Annie 3.5

It't the 30th today, so Miss Annie is getting her first update!

Stats: Annie hasn't been to the doctor in quite a while so I'm not really sure where her stats are. She is around 35-37 lbs. She used to be in the 80th or so percentile for height, not sure if she still is. She is tall and skinny! Her 3T shirts are way too short and her 2T summer shorts still fit!

Health: Annie has been a picture of health from birth.She had croupe at 6 months and a ear infection at 1 year. Other than the pesky pooping problem we dealt with for 18 months, she has required like zero doctors appointments over her 3.5 years.

Eating: Annie LOVES to eat. She will pretty much try anything once. It is not uncommon for her to eat a full dinner, then to snuggle up to daddy and share his.(Brandon eats after us on his working days since he is usually home pretty late). Annie's favorites include cheese( Girl after my heart) and yogurt. She isn't a fan of milk and part of me thinks she still has some trouble digesting it since there always seems to be tummy troubles when she has it. She is a painfully slow eater, but if you sit with her long enough, she will out-eat everyone, including the boys! Meatloaf and mashed potatoes just might be her favorite food, in fact she requested it over pizza for her 3rd birthday party.

Likes: Annie is in love with gymnastics! She has been doing it for almost a year and she is still having a ball. We started dance this spring which has been interesting for her. It is much more disciplined  (at this age) then gymnastics and it has been good for her wild child side.One of the most joyful things about being a parent is watching your kids do something they truly enjoy...especially if it was something you once enjoyed as well! Sometimes I just want to cry watching her at gymnastics or ballet, she is having SO much fun!
Annie is also a big fan of being a big sister to brother Benjamin and mommy to her dollies and jelly cat. She is SUCH a great big sister. She goes and entertains Benjamin every morning after we get up so I can brush my teeth. She hugs him, kisses him and tries to comfort him when he is crabby or sad. She likes to play games with him and LOVES when he gives her kisses. This chick is cut out for mommy hood, let me tell you! She talks to my belly a lot these days and can't wait to meet her new brother or sister( she is INSISTING a sister).

Personality: Brandon and I have tried hard to describe Miss Annie's personality to people over the last couple of years. We came up with tumbleweed of cuteness  She doesn't walk anywhere, she runs usually screaming lyrics to some song along the way. She has the biggest heart you will ever come across and loves to be snuggled. She is, however, VERY mischievous . I can foresee her getting into trouble in high school!She will be that kid pulling innocent, funny yet still not supposed to do pranks. She isn't mean out of anger or spite, she just likes to cause a ruckus  We are soooo going to have our hands full as this one grows up!

When she grows up: Annie for a long time now, has told us she wants to be a mommy and a race car....not a race car driver but the actual car. Not sure how that is going to work but hey, it's her dream. Tonight she found out that there are female police officers and now she is set on growing up and being a police officer like daddy. I'm not sure I could handle a daughter and a husband police officer but girl does idolize her daddy so it just might happen.

Picking Sides

I really think that there are very few things in life where one truly does not care about the outcome when presented with two options. Thinks like where to eat, when do go somewhere, what show to watch etc, we say " I don't care" a lot, but we usually have a tiny preference somewhere inside. If this is the way we feel about small, insignificant things, it makes perfect sense that most people have a preference on which gender child they want. It is after all, a pretty big deal.
 For example:
Baby # 1 wanted  girl, got boy, I was thrilled
Baby #2 wanted boy, got girl, I was thrilled
Baby # 3 wanted girl, got boy, I was thrilled

My first born I wanted to be a girl for selfish reasons, dressing up, clothes etc. Once I held Elias in my arms I couldn't imagine anything other than the perfect little boy I was holding. When I found out I was pregnant with # 2 I so badly wanted a boy. #1, #2 were going to be so close in age I just really wanted them to have what Jordan and Brandon had, to be best buds. When I held baby girl Annie in my arms, my heart melted and I instantly began dreaming of all the fun mother-daughter things we would soon do. Baby # 3 I really wanted another little girl..dang it I just wanted back to back genders once! My little Benjamin came out and has been my little angle boy ever since. I am so grateful for the babies God has given me and I can't imagine life any other way...BUT that doesn't me I still don't have a teeny tiny preference each time.

So...that brings me to this baby.
We didn't  find out the gender but I just know its a girl...I just know it. I will love that little girl like no tomorrow but seriously...SERIOUSLY I really , really ,really just want back to back genders one of these days. I don't know why, I really don't, but I just would like to have two in a row of the same sex. So needless to say I am slightly hoping to hear "it's a boy!" In July but I will be just as happy when I bring home a little pink bundle...there is always #5 to try for back to back genders right:)

Elias Jerome 5 Years!!

It is a weird thing, your oldest turning another year older. I get very sad that my "baby" is growing up so quickly and turning into a little man. I don't feel this way with Annie or Benjamin, just with my Mr. Elias. Yesterday I was telling him about how he was born 5 years ago and we wrapped him up in a blanket and came home to snuggle him. He asked where Annie and Benjamin were and I told him they weren't born yet, it was just Elias, Mommy and Daddy. It made me very nostalgic. There is nothing more life changing then bringing that first baby home, that is the baby where everything changes. You go from a twosome to a family. Each baby is a wonderful blessing and a welcome addition to the family, but its a little different bringing #2,3,4 etc home compared to bringing #1 home. It is because of this, I get a little sentimental each year when Elias turns another year older. I cling on each day to any babyhood he may have left, each time he wants to snuggle with me, each kiss and hug he showers me with, I cherish it because it could be the last( willing) one I get! I will do a big post on his wonderful day we had today but for now here is a little update on my boy along with some oldie but goodie pictures!

Stats: After having tonsils out and a 2nd set of PE tubes in last summer, Elias has finally soared about 40 lbs and is weighing in at around 42! I am not sure how tall he is but at his last appointment he was above the 90th percentile again. He is already outgrown 5T clothes and has to wear the first "big kid " size, a 5/6 or small. He is my tall skinny boy for sure!

Health: He has had 3 surgeries in his short 5 year; PE tubes at 10 months, a hydro-selectomy at 3 years and another set of PE tubes and tonsils out at 4 years. Other than that, he has been a pretty healthy kid. When he started preschool, he has quite a few colds, but his body now seems accustomed to the germs and we have very few colds now. He is no longer wearing AFO, or leg braces. He has downgraded to wearing just the bottom portion that stays in his shoes. I can't remember what they are officially called but we call them heel cups. His misses the familiarity of his braces but likes the new freedom these new devices allow.

School: Elias is in his second year of preschool special needs. He is doing SO amazing! His speech has improved leaps and bounds as has his tolerance for all things sensory related. Words will never be able to express how much help those ladies at Century school have been to our family, but at the end of the year I will sure try! He is going to do a month of introduction to kindergarten this summer so that should be a fun time!

Obsessions: He still loves his trains, that is for sure! The other day I made a comment to Brandon about how Elias never plays with them any more and he spend the next week building tracks and playing with  Elias, so now, Elias is once again OBSESSED! Elias is really into Legos as well. He loves building the actual design or just using his imagination. He is wonderful at imaginative play so its pretty fun to sit back and watch.

Other tidbits: Elias is very curious. He likes to know how everything works and loves technology. He mastered our smart phones before we did.  He knows how to go on the computer, type in our pass word and navigate to one of the pre-approved websites he can be on. He is into spelling lately,  wants to know the letters for everything( those who know me, know this presents a problem for me since...I can't spell!) I still gets obsessive over things and can get lost in the same activity for several hours if you let him ( hello trains). Elias is a great big brother, although he doesn't share Annie's passion for helping out with baby brother/sister. He will get diapers, wipes, clothes etc when asked but he is much happier doing big boy tasks like taking out garbage.

Well, I think that gets us up to date on Mr. Elias!! Birthday festivities post coming soon

Where is Benjamin?

Do you guys remember that point in your life where you started to be "not as little as you used to be?" Maybe it was after high school, or your wedding, or after that first baby, but we have all been there. You squeeze into those size __  jeans just one more time, in denial that you are in fact getting bigger. Some people never recover and live out their days in clothes that don't fit because they refuse to except the fact that they are changing sizes. I am afraid my Mr. Benjamin is in this group of people.

  When he was a baby we liked to put in him small places because it was cute and well, he fit! The stroller, buckets, dressers etc. I fear he has realized he is growing up and wanting those baby days back. Perhaps, he knows there will soon be a new little one to shove in small spaces and take pictures of..who knows. Lately I have caught him in every small space he can think of..just happy as a lark. He is one sill kid! Enjoy the pictures of my( not so) little Benjamin.

Snow Day

Monday's date was March 18th.....we had a snow day. That's right, a SNOW DAY. We got several inches of snow, the temperatures dropped below zero and we had 35 mph winds. Schools in about a 90 mile path were closed. Businesses  restaurants  everything closed, the town shut down...on March 18th!!!!! Sometimes I wonder why the heck the I live here!

 Anyways, we were snowed in! Daddy had the day off so that made it even more fun. 

We started off our day by cleaning the house and doing absurd amounts of laundry. The kids are at the point where they love to help out and they actually do a pretty good job, so we welcomed the help. After a couple hours the house was cleaned and we were ready to get down to some serious playing! 

Daddy built Elias a huge track with the intentions of playing trains with his boy. As soon as the track was built,Elias looked at Brandon and said "Daddy, you can have a tea set with Annie, I will play with my tracks" Poor Brandon just got used for his track construction skills. So, Brandon left Elias to his trains and went to have a tea set with the younger two. They had a ball! 

Benjamin and Annie took turns pouring the tea and stirring their pretend soup. Benjamin got a little bored and decided to take a ride on the Mickey plane while Annie finished tea time. The kids had such a fun morning! 

After nap, it was time for one of their favorite games...Disney Scene it! They LOVE this game. Benjamin jumps up and down when the menu screen comes on and all three kids have way too much fun running back and forth to daddy getting high fives and doing celebratory dances for right answers. We played for about a half hour before we called it quits for snacks and house destroying time.

Earlier in the day, we had promised the kids they could watch Rise of the Guardians  (we are into that movie right now, can you tell) so in the late afternoon we turned on the TV. Brandon and I decided that since we went out to eat the last time we had a blizzard we might as well make it a tradition. Grandma Mim came over to watch the kids while we headed out to eat at Paradiso! Paradiso ended up being closed due to weather, so we settled for Qdoba. We returned home to put the kids to bed and relax with a couple episodes of West Wing. 

All in all, it was a fun relaxing day with my family! No errands to run, no meetings, e-mailing, work...no anything!Sometimes its a wonderful feeling to be forced in to stay in your house, just you and your family. 

 CHEESE, silly Benny mart

 Tea Time with daddy!

 Benjamin being a proper gentleman during tea time.

 Elias and his train track. He seriously played in there for a couple of hours before we pried him out.

Finding the difference in the pictures while playing Disney Scene it!

 Snack time! He had a mouth full of string cheese, was giggling while climbing in the laundry and tried to say CHEESE all at the same time...I love this kid

Intensely watching Rise of the Guardians while enjoying a snack. I love snow days, just not in March!

Mini Van Mom

Have you ever seen those Mini-van commercials where the mom has three perfect kids driving around town in a mini van? All of the children are in stereotypical activities,a girl in a tutu, and a couple of boys that play either soccer, basketball, hockey etc. The  minivan, of course accommodates all of their various equipment and seating needs, all while a beautiful and very put together mom is driving...you know, those commercials..Today, I felt like that family, like that mom.This was our day

We woke up ate breakfast and headed out the door. Benjamin went to hang out with my mom while the kids and I headed to the gym. A few miles walked,and back in the mini van we went.

Took off all that winter gear, ate a quick snack and back in the minivan we go. I, the beautiful and very put together mother, took all three of my little ones to open gym at the gymnastics center. The kids did great,had a blast and listened very well when it was time to leave.

We headed home, ate a quick lunch then it was time for the kids to go down for a nap while I ran up to Elias' school for a meeting with his teachers. ( The kids were being watched by Uncle Jordan. They must have known it because no one slept very well.)

After my meeting, it was time to put my little princess in her tutu and get her ready for ballet class. Once again we all loaded up in the van and headed to my parents to drop off the boys. Annie had a wonderful ballet class and we ended up back at my parents where we spent the evening without daddy (he had a personal training session).

We loaded up in that trusty van of ours one last time and headed home. Exhausted, but too early for bed, we all settled in to watch rise of the guardians. I am tired sitting here re-thinking about our day..phew I think I finally have this mini van mom thing figured out, what do you think?

ps I am in no hurry do have a day like today again. Tomorrow other than the gym and Elias going to school, we will have a low key day!

My Bucket List

Until the movie came out, I never knew what a bucket list was. Apparently you make a list of all the things you want to do in your lifetime and hopefully cross them all off before you die. I never did see the movie since I heard one of the two guys die( I only like HAPPY endings) but after my recent brush with death, I thought about what I would put on mine. 

I thought, and thought and though some more..........

nothing.

I couldn't think of a single thing I would really want to do if I knew I was dying, even if I had the money to do anything.

 Then,finally, one idea came to me!!!

I would take my family back to Disney world while the kids were still little.

I told Brandon and he said "Let's do it!" 

We were a bit spoiled the first time around having expert tour guides in the form of my parents and sister. We stayed at a wonderful resort( thanks to their Disney vacation points) and had discounted tickets( thanks to my mom and dad's military status). We wouldn't want to do it any other way the second time around so it is going to take us awhile to save up enough money for 6 people for a week at Disney. We have set a goal for late October early November 2015. Let the saving begin! 

In the meantime, I am going to reminisce how awesome our trip was the first time around.

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

and finally

Here

Monster Trucks

A couple days ago, my dad called to ask if Brandon and Elias wanted to go to the monster truck show with him and Gavin. Much to my surprise  Brandon seemed very excited about it. I have never heard Brandon talk about monster trucks, nor is it something that Elias is into so I didn't think it would be for them. As Brandon put it, what guys (of any age) doesn't like a 25 foot tall robot that breathes fire and crushes cars...good point.

Anyways, Saturday night the boys were off! Kellie had bought the kids all noise reducing headphones a couple of Christmas' ago, and they were PERFECT for this event. Brandon said they hooked up a golf cart to a jet engine, wonder if that was loud!

The boys were gone a few hours and all went well. Elias enjoyed the show, ate dipin dots and lots of popcorn. He did start complaining about  being tired at halftime, so worlds best papa gave him diet coke...thanks dad! Well it did the trick because he came home wide awake and didn't get to bed until almost 10:30! I was glad that Elias and his daddy got to enjoy some guy time with Papa and Gavin, the down side is unfortunately, I am afraid he now has a new interest... monster trucks!

 All ready to go, Brandon looks thrilled and ELias looks like he is about to go get his drink on......

 ooooo so exciting

 CHEESE, glad to have noise reducing headphones, Thanks Kellie!

 Robot, car, fire thing....

 fire...thing...Elias sure like it

Cousins! ( Apparently kids and adults liked the show, my dad seems to be enjoying it!)

New Ride

As some of you may recall, in 2010 we became a mini van family, when we purchased this ! At the time we were not in a position to afford my dream van, the highly praised Honda Odyssey so we found something that worked for us , hoping and dreaming of the day when we could upgrade. Don't get me wrong, our tan van was great but after almost dying I had a slight nervous breakdown and felt like we could have a safer main vehicle for our family...you know, for all that driving we do.

-Side track-

The average mileage on a car per year is anywhere from 10,000-14,000 miles. In the 2 years and 7 months we have had our van, we put about 9,800 miles on it....so my desire to have a less loved main vehicle is totally founded....but I almost died so we are running with it.

Anyways, we were in the market for a new vehicle. We had about 1,000,000 options( or 5) but we couldn't figure out what we wanted to do. After almost a week of debate, we decided to get me a new van and have Brandon drive around the old van. This way, we both have a vehicle we can transport all the kids in.

We went all out and got a 2013 Honda Odyssey! I haven't gotten to take a picture of ours but it looks like this:

I love driving it for several reasons, the main being the new car smell....ahhhhhh, I love it! The more important question is, how do the kids like it?

They LOVE it!

The van has a 3rd row of seats but they are folded down until the new baby comes. Makes it easier for me to get the kids in and out plus there is plenty of room in the second row!

 I look forward to bringing baby # 4 home in yet a different car then the rest!( Elias came home in the G6, Annie in the Malibu, Benj in the tan van and Baby 4 in this car).

Field Trip

As small as our library is, I actually really enjoy taking the kids there. When I was pregnant with Benjamin, and Elias was in morning preschool, Annie and I frequented the toddler story time. We both enjoyed it and it was a wonderful(free) way to get out of the house. 

There is a  play area that the kids don't have to be silent in and of course a crap ton of books! Brandon and I are usually pretty busy on his days off and after work is just too late BUT I finally made it there last week with the help of Kellie and Andrew. 

We were there for about a hour. The kids played, picked out books, rented a couple DVD's and had a great time. I love free fun!

 How crazy is this! We got to the library, and the magnetic chalk board read" Elias wished he was 5" My Elias turns 5 at the end of the month, and it't not a particularly popular name..crazy!

 Benjamin playing with the big ole bin of blocks, these things were pretty cool

 Annie and Elias reading their books in the fire truck..I took this mainly for Brandon. He is slightly bitter that fire fighters get all the glory and poor police get left out.

Benj still wasn't feeling the best and crashed on Kellie a little while after we got home, poor kid! 

Benjamin 14 months

So I have decided to do  a monthly update post on my kids each month. Benjamin's will be on the 4th, Annie the 30th and Elias the 26th of each month. I do a lot of posts about the three of them together but not so much individual. Anyways, here is what my little Benny Mart is up to these days:

Talking!! This kid has so many words! I don't remember either one of the other kids being this verbal at this age. A few of his words; bye-bye, bath, sock, all done, up, open, Ma-Ma, Da-Da, cookie, cracker, water, Happy Day, Today I had him repeating all sorts of words to see which ones he could do. He says Annie, Jordan, Kellie and Grandma all in his own way but it is a definite attempt to imitate the word. I have a pretty cute video I will have to get uploaded on here.

Moving: He is ALL over the place! One of his favorite places to be is on the kitchen table or up in Elias' top bunk. There is no surface in this house he can't get to. He is a little monkey! He walks, runs and does a mean one foot stomping dance, pretty cute! He loves jumping on his daddy and has recently been included in the big kids jumping games they play with daddy.

Knowledge: He is only 14 months old so we aren't really working on the whole color, shape letters bit BUT I did discover today that he knows the 4 major face parts!! Must be from his favorite elmo book that we read ALL.THE.TIME. He can point to his eyes, swat at his ears, stick his finger up his nose and growls ahhhhh when asked about each part.

Eating: This kid is a true Eberhardt! He is getting over a couple week stint of being sick where he didn't eat too much sooo that could account for the recent drastic increase in appetite  This kid the last two days has out eaten not only his brother and sister but me at a couple of meals!! He walks around the living room after each meal with a belly so full its out of control. He then proceeds to burp and fart nonstop until his little tummy can get a handle on what he just shoved in it. EBERHARDT this one is.

Stats: He weighs right around 22lbs which is actually right around 50%. He is in the 50% for height as well. I think he is going to be a short Eberhardt unlike his brother and sister. He is in 18 month clothes but they are pretty big around his waist if he happens to wear disposable.


New Tricks: Throwing temper tantrums!! While this should bother me, I happen to think its pretty cute still. If I take him off the table or down from Elias' bed he will swat at my face then immediately regret it and bury his little head in my shoulder. He one time picked up my phone and threw it at me because I wouldn't let him watch a show on it, then of course I got lots of snuggles. He frequently will throw his arms up making it impossible to pick him up or throw himself back in a over dramatic reaction. It only happens when I do something obvious that he doesn't want( like take him off the table) so I am not too worried about it, and, as I said..its just so over the top dramatic, its cute

Date in a Blizzard

Now that the woes of last week are wearing off, onto a happier post. This was actually before the accident but I postponed it....now you couldn't pay me to go out in a blizzard for dinner!


Last week we had a pretty bad storm blow through. We had a moderate amount of snowfall but lots and lots of wind. Wind+snowfall+wide open prairie=blizzard. School was cancelled and GFPD issued a stay inside warning! Brandon was helping to rescue stranded drivers all morning! 

Can you see all the snow? There was about a couple feet of snow piled and drifted up from all the wind blowing it around

I kept joking about how I was pregnant and there was a blizzard so I should make him go get me something. Well have you every tried to really really think about something you are craving? You start craving everything you can think of! Before I knew it, I had convinced my mother in law to come watch the kids and my husband to take m out to dinner. In our defense, the weather had improved to the point of being able to see where we were driving, so that was a bonus right?

 Headed to eat...who's ready?

This picture doesn't do much justice to the road conditions,other than to point out that we are facing, probably the busiest road in town...zero people eon it....zero. The mall is in front of us...zero people there.

Anyways, We headed to ground round because it was 1. close and 2. had a yummy desert that I adore. We went all out! Ordered appetizers  meals, sodas AND dessert..yum. I mean, if you are going to go out in a blizzard it best be worth it!

 I ordered a burger...my first one in over 17 years. It came with a 1/4 lb patty so it was nice and thin. I had a few bites, while I enjoyed them, I am just not ready for a hunk of meat yet.

I WAS ready for this though! Fried cheesecake is a raspberry sauce. YUM!