Happy 8 months Aiden!

Riding in the wagon
Hey, there is something on my head!?

Oh, that's funny!

New Firetruck from Daddy

Taking turns with the new firetruck....a lesson in patience for Mom and the boys

Aiden will be 8 months old on Sept. 2. Aiden is very active while he is awake and seems to be anxiously awaiting his turn to jump in with his brothers. His favorite entertainment is watching whatever the boys are doing and he sits and laughs at them all the time. In addition, Luke and Liam will be moving up in their classroom at Montessori this week where they attend two days each week for three hours. They will officially be starting preschool and we are excited about the new things they will be learning (hopefully one of them will be potty training?!).

Trucks and Tubes

Meeting Isabel
Aiden with Uncle Dick

Visiting with the fireman

Aiden bouncing with Daddy

Riding Horses at the Family Fun Day

Liam was so proud of his purple train

Luke wanted a purple Elmo

Luke in the Bobcat from our Landscaping crew

Liam and Luke in the Bobcat

Liam really did not want to get out!

We are officially the parents of three children with six ears and six tubes. Luke and Liam had tubes placed in their ears in May and Aiden followed with tubes in his ears earlier this week. While Luke and Liam battled ear infections for what seemed like forever, we (and the doctor) opted to do Aiden's surgery earlier so as to hopefully forgo the multiple trips to the doctor, ear infections, and prescriptions for medication. Apparently, we have some genetic predisposition to ear infections according to the Ear, Nose, and Throat physician who knows us all too well now. He jokingly said to me, "you and your husband make beautiful children with terrible ears."

On another note, we also had some landscaping completed last week and the boys thought watching the trucks and digging was so much fun. I am pretty sure my legs were tired at night from standing around watching the Bobcat dig in our yard, but the boys were mesmerized. Over the weekend, we went to a "Family Fun Day" at a little town nearby that had firetrucks, horses, a helicopter, and other things that the boys enjoyed playing with. I must say they are very easily entertained. John and I joked that this was something we never would have considered going to before we had kids, but now it is cheap entertainment, the boys love it and so do we!

Over the weekend, we also enjoyed a visit from some relatives on John's side of the family who live in my favorite state of Colorado. Thanks for the nice visit Isabel and Dick, we enjoyed seeing your comfort level with our chaos and hearing how you survived seven kids!

The Split

Cousin Calvin imitating a statue

Aiden with his great grandfather, Pepaw

Mimi, Aiden, Aunt Sarah, Calvin, and Uncle Jason

Mimi playing with Aiden

Great Grandmother Mary with Aiden (Above) and Grandpa Morse (below)

Luke and Liam riding the train at the Zoo
Bedtime Story from Grandpa Carrithers

Liam driving the car

Teacups!

Luke insisted on riding in the purple car even though there was already a girl in it

Liam

We frequently have to divide and conquer to get things done with the three boys in tow. For example, John often entertains the boys at Target with smoothies or icees while I grocery shop with Aiden. Or, I might take Luke and Liam in the afternoons while John pushes Aiden in the jogging stroller. Either way, it helps us to get a few things accomplished. Over the weekend, we had our first "split" where we were actually in different states. I went home to visit family with Aiden while John stayed in Minnesota with the boys and enjoyed a visit from his parents.

Aiden made his second plane trip all the way to Arkansas and did very well. He is really easygoing and it was hard for me to believe that he even napped in my lap on the plane! Is this really our kid? Aiden met his 93 year old great grandmother (Mary) and his great grandfather (Peepaw) for the first time. He also enjoyed getting to see his grandparents, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Jason, and cousin Calvin. Aiden and I were very glad to get back to the weather in Minnesota as the heat in Arkansas this summer is oppressive. It was, on average, 110 degrees while we were there with some 17 days and counting of triple digit temperatures (minus the heat index).

John, Luke, and Liam, on the other hand, enjoyed time with Grandpa and Grandma Carrithers. Their weekend included a trip to the Zoo, the pool, and lots of time playing inside and outside. The boys were sad to see John head back to work on Monday and a little disappointed to have Mommy pick them up from school rather than Daddy!

Mommy's Birthday

Luke enjoying Mommy's Cake
Liam enjoying Mommy's cake

Showing off wristbands that Daddy got the boys on a recent business trip to Phoenix

Mommy's YUMMY birthday cake!

Opening Mommy's presents

Aiden playing in the basket

We celebrated my birthday over the weekend and enjoyed some of the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. John did very well picking this one out. This was the only thing I requested for my birthday and it has been wonderful. He put purple and green icing on it and the boys went crazy. I didn't know they even really knew what cake was, but they were so excited about eating some of it and wanted it for breakfast the next day so we have to keep it hidden. Luke loves the color purple and Liam loves green so they fought over who got the purple and green flowers on the cake. I was surprised at how much they liked it, but not surprised at how much they were bouncing off the walls after they had it.

John recently took a trip to Phoenix for work and told the boys before he left that he would bring them a present if they were "good" and helped Mommy pick up toys, helped with Aiden, etc....Well, Luke particularly remembered this promise and each time he did something "good", he reminded me of his presents. They were very excited about these wristbands. They wear them to hit "homers" with the baseball toy we have.

Aiden is getting his first TWO teeth. Liam got teeth at 4-5 months, but Luke and Aiden are following about the same pattern so far. He has been chewing on just about anything he can and is a little cranky. This too shall pass...still waiting to see if he will have curly hair like Luke, but it is looking straight to me.

Skates, Scooters, and Seven Months!

Happy 7 months Aiden!
Big Boy AJ

Liam and Mommy skating first thing in the morning
Liam and Daddy testing it out for the first time

Skating early on Sunday morning

Fake Falls on "the ice." They still associate skating only with hockey.

pjs with the new helmets!

Luke trying it out

Trying on all the gear for the first time

Aiden is 7 months old today! Happy Birthday AJ and thanks for sleeping from 7:30 until nearly 7:30 am this morning! That was the best birthday present ever, I think you must be going through a growth spurt. Aiden's latest hobby is trying to talk louder than his brothers at dinner. John and I have decided it is pretty much impossible to carry on any type of conversation. He is starting to sleep on his belly and is weaning off the swaddle blanket, but still enjoys his pacifier. We are just starting to introduce a "lovey" that hopefully he will enjoy as much as his brothers enjoy their beloved "doggies".
Luke and Liam had an eventful weekend with a few new summer purchases. They have had their eyes on the older neighborhood kids as they ride their scooters and roller blades around the neighborhood. So, over the weekend, we got them each some very beginner skates that go over your shoes and a small scooter with three wheels that does not require any balancing. John and I thought we had a little time before they would be riding or skating, but we were definitely mistaken. We also thought we would use some helmets that some twin friends in New Jersey passed down to us several years ago; however, we were mistaken about that as well.
The boys were skating down the driveway in a matter of minutes (with no help from mom or dad) and were riding the scooters within 24 hours. The helmets, we found out, were WAY too small so first thing Sunday morning we made a quick trip to Target for new helmets since the boys were talking about skating when they got out of bed that morning. They are quite the sight and a little faster than I was hoping they would be!