You know you are in the South when....

Today I took Connor in for his "Fall Festival" at school. It was his first time to go since he broke his arm, and we only went for the hour. Suffice it to say, I am glad we went, since I have now seen how the Frazer moms put on a party! The bar is high people.
For Connor's class, each of the four little tables was set with a cloth tablecloth and centerpiece arrangements of pumpkins with candy corn sprinkled on the table. McDonalds chicken nuggets were brought in, and the party games were more elaborate than what we have done at years past in other schools. For Reid's class, pizza was on the menu and each child's drink was in a plastic pumpkin that had their initials on it. Each child also had a helium balloon to take home attached to their goody bag. It goes without saying that the the ruffle pants, appliqued shirts, and smocked attire were out in full force. The director, who is also Connor's teacher told me that it is much toned down than in years past!

This Too Shall Pass....

So, last Friday evening, Connor's first attempt at riding a razor scooter landed us in the emergency room with a broken arm. Connor is our more 'dramatic' child, so I really didn't think it was going to be broken initially. However, he was so quiet and pale on the drive to the ER and then in the waiting room, that I did begin to suspect a break. When they said that we would need to transferred by ambulance and that he needed surgery though, I was shocked. At that point, Jeremy came to the hospital and we switched out because of Annalise's continual refusal to take the bottle (and now solid food, but I digress). It is a long story, but the short version is that Connor had surgery Saturday morning for a "supracondylar break of his left humerous".
Here are some pictures to illustrate:


A little perkier with a visit from Annalise



On his wheelchair ride out to the car. I wasn't even aiming for pathetic here...it just was.



Being more dramatic than some to begin with, one can imagine the fun we have all had this week. Yesterday afternoon I ended up taking him back in because of all of the moaning, whining and writhing, which is honestly not too strong of a word in this scenario. I thought they would just talk to me first about upping his pain medication, but they immediately removed the splint, which was a challenge because of the swollen elbow [tears], x-rayed it [more tears], and then resplinted it [no tears...the PA doing it was really good]. I had been hoping they could put the hard cast on yesterday instead of Monday as scheduled, but with the swelling that was no possible.
Here is the blow-by-blow of that process:






One sad little boy...but he is improving. Today he even got up and played some, and he slept a lot better last night with the increased pain medication.

Milestones and Gender....

What is my problem? It has been a month and a half...I guess have just been overcome by events, shall we say. Yesterday was a big day around here though, and I wanted to share:

Connor lost his first tooth! It happened at his soccer game, minutes after I left of course, to take the other two home. (In other news, Reid has decided that he is most definitely not a soccer player. We are pretty surprised, but have learned several things about parenting by now, and one is that you CANNOT make them play soccer if they don't want to. Needless to say, the tooth fairy paid a visit to our house last night, but Connor was rather disappointed in that he was given two dollar bills instead of coins. Go figure. The tooth fairy will not make this mistake again...or a more thorough lesson in money will be given shortly.

Our big man down one tooth. The one next to it is very loose as well.



In other news, Miss Annalise started rice cereal last night. It was not a hit. I maybe got two bites in. Maybe.



This pretty much summed it up:



Finally, a funny Connor story. To preface, neither of my boys have ever seemed to notice or comment on Annalise's different, ahem, anatomy. Last night Connor was helping me give Annalise a bath, and I thought maybe this would be a good time to discuss it. So, I said to him, "Connor, why is Annalise a girl?" His answer: "Because we prayed for her to be a girl." Okay. That is one interpretation of the question.

A few minutes later, I decided to try again:
Me: "If someone who didn't know Annalise walked into the bathroom right now and saw her, would they be able to tell if she was a boy or a girl?"
Connor: "Yes"
Me: "How?"
Connor: "They could guess and we could say yes or no."

At that point, I let the issue drop. I am sure we will visit this issue again...like maybe when he is 8.

Kid Updates

A snapshot of what is going on with the kids lately, from youngest to oldest.

Annalise--
She just had her 4 month check up (a little late) and was:
25 3/4 in (95%)
14lbs 2 oz (70%)
She cut her first tooth on her 4 month birthday (8/18), and a second is on it's way...teething is the only thing my kid do early.
She goes to bed around 7, I feed her at 10 and then she sleeps until anywhere between 3 and 6 and is up for good between 7 and 8.
She had been rolling over both ways quite a bit lately.
Annalise continues to be so happy, smiles all the time, loves to watch her brothers and is just an easy baby....she is an absolute JOY!

Reid
Is in a 'mommy' phase right now, which I am enjoying.
I have decided to not send him to school everyday and instead will be sending him 3 days a week
He just started sleeping in underwear at night...he is doing great!
He adores Connor and wants to be just like him and do everything he does.
We just signed him up for soccer. The official start age is 4, but because we could hardly keep him off the field last year and Jeremy is the coach, we just did it.
Reid continues to sing A LOT. He loves to go to 'Chapel" at school and sing.

Connor
I still can't believe my baby is in kindergarten. He LOVES it. He has a fantastic teacher and I feel really blessed by that.
He just discovered his first loose tooth today....where has the time gone? He is over the moon excited by it.
He still naps 2-3 times a week...it makes all of my friends jealous that my 5 year old naps.
Is WONDERFUL with Annalise, both of the boys are actually. He is so gentle and loving to her and loves to make her smile.

All in all, the transition to 3 kids has been easier than expected. It helps that the boys not only love her, but are so interested in her. They always want to talk to her and try to make her smile. I hope that when she is getting into their things in a few months they still feel this way!

this is how I roll.....

It is fact that I drive a minivan. But now I drive one with 5, yes 5, car seats. 3 are mine and 2 are our friends along for school carpool. Getting them all in there was no small feat for the husbands, but they got the job done.



Oh yeah

First Day of [big and little] Kindergarten

Since Reid has to do everything Connor does, he of course insisted that he was going to kindergarten too. So he is now calling preschool 'little kindergarten'. And I guess it may as well be since at Reid's age, Connor went a mere 2 mornings a week. Reid? Oh, he is going every day. It really only made since they are at the same school and the preschool and kindergarten have the same hours. So many of my friends have been emotional about their kids starting kindergarten, but being this is at our church and is only a half day (8:30-12:30) it really feels no different. The boys really seem to like their teachers and I know this is going to be a great year for both of them.




Outside Frazer



Connor being greeted by his teacher, Mrs. Struthers


Reid outside his classroom


Reid in his classroom

Second Cousins

My cousin Laura flew out to Colorado with her 2 children to join us for the week. Elizabeth and Annalise are 2 months apart and will hopefully having many opportunities to see each other as they grow up. Here Annalise is 3 1/2 months and Elizabeth is 5 1/2 months. Dylan loved watching Connor and Reid. Let's just say that there was not a single dull moment that week.

Trip to Colorado

So I decided that it would be a great time to take the kids to Colorado (I catch myself saying 'the boys' but have to change it to 'kids'. LOVE IT.) But I digress. Now that Connor will be starting Kindergarten, I can no longer take him out on a whim like I did when he was in preschool, plus I wanted to see my parents new house and show Annalise off to my grandparents. So, I decided that I could handle flying out of the Atlanta airport with 3 kids solo. I had such low expectations that it went remarkably well. Security is always the most difficult part, but the kids did really well. Even Reid.



On the shuttle from the parking lot to the airport



I allowed us so much extra time that we walked around, got ice cream, and asked someone to take our picture before the flight.

The Kelly's Visit

When we first met the Kelly family, Madison was starting kindergarten and the rest of the children were merely glimmers in our eyes....look at them now! We had such a fun visit and the boys all played so well.

Annalise

Some various pictures of my beautiful girl!! I just can't get enough of her....

Pool Party

Connor was invited to a "Star Wars" themed pool party that we all attended tonight. There were such cute ideas like light sabers made from pool noodles. Of course, Reid was more interested in the food. All of the children are playing in the splash park but here he is:





Reid after the cupcake



Such a cute one of my 3 boys, especially if you ignore the pink teeth on the kids



Once again, Annalise was a trooper and slept through most of it, poor hot baby.

The Reidster

The boys are doing a summer program at the preschool Connor attended last year. When I picked them up on Monday, I asked them both if they had a good day. Reid said "Yes. I have so many friends at school. I love the girls. I love to look at their fruit snacks." Okay then.

McWane Center

Alternatively title, "Am I crazy?". In Montgomery, Alabama in the summer, there is only one thing to do: go to the pool. After you do this every day, it can get a little old. Not to mention, taking a 2 month old there, is not my idea of a great time, although Annalise does really well, it is just a bit of a logistical challenge. But I digress. So my friend Pam (who has 4 boys for the record), suggested making the trip to the Children's museum in Birmingham. But, I may add, she does not have Reid...who was the entire reason for all of the questioning. After much debate I decided that I could handle it, so the three kids and I headed up there for the day. I think my key to success was having very low expections, because I have to say that I think it went really well. The boys had a blast, Annalise was her terrific self, and I didn't lose anyone. I think I deserve a gold star. Maybe it was the fact that it went so smoothly that I got up the courage to book a trip to Colorado for the kids and I at the end of the month!! Stay tuned.....

Here is a [terrible] picture of the kids and I there. Unfortunately, all of my pictures turned out this way

The 4th of July with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Warren

We were so excited that Kelly and Warren were able to come see us for the holiday weekend, or at least the last 2 days of it. We had so much fun hanging out with them, and they assimilated to the craziness of our house quite well. The first thing Connor said to Uncle Warren when he walked in the house was, "I know how to wrestle really good." And the wrestling began immediately. Too bad I didn't think to take a picture of that....

The boys all found a toad in the sand box. It amazes me that Reid especially has no problem grabbing it right away.





Aunt Kelly and Annalise







The jeep was once again a hit with all of the kids at the BBQ



Jeremy and Warren had gone out earlier in the day to buy fireworks. I was not what you would call thrilled about this. They bought a variety, including the kind that make ash 'snakes', which Warren suggested the boys rub on their faces. Uncle Warren, I learned, is full of great ideas. He is the oldest of 3 boys and I know Jeremy is thrilled that he is now in the family and he finally has someone on his team.



Among the fireworks they bought were some that were a lot louder than they anticipated (or so they said). I think it's pretty lucky that the police didn't show up at our door, but the kids loved them. It was so fun, I have to say.