Kids' Triathalon

A gymnastics club in our area hosted a kids' triathalon and I signed up my three oldest kiddos.  I'm not saying I set my kids up to fail but for $5/participant I hoped it would be a good way for them to get to compete with other kids and realize they may not be as invincible as they think they are.  

Unfortunately, my kids actually turned out to be really fast in each of their age groups.  Fortunately, my generation seems to think the next generation needs to be mollycoddled and there is no such thing as winning and losing anymore.  We're all just there to have fun. Haha.

Eli and Gracen were in the same group.  The swim was an intense 5 yards with a noodle. :)

Swim/bike transition.

Alden was in the next age group.  Unfortunately, they didn't wait for the first group to finish before starting the next group and I didn't get to see him swim. In fact, he was on his bike before I even realized he was racing!

Eli showing off his race number.

Alden was a little frustrated by the lack of organization (there was a lot of confusion during the race about where to bike and run) and was disappointed that there was nobody deemed as "winner" but had fun all-in-all.

Pullin' Weeds with Eli

Eli is such an amazing kid.  He is so sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.  One night I went out and started pulling weeds in the backyard.  Next thing I know, Eli comes out armed with winter gloves, a sand shovel, and a mini backpack.  He got right to work next to me.  And let me tell ya, this kid's got perseverance.

He wanted me to document the event with a video:

Yeah...all those weeds grew back and I resorted to Round Up. :) (We've had quite the drought here this summer.  Despite twice a week sprinklers, we have a dead grass, flourishing weed lawn!)

3 Months with the Reedster

I cannot believe that my little Reedster is already 3 months old.  He has brought an unbelievable amount of joy to our family.  His siblings all absolutely adore him and still vie to get to hold him or make him laugh first.  I spoil him to no end - I feed him whenever he wants and can hardly let him cry. I carry him around and snuggle him absolutely every chance I get.  I love to take a few minutes to just be with him face to face and coo and laugh with him.  What a special, special personality this little guy has!

 At three months Reed is not sleeping as well as he was at one month, ironically enough.  We went on vacation and that seemed to squelch the sleeping through the night thing.  Still, he usually only gets up once or twice a night so I can't complain.  Lately he's been smiling and laughing and kicking in his bed for several minutes before I drag myself up for that nighttime feeding.  His coos and jabbers are so fun to listen to, even in the wee hours of the morning.

Reed smiles more than any baby I've ever seen.  He smiles every time I come to get him from a nap.  He smiles anytime someone smiles at him.  He's been reciprocating laughter for weeks now and it is the cutest, cutest thing in the world.  He laughs and smiles at his siblings and even for strangers.

Lately Reed has been kicking his legs when he's excited.  He'll kick and jabber and smile and it's pretty fun to watch.  He's discovered his hands as of late and loves to suck and chew on his little fingers.  He'll hold his hands together and stare at them like he's trying to figure out who they belong to. :)  If I manage to get him into his bed before he gets too drowsy, going to sleep is a cinch for him.  In the evenings I often manage to get him overtired and it's tough for him to settle down for his last nap of the day.

With all my other babies I would pour through "how to" books on babies, searching for ways to make my babies sleep better.  This time around I'm not near as worried about it.  It helps that there's a 3 1/2 year gap between Gracen and Reed and it also helps that Reed is my fourth baby.  What makes the biggest difference, though, is Reed's temperament. I used to think that "easy" babies were just the mother's perception but now I can definitely testify that some babies are just simply easier than others!

Reed's little heart is doing really well on the medication he's on.  Next week we will visit the pediatric cardiologist to reconsider moving to a once a day medication.  Right now he's on a 3x a day medicine and the iPod's alarm is honestly what keeps my baby alive - I forget medicine time all. the. time.  Reed also has hydrocele (fluid in the scrotum due to not sealing off after the testes descended in utero) and is under observation by a urologist but we don't expect complications from that - it should resolve itself during the first year.

I so wish I had a nice camera to accurately capture this little guy.

None of us can get enough of these smiles!!

 I can't get enough of this little guy.  Slow down, time, I'm enjoying this baby too much!

Sounds like quite a story, doesn't it?  If only I spoke his language.

Ignore my ugly forced laughing - it was all to give you a taste of the cute little man's laughter!

IF Zoo with Aunt Melissa

While we were there, Aunt Melissa was generous enough to take us to the zoo, even though she was 8 months pregnant. Grandma Brunson came along too.  I love the IF zoo because the exhibits are close together and you can do the whole zoo in just a few hours.

 Love these cute little guys!

 Monkeys are my fave.

 Feeding the goats.

 "He ate it!!"

 Sweet little cuddly Jeffery.

 The IF zoo has the best lookin' llama I've ever seen.

 What a ca-ute chick!

 Haha, I don't remember what was going on in the picture but Alden and Katelyn's faces are hilarious.

 Crossing the bridge into "Asia."

 My kids are so lucky to have so many cousins their age.

I love how Eli's arms are around everyone in these pictures.  That is so Eli's personality: fun, loving, and sweet. :)

 Cute little penguins! I honestly think I enjoy the zoo animals as much as my kids do. :)