All this activity

Carter is an outdoors-man by nature. Since the weather has been so beautiful lately he has been spending lots of time in his element. Here he is with his make-shift "car wash". Who knew that's why he wanted to the pool out? I figured he wanted to go swimming. He LOVES the hose and any job I can give him that utilizes his services. He would water my trees and landscaping all day if I let him.

Of course, Ella had to get in on the action. Here she is washing her big wheels. Good thing we don't live in a neighborhood bc Carter loves riding this thing SOOO much. I just need to break down and by him his own. Ella thinks he needs a Spiderman big wheels. For some reason, in her world girls=princess paraphernalia and boys=Spiderman
This activity kept them nice and busy until Carter decided it would be GREAT fun to spray Ella with the hose. Of course, that didn't go over well since she adores the princess shirt from Grandma Moorlag. Has had to wear it almost everyday since we got it. :)
Scott and the kids are having fun at the pool. The kids are taking swimming lessons at the Y every Wednesday night. Ella is learning some good form and technique. She is ALWAYS the first to volunteer in class and is so proud of herself that she swam half the length of the pool without assistance. If she can swim the whole length (which is a very long ways in mom's eyes) then she passes the swim test and is free to go in the deep end and can go on the slides. I am nervous to say it won't be long. I'm sure she will be going down the big slide by this winter. Ahh, she is growing up so fast and is so determined to be SO independent. Gotta love that great spirit that God's given her.

Carter on the other hand is a daredevil. He just jumps off the edge of the pool in water that's way over his head. He yells," you catch me now mom!" I need a third eye in the back of my head to keep tabs on him. He is something else! We sure love our little fish. Christian will be in the mix soon enough. For now, I just drop him off at daycare. He'll be in class before we know it.

Barley Cereal or tasty toes?

Christian's first couple of bites. The look on his face says it all,,, what are you doing mom?

Ella and Carter were given strict instructions that they were to smile and same ONLY encouraging things like, "yummy" "good stuff". IN this picture he is looking over his shoulder thinking what's all the hoopla going on back there??

Carter and Ella--the moral support team helping out with the first breakfast.

Many attempts later...I think this is his attempt to push me away.

On Sunday Christian (I can't believe it) turned 4 months. And as I have done with the other two on this momentous day, I gave him barley cereal. I am not really ready for him to be eating solids. He is the baby and growing up way to fast for my liking. However, I did this mostly for tradition and mental health. As I am noticing with the third child, things get a little fuzzy with my remembering power. Hmmm, how old was Carter when he sat up, got his first tooth, etc. For Pete's sake, he is only two and I can't remember well!@! So I have decided whenever possible, I am going to make things easier for myself. I need to keep consulting the baby books and photo albums to see when the kids hit these MAJOR milestones that my brain just can't remember. Arg!!! Is it the fact that I just turned 30 or is it that these childbearing years have sucked all my brain power??? The jury is still out.

Christian was less than thrilled with the cereal HOWEVER on the same day he officially found his toes. He has been grabbing at them and putting them in his mouth since then. He must have his dad's mouth, because he can fit his whole hand in his mouth and is pretty proficient at it. So if I had to pick, I'd say he is WAY more interested in putting his feet and hands into his mouth rather than the cereal. I will keep you posted.

Can a family of 5 stay in a one bedroom hotel? We took the challenge!

As I reference in many of my posts: life with three young children is adventursome! However, this weekend we took a new challenge and stayed in a hotel, thank goodness it was in a different state! The whole experience started off well, the excitement of using a 'key card', Ella and Carter sharing a huge bed, going to the pool, etc. During all that fun, we had no clue what the night had in store for us. :) After a morning of travel and then a nice afternoon at Mike and Sarah's we decided to go to the hotel to let the kids swim and exhaust themselves. We figured that the exhaustion factor would bode well for us in the challenge of getting everyone to go to sleep at the same time. The kids had a blast swimming with Dad, Grandpa, Ryan and Carrie. We went back to the room, tried to mimick a similar routine to our home bedtime. It was almost too good to be true. I snuggled up with Ella and Carter reading books shortly after I fed Christian and put him in his Pack N Play. See don't we look like we are having fun?

Well, it was that easy...for a bit. We all fell asleep and things were going smoothly until about 2:45 when I was awaken but the worst sound, Ella had just thrown up. I hollered for Scott to quickly get her. We weren't fast enough. She had gotten sick all over the bed AND Carter. We rushed her into the bathroom and stayed there until about 5 a.m. Poor thing. She was miserable and nursing Christian for him 4:30 feeding was interesting since I was sitting on a cooler in the bathroom next to Ella. Never the less she popped out of bed on Saturday morning wanting a big breakfast of Strawberry miniwheats??? What a memorable event. Someday .......we will look back and chuckle on our first 'family of 5 hotel experience'. We didn't take any pictures in the middle of the night but here are a few that show what fun we had outside of those few hours.

Trip to Indy

We packed up the van and headed to Indianapolis on Friday to spend a couple of days with our newest family member Josephine Corinne Moorlag! Oh she is a beauty. It was great to meet her, we even managed to get a couple of pictures of she and Christian. They are only 3 1/2 months different in age. They'll have a lot in common as they get older. Look at the brothers showing off their babes!

We spent time with Mike, Sarah, Ryan, Carrie, and Grandma and Grandpa. It was lots of fun. The kids always love spending time with their aunts and uncles. Of course, good ole Uncle Ryan got the kids good and tired chasing them around and playing in the hotel's pool. Even though, we only get to see them a few times a year, the kids adore them so much that they pick right up where they left off the last time...right in the thick of lots of laughing and memory making. I am so thankful for such great family. Here are a few pictures from all the merry making:

Bubbles and Baby

My last entry was cut short by screaming going on in the background. Carter and Ella had a quick squabble over the new play-doh we got today. Of course Carter was mixing colors and that is a major no-no in Ella's book. Heaven forbid you mix, in her world (and mine for that matter) things need to be orderly and tidy. Right?!~?Not so with Carter. The bigger the mess.....the better! The other shots in here are a few of Carter that I had to grab as he was "going swimming" in the box of balls. He searched upstairs and down to find his goggles. So he could do the job right. What a kid!

I just had to snap a few pictures of our adorable babe last night after bath. He as so stinking cute. Christian is delighted by pretty much everything-except carseats and an empty tummy. He loves his bath and the baby massage that follows. Plus, it is usually a quiet mom/Christian activity and he doesn't get too many of those. He is growing and doing new tricks. He is grabbing things with his two hands and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. Notice all the drool. He is putting on the lbs. but that doesn't seem to help him sleep through the night. Oh, well, he is so good during the day that I can't complain. Don't you love the shirt? My mom got that for him and honestly, all three of the kids should be wearing the same shirt. Both Grandmas spoil the kids rotten..but that is what they do! We are looking forward to a very momentous weeekend. We are traveling to Indianapolis to visit Josie the newest member of the Moorlag clan. I need to pack and organize. The kids are so excited for all the hoopla of traveling, seeing family, staying in a hotel, and yes, we will be viewing a movie on the DVD player in the van. They think this is the best seeing how we only use it on long trips (or exteme emergencies)! :)

Summer Goals and objectives

Ahh, summer is such a great time! We fill our days with tons of giggles and wonderful memories, however this summer I had a few MAJOR objectives to accomplish. Outside of trying to grow a healthy and happy family (a lifetime goal) I have also set my mind to the following (all of these are important so they are in no specific order):
1. Get Christian to sleep through the night (albeit that he is the 3rd child, super sweet, and very content...this kid slept longer at night when he was 9 weeks old)
2. Get Carter potty trained. He was closer before Christian was born. In the midst of the chaos of life as a family of 5 I put him back in diapers.. BIG mistake! This goal is not going well. He goes through less diapers in a day but I swear he changes his underpants 12 time due to "ax-wi-dents". How can a mom be mad when he looks so dang cute in his little whitey tighties???
3. Get Ella to give up her trusty bed-time Bear (she's had since birth) and to willingly stop sucking her thumb. Lofty goal -but we can NOT have her sucking her thumb at school.
4. Get this whole 'being a family of five' figured out. Scott and I are officially in zone defense. We are outnumbered by the kids and for the most part it is fun and exciting and CRAZY. Everyday is full of a little chaos. But I think we are getting closer to being more normal--which I have come to appreciate is a very relative term.
5. Enjoy our time with the kids because they are growing up WAY to fast.

Fishing Fun

The kids have really enjoyed fishing up at the lake so I figured I would post some pictures from their exciting adventures. As one can imagine, putting yourself on a narrow dock with two children with flying hooks is definitely ADVENTUROUS! :) To date, we have yet to knock anyONE into the lake, however the container of worms has been swimming a few times. Ella has made tremendous growth since the beginning of the summer. She is my little tomboy. She now puts her own worms on the hook, casts, and reels them in. However, we haven't got her taking the fish off just yet...that's mom's LEAST favorite part. Thankfully, Grandpa and his trusty fishing pliers are never too far! This summer is jam packed with lots of fun. I am so thankful that we can fill our days with these fantastic adventures. Speaking of fun, the kids are starting swimming lessons tomorrow. Ella has her own class she will be going to and Carter & I will be taking the parent/child class together. Look for pictures to come.

Hanging out with my boys

I have had the pleasure of having lots of time with my boys the last two days. Ella has been begging to stay at Grandma's for a "whole week". So we decided to give it a go since she and Carter went home with them last Sunday and then Christian and I drove up on MOnday afternoon. The boys and I left on Wednesday evening (yes, we need another round of 'car seat therapy' with Christian since he cried almost the entire hour home) leaving Ella at the lake. She fills her day with lots of "work" as she calls it. She helps Grandma tend the flowers, pick bouquets and when Grandpa needs her to help in the pole barn or a trip to town she is ready and willing. She has also been swimming like a fish, feeding the fish, going for kayak rides in search of turtles, and many other adventures. She is just soaking up all the one on one attention and spoiling she is getting.

Carter to my delight is eating up our time together. We have had so much quality time doing puzzles, playing airplanes, building with Legos, and playing ball. It is funny how much difference one less child makes...don't get me wrong it can still get chaotic around here but to not be refereeing and putting siblings in time outs for hitting is a HUGE improvement. And talk about a major blessing....Christian and Carter has taken afternoon naps at the same time for the past two days. WOW! I don't know if my house has been that quiet before 10:00pm for some time! So I have been trying to get a few closets/cupboards cleaned out and I am organizing pictures that I just had printed off. I spent 45 minutes at Sam's Club the other day printing off oddles of pictures to get caught up. I only ended up printing from the 1st of March through the 4th of July. For Pete's sake, Christian's only printed picture in the house was his birth announcement and baby parts! Poor third child! So in my spare time I have been trying to get caught up on my scrapbooking. I just finished up October of this year! YEAH! That is a huge accomplishment. This winter I just set up my table in the basement and went to town any chance I had to get me caught up before baby #3 was born. Good thing bc I think I am now going to be behind FOR-EVER! Once school starts I never touch it again until January. I miss documenting so much that way. I have been attempting to write sticky notes with key phrases or memories as I stick them in the sleeves. Just a feeble attempt not to forget all the delightful and precious moments. Carter is saying some pretty remarkable things these days and I find myself scribbling his comments on random scraps of paper or napkins b/c Heaven knows my brain is shot at the end of the day let alone 8 months later when I actually get to the scrapbooking.

For example, today Carter and I were sitting down for a serious session of Lego building and he looks at me with those huge blue eyes looking very stern and in his gruff little voice says, "Mom don't knock this one over....you understand me??" I tried to stop the giggle that came up and then I was laughing hysetically while tears came down my cheek. Oopps, I guess I might be saying that a bit much these days! I just adore Carter. He brings SO much to each day. He is so sweet, loving, cuddly, and attempts to be gently but he can frustrate you quickly by doing something like biting the remaining tops off all three of his markers while I make dinner. When I ask him what he was doing his honest reply, "o-tay mom, I NOT do that a-dain!" He is also in the habit of letting me know how 'f-ust-r-ated' he is when things aren't going his way. He gets this little scowl on his face which is just adorable.

We had a great day today. The boys even tolerated me playing a little dress up. One of our family friends gave the kids shirts saying; Big Sister, Big Brother, and Little Brother. I finally got the boys to be in the shirts and in the same room for a millisecond. The pictures are cute but I need Elle for the total effect. We also got another matching outfit from family and the boys wore them to the library for story time last week. The blue and orange outfits are adorable with matching hats. I also put them in their Twins outfits. In attempt to show a little spirit for Scott's favorite team. Go Minnesota! Carter and Scott were able to have some male bonding time out in the front yard playing catch it was too cute. I should have taken the camera out.

Well I suppose I should go, Scott is reading books to Carter which they both think is great since Ella ALWAYS has to have Dad read to her! Carter is busy soaking up each oppurtunity to have time alone with mom or dad. Ella will be back home tomorrow--we sure are missing her.