Will and Travis - 12 month well check

The 12 month well check was pretty much a disaster. I see the blogs of my friends with these cute pictures of their children sitting on scales smiling. Uh yeah, I didn't even get to see Will and Travis being measured. With 3 of the 4 getting "well-checked" and shots and then even Maddie getting a flu shot, it was kinda crazy and full of crying children. Also, Travis was pretty sick - he and I spent the previous evening at the ER for his 105+ temp. That fever was attributed to a double ear infection and of course meant no immunizations at the well check and lots of extra poking and prodding.
I'm sure that office hopes we never come back! I definitely learned a new mommy lesson and that is no more than 2 well checks in one visit!

William
Height: 29.75" (50th)
Weight: 25 lbs 4 oz (85th)
Head circumference: 50cm (99th)

Travis
Height: 29.25" (33rd)
Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (15th)
Head circumference: 48.5cm (95th)

Its crazy to me that my twin boys are pretty much on the exact opposite ends of the bell curve. I realize that since they are fraternal and not identical that they are really just 2 brothers born at the same time and don't necessarily have to be the same size. I try not to worry about their height but I can't help but notice that they are a little shorter than their sisters at the same age but since they were born 2 inches shorter (only 19.5" and 19" while the girls were 21.5" and 21"), I guess they are catching up. I've never researched if twins are sometimes born shorter because there just isn't enough room for them to grow as much. Yes, I have a height complex. I always wanted to be much taller and I hope for height for my kids. Notice that I married a tall man with a tall family :)
I also laughed when I heard the percentiles for their heads, even petite T has a big head. I sure hope there are some brains in there! What else could be taking up that space?

Emily - 4 year well check

Emily was so cooperative at her 4 year well check which was a relief since I had the brilliant idea of scheduling her well check at the same time as Will and Travis' check. She was helpful and talkative right up to the point where she got her 4 shots. Then it was all over. She is a great kid, usually well behaved, but she is a bit of a drama queen! Before the shots, our sweet doctor, Dr. Basey was doing her job of asking questions to make sure that Emily is meeting her milestones. I was amused when she was asking Emily to name the colors of different objects in the room. Being the proud braggart mom that I am, I bursted out "um, yesterday she wrote her name along with Will and Maddie's." I couldn't just let it go and progress naturally, geez louise, sometimes I need a sock stuffed in my mouth.

Anyhooooo, here are her stats
height 40.75" (70th)
weight: 36 lbs" (60th)

Some things we need to work on are hopping on one foot for more than a few seconds and skipping!

First harvest

When we moved to "the country" one of my visions was to have a huge vegetable garden with fruit trees and vines. I'm not a hippy or an extreme environmentalist, but it really makes me happy to grow my own food. Reality struck however, and its just not possible to spend a lot of time in the garden. I have 4 kids - 4 young kids. I spend most of my time meeting their basic needs of survival. However, Joe did manage to dig 2 beds for us - 4' by 12' or 16', I can't remember. So I've filled these beds with transplants and seeds and praying that something will survive with little maintenance. So far, the crop that's growing the best is the clover. Nope, didn't plant clover. It seems to be the weed of choice around here. But there are a few plants growing out there as evidenced by the picture of my cute husband and oldest daughter holding the radish. It was a good radish too!

As a side note for those who are interested in gardening - We have a lot to overcome here. It is extremely windy and there are no neighboring houses to shield the garden from the winds. Also, the old dude who lived here before us was a big fan of Round-Up and he used it in agricultural strength and quantities. He seriously used it as his weedeater. He would spray a foot wide section on both sides of the fences and all around the perimeter of the house. I'm a believer in soil health and that stuff is just bad. So I've been doing a few things to help heal the soil like using Garrett juice and molasses for fertilizer.

I'm hoping to get out there and take a picture of current state of the garden. Right now I have tomatoes (sickest looking plants ever!), one red bell pepper plant, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, brussel sprouts, broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, swiss chard (looking good! that stuff is easy!), spinach (not doing good, must be too hot), and a few lettuces.

Joe and I recently celebrated our anniversary and on that trip we bought a few plants for our family. We bought Mom 2 blackberry vines to say thanks for watching the kids, we bought 20 strawberry plants for fun and 2 blueberry bushes for each other. The blueberry bushes are going to be an experiment as they really need acidic soil and I have no idea the pH of our soil here. We actually managed to plant the strawberry bushes and they are taking off! Its nice to see one thing doing well out here.

Anyway, thats probably way too much information, but I will enjoy going back and reading it in the years to come.

Pumpkin Patch Photos

Today we met my new MOPs group at the Ford Family Farm. We had a great (and somewhat crazy) time considering the boys weren't feeling very well. They had so many fun activities for kids. Yes, its still nearly impossible to get a good photo of the group of them.

Which one has the fake smile?
Should've realized how bad he was feeling when I saw this face

Will loved the pumpkin and Travis was terrified of it

Today's country life experience

This morning there were about 6 cows right outside my bedroom windows. All 4 kids, Mom and I stopped to watch them. There was this poor heifer in heat (is that what you call it for cows?) who was being followed and pushed around by the one full grown bull on the property. They were surrounded by 4 young male calves that were harrassing her. As she walks around our fence line trying to eat and sluff the pesky teenage boys, more keep coming!

I knew something like this was going on since more calves keep appearing, but I've never witnessed it. Oh boy. I got to show Emily the physical difference between the sexes and explained to her to stay away from those boys!!

Travis especially enjoyed being close to the cows!