Land of McGovernville

It is Tuesday so you get a double dose from us!

Here are some kiddos stats for ya:

Ruby
25 3/8 inches (85th%)
13.5 pounds (40th %)

Ruby is our little chatter box.  She is constantly talking to us and singing, ok so I call it singing.  She is quick to smile and slow to complain (unless she is really sleepy).  She is content doing most things, like playing on her gym type mat or sitting in our new Bumbo style chair!   She will tolerate the Jumeroo, but after a while she isn’t so into it.  She loves when anyone talks to her, especially her big brother and sister.  She also loves to laugh, and most things make her do so.  Her hair is rapidly growing and it looks like she might be a blonde, even if just for a while.  Today I caught her trying to put her pacifier in her mouth and she also found her feet!  She isn’t allowed to do two milestones in one day any more!!  LOL

Jack
25 1/2 inches (50-75th%)
13.85 pounds (20th%)

Jack is a smiley baby, at times.  Anytime you approach him he will grin from ear to ear, however, if you leave the smile goes away quickly.  I am pretty sure he is a social butterfly.  Currently he loves zerberts and tickles.  He will grab anything around him and quickly try to put it in his mouth.  I have been trying to get him to grab his feet, however he just laughs when I do so.  As per recommendation of his physical therapist, we have been teaching him how to sit up and he is so close to doing so on his own.  The PT is impressed with his strength and so are we~! 
His cute little pudgy belly is very ticklish.  His absolutely favorite thing lately is swimming.  He is so calm and he smiles the entire time.  I have mentioned it before, but he might be my water baby. 

Both babies are getting on a decent schedule.  They usually nap about an hour and a half after they wake for the day (some time around 8-8:30am), then again when the big kids do, then again around 5:30 or so.  How long they nap isn’t as consistant, but that is ok.  They also both go back and forth on sleeping during the night.  I, however, am not getting much sleep at night.  Just recently we started putting them in cloth full time (with the exception of night time, disposables are still best for overnight protection).  As I sit here and type Jack is leaving me a present in his ever so cute Kushie diaper.  How nice of him.  Thank God for BF poops though, they are completely ok to throw in the washing machine!!! 

Kenniston

35 1/2 inches
25 pounds

Kenniston is 2 and it shows.  She is so funny and has an imagination that could rival that of a Pixar employee or Imaginear at Disneyworld.  I have yet to find her currency in discipline.  I am trying so hard to understand where she is coming from, but even with all of my years of childhood education and nannying, nothing could prepare me for her.  Even though she can be a stubborn spitfire, I still love her dearly.

Vincent

41 inches
36.5 pounds

Wow, what can be said about Vincent now days?  A LOT!  He is reading so much and has such a curiousity of everything.  The other day while playing on his sand and water table he asked me “Mommy, is sand liquid or a solid?”  This conversation started a whole lesson about liquids and solids.  Lessons like this happen on a daily basis.  Lately we have been discussing the 9 fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness,  and self-control).  So far we have discussed peace and joy in detail, but the kids have been told what all 9 fruits are.  The other night while getting ready for dinner Brian told Vincent he needed to be patient and wait for the rest of us before eating.  Vincent stopped and said “Daddy, patience, that is one of the 9 fruits of the spirit!  I am going to be patient.”  He is so smart!

Here are things overheard at our house over the last few weeks:

During dinner a few nights ago Brian was feeling nauseous and dizzy.  Seeing how we aren’t ever going to reproduce any more we joke around about pregnancy in general.  I jokingly whispered “maybe you are pregnant.”
To which Vincent replied “I’M PREGNANT!!!”

“Mommy I am going to enter you.” Vincent (as he is dancing around for me)
“You mean entertain?” Kelly
“No, enter.  Mommy what does entertain mean?” Vincent
“To put on a show that is funny and keep someone occupied.” Kelly
“No, I just want to enter you.” Vincent (as he dances and starts to sing an “enter” song)

While eating muffins and eggs for dinner one night Vincent asked for another muffin, Brian and I couldn’t resist:
“Do you know the muffin man?” Kelly
“The muffin man?” Brian
“The muffin man.” Kelly
“That lives on dreary lane.” Brian
“Yes I know the muffin man.” Kelly
Vincent, smirks and looks away just waiting for his muffin.  It seems he is already done with his parents strange humor, lol.

While playing at the beach:
“Kenniston, don’t play by that drain, it is yucky.” Kelly
“But Mommy that is Captain Hook’s castle.  I need to find Captain Hook.” Kenniston

While wearing her Cinderella Pull Ups
“Mommy I don’t want to fart on Cinderella.” Kenniston

“Well Kenniston, how do you wash the monkeys?” Brian

“Kenniston, we don’t put blocks in the fish tank.” Brian

“Vincent please don’t bite mommy’s bottom.” Brian

“Captian Hook lives right there.” Kenniston
“Right there?  In your curtains?” Kelly
“No Mommy, my curtains are Captain Hook.”  Kenniston

“Not again Jack!” any given person in this house referring to Jack spitting up.

“No Mommy, I don’t want to go to Dreamland, I want to go to Disneyland.” Kenniston

“Mommy when we were driving to the library the other night, I thought we were going to go to the library.” (it turned out the library closed early that day so we couldn’t go) Vincent

“I want some pah after my dinner.” (by the way, pah, is actually pie said in a Texas accent.  They were copying the way mommy said it.) Kenniston

“Mommy I want this for my birthday” (he shows me a picture of a toy he already has) Vincent
“Kiddo you already have that.” Kelly
“Oh, then I want this.” Vincent

“Nana I want you to come to our house.” Vincent on the phone with Nana
“I am in Texas, I am far away.” Nana
“Well you can just walk here still, you can do it Nana, it is ok.” Vincent

Kenniston is turning into a little girl.  It is apparent in her daily conversations (today we had a great conversation I will elaborate on later), he playtime, and in her apperance as well.  I was able to braid her hair this past Thursday night.  I came out cute, but trying to photograph it was like trying to nail Jello to a tree.  Here is the best photo I could get.  Forget trying to adjust my lighting, it just wasn’t happening with this wacky 2 year old.

I swear this girl gives me more gray hairs than her big brother some days. 

Today we went swimming with Aunt Mandy.  Some of you may recognize her, she was the super helpful friend in the delivery room of the twins, her super helpfullness goes where ever she does.  So we took all 4 kids to the swimming pool on post.  Fortunately they have a great little kiddie pool that is absolutely perfect for the kids.  We got there and put the big kids in their floaties (which we always do now days) and lathered up in sun screen and let them go in the kiddie pool just a few feet from our table.  The water was no more than a foot deep so we were confident it was ok for them to go in with out us while we got the babies prepared.
As I was getting Jack ready to swim I saw Kenniston out of the corner of my eye underwater waving her arms.  I left Jack in the carseat and ran to get Kenniston.  She jetted out of the water (on her own) and had a HUGE grin on her face.  She said “That was funny Mommy!”  Oh my goodness I wanted to scream!  I was shaking because I was so nervous by that point.  I could not believe that she had gone under on purpose!  As I observed her a few minutes later, I noticed she would flip backwards (which was hard to do in her floaties, but there was no way I was taking them off).  and then roll in the water. 
Knowing she was not in harm of drowning, I figured I might as well at least teach her how to blow bubbles under water so she doesn’t accidently inhale a bunch of water.  So I proceeded to do so (as I have done many times before), but after a while it became a game of opening her mouth in the water so she could blow bubbles, but she would just purposefully drink the water instead.  Ewww and yuck.  A good time was had by all anyway.

On a side note, the babies loved the pool  Jack’s legs never stopped moving while in the pool.  He was so relaxed a laid back the entire time, even while his older siblings poured water over my head and some spilled onto his own.  He just laughed and smiled.  Oh I hope he is a water baby like his Mommy!

we are raising men and women, Mommies and Daddies.   That is a big bite to chew.  I see my kids as kids right now, but everyday as I teach them to be polite and thoughtful of others and how to love God I have to remember the ultimate goal - to teach them how to be good people.  Thoughts?

Several times over the last week Jack has fallen asleep while waiting for me to swaddle he and Ruby.  Tonight after I swaddled and nursed him I put him down.  He had a really hard time settling down so I decided to go ahead and unswaddle his top half.  He fell asleep right away.  Could this be it?  Could he be done swaddling?  If so, it makes me sad. 

He and Ruby both are super active babies.  They love to be talked to, tickled, and played with.  I think Jack enjoys his Aunt Mandy this best.  He loved how she played with him today.  He was laughing so hard while she tickled him, gave him zerberts and made silly faces at him. 
Ruby had a blast serenading us during dinner tonight.  She spent the entire half hour singing her beautiful little baby squeals.  He smiled during her whole song.  I think she sleeps smiling.  I know for a fact she smiles at all hours of the night.  The twins have started the wonderful 4 month all night wakings.  Jack likes to nurse.  Ruby likes to sing.  While I enjoy getting that one on one time with each baby, I wish I could do it during normal day light hours.

During the day they are doing so much more!  “Playtime” consists of floor play.  During floor play I let them have a few toys to explore or they lay under the baby gym.  Sometimes I put one or both in the Jumeroo or the exersaucer.  We also have 2 different baby chairs, like the Bumbo.  One of them is a Bumbo while the other is another brand that has a ring with toys around it.  They are both great because they teach the babies how to sit up properly.  Speaking of the babies sitting up, Jack is nearing that milestone!  The physical therapist has been very helpful in that area!  He has great muscle tone in his back and can sit up with assistance for quite some time.  I am working on Ruby right now as well.  She has some incredible trunk control.  She can get her legs under her body and scoot forward while laying on her belly.  Anytime I put the twins down on the big blanket in the living room they end up all over the place! 

People keep telling me that I have my hands full.  It does get old hearing that, but I am begining to think it might be true.

Now that we have officially completed our family with the birth of Jack and Ruby, in my mind we needed to have a big family vacation.  I guess you could say a “kick off” of years to come.  In my logical right mind, I realize how ridiculous this sounds.  Our ending our child bearing days has nothing NOTHING to do with how big our family vacations should be.  So anyway, Brian and I discussed Disneyland, but with the gas prices and the price of Disneyland alone, it wasn’t a possibility.  Not to mention going to Disneyland with 4 kids 4-years-old and under, now that is just insane.  So we settled on something more reasonable.  We chose to go to our church’s anual camping trip, then a short drive to Missoula Montana to stay at Jellystone Park.  As I mentioned before, we met up with the McGoverns from Montana and Colorado.  Then kind of an added bonus, we took an extra day coming back to Fort Lewis and stayed in a hotel.  I am so glad we did, it was a nice time just relaxing with our kiddos. 

I did have a moment to jot down a few memories from our vacation, here are a few:

This was supposed to be our first time camping in a tent with all 4 kiddos.  When we arrived at the campsite that our church rented out for this event, we learned that a cabin had been reserved for our large family.  I was elated!  We had the chance to stay in a hunter’s cabin, even though it was fairly primative, it had 4 walls and a ceiling and that was nice.  The kids slept on their child sized air mattresses and loved it.  On the first night Kenniston fell off of her air mattress onto the floor.  I didn’t think much of it until she did it again the second night.  This time, despite the fact it was so horrid hour of the night, I decided to ghetto rig a bed rail.  I grabbed the lid of a Rubbermaid box and wedged it between the air mattress and the ”bed” wall.  She never fell out again!
 
Outlining our camp site area was a beach front area.  This beach was great, compared to last year it was a safe area to wade in and play in the sand.  Despite this safer area, Vincent still gave us quite the scare.  When we first arrived at this beach neither of the big kids really wanted to go into the water above their ankles.  This surprised me because both kids love the water.   Seeing how they weren’t interested in going into the water, I chose to not even bother with their floaties.  Big mistake. 
That Saturday there were 20 or so adults supervising 30 or so kiddos (mainly parents watching their own kids plus one or two more whose parents were white water rafting).  I was holding Jack in my wrap and Brian was holding Ruby.  We were both keeping an eye on the older kiddos which were playing in the sand within feet of us.  I stood in ankle deep water chatting with a friend who was watching as her children played with ours.  Out of nowhere I heard “Mommy Mommy help.” in a bone chillling scary scream that came from Vincent.  I looked around to find him holding onto the end of the 15 foot dock.  I ran to him (keep in mind I have Jack in a wrap in front of me) as did Brian.  The girlfriend I was chatting with noticed that Brian and I were both running with babies in tow toward Vincent so she calls to her husband to help grab Vincent (she was also holding a baby, her own).  At this point I was hollering to the older boy who was standing next to Vincent to help.  This boy just stood there and looked at me, I kept yelling slightly frantic at this point.  I am not sure which adult actually grabbed Vincent, but one did.  I held on tight to him.  As I did so I asked him if he was ok.  He told me “I was afraid something was going to eat my feet.”  I was shocked, I thought for sure he was afraid of getting into water that was too deep.  Granted the water he was trying to climb out of wasn’t very deep (it would have reached his shoulders or ears), it still scared me.  I am still not sure why he was even going in the water at that point (the end of the dock vs. the beach line that he had been playing in).  I am pretty sure that was my most scary motherhood moment yet.  Needless to say, both kids wore their floaties from that point out!

Later that night, Vincent continued to give us gray hairs.  Our cabin was about 20 feet from the main area were the adults congregated after the kiddos went to bed.  We set up our baby monitor in the cabin and put our chairs in a position to where we could watch the door to our cabin.  A few times we caught Vincent standing at the door to the cabin, so we had to go put him back into bed.  After a while, Kenniston woke up.  She had fallen asleep around 6pm with out eating dinner.  I took her to take a shower and get ready for bed.  When we got back I let her sit down with me while she ate a PB&J sandwich.  At this point, just over an hour after Kenniston had woken up, Brian got up to get a s’more.  As he was getting his grahm cracker he heard “Hi Daddy!”  He looked over to find none other than Vincent James standing there donning a chocolate filled face.  Brian was rather shocked to see him outside the cabin and began to question him.  It turned out he had been out of his bed since about the time Kenniston woke up and he was wondering around eating s’mores and PLAYING!!!  We have no idea how we missed him!!  Not only did we have the baby monitor we also locked the bottom half of the door to our cabin on the outside (it was a split door).  After putting Vincent back to bed we stood just feet away and witnessed how Vincent got out.  He scaled the side of the door and got over it!  So, not only did he get caught (well, he ratted himself out) and get in trouble, he did it again!  This child is more daring than we realized. 

Thankfully, aside from our fun rafting trip, that was the most adventurous part of that leg of the trip.  Actually that was probably the most scary part of our entire trip period….thankfully!

After we left the Alta Lake area we headed to Missoula.  That drive was a bit of back tracking, but we made the most of it.  We stopped at a fruit stand hoping for a good variety, but only got cherries.  We arrived at Jellystone just before bedtime, which made for some interesting kiddos.  While Brian put the kiddos down I hit the grocery store.  I was in a daze trying to shop at 11pm.  I ended up forgetting a few things. 

The next day we really enjoyed swimming and napping before the rest of the family arrived.  It was such a great feeling just hanging out with no rush to get anywhere or do anything.  The kids loved swimming away the morning then feasting on cherries and cheese for lunch.  Naptime was great, I am pretty sure that was the first time anyone napped during our whole vacation. 

Late that afternoon the rest of the McGovern and Allen crew arrived as well as Grissell, a family friend who joined us for the trip.  We all went for a swim again and slept great that night.  The rest of our time there was pretty relaxed and carefree.  Brian, Kenniston, Brad (brother in law) and Rachel (our neice) all went to Missoula to explore and get away for a while at one point.  I took Vincent and the babies to play put put golf with Lara (Brian’s sister), Zack (our nephew) and grandma (Brian’s mom).  We also made a point to swim everyday.  One night we had a combo birthday for the boys.  Both of their birthdays are in July, so it was great timing.  The trip as a whole was great. 

I know this years vacation was the first with our “complete” family.  I know it was silly of me to expect a big grand trip and I can clearly see that.  This trip was perfect for our family where it is now.  I don’t think Jellystone will work as well say 8 years from now, but this year was great and I for one am glad we did this!

It is well after 11pm and I am now sitting down able to slightly relax.  The kids are in bed and the van is about half emptied (ha, don’t try to analyze the glass half empty/full analogy…the glass is definitly half full for me!).  I look around my house, a house that looks like a family of 6 that just returned from vacation.  Tonight is the hardest part.  It is the day of return, the day that you have to come off of the vacation high and return back to your so called normal life.  The unpacking, the laundry, the cleaning.  That is where pictures come in handy, you can daily remember the vacation joys thanks to a single still picture.  Maybe that is why I got into photography.  Speaking of which, I will have pictures up soon.
Check back for my daily ramblings from our vacation.