Last week we spent time up north with Jake’s family. Little #4 had a hard time napping during the day (unless it was in someone’s arms) and sleeping at night unless it was next to me. We all had a hunch she was teething.
Sure enough, tooth #1 on the bottom has popped through!
(Edited to add that tooth #2 followed a few days after this post.)
This afternoon I was sitting in the living room with Little Miss and talking on the phone with my friend, Sarah. Meanwhile, the boys were sitting at the dining room table coloring “hidden pictures” pages with markers. Sounds innocent enough, right? I mean, I was in the adjoining room and could see their heads over the back of the love seat. Unfortunately, it blocked my full view of them. If only I had known they were not only coloring hidden pictures, but were using their own bodies as canvases.
Check out the detail on Nolan’s feet!
For the record, I waited to take photos of them because I couldn’t let on that what they had done was absolutely hilarious! While they were technically using markers labeled “washable,” this particular set is hardly that. I ended up Googling “remove marker from skin” and found a suggestion for rubbing alcohol. That, combined with a super bubbly bath, seems to have done the trick. Of course all of this happened while I was single-parenting tonight. Jake missed out on all of the fun!
My mom took the boys for the day so I could get a few things done around the house – like putting my furniture back in order after our new front window was installed last Friday. While they were there, they captured a mouse (or shrew) that had somehow gotten into the house. Nolan saw it first. It wasn’t until the little thing scurried out from the corner and down the steps, that my mom caught a glimpse of it too. The rodent managed to find its way to the “fort” room under the stairs and was essentially trapped. The boys danced around in the doorway and sang “No, mouse, no!” to keep it from getting out of the room until my mom came back with a butterfly net to catch it. They released the frightened animal in the backyard and had quite a story to tell Papa (my dad) and Uncle Tony when they had dinner together that night.
While Nolan was re-telling their adventures from the day, he got to the part about the mouse/shrew going downstairs and how apparently “There’s just all this crap along the wall” down there. At that point, my brother just about lost it. Not only did Nolan use the 4-letter word correctly in context, but he said it so nonchalantly that my mom had to ask my brother if he said what she thought he had said.
Unfortunately, I’m to blame for letting that one slip around the kids. A few too many toys pushed me to the brink a while back and I uttered a phrase similar to the one Nolan used. Guess he filed it away for a time such as tonight. At least he was with family 🙂
After putting the boys to bed tonight, Jake and I were talking in our room while I was feeding Ingrid. At one point, he looked across the hall and saw the light on in the boys’ room. Opening the door, he saw Nolan in bed with a Dr. Seuss book. (Thankfully, Lincoln was out to the world.)
Jake: “Nolan, what are you doing?”
Nolan: “I’m reading to relax, like Mommy does.”
Oh what that child observes and retains.
The boys frequently ask me to sing to them before they go to bed. Starting this past summer, they have requested a “lug-a-bye” (spelled phonetically) in which I recap the days events to the tune of “Lullaby, and Good Night.” I have to admit, it’s one of my favorite parts of the day. I love that they get so excited to hear me sing to them, despite my ability to always stay on key. I’ve gotten pretty creative with turning everyday activities into song lyrics, if I do say so myself!
Ingrid is definitely her daddy’s girl. She sticks her tongue out just like her dad, uncle, brothers & grandpa. 🙂
While our little beauty was sleeping, the boys were out back in the hammock. Today it was being used more like a jungle gym than a place to relax.
I thought for sure I’d have a 10/01/10 baby, but she held out for one more day. That’s right, SHE! We had a little girl today and she is absolutely beautiful! I’m thrilled she’s finally here. The last days, weeks, months, ok most of the pregnancy was pretty rough on me. But as with the boys, it was totally worth it.
We went to the hospital about 4:30 this morning (our fantastic neighbor came over to sit in the house with the boys sleeping upstairs until my mom could drive over.) They decided to keep me after monitoring me for a couple of hours. Once in the delivery room, (the largest corner room they have in the place with a great view of a creek,) I managed to endure the contractions for another hour or so and then decided to have my nurse call in the anesthesiologist to provide me with some relief in the form of an epidural. I’m not one to endure pain for the sake of pain; I know my limits. So once the kind man gave me my numbing drip, I was able to rest/doze off and get ready to meet our new baby. My water broke on its own, shortly after, I pushed once, and at 12:19 P.M., little Miss Ingrid Anmarene was out!
When they announced to us that we had a girl to add to our family, I was in disbelief. Prior to her arrival, I had come around to the notion of having 3 boys. I just assumed that is what we’d have. But no, clearly God has other things in store for us – and we are so thankful for the newest gift He has given us.
My second moment of disbelief came when I heard how much my “little” girl weighed. I thought for sure they were a pound off, but no, she weighed in at 9 pounds, 12 ounces. That’s bigger than both of her brothers. All 3 kids were the same length: 22 inches. My little Sheck babies…they’re long ones! No “newborn” clothes are worn in our house. We skip right to the 3 month clothes.
Ingrid is the first granddaughter on both sides of the family and the first great-granddaughter of the 7 great-grandkids on Jake’s side of the family. Let the inundation of pink begin!
After the tree removal, we were left with two large sections of the yard that were just dirt & ground stumps. Jake took the boys to the hardware store to get grass seed and look at the bird feeders. When they returned, the kids helped him prepare the dirt and spread the seed. They are always so eager to help their dad – I love it!
For Father’s Day this year, Jake asked for a tent. We picked one out as a family and he and the boys set it up in the backyard for the kids’ first camp out. We put their sleeping bag cots on each end and Jake slept in between. The boys got a good night’s sleep – I don’t think Jake really did. Apparently they were woken up by the crows in the neighbor’s trees at about 5AM, but they were kind enough to let me sleep until about 7, when they came back into the house.
