4 Months Old

I woke up and wished the little guy Happy Birthday and then breathed my prayer to God to PLEASE slow time down and PLEASE let me never forget THIS moment.

I told the kids it was Rocco's 4 month birthday and Nathanael's response was, "Well, I guess his eyes are blue forever." He knew 4 months was the cut off for baby eye color to change.

This has been a HUGE development month for little Rocco!

He now can sit in his activity seat.

He loves his bouncy. This is how I'm able to prepare meals each day!
This video was taken when he first started. Now he's a professional bouncing maniac!

He also loves playing on his back under his jungle gym.

His schedule is becoming a little more predictable. He takes a solid morning nap for a couple hours, a solid afternoon nap for a couple hours, and a short evening nap to get him through til bed time. I'm also able to now just put him in his crib and within 2-3 minutes (usually!) he's sound asleep.

He continues to be very verbal and expressive. He 'talks' all the time.

He loves his hands. He often holds them like he's praying and loves to suck on his fingers. He'll also reach for and hold toys now, which is great, but with that comes the slimy fist-fulls of Mom's hair, too!

He found his feet this month!And had his first driving lesson.
And went to his first (of many!) hockey game.
Oh, how I love that sweet boy!

What we've been up to....

I just thought I'd catch up by sharing a few highlights from our week.

***We enjoyed a day at the Big E, an annual fall tradition. My mom came and joined us for a couple hours. We did the circus and watched the parade.

Matching tie-dyes...makes it easier to spot the kids.

Rocco spent most of the time in the Moby, but hung in the stroller a little, too.

For the evening, we met up with our friends, the Rothmans.

KeShawn, Jonas, and Madison

Nathanael and C4 are on the right.

***Our niece Allison turned 5!!!

She had a fun 'Princess' party.And, of course, every princess needs a prince!
***We took our first official field trip of the school year. It was an animal adventure. The kids learned about several animals from a Biblical perspective. They learned about Noah's ark, and the neat ways God has individualized animals. God has a purpose for everything He does.

This is fascinating!

Now we're talking! This Sugar Glider was a favorite.

C4 and his buddy Issac hold ferrets

Next all the kids lined up shoulder to shoulder to hold a snake. As soon as the instructor pulled out this 85 lb. albino constrictor, my kids bolted! Smart.

The kids got to touch this alligator. It's mouth was taped shut. The boys actually got to hold it, but Madison had since decided she was done flirting with the dangerous ones. ***Back to "normal" school (whatever that means), C4 captured this video of me doing flashcards with Madison and Nathanael. They get VERY excited about flashcards!


***Trevor spent the night at Lisa's and I was able to take the older ones on a hike. It wasn't long, but I was able to teach them about following the color markings on the trees, and feed the ducks, and get a couple pictures.

Rocco loves the sling.

***Madison got to go apple picking with a friend. Kelly's mom sent me a couple cute pictures.
***And finally, C4 had his first hockey game!

He eats in Versace's mansion, I get Wendy's drive-thru

Perspective. It's defined as:

-the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship

-the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship

-a mental view or prospect

Colombo just called. He's in Miami on a business trip. It's a typical corporate function that is training balanced with wining and dining. Tonight he had a dinner party in Versace's mansion. Sounds like fun. I, on the other hand, got drive thru fast food between drum lessons and hockey practice.

Sometimes the things that I do as a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler seem meaningless and painfully mundane.

BUT, Colombo will never know how it feels to have a baby kick inside the womb. He'll never know the satisfaction of feeling and infant stroke his chest as he nurses back to sleep. He'll never know the pride to have a five year old say, "Daddy left those flowers for you because you're the BEST mom in the world."

He'll never find pleasure in putting his entire day aside to only sit and hold a cuddly toddler with a fever. He'll never feel his eight year old give a 'free massage' when she senses that Mom's had it.

He'll miss the time that the Kindergartner first puts a consonant and vowel together, the light bulb goes on, the reading journey begins. He'll never feel wholeness because a child with a scraped knee comes running to Mommy.

He won't understand why it's not good enough that he tucks the kids in, but that they also need Mommy to come up the stairs to kiss their foreheads. He'll never feel tears well up in his eyes while making piles of newborn clothes to finally pass on to another family.

There's no paycheck for the drooly smile that comes simply by the presence of Mom.

He'll have satisfaction. He loves his kids. He's an exceptional father. But it's different. I may never use the Bachelor degree I earned by putting myself through college. I may never be invited to dinner at Versace's mansion, but I wouldn't trade Wendy's drive thru for the world!

Lego Wars and Dress Up

C4 cleverly put this little Lego 'scene' together and asked if he could take some pictures. He was quite pleased with himself, particularly for the dude getting his head taken off. Ahhh, a proud mommy-moment.

Speaking of proud moments, get a load of this!!! The kids all had a BLAST going through Madison's closet during Rocco and Levi's dedication party.

Loud & Proud...Nathanael

Quoteable

So get this....I began the following post on Thurs. 9/17 and saved it as a draft til I had time to finish it. I had titled it and done all the little stories except for the last one. Just 2 days later, I clicked on my sister, Lisa's blog to find the same type of post with THE SAME TITLE...weird!!! I called her to tell her. She told me she also began hers on Thurs. night. I would think this was totally bizarre, except we do similar things all the time, like showing up to places dressed in 'matching' outfits or I'll call her on the phone, it won't ring, she'll say, "Hello?? Amy? That was weird, I just picked up the phone to call you." So check out her "Quoteables" post, too. Coincidence? Yes. Freakishly bizarre? Not really.

I am quite aware the following is really only funny if a) you know my kids' personalities and b) you were present when the following was said, but I thought they were hilarious enough to document.

Nathanael came to me and said, "Mom, I'm almost done with school. All I have is spelling and healthcare." --Obviously he has spent a little too much time listening to Daddy's talk radio. He continues to call it healthcare. I'd say the agenda of the president is being sufficiently pushed.

Trevor got 2 tattoos at the hockey rink. On his left arm he's sporting "Mickey Mouse" and on his right arm, "Poop". --I think I've officially failed as a mother. The kid has no idea who Winnie the Pooh is. He's simply referred to as 'Poop'.

I was putting the kids to bed and Trevor wanted to sleep with Maddy. We only allow musical beds on the weekends, so I said, "No, not tonight." He very defiantly, but oh-so-cutely dragged his pillow back to his room saying, "You're so mean, Mom!" --What??!! Mean??? I thought we were 10 years away from that.

Nathanael was rubbing at his eyes one morning. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Nothing. Just getting the sleep junk out." --Alrighty, then. That's a good description.

We had a consult for C4's impending ortho work. As we sat at the conference table looking at the screen with his x-rays, moulds, and pictures, a profile picture came up of him. He got up and came and whispered in my ear, "I'm a criminal." --Actually it did look just like a mug shot, but I think Dr. Braces is the criminal for $ amount he gave us to fix said 10-year-old's teeth!

The last one is tough to explain, but as we were preparing to start the school year and getting supplies organized, the kids were arguing over who would get the Spiderman folder and who would get the red binder, etc. But from across the room, I laughed as Nathanael was adamant about which 'grinder' and which 'holder' he wanted. This whole conversation ensued over grinders and holders, when really they were talking about binders and folders.

Like I said...you had to be there!

Giving Him Back

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6

We dedicated Rocco on Saturday, September 12th. It was a special service for us for many reasons, but as an added bonus, he was dedicated with his cousin, Levi, and another good friend, Andrew Card. All 3 boys cooperated very nicely. I think Rocco was the only one who fussed just a little.

Colombo and I have done this 4 times before and take it very seriously. We know that really, Rocco is His. He is really just on loan to us. We feel very grateful that God would see fit to trust us with him. We know that dedicating him at an early age is more for us than it is for Rocco. Rocco gains nothing from the ceremony. His salvation is not secure because of it. Really it is our choice to bring him before God and say, "He is Yours. The will You have for him is what we want. Strengthen us as parents to do all that we can to raise him in Your ways and bring him up to follow Christ."

Elder Romero prays over Rocco

Bishop Wiles and Lady Nita show him off to the congregation

God has been so faithful to us. He has blessed us with healthy kids who have tender hearts and desire to follow Christ. We understand it is only because of His strength and His mercy that we can even begin to give Rocco what he needs.

Following the service, we had a little party for both Rocco and Levi back at our house. Rocco slept through most of the party and we never did get a picture of the 2 boys together.

“May the Lord give His angel charge over you, to guide you in all your ways.” -Psalm 91:11

And so it begins!

School is in session! We started September 11th after Tim and Elizabeth and their kids left for home.

The kids were not thrilled about the idea of getting back to the books, but after 3 school days now, it feels good to be back into a regular routine of bed time, chores, and beginning the day.

This year I have 5th, 3rd, and 1st grades.

Nathanael is proud to tell people, "I'm in 1st grade, except for math; I'm doing 2nd grade." I decided to skip 1st grade math because he would've been completely bored with it.

I'm anticipating my biggest challenge to be the 3-year-old.

So, although I have only stuck to a 'loose' school schedule in years past, I have devised a stricter schedule so that he is busy for an hour and a half each morning, with each of the older 3 kids taking him for 1/2 hour each. Nathanael will play with him, Madison will do snack time with him, and C4 will either take him outside on nice days or work with him on the computer when it's not nice. I'm hoping the structure will help the school day to be more productive as well as foster tighter relationships between the siblings with one on one time.

Rocco takes a solid morning nap (most days) for 2-ish hours, so that is really all I need to do what I need to do with the kids.
So far, smooth sailing. I'm not naive, though. As we commence our 6th year, I know full well that I will need to rely fully on God, who has proven Himself faithful and true. We know He has called us to this, and feel so blessed to have the lifestyle we do and the freedom to have our kids home.