Jonah's 3rd bday!

Well, C'ville was pretty much snowed in, by general standards, but it made for a fun Bday! Maddie and I made Jonah's requested "Thomas" cake and because Maddie was in charge, we did it ALL from scratch (icing included). I usually use box cakes, although I make everything else from scratch I was always under the impression that you could not make a cake as good as a box cake. Boy, was I mistaken. Maddie and I started last night and finished it up this morning, so yes, it did take longer. We did a regular yellow cake and chocolate buttermilk icing. Jonah requested Thomas, so we decided just to draw that on the top. The flavor, though, and texture was awesome! I know this does not sound like a big deal when talking about a three year old's bday party, but the significance lies in the fact that every family member agreed that it was MUCH better than the normal bday cake. So, therefore, I will now have to make cake from scratch for everyones bday here out. That is 4 kids and one husband! That's like every other month each year :)

So, here it is.



While Maddie and I baked, Jonah, Bebe and Dada read stories and Elias jumped (the ONLY thing worth doing in life if you ask him. I will attach a short video of Elias and his jumper).







Jonah also asked for a spaghetti lunch for his birthday, so that is what we did. Here are some pics from the lunch and then him opening presents and eatting cake.




















The twins were totally in to the party :) Actually they did taste the ice cream and loved that! We decided to do one of those "timer" family shoots where you have to get the camera all set up and then wait for the flashing light while everyone is squirming and talking. Here is the progression of pics. Pretty funny, and yes, we started to get a little crazy and totally blocked out the twins in the last shot!








After our fun party Jonah decided he wanted to go sledding so he and Sissy and Dada dressed up in their gear and headed out. Wish I had some pics of the actually sledding, but Bebe and Elias were not up for it so I stayed back with them.







Happy Birthday Jonah!!! We love you!

P.S. I still think, now that I have given natural birth, that the mother should get the party on the child's birthday. They say you forget the pain, which is why women have more children, but in reality you NEVER forget it. It haunts you and you have nightmares about it, but you love your children so damn much that you want more anyways!

Another photo shoot

Twins: "Here we go again"


Mama: "Smile Guys!"
Bebe: "Oh geeze"
Elias: "Oh, I just love pictures!"


Bebe: "You are such a brown noser"


Elias: "I am NOT"
Bebe: "Yes you are, and you'll do it again!"


Mama: "Smile Guys!"
Bebe: "I bet money he's smiling again"

Dump Truck

There is a big yellow dump truck at the house next door. It has been there for a few days.

Jonah: "Look at that dump truck!"

Mama: "Wow! What do you think it is doing there?"

Jonah: "Well, it's doing nothing until the drivers come back."

A new perspective

Just picked Jonah up from school and as we were walking to the car we were chatting about the day. When he didn't respond I looked down to see him trying to lick the little white beads up that were scattered on the stairs to melt the ice. I guess I can see how they do kind of look like candy, but I just never saw them that way.

brotherly love

Nathan and I awoke yesterday morning to chattering in the hall. We could tell the hall light was on by the stream of light coming in under our door. In addition to the light and chattering we smelled baby poop. It took about 20 seconds to register the possible degree of disaster that could await us and we both flew out of bed, Nathan reaching the door first, flung it open to see Jonah standing innocently in the hall with a transformer, albeit no pants on. Then we saw Elias's door, OPEN.....Nathan dashed in, the light was on but there was no crying. Elias was happily laying in his bed playing with a transformer Jonah had kindly shared with him (interesting it was one of Jonah's favorites, so I hope that means he likes Elias). Besides a transformer, Elias has pooped all over the place and it was leaking out onto the sheets. Also, Jonah had pooped (in the pot) but not flushed so we could see his accomplishment.

So, to sum it all up.... the boys got up together (parent's still asleep) and pooped together, played transformers and just in general hung out and had a good 'ol time. The house was somewhat of a mess (kitchen utensils spread around the living room, clothes all around and toys scattered) but the boys were bonding :)

Just a typical morning!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

WOW! Of all the exciting holiday happenings I've missed recording it took something even bigger to draw me back to the blog to share this amazing event. What was it you ask?

I made my own baby food. Yes, I know, I can't believe it either. After buying Gerber for Jonah and always rolling my eyes at all the perfect mothers who cooked their own baby food I have joined the ranks :) Why? Well, turns out it's not really that hard, hehehe......I know, that is what everyone told me, but I never listened.

Actually our pediatrician suggested it. She said that you control what goes in the food as well as the babies get used to eating what your family eats - just blend up whatever you eat. In addition to that, there are no additives, preservatives or other yucky stuff she said that we want to avoid giving the twins.

Elias and Bebe are now almost 5 months old and approved by the Pediatrician to start on food. And the funny part is, they don't just start on rice cereal and then add one thing at a time anymore, we go head first and just throw everything at 'em at once. Supposedly that is better for forgoing food allergies. This discovery actually made me feel better because I never introduced one thing at a time for Jonah, it was just too big of a pain in the ass and I was NOT organized enough to remember what I feed him the week before :) With that said, Jonah seems to have no food allergies and no food issues at all. He eats like a champ! Guess I was just ahead of my time.

Back to Elias and Bebe, though, they do not like their food that much yet. They much prefer sucking and the spoon just throws them off. I think they'll get it (never met an adult still drinking out of a bottle) but it might take awhile. Elias actually liked a banana/rice cereal combo today, so we have a start.

Ok, now I will back up and report that the twins 4 month apt went great and they are both in the 25% for weight. Elias is an inch longer than Bebe and 1/2 a lb heavier. The pediatrician told us to "cold turkey" their night feedings and they will sleep through the night no problem. We've had a few fairly good nights since then, but it is much more difficult than we had hoped. Having two just really complicates things. And, as it turns out, they are very strong willed babies and Elias has cried for as long as 4 hours straight!!!! Yes, 4 hours in the middle of the night because he wanted to eat. Needless to say, I broke down and fed him for sanity sake, but I did feel like quite a failure. Oh well, at least he shut up and I got over it quickly :)

Christmas was great. We drove the kids to Indiana, believe it or not the drive was not too bad. We had all three kids christened on Dec. 20th and Nathan's parents came too. We had such a great turn out to support the kids and it was so nice to have so many loved ones together.

Nathan's parents left and we stayed with my parents for Christmas. The best part was watching Jonah get so excited about all of his gifts. What a great age for Christmas. The twins really cooperated and slept through Christmas morning so we could run around after Jonah and keep everyone safe and sane.

We drove back the day after Christmas and had a few days to regroup before we had the Campbell side Christmas on New Years Eve. Jonah was even more excited the second time around because he knew what to expect (that's what we think). We now wonder if he thinks Christmas happens once a week. He will be sorely disappointed next week if that's the case.

So, that's the brief. I will attach some pics of the above mentioned events (except the baby food, I didn't actually take a picture of that - it was carrots, though, so just imagine orange mush).