Happy Day

Jess and I celebrated 9 years of marriage this past Wednesday, little did I know this would be very offensive to some people in our house.

 My Dad converted most of our garage into another room while we were in Colorado. We have yet to move the furniture in so I took advantage of the empty and pretty space to set up our LED candle light dinner. Jess brought home Mexican food and flowers, I fed the kids before he got home so we sent them downstairs to watch a movie and had dinner all to ourselves. When Pantera saw the room all set up she got excited "We are all eating in there!?!" NO! I kindly tried to explain that it was a special day and since we couldn't go out we still wanted it to feel special. "So you're saying Dad is more important to you then US?!?" She is always one to jump to the most ridiculous and drama filled conclusion, heaven help her poor husband:) She then added "You are so lucky!" That I am Pantera, that I am.

 But it didn't stop there. When Jess walked in the house with flowers Amari got so happy until he told her they were for me, her face fell and she pouted away. Jess picked her, Pantera, and Katurah a couple flowers from my bouquet and she was appeased, mostly. Get your own "Foochie Boy!" on second thought, never mind I will share mine, but only with my girls.

Speaking of girls, we had our ultrasound last week. Zeke really wants another little sister, so I was kind of hoping for another girl so he wouldn't be sad. He got his wish and I will never have my own flowers again.

 

I really am a very lucky girl.

Amari 3

We finally got around to doing Amari's 3 year old pics yesterday. I must say for a 3 year old she was very cooperative and even asked me to take her to do more today.

 She currently loves to tease me by kissing Jess in front of me and saying "I fooched your man!"

 The running joke in our family is the 3rd child loves potty humor. This was true of my brother, of my nephew Jordan, the third oldest in Jess' family who shall remain unnamed (coughjesscough), and it did not stop with my dear sweet Amari. While saying the prayer the other night instead of repeating "I am thankful for my family" she changed it to "I am thankful for my BUTT!" Then started laughing, followed by timeout and crying. She loves to fart and crowns herself "The queen of Farts" on a daily basis. The boys are going to love this girl.

 It wouldn't be a proper photoshoot if you didn't bring an incredibly awkward stuffed horse with you. Ahh, Windspeed how we love you at our house. Amari thought these pictures were especially charming, in this one she is feeding him an apple.

 Amari you crack me up every day I am so glad I get to be your mom...all hail the Queen of Farts!

Ma

Remember when you were like 13 and had nothing better to do on Friday nights then to practice your kissing technique on your stuffed animals? Lie to yourself all you want, we both know you did. I just can't believe how early this kids are starting these things now...

 Katurah makes this awesome squinty face everytime she goes outside. Jess and I used to tease his brother Jake because he makes a similar face in the sun, sorry Jake it's cuter on Katurah!

She has been talking up a storm the past couple of weeks. No one can understand what she is saying, but trying is a start. She calls me "Ma" not mama or mommy just ma and I kind of love it, only coming from her though.

 Pantera and Amari set up webkin rescue center in their bedroom. I am really glad they did seeing as webkins are quite endangered due to the high number of poachers in our general vicinity. Pantera went with her class to the Natural History Museum yesterday and came home very excited and disgusted all at once. She loved all the dinosaur bones and facts, but was deeply disturbed by the stuffed animals on display. "I mean who does that?!? Why do they need to kill poor helpless animals?" I think the girl needs a hunting trip.

Zeke doing what he does best, literally bouncing off the walls! He runs and crashes into the walls at our house over and over again throughout the day. I happened to have my camera out yesterday and set my shutter speed high enough to capture his movements. He uses his entire body and gets a total workout everytime. He has stomach muscles! I know who I am training with post baby:) He still loves to read his books but thinks Dr. Suess writes all of them "Mater the Greater, by Dr. Suess" I love him!

I have been trying to upload Amari's cute birthday video for 3 days now and have had no luck. She turned 3 last monday and was so excited! They sang to her at Olive Garden when we were in Colorado, absolutely priceless! Her little face was so overwhelmed and happy, she just kept putting her fists to her mouth to contain herself! I decorated our house and got her balloons so she would know without a doubt that it was her big day. The only thing she asked for was "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor" from My little Pony, so of course she got them and many other things that she probably wont ever play with. I can't wait to take her 3 year old pics, maybe this weekend I can catch her before she plays in the mud. Happy Birthday Amari!

Colorado

 We finally made it back to Colorado to visit family. We left on a Thursday morning and arrived late friday. The kids were troopers in the car, vomiting aside. Zeke got really sick on the way there and by the time we were driving home a week later, all 3 girls were throwing up...not so fun. We went to the dowtown Denver aquarium, the kids loved it, until Zeke wandered off and we couldn't find him. He has NEVER done anything like that before and said he was looking for me. I have never been so scared in my entire life and never more relieved when Jess found him and brought him to me. So fun vacation strike two. Then we ended up in Children's hospital urgent care with Zeke the next night.

On happy notes, we got to meet our nephew/cousin Truman for the very first time. He is super cute and does a popcorn dance that could keep you laughing for weeks on end. Pantera and Amari enjoyed every minute of hanging out with Andrew, Ryan, and Jordan. They were all so good about including Amari who just loves to be a big kid...because she is big duh! It was sunny, I have missed that so bad! Katurah would have spent all day every day out in there yard if she was able. Amari developed a fondness for Uncle Jake and continues to point out his picture on our wall throughout the day now. They got to know grandma and papa hammond a little bit better and will be even more excited to see them this fall. We got to hang out with Aunt Hannah, Aunt Jean, and Aunt Meredith...basically all was well as long as we didn't leave the house:) Pantera and Ryan prepared a dinner for us that they were incredibly proud of, very tasty guys!

It was so good to see my little/big nephews, they are so cute. Thanks for letting us visit your house and pass the barfy plague on to you guys!

So call me smoochie

We all spent the last week or so sick with awful headcolds and body aches. After the cold finally got around to me, I really have to admit that my kids are troopers. It hardly kept them down, but knocked me on my tushie for a couple of days. On to the kiddo update:

 

Katurah is getting so big, but still not talking much. This worries me a little, especially considering she really doesn't like new people much and really doesn't like kids she doesn't know. Maybe she is just shy and doesn't feel the need to talk yet, maybe. She is a little monkey and I swear she is trying to give Jess and I heart attacks. Every time I turn around she has climbed or is stuck in something. She also loves to throw things away, like all of my spices or Pantera's stuffed animals. Spring cleaning has never been easier!

 Amari is almost 3! She is so cute and really, really out of control tough. Her latest thing is "Hanging" like "Can I hang with you guys for 2 seconds?" when she is supposed to be sleeping and she sneaks down with grown ups. Or when Pantera comes home "I'm gonna hang with Tera!" Or the other night she said "I want to hang with Zeke." to which he replied "What is wrong with you?"

She is very good at teasing people, always has been. Last week she was pretending to be Pantera "I'm Tera. Here's Nick, so call me Smoochie!" Pantera wasn't to happy about that one.

 Zekes illness just doesn't want to leave, he was in the doctor today with an ear infection. On a happy note he has gained 4 lbs and grown 1 1/2 inches since October! We were worried about his weight before his tonsils were removed, it has helped so much.

We lost the movie Cars a year or so ago. We are getting ready for a long road trip so I bought yet another copy. I wish I would have filmed him watching it again for the first time, he was so cute! He shouted every cars name as it went around the track and was just as excited for those obscure characters that only Zeke and I and a couple of creepy adults at Comicon know. When Lightning says the line "I eat losers for breakfast" Zeke exclaimed "EWWW that's gross!"

Zeke asked me for a "Rice Christmas Tree" the other day. I'm assuming he meant rice crispy treat, because he wasn't disappointed when I handed him one.

 Most moms don't allow rollerblading in the house. I encourage it. The winter is so long here and there are no sidewalks for a kid to learn on, so we have a indoor track around our living room and kitchen table. Pantera is getting really good at it!

She was doing this thing with her eye for a couple of days and I finally asked her if she was doing it on purpose. She said that she was and I told her to stop before it becomes something she can't control. This became a conversation about motor tics. I guess she had a similar conversation with a boy at school the next day and he started telling people (the teacher included) that Pantera has a motor tic, it's talking. I nearly peed myself when she told me, she was upset but it was so clever! I love that girl even if she talks all the time.

One Fish Two Fish

Katurah is taking her big sister training very seriously. She will take her new baby for walks, hold it, hug it, and hope it's a little more durable then a jar of chicken bouillon which just kept falling out of the stroller. Notice her Perry the platypus shirt that once was Amari's. This is her favorite thing to wear and if you ask her "Where's Perry?" she will look down at her belly and point, regardless of what she is wearing.

 Papa is nearly finished remodeling our upstairs bathroom, it is looking beautiful! The kids sure love having him around everyday. Next he is turning our laundry room into less of an eyesore. He has remodeled nearly our entire house, thanks Dad doesn't even cover it.

 Zeke and Pantera had Dr. Seuss day at school the week before last. They both had fun, but Zeke is really into his books now. He quotes Hop on Pop while he runs "Past fast!" And I love to listen to him read to himself. The other day I overheard him as he was flipping through the pages of One Fish, Two Fish "Some are fast, some are slow (pause for a little confusion on Zeke's part) some are in a...volcano? Why? Go ask your mom!"

He has decided that we are having a girl baby. "One more sister." I guess he doesn't mind being totally outnumbered.

Movie and a snack, I think this is the longest time I have seen my kids sit still together maybe ever. Pantera and Amari are inseparable these days, "We are best friends forever!" I hope it stays that way. Amari gets so excited when Pantera gets home from school, big sisters are pretty great.

 And this is what my kids are usually doing, jumping on the couches like they aren't supposed to and wrestling each other.

On Friday we went to a new store with my Dad. We were gone long enough that I had to stop and eat. I jokingly said we would have a very fancy lunch at Wendy's. Amari took this very seriously and started talking in her fancy voice "Well Mom, we are eating on a couch." We were in a booth. Then "Well Mom" I replied "Well Dear." She started laughing "You called me a reindeer!"

I went full blown crazy and bought a fetal doppler so I can hear the baby's heartbeat whenever I want. It works great and the baby has a nice strong heartbeat. I did get to hear it at the doctors as well, but that was old news by the time my appointment rolled around. I haven't even started name hunting, any suggestions are very welcome.

Quotes of the day

"Mom, can I play Mario Kart Wii? Just say yes, look it's easy-'YES.'" -Zeke

While the girls were playing bears today Pantera said "If I'm not back in 5 minutes, I'm either taking my time or I'm dead."