Happy Birthday Michael!!!

Believe it or not, Michael is 5 years old today!!!! We had his party in the park this morning and then had a nice lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Rod, Aunt Kym, Christian and Autumn. We had a very nice time at the party and he really enjoyed himself and got some great presents. I'll post some pictures from the party later, I'm going to rest for a little while before we have to go to the football field for Jackson's first game!!

The closest I'll get to a little girl???

Jackson colored some of his fingernails pink today. I'm guessing this was while he was in his bedroom, supposedly cleaning. Anyway, since this may be the closest I'll ever get to painting a little girl's fingernails, I had to take a picture!

A special Labor Day event...

if you can call it that, LOL. The boys decided to put on a "play" for us this evening after dinner. They came up wirh the characters and costumes all by themselves. John-William was Peter, the 20-year-old husband and father. Jackson was Lucy, the 20-year-old wife and mother. Michael was Jessica, the 10-year-old daughter. Obviously, they didn't do much math when considering their ages!! Adam and I were seated and then the show began. The story was that Peter and Lucy wanted to go on a date without Jessica. Grandma (played by our very own Riese, the miniature pinscher) was going to baby-sit Jessica.


Does this look like the profile of a 10-year-old girl to you? In case you can't tell, that's a ponytail created from a pair of shorts and a bracelet!

Here "she" is from the front:

This is Lucy, the mom and Peter and Lucy hugging as they asked each other for a date.

Peter and Lucy finally decide to let Jessica go with them, so here they are telling her yes and then pretending to play checkers at the restaurant they go to for dinner.

A busy Labor Day....

We spent the day at home today, working around the house. Adam and the boys trimmed the hedges (Adam trimmed, the boys cleaned up) and Adam mowed the lawn. After finally get some rain over the last few days, the grass needed to be cut for the first time in 3-4 weeks. Michael went to Ninny and PawPaw's house, which was a reward for cleaning his room and being helpful. We're really struggling with John-William and Jackson and their bedroom. They're very helpful, they just don't want to clean their room. So, I'm working on some organization ideas to help and they're working on getting it cleaned up. Anyway, we just did things around here but I have a few good pics to share.

While we were outside, Jackson caught a lizard that he carried around for a while. The little lizard would just cling onto his finger and hang there. Then Jackson discovered that the lizard would bite his finger (he said it didn't hurt, the lizard was very small) and hang on. So, here's Jackson experimenting with the lizard. Don't worry, he washed his hands very well when he was all done!

John-William mainly looked on as Jackson played with the lizard. He isn't as free-minded as Jackson is when it comes to bugs, lizards and things that can easily and quickly jump from one spot to another and be up your pantleg before you know it! LOL He held Riese (hasn't he grown) while Jackson played with the lizard, but he did finally hold him.

Have you seen me lately?

These pictures are actually about 10 days old now, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Here's what you see when you pass me on the street:

Here's how my belly really looks!

I've been meaning to do a baby update as well. We went back to the OB last Wednesday and everything still looks good. We had our diagnostic ultrasound and there were no problems found. We saw the heart chambers, kidneys, bladder, toes (his foot measured 3.5 cm!) and lots of other things. He is definitely still a boy, LOL, and a thumb sucker! I don't have pictures ready to upload but I'll try to do those soon. They aren't as clear as the ones we got the week before. But, everything looks good and my OB did confirm that we'll have a baby by late December. So, definitely a 2007 baby! With my history of short labor and the boys coming earlier and earlier (3, 9 and 11 days early, respectively), she isn't planning to let me go past 38 weeks, if I make it that far. That means that we should have a baby by Friday, December 28th if all goes well!

Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, Jackson is in first grade now but I still have to post his graduation pictures!! Of course, John-William, Michael, Adam and I were there along with Grandma and Grandpa and Ninny. Unfortunately, due to the timing (8:30 a.m.!), others weren't able to be there due to work and family obligations. It was a great ceremony, though, and the kids did a great job of walking aross the stage to get their diplomas. The kindergarten teachers put together a Powerpoint presentation of the kids and some of their activites during the year. Since most of the pictures were of multiple children, I won't post all of them because the other kids' faces are visible. However, here are a couple of Jackson from the presentation:

And his brothers waiting patiently for the ceremony to start:

The happy graduate himself, with his usual silly grin:

Can you believe it?

And, family photos when it was all said and done:

More Catching Up

I have a few minutes, so I thought I'd catch up on a few things I missed in spring and early summer.

Jackson and Michael both played t-ball this year and enjoyed it a lot. Jackson did really well and he even made it to All Stars this year. Michael participated so well this year, it's amazing the difference between last year and this. He hit the ball all by himself and ran the bases without accompaniment (is that a word???). Here are a few pics:

Jackson playing during the regular season:

Michael playing t-ball:

Jackson during All-Stars:

We thought this was a cute shot of the All Star team, waiting on the game before them to finish. Jackson's number 8, sitting down.

I also have some pictures of the AR (Accelerated Reading) party that John-William and Jackson were both able to attend at the end of the school year. The party is for those kids who've read enough books and scored enough points on tests on those books. John-William had to have at least 100 points (some books are only half a point!) and Jackson had to have at least 25. I'm proud to say they both made it without difficulty. And, of course, since we spend a good bit of time at the school helping out, Michael got to join in the fun, too!

Water on grass and dirt make for dirty little boys but boy do they have fun!

Guess What?????

I found out yesterday that a friend works in the radiology department of our local hospital. Knowing that our next OB appointment and ultrasound isn't until next week, she offered to give us an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby. She would have done it yesterday, but Adam wasn't available and I couldn't go without him and the boys. So, we set it up for today. Here's what we found out....

Yep, that's right -- our fourth boy!!! And that's perfectly fine by us. John-William and Jackson were both hoping for a sister but Michael has wanted another brother the whole time. I won't lie and say that I haven't dreamt of having a little girl, but I honestly just want a healthy baby. And, according to the ultrasound today, it looks as though he's perfectly healthy!! We saw lots of movement and a perfectly beating heart with a rate of 146 bpm. He was drinking the amniotic fluid, sticking his tongue out (can you believe it??) and kicking and squirming around. We also saw him actively sucking his thumb. On top of all of that, he measured about a week ahead as well. We'll still have our diagnostic ultrasound at the doctor's office next week, but this was just a bonus ultrasound that we got lucky with!! Here are some pictures from today:

This is his profile with him looking up.

And, one a little more up close.

And, here's proof that he's a boy. We saw this several times and at different angles, there's no mistaking what he is!! That's his left leg with leg bones and foot bones visible just under the arrow. You can see a portion of his right leg to the left of the arrow. And, the arrow points to the "goods"!

This one is a little farther away but you can see the "I am a boy" at the bottom!

First Day of School

Well, the boys have been back in school for a little while now and they're all enjoying it. Michael really loves preschool and looks forward to it everyday. John-William and Jackson started the day before Michael did, so I actually have two days of pictures from their first day of school.

John-William and Jackson on their first day of school and then Michael standing with them. For some reason, my camera never takes good pictures in our living room.













Outside on John-William and Jackson's first day.



John-William and Jackson both really enjoy school and love their teachers. Here they are, ready to start learning!
























Michael's first day of school.




Michael's class wasn't ready to sit down just yet when we left him the first morning, so here's a picture of him and a really good friend. It sure helps to already know someone in your class!