Mimi's & Papi's

This past week Chris had a business trip, so I decided to take the kids to OK for a few days. It just so happened that Jon and Katie had a trip planned as well, so their three kids were already staying at my parents. I decided we could go "help out" with things, but I am not sure how much we helped out rather than adding to the chaos!

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. My parent's family room was in a constant state of disarray as Jack and Ethan had chairs, tables and stools overturned to make camp sites, doctor's offices, and who knows what else. Claire and Owen actually played together for the first time too, and it was really, really cute. Owen had his lawn mower and Claire had her shopping cart, and I think they logged several miles going in circles over and over again around my parent's fireplace. They went on "dates" to get coffee and cupcakes (with sprinkles), and the last day was spent with Claire lying on the couch making a grocery list for Owen to go to the store for her. (I have no idea where they're seeing this modeled...)

We also spent a lot of time at the pool, although I wasn't brave enough to take my camera there to document it. The kids loved swimming, and I think my mom and I enjoyed having them get their energy out somewhere other than inside the house! My dad was wonderful as he watched the Lily and Harper while we went to the pool. The sweet younger girls spent a lot of time observing the craziness put on by their siblings!

My mom amazed me as she managed to feed all nine of us, keep a relatively clean house, AND teach me to sew all in the meantime. (I'll have to blog about that a little later) She's truly superwoman. Thanks mom for all that you did for us!

Harper is 4 Months Old

My little lady is 4 months old - where is time going?!! She continues to be so easy and sweet... Her hands have become her new favorite toy, and when they're not in her mouth, they're grabbing for anything remotely close. She has started getting bored just laying around, so we put her in the bouncer and she has LOVED it. I think it helps that she can have a full view of what her brothers are doing... She's started belly laughing too, which has to be my favorite thing a baby does.
She's still sleeping like a champ at night, and we're starting to work on a little more consistent naps. The poor thing gets dragged all over in the mornings when there are things to do for her brothers; luckily she rolls with it pretty easily.
The "rolling with it" causes her to be tired some days, which is why she can fall asleep in the strangest positions. These are just a few of the places she's fallen asleep!

Bye-Bye Plugs

It was a big week for Owen; he told his "plugs" (aka pacifiers) good-bye forever and ever. I think Chris and I dreaded getting rid of them more than Owen did. It had turned into a crutch for us when we needed him to be quiet and go to sleep. But after he cried for an hour in the car on the way back from Tulsa b/c he wanted a plug, I decided it was time to be done. We waited for a trash day so he could watch the trash man come and take them away. He loves watching the trash men anyway, and it was just a plus that someone else could be an unwitting scapegoat! We talked it up for a few days, and then on Thursday morning we collected all the plugs, put them in a baggy and I let Owen put them in the trash can. He waited all morning for the truck to come. His patience paid off; while he was playing at a neighbor's, he heard the truck and managed to see it take his plugs away. He was certainly a big talker as he told everyone his plugs were gone for ever and that he was a big boy now. That talk ended as soon as it was nap time. I'm pretty sure he cried for over an hour and it sounded something like this... "Me want my plugs! Me no like that trash guy! Bad trash guy! Me never sleep, ever ever again! Me need my plugs NOW!" I should have gotten some audio... That night it helped that he was over tired b/c he fell asleep pretty quickly...only to wake up a midnight crying. That lasted about a half an hour, and then he was done. The last two naps have gone smoothly, and last night he slept all night. It really wasn't as painful as I had anticipated, thank the Lord! Now on to potty training...yeah, right.

4th of July

We had an incredibly fun and memorable July 4th holiday weekend this year. My dad's side of the family had its first ever reunion, and almost everyone on the Dodson side made it. (My rough estimate is that 37 people were there!) My cousin, Becky, and her husband, Brian, opening up their house to all the insanity, and fed us all almost every meal, had rooms/beds for three different families, clothed several kids, provided entertainment, and organized the entire weekend. (THANKS, Carlozzis!!!) It was so fun seeing all of the cousin's kids play together, and Owen even became very attached to a couple of my uncles. ("Hey, Unca Bob. What you doin'?") My kids had a blast with so many people to play with, fun things to do, LATE bedtimes, and great food to eat. (They now think that Sprite should come with every meal...) Even us "big cousins" were able to go out one night while our parents watched our 12 kids. It was a blast hanging out with everyone, and the major rain storm that we had to run back home in will forever be a fond memory. (minus my graceful run-in with a sidewalk that resulted in my sliding across concrete and almost breaking my toe!) I am so thankful for family, and it was such a good reminder that although it takes work to make things like this happen, it is so worth it for the memories and the relationships that get strengthened.
One of the things we did while we were there was go to the OKC zoo. I think the sea lion show was by far the boy's favorite thing, but they also really enjoyed seeing a lion up close, and they were pretty pumped to see a baby elephant too.
We came back the the afternoon of the 4th pretty much exhausted, but we made it to a cookout hosted by our friends the Walkers, and we came back to our driveway for some sparklers and to see some of the fireworks put on by the city. It truly was one of the best 4th of July holidays we've ever had!

The Kiddos

The boys have really started playing together, and I love it! It's hilarious hearing their imaginations work together. They've been on a recent kick of "going camping". Owen packs all the food in his Thomas the Train back pack, and Ethan packs all the guns they'll need to protect themselves from "the bad guys". Last week they were "headed to the mountains" and they needed some hats and gloves. This is what they put together.
Harper has started cooing and chatting when someone talks to her. It's pretty cute. I think she has a lot to say...