Oatmeal

I LOVE breakfast and know how important it can be, but have struggled with it getting boring. I hate being in a rut, so we have been trying to mix things up. One addition that I've been adding into the fray has been oatmeal. I cannot get over how much tastier "old fashioned" oatmeal is than instant. And it really doesn't take that much longer to cook (6 minutes vs. 1).

So what I'm begging you all for is IDEAS!!! What are your favorite toppings/mix-ins to add to your oatmeal? Does anyone have another favorite hot cereal that they like? I know it's hotter than hot outside and the idea of oatmeal might not be to appealing right now, but I have 3 growing boys and a hubby to feed. Oatmeal sure is a more economical and nutritious way to start our day than cold cereals...

To get the creative juices flowing, here's an amazing collection of oatmeal ideas...

Here is a great post on pre-preparing Steel-Cut Oats. I want to try both the steel-cut variety and pre-preparing. I'm all about trying to make my life simpler in the long run...

Backcarry Bliss!

I am trying not to totally drop the ball after my 1st child, by failing to note both the important and the trivial "firsts" in Treyton's life. So for the record, today was the first time I carried Trey on my back. We both LOVED it! He has such wonderful trunk control, that we decided to try it. He hung out back there while I made dinner! There is something so special about having a child snuggled on my back. Infact, both of the older boys still love to be carried on my back! And thanks to the trusty mei tai and now my new Ergo (thanks friends!), I can carry them comfortably!

I hadn't done a back carry with Keegan until he was 5 months old and I didn't even know about anything except the bjorn until Xander was 8 months old...

New Arrangements

After discovering that Xander wasn't in his bed at around 10pm last night, we looked high and LOW and finally found him here:

When asked about it this morning, he told us how much he loved his new sleeping arrangements.

Pretty Boy

Well, it looks like I've got a pretty boy on my hands... We thought we had finally done away with people thinking Keegan was a girl with his definitive boy hair cut, but no.

Rich and Keegan went to the grocery store a couple of days ago where the following conversation took place:

Bakery Lady: Oh, is that your only child?

Rich: No. He's the middle of three.

Lady: Oh, all girls?

Rich: No, all boys.

Come on people. He was in a navy blue, baseball style shirt with navy blue crocs. He doesn't have his beautiful golden locks any more. I just don't get it... What mother would subject her daughter to a boy haircut like that???

Brotherly Love

Boys Slinging...

Speaking of attractive...

My boys are all about babies. Of course, they currently only pouch manly things like Teddy and Doggy. But they are ever so attentive to their "babies"!

Keegan is also in a kissing phase. He loves to give us kisses and also showers his doggy with kisses when he has him in his sling. He must see me stealing kisses from Treyton when he is nestled up with me in the pouch.

Oh so attractive...

There isn't much that makes a man more attractive to me than when he is thourougly enjoying his children and/or worshipping our Creator!

And I just have to say that the men in my life are VERY attractive!

I LOVE to watch Rich in whatever he is doing with the boys, whether it is wrestling, reading stories, walking with either a son in arms or holding a little grubby hand (or both)! Watching him enjoy his kids is a truly blissful experience! I am so blessed to be married to a man who is such a wonderful daddy. In my opinion, he is the best! (Biased you say?!?!?) I don't know what I'd do without him...

My boys are also blessed to have two wonderful grandfathers. Alexander has had so many wonderfully rich spiritual conversations with my Dad. I can't imagine a better example of a man who intimately walks with God than my father. I know that my boys will be profoundly affected by his example!

And although completely different, my respect and admiration grows by leaps and bounds when I see this in other men. An example that comes to mind is my brother-in-law, Keith. It has been a joy to watch him interacting with both my sister and niece! He also loves God wholeheartedly and is an exuberant worshiper!

Happy Father's Day to all of those attractive men out there and to my guy most of all!

With Love...

Well, it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, but here, Pa and Opapa, is our Father's Day message for you since you both are not here to be celebrated and honored in person.

We love you Pa! Thanks for playing with the boys and for being such a wonderful father to Rich. As I watch Rich engage with our boys and play with them, I know that is something that you passed down to him. So thank you for helping him grow up to be such a wonderful dad.

Opapa, thank you for all of your wise council on boys and loving us all completely!

Cousins!

I had the privilege of watching Evangeline yesterday afternoon so her beautiful mommy could go get a haircut! Miraculously, all four cousins were asleep at the same time for a brief period before the two younger one's awoke. I took advantage of not having to worry for their safety by leaving them on the floor and grabbed the camera!

Ev, totally hamming it up for the camera. Trey doesn't quite know what to think...

Holding hands.

Enjoying some tumble time - with my help!

Similar, But Different

Rachel's comment reminded me that I had put this collage together to show how similar and yet different each boy was. Each of these pictures was taken when the boys were 3-4 weeks old.

It is so cool to watch their little personalities unfold as they each grow into their own "look"! Children truly are an amazing blessing!

faster and faster...

Time just keeps flying by faster and faster. I can't believe my little guy is now three months old. My little Trey is quite the smiler and loves to give big-belly laughs, especially in response to his brothers antics!

This last weekend, he slept for 8 hours straight! He's been averaging 5.5-7 for the last couple of weeks, but for some reason 8 hours is just a huge milestone for me! Of course that was when we put him down at 8pm, so I didn't get 8 hours of sleep in a row... One of these days I'm going to learn to go to bed when my babies do.

His gift to me on his 3rd month birthday was to sleep for 7.5 hours in one stretch, all of which I should have been sleeping. But Xander had an accident last night, so I spent a bit of the wee hours changing sheets, jammies and trying to console a very distraught boy.

This last month, after much anticipation, Trey made the switch to mostly full-time cloth diapers. It is so nice to actually have a full load of diapers w/ both of the younger boys still in them. Since the younger boys so close in age, I can actually use the same size fuzzibunz diaper for both, which makes stocking the diaper bag much easier! I'm so glad I made the initial switch!