We heart our public library!!!

We live in a great city with several amazing libraries and we take advantage of them all the time! The summer is especially fun because they are all doing the "splash into reading" program and each week each library has special programs for the kids plus if they bring in their book logs showing they've read (or been read to in our case) at least 10 books they get all sorts of prizes. So far we've seen a magician, a singing farmer, a real cow (producing milk no less), and safari greg! The boys have really had a lot of fun and it's a great way to get them excited about reading. Each week James is excited to take his reading log to his favorite librarian and see what kind of prize he gets. So far they've gotten a book, a beach ball, stickers, plow pops, and tons of coupons for free kids meals all over town and ice cream (which has been a great treat on hot afternoons!)

Here is james and his buddy Beau with Farmer Jason - how silly are these boys - all James talked about was wanting to give him a hug and then after he did he stood with his head as far away as possible from him and Beau looks a little unsure as well - too cute!
Gracie is spending the weekend with my mom and papa steve. This is the first time she's been away from us and we are missing her like crazy! Here are some super fun pics with her having a ball with her brothers!

John-Mark is saying "tickle tickle sisser"I think James is her favorite - she laughs at him the most:)

My precious crew - grace looks a little surprised - don't know how long it will be before I can get a shot of all 3 of them smiling at the same time - I guess 2 out of 3 ain't bad :)

Guess who's using the potty!!!

Yep - this sweet baby boy! He's been sitting on the potty for weeks trying to be like his big brother and this past week it finally clicked as to "how" to actually make it work :) He is so proud of himself and so are we - James and I clap and give him high 5's every time he goes. The first time he did it he immediately went to the underwear drawer and pulled himself out a pair to wear :) We're not in full potty training mode but he is wearing underwear for about an hour or so a day and he uses the potty every time I change his diaper. He doesn't understand that he needs to tell me he needs to go when he feels the "urge" but I know it won't take him long. Maybe he'll get the poopoo thing down faster than his big brother and help motivate him a little :)
I had to get a pic of my two big boys in their underwear. While it kind of makes me sad that we're nearing the end of diapers with these two - the thought of the money saved makes me happy again :)
James has become sooo silly -he cracks me up ALL THE TIME! We call him "jawsome" every time he wears this shirt and for the longest he would yell "no, I not jawsome". Today when we said it he looked at us and said "I AM jawsome!" with this big grin - we laughed and laughed.
And along with John-Mark's potty breakthrough - look who is FINALLY starting to hold her bottle by herself. Now this is bitterweet because my baby girl is getting so big and doesn't need me to feed her but it is nice to have my hands free if I need them :)
Speaking of James being so silly - he LOVES to sing and has started making up his own songs as we run our errands - so, even though he looks 100% like his daddy - I know he's got some of me in him because I did this all the time when I was little. His songs go something like this "at the store with mommy, getting diapers...." to some random tune. I love it! He associates birthdays with party hats so he pretends all sort of things are hats and puts them on his head and sings happy birthday. Here he was singing to Goldie and put a cup on his head for his hat :)
And of course I can't end this post without saying how much we love and appreciate Jeremy and what a truly amazing man, husband, and father he is. The more we are married the more I realize how blessed I am to have him as my partner for life. I can not imagine a better match for me. The fact that he is such a wonderful father is really no surprise to anyone who knows him - James, John-Mark, and Gracie are so lucky to have him and love him very much. (I had intended to get a picture of him today with all the kids but it never happened :()

Oh, and note to self - never tell your kids a secret - it's like they are physically incapable of not spilling the beans. I took them with me to pick up one of Jeremy's father's day gifts and told them not tell him and that we would give it to him for father's day. Well, last night when Jeremy gets home, he literally only had one foot in the door when James says "daddy, i go to store and get you a surprise. I got you a belt. Happy father's day!" :)

Gracie's 6 month pics

Here are a couple of my favorites from Gracie's 6 month pictures - I could post 100 but I tried to just pic a few :)

Funny Stories

Just a couple of funny stories that have happened lately that I don't want to forget-
- James still has an aversion to pooping on the potty. This past Saturday before we went to Beau's party I tried to get him to go but he would have none of it. John-Mark ofcourse was in the middle of the whole situation so when we get in the car their conversation goes like this:
John-Mark - "poopoo potty brother?"
James (in a calm tone)- "no, I not"
John-Mark - "poopoo potty brother?"
James (still calm but a little louder) - "no, I not poopoo in potty"
John-Mark - "poopoo potty brother?"
James (getting irritated and louder) - "no, I NOT poopoo on the potty"
This probably went on another 5 times with James getting more irritated every time. I was almost crying I was laughing so hard. John-Mark was just trying to make conversation about what had gone on earlier and like all 2 year olds do was repeating himself. James was like "STOP TALKING ABOUT IT ALREADY! I DID NOT, WILL NOT POOP ON THE POTTY - ENOUGH ALL READY!!!"
- James has this wave he does like Forrest Gump when he sees Lt. Dan on the dock - arm straight up with just his hand waving. It's the cutest thing. When he sees his friends across the way he does this -"hey, I'm over here wave". Sometimes when I go in the boys room if I talk to John-Mark first and haven't acknowledged him yet he will stand up in his bed and do this wave and say "hi mommy" - like I'm a mile away and he's trying to get my attention. I never want to forget his cute little face, standing in his bed, smiling at me, and waving... like Forrest Gump :)
- This morning when James was eating his breakfast he must have bit his toungue - he told me "my tongue hurts mommy - ) tried to eat it" :)
- We went to a new kids playground/arcade last week and they had one of those games where you shoot the basketball in to the hoop and get tickets. All the balls stay behind a net until you put your money in it. I turned around for maybe 15 seconds and there was a man, ever so kindly assisting James OUT of the game - He had climbed up in to it to try and get a basketball!
- John-Mark is in this stage where he loves to dance and he always shruggs his shoulders when he dances. As soon as I turn music on he starts grinning and starts shrugging his shoulders up and down and looking at me like "how cool am I?"
- At this point John-Mark is totally obsessed with his big brother. He LOVES anything he does and wants to be just like him - all the time. And, he does not like it when James goes somewhere without him. There have been two occasions where James has gone to the store with Jeremy or somewhere with me and John-Mark has stayed behind and he asked about him the entire time "where brother go?" He also does this if I take him somewhere without James.

Gracie Belle - 7 months

Our sweet girl turned 7 months yesterday and over the last couple of weeks I have begun to realize she's no longer an infant anymore :( which is good, I know she is supposed to be growing but I know that before I blink she is going to be running around here with these boys and not sitting in my lap.
What she's up to:
She still isn't sitting up without any assistance but she loves to be "assisted" and sits up as much as possible. If you try to lay her down she will strain her neck and try to pull her little self up!
She is rolling all over the place now and wants to scoot so badly. When she sees a toy she can't reach it's almost like she tries as hard as she can to will herself to it and then just starts rolling her way to it. It's only a matter of time before her body and brain get on the same page.
She is eating all kinds of babyfood and I haven't found anything she hasn't liked yet. I must confess that I'm terribly inconsistent with when I feed her - some days no baby food at all - just depends on how crazy our day gets. But thankfully she is still sleeping through the night and is a great napper as well. The more we get to see her little personality it appears she is most like her oldest brother James. She is VERY social and loves to be where all the action is. She doesn't like it when everyone leaves the room and she lets us know it. However, she does enjoy alone time in her bed. She rarely ever cries out when she wakes up from a nap and will lay there and roll around and play happily until we come to get her. She really loves it when her big brothers come in and peak in the crib and talk to her - she gets the biggest grin!
Gracie is also talking up a storm. She coos and lalala's all the time. She also enjoys a good squeal and loves to do it whenever the boys are running around. In the car she is able to see them sitting behind her and talks away to them.
I haven't been able to feel any teeth trying to make there way through but I expect it any day now. Both boys broke their two bottom teeth around 7 months. She does like to put everything in her mouth so maybe there is something going on there and I just can't feel it yet. She also loves to suck on her feet - why is that so cute when babies do it?
Here are some recent pics of her in her cutie swimsuit (thanks Jennifer Latham:)). She sat in the pool with the boys for a bit but it was just me and the kids so I wasn't able to take pictures of her first time in the pool - If only I had two more arms :)

Fire Frucks!

I know, I know - the post title looks a little racy but that is how we are saying our "tr"'s right now and one of James' very best friends had his third birthday at the fire station this past weekend so I was hearing this A LOT! :)
The boys had a great time and LOVED being able to climb up in to the fire truck and even "drive" :) Before the tour one of the fireman had a little talk with the group and was talking to them about "stop, drop, and roll" and asking if the birthday boy could do it and there goes James - rolling across the floor like it was his job, then all the other boys had to join in as well - too fun! They also got to tour where the firemen sleep and eat - James, my little social butterfly was talk, talk, talking away to the firemen. I just LOVE how his little personality is developing. He is very much like his daddy in that he LOVES to be around people and loves to talk to people. He appears to have no fear of new things and John-Mark is right there beside him. (I will say that at a recent trip to the McWane Center a life size Mr. Potato Head was walking around which neither boys liked - but I can't blame them - I giant potato walking around is a little scary!)
Anyhoo - the boys had a great time and we loved getting to celebrate Beau's 3rd birthday with him. It's amazing to me how much these boys love their friends! I hope these friendships last all their lives!

With the birthday boy checking out the fire truck

Posing for mommy :) I asked him to go stand by the fire truck for a picture - too cute :)

My little fireman

Driving the truck!The ham! As soon as he got in the truck he looked out at all the parents with cameras and said "CHEESE!"

This was his 2nd time in the drivers seat - Poor fireman just couldn't tell him no :)After the party we picked up sisser and hit the road for an hour and half trip north to go to my best friend since I was 4's wedding. The boys took a little nap on the way - had to snap a pic - LOVE IT!

Today is a good day!

Today has been the kind of day I imagined everyday would be when I became a stay at home mom - we got up and I made breakfast for everyone - eggs, bacon, toast, and bananas. Everybody played with daddy a little bit before he left for work then we loaded up in the car and headed to a local park before it got too hot. Gracie napped while the boys climbed rock walls, went down the slides, did some swinging and ran around. At the ball fields next to the park a YMCA camp was playing kick ball so we walked over to the field to watch the boys play for a bit. My boys LOVE older kids and LOVE anything that involves a ball so it was too much fun for them. By then the sun was getting pretty hot so we walked over to the library (right next to the park) and enjoyed some air conditioning for a while. Gracie was up and alert and we all sat in the children's area and read books and did puzzles. Everyone was obeying and having fun! We walked through the video area and I let James pick out a Curious George movie for later. Then we headed home, made lunch and now all are down for a nap. Of course, it's only 1:15 as I type this and we have a long way to go before daddy comes home and there is threat of rain to come so that means we'll be stuck inside the rest of the day - guess we'll be watching some Curious George :) I am sooo blessed to get to spend every day with my babies - even if every day isn't what I imagined - I can't imagine being anywhere else :)
Here are some pics from the past week. I've noticed that I seem to focus on one baby at a time - one post may be full of James pics and stories and the next John-Mark. Today's pics are mostly of Gracie Belle - with her 6 month photos to come - I can't wait to see them - I think they are going to be super cute!
But first, here is my oldest being "seellie" as he says - don't you love this ensemble - -tool belt hat, no pants and crocs - love this boy!
James decided to cut daddy's hair with a knife and a spoon - while James works very seriously, John-Mark thinks the whole thing is hysterical - who cuts hair with a knife and a spoon?My cabbage patch baby- I found this hat at Old Navy and thought it was too cute - I think she looks hysterical in it - good thing I only paid $.47 for it!
Gracie is so ready to sit up and get going! She's not quite able to sit up without any help but she will be soon - and then I'm afraid she's going to be on to crawling before I know it -she's ready to get in the middle of it with these boys!No more relaxing in her bouncy seat - she sits herself fully up!She caught me trying to sneak pics of her :)See what I mean!?! Ready to go - she's about to be able to climb herself right out of her bumbo seat - she's always after something - and once she get's it she's got a grip! I can barely hold her and try and do something else with out her grabbing everything out of my hands!
"Finally I can check out the sale ads" (Don't worry Gracie Belle - mommy will teach you all the tricks :))
Lastly, enjoying a little one on one time with Papa :)