brothers

this photo makes my heart smile so big!
it was taken by Rebecca Manney our FABULOUS photographer!!

I was an only child so this whole sibling thing is foreign to me. I ask friends about "rules" of siblings, concerning disagreements between them or gifts that one gets, especially that one, and many more.
The boys disagree often, especially B2 and B3, but it never fails that at least once daily they will sit and talk and just crack up laughing at each other. That kind of contagious laugh that you have with just your very close friend. Laughing so much that Ryan and I will hear them, and not even having a clue what is so funny, will start laughing too. Blaine and Britton will team up to annoy B1 (Brandon) and they always succeed.
With over 4 years between B1 and B2, they have little in common. Brandon is an EXCELLENT, an absolute AWESOME big bro. While he may get aggravated because they beat on his bedroom door while he is trying to read or get away from them or because want to "play Legos with him" and end up destroying his creation, he is willing to help them when they need it.
I have no doubt that once Brandon starts school, the little boys will miss him. They enjoy him being around to tickle them or chase them or help them with a toy and even make pbj's. something so simple, yet to Brandon, it's big and having Brandon make them a sandwich instead of boring 'ol mom, is better.

I never saw myself being a mom of boys but I LOVE it! They are the BEST, so fun and so active!

happy girl

Gracelyn has a second tooth coming in, on the bottom, right next to the first one that still isn't even halfway in, after almost 3 weeks. She is such a trooper though. Nothing seems to help ease the pain but not every day is full of crying. I think mostly because physically she is able to do more things now.

Miss G is able to sit from her tummy (which I have yet to capture on video) and can pull to a stand, which she does at the very very end of this video...



and even cuter, she absolutely L.O.V.E.S. to wave now. I mean if she even hears you say "hi" to someone else and she is just nearby, that arm will start moving and a HUGE grin spreads across her beautiful face...


the video ended because I promptly removed the blanket that Britton placed on her head.

beachball blast birthday

Blaine Jackson turned 4 on July 19th and we celebrated on the 17th. His birthday party was a beach theme with a cowboy twist. We set up a beach ball sprinkler, kiddie pool and Toy Story slip n' slide for the kiddos in our backyard. Blaine chose the menu with all of his favorite snacks, Doritos, Oreos, granola bars, watermelon and cake bites! He played in the water with his friends for about 30 minutes and then he must have gotten sleepy or something because I noticed he was over sitting with a few of the other dads.
Blaine is by far my most easy going, passive little one. He is so funny and you just never know what he will say next. The other day when talking about his friends, he mentioned Logan. I asked "where's he from?" (meaning where do you know him from) and Blaine replies "um, he's from his mom and dad." Ryan and I literally laughed out loud!
He loves loves loves church and Jesus and his family and friends and talks about them all the time. Blaine loves cowboys and guitars and singing and popcorn and grapes and chicken. He could and does snack all day long but maintains his tall and skinny self. His friend Nathan is a few months younger and is already in a booster seat but Blaine doesn't weigh enough yet. He talks about wanting to sit in a booster seat like Nathan occasionally. He's the smallest of the boys, even Britton who's 16 months younger weighs more!
Back around the time Gracelyn was born he began stuttering. He started seeing a speech therapist and he is doing much much better. When a lot of activity is going on around him he will sometimes have difficulty getting his words out but we really make an effort to slow things down, as much as a family of 6 can.
We love you, B2, you are a joy and we couldn't feel more blessed to be your parents!

Cub Scout Day Camp 2010

yes cub scout day camp was the first week of June and it's now the final week of July and I'm just now blogging it. mother of the year, right here... yeah right.
Ryan doubled as a sponsor as well as the camp photographer. The camp lasted 5 days and he took the camera 4 of the days, because one day I took it to Gracelyn's PT. With over 200 pictures I am finally getting around to sorting them and finding ones of just Brandon.
The theme this year centered around the centennial celebration of scouting. Just like last year, Brandon had a blast, despite the intense heat!

his group, the drovers.
he's the one with his Boston cap under his bucket cap.
he does not like those hats (and I completely agree!)

He shot sling shots... (yellow bandana)

bow and arrows... (bandana and blue hat)

bb guns... (blue hat)

ate food prepared around a campfire, "not near as good as what we make while camping" is what he informed me when I asked him what he made...

making biscuits on a stick...

played games...

the object of the game is to run around and pull other people's bandanas from their belt while keeping your own.

learned about safety and just had an all-around good time with friends!

the local fire department came out and sprayed the boys with water to cool them down. a few boys got sick during the week from lack of hydration.

Britton is a BIG boy!!!

I LOVE this picture of him!
He was so proud of himself and was waiting on his dad to bring him a milkshake!

I started potty training Britton last Wednesday and I am proud to say that he is POTTY TRAINED!!! *We only have ONE child in diapers now!!* I am overjoyed and so proud of B3!
I have to confess that I was scared to begin the process with Britton. He is my third and incredibly strong willed, the most of all the boys. I will admit it, he is like me, yes I said it. The older boys were a breeze and I knew that it would be more a challenge with Britton. and it definitely was! By the second day he was demanding his diapers and I was about ready to give in. BUT I prevailed and we pressed on. I am so proud of him!!!
I promised him just about everything under the sun in order to motivate him. He got Sonic slushes, Braum's milkshakes (birthday cake blue!), m&m's, cookies...


and MOST importantly, a tractor, for being all around potty trained!!!!!!

the tractor came with a grain cart and a plow.
but in typical third child fashion, in order for no one to mess with the plow, he places the plow IN the cart to keep them all near him! He knows how it goes!

Way to go Britton!!!

Nine is Divine!

As of last Friday, the 16th, Gracelyn is 9 months old!!

I believe I said this last month but WOW. where has the time gone? She is ¾ of the way to one year and she's is doing so much now!!
A month ago her tongue thrust prevented her from eating solid foods without me watering them down for her to slurp off the spoon. It's no longer the case anymore! She's still on very well pureed foods but it's fantastic! Miss G is handling her sippy so well. and speaking of handling, her fine motor skills are improving greatly! She can pick up her little Gerber puffs one at a time, off her tray and put them in her mouth! She actually will pick up anything and put it in her mouth. another thing she couldn't do last month! Gracie's still army crawling but now she is an ATB, all-terrain baby. She tackles anything and anyone! if she sees something she wants and an object or person is in the way, watch out because she charges over or through to get to her goal. It's awesome! She so very close to sitting from her tummy, she gets halfway there! Gracelyn is standing better. She still has the hoolla hoop action going on, not nearly as much though AND she is starting to move a foot. She's yet to take a step but you can see in the picture below where she moved her right foot back! G is standing for about 5 minutes now!
She's jabbering and laughing, cracking up and blowing raspberries constantly. I don't have to give daily suppositories anymore either, it's every 2-3 days now!!! YAY!!!

raspberries!

Her main battle right now is her tooth. The tooth that she began cutting a week from last Saturday, yeah, she is still cutting it. You can finally see it now but just barely. It's so sad and such torture for her. Poor girl, she's in pain and I've tried everything to help ease it. She sleeps even less now though, like waking up hourly and taking 20 minutes to go back to sleep, only to sleep about 30.

Last Friday, when she turned 9 months old, Gracelyn had her first swim!

She wasn't much of a fan, which surprised me. She preferred observing...

...and playing with her friend Emily!

Emily turned 10 months old that day. They just have so much fun and smiled and laughed at each other!!

silly sticker fun

It's been so hot lately, miserable really. So when we received some stickers in the mail the boys (and I) had fun with them! It was silly but so funny how just stickers provided them with entertainment for a whole hour!!!

as a side note: Blaine's hand looks awful. he injured it while camping and it looks MUCH better now, it's on the road to recovery.

they decided collectively that I need a few too.
I was impressed that they spared some for me.

teeth hair and laughs

Teeth: Gracelyn will be 9 months tomorrow and started cutting her first tooth last Saturday. I have been anticipating this for months. I honestly think she was teething back when she was 4 months, before she was diagnosed with botulism. Her 3 brothers were all early teethers and she was showing all the signs then. I think, and her therapist agrees that late teething is just another symptom of the toxin. Another part of her little body that was paralyzed. This first tooth is taking it's toll on her. You still cannot see it yet, only feel the top of it, still a week later. It's been a rough week.


Hair: Another victim to the toxin. Poor girl has had no hair growth and it is finally starting to fill in! on the top first. that bald spot that a lot of babies have on the backs of their heads, yeah she still has hers. hopefully it starts filling in on the back soon too! It's exciting though because sooner than I thought I will be able to do more things with her hair!!

I don't think you can tell but she does have a lot more hair now

Laughs: Her vocal sounds have been gaining in the last month. Her voice was a major casualty of the botulism. She started jabbering a little over a month ago, which is music to my ears and my heart and recently started giggling. But today she was cracking up, a laugh that I have not heard from her. Boy did we all need it and God knew it. With her teething and not feeling well because of it, she has screamed a lot and not been eating and actually wanting to sleep (which she hasn't wanted to at.all since she got sick) BUT she wants to sleep in the DAYTIME! not cool. On top of her teething, I had already decided to start potty training her littlest big brother (who is incredibly strong willed) and that has been a challenge, to say the least.



she is sitting in my lap, which explains the crazy angle and movements and she was cracking up laughing at Britton, who will probably be the only one, for at least a little while who can get her to laugh like this. she adores him.

the graduate

Gracelyn had her first graduation last Wednesday. It was not an official "ceremony" or even a graduation common to most babies but one that was filled with tears from me, her mother. After 16 weeks since she was discharged from the hospital and began therapy, Gracie graduated from physical therapy!!

she army crawled over to me and they tried to get her to pull up on me.
She didn't but they stood her up and gave me this adorable face!

It was definitely not a surprise. I knew it was quickly approaching with how incredibly well she was doing AND was told that Monday (before leaving on our camping trip) she would just come in last week for a sort of "check."

a pep talk from Mr. Derrick when she wouldn't do anything.
she looks like she's really listening but she wasn't!

Once again, she blew us away. Mr. Derrick laid her on the mat and she immediately got up on all fours. She paused there for a moment and then laid back down. PHENOMENAL! She amazes me!

LOOK AT THAT FORM!!

It was almost as if she knew this session was it for her because she didn't really listen all that well. And aside from the crawling position stance she performed right off, that was the extent of her tricks. She ignored Mr. Derrick and crawled toward me and also posed often for all her admirers. She got up on all fours a few times throughout the session just to show-off but that was it.

posing

He really tried to get her to either sit from a lay or attempt to pull up but she wasn't really interested in either idea. Gracelyn is very close to sitting up from the floor and he predicted her to be crawling by this week. Now that I am just blogging about her graduation and it is a week later, I can report that she is not sitting up from the floor or crawling on all fours.

the light up flower is tempting but not enough...

I might have mentioned a time or two, or twenty, she is a miracle. In 16 weeks she has made so much progress. SO.MUCH! To go from a 5 month old baby that was truly at a newborn level to an almost 9 month old that is close to an almost 9 month old level, WOW!! It makes me cry and gives me chills.

I will miss the staff at Jim Thorpe sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. They mean so much to me and to Gracie and have worked so hard with her. I can not thank them enough.

Mr. Derrick.
he pushed her like I never did and made her mad like I never did but she really does love him. (despite how she looks in the picture, it was naptime!)

Gracie and Ms. Bev!

Bev is the glue that holds that place together and keeps those boys as in line as she possibly can! We love her so much!!!

last but definitely NOT least, Mr. Rusty!
He is a goofball and no matter what Mr. Derrick was making her do, if Mr. Rusty walked by or Gracie heard or caught sight of him across the room, she stared and smiled.

Roaring River 2010~ days 4 and 5

Saturday was our last full day in Missouri and the adults began trying to come up with a way to stay one more day. It just wasn't going to work out though. Ryan had a new guy starting Monday and Brandon and Jackson had baseball that day as well. We are never ready to go home. It is just so peaceful and laid back there. No cell phones, which is big. You do things on YOUR time. Of course Kathy and I were dreading all the laundry and unpacking, but that was not our main motivation for not wanting to come home. It's just so nice to be there. a break from everything else.
It rained a good portion of the afternoon Saturday. We couldn't complain, it had been awesome the last several and it gave the boys time to work on this junior naturalist/explorer projects without feeling like they were missing out on something else.
The boys were wanting to swim once more but opted for one last hike. I was trying to get Gracelyn down for a nap, which failed miserably, so Kathy took the 5 older boys hiking and Ryan and Todd ran into town and took Britton and the DeVaughan's baby girl, Emily.
We attended an "Ozark mammals" show that evening. No LIVE animals, only skins, which still grossed me out and once again, they warned everyone about the copperhead that attended one of the shows the week before. The boys received their badges for the explorer program they participated in.

yes, that's Gracie, not Britton!
She would not keep her hats on.

PANCAKES!!

During the hike, Blaine injured his already injured hand twice by falling. It was pretty nasty.
"Dr. Todd" was getting him all fixed up.
Todd tended to a lot of little cuts and scrapes on the trip, I guess with 6 boys, what do you expect.

Ryan in the hammock with the little boys and Gracie.
She was all over the place!
The boys enjoyed it for a bit, then Blaine asked me to get her out.

during the rain, Brandon was working on his report and picture on the Roaring River schoolhouse while Britton was jumping in rain puddles.

the rain dampened our fire so Ryan was teaching the boys how to bring it back by blowing at the bottom of it. Some of them didn't believe him until they saw for their own eyes.

Brandon

the boys received their naturalist and junior explorer badges and were reciting the oath.
In addition to promising to respect the land and the animals, the oath included a promise to obey mom and dad, clean their room and to not fight with siblings. Needless to say, all the boys hesitated on that part.

Sunday consisted really of just packing. It's so much work to go camping because not only do you need clothes but also tents and canopies and stoves and tables and bikes and just stuff. The kids rode on their bikes and trikes for as long as they could, until an adult asked them to do something or it was time to load them up.

Nathan and Blaine, that is not a tricycle built for 2, but they made it work!

dining on the traditional last day breakfast, cinnamon rolls!

about to get in her car seat, doesn't she look thrilled.

family picture, after showers, right before hitting the road.

Blaine and Britton, in their car seats, before even leaving the campground.
If it wasn't already obvious, they had so much fun!

I don't know if I have mentioned it yet, maybe only once or twice, or if you can tell from the pictures but we such a fantastic time. We cannot wait to go back next year!