Danny and Shane's First Boat Ride

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I got to take Danny and Shane on their first boat ride. We went out on Tye's boat with Tye, Roe, and Josh. The boys were so excited to get to go ride on the boat. The boys have been taking turns being scared of the water so I did not think they were going to go in the tube and I definitely did not think that they would get in the water. To my surprise the boat was not stopped 2 seconds before they were on the end of it with Roe and kicking their feet in the water. As soon as the tube was blown up they were the first ones to jump in it. Shane decided he wanted to swim with Roe and got right in. Danny was a little more apprehensive but also got in. Danny was fine as long as he had a hold of someone. After a while Shane was swimming from one person to the next. They did not want to get out of the water. The boys also took turns riding in the tube with one of the adults. They said it was their favorite day.

The 4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July. Danny spent the whole week counting down days to the 4th. He was so excited that when he woke up in the morning he came running into our room yelling, "It's my day!". Once we got to church he then went around telling everyone that it was his day. I love that the littlest things get the kids so excited. This year we opted out of running ourselves all over the place and wearing out the boys and decided to have a relaxing 4th at the house. The Webbs came over for hot dogs and watermelon. The kids had a blast running around playing while we pulled dinner together and then we were all able to just sit back and enjoy each other's company. The boys were dieing to put off some fireworks so we finally let them go outside and see some, even though it was not dark yet. We loaded all of the little ones into strollers to make sure they did not get to close the the fireworks and then went into the street to put them off. The kids were totally amazed by them. Cayden kept clapping and laughing and Liam and Avery had a blast throwing down those little things that pop. After it got a little darker we put Liam and Cayden to bed and took Danny and Shane outside to watch the fireworks that the Sarkas were putting off. The boys loved them. Danny said he liked them even more than the big ones because they were so close he could see them really well. Danny also showed us his imitation of what fireworks sound like, squeal and all. He was pretty stinking close to sounding like a firework. Not something you want to hear inside. By the time the fireworks were done the boys were so tired that Shane was begging to go in.

Pirate Patch and Accidents

Today I took Danny for his recheck at the eye doctor. We were expecting for his lazy eye to have gotten stronger but it hasn't. His vission is at 20/30 in his right eye with his glasses on and it should be 20/20 with his glasses. Because of this the doctor decided that it was time for him to start patch therapy. He has to wear a patch on his left eye for 4 hours a day for the next 3 months then when we go back they will reevaluate where to go from there. He is excited about it for now because he loves looking like a pirate but it is already irritating him. It is like a big band-aid on his eye. They come in fun designs so it should make it easier. He picked camo for his first one.

My mom stayed at the house to watch the little guys while I was gone with Danny and she brought Payton with her. When she got back all of the boys started playing hide and seek. Shane was hidden really well and the boys were having a hard time finding him. A few minutes later I heard them yelling "Ew Shane is naked". When I went to see what was going on I found Shane's wet pants. I asked him what happened and he said he was hiding and did not want them to find him and he peed in his pants. I asked him where he was hiding and because I remembered the boys saying something about him in my bed. Thank goodness he said he was in the shower. He said "Mommy please forgib (forgive) me" in his cute little voice. When I told him it was okay he said "thank you Mommy". He is so stinking cute. It is so hard to get mad at him. Later in the evening I noticed a major puddle in the shower. He really had to go.

A Week of Firsts

As the boys get bigger they are each experiencing a lot of firsts. Each day is bringing them new adventures. Last week was a week of many firsts. We decided that since Liam has become quite the little climber that it was time to put him in a big boy bed. It was perfect timing because Emory had just outgrown his toddler bed and was ready to pass it on. Having gone through this transition twice before we knew we were in for loads of fun. Danny had been almost impossible to get to stay in his bed when he was switched to a big boy bed and Shane had not been much easier. In order for Liam's bed to come into the room the crib had to be taken down, which was surprisingly hard on me. As the crib was coming down I realized that this was the first time that we had taken a child out of the crib without a baby ready to go into it. Once we set the bed up in the room Liam was so excited to get into it. We put him to bed and braced ourselves for a busy night. To our surprise he never tried to get out of bed. We thought for sure it would not be this easy with nap but once again he surprised us. He has been in his bed for about a week and for the most part goes to sleep without a fuss and does not get out of bed. For the first couple of days he was scared to get out of the bed at all. He dropped one of his babies out of his bed and was trying so hard to get it without getting out of bed that he ended up doing a somersault.

Another big first in our house over the past week was Cayden starting to walk. He has been cruising for a while so we knew that walking was just around the corner. All of the boys have been late walkers. Danny was 15 months when he started, Shane was 16 months and Liam was almost 17 months when he started walking. Cayden has been my earliest yet at 13 months. A few weeks ago we went to pick him up from the nursery at church and I looked over at him and he stood up all by himself in the middle of the room. When I said something about it the ladies said that he had been doing it all morning. Within a few days we were at the house and he just took off (very very slowly) and spent the whole rest of the day trying to walk. It was like all of a sudden he was determined that he was going to walk. All of the other boys started walking and were running in a day. I am so grateful that Cayden walks incredibly slow. With all of the other ones on the go it is nice to have one that is not going full speed all day.

My boys are growing up on me. These are just the beginning of the firsts that this year is going to bring us.

Weekend Festivities

We had a wonderful family weekend. Josh and I have been wanting to have some time with Danny and Shane where they are able to get our full attention. Being the big brothers means that they have to not only share Josh and I with their little brothers but it also means that we can't always do things that bigger boys get to do because it is not possible with the little ones. Danny and Shane have been wanting to go to the beach (yes i know that it is awful that they had never really been) and I am way to paranoid for Josh and I to take all 4 of them to the beach on our own. We were able to get Josh's parents to watch the little ones for a few hours so that we could take them down to the beach. Josh and I are not really beach people. You can never get rid of the sand, it sticks to you and gets in the car and there are scary things in the water. We put all of that aside and made sure that the boys enjoyed themselves. They had a BLAST. I thought that they would spend most of the time playing in the sand but boy was I wrong. They would not get out of the water. I sucked up my fears of sharks eating us and we took them out to play in the water (never deeper than below my waist). They loved that if you jumped when a wave came it would pick you up. We made them stop playing long enough to eat lunch and made sure that all of the sand was off of them so it did not get in their food. I turned my head for one second and when I turned around Shane was dipping his food in the sand and eating it. I could not even stand to watch.

After the beach we all went home to clean up. Due to the time that we went to the beach nap time did not happen. We decided to push it and take the whole family to go watch a dog frisbee competition. The boys did not enjoy it like we thought they would. Danny was into it for a little while and decided that we need to train Rex how to do all of the tricks that the other dogs were doing. I would be happy if we could just train Rex to come inside when we tell him. Shane was not quite into it and exhaustion was beginning to set in. He looked at me and said "Mommy, I sooo bored" with his whole body slouched down. We decided to put him out of his misery and headed home. We had so much fun Saturday that Sunday required a family nap time after church.

Joining the Craze

Well Danny is out of school for the Summer and I just graduated with my A.A. so I am not in school for now so I figured now would be the perfect time to start a blog. I have been keeping a little journal of all of the cute things the boys do and say but I figured this looked like a more fun way to do that. With 4 boys they are always doing something to give me a laugh and it is so easy to forget all of the sweet and funny things that they do so here it goes.

Last night Danny blew me away. He loves reading and has been working really hard at it. He reads bits and pieces of books to me all day but with the other boys running around I am ashamed to say he always gets interrupted by one of the other boys needing something before he can get through an entire book. At night he always wants to read the bedtime story but Shane is not patient enough and wants Josh or I to read. My goal for the summer is to let Danny read to me uninterrupted every night. Last night we started this and boy was I amazed. He read "Green Eggs and Ham" from cover to cover. He only needed help on two words. I forgot how long that book was. I am so proud of him.

Shane was quite the character last night. While we were putting the boys to bed last night Shane lifted up my shirt to see my boo boos(the incisions from my gallbladder surgery). He saw that the glue is starting to peel off and said " Mommy your boo boos are broke. They should have used peanut butter. It's sticky." He cracks me up.

A few minutes after we tucked them in I went and peaked in their room to make sure that they were asleep and not playing. I noticed Shane's bed was empty but it looked like he was in Danny's bed with him. A few hours later Josh went back to our bedroom and when he turned on the light he saw something move in our bed. Shane had climbed in our bed and put pillows all around him and went to sleep. When we asked him why he was in our bed he said that his was to hard to sleep in. I love my boys.