Here’s a few snapshots from our day:
Grafton – North
I showed the demo of Kaitlyn’s closet (which is now going to be the boys’ closet) but didn’t update regularly. Everything is done except the trim work (finding matching trim has proven difficult) and a door (current plan is a sliding barn door). The closet is now a little more than double it’s original depth. We had originally planned an external built-in bookcase, but have opted to have shelves inside the closet instead.
When we bought this house, I debated a long time about which kids to put in which rooms. We eventually decided and moved forward. I painted the boys room before Ben was born and we have been waiting to paint Kaitlyn’s room until her closet was enlarged. As she was helping me put primer on the walls, I kept thinking we really needed to change the rooms. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to switch everything. And the more I wanted to do it before I put color on Kaitlyn’s walls. Swapping already meant I would have to repaint the boys’ room.
I talked to Wade about it. I talked to Kaitlyn about it. I debated whether to even ask the boys (and did finally call them). Everyone was good with my idea. Thus began the great bedroom swap of 2018. Kaitlyn and I continue with our primer and I added painting one more bedroom to my list of projects for the week.
I looked over tonight and started laughing at Ben and his antics. I’m still not sure if he was trying to get the pacifier in his mouth or if he was trying to chew on his hand. Either way it was hilarious to watch.
Now it’s time to compare those babies. Below are all three babies at 4 months. Amazingly, I still had the same blanket, the same t-shirt, and almost the same cloth diaper.
If you are interested in how they compare by height and weight:
Height: Alex – 26.75″; Kaitlyn – 26.75″; Ben – 27.5″
Weight: Alex – 17 lbs and 10 oz; Kaitlyn – 15 lbs and 5 oz; Ben – 16 lbs and 13 oz.
Teague took over my kitchen today to try a few more of his Raddish kids recipes – mini cheese cakes and leek soup. Other than a slight incident with the canister of flour, we had some fun in the kitchen and some yummy meals. These recipes have not disappointed.
I was out running errands all day and Wade sent me this picture.
Evidently he put Kaitlyn down for a nap and decided to show the big boys how to clean bathrooms.
Every once in a while the stars align and Mom gets to watch a movie with the big kids.
There is a special place in heaven for people who have to deal with shin guards and soccer socks. As I was cooking dinner, Kaitlyn and Teague asked to play “soccer” and I said sure. (I had no idea what they really wanted but it sounded fairly harmless.) The next thing I realized, they had out all the shin guards and soccer socks. Teague was sitting in the kitchen floor and patiently putting both shin guards and soccer socks on Kaitlyn and then himself. The boy is a saint.
Swim lessons got a lot more fun when Kaitlyn’s friend, Ronan, from preschool joined the class. I broke one of my rules and let them watch a video on my phone today. (It was the video for the song – On Top of Spaghetti. If you had heard her ask in that voice of hers you would have said yes too.)
They boys have discovered that Alexa will read them books. Now they disappear to their room all the time to “play Legos.” Really they just want her to read them books. They try to wait for each other but sometimes one boy will listen to a chapter without the other. Then I hear them try to summarize what happened. It’s truly adorable.
I used to make the boys play soccer. They always complained so I stopped signing them up. Then Kaitlyn started begging to play. I worked hard to find a place that would let her play at her age. She played last session at the YMCA and this session at a local gym. Her interest has made Teague want to play. Now the two of them play soccer together in the house and its adorable. Here’s hoping they still want to play together when its warm outside and fun for everybody.
This must have been a really good book. Alex didn’t even put it down to make breakfast this morning.
I was pleasantly surprised when my neighbor invited us to a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt and brunch the day before Easter. We had a great time but it made me a little sad for our traditional hunt and brunch in Milwaukee.
The funniest picture of the day. I was wearing Ben in the ring sling and he fell asleep. I sat down on the porch and realized I had forgotten Ben’s shoes and his feet were probably cold. I started to zip my coat over his feet and realized I could zip it all the way up over him. I cocooned him inside my coat and he took an hour nap. Wade evidently took my picture at some point and I have the strangest looking profile!
We’ve had a crazy last few weeks, but tonight we made time to dye Easter Eggs! Kaitlyn was so excited to be able to “do it myself” and Alex got creative with his mixing of colors. Teague just wanted blue eggs, and Ben slept through the majority of the process. It’s definitely a Burch tradition.
I’ve been doing a second monthly photo series with Ben on his daily blog. I decided to show it here so you could see all the months together in one post.
Alex might have come up with the best hiding spot I have seen. I walked past him twice before he started making a beeping noise (it’s to help Kaitlyn out).
Hint – he’s under all the clothes in the laundry basket.
I haven’t found anywhere that will take Ben while I work out. At most places he has to be 6 months old. I finally got tired of waiting and have started working out at home. My kids are fascinated. Kaitlyn decided to work out with me today and even found an old toy rattle that looked like a dumbbell.
Kaitlyn has been looking forward to tonight all week. She knew the boys were going to be gone and we were going to have some Girl Time. She helped me plan the evening – a trip to see the Easter Bunny, Papa John’s pizza while watching Scooby Doo, painting our nails, watching The Lorax, and then sleeping in my bed with me. We had a great night. (Kaitlyn found some pajamas in the piles of baby clothes I was sorting. She was adamant that they fit. I had her try them on just to be sure. Impressively she can get 12 month pajamas on, but chose not to sleep in them.)
Laser tag is still a favorite at our house. The boys especially love when Wade joins in the fun. Kaitlyn is content to be on Dad’s team and hold the flashlight (no matter if it’s dark or not). I anticipate we’ll be buying a second set of guns soon. Mom wouldn’t mind playing too.
Kaitlyn has discovered CandyLand and loves it. She will play with any willing participant or by herself. The last few times we have played, she gets upset if someone draws a “special card” that moves them ahead. She prefers not to use those or bury them back in the deck. Her thinking is that the game is over too quickly when you skip ahead…
Today’s lunch time entertainment was called, “Who fits the best?” Kaitlyn was pretty sure she was the right size for the Bumbo.
The older two boys are exempt from a lot of the matching PJs, but the youngest two have a few years to go. Easter PJs!
Today was demo work on Kaitlyn’s closet. Teague stuck with Wade all day and helped tear out the plaster and lathe. The plan is a deeper closet with a sliding barn door. There will also be a builtin bookcase on the opposite wall facing the bedroom door.
Kaitlyn says, “Momma, let’s do our makeup together.”
I have had four kids. Three of them have used pacifiers. This is the first time it occurred to me to have a central location where a pacifier can always be found (my kitchen). It’s genius. There will be no further babies to use this great idea with so I am sending it out into the ether in the hopes that it helps someone else. (Or maybe everyone else already does this and forgot to tell me?)
We had a wonderful month when all my kids were eye patch free. Then Alex had a follow-up visit and he’s back to patching. (For those of you keeping up – Teague had been patching the past 6 months but Alex has not.) Here’s hoping we are done at the next checkup. Nobody likes the patches.
I have now had my first child threaten to run away and actually pack his bag. Alex had a rough afternoon and needed a break. He packed his bag and disappeared. It took me a little while to find him behind the barn in the backyard. I tried to get him to come in twice but he wasn’t quite ready. Instead he came in once for an apple and a second time for a coat. I couldn’t wait till he came in for good to see what he had packed in his bag.
Ben is my most active baby. If he is on the floor then his legs are kicking. By this method is he able to move quite a bit from the spot I put him. Today he started out with his head on the monkey’s chin. While I cooked dinner he worked himself completely off the mat.
I was all for the kids going back to school today. The snow was done and most of the town had power. The powers-that-be decided otherwise. I had three bored kiddos all day long. Alex literally followed me around hoping I would suddenly allow all-day iPad play. (He did get some during the youngest’ nap time.)
We are pretty used to snow and cold weather from our previous cities, but this Nor’easter this an entire new thing. The last one was all rain with heavy winds and left us without power for a few hours. This one was all wet, heavy snow and wind. Most of our town lost power for at least 24 hours – some people longer. We borrowed the generator again from our neighbor and had heat and the necessities running. (We are looking into purchasing one for ourselves!) The kids loved the snow and it was gorgeous to go outside. Ben napped while we played outside and then the kids had hot chocolate and snacks while reading books in a fort. Perfect snow day!
All of my kids love sushi, but Teague especially can’t get enough. Gram gave him a Japanese Raddish kids box for his birthday and there was a recipe for sushi. He couldn’t wait to make California Rolls and did a great job. (We both thought it was pretty yummy too.)
We have had this duck towel (and a frog one) since Alex. Well loved and perfect for wrapping up babies.
Kaitlyn is so easy almost all of the time. She mostly wants to be with Mom and is happy to do whatever I need to do. The other day she was content to read books in the hall while I took some pictures with Ben (see here). Then she asked me to read her a book and I was so glad the camera was still in place.
We experienced our first Nor’easter yesterday. The day started overcast and rainy. By the middle of the day, there was strong wind and driving rain. By dinnertime, I was happy to be inside cooking dinner. We were getting the kids ready for bed around 8 last night when the power went out. We quickly realized it was only our house with no lights. Wade explored outside and found that two trees from the Land Trust next door had fallen on our power lines. Thankfully they mostly missed the house. We were getting all set up with flashlights and iPads when Wade remembers the sump pump. We’ve already had a minor basement flood when it got backed up. Our neighbor was nice enough to let us use his outdoor outlet and Wade got it running. After only 20 minutes, we already had standing water in one corner. Another neighbor offered a generator. We were set up with limited power by 11 pm. I went to bed and woke up this morning to full power. Wade said the guys showed up around 1 am and had the lines reconnected very quickly. Now we just have to cut some trees.
Kaitlyn is my pouter, or at least my child that uses her lower lip. Tonight she decided she didn’t want to eat dinner and was quite annoyed when we still made her sit at the table.
These pictures weren’t taken at the same ages, but I thought they needed to be side by side.
(Kaitlyn is about 1 month and Ben is about 3 months).
Teague loves his baby brother and was so excited when I suggested pictures of just the two of them.
Judy and Jerry left today and we were all sad to see them go. I have done more cooking this week than in a long time. (Not that I don’t cook often, but we tend to frequently have “leftover” night to clean out the fridge.) Tonight I pulled everything out of the fridge and we all picked our favorites. (And will probably do so for the next few nights.)
Today Wade and I had a rare day out with just our oldest two. We left Kaitlyn and Ben with Granny and Pop and got in the car for an adventure. The boys both received gift certificates to Beanstalk and couldn’t wait to check it out. I wasn’t sure if adults were allowed on the ropes courses but I was hoping! Some of the high wires were a little freaky but the zipline was my favorite. The course is laid out so that you have to do some of the more challenging walks to get to the zipline (Smart. Very smart.) Teague was quick to try the harder courses and even went to the upper level with Wade. Alex had fun but was a little more hesitant overall. We all had a blast!
Granny is a wonderful cook, but my kids’ favorite (and probably mine too) is her Maple Nut Twist Coffee Cake. This has always been a special treat for Christmas morning, birthdays, and occasional random visits. Alex requested one for his birthday and Granny made it with his help. I decided to document most of the process (I forgot a picture of the final coffee cake but did find a close replica online.)
Kaitlyn got this “phone” for Christmas but just realized it has a camera button. She spent the day taking pictures and would often join me when I was photographing. I looked up from taking pictures of Ben to see her just out of the frame taking her own pictures.
Teague turned 7 today! Wow! The kids have winter break this week so there is no school. Even better that Granny and Pop came to visit for the week. Teague got to celebrate all day long starting with chocolate donuts and ending with brownie cupcakes. It was a pretty awesome day.
Have you seen these signs at your local stores – especially grocery stores? At first glance it seems like such a great idea. Those infant carriers are heavy and awkward – especially if you also have shopping bags.
Then let’s scan out and look at the big picture. The closest cart return is quite a ways away. This makes the awesome parking spot not so awesome.
You are left with the choice of leaving the baby in the car while you return the cart or you can push the baby in the cart (after unloading the groceries) and then carry the heavy baby and carrier back to the car. Either way, suddenly the parking spot isn’t so grand. I almost always choose to park right by the cart return. Then I grab the cart and push the baby in and have an easy return when I am done. (On the same note, this has to be annoying for people using the handicap spots too. They are still forced to go a further distance if they put up their cart after unloading.)
These guys are the worst pretend sleepers in history.
We woke up to 5 inches of snow! With our crazy warm temperatures we knew it wouldn’t last so we got everyone out and played. (Ben didn’t love it quite as much as I had hoped.) Kaitlyn kept asking to go snowboarding (thank you olympics) so Wade helped her out.
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and taking naps.