Rub a dub dub

Three boys in a tub!

One more mouth to feed

Jameson is officially a food eater. He loves pretty much whatever I spoon into is mouth and he can really put away a good amount. No surprise there, his brothers were exactly the same way.
Here is a picture of him eating pureed black beans tonight at dinner- yummy. If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face right?!?

Monday, Jameson had a wellness check. He weighed in at 16 pounds, slowing down a little with the weight gain but still well ahead of his brothers at this age. He has relapsed with another respiratory infection and I am back on the same regimen as before... no dairy in my diet, extra immune supplements with meals and Ivy calm for Jameson. Not sure if I will take him to the Chiropractor again though... $40 for a 3 minute lung shaking.... I have a little hand held massager at home that I have been using on him, that should be about the same right?
Anyway, he is as happy as ever. Sitting up like a champ and wants to move soooo bad. I'm really in no rush for that though.
7 months sure has flown by!

Crazy Patch Stockings

A few years ago while in Utah for Christmas with the family, I noticed my sister Kristy's cute stockings. I complimented and inquired only to discover she had made them! Not to surprising, she is so very talented and crafty. She gave me the pattern and instructions right then and there for me to attempt my own crazy patch stockings.
Before I left Utah, I found some table cloths that were on super sale after Christmas which got me started with lots of fabric. Back home I found a few festive fat quarters at the craft store and some shiny trim at a garage/ craft sale.
Fast forward about 2 years (or has it been 4? yikes) I finally made the attempt. I actually started sewing these beauties at the beginning of the year in my evening sewing class. People looked at me kinda funny that I was sewing stockings in February, but I knew I needed an early start to get them done by Christmas. There has not been a whole lot of sewing time in the last 6 months with Jameson joining our family and a VERY busy fire season. However, as of December 1st I have finished 6 crazy patch stockings for hanging and stuffing this Christmas. They will not hang over our fire place... that would be a fire hazard, but they are near by on the cabinet. I'm really happy with them and glad that they are done. I let the boys each pick which stocking they wanted and then we pinned on their initial. Maybe, just maybe, I might try and embroider names on them at some point.

I sure love the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving in the Wilderness

We had a wonderful and mellow Thanksgiving this year. Just the 5 of us at home with a few good things to eat. I'm sure we could have joined in with the Hixon crew this year, since we have the family tie, but they were having ALL 10 children and their families for dinner. I think that is close to 60 people... so we opted for our own family meal. At first Billy suggested I buy a nice piece of salmon for dinner and we just make it really easy on ourselves. I however, really wanted turkey (and the leftovers to follow) since we only cook one once a year. So turkey it was. I also made cheesy potatoes, oven baked green beans, butter leaf salad and a layered jello in individual cups. We used the help of Pillsbury and had croissants :) All in all, not to much fuss, I didn't even end up making apple crisp like I planned. We had root beer floats.

William had collected some fall leaves at the playground in the morning where Billy was playing football with the elders quorum. (I got to go for a run with Jamie!) He put those along the table runner to decorate for our feast and he did a great job.
Zachary was sleeping when everything was ready to dig into and William refused to try anything. So, Billy and I sat down together and ate on our china and enjoyed every bite.

I can't forget about our thankful tree we made during family night the week of Thanksgiving! The boys were really excited to hand me leaves and tell me things they were thankful for and then hang them up. It was a full tree. Everything from family & primary to dirt & macaroni and cheese.
I sure am thankful for my family! I'm glad we have this special day set aside to celebrate our gratitude and I think I would like to start setting a few more aside during the year as well- one day a year is just not enough :) Maybe we will celebrate quarterly.

A funny thing about Thanksgiving in the wilderness that I have noticed the past several years...
We have wild turkeys that hang around our neighborhood everyday. I don't think there is a day that they aren't by someones house and when it's by ours the boys chase them away. (I don't care for the turkey poop in the yard) Every year at Thanksgiving, the turkeys are no where to be found! I have made note of this each year we have been here, that the turkeys disappear for a few days around the Thanksgiving holiday. It's really weird. They must smell their kind being cooked and they hide or something. Anyway, they are back now that Turkey day is over.

Santa Monica Mountains Trail Race

On Sunday (I will repent) I ran my first trail race! It was an awesome experience, a beautiful day, and a great location. My friends Lauren and Kevin Gleason convinced me to sign up for this race about a month ago and run it with them. Lauren & I signed up for the 18K and Kevin was going for it all in the 50K. The morning of the race I fed Jameson around 5am, got up and out of the house right after 6am and down to the Gleason's home where we all left together at 645am. We drove down to Oxnard and then out to the PCH, just past Point Mugu and parked along the ocean next to La Jolla canyon. Walked in, grabbed our bib numbers and about 35 minutes later we were running on the trails. The race started with uphill switch backs all the way to the top of the first little mountain, about 2.5 miles. I surprised myself and jogged all the way up. Normally I don't make it very far running uphill and I end up hiking instead. Once we were at the top, the view was gorgeous! Beautiful blue sparkling ocean, clear and crisp morning and perfect running conditions. It worked out in our benefit that it had rained the day before because the trails weren't slippery and had just the right amount of stick to them. There was only a couple spots where the mud stuck to my shoes enough that I had to slide my feet on the rocks to take the extra inch of weight off. Anyway, the trails were nice and there was only one really challenging climb from mile 6.5 to mile 8. My legs were really tired by that point but I knew it would be pretty much all down hill from there, so I ran. It was nice to descend into the finish area. I ended up surprising myself again when I finished in 1:55. I thought for sure it was going to take me around 2 and half hours. I also was the 3rd girl to finish, right behind Lauren, so I got a ribbon! I've never placed in a race before. Pretty cool.

I got home at 2pm and was very ready to feed Jameson again. It was really nice to have a morning to myself, to be outside enjoying God's beautiful creation and get some good exercise and time away. I REALLY needed it.

Fire

Tonight I started our first fire of the cold season in the fireplace. It only took me one try :) It never even made it past 65 degrees in our house today... a big change from last weeks 95+ degree weather we had. Maybe that's why Jameson is a little under the weather. Well, it felt like a fall day today anyway. Can't wait for Billy to come home from New York, I'm tired.

 

On another note, I really need to finish sewing the Christmas stockings I started at the beginning of the year :)

October!

Where did the month go! It wasn't even a big fire month and I still didn't find time to write things down. Well, it was a hot and beautiful month in Santa Barbara with only one local fire. Besides that, we practiced for the Primary program a lot (William did not say his part) oh well, we tried :)














We went apple picking

































Went to the Pumpkin patch

Hosted our 3rd annual neighborhood pumpkin carving night

 and got dressed up for Trunk or treat

 

 

 

Here is the whole crew at a neighborhood Halloween party this last weekend. Billy left this morning to go and help with the storm clean up in New York, so we were short a captain hook today. It was another fun family coordinating year though with Peter Pan. William sure made a cute one. And once I told Zachary that he wouldn't get any treats from people without his glasses and hat on, he made the cutest John I have ever seen :) Jameson just hung on my hip as little Micheal and I was Wendy the Mom. Appropriate I think.  Happy Halloween & Happy October.

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Mr. Independant

This morning William and Zachary got out their power tools to play with. They like to go around the house and "fix" things for me. Their are a few that take batteries and actually spin and move. William discovered that one of these had run out of batteries and he was determined to make it work. So, he went to the patio where we keep the screw drivers, said to himself (out loud) lefty loosey, and opened the battery panel. He then removed the old batteries, went and got two AA batteries from the drawer and replaced them in the tool and put the battery panel back on. Righty tighty and good to go! He then showed me his handy work, "look Mom, it works now."  All by himself.

What a guy. Good work William!

Cuckoo Clock

Well, William's birthday (and mine) has come and gone. It was a fun weekend of celebrating even though Billy was gone in Washington fighting fires. We spent Friday down in Redondo Beach with my friend Camie and her family. It was so nice to see them and I'm so excited that Camie lives so much closer now! We even happened to see the space shuttle being flown in on a jet into LAX (I think). It was an awesome sight. On our birthday day, we had a mellow day at home, opening gifts and hanging out. In the evening our next door neighbors threw us a party, complete with a train pinata for the kids and amazing crab legs for dinner. It was soooo nice of them to do that because I wasn't about to plan and throw a party with 3 small ones by myself. We had settled on the fact that there would be no party this year. It was wonderful to celebrate with all the neighbors.
So, as I said before, William had been asking for a cuckoo clock for his birthday for a while now. On the Thursday before his special day I took him to the clock shop in Solvang to look at the clocks there. He found one (with my help) and we bought it! We finally hung it up the other day, when Billy got home, and it is a lot of fun to have in the house. It makes the boys smile every time it cuckoos. It gives a single cuckoo on every half hour and then of course a cuckoo for every hour :) It will hopefully become a Wrenn family heirloom.

He also got a lightning mcqueen bike accessory kit for his birthday equipped with a bike pouch, the other request he had made.

Happy Birthday William (and me)haha

8 Hours

I have to write down that Jameson slept from 830pm to 7am last night! Which means I got a solid 8 hours of sleep!! He was only stirring at 7 but I needed him to eat in a bad way.... so I got him up. He was still kinda sleepy and fell back asleep until 830 so I had to pull out the pump. It was so nice, for both of us. He needed it, he was really feeling a lot better today. I know I needed it too! Billy has been gone for 16 days now and my patience is worn thin and I am very exhausted. Hooray for a little recovery night! Thanks Jameson! What a good baby you are.

Teeth!?!

I can't believe this, but Jameson is teething already! His two bottom teeth have poked through his poor little gums. No wonder he has been extra fussy, super drooly and not sleeping quite as well. I was in shock when I felt them in his mouth.  Man, this boy is throwing me a curve ball. Not only is he pounds bigger than his brothers at this age but he is teething 5 months earlier than them as well.

He is also still sick. He got all congested when we went out to Utah for a visit and it's been a month now and he is still not better! At his doctor appointment today, I was told to cut the dairy out of my diet completely and to take two extra supplements each day. An immune booster and a herbal syrup that supports lung and bronchial passageway health called Ivy Calm. I love that Jameson's pediatrician doesn't jump right to antibiotics and instead tries natural remedies first. So, no more ice cream for me until Jameson is 100% healthy again! This is going to be hard... this is a true test of love :)  Jameson weighed in at 14 pounds today. I was guessing no more than 15, phew.

Our 3 boys

Just had to post this BEAUTIFUL picture that my talented sister Tracy took of the boys while we were visiting in Utah! Love it! Thanks Tracy.

10 more days

Just 10 more days until William's (and mine) birthday! I have ordered what I hope will be the perfect solution to William's request for a basket for his bike. However, I am still desperately searching for the coo coo clock he has been asking for months now. Still not sure what to do about that one. I thought that I would get Billy's help in selecting something, but he left yesterday for Oregon on yet another fire assignment. This means he won't even be around when our birthdays come and go. Oh well, this is just what happens in fire season.
Hopefully I will find something that will make William happy and excited in the clock department.

Utah trip

I only blogged one time in August! I will blame that on Billy being gone for all but 6 days of the month and only 2 days off of the 6... and our 2 week trip to Utah.

What a wonderful and fun two weeks! William and Grant had a blast together, Zachary was in heaven to sit on Grandpa's lap every night and Jameson got all the attention in the world from his big girl cousins Reanne and Sierra. I got to see my sister Kristy's brand new house and even help move a couple things over. There were train rides, tractor rides, splash parks and play grounds, bike riding, trampoline jumping, drum rocking, lunch dates with Grandma Great and a photo session with Aunt Tracy! Jameson rolled over for the first time while we were there and is really good at finding his thumb now. Zachary was as easy going as they come, just always happy to be doing whatever with whoever. William got Grant back on his two wheeler and they rode just about every day. They roamed in and out of the house as they pleased, took turns using the potty (or a tree) together, they were pretty much inseparable the entire two weeks. It was so cute to watch William get out of bed every morning, open his suit case and get dressed, and then make his way up stairs for breakfast and to find Grant.

We also got to visit with some of the Anderson cousins who were having a family reunion up Provo canyon while we were there. We went up to their cabin one evening for a BBQ and some fun times at the creek up there. We also got to visit the Speeds in Sandy. Their family was throwing an annual end of the summer block party and we got invited. The kids had a fun time dancing in the street to the music and eating yummy snacks. So fun to see them again.
The time sure did fly by while we were there. It didn't seem that long of a trip on that end. Coming home it did seem like we had been gone a while though. Especially with Billy still being gone, I have been slow to re group and get everything back to normal. It was so great that my Mom made the drive home with me... not sure how I would have survived the journey on my own. Leaving at 4am helps a lot though to get a good part of the drive done while the kids sleep. Both my parents were so great to drop everything just to help me get to and from Utah safe and sane.
What a wonderful and memorable trip!

Count down chain

Ever since Zachary's birthday passed, William has been thinking and asking about his birthday quite a bit. He has asked me several times to show him on the calendar how many days until his birthday. Then he smiles and jumps and gets really excited and tells me what he wants; a cookoo clock and a basket for his bike so he can put stuff in it. Anyway, I told him we would make a count down chain to help him see how many days until his birthday. Yesterday we did it, 50 days til the big 4! (and the big 34 for me!) This is our first count down chain that we have made, pretty exciting :)

I also have to write about my day out yesterday running errands with the kids. We were right in the middle of everything, more toward the beginning actually. I had driven to the GWD to drop a bill, by the 4 plex to pick up rent and by the drive up ATM to deposit all the checks... the boys were all sleeping through these errands. I parked the car in the shade outside Bed Bath & Beyond and was going to wait for the boys to all wake up (which happened as soon as I turned off the car) and then go look for a magic mesh screen for our back door. Loaded the big boys in a cart and Jameson in the front pack and headed into the store. Found the screen right away, but of course I needed to see what else I "needed" while I was there. After a couple liquid soap refills, two new bath towels and a new quilt for the boys bed... I headed for the check out line. I was standing there talking to the cashier (who was Grant Betz) I started to smell Jameson poop. I quickly pulled him away from my body to check for a blow out up the back (this has been happening a lot lately) which would be on my shirt. Nope, safe. Then I keep smelling it but Jameson isn't making any noises or fussing or anything... hmm. I grabbed his ankle and then I found it! Oh no, I'm wearing WHITE PANTS! I look down, NOT on my pants! However, a BIG puddle of poop is on the floor right under me! I could not believe it! I asked Grant for a towel and he cleaned it up for me as I held Jameson, still in the front pack, away from my body. I then maneuvered the cart with one hand to the bathroom and into the handicap stall where the changing table was so I could get Jameson cleaned up. I walked out of the store with two boys and stuff in the cart and one naked baby over my shoulder :) Good times. At least I didn't have to go into CVS, Trader Joes and meeting the new tenants at the apartment with poop all over me. Gotta love motherhood.

This was a needed activity once we made it home!

Also, I need to write down that Jameson has been sleeping GREAT at night. Almost through the night already :) Hooray.

First Laugh

Jameson melted my heart tonight. I was talking and smiling to him, he was making cuing noises and smiling back. I tried to imitate one of his sounds and he started laughing! I laughed and he laughed again! It was a precious moment :) Little babies are the best. Thank you Jameson for brightening my evening, I love you.

Bloody day

This morning I got to go for a run after Billy came home from his. I chose to run/hike snyder trail across the street. I made it to "the sign" (where the guys all hike for their pt) in 28 minutes and then started my jog down toward home. I was almost to the bottom and on a flat part of the trail when I kicked a rock and took a dive. It was a little shocking, I can't remember the last time I fell that hard. I just couldn't catch myself because I was going to fast and down I went. I think I slid for quite a distance too. My right knee is skinned and a little sore, my left leg has a good road rash on it and both my palms are skinned up and bloody... but, I sure enjoyed my run nonetheless :)
Then this evening, Zachary was goofing off in the tub and fell, splitting open his eyelid. Of course Billy was gone on a man date to see the new batman movie. I was sitting on the toilet nursing Jameson and directing the boys to scrub where all the dirt was on their filthy bodies. Of course it had to happen right then. Poor Jameson was screaming from being put down in the middle of his dinner. Poor Zachary was screaming and had blood coming down from the corner of his eye. Poor William just sat in the brown water as I hurried to try and get everything under control. Glad he wasn't screaming from seeing the blood... only when it's on him i guess.
At least this didn't happen last Thursday when we had no power from 12noon to 12 midnight. And at least the water was turned back on by evening so I could bathe the boys at all. Our water was turned off all of a sudden this afternoon without warning, it happens back here, annoying.
Everyone is sleeping now- thank goodness our bloody day is over.

Boys

Billy had this great idea to make a mat out of pictures of our dirty boys for the frame that Mom got us. So here it is finished for now. I'm sure I will change out some pictures here and there when I get good ones :)

William's on two wheels

On Thursday evening William hit another mile stone. The training wheels came off his bike. I was watching two of our neighbors kids who are 8 and 5, they both had brought their bikes to ride while they stayed with us. Billy was home, so I was riding bikes with them all too. William was watching everyone ride and all of a sudden said "I want to take my training wheels off." So Billy took them off and started to hold the bike behind him.  William was super determined and very quickly told Billy he could do it.... and that was that. I didn't even have time to get the video camera for that first take off! (we did get some footage of the evening though)
I knew he was ready because he has been doing really well cruising around on his balance bike. We have been talking about taking off his training wheels for a little while, I was just waiting for Billy to be home.

William is really excited about riding his bike all over again. It's so fun to watch him grow up! I am so proud of him.

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home

Well, Billy comes home tomorrow and we are all ready and excited to have Dad around again! It was a really long 19 days and I'm sure that has something to do with 3 boys all under the age of 4 and the fact that Billy has only had one day off in a month and a half. I'm ready for a BREAK.

Here are the boys painting Dadddy a welcome home sign-

#3

I finally got Jameson's name hung up in the boys room. I had it painted and completed by the time he was 3 weeks old, just never had a chance to get it on the wall.  The room is a little bit closer to being complete. The only thing left is that painting I started before William was born :) haha.

Pin Board

I fancied up my old buleton board from the office the other day. Not sure why I thought I needed to do a craft project on top of everything else going on in my life right now. I think I was looking at my fridg and thinking that it looked cluttered and if I only had a cute board to hang things on instead....
Anyway, it was pretty simple project. A little paint, fabric and hot glue- done.

I like it and it covers up one of those spots in the kitchen that I am always staring at and thinking that it looks dirty :)

My little teddy bear

Jameson is the size of the boys teddy bears right now. I know the little stage doesn't last forever so I am trying my best to soak it up. Some days are harder than others but oh how I love the little tiny babies. When I pick him up after not holding him for a little while he feels as light as a teddy bear... but after holding him for hours, that 9 pounds feels pretty heavy.

Summer Blueberry picking

Today the boys and I drove to the U pick blueberry farm to meet up with friends and pick blueberries.  We did this last year and it was REALLY hot the day we went. Today however, was perfect! There was fog on the coast but sun at the farm and there was this perfect cool breeze as we picked and ate and ate and picked. I think we ate just as much as we picked, which makes it a really good deal in the end. After filling our little buckets we went back to the big oak tree for lunch and the boys played with their friends. We picked a few more blueberries after lunch (William ate all the blueberries in his bucket during lunch) and then checked out and went home. It was the perfect outing for a Wednesday afternoon.

This year & last year! Zachary has grown so much

William last year... He has gotten a lot taller!

Jameson enjoying the outing!