Who's been sleeping in my bed?

I have reason to believe that Tucker's sudden ability to climb out of bed was inspired, and perhaps taught by his darling sister. Her favorite thing to do when she hears Tuck wake up from his nap is to "tell him the truth" which somehow always involves jumping in the bed.And low and behold, one day we learned that Tuck can man his way into Riker's crib, no matter where we put it, what-if anything- it is near, and regardless of what level we place the mattress...heaven help us.
Some friends and I sent our husbands off for a weekend of fishing/camping in the mountains. We got together for a little company on the Saturday night they were gone, a movie for the kids, and all kinds of fun (and food) for the moms

What we've been up to

Went cruising for chicks, found a cute blond and took her for a spin

Made my way to the edge of the bed and discovered this super happy guy lives on the floor over there. He's a little strange, but I kind of like him.

Attempted to beat the record for the number of kids you can fit in an exer-saucer, but was thwarted by a mother.

Helping Dad train for the six-legged man relay summer of 2011, he's building muscle, but we still need to work on his endurance

Riker

Our little Riker is getting SO BIG! Next week will be his 1/2 birthday and I can hardly believe how time has flow by. He's turning into a pretty good chunk, and has the world's most kissable cheeks. He's on the verge of being mobile, which, I'm afraid, will be my doom. He can't stand not being able to join in when the other kids are having fun without him. Although, he's still a little unsure if he likes it or not, when they join him in on their own. Maeli cracks him up, and when he's a little bigger, he will have no problem holding his own with Tucker on the wrestling mat. We started him on rice cereal, a little earlier than the other kids, but he really can't stand not being a part of dinner. The boy is all tongue and has thus not yet mastered the fine art of eating, but he' more than happy to continue his practice.

He is an excellent sleeper, although our problem has been where to let him sleep to keep him safe from Tucker. We're still brain-storming our best situation for everyone, but when he's not interrupted, he'll sleep all night long-bless his little heart, he must love his mama!

Tucker

Our sweet Tucker has turned into a monster boy, but he's still the sweetest ever. He had his 18-month check up last month and is doing very well. He doesn't use a lot of words, so they referred him for a speech evaluation. There was a little bit of concern that his difficulty may have some connection with oxygen deprivation and/or being intubated at birth. But he tested within normal limits for his age. His understanding portion was above average, but his communication is below average, although still all within "normal." We opted to have him re-evaluated in 3 months and see if the gap has closed at all.
He is always busy, running everywhere he goes. If he hears a good beat, he'll stop dead in his tracks to boogie a little bit, and recently has added a crazy jump-turn thing to his dance moves. He is all about Dad right now, although he'll go with anyone if you'll take him outside. We've discovered that if you channel his energy into something good, he's actually a really great helper. If you let him roam free, destruction is sure to follow. He has been a super eager helper as far as helping Dad finish the garage. This summer he learned to climb a ladder (made it up about 10 feet before Mom and Dad really got too nervous to let it continue), how to climb out of his bed, and how to move chairs around in order to reach things that you can't climb to. Here he is helping Dad:

And helping Mom (grandma is working on making a more manly apron for him :0)

Maeli

Our sweet Maeli has vanished, and been replaced by a 3 year old! She knows best, has her own opinion on everything, and would rather people just not talk to her, unless she happens to be in the mood to talk in which case you better not try to get a word in. She has become super in dependant, including dressing herself, shown here:


She is just loving pre-school! This is her first day of school picture:

She goes to school on Tues/Thurs mornings, and is still in gymnastics on Wednesdays. She's totally potty trained now, even at night. She's at this wonderful age where everything she says is funny, and she's a master at making up stories, so you really have to pay attention to what she's saying, or you'll be totally lost by the end. She's all about princesses and girly things and right now, she's all about Dad (which I am totally fine with). If it were up to her, she'd spent her entire day like this:

Blast!

I am trying to update my blog, but I'm having major issues getting my pictures loaded. We are still alive!

Cute Babies!

I love the side-by-side of my cute cute babies. I think Riker looks a lot like Maeli, but everyone keeps telling me how much he's his "own." I think in this line up, Tuck is our odd man out.

Cute Kids!

4th of July

My niece Hayden flew out for a few days to help watch the kids so I could get some things done, it was so, SO wonderful to have her here, and she is more than welcome anytime. My sister and her family came out for the fourth, and not being one to miss a chance to see my kids (who are the farthest away) my mom bummed a ride. We all really loved the parade.
Riker had a great First Fourth.
All the kiddos got lots of candy
And our corn was almost "knee high by the fourth of July" It might have been taller had the family of ducks that moved in not chosen our garden as their path to and from our yard.

The Garage

After a lot of stressing about it, the concrete was a total success.
Only with all of our amazing helpers!
Scott came over for the Fourth of July and he and Jeremy got the framing done for the door. They also got the back door, and the window in.
We had a little mishap on the 4th, but the damage was very minimal. The Albion parade was about to start, and the fireman smelled the smoke, so they walked on over to inspect our extinguishing abilities.

What's a garage without a car to park in it? Thanks Kaitlyn, we love it!
Our Brother-in-law Jason is the President of All About Doors so he came over from the West Side to install our new door for us. Thanks Jason!
Jeremy's Dad came over and the siding got started, we're hoping to be all done by the end of Labor Day Weekend.