More Walking!

John has taken a while to really take off. I'm sure it has something to do with the week-long stomach flu he had and his big crash. All is well now and he is eating and moving well. Ok better. This one is going to have a lot of falls I think.

Bi-ped Motion in the Lee House

John is starting to take steps! So fun to catch some of the first ones on video!

Now We're Six

We had a great day for Daniel last weekend when he turned six. Hard to believe that he is six! The pictures tell it all. We all slept well that day.

The Passion - By Daniel

Sometimes I think Daniel is a priest in the making. Happy Holy Week!

Sisters Celebrate!

A few weeks ago John and I headed to Houston for a bachelorette party and bridal shower for my sister Katie who is getting married in a month. We had a great trip and it was wonderful to spend time with family. Karaoke was a big part of the bachelorette party and we are all really fantastic singers. Well, fantastically enthusiastic as you can see in our video.

Katie and James are the perfect match! We can't wait to celebrate with them in just a few weeks!

Starring John!

Looking back at some of my older posts, I realized how under represented John is in videos here. Hope you enjoy this one from back in February. Since then he has started saying many more 'words' and is busy as ever. His favorite things are getting in trash cans, emptying cabinets, attacking appliances like the dishwasher and refrigerator, and his brothers. He is a speed crawler and can stand on his own. No steps yet, but I'm sure they are coming. John has two teeth and loves to eat everything!

We have visited the doctor a lot in 2014. Between ear infections, strange appearances of hives, routine check ups, and allergies, we have been there numerous times. I believe that John has an egg allergy and is allergic to penicillin and sulfa drugs. We are getting that checked out next week. Since eliminating egg from his diet, he seems much better. No more vomiting after meals, breaking out in rashes, and the eczema is starting to disappear.

John is really quick to learn new tricks. He is starting to play with shape sorters and to make the toys light up or play music. He seems to like the way things sound. He usually picks up two toys and bangs them together a few times to see how they sound. Oh yes I almost forgot, John has a thing for paper. He devours books and snatches any piece of paper he can find and promptly eats it! I can see the wheels in his little head turning...is that paper hanging off the edge of the table, yes it is, I'm going to get that paper no matter what it takes... yummy paper! Smile!

He is really a fun and pretty easy going baby to have around!

January

Well, it is January 20th, and I finally feel like I have recovered from the holidays. Ok, somewhat recovered from the holidays. We still have a garage full of boxes needing to be broken down and sent to recycling. The kids are all back in school and I've managed to cook a real dinner several times in the past couple weeks. I call that an accomplishment. I feel like overnight John is way busier and has been army crawling and pulling up on things for the past couple weeks. He continues to eat like a horse. I can't keep enough baby food in the house. I guess he is growing. He's been doing all this while having a persistent ear infection. We are on our second variety of antibiotics. Let's hope this one is a winner.

Christopher turned four in December and is so interesting to chat with. He seems to be exhibiting some middle child behavior. If he only knew how special he really is. He plays with his little action figures all the time. I love hearing the storylines he comes up with. He also loves football and has an incredible knack for memorizing everything he sees during the game. First thing he asks Matt in the morning is about which team won the previous night's game, "Daddy, did the 49ers or the Seattle Seahawks win the game last night?" He is going to be really sad when the Super Bowl is over.

Daniel seems to be older and taller each day. He discovered that he can hold/carry John short distances. He would really like it if I allowed him to carry John around like Olivia carries her cat around. He is a Lego genius and tears through the sets like termites through wood. He is such a help to me around the house with picking up and John. Now if I could only come up with enough experiments to keep that mind busy.

You are lucky enough to get a post from me today because I'm home sick. The quiet house is something that I don't witness very often. The sun glistening through the windows and on the sparkly snow is really nice.

Headed to the sled hill!

Daddy, I'll pull John! Notice those nice gloves ;)

Three boys, three faces, three smiles! Miracle.

Daniel usually falls asleep with something in his bed. I'll take the
Russian hat and the Lego book over the cash register.

Happy 4th Birthday Christopher!

All in an hour's work.

I thought I would be nice and do the driveway while they were
out. Too bad I didn't get the paper first.

Taken at 8:15 in the morning.

We had a birthday party for our imaginary puppies.

Happy baby!

He's on the move!

This Crazy Life

So I've decided to write a blog post. It's been a while, and I should write something to capture this moment or phase in our life. I have a ton to say, and yet not too much to say at the same time. Everyone is doing well. Daniel started kindergarten in August. He's doing great and growing like a weed. I feel like every time I look at him, he needs new pants. We are still adjusting to having two schools, two drop offs, etc. We are very happy with his school and can't wait to be a bigger part of that community. Christopher will be four next month, and is just starting to wear 4T clothes which led me to the discovery that Daniel did not leave one pair of jeans without holes in the knees. Christopher likes to dress (I'll just leave it at that), and does not like wearing the pants with holes in the knees. I guess I'll be restocking the 4T jean selection. John is a wonderful baby. He's cute, giggly, loves his brothers, and loves to eat.

Matt and I both have great things going on at work. Well, I guess great would be debatable. Matt has enough work to keep him working from the wee hours of the morning to the late night hours almost every day. This was a good week. He was home for dinner and bed two nights in a row! I'll just forget about the part where he leaves for the airport at 3 or 4 am tomorrow and gets home just before midnight. My work is busy enough to keep me at the office 10 or 15 minutes longer than I plan on each day ;) That's a busy I can live with.

I can tell that life is moving really quickly these days. It makes me long for those laid back summer days where the most important part of the day was visiting with the neighbors. My boys remind me daily about the important things. Daniel and Christopher have made decorating the house a personal challenge. They have done most of the tree ornaments so far and not too bad of a job either. I might just let them have at it and get it finished. They remember little stories about each ornament and love discussing each one as they put them up. They are very interested in all of our Advent related things, too. They would play with the Nativity set as much as I would let them, but it's difficult to let go on that one. They race out of bed to do the Advent calendar, and our Christmas Angel is a hit. The Angel was named John. John the Angel has long blonde hair and is wearing a dress.

Alright, if I'm going to take on the morning solo, I better get to the pictures quickly.

John just started sitting here.

What a cutie!

Daniel is into helping!

Thanks Gigi! Yummy!

All three boys in one shot!

Mom and Dad came for a great visit.

This was a really cold game!

John loves to eat!

Six months old!

Daniel's first fundraiser. "I'm selling a fundraiser."

All firemen like coleslaw, right?