Outta My Way, Little Man!

This phrase could be heard hourly in the locker bank of Shackelford Junior High during my 8th grade year. I have no idea who the kid was who bellowed out this phrase, but it has stuck with me all of these years and has become quite relevant the last few weeks around my living room.
Grandma and Aunt Faith came by for a little show by the boys. They are getting closer and closer to walking every day. I must admit that I don't really encourage letting go of the safety net too often. No need to accelerate the process - they are already so fast by knee that I can't imagine how swift they will be afoot.
James is the push cart man. Don't get in his way or he will take you out. Ryan attempts to get in some time with the purple lever. Foolish boy, James will not allow that kind of time to pause for you to enjoy said toy, this is a PUSH cart.
Michael checks out the books on top of the baby jail while James trots past. He's like the US Mail, our James, nothing will stop him. (Except for the "red tape" of walls and random items too large to steamroll over.
"Seriously, Michael, get out of the way or I will crush you!"
A happy push cart driver poses for a picture while his stealthy brother cops a few seconds of toy time.
Michael would much rather play with the moveable parts on the front of this convertible push cart. He also likes to ride astride, but since he just sits there admiring the toys up front, I think we aren't quite ready to ride.
Ryan takes a turn pushing. Thanks to the lovely Chatty Patty, we have two push carts. Ryan doesn't mind taking a spin around the living room, but he is no where near as focused as his eldest sibling. Instead, Ryan would much rather figure out how to climb on top of the push cart to reach forbidden objects. (Remind me why I named this child after the brother who is notorious for spending time inside the toilet and on top of the fridge just because he could get there?)

Around Towner

As the boys are getting older and more mobile, it is getting easier to go out and about with them. We've switched to the Britax car seats that Bob's former boss so generously gave us, and the boys are only using their infant seats on the triple decker stroller. I am getting much braver about going out with the boys a week or so ago, we took a trip to Target just to get out of the house and get some fresh fruit. It was a breeze. The boys were great, and we even stopped by the bakery for a cookie. It was their first real (non-animal cracker) cookie.
A couple of weeks ago, Bob's sister Susan and her husband John Paul came to visit. They hadn't seen the boys since Christmas, and they were impressed at how much the gang had grown. John Paul and Ryan became great buds, and I'm pretty sure they can't wait to get together again soon. While they were in town, we took advantage of the good weather and went to Joe T.'s. It's a great place for the boys. I don't worry about how loud they are and all the food they drop on the floor is just a gift for the birds. We had a nice time despite the fact that Sir James grabbed my sizzling hot fajita plate.
We got to the restaurant around 4:30 or so, and on the way in, I decided I had to have a picture of the boys by the fountain. By the time we left, the crowd had picked up significantly, but I still stopped to take a few quick pictures. I felt as though I wasn't able to get the perfect shot because within a couple of seconds, we became an attraction, and people stopped to watch us. Ironically, it shocks me more when people don't notice us rather than stop to watch.
Michael was unsure of the fountain, but Ryan had no trouble demonstrating to James exactly how one should splash in the fountain.
Ryan decides to demonstrate for Michael how much fun the splashing can be.
Lesson well learned, and simultaneous splashing begins.
Is it wrong that I craved this picture because the fountain matched the kids outfits. I swear, I never thought I'd be one of those moms, but I do love when my boys look good in their clothes. Perhaps it's because I myself am such a slob with unkempt hair and food stained clothes. (I wish I could blame all of that on the kids, but I am infamous for my use of the car heat/air vents as a hair drier while on my way to work).
Taking time to relax between all our outings, the boys have a milk break. Lately, they wont sit in their chairs to drink. They'd rather sit on the floor and sling milk at each other. They have figured out how to make the milk squirt out of their bottles. As they are 11 months, I am doing half and half milk and formula. Every can of formula I buy, I think, "is this the LAST one?" Our pocketbooks will really enjoy the lack of formula in the budget.
Last weekend, our friends Keith and Terra invited us to join them at the Taste of Addison. We had a great time, but by the time we left, I was worn out. I had been pretty sick and the introduction of medicine gave me a false sense of health. Despite causing myself to relapse and spend the next day in bed (literally, Bob took the kids to church and out to lunch with Aunt Mel while I slept until he came home at 2 to check on me), I really enjoyed it. The boys had a bbq sandwich, crawfish, and countless other nibbles of tasty food. We also rode the carousel with Katie and Carter. It was great fun, and James (who was my designated baby) thoroughly enjoyed himself and kept crawling back over to check out the horses while Ryan ate every stray thing he found in the grass and Michael tried stealing Katie's sippy cup.
Michael, ready for fun to begin. He decided to cleanse his palate with formula and animal cracker.
James and Ryan rocked the double stroller. The two stroller trick worked pretty well. Every once in a while, someone would ask if they were triplets, but most of the time by the time said gawker had finished counting, we were long past talking range. James' back seat was the only one without a tray and cup holder. I'm going to have to figure something out for the next time we take the kids out so that the worst seat in the house isn't so bad.

Eleventh Hour

Eleven Months Old! Our boys next picture in the big chair is going to be their One YEAR photo. I can't believe how fast the time has passed. In iPhoto, there is a setting that lets you see the last year of pictures. At this time last year, I was very pregnant, and now just a short time later, my sweet babies are climbing, crawling, and all but walking around the house. I have enjoyed every single second of it. My mom told me when I was pregnant that every age of your children was the best age. I didn't really understand what she meant until now. I loved the cuddly baby phase, but I'm also deeply happy with the open-mouth kiss phase. Of course, I can't seem to get James to give me kisses, but my love monkey Michael and my cuddle bug Ryan are all about the slobbery kisses. I'm sure that James will come around soon, but he's just too busy to stop for lovin'.
Tragically, this is probably the best photo I have for this month. The boys were very active and there was an unfortunate spill and a couple of brotherly tackles to keep us hopping. We took the picture right before we dropped Daddy off at the airport. While Bob was gone this time, I'm pretty sure Ryan spoke his first sentence. Bob called the house, and I said "it's Daddy." When I put him on speaker phone to talk to the boys, I swear that Ryan said, "it's Daddy." That boy is a genius. As are his older brothers. James's favorite thing to do is push the cute little walkers that Patricia gave us. He screams with joy while he's moving, but when he runs into immoveable objects, he screams in outrage. I have started walking his route with him to facilitate the joyful noises and limit the outrage, and now he stops to look at me, as if to say, "where do you want to go now, Mommy?" Michael is so sweet, but he does have quite a set of teeth he likes to show off. Somehow, my boobs and his brothers' heads seem to be his favorite victims. Michael LOVES hair. I can't begin to describe his obsession with the silky strands. He fondles his own hair while he drinks his bottle, he caresses my hair (which is always tightly strapped to my head in protection), and if I leave my hair down, he trills with delight. All three of my boys are just absolutely amazing. I can't imagine how my life would be without them, no matter how hard I have to work to keep up with them.
James tries to offer aid and comfort to his baby brother while Michael just wants to get this photo done and get back to playing.
Ryan was not up for a picture session. He jumped off the chair and bumped his head, thus putting him in a somewhat unhappy state.
Michael enjoys getting James in a headlock. Unfortunately, Dr. Teeth seems to really enjoy the chomp. Although I think he gets a little of it back as I discovered some definite Ryan teeth marks on his arm after bath time today.
James, "Come on Michael, let me just show you this one wrestling move I learned. I promise it's a good one."
James loves to talk - usually loudly and quite vociferously. I can't even begin to describe how much I love his open mouth photos. It's the one sign that this mini-Bob shares some genes with his mamma.
The face of an angel, the head grab/bite move of a ninja.
Ryan makes a move for the ground as he declares that this photo session is over.

Helping Out Around the House

For some reason, as the boys get older, Mommy seems to work much harder. I know that people say as they get older, multiples get easier, but I haven't found that to be true. It's just different, and I never seem to get to sit down for more than five minutes. The boys have started helping me around the house.
Here James is helping Mommy do laundry. He does such a great job of pre-treating the stains before we wash.
Michael dusts the tables and cleans the glass for that newly fingerprinted clean.
Ryan picks up the books and toys. Every Mommy needs a toy taster.
Here the gang helps Mommy by cleaning up the dog hair off the kitchen floor. No matter how often I sweep, they still seem to be able to pick up handfuls of Duke's hair and they seem to love putting it in their mouths. After all that hard work, it was time for a toy break.
James loves pushing things. He is getting to be very good at getting chairs across the kitchen as well as his toys.
Michael wonders why plastic bananas seem to stay fresh so much longer than store bought ones.
Ryan likes to turn everything upside down - and then climb on it. I'm pretty sure of all my children, Ryan will be the one to climb Mt. Everest.

Lookin' Out My Front Door

Lately, the boys have been very interested in what is going on outside our four walls. Tragically, except for the occasional grocery outing or restaurant, we don't leave the house much. Just the thought of loading them into the car sends shivers down my spine - especially since we have the new seats, and you have to bribe them with animal crackers to stay still while you buckle them in. Their favorite hang outs are looking through the glass doors we have on our front and back doors. They especially love looking out the back door when Duke is outside. They jockey for position, and the other day, I caught James and Michael trying to shut Ryan in between the glass door and the back door (when I fussed at them, they gave me those innocent angel smiles, but I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing as poor Ryan howled in protest).

James takes Momo for a ride. "This is how you make this chair rock, Momo. Do it like I am."

Michael is happy to have James for a resting spot. "It gets so tiring standing here, let me just lean on your shoulder for some support."

Michael takes command of the rocking chair. He knows that chairs are for sitting in (or at least he's humoring mommy for a minute or two before he does a swan dive off said chair).

This pose makes me think of those movies when prisoners are behind glass, and they touch the glass to make contact with their visitor. Either that or they are at a Sting concert singing along to "Free, free, set them free."

Ryan likes to bang on glass - be it door or table top, the resounding noise of flesh hitting glass is quite fantastic in his opinion.

Alright boys, put your hands up and spread 'em.

Scarface and His Henchmen

Last week, Mom & Grandma went on a cruise and Bob had meetings in Utah. In order to maintain my sanity, Bob and I called in Grandma Newhouse. We had a lovely time with her. The boys were so happy to have her in town to play with. I think that Grandma Kathy had no idea how much more active her little men had gotten since Christmas. They are everywhere, all the time.
One of their most recent tricks is to stalk you for food. Don't eat in front of the Newhouse Boys without planning to share. Daddy's cheez-its are no exception. Another obsession is Daddy's hat. For weeks, Bob's hat has been hanging on the back of one of the barstools. James, in particular, has been obsessed. He stretches and strains to get the hat.
On Thursday night, Grandma Kathy watched the boys while Mommy went to visit her good friends from Sam Houston. Poor Grandma had to go to the potty, and unlike when I head to the throne room, no entourage followed. Apparently, James, Michael, and Ryan all were hanging on the stool attempting to acquire the coveted prize.

The monkeys managed to pull the entire chair over and in the process, James got the hat and a pretty impressive scratch on his face. It's getting better every single day, and I don't think it will leave a scar, but poor Grandma Kathy feels horrible. I say it builds character and gives us a story.

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"

Michael, kicked back getting his bottle held by Grandma. Life is good.

Window watcher. Ryan loves to see what's going on in the outside world with the added bonus of trying to climb up on the windowsills.

The Rascal James.

Michael makes a quick stop in the jumper. He loves to jump, but he's not so keen on the restraint.

Ryan plotting his next feat of greatness. What next? Stairs? Dog water? Daddy's office?