots (like Caleb and Andrew) there were no really huge ones.

Almost looks like the mosquitoes went to town on him! All of them got lots on their scalp too. That must be super annoying.

We enjoyed some nicer weather outside yesterday. The latest fun thing to do is give Andrew a double around the block on the "rainbow" bike. Andrew calls it his motorcycle ride.

Although it hasn't been too bad, I'm still glad we only get Chicken Pox once. The worst of it is being stuck at home with pox-y children. Especially since Joshua has had more than enough energy lately...between the itchy, cranky kids and dealing with over-exuberant Joshua, Mike & I are pretty wiped. Hopefully we can now have a few weeks of sick-free children.