The day has finally come! Their first day of Kindergarten!

Malena in the car waiting to be on our way.

Here's Joshua giving me one last kiss before Daddy takes them to their school.
Jacob can't wait for the first day!
Mommy stops on the way to school for a special first day of school treat!

Malena meets her teacher and settles in nicely :)
They all had a GREAT first day of school and Mommy only shed one small tear as I walked away from dropping off Malena. :(

My Big KINDERGARTENERS!

Fourth of July FUN!

We had such a great time at David and Katja's wedding. I was so worried, because it started at 7pm and the kids usually go to bed at 8, but we ended up staying until 12:30 am! And they were all awake! Malena did have a little incident where she threw up all over her pretty new dress Bubbie got her, and she didn't like the loud music, but she was fine once I cleaned her up. The boys had a BLAST on the dance floor, and I think Jacob stole the show with his moves. He says, "I got cool moves." Too funny. Here are some pics of my handsome little men and my little lady.

Happy Birthday To My Gorgeous BABIES!!! I LOVE You!!!

Ok, I'm back..again. I'm really going to try to keep up. No promises. hehe :) Here's some pics from a beautiful California day at the park. The kids had a blast. The boys especially liked watching the "skaters" and bikes in the skate park adjacent to the play park.

Caught these of the boys as they were running around like wild monkeys in my studio while I was trying to set up for a session. Managed to get a couple of them looking "angelic" LOL

Yes, I'm still here! Barely.... LOL Here are some pics of Halloween. It was a LONG day!

Today, Jacob was calling me to come talk to him. He was on the potty and I was in my office. I said I'd be right there, and he kept saying, "I want to talk to you." So I finished up what I was doing and went down, thinking he needed help in the potty. When I asked him what he needed, he said he wanted to talk to me. He said, "How about I will clap, Mommy."

"Clap? what for?"

"I will clap, and whenever I clap, you come and get me what I want."

After my hysterical laughter, I explained to him that I will come when he needs my help, but it is inappropriate for me to come when he claps. "Why not?" After some discussion, he agreed that he will call for me when he needs help. Next, he'll probably be asking for a bell to ring!

Congratulations Alicia! My sister graduated from California State University, Fullerton yesterday with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies. My old Alma Mater. We are all so proud of you Shaw!

My Sweet, Silly, Little Faces

Here are the faces I am blessed to see EVERY day. I'm the luckiest Mommy in the world!

Houston, We Have A Problem!




I don't know where the boys got this idea, but they are LITERALLY climbing the walls! You can guess it. Their game was to see how high they could go. As they grow, I don't even WANT to know what other things they will discover they can do to destroy my house! :)

It's been a while since I've updated, and I really need to go back and add some pics and some really funny video (Jacob getting stuck in a chair). But I just wanted to quickly add their stats from their recent annual check up (only five months late, hehe).

Jacob
42 1/2 " 42#8oz

Joshua
41" 37#

Malena
38 1/2" 38#

As you can see, they're all growing very well, and the doctor was very happy with their development. We got our shots, and now Malena has a fever and Jacob threw up. :( I thought they'd be over that, but I guess they're pretty sensitive to these things. Poor babies. I will update more later. I promise!

We've hit 10,000!

Well, I'm back! Yipeee. And I see my counter has hit 10,000. What a great welcome back. My surgery went well, though the recovery did not. I don't react well to anesthesia. After sleeping on the couch and not driving for two months, I finally got the okay to "ween" off my walking boot last Friday. Well, I have to admit, I took it off that day and haven't really put it back on. A Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do. I did learn my lesson when my foot got VERY sore during the very busy weekend, so I try to "rest" it as much as possible. I will post a pic of my new bionic foot soon. :)

The kids have to be whipped back into shape after learning very quickly that Mommy couldn't get up and chase them down when they needed to be disciplined. Well Mommy's on her feet now! LOL

I can't believe it!!!! I remember when the kids were little and crawling all around. I fell over them so many times, I was so afraid I was going to break something and be out commission. I was sooooo glad when they all started walking and they were more mobile. Well, wouldn't you know it, NOW is when I break my foot! I was rushing around getting Malena ready for the bus and as I turned around, my right foot (toe) got caught in my left pant leg. I fell, and heard a pop, but my pant leg ripped, so I figured that was what that sound was, because my foot really didn't hurt that bad. Not until I got up and put pressure on it. I knew I was in trouble, and below is the result:




















And to really blow my mind into disbelief, I need surgery to correct the break. With pins and plates in my foot and everything! So now, I'm layed up on the couch, unable to do anything, and just feeling really stupid. Oh, and btw, of course, this happened 2 days before Alex is due to go on a business trip for 3 days! I should've known!

No GIRL Friends

I just had a discussion with Jacob where he was telling me about his friends at school. He was talking about one of his friends who happens to be a girl. Then he caught himself and said, "But I don't like girls. Girls are not my friends." I told him that one day he'd change his mind. He said, "No, I'll never change my mind." Then I reminded him about his cousin Emily who's a girl (whom he talks about constantly and always want to play with, though we don't see her much anymore) and he said, "Yes, Emily. But just Emily and you.... and Daddy." ;)

No Way to Start the New Year

I was so excited to get the kids back in school today, but wouldn't you know it, they're all sick. So instead of my precious 2 1/2 hours of freedom, I got to take all three (with Alex) to the dr.'s. With them sick, they weren't able to get their annual check up and shots, but here are their numbers:

Malena
36 1/2 lbs
38"

Joshua
32 1/2 lbs
40 1/4"

Jacob
35 1/2 lbs
41 1/4"

I'm really not too sure about Malena's height, as we measured her at home last month, and she wasn't even 36" when we went to Disneyland, but the weight is right. I think I'll measure her height again.

So, that puts Malena in the 62nd percentile for weight and 14th percentile for height. That's actually not that bad. First of all, she's ON the typical growth chart (not the Down syndrome chart where she'd be 95th percentile weight and height). If I remember correctly, last year, she was in the 95th percentile weight and 10th percentile height. But, as I said, I'm not too sure about the height measurement. She is growing well, though. :)

Our little Joshua is then in the 19th percentile for weight, and 47th percentile for height. He has really been growing since his heart surgery almost two years ago, and also from his testicular surgery this past year (though I don't know why that would matter). He's our little guy, but catching up. Remember, he's "tiny, but mighty."

Big Jake is 46th percentile for weight, and 70th percentile for height. He's our big guy, and I'm sure with his attitude about eating fruits and veggies, will surely be as tall as Daddy. :)

Who'd have guessed my little premie four pounders would grow to be such big little men and little lady? :) LOL

BTW, the boys had slight ear infections and have been on antibiotics and all are recovering. THEY WILL BE BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY (I can hope, can't I?)

Malena Speaks!

Ok, well, she's said a few words consistently before. Mostly, "No!". She has also said, "Ma" for me (Mommy), and has also said "bah" for ball. So she has finally spoken her first two syllable word! "Ora" for Dora! No, not Mommy, not Daddy, but Dora. Then the other day, she said, "Ahee, Ora." and pointed to the tv. "Aheee." Yeah! She has FINALLY said Mommy! I have waited sooooooooooooo long to hear my beautiful princess call me Mommy. You better believe that tv went straight to Dora! Now she calls me Ahee when she's nice and "Ma" pretty much when she's mad and wants something NOW. LOL. Oh, how I love to hear her call me "Ahee". Even if I am second, I'm proud to be her second two syllable word! :) I guess I can play second fiddle to a cartoon character for now.

Joshua LOVES Santa, but I guess spending an hour in line in the freezing cold and waking him up from a nap minutes before seeing the jolly old guy didn't make for a great visit. He wouldn't stop crying, then just refused to be in the pics completely. :( At least I got him in one and I got some really cute pics of Jacob and Malena. Maybe I'll photoshop him in later.

MALENA POOPED IN THE POTTY!

LOL, okay, so that's not the nicest title, but one I didn't think I'd be writing for a long time. This morning, after a VERY long night of croupe, I took Malena downstairs. I took off her pajamas and diaper to get her dressed for the day. After I took off her diaper, she immediately went to the bathroom. I didn't tell her. In fact, I was so exhausted, I just wanted to put her clothes on and lay down on the couch. Well, I let her go, and a few minutes later, I hear Alex screaming, "Malena went poop in the potty!" I ran over, and sure enough, she was sitting on the big potty and had gone poop. We started cheering, and she got embarassed and covered her face, but then I gave her a high five, and she was happy. Later in the day, I was clearing out her backpack and found a note from her teacher and learned that she had actually gone poop in the potty at school the morning before! Two days in a row! Unfortunately, now she's off track for six weeks, so it's all on me to keep up this trend.

Go Malena! You've come a long way, Baby!

Last night I made a sandwich for the kids for dinner. I noticed Jacob sitting on the couch watching tv a few minutes after dinner.

Me: Did like your sandwich?

Jacob: (not turning away from the tv) No. I didn't like the bread so much.

Me: What was wrong with the bread?

Jacob: (still not looking at me) It had mustard on it.

Me: I thought you liked mustard.

Jacob: Yeah, not so much. The mustard was sweet. (It is not sweet mustard)

Me: Oh, maybe I put too much. You think it had too much mustard?

Jacob: (Yep, eyes still hooked on the tv) Yeah. I didn't like the bread so much.

My question in my head: When did he turn into a teenager? :)

Halloween is always such a busy day, and this year was no exception. Of course the boys wanted to be pirates AGAIN, so we went and got them their pirates suits, and all of a sudden, they want to be Spidermand and Batman. Too bad. I wasn't going to subject Malena to be a pirate again and watch all the princesses run around, so she was my beautiful Princess Snow White (quite the look alike, don't ya think?). Malena and Jake had big Halloween parties at their schools and, luckily Alex was able to attend Jakes as I went to Malena's.

It was so much fun to see her in her class with all her friends.



After that, the annual Ontario City Entertainment show and trick or treating and costume contests, then rush back home for trick or treating at home, where the kids went to so many houses, they made me hold all their bags. Though Malena looked like the adorable little Snow White, by this time, she acted like the Wicked Witch of the West and through hissy fits at every house. Okay, time for home and bed, right? Nope, we got home and they piled their candy on the floor to look through their loot. They all had a great time, and so did we. Now I'm pooped. At least I have all their candy to keep me company. LOL