Soooooooo.....hi blog!  It has been too long!  I feel so guilty about not updating, but it has stayed at the bottom of my long to-do list for a long time!  I will have to admit...3 kids is pretty much kicking my booty.  Three kids all aged 3 and under is HARD.  Don't get me wrong, none of them would be traded for anything on this Earth but it is a never-ending challenge! 

I hope if Reese ever goes back and reads this she does not feel slighted about the amount of posting I have done about her.  Thankfully, there is just not a whole lot to say about her besides she is just perfect!  She is growing like a weed, she is sleeping better at night (usually getting up just once to eat and falling right back to sleep), and she is so cuddly!  She is starting to flash some big, gummy grins which totally melt our hearts!  At her one month checkup, she was 9 lbs 1 oz, and all of her measurements were in the 50th percentile.  Here are her stats from her 2 month checkup a few weeks ago:

• Weight:  11 lbs 15 oz
• Length:  23 1/4 inches

All of her measurements this time were around the 80th percentile!  I couldn't believe she had gained almost 3 pounds in one month!!  I can't say it enough, it is amazing and incredible how fast the kids grow.  God has truly blessed us with such healthy and wonderful children!  She has adjusted well to me going back to work which happened last week.  It was hard for me, but it was definitely easier going back part time at 2 days a week versus full time like I did with the boys.  She and Elliot only have to go to day care one day a week, and Mom watches them on the other day.  So the transition has been pretty much seamless, and it was nothing like I had feared. 

What can I say about Little Elliot?  Well, he is almost 2, so he is definitely developing a more sassy personality than his super sweet baby self.  He likes to talk a lot, and his vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.  He tries to mimic Harry a lot, so he does a lot of things that I don't remember Harry doing at this age.  He and his brother fight a lot, which really gets on my nerves, but I guess that is to be expected!  As long as they aren't having knock down-drag outs, I suppose it is all normal sibling activity.  He wants to do everything himself, which is totally different than his brother!  I can't hardly get Harry to dress himself most days!  I had some 1 on 1 time with him recently and we tried to do some puzzles together, and he did a pretty good job.  It's activities like that--puzzles, books, etc. that I know he doesn't get near the time doing them that Harry did when he was Elliot's age and I hope he doesn't suffer from it.  When I try to do them when Harry is around, he wants the run the show and take over for Elliot.  One funny/sad story about him that happened last week is that he got a HUGE chunk of his hair ripped out at day care!  It was all a big accident, but I still feel really sorry for him because I knew it had to hurt and he looks pretty funny!   

Harry is hilarous, charming, and exasperating, usually all in the same hour (unless he happens to be sleeping!).  He asks sooooo many questions about everything.  He wants to know how words are spelled, what words mean (even if he already knows), what we are going to be doing every minute, and if he has to take a nap that day (the answer is always yes).  He kills me!  But no one can make me laugh like he does!  The other day, I was explaining to him the difference between a son and a daughter.  I told him that he was my son, Reese was my daughter, and Elliot was my son.  He said, no, that Elliot was my prisoner.  Where he gets this stuff, I have no idea!  I can only imagine the stories he tells when I'm not around!

I knew it had been a while since I had updated our poor, neglected blog...but I didn't realize it had been about 2 months!  Yikes!  Let me try to give you a brief rundown of how everyone is doing!

Harry:  He is...well, depending on what day, what hour, or what minute it is, he is generally great, funny, and sweet!  But there are times, very bad times, at least once a day when a case of the defiant grumpies sets in and there is absolutely no reasoning with him!  I think I can say that those times are becoming less and less frequent, so that is a plus.  He is still doing fantastically at school, and ahem, not to brag but his teacher told me a few weeks ago that he is definitely ahead of his classmates in letters and numbers, etc.  He must get that from his mother, or it could also possibly be from him wanting to read I Spy Little Letters about a million times since we purchased it a few years ago.  He is quite the little planner.  I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times a day he asks me what we are going to be doing tomorrow.  It starts the moment he wakes up until it is time to go to bed.  He has started to say his own prayers at night which is adorable.  It starts out, "Thank you, God when we...." and then he proceeds to tell God exactly what he did that day.  You can tell when he is stalling bedtime by how excruciating some of the details are.  He is a funny kid!  He has been saying for a while that he wants to be Santa Claus for Halloween, and of course, I have looked high and low for a Santa costume and can't find one.  We are planning on going to the pumpkin patch this weekend and costume shopping, so maybe he will find something else that catches his eye.

Elliot:  Elly Belly is turning into quite the little wildman!  He is talking so much, he loves to sing, and doesn't hesitate to let you know how he feels about something good or bad.  Someone told me a few weeks ago that he is the most polite one year old that they have ever known.  He does an excellent job at saying please and thank you, excuse me, bless you, and love you.  He is equally impressive at protesting when things don't go quite his way.  If he's really upset, he usually throws whatever he is holding or he finds a clear space on the floor to lay down and cry his little heart out.  He's lucky that he's still in that too cute for words stage because I can usually laugh off what he does, but man...I think we will have our hands full with him!  His latest tool to try to aggravate his brother and parents is to turn off the TV over, and over, and over again.  Every time he does it, he turns and looks at us with the biggest grin on his face as if to say "Aren't I just the cutest thing in the world??"  He has even been put in time out a few times, but he finds this totally hilarous.  We had his 18 month checkup last month and here were his stats:

• Weight:  21 lbs. 6 oz (4th percentile)
• Height:  32 1/2 inches (50th percentile)
• Head:  I don't remember the measurement, but he was 75th percentile

He is still quite the lightweight!  I can't explain it, and the doctor isn't worried about it so I'm not either.  I would say his appetite has scaled back a little, but I would still be willing to bet that he eats more than Harry.  That is probably a mystery that we will never figure out!

Baby Sister:  She is still camped out in my belly, and she seems to be doing just fine!  I will be 39 weeks on Saturday and everything has been going great so far.  I have definitely grown more tired and worn out the last month or so.  I would say that I'm physically ready to have her, but not emotionally prepared!  We have things just about as ready as they are going to be for now except we have not decided on a name, and I don't have my bag packed.  I have been feeling some contractions lately, but nothing that would suggest I'm going into labor anytime soon.  Harry is soooo excited for Baby Sister to be here.  Lately, his favorite activity is writing her a "letter" (scribbles and some letters) and putting a "stamp" (one of our address labels) on it to give her.  He is going to be an awesome older brother for the second time around.  As far as Elliot goes....I'm not so sure!  I think he might have some massive jealousy issues, but we shall see before we know it!!

Has summer just flown by or what??  I can't believe August went by in such a rush!  I started off the month spending a few days in sunny Florida with some dear friends.  We had such a great time relaxing, swimming, eating, and being silly girls together.  As usual though, as great as it is to get away for a while, it is always great to get home and see all of my boys!  It has been nice getting back into our daily routine as monotonous as that can be sometimes.  Vacations have picked up around work in preparation of me being off the last 2 months of the year, so that has caused me to work quite a bit more than I'm used to.  The weather has been so awesome in the evenings that we usually spend the last few hours before bedtime playing outside!

Harry continues to amaze us every day with his increasing vocabulary, with things he learns at school, and with his everchanging attitudes!  His mood swings have thankfully evened out some, but man!  He can be such a pistol sometimes!  He wears me out most days with his high energy level, constant questioning, and trying to get me to change my mind to see it his way.  He got a haircut on Saturday--a mohawk!  We thought it fit his recent attitude quite nicely.  Rebellious, but cool all the same.  His little brother Elliot is getting to be to the age where he also stuns us with all the new things he learns every day.  Some of his cool new words are apple and Elliot, and some new phrases are "no, I'm not!", and "see you tomorrow".  Of course, these aren't said perfectly but he manages to get his point across.  He loves to try to sing the Veggie Tales theme song, and he thinks that Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is the funniest song he has ever heard.  It's hard to express how much they light up our lives!

Here are some shots from our yearly trip to the State Fair:  

He loved the rides, and I'm loving that fake smile of his!

Mmmmmmm, corn dog!

And one last unrelated picture, just because it's cute!

I think I can now pronounce with great pride that my son Harry is officially POTTY TRAINED!!  Praise the good Lord above!!  He wears a diaper at naptime (which is almost always dry) and bedtime (which is usually wet) and that is it, my friends!  We are so pumped.  We have even had to #2 in a public potty last week in Chick-Fil-A and it was no big deal except that he had to announce it to the whole restaurant.  We are super excited!  I think his overall behavior has improved as well...either it has or I can handle it better since I don't have to deal with the potty training on top of naughtiness!  The way it all went down is so very Harry.  He had to do it on his terms in his own way.  The more we pushed, the more difficult the process became and he wasn't having any of it.  We (okay, mostly I) backed off a bit, and boom.  He got to do it on his terms.  I guess neither of us will ever learn.  Surely Elliot will be so much easier to train, right??  RIGHT???

Speaking of Elliot, he has totally blossomed in the last month or so.  He is constantly jabbering, and sometimes he even makes sense!  He always wants what you have to eat or drink, and he is polite about it for the first few moments.  "Peease?  Peease?"  Then, if you don't give him what he wants after the first few times, he's all "PEEEEEEASE!!"  in this very screechy scream.  I noticed this morning that he is also saying "Bite?" when he wants your food.  He also is starting to fight back rather effectively with his big brother.  He can be heard yelling "NOOOOOO!  Dooooon't!" when he doesn't want him near/taking his things/looking at him the wrong way.  He also landed a pretty large bite on Harry's back the other day while they were fighting and getting on each other's nerves.  With our constantly talking 3 year old and the constant yammering of our 1 year old, we can barely hear ourselves think around our house!

Travis and I just returned from our first trip away from the kids as a couple on Sunday evening.  We went to our good friend Molly's wedding in Massachusetts and had a great time.  We were just gone from Friday morning until Sunday evening, but it was the perfect length to get some alone time, some time with great friends, and enough time away to miss the kiddos a bit.  We took the kids bowling the night before we left to ease our guilt a bit which Harry was over the moon about, of course.  Mom and Dad came over to our house to stay most of the weekend so I didn't even have to pack their things up for a weekend away.  I think they had an okay time handling the boys, and I'm sure Harry and Elliot loved doing whatever the heck they wanted all weekend. 

Next up is my girls' trip to sunny Florida and I think I am done travelling for the summer.  I have really enjoyed getting to do so many things and going so many places this summer, but I have had my fill.  I will be working quite a few extra hours this coming month due to vacations and vefore I know it, the next few months will fly by and we will have another baby in our arms (who, by the way seems to be doing splendidly).  I know the nesting phase of my pregnancy will be hitting me like a ton of bricks soon, so it will be nice to be able to stick around home for a while and get some projects done.  There is no place like home after all!

All I can say about the month of June is...whew!  Just thinking about it makes me tired!

Before we left I checked the weather report for Florida and realized how stinking hot it was going to be.  Poor little Elliot's head would have suffered greatly with all of his long, flowing, golden locks.  So, sadly it was time for a haircut.  He was not happy about it, but like the good boy he is, he still sat still in the barber's chair.  Here he is after the trauma, almost back to his normal smiley self.

We left June 5th for sunny Orlando.  Travis wasn't set to join us until the 8th, which made the trip down there a bit of a harrowing experience for me.  Getting 2 toddlers, myself, my carry-on, and a double stroller through security while everyone stands and stares at you is something I could have done without, but I guess it's all part of it.  The boys were as good as could be expected on the flight, although I'll have to say I don't think I would try to save money by not buying Elliot a seat again.  We could have used the extra room!  We didn't have much on the agenda except the pool once we got to the resort since we wanted to wait for Disney until Travis got there.  Thank goodness our friends Nate, Krista, and Mary were there to keep us company!  We missed him so much...it felt sad to be on vacation without all of us there!

One of the pools at our resort was absolutely great for the kids.  They were able to walk in and out by themselves since it didn't have steps in the shallow end, and it had fountains all around that they could play in.  It also had a little beach/lake area so they could play in the sand a little bit.

Once Travis got there, we hit the ground running!  Six straight days of Disney!  Since we were going with a 3 year old and two 1 year olds, we decided to do half days so we could still sneak their naps in.  We would typically head to the pool in the morning, head back to the room for lunch and a nap, then get to Disney about 4 or 5 and stay until the park closed.  We made it to Magic Kingdom 3 times, and the other 3 parks (Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom) one day each.  The highlights according to Harry were as follows:  the Small World ride (of course), Dumbo (of course, again), the Playhouse Disney show, and getting sprayed with water at the "bug show" (A Bug's Life).  He also is currently coveting his Disney T-shirt, which he calls his golf club shirt.  He really means golf ball, because it has the Epcot ball on it but you can't reason with a 3 year old.  He asks about every other day if he can go to Disney World again, so I guess it left a lasting impression!  I know he won't always remember his first trip to Disney, but Travis and I know what a great time he had so we will remember it for him and Elliot!

The boys were definitely unsure of the characters!  Harry gave Mickey, Minnie, Handy Manny, and 3 of the characters from the Little Einsteins high fives, but that was it.  Goofy was a little bigger than the rest of them and he was really freaked out by him!  As you can tell by the photo, he would tolerate getting pictures taken with them, but never wanted to be right by them!

We HAD to get the hats, of course!

By the time the 6th day was over, I was definitely done with Disney for a while!  We had a great time, but the heat and the hassle of toting the boys around getting them in and out of the strollers had definitely taken their toll on us!  I was so grateful to get home, sleep in my own bed, shower in my own bathroom, get the boys back into their regular routine, and do laundry in my wonderful Duet!  After spending nearly every waking hour with the boys for so many days straight, I was so ready for my girls' trip to NYC!  I thought I would be sad and nervous to leave the boys at home for a few days, but I totally wasn't!  I guess I trust my wonderful hubby and caregivers more than I realized! 

We had a truly excellent time in NYC.  The best part was catching up with my old roommates and reminiscing about our good old Purdue days!  We laughed so much and most likely annoyed anybody sitting close to us in any restaurants or cafes we visited!  We of course did a lot of walking, shopping, and eating.  The highlights for me was the broadway show we saw (Rock of Ages--totally spectacular, and in my top 3 broadway shows for sure), Crumbs cupcakes, and trying some new ethnic foods (Thai, Indian, and Korean).  In true Sarah fashion, my camera battery died and the few stores I looked in didn't sell the battery that I needed so I will need to rely on the other girls for their photos.  Although I had a great time, I was definitely ready to get home.  The last few days there, I kept noticing kids around my boys' ages and it made me miss them so much.  I'm so glad I got some time to relax and refocus on what I am most grateful for, and I definitely realized the need for doing that since I had never done it before. 

The day after I returned, it was back to work and regular life which I was excited about!  Before I was due to be in, we had our big ultrasound appointment.  Number 3 is confirmed to be a girl, and looks to be totally and completely healthy and normal!  Bless her little tiny heart, she is soooooo in for it!  It is so still rocking my world to think what life will be like with 3 little ones, but I'm still excited nonetheless.  Now the big tasks are to pick out a name and decide how to reconfigure the bedrooms.  

The travelling summer continues tomorrow when we leave for Tennessee to visit Nana and Poppy for the July 4th weekend.  Harry is convinced that we will be playing tennis in Tennessee (he doesn't quite get the concept of states yet), but we will have to see about that.  A precocious 3 year old with a racket and tennis balls sounds a little bit scary to me!  Have a great holiday!