Dylan

This is the time that a good camera and some photography know-how would come in handy! This is the results of a photo shoot with a reluctant and wiggly almost 3 year old subject and his not-so-great photographer mother!
He is so cute and good looking and I wanted to capture his long eyelashes (that I covet), big, beautiful, blue eyes and his yummy full lips. I know he will hate me someday for saying so, but it's true, he's got some really cool features...and he didn't get them from me! I hope you can see them.
Here are some interesting facts about this cute, sometimes sweet little guy!
*Dylan is the most different looking kid in our family. The other kids look more like each other than he does.
*Dyl will be 3 in August and I am looking forward to saying goodbye to the terrible twos! He seems to be winding down on the whole "2" thing. He is a little less destructive, although he still enjoys a good mess from time to time. He can throw a pretty mean tantrum and loves to act like a wild child when we are out in public. He is definitely my least obedient child at the time (or ever, really!) But, he is just so darn cute...I think he gets away with more than the others because of it! How can you punish that little face? Stinker! And I think he knows it.
*Dyl is talking more and more (and more!) He seems to be like his siblings in that regard...they are all such talkers! Look out when they have to compete to get a word in edge-wise!
*Dylan has to be the first to pray at every prayer time. His prayers have evolved from "Heavenly Father, AAAAmen" to "Heavenly Father and Gonnie (don't know who this is) feel good and Umpy (my dad) feel good and Grandma Christie (my mom) feel good, (sometimes he repeats this line a couple of times), aaaaamen!" He also gets upset in Sacrament meeting when he doesn't get to say the prayer first. It would be kinda cute if he didn't start yelling "no I say pair fust"! He's gotten a little better at this, he used to be almost inconsolable! He's also our prayer monitor. If someone starts to eat without saying it, he will yell "Pair, pair!"
*He loves nursery. He asks if it's time for nursery after every song and prayer in sacrament.
*Dyl still sucks his thumb and loves his blanket. Although, we are now able to leave the blanket at home when we go out so that it "won't get durty."
*He talks with a "lithp." I think that it is due to the thumb-thucking. We will probably have to put an end to that soon....I'm not looking forward to it.
*He has a bit of a mean streak in him and is a very rough and tumbly little guy. He has even been known to take down his big brother on occasion. He can be pretty aggressive, we are working on that. It seems to be futile!
*Dyl loves James and loves to be in his face...a lot!
*He thinks that he is one of the big kids and wants to be able to do everything that they do.
*I will often hear him talking very loudly and will ask what he said and he says "I not talking to you, I talking to they" referring to his toys. He loves to yell at, talk to and reprimand his toys. It is funny to watch.
*He is our little clown and loves to do anything for a laugh. I fear for his future teachers!
*He loves to make up songs...it is so cute. He will sometimes take a part of a real song and then add his own words.
*At bed time we have to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" and "Row, row, row your boat" before he'll go to bed.
*He likes to go up to friend or stranger alike and show them any current (or not-so-current) boo-boos, tell them about a bloody nose that he's had or ask if he can "go your house?"
*He is 100% boy and we love him to pieces!

4 Months...

...and a week, but who's counting?
Here are the stats from James' 4 month check up:
Weight: 11lbs 8oz (less than the 5th percentile-he's underweight...can you believe that I have an even smaller baby than Jesse? Jess was almost a pound more at this stage, but he was a little shorter!)
Length: 25" (50th percentile)
I'm hoping that his weight is still a result of the pneumonia and he just needs a little more time to catch up. The Dr. wants me to supplement with formula, which I am happy to do, but he won't take a bottle (I waited too long!) So this week I am going to try to see if he will eat some cereal, even though I hate the initial stages of eating...it just takes soooo long! I usually will wait until 6 months just for that reason, but he is a special case. I am not too worried as he seems healthy and is a happy baby, I'll just try to do what I can.
At 4 months, James is just such a sweet baby. He is smiling lots and laughing when he's in the mood for it. He started rolling from his tummy to his back about a month ago and is now doing it consistently. This is adding another difficulty to sleeping. He's a tummy sleeper and is waking himself up when he rolls over and can't get back to his tummy. We were doing really well with the sleeping before he got sick and it has been a struggle to get him back on track and the rolling has not helped. It seems like I am constantly teaching this kid to sleep! Just when things get good, some other life stage takes place! I guess that is life.
This little boy is a clone of Jesse, he looks just like him.
Here's a picture of Jess at the same age.

And here are a bunch of pictures of James cause who can get enough of all this cuteness!?!Sorry this one turned on me and I am too lazy to do it again!We all just love our little Jamesy-bug. He is constantly smothered with love and kisses (probably more than he would like sometimes...poor kid has no personal space!) He's such a little sweety...he's lucky we haven't eaten him for dessert! Can you stand the cuteness???

And here's one of all the kiddos. Ignore my foot and the wrist strap for the camera. I tried to get a few more of the kids together, but have you ever tried to get 4 kids to smile and be still at the same time?...yeah...and then James got fussy, so we had to call it a day! It's cute anyway!
See, this blog isn't just all about me...although it seems like it lately! Look for more updates on each of the kids over the coming days!
BTW-the bum is feeling a lot better. I finally feel like I will heal!

So here's the scoop!

On Tuesday afternoon, I sat down to change Dylan's diaper and I landed square on that blasted giraffe's hard plastic nose. In that moment, I wanted to say a bad word, cry and yell at all the kids for leaving that dumb thing on the floor. However, I was able to restrain myself, if only because the kids had friends over. And besides, after the initial pain subsided, it didn't seem so bad. Boy was I wrong! A little later, I went to sit down with James and oh my goodness, the pain! It only got worse as the night progressed. I couldn't sit, bend over, squat or barely stand without a large measure of pain. Did you know that all movements below the waist, short of wiggling your toes, are connected to your coccyx!? Kinda like the way that all bodily movements, short of blinking are connected to your abdomen...I know, I had a c-section! And heaven forbid if you should have to sneeze in either scenario...OUCH!
Anyway, I went to the chiropractor and they took some x-rays. Fortunately, nothing is broken...unfortunately, it is Friday and the pain hasn't subsided as much as I would like, leaving me partially incapacitated. This is so stupid and I am so mad at myself for allowing such a dumb injury to happen and ruin our fun!On a side note, on Wednesday afternoon, a morning dove crashed into our sliding glass door and then was unable to fly away. I did a little calling around and found a wildlife rescue to take the bird to (I couldn't just let it be hurt) So, I hobbled out to the yard and caught the little guy and placed it in a box. Then yesterday, we drove it down to ABQ (a round trip of over an hour.) Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, but in order to drive, I had to sit...get the picture? I'm glad we were able to rescue the bird (the doc said it should be just fine, it broke it's wish bone and should be healed in about 10 days) I just wish I wasn't in so much pain to do it!
So that's what's happenin' at the Thatchers...we are laying low for a few more days to see if mom's bum can feel better!

A Cautionary "Tail"

Make sure that you clear the runway before you bring your hiney in for a landing. Those sweet-looking giraffes have quite a bite to them...OUCH!
Going to chiropractor this afternoon, will let you know if anything is broken!

Summer Days, week 1

Summer is in full swing here at the Thatcher homestead. We had a busy, fun first week.
We went to the park and played with friends, went to see Race to Witch Mountain at the dollar theatre, went to the botanic gardens, the aquarium and planted a vegetable garden (I know, we got a little bit of a late start!) Here are some pictures of the week.In the children's garden.Riding a gi-Ant!
I wish I had taken more pictures at the gardens, it was beautiful!Just chillin' in the stroller.Workin' in our garden...Grace is supervising!The finished product. We planted 2 tomato plants (a beefsteak and an early girl), a red bell pepper plant, a butternut squash plant and then seeds for carrots, zucchini and yellow squash...now let's see if they actually grow and bear fruit! This is my first attempt ever, so we'll see how it goes!Cooling off after all the hard work!

Those of you that know me, know that I am not a scheduled person...I kind of fly by the seat of my pants. Well, I have found that as my children are getting older, that doesn't really work. I am tired of them getting into the pantry all day, asking me if they can go to a friends house or when we are going to go someplace fun, all day, etc, etc...I also needed to find a way for us not to waste our summer in front of the TV, so I put together a summer schedule. Here's our basic daily schedule:The sheet on the left is our daily schedule and on the right is their check-off sheet (click it to enlarge). My kids love to tell time, so I put the clocks in for a little novelty. The check-off sheet is for the things that they need to accomplish to be able to do our fun activities.
Our weekly schedule is:
Mon-At home day
Tues-Park day
Wed-Movie day (they have free kid movies at our theatre every wed., if you have a Regal/Cinemark movie theatre around you check it out to see if they offer the same)
Thurs-Field trip day (we will go swimming, to the zoo, children's museum, etc. I have passes to the zoo and museum)
Fri-At home day
Now my kids know what to expect and hopefully it will cut down on the constant inquiries!
Today was the first day that we put this into effect. We are half way through the day and it has gone really well. We have only had a few squabbles, but all in all the first half of the first day has been a success! I'll let you know later if it continues to be.
I feel pretty well prepared for a fun, productive summer...how 'bout you?

In Memory of...

The last 2 weeks!
Warning...long post to follow!
I really hate when I do this, I just get too lazy to post and now I have a lot to catch up on...so here goes, hope you can stay with me.
Mother's Day
Was lovely. I was sent to get a pedicure on Saturday (one of my favorite treats) and then on Sunday, Danny and the kids made me a yummy breakfast. Danny also helped me make dinner and made a delicious pie for dessert. Here was the spread:Sorry, didn't get any other pics, but dinner was so very yummy! Don't you love the raspberry happy face on the Lemon Raspberry pie.
Here are my little helpersIn an attempt to eat a little more healthy, I bought a bunch of veggies and came right home, washed them and cut them up. Now the kids can only have fruits or veggies for snacks. Grace and Dyl were great helpers. It took a little longer, but it was worth it.
Danny turns 35!
On the 17th was Danny's 35th birthday, now he's as old as me (for about a month, anyway!) Instead of a cake, he requested a fruit tart. I had never made one before, but I think it turned out pretty good...it was really yummy, too!As always, the kids get to help blow out the candles!
Last day of school!
Here's Jess getting off the bus for the last time for the next three months. Now what do we do!? I am looking forward to a fun, productive summer. I would love to hear ideas of some things you all are doing to keep your kiddos busy this summer. I don't want it to be wasted on TV or constantly hear "I'm bored"! What are some of your summer plans???

And just for your viewing pleasure...a photo montage!Ain't he sweet??
Okay, so that wasn't as long as I had expected...I probably left a lot out. I will be better at this!

Happy Mother's Day!

Like many of you, I have the best mom ever. She is the most fun, kind, sweet, selfless, caring, giving, wonderful woman I know. I am so grateful that I got to call her Mom. I love you and hope that you have a great day. Thanks for being the bestest mom ever!