Fall Fun

It's FINALLY feeling like autumn weather!  I'm saying that on Tuesday...after we just had a 2 day super-warm weekend with Santa Ana (desert) winds and very dry air.  It felt like Las Vegas over the weekend.  Our house stays super-cool inside even without A/C...thank goodness for that!  I think it has something to do with the tile floors downstairs and the fact that no direct sun ever shines into our living areas.  The only exception is Owen & Eli's room which is located upstairs at the front of the house.  That room can get really warm.  It's also located over the garage, so I think that definitely doesn't help the situation.  We kept their shades lowered over the weekend and it actually stayed nice and cool.  The dry heat isn't the issue- it's the muggy weather that is unbearable.  We had a few muggy days in July this year but nothing too horrible.  Nothing that has us calling an A/C installation crew.  Not sure how I survived growing up with Virginia summers?!  Today is in the 60's with a nice breeze.  Feels the way autumn should feel!

It's a busy week here.  Today Eli had his stitches taken out at the ped's office this morning.  It was another opportunity to kill multiple birds with one stone.  (When I was trying to convince Myke of this wonderful "plan" in the car a few days before, Chloë chimed in from the backseat, "But Mommy, we don't kill birds!!")  Anyways, Myke and I took all four kids so we could have that done, get all the kids the flu vaccine (thank goodness for nasal spray option for kids over 2!!!  Poor Ella had to get the needle), and get the boys' preschool medical forms filled out and signed by their doctor.  So all six of us piled into this tiny patient exam room and waited for Dr. Dern.  She's awesome.  They did Eli's stitches removal first (which we were hoping they would do last so we could herd the other children out into the waiting room beforehand, but oh well).  Dr. Dern told Eli that it wouldn't hurt, but as she started the procedure she realized the stitches had been put in extra tight, which made them more challenging to remove...and made the cut bleed.  Poor Eli was on the table with Myke holding his head still and the Dr. trying to do her thing.  He was crying so hard they ended up having to call in a nurse to help hold him still and keep his arms down.  So now we have EIGHT people in this small room.  We had brought the iPad along and the Dr had me hold it up over Eli so he could maybe watch a little show during the procedure to distract him--which didn't help at all....AND I had been carrying Ella so to do that meant that I had to set her down on the exam room floor while I got out the iPad and held it up (Oh well, 4th child, right?...at least the floor was carpeted....or is that worse?!  Probably.).  I finally got myself together and held Ella on one hip while leaning over the Dr, nurse and Myke so the iPad could be above Eli for him to see.  And, like I mentioned, he couldn't have cared less about the iPad.  He just wanted the procedure over with.  Luckily, this entire scenario was done within about five minutes.  Then time for the flu vaccines.  That was quick and painless and then Myke herded the "big kids" out to the neighboring pharmacy to get lollipops while I stayed with Ella to get her shot in the thigh.  We figured them witnessing Eli's traumatic morning was enough for them for one day.  Chloë HATES hearing any of her siblings upset.  She was stressing out and covering her ears.  If Ella ever cries all three of them rush to her as fast as they can to make sure she's okay.  It's so sweet to see :)

After we were done at the doctor's office we dropped Myke back off at home and headed to a park to play.  We're in a little local playgroup that meets at different area parks on Tuesdays and we rarely are able to attend, so I figured this was as good of a chance as any.  The kids were able to run around,  Chloë got to play with some friends, and I got to talk to some other moms with kids close in age to my own.  So that was fun.  Now we're back home and it's rest time x4.  Ahhhh!  That has been occurring less and less since Ella usually takes a mega-nap in the mornings and then a teeny nap in the late afternoon.  Today, she obviously had no nap with all running around we did, so she is conked out now.    I NEED that break!  Just to sit down unwind for at least a few minutes.

On a side note, we found a website that keeps track of commercials on TV- we're of course curious as to how often the LUVS commercial that Chloë is in airs...especially since we rarely watch TV so it's highly doubtful that  we'll ever catch it live.  So far the commercial has aired 135 times!  It was only at 72 last Thursday so it's definitely airing a lot.  I'm not sure if Chloë will benefit from how often it airs (hello, college fund?!)  but pretty cool none-the-less.


Some photos:

Tuesday Playgroup visited the local fire station (last week)

This is how Eli likes to go to sleep.  Covered in stuffed animals...

and often his favorite pair of shoes.  And yesterday a step-stool from the bathroom (gross!)

He fills his crib with all sorts of things.  

I think he has hoarding tendencies.  

Bagels on Saturday morning

Eli likes the salty ones (Salt bagel, plain (gross! I tasted it and it was like licking a salt rock)

and Owen likes the sweet... (chocolate chip bagel with cream cheese..more my style)

At the park after stitches were removed.  Eli sat and fed Ella from the water bottle.  Such a good big brother!

Chloë loves dressing Ella up like a princess! 

Though she wouldn't be caught dead in this garb herself.  

Daddy's little princess!  

Me and my girls!  

Chloë the Actress!

Exciting news!  Chloë's commercial aired on national TV!  I posted a few months ago that a friend of ours in L.A. who works on commercial productions randomly called us on a Thursday morning saying that they were looking for a 3 or 4 year old blonde girl for a small non-speaking part of a LUVS diaper commercial...and would we be interested?   All the stars kind of aligned for it work out so we took her up the next day...after spending Thursday afternoon getting all last-minute "things needed to be a child actor in the state of California" taken care of.  Anyways, so here we are a few months later and the commercial actually got put on TV!   It played during a commercial break of the "Kathie Lee & Hoda" segment of The Today Show a couple days ago.  I have no idea if that was the only time it aired or if it will air again in the future...all we know is that it aired once!   My parents happened to have the TV on that morning and saw it.  So that's the only reason that we even know it got put on TV.  Anywho, it's a very small, non-speaking part...but it's Chloë on TV none-the-less, which is pretty dang cool...at least for us :)!

Here is a link to the website where her commercial is also posted:

Chloë's Commercial

I'm not sure how often they rotate them, but when I went to the site yesterday her video was the main one on display.

Elijah Thomas Hines

Since we had our first night in the ER with one of our kids last night,...ELI....I'm dedicating this post to him.  Oh wait, Eli has gone to the ER one other time.  When he got croup as a 3 month old and could barely breathe/was barking like a seal.  So here is the story of his SECOND time in the ER in his short 2 years:  Yesterday evening we were all playing outside and Eli has just gotten off the scooter.  He had his helmet on and I started to chase him.  He went no more than two feet, tripped going up a stair on our sidewalk and landed on his face.  I knew right away it wasn't going to be pretty.  I scooped him up and saw the blood pouring out.  At first I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from (mouth?  teeth fall out?) but I quickly realized it was his chin.  Long story short, he busted a good size hole in his chin.  An ambulance and firetruck at our house and then a drive (in our car) to the ER to get stitches.  He has 6 stitches in his little chin.  The ER doctor assured me that Eli would still be on the cover of GQ one day.  

Me holding my baby boy after stitches.  We both needed lollipops!

Elijah also insisted on holding these ladybug wings from one of Chloë's old Halloween costumes.  He also has been sleeping with them the past two days.

More about Elijah:

Eli is in the midst of his "terrible twos".  He knows what he wants and when he wants it...and he has no patience for waiting for something he wants.  He wants it NOW.  If he doesn't get it NOW he can have a pretty epic tantrum....and he holds a grudge!  Does NOT get over it and forget it fast.  All that said, things may have been a little worse the past week as everyone has had colds.  It's interesting to see the different personalities get magnified when the kids aren't feeling good.   

All that said, Eli is a sweet little boy.  He has a great smile - totally contagious.  When he smiles his entire face smiles, mouth, cheeks, eyes...and now maybe his new scar will smile, too?  Anyways, he's learning to share...obviously a very challenging concept for any two-year-old.  He's adjusting (well) to preschool.  He and Owen both love preschool (thank GOD) and never fuss about going.  It probably helps that Chloë has been going there for awhile before them and also LOVES it.  Every morning she asks, "Do I have school today??" in the most hopeful tone....and on her off- days you can see her face drop when we tell her "not today".  I'm chopped liver here.  She has asked me to "sign her up" to go longer days, as well.  Oh well, I can't complain.  It would be horrific if I had to take the kids kicking and screaming to school.  

Eli's favorite things:  macaroni & cheese, the iPad, "choo-choo's", trucks, his new CareBear stuffed animal, going ANYWHERE in the car, pushing his stroller (though he isn't doing that quite as much lately, books, books, books.

Chloë & Eli walking home from preschool last week

Moonlight Park

Eli covered in sand - looks like he has a dark gray eyebrow...all sand

Today (Wednesday) was my morning with my boys.  Well, Ella was there, too, but she goes down for nap around 9:15am these days, and usually naps a couple of hours.  I tried to make an extra effort to really play with and BE with the boys today.  The past week or so they have both been a little more fussy and "TWO"-ish than they've ever been before.  Maybe because they are hitting the 2 1/2 year mark?  Or maybe because they have started preschool?  They are feeling a little more insecure?  Needing some extra attention and snuggles maybe?  Or are they witnessing some of this behavior at preschool and just starting to exhibit it more at home?  Probably a mix of all of the above  Also, they still aren't as verbal as most kids their age, I'd say.  They definitely understand everything and they do have words and are starting some sentences, but overall I think they speak less than their peers.  In fact, today I heard Eli say probably his second sentence ever.  It was "Mommy made a mess."   Thanks, Eli. (His first one was "Now it's Eli's turn" instead of the usual "Eli turn!  Eli turn!").  On another note, in case your wondering, I had made a mess.  So his sentence was a factual statement.  I was multi-tasking, as I like to say.  Was filling up Myke's iced tea pitcher with water in the wet bar sink.  While that was filling I went to rotate the laundry or take something out of the oven OR SOMETHING ...who knows....and forgot all about the water....until it overflowed and was going onto the floor.  Nice.  

As you can see, my blogging is all over the place.  That's how the flow of thought is in my head.  Now what was I talking about?  Oh, the boys. So due to their recent "terrible two" behavior, I wanted to really spend time doing something fun with them today.  So we did a cooking project!  It was for a pumpkin cookie recipe I found on Pinterest that sounded really yummy...so I thought we'd try it out.  

\

Stirring and mixing!

Big FAIL!!

Ended up throwing them all away...not sure what went wrong here.  Oh well.  Boys didn't even notice.

Chloë feeding Ella A BOTTLE!!

This is her first official time taking a bottle!  

(she's had a couple sips a couple times when Myke and I have been on date nights and someone other than me puts her to bed)

Bottle, part II.  She guzzled the first one so fast that we had to go downstairs and defrost more for her!

Okay, my blogging window is closing...the kids are waking up from rest.  Myke is gone for the rest of the evening, meeting with tax people and then taking a CPR class at the local fire station (we have a pool, afterall!).  The class goes 5-9pm.  So I'm flying solo for dinner and bedtime.  Luckily, the neighbors invited us over for pizza!  Yay!!  

I'll leave you with some photos that I took of a friend's baby shower last weekend.  Her neighbor/friend held it for her and it was just beautifully done.  Seems like all parties are Pinterest-inspired and magazine-worthy these days.  The photos don't do it justice, but it was a beautiful affair :)

Sony, the mama :)

Let me just say that it's a good thing that I have "time off" on Monday and Friday mornings now (time off meaning I only have 1 child during that time...so not completely by myself) because if I didn't have that time, I wouldn't have created this:

Here's my creation-

Footprint ghosts!

Here's my inspiration from Pinterest.

I personally like mine better.

My very own Pinterest.com-inspired art project.  I RARELY get a chance to look at the Pinterest website, let alone even THINK about creating something that I find on there.  Maybe that will change a a little now.  Having those mornings gives me the time to get out to the craft store or to the grocery store to get any supplies/ingredients I'd need to try something new.  So I'm looking forward to that.  It's good for the soul.  It's good to have a couple hours that don't involve my latest role:  referee.  

Yup, the boys are at that stage.  They are starting to bicker over things, they always want the same toy at the same time, they always want whatever the other one has at that exact moment.  It's a blast, let me tell you!  One word they definitely know is "MINE".  "My choo-choo!"  "No, my choo-choo!" 

One other "role" that I'm trying to get back into is runner...maybe jogger is a better term?  I'm by no means a long distance runner, but I just love running.  It's my stress-reliever and it's my sanity.  The problem is that sometimes it's a challenge to do it regularly.  I have four kids, you know!  However, now Ella is going longer between feedings and is on a more regular schedule, so I've been able to fit it in more.  This past week I decided to set a goal to find the time to run 3x per week.  I wrote that goal on a piece of paper and hung it up.  That way I remember, and Myke will see it and push me to do it when I'm feeling lazy.  I put the goal up on Monday morning and I've already run 4x since then!  

The reason running is such a perfect workout for me is mainly because it kills multiple birds with one stone.  When you have a bunch of kids (or even one kid, for that matter), anything that kills more than one bird with one stone is a MUST.  If I went to a gym I'd have to get in the car and drive there, I'd have to have childcare for the kids or leave them with Myke (which would severely limit the opportunities to get to the gym at all...would be after 5pm or on weekends only).  With running I almost always take 50% of the children.  AND the dog.  So I get a workout, I get to listen to music, I get to clear my head, the dog gets a workout, and the kids always enjoy the ride...and it all takes less than 30 minutes at this point (I'm only running about 2-2.5 miles each time).  The kids really seem to like it.  When I take the boys I don't hear a peep out of them...they just sit back under their canopy and take in the scenery  On Wednesday I took the girls.  When I stopped to cool down / for Chloë to pet a cat on the sidewalk, we realized Ella had fallen asleep.  I guess my running pace was soothing to her.  

The girls!

Chloë stopping to say hi to the kitty

My big girl 

Ella's not crawling yet, but she gets into EVERYTHING!

Including the recycling bag that I hung on a drawer handle the other day. 

So, yes, the bickering between the boys has been driving me a bit nuts.  Eli seems to be really getting into the "terrible twos" the past couple weeks.  We've always said that he wants to be an only-child, as he is happiest in a one-on-one scenario or when he is center of our attention.  I can't say I blame him.  Hey, I don't know what it's like to have to compete with 3 other kids for the attention of your parents, but still.  That's his life and he's going to have to get used to it eventually.  Anyways, the "terrible twos" thing is him fussing and crying every single time he doesn't get his way.  Today:  Chloë is painting.  Eli wants to paint.  Eli doesn't want to wear the smock.  Eli has a tantrum.  Owen is playing quietly with a train.  Eli wants that train.  Now.  Eli has a tantrum.  Eli wants "up" while I am in the middle of making breakfast, hot things on the stove.  I tell him I can't pick him up right this second.  Eli has a tantrum.  Two is such a fun age.    

Smoothies!  Don't they looks so precious and sweet?  

(Ella is in the stroller...can't see her)

Tuesday and Thursdays I have all 4 kids.  All day.  The bickering and Eli fussing started early so I loaded up the kids in the car and got the heck outta dodge.  This might sound crazy (taking 4 kids under 5 out in public when they are being fussy), but really they LOVE to get out.  As soon as I say "put on your shoes", the fussing stops and they run to get ready. Eli especially LOVES going places in the car. He is always excited to jump in his car seat and go somewhere.  I took them to the huge shopping center across the street.  We got smoothies for snack and then walked around a department store and finally hit up Barnes & Noble to play on their train table in the kid section.  You get a lot of looks when you are out with 4 small kids.  Sometimes comments (the main one being "You have your hands full!!"  I hear that EVERY. SINGLE.  TIME.  I.  GO.  OUT.  with them.  Without fail.)  The kids were all great though.  Angels.  Until it was time to say goodbye to the train table.  Then Eli had a tantrum.  :)  

Date with Owen

Now that things are "settling down" a little and we are starting to fall back into a routine, Myke and I are trying to re-incorporate our "date nights" with the kids.  That one-on-one time with them is so important, and SO rare.  Today, I got the pleasure of taking my oldest son, Owen, on an outing.  Just the two of us!  I decided to make the day all about something he would love...so I picked a train-theme date!   

We checked out a "Totally Thomas" toy store!

Owen (like many 2-year-old boys) is VERY into Thomas the Train lately!

Train tables!

The mall had a train in it!!!

Owen picked the yellow car.  He was a little nervous until I boarded.

Choo-Choo!

The train 

We had lunch at Panera Bread and then headed home, cookie in hand!

Some Other Photos:

The boys' class.  Lunch time.  Owen is next to the teacher. 

Eli was at another table.

Myke and the "littlest Hines"

This is what my couch looks like when we don't have my or Myke's mom in town to help us with laundry!  A mountain!  (Okay, only sometimes...)

Karmin (friend from college came out to visit)

Chloë and her favorite food: pizza!

The kids at Legoland water park

Eli

Aprill (in green) and her son Mark (I'm holding) visiting from MA.

Aprill used to live out here back in the pre-kid days!

Owen showing his playground climbing skills

Chlo-bear

The boys

The boys again

Really beautiful cloud photo at sunset last week

Another shot

Attempting a Video Upload

Owen & Eli at the park.  Love this video :)