Some 9 month pictures...

I should post other pictures than these....and be all hey here are some pictures from June, July and August...maybe some beach pictures or just day to day but I am not...I finally took the time to edit these and I should go back thru and do his 6 month ones but I haven't...so here are some more recent pictures...they are cute.  He is cute.  They are all cute.   All these boys of mine.

Tuesday Twelve.

1.  Today is sheet washing day...I have been doing a superb job staying on top of laundry days.  Really.  However all other cleaning is not as regular.

2.  This is our 3rd full week of school and we are already sporting colds.  Thus far I am the last one standing.  *knock on wood*  

3.  Nolan is standing next to me holding on the my leg and laying his head on my knee.  It is very close to nap time.

4.  I over slept this morning.  And somehow managed to sleep thru plates hitting the counter and kids getting ready.  What woke me?  Robert quietly walking into our room.

5.  One routine we have down pat is the morning one...the boys go thru every "step" without batting and eye and could pretty much get ready without me saying a word.  In fact they seem to almost do better when I am not there.

6.  Fall is fast approaching and I am excited for the season change.

7.  The dogs are having a bark off outside...annoying much?

8.  Gavin is really struggling with homework.  Somehow I am managing to stay relatively patient with his defiance and opposition...

9.  Jakeb's orthopedist appt ended with him in a walking boot...he was NOT happy about this option.  My poor boy is very worried about what others will think or say.  We are working on that but at 10 it's hard...though he went off to school today with no problems.

10.  We should receive our approval from the good ole US of A to adopt a foreign child in the next couple weeks.

11.  One of the plans for us to raise money is for me to pick back up on my photography...I really need to get on that.

12.  Zachary and Gavin had a fantastic time in after school yesterday and requested to stay again today. So maybe we will utilize that option more often.  (Not today though).

Strugglin'

Some truths...I am seriously not feeling great these days.  The lack of sleep and well just lack of sleep and maybe those new no baby makin' candies I am eating are making me a little wonky.  
I am a sleep person.  I am not a nap person I am a "need a goodnights sleep person"  I have not had a good nights sleep in roughly 18 months.  This is not good for me.  This is not good for anyone around me.
Some days I fair better than others.  Today and yesterday are not one of those days.  Bad feeling days happen I get that but gah.  Life goes on.  Fortunately life goes on.
And really life is good...it really is.  But when you is vewy vewy exhausted you have a hard time seeing that.  SO in light of all that happiness.  Well that's it.  I pretty much have nothing else to say.  At least nothing good.
Well that's not true....hows about this.  How about I rocked it out in the kitchen yesterday and made up some freezing food.   Breakfast burritos and pancake muffins stuffed with sausage.   I had big plans of making a chicken pot pie and freezing that too...but well Target isn't nice and I couldn't find the pans I decided to forgo that activity.   But it will happen it will.  Because grumpiness aside a good fix for that for me is to be productive.  Or at the very least it makes me feel a bit better.   Plus I love chicken pot pie.
Jakeb has an appt today with an orthopedist for sever's syndrome.  And Zachary and Gavin are staying at after school for the very first time ever.  They are excited to stay and want to stay and instead of me being happy for them and all that good stuff I am nervous and anxious about it.  I don't know why I am...they are not.  And they will be fine.
They have their piano lessons tomorrow and again haven't practiced and gosh darnit their teacher is going to fuss at us about it.  But well all excuses aside...we just didn't.  The week goes by so quickly and here it is Monday again.  Whoops.   We will get in a groove with it eventually.  I did make sure Gavin had his library book today...he didn't last week which means he doesn't get to participate in library...which is a bummer.  He says he was the only one that had to just sit on the rug and well Whoops.  I guess maybe he will remember his book eventually too.
Have a good Monday...I am sure trying :)

Tuesday Twelve.

1.  It seems like it's been a while since I have posted one of these....

2.  Our dossier is on it's way to Russia today.   Awesomeness.  Remember Dossier= big stack of papers telling about us and letting Russia folks know we would really like to parent one of their children....and we would be good at it.  The look it over and say OK! and then we wait.  Maybe 6 months maybe 18...we shall see.

3.  The big boys just headed off to school about 20 minutes ago and I am enjoying my few minutes of quiet...and my coffee.

4.  My house smells like a bottle of Eucalyptus...I am tired of calling the bug man to deal with our ants...because they aren't dealing with them.  So I am dumping essential oils all over.  I haven't read to use that but it's all I have....I figure if anything they smell will keep them away.  

5.  Nolan is now awake.  I swear he hears me sit down...though he is our one child that can actually "sleep in"...granted it's likely because he wakes up 97 times in the night.  This too shall pass, This too shall pass.

6.  I am looking forward to fall.  Yesterday felt almost fall like and it was niiiiicccee.

7.  I am starting to think about the baby boy's upcoming birthday...a little less than 3 months away.  First birthday's are my fav.

8.  It's a rainy dreary morning.

9.  I am typing quickly...too late he's now crying....

10.  I just walked around and opened up windows....nice and cool this morning.

11.  I got the rest of the stain on the stairs...trying to decide if they need a second coat and also not have a stroke trying to keep the dogs, cats, and people off of them.

12.  Nolie Bear has a room full of toys he is currently sitting with this back to all of them playing with the dirty broom.  All day long I pick him up and stick him in front of a toy and all day he crawls away to mess with something not baby friendly.  

Cool Sunshine.

It's a cool bright sunshiney morning here and I have my windows open.  It's supposed to hit 90 today but for now it's a cool and windows open kinda morning.   Last night I worked on the stair project that I am going to finish...like soon.  It's not a difficult process but it does require several steps {no pun intended} that just take time.   Granted the amount of time that has lapse since I tore the carpet off is well past a normal waiting period.  But anyway....Last night I stained every other step and hopefully it will dry enough so that tonight I can do the remaining steps.  Every other again so that we can get up and down stairs without ruining the stain.  I was unaware of the drying time for stain...24+ hours.   So when we woke this morning to sticky still wet stairs I was disappointed.   Patience is not something I have a bountiful amount of...despite popular belief that lots of kids=lots of patience.   After staining is done and dry...we get to slap on the the polyurethane.  And then it's onto painting the risers and moldings....eventually it will look AWESOME.  I promise.  
This weekend I tackled a few projects that have been on the list...the stairs being one and also finally getting my chalkboard paint on the wall.   We had a wall in our laundry room that was ruined from a sticky poster thing I had put up when we moved in and I also was wanting a chalkboard wall...so that wall needed paint and I needed a chalkboard wall.   So there ya have it.  Though we need to get used to it because it keeps catching my eye and I think the door is open.  It's a black wall right by the door....tricks on the eyes my friends.
My sister in law and I hit up Ikea this past week and I have finally decided on a temporary solution to the no pantry PROBLEM.  And am going to buy yet another cabinet to store food and what not in...and seriously I cannot tell you how excited I am about this...do you know the space I will have in my cabinets!!  No more breaking of items and jars and things falling out of the cabinet when I open the door.   Third world problems here...no pantry...I realize this.  
Also bought a few cool hangy uppy thingy's and I am mighty bummed that our screw purchase yesterday did not yield the results I was hoping for and in fact did exactly the opposite.  Apparently wood screws are not going to work in dry wall.  Wood screws look like regular old screws except the last 1/2 inch or so is smooth therefore when you be-bop it into the drywall the smooth part of it just allows the screw to wiggle all around in there...therefore NOT holding whatever item you may have into place.   So lesson to the masses....do not purchase these types of screws when hanging things into drywall....unless of course you will be using one of those support things along with it then I do believe you will be good to go.  As will we once I locate those.   You like that rant on screws?   I knew you would.  Moving on....
The sleep battle is going poorly at best.   However my new coffee pot is not....so it's all good until about 4pm and then it's a rapid decline.   I could drink another cup of joe at this point but then I can't sleep and it's just a vicious sleepy cycle.
Also no worries I will get some pictures up of the recent project tackle.  Also according to Kelly Ripa today is National Left Handed day.   Yay for lefty's...I am a lefty.   I write and eat left handed but I throw a ball and bat and all that good stuff with my right.  Did you know that all sorts of awesome amazing people were lefty's?    A great many presidents were lefty's....a few famous painters...Da Vinci, Picasso, Michelangelo to name a few...and also um...Einstein.   So just sayin'.....you know...maybe...Right so go Lefty's.
Have a great day.

9 Months.

Nolan has passed another "landmark" month and is now officially 3/4th of a year old.  In just 3 short months he will hit that big 1st birthday.
Time passes so quickly.   At 9 months his personality is in full bloom and watching it unfold everyday is wonderful.   He is still our laid back boy we can easily take anywhere.  He dozes off when he needs to and is content as long as we are around and he has access to his paci.  He really is the easiest baby we have had....that is until sleep is involved.  What is really interesting about his difficulty with sleep is that he is not hard to get to sleep but he has a hard time staying asleep.  As I have mentioned more times than anyone cares....we have tried every way imaginable and it seems that only time is what has helped. This month naps have slowly gotten longer and I can count on at least one lenthy'ish nap a day from him.  At 9 months we are still struggling with sleeping thru the night but we are slowly but surely working it out.  I am confident that one day it will happen.  Because of course it will.

At 9 months he is still pretty much not all about food--though his enthusiasm when he sees food would lead one to believe otherwise.  He loves to swish solids around in his mouth but isn't really into actually swallowing them.  He does love yogurt and a few puree'd baby foods.  He also sprouted 2 teeth right after turning 8 months.

At 9 months he is crawling all around the house with a purpose and has mastered climbing both down and up the step into our "sunroom".  He has shown to me that he also climb up the stairs and does seem hesitant to go down--which is a good thing!   Though we have gates blocking stairs and for the most part he is fine with that.   He seems to know "Mama" and "Dada" and uses both words correctly.  He also seems to repeat "titty" when I say "Kitty" to him but I am not sure that he really is or if it is coincidence since it's only happened a few times.  This past week I am positive he is officially shaking his tooshie to music...which is really neato since we really aren't a house full of dancers.  This morning actually I discovered that he has a song on one of his toys that he really digs and he seems to only dance to that one...which is interesting.   He is learning that things go together and while he can't put things back together yet--like shape sorters and the like--he does seem to understand that concept and will try to put things back together.  He does put all the balls back in the ball droppers we have and likes to catch them.

At 9 months he has had his first hair cut and his Daddy and I may have wanted to shed a few tears over his new 'do.  He went from a crazy haired baby to looking like a toddler.   He and I have been going outside to watch the bus come by and then drop his brothers off and he gets very excited when he sees them coming home from school.  He gets his happy arms and legs going....waving his arms and kicking his feet all over.  He does the same thing when Robert gets home at the end of the day.
Over this past week it seems he has learned to fake cry and that is his new favorite thing.  The other day at dinner we all just looked at him doing it and giggled because every few seconds he would stop open his eyes and make sure we were looking.  It's also not funny and can get rather frustrating...but this too shall pass.   Sitting still is not his thing.   But he still will stop for some snuggle time and loves to give squeezes.  Often when I rock him to sleep he is holding tightly to my shirt or smacking me in the face with his other hand.  ;)  He is still as chatty as ever and it's my very favorite walking thru a store with him yelling and squealing.   He is a happy guy and watching him grow and learn is wonderful.  We are all just as enamored with him today as we were 9 months ago.  Happy 9 months my Nolie Bear.

He was not a fan of picture taking this month...and repeatedly tried to roll away from me.  So that made picture taking a bit difficult!  You can also see his temper in quite a few of these.   Between trying to get him to smile and not roll off the ottoman I worked up a sweat!

 He was DONE at this point....

Favorites.

I was watching Nolan play this morning with one of our very favorite toys and it got me thinking of jotting down a few of our favorite things.   After 4 kids and a decade of married time we have amassed a few things that are hands down "must haves"...at least for us.   BUT I am not going to do it today...this is yet another blog thing I am going to try to do in a few posts over the next few weeks.  So hang tight...I need some more gathering time because I was thinking a few categories would be fun.   Soon though...Soon!
I tackled cleaning out my desk this morning...or rather the drawers and the top of it.  The cabinet is for another day--though really it's a-ok.  I had planned on running down to ATL to grab our apostilles but was not feeling up to par this morning so that will have to wait until tomorrow.   However, have I mentioned that I am stoked to have this done?   We had just gotten all of this done and sent to Colombia when I found out I was pregnant with Nolan so to be here again is exciting.  Especially knowing that the wait for an approval from country will not be 9+ months like previously.  So awesomeness for sure.  Now we need to seriously crack down on saving and ways to raise money to help fund this hefty chunk of change!
The biggun's are loving school so far and seem happy to be back with their friends and enjoying their days.  So that's good :)   Soon enough we will have baseball and soccer starting up as well.
Here are a few pictures from the first day last week!

Oh almighty sleep.

So remember way back when like last week when I was all whiny and yeah yeah'ing about Nolan and the great mystical sleep.  So I am going to do that again mmmkay?
Here's the thing...Nolan is baby numero quatro and we still don't have it figured out.  We are more relaxed and whatevs about a lot of stuff and that's all fantastic and awesome but we totally  missed the boat on "we got this sleep thing" figured out.  Or maybe our little Bear is just a tough cookie about the sleep.  And truth be told it's probably just a little of both.
So enter a week or so ago...here's the scene: Me snoozing on the bed after an exceptionally exhausting night with my baby bear tossing and turning and kicking me and inches of bed space next to my tiny guy....and THUD SCREAMING baby.  Yes, yes he managed to launch himself off the bed...surprising as A) none of the other boys did this as a baby and B) I am generally not a light sleeper but somehow I managed to not hear or feel him scoot off the other side.  Right SO I requested a bed rail to be put on the bed..howevs our mattress is insanely tall and said bed rail provides inches if that of no falling space. I also got to thinking that Mr. Baby Bear usually sleeps til 7:30ish and I need to be up at 6:30 to be getting big boys off to school.  Which would mean leaving a sleeping crawling baby alone in a bed or with Robert who would also be sleeping which is virtually the same thing as alone since Robert is a very sound sleeper.  Therefore it was decided that the only logical (duh) solution would be to move the guy to his bed all night.  As it stands right now he sleeps the first part of the night in his bed and whenever he wakes up I get him and put him in bed with me.
Right so the move isn't going as I thought it would....in fact it's down right awful.  Honestly I am just ok with snuggling the night away with my Nolie Bear but that's really not what happens and safety wise it just isn't going to work.
Anyway...needless to say I am tired...and eating my words about the awfulness of letting a baby cry and cry...last night was long and eventually Nolan and I came to a compromise.  He wasn't going to go to sleep on his own but I wasn't going to put him back in my bed.  So we rocked it out and he slept it out in his bed.
We shall see how this plays out....

Back to School.

The big boys are all back to school as of 7:45 this morning.  Our summer has absolutely flown by....and we had a pretty good one.  The boys wrapped it up by being BFF's for the last week or so...and being very content and happy to build forts and play the "anything game" together in their rooms.  Anything game= playing with any and all toys they own...works for me as they rarely play with them as is!   We spent a few days at the pool and trying to cram the last bits o' fun in that we could.
Nolan is currently napping and I am listening to my "tunes" and enjoying a quiet morning.
This morning was about as smooth as it could get.  Nolan slept until after I left to take the boys to school and they were all eager to go.  Zman was a wee bit nervous this morning...he unfortunately didn't get a class full of his friends like Jakeb did and is bummed by that.  Plus he is so surprisingly shy that new teachers and new classmates leaves him as a ball of nerves.  Gavin who is apparently 14 trucked off to first grade with me nearly chasing him down the hallway.  So worried I was going to embarrass him he took off down the hall with us trailing behind.   He darted in to class leaving me with a high five.  Zachary is still much more affectionate at school and has no problems giving us hugs and kisses before we head off...he even posed in front of his class room door for me to grab a first day shot of him.   My favorite is still dropping him off at kindergarden and nearly every day he would turn after he jumped out of the car, wave, blow me a kiss, and yell "I love you Mommy!!"  But Zman is a lover and not afraid to show it.
Jakeb was stoked for 5th grade and many times lamented that he could not WAIT until the first day.  He walked off for his last day of elementary school feeling great and happy.
So back to the grind are we!
Nolan and I are off to run some errands when he gets up...one of which is hitting up the notary so that our docs are ready to be apostilled on Friday!  And then they will be good.to.go.

Enjoy your day!