Hurray! It's Independence Day!

Yes, I'm starting off this post with a rhyme.

That's the kind of mood I'm in!

Woke up this morning feeling O'-So-Patriotic that I sang "America The Beautiful" "My Country Tis of Thee" and "The Star Spangled Banner". And then because Sophia asked me to please stop singing already! and Claire didn't seem all that impressed I googled/YouTube patriotic music and did an impromptu Independence Day parade around the kitchen table complete with three little sun tanned babies marching along behind me. And that was all before 8 am. The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday after Christmas, and yes it's okay for adults to have "favorite holidays.  In honor of our great nation I am now sipping ice cold coffee out of a mason jar because it just seems more festive than drinking out of a plain mug and by golly I'm ready to celebrate!

What I really meant to write about was the conclusion of swim class. Not really the conclusion as much as the stuff that happened between the time Alex was unwilling to dip so much as a pinky toe into the water right up to the point where he was doing a backward swan dive off the high dive. And I'm only slightly exaggerating.

Remember back to the post where I schemed a plan for getting him into the water? It involved something like repeating "You will get in the water" enough times and with so much conviction that he would be *tricked* into getting in the water. Any guesses on how well that worked out? If you answered complete and total parenting fail than you guessed correctly.

It seems that the trick for getting a scared three year old boy into a cold swimming pool is for a beautiful, smiling, college aged swim instructor to come over to the bleachers and scoop him into her arms and carry him to the edge of the water. Then said three year old boy will happily jump right in. And so it went. Every single time. Alex acting "pretend scared" and clinging to Patrick's legs until his swim instructor would come over and carry him off, with him all the while grinning at us over her shoulder. He's a smart one that little Alex. And a good swimmer now too. I would never out right confess it to the others but he probably did the best at actually learning to swim, both above and below water. I guess weighing in at 28 lbs doesn't hurt.

And so this short tale of swimming misadventures doesn't exclude the other little Nelsons I have to say that Sophia would have won the award for most creative jumps off the diving board had there been awards on the last day and Max who mostly clung to his swim teacher, spent each lesson with a huge smile across his face.

Here's the proof:

And one of Sophia and her enthusiastic diving style

And finally my little guy swimming his heart out

Oh and one of him jumping too!

Valentine's Day 2011

A few pictures from our sweet day

Happy 3rd Birthday Alex!

Alexander

Our little, sweet choo choo lovin boy. You rushed through another year growing bigger, smarter, braver and more independent while still remaining, by your own admittance, my little boy. Since your last birthday you've changed from a baby who still needed a "ba ba" and a diaper to a full out "big brother" who is not afraid to take on new challenges. There are many times when Daddy and I look at you so deep in thought, no doubt planning your next adventure or working through how the world works. You are at times serious and focused, working on getting your row of trains just so, while other times you are silly and fun,singing your heart out for no one in particular. Through the serious and the silly some things about you remain constant. Your  loving, sweet nature allows you to show compassion and caring towards everyone especially others who are hurting and your big heart means who are always ready to dole out big hugs be it Mama or a new friend you just made.  We are so proud of you Alex and can't wait to see how you'll grow and enjoy life in the upcoming year.

We love you Little Z. From age three until forever.
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Third Birthday Max!

Our Max,

Happy Birthday Big Boy. These days that's the only name you're willing to accept.. Big Boy. And how! Last year at this time I couldn't imagine having a boy who could at once be a living tornado moving through the house (and life) at warp speed, wrestling, kicking, rolling, karate chopping and making all the requisite boy noises while on the other hand secretly asking Mama to "holsche me" or to complete the HUG!, KISS!, HIGH FIVE! ritual  every night before bed. You are everything I imagined little boys to be, loud, boisterous, not afraid to get dirty and always ready to burst out into a gun or sword fight. You are all those things but on the occasions that you are quiet and still  I can still see the little boy who loves to be cuddled, read to, and praised for being good. At the core you are good. Wonderful actually. And all that goodness shines through fully with that always charming (and mischievous) grin of yours. We are so proud of you Max.

Happy Birthday Maxinator

We love you, from age three until forever.

Mommy and Daddy

Happy 5th Birthday Honey Girl

My Sophia Lou

This past year, from four to five, went by in such a hurry. I still find it hard to believe that the little, beautiful baby I held in my arms, bright eyes wide open, is now five years old. And what I knew about you in those first few days, that you were a smart, determined, amazing and wonderful little girl is still true. You constantly amaze us with your bold, shining personality that is immediately the center of attention no matter where you go. In the past year you took on your first dance class and did beautifully at your first performance, became a more confident swimmer. bravely entered school and started on your way to reading and writing. Daddy and I are so very proud to call you our little girl. 

Happy Birthday Sophia

we love you from age five until forever.

Creeping ever so closer to the BIG 3 0. But not just yet!

A little help blowing out the candles

Mama Koala

And this one is not related to my birthday except that it captures just how excited our brown eyed girl is at any birthday party, even if it's not hers.

Sweet

It's hard to tell from this picture exactly whose birthday we celebrated yesterday. Although Sophia woke up singing Happy Birthday to YOU!!! (and sang it over and over again throughout the day), and the boys could hardly contain their excitement over chocolate cake and birthday candles it was actually Patrick who marked another year. 

And in honor of his birthday I'm going to brag on him again.

Yes, twice in one week.

Friday night I was set to bake chocolate chip cookies for a fundraiser bake sale I was participating in early Saturday morning. (Yes, people still do bake sales. And no, I've never participated in one that was profitable).

Unfortunately the second trimester has not been kind to me and after getting the kids to bed I wanted little to do with anything that required me to leave the couch. The plan was to get up before 6 am and bake up five or six dozen little beauties and tie them into cutesy little baggies complete with curly pink ribbon and all this before 7:20.  Just that and somehow get in a shower plus have time to get dolled up and look presentable.

Just blame the flawed plan on the mushy pregnancy brain.

At 6:20 Patrick woke me up and said "Honey, it's after 6 am."

CRAP!!!!

That's not actually what I said but I'm trying to keep it clean.

Before I could lunge frantically out of bed towards the kitchen Patrick added "But I've already started the cookies and the first batch is in the oven".

Swoon.

I don't care how adverse you are to sappy love stories. That is a good one. 

How many husbands would get up BEFORE six on a Saturday morning to make cookies of all things so their exhausted wife could get a few more minutes of sleep. 

Not very many.

Here is my prince charming hard at cookie making.

He finished making the rest of the cookies and let me take my time getting ready.

I was in charge of the cutesy ribbon part and I was able to make it out the door on schedule.

They were delicious too!

And bragging complete.

 Happy Birthday Patrick.

You are one of a kind.

For Patrick

(A belated Father's day post)

Yesterday I wondered whether the kids would ever know how lucky they are to have a Daddy like you.

They've never known any different than a Daddy who rather than plopping down on the couch and watching t.v. when he gets home from work gets down on the carpet and lets three little monkeys climb and wrestle all over him or plays endless rounds of hide-n-seek always pretending not to notice the giggling and jumping coming from behind the curtains. 

They've don't know that not all Daddies read to their kids every night before bed, helping with prayers and giving kisses before turning out the lights. They don't know that Daddy checks on them after they're asleep or that he's usually the first awake and out of bed when they're crying in the middle of the night.

They may even assume that it's a Daddy's job to let Mommy sleep in on weekends while he gets the kids ready for the day and makes coffee, pancakes, eggs or his famous chilequiles (although that may be his secret trick for finally getting Mommy up and out of bed).

They may not realize how lucky blessed we all are to have you as Daddy but what they do know is that every day they can count on Daddy being there, whether it's singing silly songs or changing the 18th

diaper of the day, you are here. Loving us.

Another I do!

Patrick and I celebrated another year together this weekend with something that we rarely do anymore... dinner out two nights in a row.  Whoa, we're really livin' wild now.  Because it may be just a little harder to pin down a sitter next anniversary with a five year old, two three year olds and a six month old we jumped at the opportunity when both Sonia and Irene volunteered to give us a few hours away.  We went to  Chopes for Mexican food the first night and had the most flavorful and deeelicious chile rellenos (I could eat them every meal from now until forever.....yummmm green chile) and Olive Garden the next night.  I know what you're thinking. Olive Garden on your anniversary, how cliche'!  Normally I would agree except that I haven't had Olive Garden in years AND it just opened in our small town a little over a month ago and my preggo cravings have been calling out for unlimited salad and bread sticks ever since! So that settled it. Pregnant lady cravings trump adventurous and novel cuisine choices every time. At any rate we had two wonderful dinners out alone and we hardly talked about the kids at all. Not mostly anyways.

I'm sure I wrote about this on our last anniversary but around the time Patrick and I were married I saw or maybe read a story about a couple that had been married for decades. On each of their anniversaries they had a picture taken as a couple and added it to a the wall of photos celebrating their time together year by year. I loved the idea of having a visual reminder of how much has changed, and stayed the same, since we were married (maybe I won't love the visual reminder when my face is sagging into my neck) but we've managed to keep the tradition running these few years.

Here's a timeline of our time as Mr. and Mrs.

And one of the whole family

It's funny because I don't feel very much older but comparing our wedding picture to this year's picture makes me feel tired.  Meanwhile minus hair Patrick looks pretty much the same. I have my theories as to why the "Mommy" ages three times as fast as the "Daddy" but I'll leave that post for another day. 

And finally....

Happy Anniversary Patrick. It's been wonderful being your bride. 

Mothers Day 2010 and Other News

It has been awhile, a month almost since the last one. I know, I know but I promise I have a good excuse this time. But first Mother's Day.

Mother's Day started bright and early with Sophia excitedly proclaiming "It's Mother's Day! It's Mother's Day!!!" and running to get me the beautiful picture she had carefully been hiding from me all week. Wrapped inside were a handful of little yellow flowers that she was disappointed to see were already beginning to dry but not to worry because she had a plan. She convinced Patrick to go with her and get Mommy's Surprise Number Two, which turned out to be the first two roses that had recently bloomed on our newly planted rose bush. It was a very sweet surprise. As I continued to lay in bed, Sophia helped Patrick in the kitchen by drawing the ingredients to my "Mother's Day Breakfast in Bed" Menu, Strawberry and Banana Smoothie with Chilaquiles (and if you're unfamiliar to what the heck Chilaquiles are here's a link  except let me add that my husband is especially talented at coming up with new innovations on the recipes. All of them equally delicious!)

The first Mother's Day party of the day included only Patrick's side of the family, not because our respective families don't mix well, but because my parents were flying home from their Hawaii getaway and wouldn't arrive until 7 pm. Dinner included Homemade Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade (which Patrick enjoyed so much he was about to hammer together a makeshift lemonade stand and put me out in the front yard to make a little extra change), guacamole, black bean and avocado salad, bacon and ranch Pasta Salad, flame grilled burgers and last but not least brats. I also made a Lemonade Stand Frozen Pie, with a twist of pineapple, for dessert, which is so unlike me. I'm not much of a sweets eater so that's the one part of the meal I always overlook. But who could tell from the looks of me, right?

Originally our plans included a surprise visit from Patrick's sister, Raina, who we haven't seen since Christmas 2008 but unfortunately she missed an early flight out of San Francisco and was unable to make it until Monday. Add to that a suspected case of food poisoning (Patrick's Mom and I'll add that she got it on Saturday loooong before eating my food) and a emergency trip to the ER for Patrick's Aunt (Asthma combined with blowing dust) and the day was kind of a blow out. There was one highlight however that I'll get to later.

Tia Irene, Grandma Nelson, Me and Sophia

Sophia must help everyone open gifts. And as for her messy hair, I have no explanation. She is going to a combed hair revolt. I am picking my battles carefully. 

Trying to "get" the gift

Later that evening my sister arrived with a homemade vanilla creme cake, which the wee ones were climbing up chairs to attack and then shortly after the "Aloha" couple arrived bearing gifts, stories and pictures from their travels away from the Mainland. After the kids got over some of the initial excitement of having Grandma and Grandpa visit we ate Dinner Part Deux and opened gifts.

Grandma Campos displays the "Mother's Day Kitty Card' Sophia made on behalf of the kids

Just the girls.. poor Sophia couldn't deal with the flash.

Me and My Mama

And now for our own little Mother's Day Surprise.

Get it yet?

How bout' now?

Need another hint?

Okay. If you still haven't figured it out let me show the picture we gave to "The Grandpa's" on Father's Day in 2007.

We gave them this picture to announce the arrival of the boys (although at the time we didn't know it would be plural).  So this year we were able to keep our mouths shut for over a month and surprised our Moms with the announcement our upcoming arrival with a similar picture of the boys donning their  new"I'm the Big Brother!" shirts.

First let me get to the obvious questions.

Yes, this was planned.

No, there is only one this time.

Yes, we're sure. 

(The Sonographer crossed her heart and hoped to die, stick a needle in her eye if she was wrong.)

Yes, I'm feeling quite terrible. 

All day "morning" sickness with exhaustation and crabbiness does not a good mood make.

Yes, we are crazy. And absolutely excited as well.

The due date is estimated around December 18th but I already begged the doctor to induce before Christmas seeing as how none of my babies ever come out willingly, not even twins!!

I have been taking a much needed nap during the afternoons when the boys are resting and honestly haven't had the energy to update this blog or even post pictures but with luck this stage will be over soon and I'll be able to get back into the normal swing of things. 

Until then....

Easter 2010