Finally some space!

Imagine with me for a moment. A family of 6 trying to buy groceries for a whole month. Two adults, two carts and four kids. It sounds something like this, "Did you get that? Do we need this? John don't open that! No you can't eat that. Yes, we are going to get lunch. No you can't have a treat (or on some days you can have a treat if you are good). Yes, you can walk. No, you can't walk. Ben's hungry.I'm sorry. Excuse us. Ha. Yes, there are quite a few of us. Don't touch him. Don't look at her." All while trying to gather the things on our list. The purpose of this is to eliminate as many trips to the store as possible. Trying to keep an eye on 4 kids and get my shopping done can be a task so the fewer the trips the better. We have been able to shop at Costco for our meats and bulk items for the last few years and have been lucky enough to have the room to store it all. I had to know that my luck would run out. We have a lovely home here but the refrigerator doesn't seem to match the size of the house or our family. We slimmed down our shopping trip last month and the freezer would barely close. By barely i mean every time you closed the bottom you have to close the top because it popped open. Eric obviously didn't notice that because the door got left open and the ice cream melted a few times. :) So this weekend we took the plunge. We bought a new refrigerator! YAY! All my food fits, the door doesn't open when i walk past and it is pretty! We are using the other one as extra storage (which we still need) in the garage. COSTCO HERE I COME!!!

Ella's best Vanna White pose. I am thinking she would do well on The Price is Right too.

In other news, we have had to go through and rotate the kids clothes. They have all had growth spurts since the beginning of the year. Ella would like me to point out her "5" pajamas in the above picture. She now gets to wear pajama shorts and t-shirts to bed. She thinks she is too cool . Jack got a few new pairs of pajamas also. Ella and Jack both say "thank you shellie for the cool new jammies!" John got new pajamas too. Ella likes to point out "that they aren't really new. They are just new to John but they are old to Jack." :) John isn't old enough to know that so he is happy with his "new" pajamas. Ben is getting on a sleeping pattern. He sleeps from about 9:30 to 4 and then again until 6 or 7ish. He is working on holding his head up and loves to snuggle. I do too so it works out well. I weighed him and he is about 9 pounds give or take. At home weights always differ from the doctors. That means he is packing on about half a pound a week. He is growing in length too. Eric's job is going well. The rain is putting a damper on the work they would like to get done but hopefully they can squeeze it in between rain showers. I will post again soon.

Easy E and Jazzy Jack

So....Eric gives the kids their bath most nights. I often hear them making rhymes but never pay too much attention. Jack, however, is at the age where he takes everything in. It doesn't take to much repetition before something becomes ingrained and repeated often. (Note to self: watch what you say around Jack he will repeat it!) As i went up to check on their bed time progress one evening i hear the lyrics to Easy E and Jazzy Jack's new rap. It was created in order to persuade Jack to brush his crazy hair. It continues to be added to but these are the lyrics for now.

Jack smack, booty crack.
What is wrong with your hair it looks all whack.
It's down in the front,
and up in the back.
It looks like you got attacked
By what? By what?
A duck!
Sounds like you got bad luck!

Jazzy Jack performs

I pray his gnarly rapping abilities pay off. I have high hopes. HA! This is why God made moms. :)

Pictures!

Here are a few of the pictures we have snapped around the house. I say a few because that is all i have remembered to take. As you can see all the kids are thrilled with Baby Ben. I will try and do a better job of taking pictures. When i do i will get them posted.

Note: I did order the birth announcements so they will go out soon. Slow progress but progress none the less. :)

One month ago....

It is hard to believe baby Ben is a month old. I can't help feeling jipped. I mean most months have 5 weeks and he only got 4 weeks in his first month. I think i will just tell everyone he is four weeks and forgo the month label. Now knowing he is 4 weeks old today i figured it was time to post his birth announcement. I will be getting it sent out. Eventually.

I haven't posted in a week (thanks for pointing that out Dad). I am sorry but i have been a little busy. I am sure you are all think " i can imagine" but really you can't. Not even close. We have continued to move things around the house to find the perfect place for things. We spent the weekend trying to get the yard cleaned up. Eric is still working on the garage but it is all coming together. I stay busy but we are getting on our schedule and i was successful at getting dinner made all 5 nights last week and yesterday. Sometimes it is a little late but i still got it done and at this point that is what i am aiming for. :) Ella is getting back into the school routine and really doing well. She amazes me daily. She is really excited about the possibility of going to "big school" next year so i hope it works out for her. I will have to admit that if she leaves it will be like losing my right arm. She is such a big help. She just holds Ben and does little baby talk. She tells him how cute his toes are and will make up a lullaby to sing to him. It is usually about how she is his big sister. She has also decided that taking care of her brothers is a lot of work (no kidding). Jack also enjoys his time with Ben. Jack is only really interested when Ben has his eyes open. John wants to be with Ben about 80% of the time. John climbs on the bed and had to get as close as possible with out being on top of him. He then needs to kiss Ben all over the face followed by blowing air in his face. I think it is an attempt to wake Ben up. John likes when he moves and makes noise. They are all very attentive to the baby. Ben is becoming more alert with every passing day. He loves to eat. Even when he isn't hungry. I usually end up covered in milk after that feeding. :) He is getting so long. He loves to be with people at all times. He is definitely a Mommy's boy right now. It is probably because i have the goods. He spent most of yesterday afternoon in a sling on my chest while we vacuumed and cleaned around the house. It put him right to sleep. He is wonderful. I am slowly figuring out how to get school, meals, laundry, cleaning, play time and time for myself all done in a day. Still thinking i could use a few more hours but whatever i miss is always there when i wake up. I have to say reading it sounds like more than it feels. I take plenty of breaks and take my time. No rush and that is the way i like it. I am really enjoying taking in this precious time. Eric and i were talking about how good Ben is and how we were so blessed because the other three were awesome too. We both feel like Ben is different. He came out and everything seems so natural and relaxed. HA! I know most of you are thinking it should be because he is our fourth but i mean natural in the sense that he fits. He fills a place we didn't know was empty. He is like the finishing piece to our family puzzle. We are finally complete and couldn't be happier. :) I will do my best to update more often.

Eric's Promotion

YEAH!!! It is finally official, Eric is an Assistant Superintendent. We have known since the Fall that he would be getting a promotion after the Raleigh job. All the paper work has gone through and the official e-mail has gone out! His job will not change but it is a nice title. I am very proud of how hard he works. No title will ever change that. He loves what he does and the company he works for so i am thrilled to see him excel. Congratulations Eric!!

Baby Ben's 2 Week Check-Up

I know i am behind on my blogging. For that i apologize. We just got our Internet Saturday and i always like to include pictures which i haven't quite figured out how to do from my phone...yet. So here is my attempt at catching you up on everything that is new with Baby Ben or Benjaroo as we call him. Ben had his 2 week check up last Wednesday. He was 7 lbs and 15 ounces. They weighed him with his diaper on but that is still a significant gain from the 7 lbs 1 ounce that he was one week before. Yes, 14 ounces in a week. He likes the milk. :) He was 20 1/2 inches which means he has grown an inch in his first two weeks. He is a wonderful baby. He loves all the activity. I guess it is a good thing. He doesn't like to be alone. He has a set of lungs but only uses them when he realizes he is alone. That might be bad later on. I am thinking he will get tired of all the kids in his face and will welcome the peace of his own room as he gets bigger. He smiles and chuckles in his sleep. I am not sure what could be so funny at his age, maybe it is his daddy's face. HA! He is usually awake for a bit in the morning and then again at night. Those periods of alertness are getting longer. He just looks around as if he is taking it all in. He is a beautiful baby and i could not have asked for a better one. The Lord has blessed me with four wonderful babies. I am so thankful.

Note: Birth announcements will be arriving sooner or later. By the time i get around to making them i would bet on later. :)

Our new info

These are cards i made to send to everyone so you all could keep up with our latest information without having to erase and re-write our address every time we move or attempting to write it on a sheet of paper (which in my house usually gets lost). Hopefully, this will help all of you keep up with us. Note: i like this card so if you see it again when we move, don't be surprised. :) We are all moved in and there are no more boxes inside the house. We still have to get the garage set up and hang pictures. The weather has been rainy and cold so not conducive to cleaning out the garage. Maybe Eric will be home Saturday and we can get it done then. Now that you have our new address feel free to send housewarming gifts. HA!