Not "baby girl" anymore.

We lost our "baby" on Friday. She's been replaced with a "big girl". You may be wondering what has brought on this change at such a young age. No, she's not a prodige; no potty training, speaking in sentences, or even sleeping through the night (the latter would bring me to weeping tears of joy). After and intervention staged by my mom and my husband, Olivia went in for her first haircut. I was very brave, I called Sheila, cried for a few minutes about the loss of my baby, and then marched through the doors and bit the bullet. From the pictures below, you can see the baby is gone and a big girl is in her place. The tongue is still sticking out, some things just don't change with a new 'do.

before
after

A Weekend of Many Firsts!!

We've had a VERY exciting weekend. In fact, it all happened in the same night.

1) First, Olivia drinks out of a sippy cup tonight. Of course, since she's only 7 months, so she's not near ready to transition to the cup, but it's good to know that the ones we bought work for her and we don't have to keep shopping.

2) Maddox not only got undressed by himself, but he also got in his pajamas all by him self too! (Well, maybe a tug or two to help a heel or head thru.) And tonight, he decided that he wanted to join in with The Lord's Prayer and even said some parts without any prompting!

3) Not only does Cooper read a book all by himself and earn a movie on DVD, but he also lost his first tooth! "Mommy, Mommy!" he said, "I was wiggling it with my tongue and then all of a sudden it was swimming on my tongue!"

4) Last but not least, Nelson's big first was that he was the only one normal in our house! And those who know Nelson, know that is DEFINATELY a first!! Welcome to our world, buddy! :-)

Anyways, here's a picture of Cooper right after his tooth came out...

Way to go, Cooper!!!

Cooper hit a huge milestone this afternoon! He read a book completely unassisted. This is a huge accomplishment for him. He has struggled with reading since it was introduced in Kindergarten. I gave him several Step into Reading books for Christmas and his Birthday. He has been working on them. He's very proud to have moved on from Step 1 to Step 2 books. Bolt was one of the books he was really struggling with. I told him if he mastered the book, and if he read it to us we would reward him with the movie.
Well, I'm proud to say he did that this afternoon!!! We celebrated with his favorite cake, carrot cake, and are going to be going out to rent the movie as soon as Olivia gets up from her nap.

Back on the wagon.

I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't felt like it. Vacation was amazing. Being away was so nice. The kids loved seeing their cousins, I loved spending time with my sister, and it was just nice to be away from the house. Now that we are home, I'm having a hard time getting motivated to do much of anything. Every task seems so big and cumbersome. I just want to forget about it or ignore it a bit longer. I can't do that. Laundry doesn't do itself. Dust bunnies don't chase themselves out of the living room or kitchen, or hallway. Meals don't cook themselves and dishes certainly don't wash themselves. I'm back in the saddle. I was so motivated today that I even cleaned out Liv's closet. She no longer has to share it with my remaining "teacher" clothes! They are gone, and it feels so good to have that empty rod in there. Tomorrow I might tackle the laundry room closet and see how much I can get rid of in there. Spring cleaning is coming and I'm embracing it with open arms!
The posts have been lacking pictures lately... We haven't been doing much. In addition to just living we are trying to convince Olivia that sleeping through the night is a good thing and she should try to do it. This leaves me very tired in the morning and not wanting to do much of anything, let alone take pictures. But, I don't want to disappoint our public (as small as it may be) so I have added a few shots of the kids in all of their cute glory.

Spring Break

We all lived. The drive took just about 5hrs with only one stop.
We have had so much fun!!!!!!
Sat. night was "adult's only" dinner, the steak was great, so was the company. Drinks after all the kids went to bed was absolutely unforgetable!!! I met, and hugged, Dan and Roger from The Biggest Loser. They were contestants 2 seasons ago. Dan lives here and they were hanging at Bar Louie in Orland Park.
Last night Sheila and Clint (really just Clint) made us dinner. It was amamzing. Corned Beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, Irish soda bread, rye bread, and just all around goodness!!! All the kids ate really well and loved playing baseball and riding bikes.
My sister in law stayed longer, and just flew out this evening. The kids have had so much fun together. Today Maddox went to The Little Gym with Evan and Layna, they all had so much fun.
If the weather cooperates, we are headed to Navy Pier tomrrow. If it doesn't, we will come up with something else just as much fun.

I have tons of pictures, I will post them soon.

Dream big, Nelson, dream big.

Nelson's homework for this week is to fill out a What I Want to Be When I Grow Up page and decorate paper dolls to go with the job.


Travis was sitting with him and trying to help him get started while I was in the other room feeding Olivia. When I came out, Travis was all serious and told me we needed to talk. I figured it was about Cooper and his Summer School registration that is due next week. Nope, It's about #2 and his lofty job ambition.


Job #1 idea: McDonald's (I am not knocking this place at all!!! I know most of the workers at our 2 area ones thanks to the $0.99 44oz Diet Cokes I get) Travis asked him why he would want to do that for his job. His answer, "Dad, they make the best hamburgers and fries." Well, Nelson, when you put it that way.


Job#2 idea: Ninja or Knight. Again, Travis asked him why he wanted to do that. "Dad, they fight the bad guys with swords, knives, and staffs.


After everything was said and done, Travis asked him why he didn't want to be a superhero like Superman, Batman, or Spider man. Nelson looked at him very seriously, and said, "Dad, the kids would make fun of me if I was a superhero, they are fiction. That means they aren't real."


Well, then I guess the most logical choice is to be a Ninja...

More Than Fate

Travis is a member of Toastmasters, a public speaking group and had an opportunity to give a testamony to a diverse croud, who's religious beliefs include Christian, Agnostic, Hindu, and Jewish people. Thought you would all like to read it.

About 3 weeks ago, my van was totaled in a head-on collision so violent that the other car spun 180 degrees in one direction, we were knocked 90 degrees in another, and my license plate was severed.

Fortunately, everyone, from the driver of the SUV to my wife and kids in the van, was not seriously injured. But if you have ever been in an accident, you can understand my frustration of having to total out a car and purchase a new one. Added to this frustration, was the recent memory of shelling out $400 for new tires on a van that I can no longer drive, and the fact that I was 2 months away from paying off the van. My wife and I were going to take our tax return and pay off the van so we could double-pay on the loan for my car. The remainder of the tax return was going to go towards our first ever family vacation that didn’t involve sleeping at my parent’s or my in-law’s house. Now, that money would have to be used as a down payment for another car, and our dreams of reducing our debt so we can ensure a good credit score as we look for a bigger house were now crushed and utterly destroyed.

But the story doesn’t end there. What happened over the next few weeks was opposite of Lemony Snicket, where we had a series of fortunate events! First, we found favor with our Claims handler in replacing our car seats. Second, we found favor with the insurance adjuster, who gave us the NADA retail value of our car, rather than the average value. This paid off the loan, and gave us the exact same amount of vacation money we had set aside...(third) with an added extra $100. Fourth, we found out that a new friend of ours worked for his father at a wholesale auction house, and we could purchase a used car for cheap. Fifth, his father found out that we occasionally watched his grand-baby, and he sold us the car at wholesale price, taking no commission for himself. We ended up getting a 2005 Grand Caravan, loaded with stow-n-go, automatic doors and lift gate, with 47000 miles for 6,200.

And what’s more amazing, is (sixth) that we bought this van for $300 cheaper than the first one, which meant we had no problems being approved for a loan. Then good fortune shined on us a seventh time when we went to sign the papers for the loan on the Grand Caravan. Apparently, since we were financing so little of the value of the car, we got another reduction in our interest rate; final APR was 4.95%. Truly what started out as being a terrible situation was turned around for the better, not once, twice, or three times, but 7 times over!

Which has me wondering, was this just luck? If so, then I should buy a lottery ticket. Was it just fate? I’m a pretty nice guy, so was simply “what goes around, comes around” playing out in reality? If so, did I use all my good fortune on the car? I have 6 people in a 3 bedroom ranch and NEED bigger house! I’d rather use the good fortune on a new house, then on a car. Or, was this the handiwork of an unseen force in the universe that bestowed on me good favor when I was at a bad spot in my life? And if that’s true, then why me? Aren’t others more deserving, or in more need? What intrinsic value do I have that I should receive good fortune? And what is my response to the benevolent benefactor, whomever he/she is? Are there strings attached, or is this a free gift?

These are tough questions; but they must be asked, and they deserve to be answered. I hope you’ll contemplate them the next time you experience some good fortune in your life.

Pass the wings!

Travis and I made chicken wings for dinner earlier this week. It was no Buffalo Wild Wings, but it was good. So good that we are repeating the menu tonight at the request of the boys! If they will eat it, I will gladly make it.

You give the girl rice cereal, avacado, and green beans and she thinks she can yell and scream for chicken wings... Not yet Baby Doll.

Nelson (sporting his "robin" cape) and showing off the chicken wing on steriods.

Taking a bite out of it! (this was the largest wing, and the 6th wing he ate)

The remainder of what Maddox ate.

Toby loves having a baby in the house!

If we didn't have a baby, there wouldn't be a boppy chair for Toby to curl up in on cold afternoons.

Crazy week

Travis went from going into work in the middle of the night to going in late and not getting home until the boys were getting ready for bed. This past week, we are slowly getting back to normal. Just when I thought I would have more time with him, he agreed to create a Facebook page. He's not glued to that at night reconnecting with high school and college buddies. I love that he has the page, but I want my husband back!
Right after school and tutoring, I have to bring the older 2 up to the church. They are going to be pseudo-famous. They will be staring in a video on Facebook and YouTube.com for our Spring Break Beach Camp at the church. They won't be able to go to beach camp, but they will be advertising it. Thankfully Travis has offered to come straight home from work to make dinner for us. That way we can eat as soon as I get home with the kids and then we can start homework, that will take us until tomorrow morning. ( I hate it when we think we are finished with homework for the week just to find the spelling list that is due in less than 24 hrs from the time it's been uncovered.)

This past week has also been a week of on-going temper tantrums. In the Ferris house, those don't start until the age of 3. Maddox is very advanced! He's not going to be 3 for over 6 months and he's been throwing tantrums for over 2 months... This morning, rather than listening to the yelling and screaming before my coffee kicked in, I allowed him to choose his breakfast. It started out really good. He chose french toast sticks, raisins and milk. He then threw in one more thing.... Cheetos. Yep, the kid had Cheetos for breakfast.

I feel this EXACT same way most afternoon. Poor Liv just rolls over, covers her eyes, and goes to sleep for a couple hrs to escape. If only she would do this at night and "escape" for 8 consecutive hours at a time

7 yrs ago...

I embarked on the most rewarding, challenging, amazing job ever.
I became a mom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOPER MICHAEL!!!!!

Yummy, food

Wildcats Basketball Birthday Bash

Monday we had an event! To celebrate Cooper's 7th Birthday we had 7 people over for a Wildcats Basketball Party. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. They began with
Basketball drills up and down the driveway, followed by making their own pennants, then ate pizza, opened presents, ate cake, and played outside.

The Wildcat pennants Travis made and I colored.

The kitchen table was all set up for the boys to make their own pennants.

This years birthday cake creation.

Cooper with his cake.

Something to tie you all over...

My picture card is full, it's a lot of nothing, but I can't transfer the pictures until Travis's crashed computer gets fixed. It's on the bottom of a very long list of things to do.

I'm going out tomorrow to get a new, bigger card. But, until I can fill it with Birthday Party fun, and cuteness here is one to appease you all.Notice the bib, someone started eating rice cereal once a day this past week! Those pictures are coming too.

Then and Now

What is left of the Sargent. (Note the severed license plate!)

Inside view; airbags deployed. Travis' sinuses were so stuffed from the airbag dust he snored for a week! That means I didn't get any sleep either, never mind the stiff and achy back.

Rosemarie, the newest member of our family.

I have stow n go! I love it!

Meet Rosemarie, the new van.

I would love to show you pictures, but my picture card is acting up. It has pictures on it, but I can't get to them
I will just share the details...
It's a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.
It has stow-n-go and I love it!
It has Sirius radio, that's way too fun.
I push buttons and the doors and back hatch open.
It is a cranberry color with beige interior.

The Knights of the Ferris House

Saturday was a crazy busy day at our house. It was a good crazy busy. The older boys had a birhtday party to go to, Travis had some random projects to work on, and we were getting our new to us van! (more on the last one later). The theme of the party the boys were going to was Knights. Travis made them swords to take with. While the boys were there they made crowns, played pin the dagger on the dragon, and had jousting matches. When they got home, they had even more surprises. Travis and Maddox took the time we were gone to make more swords and shields for everyone!






My 3 knights ready to protect our "castle"


The 4th knight just had to get in the fun too!

new look.

I had a few complaints about missing my sidebar with other blogs. I decided it was time for a make over. I would love one, but I just don't have the time, babysitter, or money, so I will live through my blog instead. I was giddy when I found out I could add gadgets.
Pernell-Jacobs, resume with you stalking of others through my blog! ;)

Homework

Every night after dinner we have homework for about an hour. Cooper works on his Spelling words or one of the many worksheets that gets sent home.


Maddox wanted to get in on homework time tonight so he went and got his coloring book and crayons and worked very hard.


Olivia's homework was working on stickingout her tongue while playing with her Baby Einstien's turtle.


Nelson is missing from this post because he did his homework this morning while Cooper was at school. I would have gotten one of him coloring, but it took him that long to finish dinner. By the time he finished the dishwasher was almost finished running and homework was over.

My dad is the best!

No really, he is. What other man would take time out of his warm, tropic, vacation to call me and let me know that he saw an ad for free Grand Slam Breakfasts at Denny's today? Not many! I'm so glad he shared that tidbit of info with me this morning. It was exactly what I needed to hear!
We had a long, hard morning here. Travis left for work at 2:30AM (yep the middle of the night!), Olivia started waking up at 2:30AM and continued to fuss until after 3AM, just to be up again at 5:45AM. After breakfast and getting Cooper on the bus, Maddox decided to make it his goal to destroy anything Nelson did! Nelson, motivated by the $1 I promised him for cleaning up the family room, continued to clean as fast as Maddox could destroy. (Travis and I talked about it, Nelson is getting another $1 when he gets home from school, he earned it!)
When Travis got home from work at 11:30AM he packed up Maddox, Olivia and me and we headed out to Denny's. That breakfast for lunch was AMAZING!
So, thank you dad for remembering me! I do appreciate it! Maybe when you get back into town, I'll take you out and buy you a Grand Slam Breakfast!


50 years ago today, the first Grand Slam was served. It cost 93 cents. Now you can't get it for under $5.99, thought you would all like that little tidbit of information.

100 Things...

Do you think you’ve really lived so far? This is a list of 100 activities–some I have experienced (purple), some I have not (regular).
Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Bathed in a river
Been to the Taj Mahal
Walked on a glacier in Alaska
Caught and held a snake
Spoke in front of a big crowd
Bungee jumped
Had a whirlwind love affair that broke your heart
Found an arrowhead or fossil
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Rescued an animal
Ate sweet breads, glands or tripe (not sure what these even are….)
Seen Mount Rushmore in person
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hiked to base camp on Mt. Everest
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Built a snow fort
Watched an animal being born
Gone skinny dipping
Learned a foreign language
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Stayed up for more than 24 hours
Trained a dog to do cool tricks
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Can drive a stick shift car (not very well)
Won over $1000 in a raffle or lottery
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Been serenaded (in the VFW hall by my husband and brother-in-law)
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Broken a bone
Started your own business
Quit a job because you were totally unhappy
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the Eiffel Tower
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain passionately
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Joined a prayer group
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Gone whale watching
Received flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma (once, in high school and never again)
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten caviar (and really like it!)
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the changing of the guards in London
Broken something extremely expensive
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Got a tattoo
Been to a coffee shop in Amsterdam
Seen the aurora borealis in person
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Toured the UN
Hiked to Machu Picchu
Swam in the Indian Ocean
Conversed with someone when neither of you spoke each others language
Dirty danced
Been stung by a bee
Acted in a play
Had more than 5 surgeries
Threw a surprise party for someone

Once a kid always a kid.

I don't know if you can see him, but Travis is on a sled going down our street. Last night he drove all the way to the towing lot to clean out the van, (only to be turned away because they forgot to tell him what paperwork to bring) he then came home, shovelled, and decided to try out the boys' sleds. He is happy to report the sleds work and there is plenty of ice on our street.

Snow Days

What are 3 boys to do when there is too much snow on the ground to leave the house, and you don't have a vehicle to leave the house (if you wanted to)? You climb into your car seats and read books! I love that my boys can have fun doing almost anything.


Toby even got in on the fun of car seats in the living room!

We were a St. Louis snow casualty.

We were hit head on last night. Our van is totalled. I have 4 carseats stacked in the middle of my living room floor, 3 kids home on a snow day, and I'm trapped.
We were sitting at a dead stop waiting to turn left into our subdivision. A car turned left in front of 3 lanes of traffic, cutting an SUV off. That SUV, swerved to miss the car, and hit our van head on. Now we get to play the waiting game. We already called our insurance company, that was a 2 hr adventure. Now we have to wait for his insurance company, we can't do anything becasue on the police report it states that his policy # is "pending" that means he didn't have his insurance card on him.
What can you do? Pray!
Pray this goes smoothly.
Pray we get a rental fast.
Pray we find a new minivan that we can afford. (mine was less than a month away from being paid off)

Our Sunday morning home.

Maddox is sick. He's sneezing, coughing, has a fever, and is all around not pleasent. Yesterday Travis and I discussed what we were going to do today. In exchange for him missing game night at church so I could have girls' night with one of my friends I agreed (willingly) to stay home this morning with Maddox. I was going to keep Liv home too, since it would be easier on Travis. I was glad I made that decision. She is now coughing as well.

She got the all important memo of how to spend a sick day, sleeping! And yes, she is 5 months old and still sleeps best swaddled. Thank goodness I have a great mother-in-law who makes blankets so I can get them big enough to swaddle her.


Maddox thinks the best way to spend a sick day is in his jammies at the kitchen table drawing and coloring, and talking to himself.

Saturday at the mall.

Saturday we had to run to the mall to do some returns and exchanges. While Travis was exchanging a watch the boys found a perfect place to sit and watch the merry-go-round. I'm not exagerating when I say they sat there for 20 minutes. It took Travis twice that time to decide on a watch, but that's a whole different post.

Creative play.

Apparently it's really boring and sad when both of Maddox's brothers are away at school. He took some of their favorite animals and some of his and decided to play in the corner of the kitchen.



When I asked him if he wanted more space, he said yes. I left the kitchen to tend to Olivia, and came back to get him and build him a fort in the living room, he found a fort of his own, under our kitchen table.

Our weekend away

I had such a great time with Erin this past weekend. The boys loved being around a different house, playing with a dog that wasn't theirs, and meeting new people. I loved just being with Erin, it was perfect. Really, it wasn't, the older 2 fought all weekend long. Next time I'm going without them.

At one point I was bathing the 3 boys, Erin was working on something, and we had to put Olivia up and out of the way of the dog. Well, the most logical place was the bathroom sink. She was within arms reach of me.


The boys, Shiloh, and Olivia enjoying eachother.


A brief moment of Cooper and Nelson not fighting, not running, and not talking back. Those moments were few and far between this past weekend.


No Trip to Paducah is complete without a pit stop in Metropolis, IL. Maddox was really excited about seeing Superman until we got there. He would not go near the statue! I was thankful that I could get him in the picture.

It's a Happy Friday!

1. Free Lattes at McDonalds
2. Free coffee drink (of your choice) at Oberweis Ice cream.
3. Early Dismissal day, that means Cooper and Nelson go to school together this morning and come home at 12:30.
4. Maddox has Mom's Day Out. He will be gone from 9AM-2PM.
5. Olivia and I have hrs of just girl time to run errands and get ready for our trip.
6. I don't live in Chicago where it's even colder, Sorry She, I don't envy you.
7. I get to go on a trip with my kids tomorrow morning, Paducah, here we come!!!!!

F.Y.I.

A special one for Aunt Sheila and Midwest Ortho

Olivia enjoying her toy that Aunt Sheila gave her for Christmas.

Play-Doh.

I'm often looking for things to entertain Nelson and Maddox with mid-morning. This morning, I pulled out the play-doh that I have been hiding from them since late October. I was amazed at how long they stayed in one place, Maddox set a personal record. I'm thinking it's coming back out after school while I make dinner! Ah, the idea of 3 boys in one place, not fighting, not watching TV, and not asking me questions ever 3.5 seconds. Travis will be thrilled to walk into the kitchen to the smell of dinner and the odd silence of the boys.


Nelson showing off his creations.

Monday...

I don't usually like Mondays, but today is an exception. I have a lot to look forward to this week, so today seems like an exciting day to me. The boys have a 1/2 day on Friday, so once I bring Maddox to school at 9 AM, I will be alone with the Little Lady until 12:30 in the afternoon. Right now I have a kitchen table full of clean, folded clothes, and 3 bags packed for my weekend away with the kids.
Today is going to be the warmest day of the week. I feel like I need to take advatage of that and get all of my errands finished before afternoon naps.
Travis is going to be alone this weekend, I want to get laundry finished and the house clean so he has zero distractions, it leaves him all that time to accomplish my honey do list.

I want their lives!

My dogs (and kids) have it so rough! I want to lay on something soft and squishy for hrs on end.