Grady's Baby Book

He's scooting around and he's putting his pacifier in on his own.

Nanna

Poppy

Pretty ring, dad! =)

Get in line

I'm in the kitchen pulling out sippy cups for the kids' morning milk. The girls are under my feet like little birdies getting ready for mama to feed them, but instead of the "chirp, chirp, chirp" I hear, "Mama, I want milk mama. Milk please Mama" from Ellery. Molly, who was there first says, "Get in line Ellery."

Molly's first snowman

No more babies...

...or so Molly tells me today. "Three is enough." Then she looks at Joe and says, "Don't put any more babies in mommy's tummy." OK...so...one less conversation we'll need to have with her! =)

Why in the world do I do this to myself...every year???

I love to be crafty and make things. Like I really have the time? Wrong. But I enjoy it....well the idea of it...the buying of the supplies...the starting of the project...but halfway through I'm wondering what in the world was I thinking!?!? Mixes for friends and neighbors, little scrapbooks for family, pictures and frames. I'm even knitting Grady's stocking, which is what I should be doing right now if I'm really wanting to have it finished by Tuesday morning. Next year (yes, I say this every year) I'm going to start much earlier, like April. That way, I might...just might...have everything done in time to really enjoy the holidays!

Solids

We started solids. Well, watered down rice cereal can hardly be called a "solid" but it's not breast milk. This is a bit earlier than I've done in the past, but I'm hoping for some extra help in the reflux area. I've heard that solids make it a little easier, so we gave it a try. The first try it was pretty runny and since we've been doing the Prevacid through a syringe for a couple of months now, I figured he might get the whole rice cereal thing pretty quickly. Not so much. Most of it ended up on the bib and what actually went down to his tummy, came back up in his spit-up right after I laid him down on the carpet...of course! The second try was a few days later with a much thicker concoction. He ate it all, and quickly! Yesterday, not as good, but he's getting the hang of it. Not really helping him sleep through the night as some people suggest (I've never bought that theory) but he thinks getting fed is really fun and I'm hoping that he'll someday think his highchair is a good place to be.

Ready for school

The girls are having a Christmas party at school today. They got these sweaters in their advent calendar today and Nanna sent the cute headbands. My babies are not babies anymore. I cannot believe how big they are getting.

And we can't forget about this little guy....who has already spit up multiple times before 8:30 in the morning.

Grady Baby

I just went into his room to drop off some clean laundry. He's totally awake (up from a short nap) and playing with the toys in his crib. He NEVER does that, so I'm thrilled. A few more moments that mom gets to herself...

Merry Christmas

Oh what a happy family. What adorable children, right? Well, this year I considered putting the pictures on of what really happend. The girls wrestling around....Grady spitting up....Molly who couldn't figure out how to smile....Mommy (in her jammies) trying to make the kids laugh....Grady crying....Mommy baking cookies to bribe the kids to cooperate...Molly crying to put her dress back on...That sounds more like the household I know! Thank you Betsy (my friend and photographer) for your patience and ever so fast finger on the camera!

This is my life....

I just laid Grady down for his nap, but started the planning on my way up the stairs. I had to laugh when I walked by my office, decided to check my email, and found this cute little cartoon in one of my many emails. So goes the life of a mom. Now I'm off to take a quick shower, fold the load of whites....

My little sister is getting hitched!

Congratulations Ben and Paige! We are so happy for you. Welcome to the family Ben! Ben proposed to Paige last night, and of course she said yes. Joe's bummed because now he'll have some competition for the "favorite son-in-law" title. Paige...I still haven't seen a picture of the ring!?!?

Why do we buy them toys???

Never fails. We buy them toys (which are not cheap) and what do they play with??? The cardboard boxes, the wrapping paper tubes, plastic containers.... I love seeing them use their imaginations. This is a house. They had a front door, a porch, and bedrooms. They were knocking on the "front door" and inviting people in. Adorable!!!

Goggy's visit

This is pretty much how he helped me out his whole visit! Love it!!!

It's snowing

Yes, it is. A few days ago it was 75 degrees...now its snowing.

We dressed ourselves

Can you tell who has been doing this longer? As you can see, Molly knows its cold out. I think Ellery's just happy to finally wear the raincoat. She lasted only a few minutes before she came in for another layer.

Ellery's Baby Book

Potty training is over. Not because she's figured it out, but because she's no longer interested. My dreams of a few less diapers to change every day have been crushed.

Ellery's Baby Book

She peed in the potty. Twice. Then once in her undies and wanted a diaper. =)

Grady's Baby Book

He rolled over from back to front today.

The Gallagher girls

Laura's trip to OK

Laura came to visit us this weekend. Spur of the moment and what a great surprise! I wish I could say that we took on the town...of Bartlesville, but we pretty much stuck close to home. The kids tend to be a bit needy, especially Grady! Kidding...that's part of the job, right? Laura was such a great help. Fantastic with the girls and always ready to hold the baby, even when he was crying! We did get a few quiet moments to talk about life. You know you have a lifelong friend when you can just jump right back in where you left off the last time. Thanks for coming Laura!!!

80 degrees again today

What is with this weather??? From day to day it can change by 30 degrees! The other day it was 50, today its 80. Luckily I don't get far from the confines of my house because dressing 4 people for the shift in temperature is getting challenging...especially since I put away all the summer clothes. It is November, right?

Our Picasso

This morning, our little Picasso Ellery decided that our nubuck leather ottoman need a little face lift. So she used daddy's pens, in a variety of colors, to decorate it. After a few scrubbings of special leather care soap, I've decided that its probably not going to come out. (If anyone has any tricks, I'm all ears!) A bit later, when asked what went wrong this morning, Ellery replied, "I cried and mommy got soap on the chair."

A Cleaning Lady

No, actually, not me! I just had, for the first time ever, someone else clean my house. Well, my bathrooms, really, and dusting (I never dust!). It was really weird. Someone else cleaning up our dirt...my dirt, ewe!!! I'm trying to let go of things, (you'd think this would be something very easy to let go of) but its hard for me. Plus, hey, shouldn't I be able to clean my own house? Anyway...for the next few months, she's going to come every other week and help out. I'm sure I'll be hooked after I get over the fact that someone else is going to see some dirt in the house! Next thing you know, I'll be sitting on the couch all day eating bon-bons!

Halloween

AAAahhh, the holiday I always dread. You see, I'm not much of the "dresser-upper type." Never have been, never will be. Luckily, my children love it! Well, the girls do anyway... It's almost an everyday occurrence here. This year, when I dug the costume bin out of the attic it was a bit of a dilemma for me. Both girls fought over being the ladybug. Molly was the lady bug last year, so does she get it again or is it Ellery's turn? I had an extra costume Ellery's size, so decided that Molly's a ladybug again. (BTW...this picture doesn't do the costumes justice. I'm ready to get them dressed up again just for a re shoot!) But, Ellery didn't not want the costume. About Sunday (after a few days of talking up "cookie monster" I finally realized the 2 year old is going to win, so where, in Bartlesville, do you shop for a costume? Well...Walmart...but not because I would choose that store, but really, that's all there is. On Tuesday, after we dropped Molly off for preschool, Ellery, Grady and I headed for the store. Surprisingly (not) there was nothing left. Yes, I'm aware that the day before Halloween is not the time to begin costume shopping! Really, I was hoping we'd eventually wear her down and she'd be OK with aforementioned costume. Ah, no. So, my next choice was to make one. I had the plan, the list of needed items, but...once again...we're in Bartlesville and I couldn't find half of the list. (I was NOT driving to Tulsa for more stores withe a screaming baby in the car, that was just out of the question.) Anyway...we happened down the aisle with the dance stuff...Ellery took one look at the tutu and said, "I want that!" So...a ballerina she is. The second she got the outfit on, she was dancing and spinning, and oh, so adorable! And I must go and finish this post later because (big surprise) Grady is screaming his head off....to be continued! (Later that day) The whole reason he was screaming....drum roll, please...he rolled over! When I went in there, he was on his back, and not happy about it! =) So on with my boring Halloween retelling....

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch with my MOPS group. Don't' the pictures make the trip look like we had a wonderful fall outing??? Well, what they don't show are all the whining and crying that Ellery did because she didn't want to actully walk through the patch. They also don't show the screaming from Grady on the ride there (and home). I was wearing him to get him to nap, so couldn't carry Ellery...although an attempt was made. That would have been a great picture!

The pictures also don't show me begging the girls to just pick a pumpkin because Molly had to look at and examined every single pumpkin in the entire patch and I wanted Ellery to stopp crying long enough to just look at the pumpkins. They also didn't show me trying to lug back a pumpkin in my arms (Molly got a friend to help carry hers), with Ellery holding onto my handing trying climb up me, while I was attempting to keep Grady asleep in the Moby wrap.

Was I doing this for my scrapbook or for a fun fall outing for the girls?

My Little Man

When I found out I was having a boy I had the rush of excitement that came with the knowledge that we were going to have a son. Then I panicked. What was I going to do with a boy??? He is such my little man! I'm in love! So far, he's a mama's boy...

Just a pic of the G-man

g

Love my husband

I already did love him, but today he surprised me! I was in the living room trying to calm the masses when he walked out of the bedroom (at his normal time to leave for work) and said, "I have a surprise for you today." I looked at him, dressed in a T-shirt and jean shorts thinking...you're wearing that to work? Great, do I need to run a quick load of laundry because his favorite pants are in the wash...what? He's grinning and says, "I'm your slave today. I took the day off of work and I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll put up shelves, watch Grady, whatever you want." WOW!!! I'm sitting on the floor (changing a diaper) in shock. He told his boss yesterday that he's talking the day off so that he can stay married longer. Despite the weekends, his honey-do list keeps growing. So...we're hoping to get some projects done that have been hanging over our heads. Tuesday is a great day to do them too, because Molly's at preschool, so there's one less kid to worry about. Joe just took the girls to drop Molly off and Ellery to Lowe's with him...Grady just went down for a nap (I hope), so I'm going to jump on the treadmill while there is peace in the house...

Ellery cracks me up!

Like I said last post (which, yes, was about a half hour ago), Ellery's not feeling so great. Well, we go up to say goodnight to the girls (like we do every night before we go to bed) and Ellery is burning up and coughing! Fever had subsided since Saturday. So I go get the thermometer, ibuprofen and vicks. The vicks is for a new trick I read (thanks, mom) about coating the cougher's feet with vicks (then cover with socks) and that's supposed to stop all coughing....thought we'd give it a try. So, I unearth her from all the blankets (she's been out cold for a couple of hours), pull out her feet, rub 'em down with vicks (she's still asleep), Joe throws her socks on, I stick the thermometer in each of her ears (she's vaguely rousing), then squirt the medicine down her throat. She rolls over, puts her thumb back in her mouth and is out. We go downstairs hop in bed, chat for a bit, I start to feed Grady when I hear a scratching on a wall in the living room. I look towards our door, and see this pink arm...Ellery turns into our room in jammies, the socks, and her cowgirl hat. Thus begins the monologue....Where's Molly?...Smokee's in my bed, mom...Dad, come get Smokee out of my bed...Smokee's in my bed...(I butt in asking if she wants me to take her back upstairs)....yes, but don't carry me, just hold my hand...oh, its Grady...I want to see Grady...where's the one, mom?...where is the one?...the clock...where is the one on the clock...(running across the room to the bathroom)...oh, its on the clock...i found the one on the clock mom...(I'm thinking, wow that medicine sure kicked in quickly)...just like an airplane...in the sky...(running across the room into the bathroom and back a few times)...just like this...(again with the running)...but in the sky...I'm thirsty, dad...I want my water...I want my milk... At this point, Joe asks me what I gave her, was it speed??? So I hop up and walk out into the kitchen to grab her milk, then turn for the stairs to hold her hand and walk her up and she says, "carry me, mom." She drinks the milk on the walk up, hops into bed and falls right back to sleep.

No mom...

Ellery's been feeling a bit under the weather lately. We've been googling all sorts of fevers with rash and cold. Let me just say, the Internet is a very scary place! Turns out, its just mild hives. So, since she's not 100%, we've kind of excused the whole not eating thing. Breakfast, just snacked. Milk, little sips. Lunch, not at all. Dinner, barely. Dessert, a little more interested. (Nanna sent a little care package with Halloween cookies. I used them as incentive for the girls to finish their dinner.) I was trying to get her to at least eat the cookie, so I asked for a bite, then teased her about having to steal one. She tried to hand off the piece that she'd eaten most of and not wanted to purposely get myself sick, I passed on her thoughtful sharing. Later, I asked her, "Ellery....are you going to finish your cookie?" "No, mom," she says, "you can have it." As I'm cleaning up the dinner dishes, I spy her milk sippy cup in the living room. "Ellery," I ask, "are you going to finish your milk?" And she replies again, "no, mom, you can finish it." (If you could hear the tone in her voice it would help make this a bit funnier.)  What have I become?  A garbage disposal for all the kids leftovers? :)

Grady's Baby Book

He giggled today.

And here comes fall

What? Saturday it was 80 degrees, today it was 50 degrees...and raining...all day! Now that's a fall I'm use to! Finally!!! Long sleeve shirts, jeans, and my favorite black heeled boots! YAY!!! And the jeans actually have a snap waist. For all of you just tuning in, I'm bouncing back from baby #3 in 4 years....well, bouncing is not the right word...crawling, maybe? That might even be to strong. Anyway...all the maternity clothes are finally put away and I'm trying to find my waist. Just another reason why I've been looking forward to fall and winter. Big bulky clothes!

80 degrees today

Will I ever get use to the weather here? It's getting on toward the end of October and I'm ready to get out all the fall clothes.  Inside its nice a cool and the if you walk outside and its 80 degrees and I need another outfit. (So do the kids.)  This makes for lots of laundry, which is on top of all the burp clothes and clothing that Grady poops and spits up in/on (including mine). Anyway...after the lovely severe weather a few days ago, I was expecting to wake up and still have clouds and rain, but no...warmth and blue skies.  I'm actually missing the dreary NW weather right now. I'd love for fall to come when its actually fall on the calendar, not winter! I think its kind of funny that all the "outside stuff" like put-put and the kiddie park all close down for the winter, when its still 80 degrees outside.

Complete hysterical mayhem

I have been asking the girls for two days now to clean up they playroom. Asking slowing turned into threatening. And now the threatening has turn into follow-through. (It was actually kind of funny.) Joe walking through the playroom with a garbage bags, picking up anything he could get his hands on. The girls hysterically screaming (unintelligibly) trying to get him to stop....but still not picking up. I was out in the hall, holding Grady, just giggling, trying not to let the girls see. Will we really throw the toys away?...I actually had to ask Joe as he walked out of the room with the first bag. All I keep thinking of is the dollar signs attached to the toys. On the positive side...Christmas will be cheap this year. We told them if they can't take care of what they already have, they're not getting more.

Grady's new skill

He's having much more fun resting on his forarms, looking around than he is sleeping. So...no naps again today. Cranky kiddo, but so proud of himself!

I'm running again

So maybe just one day wouldn't be considered a lifestyle change. But I'm starting. I tried a month ago, but sleep seemed to trump exercise every time! Today I made it 2 miles. I started a program to get me back to my usual time and distance. It'll be a slow start, but I knew I didn't want to burn out. Luckily I didn't push too hard, because my legs can already feel the usage.

Grady's Baby Book

He's batting at toys.

Tornado Warning?!?!?

I knew this was a possibility when we found out we were moving down here. But when there's actually a warning...kinda freaked out here and of course, Joe is out of town. I'm so not prepared in the event of an actual tornado. I guess I know what I'll be doing today...or as soon as I'm done typing! =) Later today...This picture was taken out my front door (after a full day with the TV and Internet plugged to the weather channel) at 6:30 p.m. I got outside a bit late, but you could see the line of the storm moving over us. Joe's flight is supposed to land in Bartlesville in about 20 minutes...don't think he's coming in. Right now, the sky is pitch black and there are huge lightning flashes every minute or so, it sounds like the sky is falling due to so much hail and rain, and the wind is blowing up to 60+ mph. I'm a bit concerned, but trying not to let the girls see.

Molly's meltdown

Whoa what an evening. This child is great birth control for us. Thinking of a fourth (not now, but eventually)??? Molly's sure curbing those thoughts! We sent her to her room because she just couldn't calm down. She can cry and throw a temper tantrum there, I just don't want to listen to it. Well, it was also time to get ready for bed, so the girls we headed to the bathroom to brush teeth. I came up a few minutes later and Molly is in bed still sobbing pathetically. I asked her what was wrong now and she sobs out, "I was getting ready to brush my teeth but I didn't want to see my whiny face." So hard not to giggle at her! Too cute!!!

Sneaky Ellery

I'm down in the kitchen cleaning up (where I spend half of my time...the other half spent folding laundry) at about 10:30 the other night. Joe's playing halo and didn't even notice what happened. Anyway, I turn around to see Ellery scampering through the living room (passed right in front of Joe) with her blankey and bunny-bun and I said, "um...Excuse me???" Joe says, "what?" I said (to Ellery), "where do you think you're going?" Joe says, "did one of the kids just come through here?" Anyway...apparently she thought she'd sneak right by us, like we wouldn't notice? so she could hop into our bed.

Molly's planning her future

Molly: "When we all growed up, are we all going to live in the same houses?
Me: "No."
Molly: "So when we all growed up, we're going to live in different houses?"
Me: "Yes."
Molly: "But what if I don't want to?"
Me: "Believe it or not, some day when you're older you won't want to live with Mommy and Daddy."
Molly: "But who will I live with?"
Me: "Well, you might want to live by yourself, or you might have a roommate, or you might get married and live with you husband."
Molly: "I'll marry daddy."
Me: "Daddy's already married to me, honey."
Molly: "I'll marry Grady and live with him."
Me: "You don't marry your brother, sill-willy." (smiling)
Molly: "So, me and Ellery and Grady and you and Daddy are not going to live together?"
Me: "Well, no, but we can visit each other any time we want."
Molly: "I just don’t ever want to not live with you and Daddy!"

Cold bums

Ellery brings me her "Care Bear" doll and one of Grady's diapers and says, "Mommy, you have to put her diapers on cuz her bums are cold."

To my friends...

I guess I've never really understood the phrases "you're a sight for sore eyes," or "that sounds like music to my ears," but I'm starting to get it. I just got off the phone with Tami and just hearing her voice was so warm and comforting. (It's only the second time since we moved that we've actually spoken, although we seem to have a great game of phone tag going.) We talked about everything and nothing...just like we use to when I lived there and I almost felt like I was back home. In my life, I have made a handful of "best friends" who have been there in different seasons and places in my life. They are each close to my heart and I miss you all.

I'm here in a new place ("the middle" as Molly calls it...we're moving to "the middle") where I don't know anyone and it's just the 5 of us. I'm so missing my "sisters." Hearing your voices over the phone, reading your emails, seeing pictures of your kiddos...these things make my day! Thank you for becoming a part of me and a part of our lives. A part which will always be there, no matter how near or far we are.

Letting go

Those of you who know me well, know that I'm a bit Type A, so letting go of things is very hard for me to do. Molly, bless her heart, loves to "help" me. So, we folded the laundry together today. She folded all the washcloths (I use them as burpcloths, so there were quite a few) and I folded everything else. She doesn't fold them exactly the same way I do, but I'm learning to let go. I figure I'm just going to put them in a drawer, and pull them out for Grady to throw up on, so what does it matter anyway, right? Letting go. It's a small step, but I've got to start somewhere.

The noise machine

We have noise machines in every bedroom in the house. My attempt to get the girls to sleep longer. Does it work? Only with Ellery and her naps. On Tuesdays I have to wake her up in order to pick Molly up from preschool on time. I can walk into her room with a fog horn and she probably wouldn't budge. But the second I turn the noise machine off, her eyes pop open! The girls are up at the crack of dawn (sometimes earlier) every morning. I have the machines set to timers (thank you for the idea, Tami) so they'll turn off at 7. That seems like a reasonable time (to me) for them to come downstairs. The rule...you can come down when the machine turns off. Do they follow it...nope. Well, on a rare occasion they do.

Molly peeks down from upstairs this morning and sees me heading for the coffee maker. She asks, "is your machine off?"

Creepy, crawly things

Wow, there are all sorts of bugs down here. The spiders are huge, not to mention that some are poisonous. Scorpions, cicadas and crickets, oh my! The bug man came today. I'm totally freaked out about the scorpions and spiders. They've set those sticky mouse traps in every room to see the "traffic patterns" and kinds of bugs we get. That sounds so lovely. Except now, we have a giant dead spider in the powder room that is stuck to a trap. That's all I can see every time I go in there. I surprised the girls haven't said anything yet! Every other day Molly says, "Mom, there's another spider." My vacuum is constantly out just because there is no point in putting it away just to dig it back out again. The bug man said to shake out any clothing that's been on the floor before putting it on...just in case. Also...look in your shoes before you stuff your feet in. Doesn't that sound like fun? We opted for the every other month package from Orkin, instead of quarterly. I'm fine with paying more money to keep the bugs away. They spray inside and outside and I guess pest control is just considered another utility down here, kind of like electricity. Who knew?

I chopped my hair off

Its not very often that my first attempt at finding someone to cut and color my hair is successful. Thank you, Kim (and Betsy for the referral)! I love it! It's also not very often that I'm able to break away from all three kiddo's for 2 1/2 hours so I can get my hair done. Thank you, Joe! Next time, I think I'll go shorter. Trina (my neighbor in Bellingham) cut her hair short and I loved it. It inspired me to cut mine...but I chickened out this time. Next time it'll come off though.
(Photo taken by Miss Molly.)

Ellery the beauty queen

So, I go upstairs to put Grady down for a nap. Ellery was playing nicely with some toys down in the living room. I put Grady in his crib, swing through my office to answer a quick email, when I realize...its awfully quiet downstairs. I find little Miss Ellery, on her tip-toes, elbow deep in my makeup drawers. When she hears me sneak up behind her, she turns around (guilty look on her face) and says, "I all done, I'm getting ready," and finishes with a great big smile. She had makeup everywhere....her hands, face, feet, clothes, the floor, everywhere.

The next morning as I was getting ready, I realized the extent of her makeover. She had unscrewed, opened, touched and painted with every bottle, brush and container that I own. I found this out as I was putting on some bronzer...with a bit of mascara and lip sparkler that was on my blush brush. All I could do was laugh, because she looked so darn cute!