Keeping Up With the Joneses

Always where he shouldn't be! McKay's 12-month check-up got rescheduled by the doctor 2 times, and finally last week we got in. He is a very healthy boy, and by far my biggest baby. He weighs 22 lbs which is the 50th percentile! I don't think any of my other boys have been above the 3rd percentile at 1 year, and they always take until almost 18 months to hit 20 lbs! I don't know what the difference is, but it is nice having a baby that I don't worry about gaining weight as much. He is 31 inches long, which is the 65th percentile for height! And his head is 18 inches, which is the 53rd percentile. He is walking, repeating the words we say, and sleeping really well. He is a happy boy and it is fun seeing his personality develop. My guess is he will be a clown and pretty stubborn. His very favorite thing to do is to play in the toilet water, and with 3 older boys that don't always flush and don't shut the bathroom doors after, we have to watch McKay prett...

We went to Delta for Thanksgiving and had a great time with Marshall's parents, Eric and his kids, Nicole and William, and Candi. Marshall's dad bought a few of these little gas-powered motorbikes and Mason had a great time riding it around their back yard.  Marshall had to take a turn too.  At dinner, Deb has these little pumpkins filled with "Thankful Mix" and  told the kids that for every bite they took, they had to say something they were thankful for. Well, Max took this very seriously and was at the table long after everyone else had left, trying to think of more things he was grateful for.  Max had been looking forward to Thanksgiving Dinner for weeks! The table setting for dinner. Deb embroidered these beautiful napkins and the table was beautiful. 

We decorated for Christmas last week and here are some highlights from my favorite time of year! I have wanted the Little People Nativity set since Mason was born, but just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on a kid's toy. When Deb was over the other day, she noticed how much my kids enjoyed playing with their little people sets and when I got home from Delta yesterday there was a huge box in my trunk with about 10 Little People Christmas sets! Deb has been collecting them for years and gave them to me! We went out and bought this shelf thing (which will go in Myles' room after Christmas for his Lego sets) and I felt like it was Christmas morning as I opened up all my--ahem--the kids' new toys! The ones on the top are not just the Little People Nativity, but also the Little Drummer Boy, Inn, and Shepherd add-ons! I can't wait for the kids to discover them.  We set up three Christmas trees and McKay is fascinated.  I think that just the t...

Max is loving Kindergarten and thriving in it. All of a sudden things are starting to click for him. Every kid gets to be the "star of the week" and next week is Max's turn. They send home a star to decorate  use to tell the class about your family, and then I get to go on Thursday and read the class a story. I could tell from some other students' stars that some of them were made by the parents instead of the kids, even though the instructions say for the kids to do it, so I made a huge effort to let him do almost all of it himself (I drew the straight lines and some letters for him to trace). He made a point of the start for each kid in the family and the fifth for "mom and dad." We glued a picture of each person and then he cut pictures out of some magazines that represent what each person likes. I was a little worried that for me he chose a picture of an iphone and the target logo :) Max has always had a terrible time at the dentist. If you remem...

Myles has been especially cute lately and I wanted to make sure to document it. He has decided that when he grow up he is going "get a wife from Mexico" so that she can make him bean and cheese chalupas, and she will have to speak Chinese or English because he won't have time to teach her. Then they will move to Africa where he will be a lion trainer/Myles-Fu teacher (his own style of Kung-Fu)/Scientist. At night he will make inventions (the first of which will eliminate the need for sleep), and his wife won't have a job because she is going to sell his inventions and he will give her half the money. When I asked him what would happen if she wanted to be a teacher or do something else, he said that he would divorce her and fly to Mexico to get a different wife. Phew! He is also doing really well in school and is a pleasure to be around. We switched his ADHD medication and it has made such a wonderful difference. He is totally himself, just without the huge melt-down...

My sweet little Babycakes turned 1 yesterday! We had a great party. Because it was a weeknight and kids had school the next day, I didn't want to go all-out. We just had pizza, a vegetable tray, and cake, and had Jessica Edwards' family, Eric Jones' family, Candi, Hannah, Ari, and a few of the kids' friends. There were 15 kids and 8 adults.  On the kids' birthdays I like to write a few things about them, so feel free to skip this part if you aren't interested. McKay was such an after-thought for us and such a happy addition to our family. After not having a baby for a number of years, we have thoroughly enjoyed every stage he has passed through over the last year. For the first few months of his life, I slept in the recliner holding him every night because I just didn't want to miss the tiny baby moments. As he has grown he has developed a little mischievous, clown-like personality. He feels like he is just one of the boys and is constantly playing...

Once again, we had a great Halloween. I have to say, Halloween has always been my LEAST favorite holiday. I hate scary things, and when I was single, my introverted self hated the pressure to find a cool costume and go out to a dance or something, when I really just wanted to stay home and read. But it is a lot more fun with kids and I love their energy around the holiday. Here are some pictures with explanations in the captions. Getting ready to go Trick or Treating. Mason was Laval from Lego Legends of Chima, Myles was Craggor from Lego Legends of Chima, Max was Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and McKay was a monkey this time (it was warmer than the lion costume). McKay lasted about 5 houses before he fell asleep in Marshall's arms, and then the kids went out for a few more blocks while I stayed home and handed out candy.  I posted this on Facebook--this is each boy on their first Halloween (okay, it was Max's second). Can you guess who is who? Answer: Max,...