album 04\24\2011 (61 photos), by maureen jenkins

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Funcle and Easter

Hey guys, Happy Easter! Hope you guys all had as great of a weekend as we did! Jonny came in town this past Thursday and was here through Easter so he got to experience all the "kid" activities he could handle. Egg dying, Egg hunt and party, pics with the Easter Bunny, basket hiding and more. We had a blast and the kids loved sharing the fun activities but I think he is looking forward to the piece and quite of his own place.

The Easter party was possibly the best yet, there were only about 6 families but everyone had a blast (the Sangria was great!) and everyone stayed way past when we thought they would. The kids all found a ton of eggs as you will see in the photos and how no one ended up sick between that day and today is beyond me. Just like at Halloween we allowed the kids to eat until they could not eat anymore...so they ate....and ate....and ate! Robbie has refused all diaper duty since the candy intake has begun and I have to say it was a good call on his part.

We have been in the pool the last few days so that has been really great for the kids. I am a bathwater kind of girl so I have been on the side watching the fun with Austin. They have their water table set up right out by the pool with an umbrella in it, the slide pulled to the pool edge and floats everywhere. It is a regular party out there. They each have swimsuits with floats built into the chest and they love them! They get to be very independent in the water. Speaking of independent the kids swim lessons start Tomorrow so hopefully by the end of the summer they will be "independent" without the float suits.

Easter morning was magic today!!! This is the kind of stuff that I LOVE about being a parent. We hid buckets of candy for each of the kids and Calebs had a little horse (with removable saddle and a horse brush!) he is hooked. Braydons had a dirt biker and motorcycle in it...he has also not let his new little goodies out of his sight! The "hunt" for the buckets was great! and I tried to capture their little faces on camera so enjoy!!

We miss you guys!

Hey from Cousin Camp!

Hey every body! Hope you are all doing great. We are having so much fun with the Burke family! The kids get along so well and they have all changed a ton just since Christmas so I am glad there has not been too much of a time gap. Caleb and Sammy are playing together more and more as they both grow out of that "individual play" stage and to be honest I think Sammy likes having a little "boys club" to be a part of here at the Doane house. Jess and I sit back and watch during the week at how they all kinda puff up at each other with little shoves, mean looks and grunts. Not much comes of it but all the same it seems pretty innate to them and it is fun to watch.

We made an effort to take pics of all the kids together and what you see before you on the blog is the only 2 good pictures of the 50 or so taken....so enjoy!

So now for a little recap... Jess has continued to be a huge help each and every day even going so far as to let Rob and I have a few Date Nights. Not having the cost of a sitter has been great! Braydon went to school and soccer this week and had a lot of fun! He is getting really good at soccer and I think he is feeling more and more confident at school....so much so that I had to stay after and talk to his teacher on Thursday about some "behavioral concerns". Awesome,....having a teacher request you stay to discuss a topic like this is the last thing any parent wants to hear. Turns out his "behaivor" needs to be adjusted during school hours so Rob and I are on his @$$ like you can only imagine.

On another Braydon note, he is HUGE! I just can not believe how tall he is. In all the pics I am struck by how old and big he looks! I just cant believe this is my first baby...and he is so old and independent.

He and Grace have had a great time together and talk about INDEPENDENT! They don't need us for anything! Jess and I are constantly commenting on what they can do on their own now and the really cool thing is that they talk to each other all day long. We are not really clear on what it is they discuss all day but at any time you can hear them chatting, laughing and negotiating about life. You got me on what they are talking about...but apparently 3yr old conversation is very stimulating.

I would also like to make the announcement that the Burkes have found a House (probably not my announcement to make)!! I am not quite clear on which of the many we have discussed that has become the winner but I know they are excited and they will be in Denver in June! Congrats, Burke fam!! The pics look fabulous and since it will be where my family spends much of their Colorado time I am thrilled to say, "I approve and it is gorgeous" :) .

Caleb..poor litte guy...went to the Doctor again this week and turns out he has yet another ear infection, Strep and muluscum. I have to tell you that hearing all of that really took the wind out of my sail. I feel like I have just gotten Ausitn healthy and here we are fighting another health battle. He is on a new medication for 2 weeks and if that does not do the trick we will be making an appointment with an ENT for tubes.....keep your fingers crossed it clears up!

Austin was the reason for the Dr. Appointment and I am thrilled to announce that he is doing great. He weighed 8.11 as of last Thursday so we are packing on the pounds and looking more and more healthy! He is doing great at night sleeping 3-4 hours at a time so going to bed at midnight means only one wake up a night! You dont hear me complaining!! He is also on formula exclusively now and though you would have been hard pressed to convince me, it has turned out to be the best thing for him.

Robs work is still taking up a crazy amount of his time but there have been some major break throughs that will prove more time at home in the long run. The hiring freeze he had has been partially lifted, "survey season" is over and his last survey went really well. The Holidays are obviously over and best of all he has learned all the new systems and feels he has a fairly strong grasp on Pheonix, its market, his roll and how he is going to make his impact! For what it is worth he seems less stressed and we look forward to having him around more.

We have had a great time with Friends here this last week and with each month that passes Rob an I are feeling more and more at home.

Look forward to all of your up coming visits and most of all THANK YOU all for the help with Austin, Calebs birthday gifts, baby gifts and care packages!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU , THANK YOU!!!

Quick update with Photos

The cousins are having soo much fun. Even watching the pool guy is a group activity and soo much fun when your cousins are around.

We also had some major Train Track building this morning that everyone partook in.

Smiles all around for the camera!

The kids picked up right where they left off, no "Hello's" needed they just talked toys and went about their play! It was great. Jess and I have had a wonderful visit and she is so helpful with the baby and kids I feel like I have been on vacation for the last 24hrs....I even ate breakfast this morning!!!

Hope yall think the pics are as cute as we do. No doubt there will be many more to come by the end of two weeks with all these rug rats together.

Hey guys

Hey everyone, we have had a full and wonderful week. Braydon had a father's day (St. Josephs day) celebration at his school with his dad, he had soccer practice, we had a great picnic at the park with friends, Caleb had a BIRTHDAY PARTY and the Doane's came in town. It has been great!

The celebration at B's school was really neat and proved just one more time that we are really lucky to have him in that program! Rob went to his class, the kids sang songs to their dads, they did a really sweet hand print project with Dad and sons hands that brought tears to Mary (my mother in laws eyes) when she saw it. It was a great break for Rob from his crazy week at work and it was really special for Braydon who has been feeling a little left out with the new baby and his brother having a birthday.

Soccer started up for Braydon again this week and we are doing a new and much better program. He got some great skill lessons (all only 5min long due to the kids attention spans) and again a bit more one on one with Dad. It is hosted at a Cheer center so Caleb had a BLAST too, he and his little friends played in the foam pit, on the trampolines and mats....need I mention they were both exhausted after it?

Wednesday was a wonderful outing at a park that ended up lasting all day. The kids ran and played outside for hours and with the weather being so beautiful here we let them enjoy it as long as they could!

Caleb's Birthday party was great. We went to a park right by the house and had about 10 kids come round for Hotdogs and Birthday cake. Once again Rob and I had fun baking the cake and it tasted great!! The theme of this years gifts for him was HORSES and so appropriate. He can not get enough!!! His cake was horses, his favorite gifts were a Huge Barn and ginormous stuffed horse (Braydon has taken over all the other gifts, his favorite is a car that he can take apart and put back together) You will love the pics. Right after the party Rob had tickets to the Mavericks vs. Suns game for him, the boys and his dad. Bradyon went and had a blast and Caleb unfortunately had spent all his energy at the party so he went home and crashed.

The Doanes got in town on Saturday and got to hold their new Grandbaby!! They agree that he is adorable and perfect. Rob and I are waiting for these first few months of sleeping all day and easy-going attitude to change....lets hope we are wrong.

Not much more to update you on other than I love having three little boys in the house! I am the luckiest mom in the world!!!

We are 13 days into being a fam of 5!

We have almost hit our 2week mark and it feels like Austin has been in this family for years already. Things seem to be taking off without much... of a hitch. There have been some adjustment on things like loading and unloading the car, how do we hold hands in the streets now that we are three wide and then the brothers...they are both going through their own adjustments. But for the most part it has been wonderful and soo fun.

Braydon and Caleb certainly love their little brother! Caleb is the first to run and get me if Austin starts crying "mommy, baby crying", he is quite the helper. Braydon is very good at helping Austin put his pacifier back in his mouth, covering him with a blanket and more. They love him but that is not to say that they have had an easy time adjusting.

Braydon obviously feels some lack of control because he is trying to control EVERYTHING!! He is telling all of us what to do and is throwing fits (and then going into time out) if we do not do what he says. i am not sure that Caleb is having a hard time adjusting to the new baby, I think his difficulty is with the drastic changes in his playmate and older sibling. I feel like I am walking a fine line between needing to be more patient because I understand this is going to be tough and taking away all privileges and loosing it with all this unacceptable behavior. Most of you are coming around for a visit soon and I appreciate all and any feed back you will have for me on improvements that need to be made.

I literally almost spent $100+ on parenting books through Amazon the other day when I had hit a break point because I was clearly not doing anything right!! Braydon had just yelled "No" to me when I told him to go in time out for hitting his brother. Caleb (who has been refusing to eat his food at the table and insists on carrying a mouth full of half chewed edibles with him at all times) had just spit some sort of red something all over the white carpet and Austin was screaming his head off from just having tortured himself by peeing on a VERY sore diaper rash. I decided loosing it had to wait and I couldn't afford $100 on books so I took a "time out" for myself and sat in the new lawn chair by the pool for 30seconds outside and turned the kids over to Rob as soon as he walked in the door that evening.

Miss you guys...wish us luck.

Baby Austins arrival (80 photos), by maureen jenkins

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos