Life with 3!

I had fair warning from most people of the difficulty in going from 2 kids to 3 kids. I was really nervous about having 3 kids ages 3.5 and under. And, although it has been somewhat hectic and my house is never as clean as it used to be...laundry left undone even longer than before, dishes still not done by the time Casey gets home from work, as well as the toys still scattered throughout the house come bedtime...we are surviving and enjoying our new little Owen. He is a good baby and doesn't cry too much. He fusses for quite a while lately after eating but hopefully that will tone down a bit as he gets a little older.
Here are just a few pictures of the boys from the past month. We have had fun playing and especially with making forts. They love making huge forts (I am the one who actually makes them):) and having pretend campouts or hooking up the portable DVD player inside and watching a movie.
The fancy hairdos you see on the boys are courtesy of Aunt Olivia.
The pictures of Owen are taken at 3 weeks and then today--one day shy of 1 month old.

Owen Christopher Parry

Well, our new little guy arrived Sunday morning at 4:39am. He weighed 8lbs. 11oz. and was 21 and 1/4 inches long.

Compliment from a 3 year old

It's amazing how something as simple as rearranging your living room and dining room furniture can make you feel so much better--especially when you finish and your 3 year old boy says, "Mom, the house looks beautiful Mom!" a few different times throughout the day.

Another one!

So this is going to be short. I have obviously given up on trying to keep this blog up to date, but just for those of you who might be interested, we are expecting our third. We had the 20 wk ultrasound today and it will be another boy! I will now be outnumbered 4 to 1.

ONE!

I can't believe our little Kimball is already 1 year old. We just had a small birthday party. Casey's brother Stewart and his wife Tiffany and their three kids, Alana, William, and Lydia came from Evanston to celebrate with us. Kimball was having a rough time until he got that big piece of cake set in front of him--that seemed to make everything better. He LOVED it! I haven't been very good at posting since Kimball has been born so here are a few pictures of Kimball from the past year.

Too Smart?

Lately I have been in awe at how smart Tel seems to be getting. It is simply amazing how much he learns everyday just by observing and listening to others and then putting that all together into his own new and creative ideas. Here are just a couple of his quotes from the past week:

"I have an idea!" Said while putting his index finger in the air--and then never sharing what the idea is.

"Pizza! 5 Dollars! Pizza cost 5 dollars!" Said after we had brought home some Pizza Hut for dinner. When asked again how much the pizza cost he promptly said, "Five dollars!"

Now we get to the scary part. Today in church I found he might be getting a little too smart for a 2 and 1/2 year old. Casey had taken Kimball out during Sacrament meeting because he was getting too loud and fussy. I was able to keep Tel calm and looking at a book for a while but before too long he said, "Tel has a poopy bum. Tel stinky." (He always refers to himself in the third person.) I wasn't sure if I believed him or not because he NEVER tells me if he needs a diaper change. He avoids it at all costs. But, he had never deliberately made up a lie before. (I'm sure he has lied many times but hasn't made up a story before--just lies that require a yes or no when in question.) So, I decided I would take him out and check it out. We got to the mother's room and sure enough...no poopy diaper. The little stinker had LIED! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't quite sure what to do but I knew I didn't want him to have his way! I didn't dare take him back into the chapel for fear of the fit and attention that would bring and take away from the spirit of the meeting so we stayed out in the foyer with Casey and Kimball. I let Casey know what had happened and he made Tel sit with him and not move but that didn't seem to be much of a consequence for Tel today. So if there is any advice out there for how to handle that (especially while at church) so he knows that it is not okay I am open to it. In one way it is pretty funny coming from a 2 year old and on the other, it scares me to know that my little 2 year old can think up a lie in order to get what he wants.

Little Snapshots

Here are just some snapshots of what we have been up to lately.

Fishing: Tel absolutely loves fishing, so on one of the last semi-warm days in the fall we took him out for one last fishing trip. Kimball, thankfully, slept for a good portion of it and was happy to sit in the dirt and rocks and play for the other portion. Tel's favorite part of fishing is using minnows for bait because he always has a "fish on his line". He feels pretty good about that and loves getting the new minnows out of the bucket when we lose one.








Halloween: Tel is Buddy the dinosaur (a t-rex) from the PBS show "Dinosaur Train". He is a little obsessed with it. I procrastinated the whole Halloween thing until the night before so I pulled an all-nighter to get the costume made. It had been so long since I had sewn anything at all (not that I was ever a seamstress), but my mind has a hard time figuring out how to put the fabric together so seams are hidden and things come out looking even a little bit like I had planned. Regardless of what the seams looked like, Tel loved it! Kimball is obviously a lion--costume found here at a local second hand store. His favorite part of Halloween was the Tootsie Pop suckers.
(Okay, so my camera that has these pictures on them is completely out of batteries and I don't have any more, so I will have to edit this post and add them in when the batteries I ordered get here.)

Trip to my Baggs, WY: While my grandparents were down from Alaska we went out to spend a couple days with them and some of my Grandma's side of the family in Baggs, WY. We had a great time and it was so good to see the ranch where she grew up. I had seen it a couple times before but not since I was pretty young--too young to really appreciate it. It is a beautiful place and I loved rehearing the stories of her growing up and her school days. Grandpa Oberg also grew up near there and he took Casey on a drive to see where he used to live while I stayed back with the kids who were tired of the car by the time we got there. Casey could talk to Grandpa for hours everyday and never tire of it. They have a lot in common and Casey loves hearing all of Grandpa's stories. It is fun to watch. The boys loved the horses. This was Tel's first time to actually sit on a horse--with Dad holding on of course. He was pretty happy about it but his favorite was feeding the horses. Kimball also liked the horses and the dogs. He is fearless. Tel can be a little more cautious when it comes to the unknown--especially animals that he doesn't know. Maybe Kimball will be too but for now not much seems to phase him.
The rope swing in the barn was also a huge hit for most of the kids but mine were a little young to do it on their own. Grandma sure wanted to try. She tried to come up with a way to sit on top of that knot so she could enjoy swinging throught the air like the kids, but she was just a little too old to be doing that on her own. Thankfully she decided it might not be the smartest idea.










Tel: Tel loves to help me in the kitchen, especially if he can have free reign on making his own things. Here is a picture of him with his own pizza. The only thing I helped with was the sauce because he wanted to put WAY too much on. He was pretty proud of it. By the time it was done cooking though he was zonked out on the couch and never even got to taste it until the next day.





Kimball: Kimball is definitely getting a personality all his own. He loves his food and he loves constant attention from someone--usually that is me although there are times when Tel plays really well with him and they have a good time playing chase as they crawl around after eachother. Here is a RARE picture of Kimball falling asleep on the living room floor after Tel had succesfully rolled up the rug making for a perfect pillow. I can't remember any other time Kimball has just crashed without me rocking him to sleep or being in the car or something to that sort. The second is just a picture of Kimball enjoying a chocolatey treat.