Monday, June 30, 2008

Caleb's First Four Years

Happy 4th Birthday Caleb!


What a special day! We woke Caleb up really early and he got to go out to a special breakfast with just mommy and daddy. (Granny B and Aunt Betsy are here, so don't worry, we didn't leave the others alone) He opened a couple presents throughout the day, and tonight we went out for pizza at Happy Joe's. We had cake and ice cream and presents at home, and he was very excited about everything. So much enthusiasm! We got him a knight set (armor, sword, helmet and shield) to go with the theme of his new room. Very adorable. We are having his party with his friends on July 11th.



Thursday, June 26, 2008

Loving the animals, Loving the property

Caleb and Aidan (and Kellan and Ethan) had such a great time being at Grandpa Alan's and Granny B's. Most of all they loved their animals, especially Max the cat and Chewy the big dog. And they loved being outdoors on their beautiful property. And getting to operate Grandpa's backhoe. So much fun for little boys



.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

We're home from PA...




feels good to be home, but its amazing how overwhelming the house seems again, so quickly. It was a great trip, and I'll post more later (I hope), but I wanted to post the pics of Caleb and Aidan in their cute little wedding outfits. They did pretty well, walking down the aisle, relatively together, looking adorable, with no major mishaps. And Aidan had been in quite a mood for 2 days, so we were sweating about just how it would turn out. When Caleb got all dressed he asked me, "Am I married now?"

And the wedding was beautiful. Robin was gorgeous, and we were all so thrilled to welcome Will to the family! (Although Caleb was bummed that he couldn't marry Aunt Robin) Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Will Arnold!

Enjoy my handsome boys...


I love this one, with their pirate faces. Not sure why they are doing that, but they're pretty cute.
and one of all of us, since we don't normally look so nice!

Monday, June 16, 2008

ER trip #2 for the Oxleys

So, we are supposed to be leaving for PA (by car) at 6 PM this evening. I say supposed to because I'm not sure we'll be packed/ready in time!

I was downstairs in the basement (doing one of the numerous loads of laundry I needed to do today before I could even begin to think about packing), and I hear this loud thump, followed by pretty intense crying. (hurt crying mind you, not "my brother's bugging me type crying). I run upstairs (feeling so guilty for leaving all 4 corralled safely (or so I thought) in the living room/dining room area) and find that Ethan has climbed up and fallen off the back of the big couch, which we've been using as a safety gate in this wide doorway area until the gate we ordered comes in. He's fallen on his head, and has a pretty narely bruise, slighty bleeding indentation on his upper forehead, and red along the side of his face and shoulder. He calmed down pretty quickly, but I called daddy to come home and check him out since I was pretty panicky. We called the doctor, they were borderline, but said go ahead and bring him in since we are leaving on a trip and want some peace of mind... So Weston, who needed to be working today, spent 3+ hours in the ER with him. Poor little guy had to get a CT scan. But everything looked fine. We just have to continue to watch him just in case. If only he'd still had that helmet on.

I guess I really need to just realize its too hard to try to accomplish anything while all 4 are awake! Yikes!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

One Incredible Daddy



Happy Father's Day Weston! You are an absolutely amazing father! Our boys are SO blessed to have you for a daddy!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Goodbye helmet!


Last Monday Ethan officially "graduated" from wearing his helmet (seriously, they gave him a certificate and everything). We are so glad it is done, especially in time for the hot weather. His head doesn't look perfect (but whose does?), but it does look so much better. I love seeing his whole adorable head now, and being able to rub his hair! Thank you all who supported us through the process! (anyone have an idea what I should do with it? I guess its going in the trash...)

By the way... the twins aren't walking yet... (I wonder if one of them can, but maybe they have made a secret pact to wait and do it together...) 14.5 months, and just not that interested. Some days they have made such progress (like practically running all over the house manuevering the toy 'walker'), and I think, ah, here it comes, but no. They are pretty content to just crawl. Oh well. Their knees and feet will just get dirty everyday for a bit longer. No big deal.

Packing and Moving

We are in our new house. Phew. What a weekend. We are so thankful for all the help we received! If it wasn't for our friends, I'm sure we'd still be making trips back and forth.

Thankfully the weather held up and it didn't rain (much) like it was supposed to, although it was really hot! And thankfully, the house is only about 1/2 mile from the duplex. Also, so very thankful our realtor loans out a moving truck for anyone who buys or sells through him, so we had it all weekend!

Anyway, still far from settled, but we'll get there. Boxes everywhere. Not super kid friendly, esp. not one-year-old twin friendly. Tons to do of course. Kitchen cabinets came in, so Weston is trying to get some of that done before we leave for Penn. on Monday.

And, all 4 boys have been sick. Ethan threw up the first night we were here. Kellan and Aidan did on Tue. night. (with a babysitter, Erin's a champ) Caleb this morning. Diarrhea issues. Not fun. Aidan has been the sickest so far. He was very out of it yesterday, and is just starting to come back to life today. Caleb is pretty out of it today, but not as bad as Aidan was. Hopefully this will be the end of it. Pray that Weston and I will avoid it. On top of it all, we drove to Chicago on Tuesday night to have dinner with Vince from CA, and didn't get home until after 3AM. Then had to wake up early and deal with sick kids. Not a fun day!

Enjoy a few pics... The boys loved feeling like they were helping...





Wednesday, June 4, 2008

twice the giggles


The twins' bond has seemed extra close lately. They are SO stinkin' cute together! They love seeing each other in the morning, and cuddling, and playing... Last night in the car, they were holding hands and playing, just giggling up a storm. I love watching them together! Twins are incredible!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Gulp.

Okay, seriously, don't know just how we are going to make it through the next week or so... We've been running on empty, just going going, for over a month now, and now we have just a couple days to finish the bare minimum of what needs to be finished at the house (not tons really, just some more painting and cleaning), and to get packed and moved this weekend.

I'm going to vent here, bear with me... but normal life with 4 little boys is challenging enough. That alone usually maxes us out, and that's with all the "margin" we've intentionally built in. (Weston's day off, his lunches home, his specifically designed work hours... basically support from daddy so that mommy doesn't just lose it sometimes...) We'll that's been gone for awhile now, and then some. We haven't had much family time, virtually no couple time, no breaks for mommy, and daddy's been working extra hard at the house in addition to everything going on at church (had a big event last weekend that required two consecutive 8am-midnight days, and tons of graduation parties).

Plus, its been extremely hot and muggy the last few days, and with no AC we are not sleeping well at all! Just dripping all day and night with sweat... glorious, eh?

And, its pouring today, and whenever it rains my kitchen (in the duplex) leaks badly from 2 places. So my kitchen may just end up submerged in water by day end.

Okay, enough already. That was probably way more than you wanted to know. But I had to get it out somewhere. Especially since this morning I am wondering just how I am going to make it through the day! :)

All whining aside, I know God will give us the strengh, and that its only for a limited time, at that we will get through it, and it will be worth it.

But now at least my whininess is recorded here for posterity...

Yikes, while I was typing this Kellan has figured out how to climb up on the table...