10 Months!

I'm a few days late (5 to be exact) with Jake's 10 month update, but better late than never!

Jake is still growing like a weed! I am always amazed at just how big he his...and I mean tall! Everywhere we go, someone comments on his red hair and his size... Of course, with me being a 5'3" blonde, they all ask if his Daddy is a tall red head, and leave me to say "No, but my brother is." Needless to say, that can get a few funny looks! Now that I think of it, I think I'll just start saying "Yes". They'll never know the difference. :)

Jake started Mother's Day Out this month, and he seems to like it. He is only going 1 day a week, but it is a nice break. (By the way, it's amazing how quickly I can run into a store with no kids!) He is always playing happily when I get there to pick him up.

Lucky for me, he is still happy for short periods of time in the doorway jumper. He still swings in it instead of jumping, though. His favorite place to be is in the playroom with all of the toys. He entertains himself very well when there are toys for him to play with. He especially likes cars and trucks. He crawls around with Mitch's cars all the time. Yesterday, he actually learned how to work one of them that you pull back and let go. It went sailing across the room and he was so pleased with himself!

He is finally crawling like a normal person. He still reverts to the army crawl every now and then, but it's not all the time any more. I have to admit, I kind of miss the army crawl! He is also pulling up on everything now. He has been pulling up for a while, but only every now and then....not anymore....every time he can, he stands up!

So far I have been spared the stairs. I posted a while back that he had gotten on the first step and I thought that was going to be the beginning of the end, but he's not any interest again. He just like to stand up and hold on to them. I'm sure by the next update, it will be a whole different story. But for now, we're safe!

I love when I go in to get him out of his crib. Instead of standing up holding onto the rail like most kids do...He sits with his legs between the slats and holds onto the slats with each hand. He looks like he's stuck in jail. It is soooo funny!

He has officially said his first word. Are you ready for it? "Ma Ma" Yeah!!!! He says it on demand, and today when he woke up from his nap he actually called for me! Can you believe it? That's about all he has managed to say, but we are working on "Bye Bye" and "Da Da". I think he says "Da" sometimes, but I'm not sure. That is what Mitch called "Daddy" for a long time.

I just can't believe how fast my baby is growing up! My baby won't be a baby for much longer! :(

He Scores!

Mitch had his first soccer game on Saturday. For a while, it was somewhat of a repeat of his spring performances! He ran like crazy all over the field, but he wouldn't kick the ball! He just ran beside his teammate who was kicking it up and down the field like a pro...or beside the other team...but just wasn't getting in there and kicking it! Finally, he kicked it a couple of times, and then.... GOAL! HE SCORED! I was so excited that my baby scored his first goal. I'm not sure he even knew it, though! It figures, huh? He had a great time, though, and I guess that is all that matters! :) I can't wait until next week's game!

What to do with myself?

I know... I'll catch up on my blog!

School started for my babies today. Mitch is in the Pre-K program this year, not just the Mother's Day Out. He will be in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I put Jake in this year, too. He is in the Mother's Day Out program on Tuesdays only.

So...today is my first day (or 5 hours, anyway) without the boys. I have a huge list of things I could be doing right now, but I chose to play catch up on the blog! (In case you were wondering how managed so many posts today, now you know!)

I have to leave to go pick them back up in about an hour. Then Mitch has soccer practice tonight. I'll make sure to take the camera and post some pics of him playing (hopefully before next Tuesday)!

Okay, I'm off to do some actual work now!

Family Fun!

This time I got to go, too! Gary and I took Mitch, Jack, and Jake to race go-carts this weekend. Okay...so Jake didn't actually race go-carts. He just watched, but his time will come, all too soon!

Mitch absolutely LOVES to ride go-carts! He was begging to ride one by himself. Fortunately, even the smallest ones, you have to be 6 to drive. So, I'm safe from that one for a few more years. The passenger has a steering wheel in the double go-carts, but it doesn't move. Mitch wanted my seat, since his steering wheel was "stuck"! I don't think so! He can't even see over the steering wheel!




This was the first time that Gary and Jack had been able to race each other in the fast cars! You have to be 13 to ride by yourself. Since Jack turned 13, they have always had Mitch with them (without me) so they had to ride the doubles. Honestly, I don't even remember which one won, but I bet they do!

Jake's 9 month pictures

I finally got around to taking Jake for his 9 month pictures last week (yes, he was almost 10 months, but I got him there)! :) I like to take Mitch to get some of them together, too, but he didn't want to cooperate. He wanted to make silly faces the whole time. Oh well, it probably just saved me money. Here are some of the shots we got!

Bloopers...

"I don't want my picture taken anymore! I just want to play with the &*$# football!"

"Really...I hate working with amateurs!"

Dynamite Definitely Comes in Small Packages!

Alex is playing football for Holy Rosary (his school) again this year. This is his first real year to play. He played last year, but it was a "learning league" so they only had scrimmages, no "real" games. This year he is on the 5th and 6th grade team, and WOW! Is he good! :) He is starting as a 5th grader (which isn't very common).

Gary had been to several of his practices and would come home bragging about how great he was doing, but I had to see it to believe it! I knew he would be good, but I don't think I realized how good! He had a scrimmage last weekend, and I got to go! He scored a touchdown as a Tight End (it was a pass). Not to mention all of the great tackles he made on defense. That kid may be small, but he fast and he is strong! Let me tell you...Daddy couldn't be prouder! :)

Here are a couple of pics from the scrimmage. Of course, Gary was busy watching the game, and missed the shot of his first ever touchdown. But, I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities to get the scoring shots!

Yep, that's him! Number 22!

Look at the tackle he made! Hit me low, and wrapped him up! Way to go Alex!

Look at the size of the guy Alex was up against! (In case you can't tell, that's Alex in the blue)

Where do I start?

Hmmm...It's catch up time!


I promised you an update on Jake's 9 month appointment, so let's start there. He got a break this time from shots. Only a "toe prick" (as opposed to "finger prick") to test his iron levels. Amber, Dr. Moss's nurse, said "I'll prick his toe instead of his finger so he won't get the band-aid in his mouth in the car." I told her it was worth a try, but just because the band-aid is on his toe (instead of finger) didn't mean it wouldn't end up in his mouth. And how right I was! We weren't even out of the parking lot before I had to get out of the car and fish the band-aid out of his mouth! Oh...and when the test results came back, his iron was low! We have to start him on iron vitamin drops and they will recheck it at his 12 month appointment. Everything esle was great, though! He is 29.75" long (90%) and 21 lb 10oz (60%). I have his 9month pictures schedule for this week, so I'll post those as soon as I get them! For now, though, here is one of his newest trick...climbing stairs! So far he only makes it to the first one.



Jake has gotten three of his top teeth in the last week. The funniest thing is that he didn't get either one of his front teeth first! It was one to the left...look at the picture, the arrow is pointing to it. I tried to get a good picture to show you all, but I'm just not that good! You need one person to hold him down and one to take the picture...he is quite the little wiggle worm!

Jack and Alex started back to school a little over a week ago (notice the uniform). Jack is not very happy about having to cut his hair for school, and we are seeing a lot of this "look" in the last week! :) But...he's still a great big brother! Check him out sharing his I-Pod! The scary thing is, he's probably teaching Mitch another completely inappropriate song! Oh...and yes...that is one of my new cabinets in the background. :)

Here is what my days typically look like lately! I am going to be in so much trouble when they get bigger...they love to gang up on me! Mitch likes to "hug" me, but he really knocks me over. Then Jake piles on! Jack thought it was photo worthy and grabbed the camera instead of helping me out. I guess I can just be thankful that he didn't pile on too! :

Last weekend, Gary took Mitch and Jack to ride go-carts. I didn't get to go because Jake was sleeping, but I heard he had a great time! If I had any doubts, though, this put them aside! Mitch has started turning his little "saucer chair" upside down and "driving" it. He says it is his go-cart. By the way...don't you just love the Lightning McQueen socks with his Crocs?

This past Friday, a couple of us went to Pump It Up to let the kids run off some energy...always a great idea! Lindsay dropped Gabe off with me to play while she did some much needed retail therapy with her Mom. The kids had an absolute blast, and I got to know one of my new neighbors who joined in on the fun! After about an hour and a half of solid running, jumping, and sliding, the kids landed for a juice break. I just love these two guys! My friend, Cynthia, grabbed the camera took the very rare photo opp of them sitting still with me! Thanks Cynthia! I love this picture! :)

Okay...that's all I can manage for now. I'll update later (hopefully tomorrow) on the athletes in the Roberts household! :)

When it rains, it pours!

I have so much to catch up on, but today won't be the day it happens! It has been one of those weeks... Last Tuesday, on the way to Chattanooga, Gary's transmission blew! He had to rent a car to get back home while he had his transmission replaced! Then, Friday morning, I got up and tried to get on the computer...CRASHED! Saturday, Gary had his District Managers in town, and they all went out on the lake, and SUNK the Jet Ski! The made it back to the dock, but we don't know what damage was done. And....finally....Yesterday, as Gary was pulling the Jet Ski trailer out of the garage, he hit the garage door rails and broke the track. AAARRRGGH! So, today, I have Gary's laptop, but none of my pictures or anything that I want to post on here, so my updates will have to wait for another day. Unfortunately, in the last week, the only thing that DIDN'T break was my stupid determined washer and dryer! I want a new one, and my cheap ones that I have had for 10 years just keep hanging on!

Okay, so I am off to play outside with Mitch and his friend, Gabe, who is spending the day and night with us! I promised I would take them outside while Jake napped, and it's that time!

Jake is 9 Months

...and 3 days old! He is such a handful these days! I find myself constantly saying, "Mitch didn't do that" or "Mitch was easier than this" or "Mitch spoiled me"! I know I have to stop doing that or poor Jake is going to have a serious complex! But...Mitch was so much easier! Don't get me wrong, compared to a lot of moms, I have it made! Jake is a good sleeper, a good eater, and has the sweetest little personality...but he is into EVERYTHING!

At 9 months, Jake is still "army crawling". I've decided that he will never crawl on hands and knees...seriously! Gary's mom (Gran'ma Judy) says Gary never did, he went straight from army crawling to walking. It's amazing how fast the child can move, though! I blink and he's gone! The other day, I walked out of the room to put my shoes in the closet, and when I came back in he was eating our plant!

One thing he is better about than Mitch was, though, is listening when I say "no". He is really good to leave things alone when I tell him no (most of the time, anyway). He'll just look at me and smile that sweet smile...and go get into something else!

Jake is pulling up and standing in his crib, but nowhere else yet. I don't imagine it will be too much longer, though. He "jabbers" all the time. He loves to talk to himself in the mirror in his car seat. I love listening to his sweet little voice. I'm sorry...did I say "little voice"? There is nothing "little" about it! He is soooo loud! I say "He has his Daddy's volume control issues!"

He is totally a Mommy's boys, too! He has a complete fit if I walk by him without picking him up, and it's insane how loud he can scream if I walk out of the room. The same goes for if Mitch leaves a room. Mitch can calm him like noone else, just by singing ABCs. He loves his big brother!

Jake is just starting to eat some table food. He is still on baby food (and lots of it), but I give him little bits of mine sometimes. Last night he had lasagna and loved it!

His 9 month appointment isn't until the 19th, so I won't know for sure how much he weighs and how long he is until then, but I'll update when I do!

5 Kids? What's the big deal?

I had Lindsay's boys, Sam (5 1/2), Gabe (3), and Luke (6 mo.) on Monday for a few hours. Yep...with my two, that makes 5 kids ages 5 and under... Oh yeah! Jack was here, too, and he is always a huge help with the little guys! I was only worried about how I would care for Jake and Luke both at the same time (the older ones are no problem), but that turned out not to be a concern. Lindsay put Luke down for a nap before she left, and when she got back 3 hours later, he was still asleep! I can handle 5 kids! :)


Mitch and Gabe are so funny together. They have been buddies since they were not much older than Jake, and they crack me up sometimes! While both Jake and Luke were napping, Jack and I took Sam, Gabe, and Mitch outside to play. Mitch and Gabe did not want to share the 4-Wheeler (which is almost too small for either of them anyway), so they came up with a solution!

This worked for a little while...then Gabe decided he was done driving Mitch around, and tried to scoot far enough back on the seat that Mitch couldn't get on. Mitch, being Mitch, was determined to get on it anyway...and CRASH! The 4-Wheeler did a wheely and they both landed on the ground! Gotta love those boys! :)

When Lindsay (aka "Cee Cee") got there to pick up the boys, they all piled on her! I walked into the living room, and this is what I found...so of course, I had to get the camera! I love this picture!

A Teenage Boys Birthday Party!

Jack had his birthday party last Saturday, and it was great! He had 4 of his friends spend the day on the lake with us, and then they spent the night. I have never seen a better group of boys! They were all very polite and wonderfully patient with Mitch. (Oh yeah, Mitch was invited to attend the party also!)

We spent the whole day on the lake. The guys swam, rode the jet ski, and went tubing. Mitch and I went in earlier than Gary and the boys did, and I think the real rowdiness started when I left. I know, you're all really surprised, aren't you?

Here are pictures from the great day! The action shots aren't very good. We don't take our good camera out on the lake, so we had to make do with the old one.

Jack, Trevor, Joe, Jacob, and Zach hanging out on the boat

It's the Birthday Boy!

Mitch riding the Jet Ski and Megan tubing (Yes, they were tied up the anchored boat!)

Jack taking Zach for a ride on the Jet Ski

The guys were double tubing behind the boat, and one would try to "catch" the other tube, and then jump on it! Here are Zach and Trevor trying it!

The guys once we got back home....eating of course!

Here they are eating again on Sunday morning. This time, Mitch and Jake got to join them. Do you think there were enough guys in my house?

More Playdates

Jake had a playdate last week with his friend, Cooper. Cooper is about 3 weeks younger than Jake, and I'm sure they are going to grow up being big buddies! We've been to lunch with Cooper and his mommy, Ann, several times, but this was the first time they have been able to get down and play together. Here's a great picture of Cooper playing with Mitch's tools and Jake posing for camera!

By the way, for those of you have seen our playroom, you know how crazy it is! I cleared it out! I put away 3 FULL boxes of toys (we'll rotate them in an out from now on), and now the boys actually play in there! What a concept, huh? Isn't funny how they always want to play with things that aren't theirs? Jake usually ends up playing with Mitch's toys and Mitch plays with Jake's. Go figure...

Time to lower the crib...again

This past Saturday, while Gary and I were the bathroom getting ready to go to a friend's, Mitch and Jake were in Jake's room playing. Jake was in his crib and Mitch was playing in the floor, and had shut Jake's door. All of sudden, Mitch says, "Mommy...Jake's standing up!" I opened the door, and this is what I found...

Happy Birthday Jack!

Okay...so I'm a little behind... Jack officially became a teenager on July 22, and I'm just now getting the post up. Sorry! Yep, hard to believe, but he is 13. Really, it wasn't THAT long ago that I was 13 (at least that's the way it is my mind)!

Starting on his 10th birthday, Jack started requesting The Melting Pot for his birthday dinner. Literally, we went to Burger King one year and the next it was The Melting Pot... big jump, huh? This year we even took Mitch with us (Mimi kept Jake). It was so yummy, and Mitch did pretty good, especially considering we were there for 3 hours, and our reservations weren't until 7:30pm. It just so happened to be "Girls Night" at the The Melting Pot, so it was a little unexpected "gift" for Jack. :)

Jack wanted a new Ipod for his birthday, so that's what we got him. He got the Ipod Touch, and he loves it! I also made him a scrapbook of his and Gary's trip to Green Bay last fall, and we got him a Packers book. Mitch made him a suncatcher and "bought" him lots of candy (which Mitch ate all of - Jack said he could).

Check out the difference just one year makes! Here's pics of Jack on his 12th birthday and his 13th birthday! I'm amazed every time I look at it!

12 year old

13 years old

(hmm...I'm seeing a pattern in Jack's shirt color preference...)

I seem to have a hard time getting a picture of all 5 of my guys, but here's a great one of 4 of them!

Jack is having his official "party" this weekend. He has invited several of his friends out on the boat for the day on Saturday, and they are spending the night Saturday night. Like there wasn't already enough testosterone in this house, huh? :)

Greeting Friends

My friend, Cynthia, and her two kids Tabitha (2 1/2) and Tristan (5 monts) came over to play the other day. Jake was so excited to play with Tristan, he couldn't wait for us to get him out of the carrier! Jake loves to play with other kids, and is especially interested in other babies. Unfortunately, he hasn't learned boundaries yet! :) I was actually able to snap off this picture before Mitch made his way in front of the camera. Most of the other pictures I got have a least parts of Mitch in them. He hates to be left out of pictures! I can't imagine why. It's not like I've ever taken any of him! :)

I love this picture!

The other day Jake was playing in the Jumperoo while I was getting ready, and Mitch put his hat on him! It was so cute!

Girls Night Out? Not so much...

My friend, Christy, made one last visit before officially moving to Michigan. She was planning on coming up with the kids, and we had a sitter scheduled to come one night and we were going to have a Girls Night Out with us and Amy...ha! This was already a "reschedule". We were supposed to do it the week before, but Mitch got sick. This time, Luke (her baby) was sick, so Girls Night Out turned into Girls Night In w/Kids...and lots of them!

Christy came up with her kids (Kendyl, Kaitlyn, and Luke) and her mom, and spent the night. (We just kept Luke away from all of the other kids.) So, she brought Bucca di Beppo take out and Amy and Thomas and Cynthia and her kids, Tabitha and Tristan, came over and we all had dinner outside on the deck. For a house with 3 babies, 1 two year old, 3 three year olds, and a five year old, it was amazingly calm. After we ate, Jake was asleep, Luke was being held, and Tristan was in the Exercauser, and all of the "big kids" were in the playroom...we girls sat on the deck and drank some wine (most of us did, anyway).

When everyone left, and it came time to put the Mitch, Kendyl, and Kaitlyn to bed, they wanted to sleep together. We didn't let them, but we got some good pictures of them trying! Mitch was so excited to play with Kendyl and Kaitlyn again...he hadn't seen them in a few weeks, and had been talking about it for a week! Here are some pics of the kiddos!

Long Overdue!

In the two years that Lindsay I have known each other, we have never had a "couples outing"... We were finally able to fix that on Saturday! We didn't have the "big boys" this weekend, so on Saturday, my mom kept Mitch and Jake for us, and we had an "adult" day on the lake with Lindsay and Neal. It was wonderful!

Gary bought a couple of floats for us last week, so Lindsay and I were able to just float around on the lake and relax, with nobody asking us for "juice" or "snacks" or asking us "why" a million times a minute! Gary was the cook (we grilled on the boat for lunch), the bartender, and the chauffer. We had it made. My only complaint....the time went way too fast! Yep, 5 hours of quiet, and then back to reality! What a great break it was, though! (Thanks, as usual, Mimi! What would we do without you?)

Here are some pictures from the day. Oh, and by the way, these are the ONLY pictures of Lindsay and me together...ever! Sad, huh? Of course we could fill an entire album of our kids together...but isn't that the way it's suppose to be?

Interview with Mitch

My cousin's wife, Laura, "tagged" me to interview Mitch. Here are the always unpredictable responses of my 3 year old!

What makes Mommy happy? "my be nice" (in Mitch's language, "my" means "I")
What makes Mommy sad? "my not be nice"
How does Mommy make you laugh? "funny"
Hold old is Mommy? "bree" (translation for those of you who don't speak Mitch: 3)
How tall is Mommy? "that tall" he says as reaches way up over his head (I love 3 year olds)
What does Mommy like to do? "get me something to drink" (wishful thinking?)
What is Mommy's job? "get me something to drink" (think he was thirsty?)
What is Mommy's favorite food? "cereal" (it was the last thing we both ate)
How do you know Mommy loves you? "be happy"

Okay...Lindsay...TAG you're it! I want to hear what Sam and Gabe have to say, especially Gabe!

8 Months Old!

Wow! Jake is 8 months old already! Really? Where has the time gone?

Jake is finally sitting up and playing now. He still gets excited sometimes and flops over, but he's getting better. He still only has the two bottom teeth, and I can't tell that he's working on any others yet. He doesn't so much love the Jumperoo or the Exersaucer any more. I can sometimes get a few minutes out of them, but he's not too crazy about being confined anymore. He still does okay in the doorway jumper, but he now uses it as a swing. He runs (yes, runs) forward in it and lifts his little legs off the ground and swings. He just giggles and giggles when does it. It is too cute!

As for the crawling...if I ever get around to figuring out how to upload a video onto this blog, I'll have to post one. My friend, Lindsay, calls it the "army crawl" and she is exactly right. He crawls all over the houses without ever getting his tummy up off of the floor! It is too funny! He has discovered the door stoppers that make noise, and loves to play with them. What is it about those things that babies just love? I've never known one who didn't like to see how much noise they could make with a door stopper.

He is now officially holding his own bottle, and jabbering all the time. He is quite the little vocalist. Janice says he's going to be a singer. He's also quite the little piggy. He LOVES his food. He's getting two stage 2 food jars for lunch and dinner, and a stage 2 and cereal for breakfast. Plus he's still getting around 24-26 oz of formula a day. I got on the scale with him yesterday, and he was 21.5 pounds! He wore an outfit yesterday that Mitch wore when he was around 14-17 months!

He is finally out of the infant carrier. I just went yesterday and got Mitch a new car seat and moved Mitch's old one over for Jake. He didn't seem to be too crazy about his new ride at first, but he got used to it pretty quickly. I hope he likes it as much as Mitch has!

Oh, and last but not least, he has stared giving me kisses. Yep, the sloppy little open mouth baby kisses! Who ever would have thought being slobbered on would be so wonderful?