Bella, Gabe and Josiah

Bella turned 15 this weekend. Her birthday is always a pretty emotional time over here. For her 6th birthday, Pat, Jacqui and I all went out for pizza to celebrate. It was the only time the three of us ever hung out together. Jacqui died 6 months later.  For Bella’s 7th birthday, I made cupcakes for her class and I remember being so emotional about it because your mom should make cupcakes for your class, not your dads girlfriend. Jacqui should have been there, but she wasn’t. On Bella’s 10th birthday, I flew home from the nicu to be here. It was the only time I left Gabe in the 91 days he was there. On her 11th birthday, we bought her a bike and she was happy. That may not seem like much, but there’s been very little happy in Bella’s life for the last few years. But there, for a brief moment, she was. For 14 and 15, she hasn’t been home. Someone else has been in charge of making her a cake and inviting her friends over for a party. There are a lot of reasons that she’s not home rig...

Josy has gotten very helpful around the house... He helps Dad with the dishes. He does the laundry. He puts away the dishes. And he airs out the fridge. Such a helpful little guy...

Lucy is a really great cat. She likes to snuggle, she loves to catch mice and she’s super gentle with Josy. You can’t am for more than that. That said, she is also a very silly cat... One of Josy’s friends gave him a Valentine with cotton balls on it. Lucy thought it was great and decided to carry it around the house. Gabe put a necklace on her (which she wore until I took it off the next day...) because he wanted her “to look like a mom.” She sometimes carries the boys toys around the house, sometimes stealing them off of the counter... She was pretty sure she needed to go to school with us the other day. Neither boy was happy with me when I kicked her out of the car. She’s quirky. But she’s the best cat.

I did something drastic this last weekend: Josy got a haircut. It was time. I’d trimmed his bangs a couple of times, but the big problem was the back that was just getting crazy long. So I gave in and made an appointment. We figured it would be easier for Josy if he could watch Gabe first, so Gabe got a haircut too. He did great. He sat on my lap nicely until the very end. It wasn’t until she tried to get the last couple of slips in that he decided he was done. Then he decided he needed to help Daddy sweep the floor, since the kids really does love to sweep... He seriously looks like a different kid. It’s been a few days and I still don’t always recognize him. It also makes him look so much older! I probably shouldn’t have pulled out all the 2T clothes this weekend too. It’s too much more me to handle. My baby is growing up way too fast!!! The haircut also makes him suddenly look like my brother Matt. I never thought Josy looked like him until now...

Silly Josy really loves the snow shovel. I really hope that never goes away, so I have a permanent driveway shoveler... One morning during our super cold snap, Gabe was too cold to eat breakfast, so I told him he could get dressed first. He came downstairs wearing three shirts, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks and two pairs of undies. Hey, he definitely wasn’t cold!! Sometimes Josy insists on bringing out all of his snuggly guys after naptime. Gabe loves to read this book to Josy. I bought the boys new water bottles, since the last one (that they were sharing) got thrown away in a fit of frustration that it was usually discovered on the floor in a giant puddle of water. So I bought them these two. Unfortunately, Josy is convinced that they’re both his and he loves them! He’s finally getting a little better, but for a while there he was getting mad every time Gabe tried to take his somewhere. In this picture, Gabe had put it down to put in his jacket and Josy stole it back. He is ...

Ask your kid... Word for word, without prompting:  from Gabe, age 5 1. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy? A pirate ship 2. How long does it take to get to the beach? An hour 3. What does Mom always say to you? Clean out your undies 4. What job would you like to do when you grow up? I haven’t decided yet. There are lots of options. 5. Who is the strongest person you know? Daddy 6. Where do babies come from? Mommy’s tummy 7. At what age do you become a grownup? Mom, when did you become a grown up? 8.  What wild animal do you like?  Lion 9. What would you do if you couldn’t find your underwear? Just get new ones 10. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pears 11. How much does it cost to buy a house? 38 bucks 12. Who do you hang out with all the time?  Josy 13.  What’s your favorite song to dance to? Muppet Treasure Island 14. What are you scared of?  Ghosts 15.  What is your favorite game to play? The Pira...

Josy definitely needs to stop growing up. This morning he tried to make his own breakfast... As soon as I put the milk in, I moved him to the high chair, which he was not happy about. But eating dry Cheerios on the floor is one thing. Milk is a whole different situation... Also, wow, those jammies are small. The 2T jammies are sitting in the den, waiting for me to put them in his drawer. Clearly I need to accept that he’s outgrown his 18 month jammies and let him wear jammies that fit him...