Present and Past

I'm trying to be better about keeping current with photos of the boys (admiring Kim's gorgeous photos of Michael spurs me on!), so here are some I took over the last couple of days:

Peter looks like he has a little pot-belly in this photo...

But somehow he looks a little less beefy with just a diaper on :).

You can just see two little teeth-bumps on his bottom gum in this photo.

It was cute watching Thomas and Peter play together. Thomas would build a little stack of blocks, and Peter would promptly knock them down.

And, for a blast from the past, these are photos of Jack and Thomas when they were about the same age as Peter is now (7 months):

"Are you kidding me?!?" Even at this young age, Jack was telling it like it is.

Looking back at photos made me realize how "on the go" Jack was, even early on -- he was crawling and pulling up by now! I've heard people say that the 2nd and later kids sometimes get moving earlier because they're trying to keep up with their older siblings, but neither Thomas or Peter has been nearly as eager to get moving as Jack was (and that's still true to his personality today!).

Thomas was such an adorable little beef-cake! Look at those cheeks!

This was his favorite pose for a long time --

he always looked like he was just lounging around by the pool.

It's hard for me to tell if Peter favors either Jack or Thomas's looks more strongly. To me, he just looks like Peter!

Happy Sunday!

David whisked Jack and Thomas away to the baseball fields to play baseball, Peter is taking a nap, and I have the house to myself for another 45 minutes until my gaggle of tired and hungry boys come home for lunch. It's a good opportunity to post a quick update and some photos.

Yesterday was David's first T-ball practice with his team, and Jack's first taste of team sports. It was so neat to see Jack in his baseball cap and little cleats run out the door to go play baseball. How is it possible that he's old enough for T-ball already?! It seems like I was just thinking that this day was soooo far off, and now it's here.

I stayed here with Thomas and Peter since practice fell right in the middle of naptime, and that went pretty well. Thomas was a little upset that he didn't get to go with Jack and David, but I think he realized that it's not too bad getting to be the big brother at home with me. It will be a good chance for me to spend some quality time with Thomas, since he rarely gets me all to himself!

David said Jack was a little shy at first, and didn't really want to participate, but he warmed up quickly and was practicing well with the other kids. David came home, got a snack, and promptly took a power nap --- herding 8 little kids through 1 1/2 hours of T-ball practice takes some serious patience, creativity, and mental energy! But he said it went well, the parents there said it went well, and the kids had a good time.

This morning, David told the boys he would play baseball with them after Mass, and Thomas would not let him forget it! On the way home from Mass, Thomas piped up from the back seat as clear as could be, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! We're supposed to the baseball fields, Dad!". :).

Thomas and Jack have been saying lots of funny things lately --- they were talking about Jesus and how he is in heaven. Thomas said "He died and now he's in heaven". I said that yes, He did die, but He came back to life, and then He went to heaven to be with God. But he's not just in heaven -- we also see him every week at church.

I asked them "Where do we see Jesus at church?". Jack quickly answered, "The turnerbacker". I knew what he was getting at, so I asked, "Do you mean the tabernacle?". And he said "Yeah!". I asked what Jesus looks like in the tabernacle, and he said "Bread!". :). Not bad for a 4-year-old!

Then I told him that when we eat Jesus's body, which looks like bread, he becomes part of us and so he's also present inside everyone who eats his body. Jack, in his usual matter-of-fact style, made to sure remind me, "And his blood, Mom".

Lest you think that all my children talk about is Jesus and church and heaven :), I'll let you know that we're also struggling with our first taste of bathroom humor at the Campbell household. I get it, I get it --- words used to describe bathroom functions hold some sort of mysterious power to inspire giggles -- but I am tired of hearing songs about them, insults crafted using those words, etc. So I'm trying hard to remind the boys that those words aren't nice words, and they should really only be used in the bathroom or to tell someone that you have to go to the bathroom. My stance on these words has made them "forbidden fruits", however, so the boys keep coming back to them again and again and again.

I've tried ignoring the words (figuring that maybe the boys are feeding off the negative attention I give them), but really, I can take just about 15 minutes of singsong bathroom words before I lose my last shred of sanity. So now I've taken a very low tolerance approach -- one reminder not to use those words, and any utterance after that is a time-out or loss of some privilege. It seems to be helping, but let me tell you, the consistency required on my part is hard. It's hard on me. I don't feel like giving 10 time-outs a day. I don't like dealing with the temper tantrums and screaming that come with those 10 time-outs. (And don't tell anyone, but sometimes I pretend not to hear a bathroom word just so I don't have to enforce my own policy!). I think this past week or two that I've been dealing with this has helped me realize that consistency is probably the hardest part about parenting for me -- doing the hard things day in and day out, countless times a day, because they're right and because they'll help my kids grow up to be good, decent people. It's very much a delayed gratification kind of thing, or maybe an investment -- put in the hard work now and see them become good adults in ~20 years. Hoo boy!

Where to begin?

It's been more than a month since my last post! It feels like we've been crazy busy since Thanksgiving. Let me see if I can do a quick recap and post some pictures:

--We did it! We conquered the wilderness that was our backyard. I still feel like the Fire Prevention People are looking over my shoulder and ready to pounce if a stray shrub creeps too close to the house, but so far we're in the clear. We have a much neater, nicer looking backyard to show for it, and lots of time spent outdoors, keeping active. With our newly raked slope, I am seriously considering a huge Slip N Side-type contraption this summer!!

--Peter is so very close to crawling, but not quite there yet. He is getting two bottom teeth in, though! He's been enjoying lots of good food lately -- I think pears, squash, and chicken are some of his favorites. It was so cute to watch his excited expression when we picked up Jack and Thomas after a weekend at Grammy and Poppi's -- Peter definitely missed his brothers!

--Jack starts T-ball this month!! David is the manager (head coach) for Jack's team, and there are 11 other little boys playing also. Jack is the only 4-year old, and I fully expect that he'll be a "sand angel" as they call them (little kids out in outfield, scuffing up sand clouds and looking anywhere but where they're supposed to be). But he'll have so much fun playing with the other kids and with David. In 2 years, Jack and Thomas will be on the same team -- can you imagine them as 6 and 4 years old?!?

--Thomas continues to entertain us all with his antics. He sings his way through the day, making up songs from pieces of other songs, or nonsense words -- he's not too picky. He's doing excellent with potty training, and I am very pleased that we've somehow managed to graduated 2 children into potty-trained status. Woot! Thomas is a little bit impish, though, and finds his way into all sorts of mischief while covering it up with his very sweet and loving demeanor :).

-- David is doing well. He's very excited about managing Jack's baseball team, but has already had a small taste of crazy baseball parent politics (thankfully not aimed at him!). Somehow I'm not sure if managing a gaggle of 4-to-6 year olds *or* their parents will try his patience more! He will be such a good coach, though, and I can't wait to cheer him and his team on from the stands.

-- I am well, but am trying to figure out how to squeeze more time out of my day. There are a handful of things I really want to accomplish, and they just keep getting moved from this week's "To Do List" to the next without ever getting crossed off. Coffee does help :), but I probably need to organize my time more efficiently.

And Balance. That's one of my biggest goals (but very hard to achieve in reality). If the boys had their way, I'd be playing cars, trains, outside, etc. all day every day with them. I can't do that (and it wouldn't be good for the kids or me even if I could), but how much time should I devote just to playing with them? And how much time to chores? And how much time for spending with David? And "me" time? I can never quite find the right balance. Some days I feel like my entire day is one big To Do List, and everything (including playing with the kids) is a boiled down to a task that needs to be accomplished just so it can be crossed off my list. I really don't like feeling that way. But if I go all "laissez-faire" and don't really plan anything, I feel totally discombobulated and end up getting not much of anything done, and then I just make a bunch more work for myself the next day. It's a constant battle!

Well, Manic Monday arrives again tomorrow and we'll see how the battle goes this week. I'll be back to post sooner than later, hopefully. In the mean time, here are some photos:

Jack (on the move, as usual) was very excited about keeping tools in his jeans' pockets.

Thomas wouldn't hear of being left out of the fun, so he put on a Construction Hat (aka Nemo bucket) and managed to stuff some tools in his pockets, too.

Peter is good at pushing up and scooting backwards, which always puts him further away from toys that he wants. That really bothers him!

Peter has Popeye arms! For the record, he also has cankles. That's right -- the calf meets the foot directly, and there are no ankles. I have yet to encounter a baby sock that doesn't *POP* right off of his cankle within a few minutes. Of course, it doesn't help that he tugs on his socks with his hands and/or mouth :).