Drew at 32 weeks

Drew had a tough week, but he was great for our trip.  He loves to be entertained, loves to be outside and so the trip was right up his alley.  He is still not crawling, but he got from his tummy to a sitting position once this week.  He is lifting himself up onto his hands and feet for brief moments.  He also tried to pull up once, but he was unsuccessful.  Ouch.  

He is getting clingy with me, which is right on schedule.  I am hoping it is a short phase like with Hannah.  He will still go to people.  It is more like crying for me to feed him instead of dad, or crying when I walk through a room when he was happy 2 seconds before.  

He started eating green beans this week and is loving the Cheerios, but he can't get them into his mouth on his own yet.  He is still struggling with constipation, despite the crazy fibrous diet I have him on, and he had his second glycerin suppository this week.

I think his teeth are close, but I think I said that last week.  I keep hoping they are and the fussiness will go away when they come through.  Hoping for a better week!

Farm Weekend

 Last weekend we went to a farm in Washington, VA with my uncle and cousins.  It was BEAUTIFUL and relaxing!  We played Bocci Ball (which I had never played before) and Canasta.  The kids got rides in the four wheeler and played all round the farm.  They loved it!

 This guy slept well with all the excitement.  He, in fact, was too excited/distracted all weekend to eat much of his solid food and even too busy to dirty his diaper (which he paid for greatly when we got home.)

 

I shot my first handgun ever.  I hit the square, but not the bulls-eye.  Before you call CPS on us, this is a Isaac's BB gun in the next picture, not a real gun right next to my baby.  Isaac and Genna got to practice with the BB gun with some help from Daddy.

 

Genevieve loved pretending the dogs were all hers.  They really belonged to my uncle and cousin.

  

I shot a crossbow for the first time as well, and I didn't do too badly for my first and probably only shot.

 

 The house and the grounds were amazing!

I was thankful that I was not there for this adventure (but Daddy was!)  I just worry too much about my babies!

 On Sunday after an early Mass, everyone (except for Drew and myself) went to Luray Caverns to see Stalagmite and Stalactite.  The kids had a great time and loved it more than I was expecting.  Daddy even got suckered into buying souvenirs for the girls which is just unheard of in our family.  I really didn't believe the girls when they came running in telling me what they got at the gift shop.  Daddy is not the souvenir type, let's just say.

Spring Blooms and Sweet Smiles

I just had trouble picking one picture of each kid except for Genna who only let me get one of her before she ran off to play.

The next two of Hannah were when she saw a bee fly to the Clematis. They turned out so cute though.

This next one of Isaac was just too boyish and cute to pass up.

My newest invention

Don't get too excited as this isn't anything spectacular. I won't be getting a patten or anything. This may be only useful to our particular household, but you never know.

You may be asking the question, "What is it?" That's understandable, like I warned you, it's nothing spectacular or superbly useful to the average Joe. It is a mini greenhouse cover for my kitchen herbs that will deter my cat from eating them all while I sleep unsuspectingly. This in and of itself isn't that original, I guess. The way I made it was the original part. I cut to size and sewed together sheet protectors, and it doesn't look half bad. I am feeling very resourceful.

Sisters and Brothers

Love these two!

Isaac hugs Drew about 10 times a day! He requested these pictures.

My Seven Month Old Boy (31 weeks)

I got a little carried away taking pictures of this cutie on Sunday after Church, so be prepared for a cuteness overload. What an angel! He is a lot like Hannah in Mass, turning around and smiling at every body who gives him the time of day. He makes new friends every week it seems.

Drews had an appointment with the ENT about his little vascular spot on the bridge of his noes. We waited in the waiting room for almost 2 hours before being seen. All the kids were super awesome during the ridiculous wait for the 10 minute appointment. He was an excellent patient if you don't penalize him for grabbing at the doctor's instruments and being his usually extra wiggly self. The doc said all looks fine for now, but she will need to take another look at it in 6 months to make sure blood isn't pooling there.

Drew is still having a bit of trouble with constipation, but I won't go into that too much. Let's just say we are still on the mostly prunes, pears, yogurt, and homemade oatmeal diet for now. I think his main problem is not getting enough fluids, so I am diluting his foods with prune apple juice and giving him water in a real cup (no lid) at meal times to get more down him. I did let him try Cherrios and puffs a couple of times and he did just fine with them. I am not giving him much because of the whole above problem. What amazes me is that all my babies have hated plain Cherrios and gagged when I first introduced them. He has no problems eating, he has problems drinking enough. I did introduce sweet potatoes (small amounts) and cherry (recommended by the doctor to add to rotate with his prunes and pears.)

He is very spoiled, and I just don't even know how it happened, but he is nearly incapable of playing by himself if he can see me. Ridiculous, since I thought the 4th kid was supposed to be lower maintenance. My last two rarely required being held and were happy to play and watch what was going on, but Hannah and Drew, not so much. We are going to have to work on this because he is much heavier than Hannah was and I am in much worse shape.

He's on pretty much the same routine. Only new developments are him saying, "Da da" and "Up." Remember this guy is high maintenance! I could have called that "Up" would be in the first handful of words he would say.

He likes to be outside, as you can see!

And just like when Hannah was a baby, people always ask me, "Is he always this happy?" My answer is the same as it was back then, "Yes, when people are giving him attention." He is happy as a clam to be out and about with people oohing and aahing over him, but stick him at home on the floor, when his siblings all run off to play and things are a bit different.

But with a face like that, I'd take a million of him!

BFFs = Sisters

I love to see this!

Last week, Hannah came and asked if she could write best on her hand and friends on Genna's hand. Normally, I am not big on the writing on the body stuff, but who can resist such a request as that?

Horse Dreams and a Golden Egg

Genevieve loves horses like crazy, reads about them constantly, and was so excited to ride one! A friend of ours has a mini farm up here and just got some horses to add to it. She was nervous the first time, but the second time she never wanted to get off!

Hannah wouldn't even try, but Isaac rode for about 2 minutes before he was done. It was high. These were no ponies. They were real horses.

The horses were big enough to make Isaac look small. :)

They had an egg hunt for all the kids at the party with 3 golden eggs hidden to redeem for special surprises. Isaac found one in the chicken coop. His sisters were a bit jealous.