What a week!!

Austin is teething, Caleb had a UTI, Robbie got in a wreck, one of my good friends had a stroke (at 28) and I am emotionally SPENT!!

Monday: I get a call from a girlfriend telling me the news that one of our great friends has had two strokes. She was unconscious for 48hrs and unable to move the left side of her body.

Tuesday- Wednesday: Caleb Complained for a day that it hurt when he went potty, on day 2 there was blood in his urine! We rushed to the DR and with the preliminary test saying it was not a UTI we postponed antibiotics for 24hrs and did baking soda baths. After SCREAMING each time he went potty, having a fever and needing to be cuddled every two seconds I demanded the antibiotic and we had relief in 6hours.

During the UTI, fever, snuggles and cranky Caleb time we had Austin teething....also screaming, having a fever and needing to be cuddled every two seconds.

Poor B was house bound with crazy siblings and a mom who didn't have much extra time :( So he decides to play in the front yard/dirt/cement. He was barefoot (after mom warned him not too) and within 15minutes could not walk and had a half dollar sized blister on the balls of both feet (gotta love phoenix heat).

Thursday: I get 8 calls (missed them all cause me and the boys were outside) from Rob and finally a text message saying "I have been in a wreck, car totaled, I am ok."

WHAT?!?!?!?! The boys and I are loaded in the car in 2minutes flying down to find our dad on the side of the road with a car that looks like it has just been "had" in a monster truck rally.

Thank God he is OK!!! Turns out he and 4 other cars were at a dead stop on the freeway (due to a hit and run in front of them) when a Buick comes barreling down the road not noticing the "stopped traffic" ..... Rob was the last in line of "stopped cars" so he took the full impact....and subsequently passed it along to the RAV4 who passed HIM on to a Ford F150. It was a shit show on HWY 202! Did I mention how unbelievably lucky we are to have him home and safe?!!

Now lets all keep our fingers crossed we get a new car out of this :)

WHEWWWWWWW....the week is over! As a follow up....Austin is still teething, Caleb is feeling better, B is getting attention, his blisters are healing, Rob is healthy, we are down to one car and EVERYONE is exhausted!!!

Miss you guys.

Big Changes in the Doane House

Well the boots are still on everyday but the great news about the boots is that he has decided to wear socks with them so we are no longer dealing with the smell! Over all the big news with Caleb is that he is POTTY TRAINING and i venture to say trained (but we all know how that turned out last time). So after my last blog when I admitted to not using cloth diapers anymore I had to ask myself why I had stopped since now I am at home and they really do save $. I had no valid answer so I pulled them out and have been using them for the past 1-2 weeks. Well Caleb hates the feeling of being wet it turns out and would ask me every two seconds for a new diaper. I would refuse (you all may see this as cruel or gross but it works!) and only change him every two hours, not every time a tsp of tee tee went in it. But each time he would cry to me "new diaper mommy, this wet" I would tell him "No diaper, you need to stop your tee tee and tell mom BEFORE it goes in your diaper if you want a dry diaper" and bingo. Three days ago he announced that his tee tee was coming and we rushed to the potty, put it in the potty, got a reward and we are three days and a few hundred M&M into this with only one accident to speak of. Way to go Zonie!!

B is the cheerleader ever! With Caleb potty training B is the first to sing him a good job song or remind him to go get his treat! It is sooooo cool. He even told Mame and Capn' on skype the other night that Caleb was doing "so excellent" at potty training. I love it. He has also been using the word "enjoy" quite a bit which i find adorable. ex: "B do you want some more steak?" "no, I didn't enjoy it as much as the mashed potatoes, I will have some more potatoes". I don't know why but i get a kick out of it each time, it just sounds so grown up. Along with "enjoying" or "not enjoying" things, he is very interested in"teamwork" and takes every opportunity to get his brothers help with something by declaring it "teamwork". Ex: I say "B pick up all of these cars you took out". "ok, mom". then Braydon says "Hey Caleb, lets use teamwork and you pick up all the cars and I will hold the bag". Most of all INDEPENDENT is the word that stands out about B. if he can not reach something, he pulls a chair over and figures out how to get it or he will work at something (like turning his shirt right side out) for 10min until he gets it so he doesn't have to ask for help!!! Go B Go!!!

I have been exhausted with all of Austin's late night partying so Rob has taken matters into his own hands. He is letting AJ have an afternoon nap but is then keeping him up until 9pm every night and AJ has started sleeping through the night, with an occasional wake up/ limb getting stuck out of the crib. But there are no more night time feedings or 2/3 wake ups!! WHAT SUCCESS! I knew I married a great man :)

So lets review the way Rob and my's life has changed in the last week....DRAMATICALLY!!!! Two of three children are potty trained, we are down on our diaper budget, we are actually sleeping, and we have two major parenting hurdles out of the way!!!! We are living right!!!

Miss you guys!

Great weekend

Hey guys! What a great weekend. Austin got Baptized and we had wonderful family and friends to help celebrate. The Doanes and Elwells were in town for the big day and Austin LOVED the attention. It was almost as if he could not imagine something as great as a day about him. Tons of kisses, snuggles and love from all the family to all the boys but Austin knew Sunday was his day. Austin looked Handsome!!! His baptism was wonderful, he slept for most of it but considering some of the other options we were all very proud of him. Rob held him over the holy water for what seemed like a long time and when he pulled him back up there was a collective sigh of relief from our side of the church, everyone had been holding their breath hoping that he didn't puke in the holy water, but he didn't and he is now one of the newest members of the church! After church we had some friends back at our house for a pool party and cupcakes.

The rest of the weekend was pool time fun with Grandparents, wonderful dinners for the adults and great company! No complaints!!

The boys had a trip to the Children's museum that was a blast, they played and ran for hours. There was a little boy there (prob about 6) that was a COWBOY! He had on a hat, button down shirt, leather vest with a sheriffs badge, belt buckle, jeans, boots and SPURS! This was the real deal and Caleb....found his idol. Caleb tracked him the first time he walked by and then when we saw him again I said "Caleb, did you see that Cowboy?" The boy heard me and smiled from ear to ear, he looked back at us over his shoulder. Caleb (mouth agape) stared....."Caleb" I say, "doesn't he look wonderful, he is a real cowboy" The older kid is thrilled with this and smiling at Caleb's effort/boots. Caleb still unable to speak because he is standing so close to a REAL cowboy, just nods. "Show him your boots Caleb" Caleb, does not break stare.....throws one foot in front of him resting his foot on the heal of his boot. "Nice boots says the boy" and just like that....the cowboy was gone.
The whole 30seconds was hilarious!!! Caleb definitely had a wonderful time at the museum.

Braydon was a monkey all day at the museum. He was climbing, jumping, running, he couldn't believe that there were buildings that big built just for playing! He had a blast and was exhausted!! He loved the time with his extended family this week and we are still asking about when we will be seeing everyone again and if they will be at his "number four" birthday. :) We did a little voice recording for a picture frame of Mary and Steve's today, we had a few things that Caleb and Braydon were going to say so we practiced and practiced and then tried, and tried, and tried, and tried and .... well you get the picture. 30 horrible recordings later we had just entered our voices in the frame one last time, we listen to it again to see how it came out and as if B had not been doing this with us for the last 20 minutes, he cocks his head to the side and says "hey mom, there are people in that box talking"......I didn't know what to say.

album 07\25\2011 (91 photos), by maureen jenkins

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The Stand Off

As I type, Caleb and I are in another stand off. He had a plate of rice and beans tonight for dinner and he wanted to make his brother laugh so he dumped the entire plate upside down over his arm......REALLY!!??!!!???? I couldn't even respond I was so mad so I stared him down and when he was done cracking up I told him he would pick up every piece of rice and every bean off the floor and table before he did anything else (I put the dogs outside so he didn't get any help). If he wanted to "not finish" he could go to bed....he has been in bed twice and he is half way through. After about 10 min in his room he thinks he is ready to attack the mess again so he gives it another go. The first round of clean up consisted of him holding the food above his head and dropping it onto his plate. I told him not too, he did it again and started cracking up...Time Out! After time out he started grabbing the food by the handful, half of the white rice sticking to his hands and then shaking them....rice everywhere.....Time Out! Let me just mention that Robbie is laughing this whole time as hard as Caleb was when he first dumped the bowl over. The only words that Rob can get out between fits of giggles is "He is YOUR son"......Really Rob?.....really helpful. So here we are 2 self dismissals and 2 time outs later and Caleb seems committed, the table is more table than rice now and the floor has been cleaned....I WIN!

Outside of these moments Caleb is doing WONDERFUL! He has lost all of his baby fat and it is crazy looking at him cause he is no longer a toddler, he is all Boy! His neck is getting really long and his legs are long (the 1 inch heel of the boot helps), all of him seems so mature! His vocabulary is constantly improving and the discussions between Braydon and him have some real depth now, I love it. Caleb has also really taken to Austin in the last two weeks. I often find him over by the baby, stroking his cheeks, talking sweet or bringing him toys! and he always passes on what Austin is saying, he feels obligated to be AJ's personal translator. Ex. Yesterday, Austin "awahhha!" "Mom, Austin wants some ice cream! or even better "ughhuaeew" Caleb then announces "mom, I think he has a poopy diaper!" It is a sign of what good friends they will be when Austin gets bigger!

Austin is rolling backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards, he is crazy. I can put him on the floor of the living room, come back 5 minutes later and he will be at the opposite end of the room. His excersaucer is of much interest these days and the only thing missing is a Doorway Jumper! This kid loves to bounce so I have to get to a second hand store (poor kid, if it isn't his brothers hand-me-downs it is someone else's) and pick one up for him! I know he will love it! AJ also got some quality one on one time with his Aunt Alice this weekend, we stayed with Alice and Bob and Alice was gracious enough to watch AJ for a few hours! Lets just say, she needed a drink when it was all over, his puking kinda kept her on her toes....Sorry Alice!
Austin has a big weekend coming up! He will be getting baptized this Sunday and we are having a pool party after to celebrate. There will be fam coming in so stay tuned for pics!

Braydon is TALL! Just like Caleb he is all boy, long and lean! I am constantly struck by his ability to remember things, his sense of direction and how quickly he picks up on things.
Ex. We are driving into a part of town that we had never been too and he says..."hey mom, I don't know this place". Then as soon as we get back to our side of town he tells me where we are in comparison to what he knows...."this is close to swimming" and "now we are close to school"
Picking up on things...Ex. Rob and he were playing catch about two weeks ago and Rob told him to stand sideways when he throws, they spend another 20minutes playing catch and every time he has thrown with his dad since then he goes right to his sideways stance.....I am impressed!!

We did take the kids to get haircuts even after the MANY phone calls telling us that you all loved it long and I will say when the hair was gone I was sad too. I think we will let it grow again for awhile. sorry for the set back :)

Thanks again to Alice and Bob for letting us stay and do the beach this weekend! We had a blast!

*****my apologies for all spelling and grammar errors throughout the blog. I pump out 10minutes of story and rarely if ever reread....it has been suggested that i start proof reading.....no guarantees : ) ***********

Great week here

All is well not much to report.

B has declared "too old" for his current and photographed undies. He feels that since he is going to be four (almost as big as daddy) he needs to get the long kind of undies...aka...boxer briefs. So at a trip to the store this week B got to graduate into "long undies". He is so proud. He is also really hooked on turning 4. Everyday he asks me if it is his Bday and then he gives me the list of things he wants when it is his 4th bday. "Four new race cars, cause I am gonna be Four". "And a race track so they can go supper fast", "and probably the new movie, that you have not seen yet mom and only me, my brother and my daddy knows how it goes....and not you cause you havent seen it yet"......and on and on and on.....but the theme is the same.....CARS!

Caleb and I got in a fight today that landed his stubborn butt in his room for two hours until he put shoes on that were NOT BOOTS. Now, let me say that I am not opposed to the boots and to be honest I feel I am very good about letting him wear them EVERYWHERE! Grocery store, Target, gym, friends houses, neighborhood, you name it but NOT the pool. We have done that once and I ended up carrying him screaming under one arm, with the baby carrier in the other (SWEATING like a crazy lady) all the way to the car cause "the boots hurt too much" (they were wet feet and he refuses socks). So we talked about it in depth that day and then today when we were gearing up to go back to the pool he threw a fit when I reminded him that boots were not allowed.....and you can piece the rest together....2 hours in his room....able to come out whenever he had shoes on that were not boots....me and B played a lot of card games in that two hours..... finally Caleb emerged splotchy and streaked from all the crying with one green Croc on the left foot and a flip flop on the right. "I am ready".....I rolled my eyes and we were off to the pool.

We spent a lot of time at the community pool this week and last, it has a beach like edge so the kids can walk in on their own and not ever get water over their chests. They are doing great! B loves to swim and hold his breath (without the vest) because he knows he can stand up whenever he needs to. Caleb is getting in....which is an improvement.

Austin had his 4mos check today. He is in the 97th percentile for everything and when I asked about his reflux I was told "not to worry...it doesn't seem to be effecting his weight." True but the LAUNDRY...!!! Ugh!!! He also got shots so with a dose of Tylonle to cut the fever he has been asleep for 5 hours. I can only imagine how that will backfire tonight but for now I am enjoying getting the house cleaned and playing with the older two.

Miss you guys!

Rob is in Cali for 3days and once again every phone call from him is talk of how perfect the weather is and how we HAVE to move there. We will see where things take us next but does he have to keep talking about the weather? It is 120 here.

Treasures seem to be the theme of the month

Treasures, Treasures and more Treasures. Every morning B comes out with his "treasures", his box of cars. Caleb comes out with his....two stuffed horses and then goes back for his stick horse. These items accompany the boys through the house and the for the rest of the day. We continue to find treasures throughout the day ( a penny, piece of colored plastic, a mint from a restaurant) and anything that seems important to the 4ft and under club. These "treasures" get the privelage of being put in a pocket with a future that will most likely land them in the lint collector of my dryer but for the day, hour of minute they are a priceless must have!

Along with the treasures of stuffed horses Caleb has recieved his new boots! Thats right! We now have boots that dont fall off every time his feet come more than an inch off the ground. They are really cute and as we could have all imagined he loves them. They were worn to the public pool today and everywhere else for the last 72hours. He cried when I told him that boots can not take naps with us but that they can sit next to our beds for when we wake up (I am starting to worry about this kid). Just like the last pair, he wears them with no socks and in 120 degree weather we have had to up our bathing to an extra night a week just due to the foot odor...Awesome.

Though B loves his cars he got a bit jealous at Caleb's new boots so for the last few days I have had two horse riding maniacs in the house. B has dubbed himself "Cowboy Braydon". But every once in awhile the two of them will throw out their new cowboy names and asked to be referred to as "Cowboy Small" after a character in a book that we read. B also asked if we could go to the store today and get him and Caleb a Lasso. It went something like this..."Hey mom, I NEED to go to the store". "Why" I ask. "Cause I need one of those ropes that go in a circle so I can catch me some Cabs (calves)". "Well B, what store do you think we should go to to get you this Lasso?" I ask. "We need to go to the Target store or the Lowes store so Caleb and I can get our ropes and chaps cause we are Cowboy Small!"
We did not make it to the Target or Lowes store to get these items but he did ask that they be added to his birthday list. It was really cute. But then by 7pm this evening he was rejecting his brothers request to play Cowboy Small cause he was too busy with his cars.... I love these kids!

Austin is a HOUSE! He eats all the time and is loving solid foods! Actually it is the fruits that he loves! Rob came home yesterday to find me the food processor, all its parts, a small babyfood maker (I forgot we had) all covered in smashed bananas as I tried to start the process of "making all AJs food at home" we will see how long this last...probably as long as the cloth diapers did :)

We miss and love you all.