WHaM it.

My good friend Andie has headed up the creation of a new blog with super practical (or at least that's the goal!) posts for the WHaM (Wife, Homemaker, & Mother) in your life. I'm going to toss it in my links eventually, but for now here it is! I love and respect the Godly women involved in this venture so much and hope you'll enjoy checking it out.

Going Green...in our own special way.

Maite spent Friday morning with us. The kids had a great time getting to play with her some more before she left for home (Spain) again on Saturday. She was amazed at how much Miles had grown since she had seen him 2 weeks ago. It was so much fun to get to see her again and we pray that we will see her again in heaven someday....if not sooner. We love you Maite! Thanks for spending some of your last hours in the states with our fam!

Saturday Eric and Greg sprayed our house green. Our house was in desperate need of getting a new paint job (we're talking bare siding here folks) and soaked up twice as much paint as we anticipated. But after a few hours of hard work the guys got it done. 4 out of 5 houses on our street are some shade of brown/tan, so that was out. We have a blue house next to us and another across the way. We didn't want red or yellow. We have a dingy white roof - so white and gray we out. SO, green it was. I wouldn't say it's my dream shade of green...but alas, when you are weighing the price of paint over all else you take what you can get, eh? Sprayer and all we've spend less than $200 to get it painted (thanks Metro!). Not bad.

We have to hit all the trim with a fresh coat of white, but already it's a huge improvement wouldn't you say?!

Andie, you're gonna love this chick...!

I doubt that Andie will be our only reader who takes a liking to this gal, but nonetheless- ANDIE, you're gonna love her!

Check her out, Francesca Battistelli.
Yes, you can find her on iTunes as well.

Go, Daddy, Go.

Eric is currently reading Go Dog Go to the kids and for some reason it reminded me that he'll be running the Hood to Coast Relay in just over one month with a slew of guys from our church, so we'll be chanting "Go Daddy Go!" instead....
He'll be running Leg 4, Leg 16, and Leg 28. The short of it is that he's running a downhill Bloomsday, followed by 2 'short' 3-4 mile uphill runs....all in about 36 hours. I'm excited for him. Although soon the reality that he'll be gone running for 2 days, followed by a day of total exhaustion, will hit and I'm sure my excitement will dissipate a bit. :-)

Either way, I'm proud of him for gearing up and joining the guys in the venture and can only hope that in their weary stupor that someone will take pics for us Mamas to see. (Three kids under 3? Yea, right I'm going to see any of this adventure firsthand!)

Sum-Sum-Summertime....

Miles first stroller ride. Man alive, I doubt that I will ever stop singing the praise of the single stroller.

Some after dinner run-off-the-extra-energy-before-bedtime sprinkler time.

Thanks for the pinwheels, Grandma and Grandpa Viertell! They LOVE THEM!!

Stress Relief.

Last week after realizing more fully that Miles may indeed have very real hearing issues, I whipped out (err, Eric did- thanks honey!) the sewing machine and made a dress for Maggie in a mere two sessions of sewing. Eric thought a small project for me might be a good distraction, he was right. She calls it her "balloon dress with orange buttons". That's a pretty accurate description. She wore it one day and proceeded to tear out a strap and rip off part of a pocket. SO, after some reinforcing- here are pics of the sundress I made my MaggieGirl.

I have two more to make her, they are all cut out and I hope to get them started today. Hopefully she can model them soon. BTW- that's a sugar pea in her mouth from the garden....all thought she's treating it more like a small green cigar. :-)

Sam says "Smile, pea!".

Funny Boy.

Miles is quite the sight right now. Between his stork bite (red marks down the middle of his face), his baby acne (oops, that one is my fault I suppose), his receding hairline (Sam had the same issue at this age), and his goopy eye (unclog you stinkin' tear duct!) he is a rather funny looking boy. Hang in there Miles, it's a short season of life.

These pics are fun, he's actually got a bit of a smile in this first one and an ornery face in the second. Plus you can see his furry shoulder-ness too. Double click to check out the complete hairiness that he is sporting right now.

And a fully body shot, for those of you wondering if he is getting any chunkier yet....answer: not really. :-)

Trauma.

We went to the zoo last Friday and took Maite with us. Oddly enough the only picture I have of the day is not of Maite. The even stranger thing is that it's of Sam and a dino. The kid went NUTS (in a bad way) when he saw the spitting dino and when the T-rex roared at us. He went so traumatized that Eric had to carry him thru Africa. If you've ever been to the Oregon Zoo, you realize that this is quite the workout with any child, but especially the 40+ lb child.

Eric took this pic of Maggie. He LOVES her with the poofy ponytail, headband and white glasses. I mean REALLY LOVES her dressed like this. It's cute to watch him eye her all day when she's a "doll'd up" like this.

Daddy also took some pics of Miles sleeping. His little face was smooshed by the pacifier and looked pretty funny. This was the first take.

And the second take (the flash was too much for the little guy....even while sleeping).

Do the "Miles"

This kid has this funny face that he gives us sometimes. He'll freeze his face in this position for several minutes before we pop him out of it. If we tickle him or poke at him he'll stop it, but we think it's too funny. Thus, the post....and yes Mom, it may also be called "milkface" by some.

Update...

Here is the update from my visit to the audiologist this morning...

NOTHING.

Okay, I have to go back in 6 weeks because Miles has failed to pass yet another hearing test. Please pray that our baby can indeed HEAR and that our next visit at the end of August would provide some answers as to why he is not passing them....or pray REALLY BIG and pray that he would pass with flying colors.

Thanks.
No really....thanks a LOT.

Scabby.

Miles looking oh-so-small in his first official pair of "jeans".

Sam, the Scab. He flipped over and fell off the playhouse at the Wilson's over the 4th. His nose has been slowly transforming from a raw red thing into this peeling scabby gem.

Great Grandma and Grandpa came over for a visit this afternoon. We love how much Grandma LOVES babies....it's a wonder they only had six. :-) Thanks for stopping by Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandpa had some fun 'paper' doll time with the kids.

Poligamists??? No.

Check out this recent post from our sister-in-law, Andrea. I've been anxiously awaiting it's post, knowing that many of you readers will enjoy it's content.

Happy 4th!

Summer Fun-ness!

Ahh, the wonderful warmth of summer! Here are some fun pics of the kids enjoying the heat with daddy this afternoon. I think everyone is airborne in this first one...even if it is only by inches.

Some firsts...

Maggie held Miles....it took two weeks, but she did it! Way to go Mags.

AND we got his pic with BOTH eyes open....miracle of miracles.

The next first is our short list of specialists that we'll be taking Miles to.
1. Audiologist: he's failed his hearing test 3 times. Pray he would PASS, I take him in next Wednesday.
2. Urologist: Circumcision issues that will be resolved sometime between now and 6 months from now. Oh, let it be sooner rather than later.

(I'm convinced that Miles has decided to have issue just serious enough to require a trip to the specialist simply because he knows that as child #3- this is the only way he'll get individual attention. Seriously kid, you could just cry more instead. It's cheaper and way less stress on your mommy.)

Average???

Miles is AVERAGE!!!! I have an AVERAGE child! Sam and Maggie were never average...in fact they were never anywhere under the 90 percentile....even in the noggin. Miles had his 2 week check up today and he's 8 lbs (50%ile) and 2 1/2 inches (50%ile)....he's AVERAGE!

I suddenly feel like a 'normal' parent.
Aaahhhh.....the joy of being average.

Catching up.

The kids ATTACKED Maite...seriously attacked her. I am sure she has bruises....if not internal injuries from these two repeatedly pouncing on her. She is so gracious towards us and the kids....they can do practically anything to her and she takes it all in stride!

Maite was reluctant to hold Miles, but after I pretty much dropped him in her lap she warmed up to the idea. She said this was only the second time she has held a baby this small...I'm glad we can serve to broaden her horizons in that department. :-)

Sam and Mags brought out every toy they owned to show her and then moved on to books. Poor Maite had 8-10 books on her 'reading list' that morning on the couch.

And one last one from tonight....
I had happy awake baby, raging testosterone boy, and needy emotional girl all in my lap. Oh, and the house was just over 80 degrees. I was one hot mama. ;-) (BTW- Sam is talking to Grandpa Moffat on the phone, confirming that he was indeed playing tennis this afternoon.)

Budding Photographers?

Sam and Maggie have started taking pictures with our camera....we'll see how long before it's dropped in a bowl of oatmeal or swung into the coffee table on accident....
This first one was taken by Sam.

And one by Maggie...

One by Sam....(and YES! Maite is here!) Maite is back this summer for more Summer in the USA fun (aka, a week at Young Life Camp book-ended by a stay with the Whaley's and hopefully some more with our kids). The kids were really excited to see her this last weekend...as were Eric and I. This pic was taken by Sam.

And this last one was by Maggie. Sam was not so excited about this one....duh.