Cows & Cones

The cows....




The "cones"....


The kids love this place! Ice cream and farm animals....what's not to like?

A new week...

Wow, this summer is just flying by! The kids are busy with camp, I'm busy with little Katy, and we are all enjoying getting outside when we can. We had a wonderful day in the 80's today...such an improvement over last week's 100 degree days.

This past week Beth and Matt went to vacation bible school with the little boys next door. Our home church is kind of small and doesn't do anything like that, s0 I was glad they had a chance to go to this church. I was really impressed...everyone there did such a nice job working with the kids. It was obvious they had been planning and working for many months. Little Matt had some trouble, the wiggle worm that he his, but I sent him three of the nights anyway because he just wanted to go so bad. We gave him his own little Bible and he was so proud to carry it around. He did a super job memorizing his verses too. Beth knew hers every night, but Matt is the one who can still remember all of them a week later. I just wish he could sit still longer. He's only 4 1/2, I'm hoping it comes with time. Miss Beth went all five nights, and one of the nights she won "Diver of the Day" which goes to a child from each class who has done a good job that night. She was so excited to get called up during the closing ceremony. Then on the last day they put all the previous winners' names in a hat for a big drawing and she won that too. What a lucky kid! She was smiling ear to ear...her teacher had to go up to help her carry all her prizes. She got a great big stuffed frog and a whole backpack full of water toys. She shared everything with Matt since those two are two peas in a pod, and that was the big excitement of their weekend!

Well, we have two big trips coming up in the next two months and I'm sooo not ready. First we are going to the Virginia mountains for a week in August. I am excited about that. I just am worried about surviving the drive! Beth is fine, but Matt gets car sick, Carrie is like half potty trained, and Katy thinks she needs to nurse every thirty minutes. Then in September my BIL is getting married so we are down to North Carolina for that. Those are both about 14-15 hour drives...the one to NC is worse with more busy roads and traffic. I wouldn't normally do two trips so close together, but the mountain trip is our yearly family vacation (which we sooo need - I can't wait!) and then we will really feel like we should be at the wedding. We'll get to see some family we haven't seen in several years too, so that will be nice.

Beach day!

After moving to Connecticut from Florida I was shocked at what people here even considered a "beach." They will seriously sit in bumper to bumper traffic for hours and hours, pay $30 for a parking spot, all to find a tiny patch of rocky beach to claim for the day. It really made me miss the endless white sand beaches of Florida and North Carolina....and the public parking! Over the past few years though we've found several really nice places to go in the summer. What Connecticut does have is a fabulous state park system. Some are free, some have a small parking fee, and all are very nice. We've even found a few little spots that aren't as busy. That's perfect for us....I don't do crowds with four little kids in tow. And I've come to find that the New England coast really has it's own charm. My kids love climbing on the big rocks, collecting the small ones, and even catching crabs with just a bucket.

Here's Bethie doing a little math on the coast! I do search out the sandy spots for her because she loves writing in them so much.


And some art as well... This was supposed to be a picture of all three kids, but you can see that I had minimal cooperation.


And my little tiny one. :)

Another summer week....

Big Matt has been pretty busy with work and his night class so I've had lots of time with just the kiddos. With the exception of one very ill fated trip to the commissary everything went pretty well.

Matt and Beth had another fun week of camp. They took field trips to the park, to a library program, and to the beach. On beach day I tagged along with the little girls for about an hour, and Carrie had a big time playing in the sand. I was hoping to go back as a family today but Matt got called into work. We'll have to go soon....the weather forecast for the whole week looks great!

At home we did some coloring, some work book pages, and some crafts.




I am thoroughly enjoying staying in the air conditioning myself. The weather has been crazy humid this year, especially considering that we live in Connecticut. The big kids of course want none of that though - they want to be outside whenever they can!


We also hit up the annual block party this week.

There was tons of junk food (which the kids fully enjoyed,) a dunking booth, bumper cars, a train ride, and lots of different booths set-up. Beth took a turn at the dunking booth and knocked the lady in the first try. I was impressed! She really has had a good arm since she was a baby...maybe she'll play softball in a few more years.

Little Miss Katy spent her week getting lots of snuggles and resisting any attempts to lay her down at anytime. :P



I can't believe July is half over! We'll be gearing up to start school in again before we know it.

Who's the baby again?

Most of my pregnancy I was worried about how Carrie would react when we brought the new baby home. She was very much the pampered little princess of the family and I thought a tough adjustment might be in our future. I was very relieved when just a few weeks before Katy's birth she suddenly seemed to mature from a baby into a little girl. She started talking more, walking instead of wanting to be held, and just became more independent overall. When she came to the hospital to meet Katy she loved her right away, and has been nothing but helpful and gentle since we brought her home. The only thing I have to watch out for is her love of giving Katy some hard pushes in her swing and car seat. I guess she figures she likes to swing high - why wouldn't Katy?

The one problem that I did not foresee is that she just doesn't want to give up her things! It really is very funny to watch, but it's also becoming a pain to deal with. She is very possessive of anything that has ever belonged to her. The baby blankets and burp cloths are all in a pile in her toddler bed...she'll pull them right off of Katy. She puts on Katy's bibs, crams her fat little feet into her booties, and even tried to put on a newborn onsie. The strange thing is that the few things we have gotten new for Katy she doesn't touch - she just doesn't want to give her any of HER things. I really don't know what to do. I don't want to buy new baby things when we have perfectly good ones already that have made it through my first three kids. The biggest item is the glider that is in Carrie's nursery. I'd love to put that in my room so I could nurse the baby, but Carrie loves that chair. She sits in it and rocks herself and reads her board books everyday. She is one stubborn little mama! If there is a lesson in all of this I guess it is to start weaning your toddler off all the baby things several months BEFORE your new little one arrives.

One month!

Little Katy is one month old today. The time is just flying right by... She has a little cold, but other than that is doing really well. I feel bad for her, I've never had a baby get sick this young before. I guess that what happens when you have two older sisters and an older brother giving you kisses all the time.

She loves her binky! I've never understood how some moms make it through without pacifiers. Maybe my kids just have a higher sucking need than most...the binkies are a lifesaver in my house!


We went and saw the doctor yesterday and she is up to 6 pounds 10 ounces....almost a pound higher than her birth weight. She still looks teeny tiny to me.


We just love her. I don't even mind staying up half the night with her. Matt stays up the other half of the night by the way - there seems to be no actual sleeping on her part, lol. I know she will be big soon enough though and we are just treasuring every little moment.

Wow...life with four kids at home is sure turning out to be exhausting. Katy is a good baby, things are just hectic right now. Going from two to three kids was so easy for us, so I kind of expected a repeat of that, but I'm finding four pretty crazy! I did the breakfast dishes at 5pm last night and counted it a success, lol.

I'm so glad I decided to send Beth and Matt to camp this year. It's hard to get outside with them myself since the temperatures have been so high and I don't want Katy to get overheated. I know they have a few fun hours each morning now though to play games, spend time with their friends, and just burn some energy. Next week they are going on a field trip to the beach...they're so excited! Matt and I were hoping to take a family trip to the lake tomorrow, but now they are calling for thunderstorms. Go figure...it's been hot and dry everyday this week. Maybe we'll get lucky with a few clear hours in the morning..


Here's Miss Katy and her only sibling who is jealous of the new baby - Romeo!
Matt says every time he picks her up she licks his chest a few times and then cries. So disappointing, lol. As you can see though she will still settle in for a good snuggle with Daddy after a few minutes. What she will NOT do is settle anywhere other than in one of our arms. She does like being in the sling, which makes it possible to get at least some stuff done around here. I took her out in it yesterday though and I thought she was going to melt...it just seemed way too hot to have her all wrapped up like that. I am rethinking this summer baby that I wanted so much...I think April (Matt's birthday) was a better time for a new baby. BUT...it's just this year I have to worry about. Next summer, and every summer after, we can have a fun outdoor birthday party for her. I'm thinking Popsicles and sprinklers...it doesn't get easier than that!

Happy 4th of July!

We went and saw fireworks last night, went to a parade today, and Matt has tomorrow off from work. All in all a pretty great weekend!

My red, white, and blue kids


At the parade


Happy Girl!

All settled in

Night two went pretty well. I crashed at like 9:30, Matt gave her a bottle of expressed milk about midnight, and then she didn't get up to nurse again till about 3:30. So six hours of sleep for me....I'll take it! Of course once she got up at 3:30 she was up for the day. I was pretty sad when I saw the sun coming up and realized that the night had indeed ended. Sure enough the big kids soon joined us.

Beth and Matt are also doing really well in their new rooms. I held out on having them share for so long, but now I am really glad we made the switch. Matt came out once and said he was lonely :( but then slept okay.

This is Beth's room...a lot of the art projects on the wall are left over from when this was their playroom. I'm not quite done getting things set up for her, but we're getting there.



And here is Matt's room...it looks so big with just one bed in there! He and Beth's beds turn into bunkbeds, and I always thought we'd have two little boys to use them one of these days.



I know there are a lot of white walls, but we live in military quarters, and I'm not sure I am up for having to repaint everything each time we move.

*Yawn*

Am I the only one who totally forgets how much sleep deprivation sucks in between babies? I'm one tired mama today! And it's been all of one night. Only what?? Maybe six more months to go! Really though she did very well. We are just out of practice. Matt and I BOTH got out of bed every time she whimpered I think...she is one pampered little princess.

In other news Beth and Matt got their own rooms last night. They have shared for like 2 1/2 years and I really liked that arrangement. They had a great big room with a big closet, and it was just a nice set-up. The last few weeks though they have been been playing and carrying on every single night, and it was just wearing me out. We really tried everything, but nothing we did seemed to convince them they should stop running around the room and go to sleep anytime before 10pm...or even later. So, last night we did a switchero. Matt kept the big bedroom, and I moved Beth into the small bedroom that used to be a playroom at the front of the house. Her room really looks cute. She has her twin bed, a small nightstand, her dresser, and a set of colored cubbies. It's a lot smaller than the other room, but now that she's all moved in it seems just right. Matt meanwhile looks like he is living in a studio apartment down the hall, lol. I moved the train table and several other large toys in with him. I think the biggest issue with the move is going to be that I now have toys in all three bedrooms. I really didn't mind if the playroom stayed messy for a few days...I'd just shut the door when people came over. I can't let EVERY room look like that though. Beth and Matt are getting pretty good about picking up and making their beds though. I think as long as I stay on them about it they'll do okay. As for last night, Matt went straight to sleep. Meanwhile I caught Beth trying to sneak down the hall and back into his room two times. I guess we know who the instigator was now! After the second time she did stay in her room and go to sleep. It made for a much more peaceful evening for us all. Now eventually someone will have to share again, now that we have more kids than rooms. Maybe we'll put Carrie and Katy together. I think this arrangement is going to work well for now though!