Tickled Pink and Little Boy Blues

So, here are all the gifts little Miss Cole has already received... One of the benefits that my third is a different gender because otherwise, a third would have no where near this many gifts while still in the womb...

We are thrilled to be having a little girl.  It is really hard to imagine since we have had boys for 5 years and have pretty much got the little boy thing down.  You know, rough house, loud dance music, smelly bathrooms no matter how often you clean, trucks, dirt, balls, bruises, scrapes and cars.

Landon has said, "I am going to love my baby sister, but I am not sure Connor will..."
Connor wants to kiss my tummy all the time and often lifts his shirt to tell me that his baby sister is in his tummy.

We are getting ready to put the boys in the same room in a bunk bed.  Because Connor Douglas is an early bird, I am kinda putting this off...He likes to get up at say, 6:00- if we are lucky.  Though I must say, he did sleep until 7:15 one morning this week which was nothing short of a miracle.

We are certainly starting to gear up for this little lady, as I am over half way through this pregnancy.  I can hardly believe it.  I am loving this time and cannot believe how quickly it is passing.

Here are Stan and I about a month ago at a fundraiser for Staff of Hope.  This is one of my first belly pictures. :) I was about 16 weeks.

We have been having a blast with our boys lately.  We got our annual mulch pile delivered by dump truck into our driveway.  The mulch sat a little longer than usual this year as we waiting through some rainy weekends as well as some lost weekends to work...

Clearly Connorbug loved every minute of it and was often seen with his gardening tool in hand...Getting him to keep the mulch from the driveway was nearly impossibly.

 Landon, an old pro, had his digger in hand as well as his confidence built as he conquered the pile, standing on top like the king of the mountain.

I have also really been enjoying my Tuesdays with the boys.  I have tried to keep Tuesdays sacred, for me and the boys in the morning and we will often have some sort of playdate in the afternoon.  I treasure this time - even though they fight- esp. as I reflect on Landon heading to Kindergarten in the fall.  In the picture above, Landon was teaching Connor to climb this structure and was so encouraging. Nice for a change, since he is often yelling at his brother.

Speaking of them fighting and those battles...WOW.  Things have been rough in that area, causing some "little boys blues" for mommy.  It takes one of them simply walking into the other's presence and - it is on.  I have tried everything...the latest is separating them, no matter who starts it one of them goes to their room and we switch off.  I have also instituted a "nice talk quarter jar" for Landon.  Every time I hear him say something nice to his brother, he gets a quarter and every time I can run upstairs and do something like put a load of laundry in the wash without hearing screaming, Landon gets a quarter.  This has really helped...which helps me to see who the instigator is the majority of the time...
  

Not this face, you say...  Oh yes, this sweet little face.  I love this little boy madly.  And there are no BUTS about it.  I will say, he is very spirited and is certainly challenging me.  I often have to pray about my parenting when it comes to Landon, but I truly believe that God placed him in my care for a special reason and I am up for the task.  Parenting books, advice from those with greater experience than me and a whole lot of prayer and love and we are doing our very best.  I do believe that his tenacity will take him very far in life, I mean, again, look at that face!  I am so thankful to have Stan to share in the journey of parenthood.  Lord knows we need each other when this sweet little face "gets a going".

Brothers, enjoying the morning with mommy...we love making animal noises while swinging on the swings.

Now this is "Lewis" the squirrel.  My dad tells the boys stories about a squirrel named Lewis.  Whenever we go to the park, we always see "Lewis" and sometimes his friends, "Bob" and "Fred".  This particular day at the park, "Lewis" was enjoying one of our peanut butter sandwiches.  I cannot believe it.  The boys were laughing so hard at this squirrel, just chowing down on their sandwich...of course they wanted to throw all of their food to him but I convinced them that they had bigger tummies and thus needed the food more. :)  This day is known as the day "Lewis" had a picnic with us.

Landon has enjoyed some special time with friends.  I love how social and outgoing he is.  He can really make any child comfortable and just brings them in on his play.
 

Thankfully, he is a good sport when they give him back what he gives first!!!

This was taken on another Tuesday.  We went to Marbles Museum and the boys had a blast racing race cars that we made.  We must have played at this one exhibit for at least an hour.

Landon was very serious about having a car that was faster than his brothers...

The boys also loved the bank teller type ball propellers and competed against one another, of course.

Another Tuesday, we spent time with our dear friends, Janise, Sophia and Emelia.  We made a spring food craft- little birds nest cookies. The boys (and girls) had a blast!

Putting them together.

Landon smiling for the camera but not wanting to take his eyes off his birdies...

Janise, Sophia and Emelia enjoying food craft day!

Landon and his little birdies, so proud!

Connor did more eating than creating, but hey, what is being a kid all about?  :)

Our best group pose...

We also enjoyed a picnic outside and I am not quite sure why Connor didn't want to take his helmet off...

Landon really enjoyed his bird nest cookies!

Well, there is an update.  I feel bad as I am about at a once a month pace right now.  I have been really trying to adapt to my new job which does have me working at home more than I have in the past which cuts out a lot of my downtime- since I really don't have that much.  It is going really well, though and I really love working with a supportive group.  Our van is in the shop and we are patiently waiting the final verdict on whether or not it is totaled.  It has been one "monkey mess" getting things sorted out and trying to keep daily life moving in the process.  We have had some great weekends with Mommom and Pop and I will make sure to post on our latest cabin trip soon.  We still have Friday morning playgroup and about tri-weekly outdoor play with our wonderful neighbors.  We are surrounded by an amazing network of friends and family and I always say it, but what a blessing that bares repeating.

Hope you enjoyed!