Summer

I guess I've been busy enjoying the summer and have once again neglected this blog. I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left till school starts. Wow, it's gone by fast. Let me see if I can recap the highlights.

Baseball season ended for both the boys and lasted a little longer than usual for Riley. His team competed in the Grand Slam World Series of Baseball in Panama City, FL. Although his team didn't fair too well in the tournament, they played their best and held their own against some very competitive teams. We made the most of the week enjoying the beach and some downtime together away from home.

The beach time was great. Megan was not a huge fan of the sun and sand, but she took to the shady area near the pool pretty well. As the week progressed, we worked out our routine. I'd head to the beach with the boys while Lance stayed with a napping Megan. He'd call when she wake and we'd all meet at the pool. The boys loved the ocean, especially Riley. The water was clear, so he was always wearing his goggles and carrying his net trying to catch something. He loved jumping the waves too. Owen was quite proud of himself for venturing out to the nearby sandbar and going to the 'deep' part too (up to his chest). The week went by way too fast, but we had a lot of fun.

This week the boys are camping in Parrott with Nanny and PawPaw, Kaitlyn, Jacob and Ethan. No doubt they'll have tons of fun but I don't envy the heat or the nats they'll be living with this week. Lance and I are enjoying a quiet week at home with our sweet Meg. It's nice to have some one on one time with her, something that is not so easy to come by with baby number three.

She's now 4.5 months old and doing great. She's been a wonderful sleeping baby for a couple months now. Last night I layed her down about 9pm and she didn't wake this morning till about 9:45am! My boys were never such great sleepers, she's spoiling me! At her 4 month check up she was up to 12 pounds and 5 ounces and already 24" long. She's on the small side for her age (I have no idea where those genes came from!) and she is happy and healthy and full of smiles. She's the perfect kaboose to our family of five.

I can't believe my Owen will be heading to Kindergarten in a couple weeks and Riley to 3rd grade. Kaitlyn said to me last night, "Riley will be in middle school soon." Whoa! Slow down! Not so fast! Somehow I don't think of 3rd grade as 'almost middle school'. But I guess 3 years is really not that far away.

We'll savor these next 2 weeks, but I know they will slip away all too fast and we'll be back into the hectic schedules of school, homework and soon football season.

Graduate

Owen is going to be a big man on the elementary school campus next year as a Kindergartner. He graduated from preschool a couple weeks ago and was so proud. It was a cute ceremony complete with caps and gowns. He has had so much fun at preschool this year and done well at making friends. With him being my less-social kid, I wasn’t sure how he’d do but he’s jumped right in and had a lot of fun this year. He loves his teacher dearly and is sad to leave Mrs. Emily. We wish she could come to Kindergarten with him, but know that can’t happen. We’d be thrilled if he could get into the same class Riley was in for Kindergarten, but we’ll see. We have no say on that matter, so we’ll just pray for the right teacher for Owen.




Summer is here but it’s already slipping by way too fast. I can’t believe we’re already 1.5 weeks into it and they only get 8 weeks total. We are looking forward to our Panama City Beach trip the end of this month for a vacation and a baseball tournament with Riley’s team. We are looking forward to the sun, water and some family time together.

Eight

The 24th was Riley's 8th birthday. We celebrated lots over memorial day weekend. Somehow he managed to get a birthday weekend rather than just one day. It was a lot of fun though, for him and us. This birthday brought a first at our house. Riley talked me into hosting a spend-the-night party for him and 4 of his best friends. Except for his cousin, Tyler, all the boys that came were in Kindergarden together. It's cool how 3 of them are now in 2nd grade together and have remained good friends. They were boys and we had to tell them to settle down a time or two, but really they were pretty good. After the movie, they went to Riley's room to sleep on his floor and Lance and I went to bed too. Not sure how late they really stayed up, the next morning they claimed it was 'very' late. I woke up at 4am with Megan and they were all passed out in different spots around the room with the t.v. still on.

The boys all went home about 10am Saturday morning and our family came over at 1pm to celebrate and have lunch with us. More partying, more presents. Riley was eating it all up.

This was the first year when Riley asked for money rather than gifts. I was a little skeptical, thinking he'd miss having gifts to open. He did get a few from his friends but all the family gave him cards with cash. All that cash could only mean one thing for Sunday after church......a shopping trip.

We stopped at several spots before ending up at Target where he spent most of his money. The big purchase of the day was a video/game chair. It's sort of like the video-rockers but with speakers built in behind where your head rests. It'll take an audio feed from your t.v., iPod, DVD player or in Riley's case, his XBox. Besides the chair he bought lots of baseball cards, a nerf gun, a water gun and several Star Wars action figures.

My baby boy is 8 years old. I can't believe he'll be heading to 3rd grade next year. He's grown up so fast! His latest fascination is baseball. After attending a Braves game last week and having the opportunity to play with a great team this season, he is really loving the game. He loves to watch the pro games on t.v. and is really excited about his own games with his team. He loves to play catch in the yard and is always begging for trips to the batting cages. He is excited to be heading to play in a World Series tournament in Panama City this summer. The big time.

I love you, Riley! Happy Birthday big boy!

2 Months

I can't believe she's already 2 months old. She went Friday for her check-up. She now weighs 10 lbs 8 oz and is 22 inches long. She was 7 lbs 5 oz at birth and 20 inches long. She is growing, but definately much slower than her brothers did at this age.

I laid her in the laundry basket this morning to get a picture, I have a similar one of Owen and Riley at this age. When I came back with the camera, this is what I found. Sound asleep! I guess warm laundry is pretty soothing and a nice place for a nap.

Owen-isms

O - “Mom, babies talk a whole lot, don’t they?”
Mom - “Talk? You think they talk a lot?”
O - “Yeah. And they just keep talking and talking and talking and then they cry because nobody knows what they’re saying. Because we don’t talk baby talk. Right, Mom?”

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O – “Mom, which one is faster, God or cars?”

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O – “I sure am glad Riley’s a Christian now, aren’t you Mom? Aren’t you glad Riley has Jesus in his heart now?”

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This is from my Mother’s Day card Owen gave me at the Mother’s Day tea at his school yesterday. His teacher asked each of the kids why they loved their Mom and wrote their answers in our cards. Here are Owen’s answers:

I love my Mom because……she is my Mom.
I love my Mom because……she always looks nice and pretty.
My Mom’s favorite thing to do is……..be with my baby sister, Megan.

My Cup Runneth Over

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog. Sorry. Life is very good, just very busy and I’ve let this blog take the backseat lately. Baseball is in full swing for both boys, so that adds the chaotic schedule in our home. We enjoy it though and the boys are doing so well this year in ball. Riley’s league especially has become so much fun to watch as the boys are now turning double plays and hitting the ball over the fence on occasion. It’s cool to see how far they’ve come, from playing in the dirt (which they still do on occasion) and fighting over the ball in the outfield to where they are this year.

Baseball was on hold for Spring break and that week also coincided with my last week of maternity leave. I was glad to have the full week to spend with them and Baby Girl. We spent most of the week camping in Parrott with PawPaw and Nanny. The first part of the week was pretty cool and very windy, but by Thursday and Friday it was sunny and warm. We had a lot of fun riding through the woods on the 4-wheelers. We all enjoyed introducing Megan to camping and the woods. She did a lot of sleeping while we were there and it was sweet to watch her be mesmerized by the campfire at night.

Coloring Eggs While Camping

Looking for Lizards

We returned from camping on Friday and prepared for a full day on Easter with our families. The kids woke up to their treats from the Easter Bunny. The boys each got a movie and of course lots of candy. Megan’s basket had a rubber duck, rattle and a shorts outfit. After church we headed to visit both sets of grandparents and do the traditional Easter egg hunts. Riley, Owen, Jacob and Ethan (we missed you Zach and Kait!) had fun running through Nanny’s yard and finding all the hidden eggs. And of course we had a great meal of ham with all the fixin’s from Nanny. We left there and headed to the GG’s house to do another egg hunt and eat some more ham. Needless to say, by the end of the day our bellies were full and the baskets were overflowing. Coincidently, Riley is learning the 23rd Psalm for Awana. He’s learning it verse by verse and then at the end he’ll have to put it all together. I was explaining to him about what it meant by ‘my cup runneth over’ as he was memorizing that portion last week. No doubt our cups do run over and our blessings are abundant in more ways than one!

Our Pretty Girl on Easter

All 3 on Easter Morning

The Helton Grands
(minus Nathan who was napping and Zach and Kait)

PawPaw and Megan

The Boys at the GG's

The Foster Great-Grands

Returning to work has gone well. I’ve been back for 2 weeks now and it really couldn’t have gone smoother. Megan is taking a bottle easily and I’ve been successful at pumping plenty of milk for her in my absence. Of course I miss her, but knowing she’s at home with her Daddy and in great care has made the transition easier. I also am able to telecommute from home each Wednesday, so having that middle of the week day with her makes it much more doable as well.

This past Sunday was another awesome example of our overflowing cups. Riley was baptized Sunday morning and we had Megan dedicated in the same service. All of our family was able to attend and what an awesome day. I can’t help but get teary whenever I see anyone baptized, so it was even more special to watch my eldest son take the plunge. We tried to reiterate all week what he was doing and make sure he really understood. He was excited and I believe he really understood the significance of his baptism. Funny, as we walked into the changing room before the baptism and were met by a gentleman who had Riley’s robe ready for him to put on Riley turned towards me and said under his breath, “I ain’t wearing that, Mom!” He didn’t put up much of a fight though and everything went well.

Megan’s dedication was also very sweet. The pastor had all five of us come up on stage and then had our family (all 23 of them) stand in the congregation. He asked each of them to agree in helping us to raise Megan in a Christian home and pray that one day she too would make the decision her oldest brother had demonstrated that same day.

Our cups are overflowing! I pray yours are as well!

Spring Fever

I don't know about your house, but at our house Spring Fever is in running rampant. What a beautiful weekend! We spent most of it outside and it was so nice.

Saturday Lance headed to a shooting range with his brother while the kids and I took off to the park for the day. It was a georgous afternoon which meant that everyone else was at the park too. That's OK, it meant they boys had plenty of kids to play with. They even ran into 3 of their Awana buddies at the playground. Megan enjoyed our walk around the nature trail. Riley pushed her in her stroller most of the way. Owen took a short turn at it and I pushed her the rest of the way. We left the park and went by Chick-fil-A on the way home to redeem the boys milkshake coupons they'd won Wednesday night at the Awana Grand Prix with their pinewood derby cars.

Sunday, Riley and I went for the second hour of church while Lance hung back with Megan and Owen at home. I think we'll be ready to introduce Megan at church next Sunday. We've been waiting for her to get a few weeks age on her before we bring her with us. Riley on the other hand has been growing impatient with not attending. So this week, I had promised to get him there and I did.

After church and lunch at home, we were outside most of the afternoon. Lance mowed the lawn and sprayed roundup on the poison ivy starting to grow. Riley, Owen and I fished for a short while (no bites) with the 4 crickets Riley and Lance found earlier. The boys split the rest of the afternoon in the sandbox, on the trampoline, playing with action figures on the deck and shooing their paintball gun at a tree stump target. Megan split her time between my arms and her crib. She had a nice long nap during most of our outdoor time.

I'm getting comfortable with this stay-at-home-Mom role. It's hard to believe I only have 3 weeks left of my maternity leave. It's going by way too fast!