in, out, up, down and all around

i feel like life's been a bit of a whirlwind lately... now that remington's awake and alert a little more, he's pretty insistent on being front and center. meaning any free time i may have isn't really free because he demands to be held.

that said, i've still been able to get stuff done, just not blogging. because that requires two hands, essentially. a certain tiny person is right this minute protesting the whole blogging thing...

i think it was two weeks ago we were at mom and dad's for a saturday. i lose track... anyway, cole was pretty impressed with grandma's oven mitts. he's played with them in the past, but it's been awhile so they were new all over again.

remington got some snuggle time with great-grandma..

see? as long as he's being held, all's fine and dandy!

in the afternoon the kids got to run around outside; they had a (relatively quick) round on the swings. these swings have seen many summers- they seemed weathered and worn even when i was small. but there's still plenty of 'swing' left in them.

cole helped grandma with her flower beds.

madison helped too!

but she found it was more entertaining to drag the little red rake all over creation.

she did quite well with the shovel too. maybe we have a little landscaper on our hands? uncle duey would be proud!

"i see london, i see france..."

cole was pretty diligent in doing whatever his grandma was doing. of course, she was so gracious in letting him assist her :)

miss squish enjoys her pizza. can you tell?

and out little peanut loves his daddy's shoulder!

since first finding his thumb a few weeks ago, remington's been attempting to get re-acquainted with it. those silly little fingers keep getting in the way though... luckily, he's content to slurp on those too, for the most part.

his petite little tootsies just melt my heart <3

the best thing about hot weather is babies in only their diapers!

madi actually requested to hold "ren-tin"; if she shows positive interest, we are more than happy to indulge her in her request!

last weekend sarah and chase came for part of the day- the kids were thrilled, and after a lunch of pizza hut (thank you again!!), a tickle-fight broke out. as with most tickle fights, sarah eventually was at the epicenter. poor girl... she always gets ganged up on!

madison got over her hesitation and tickled her uncle chase... come august, he'll officially be uncle chase- we couldn't be more excited for him and sarah!!

kelvin missed out on the pizza because he was at the annual atv challenge out near bear creek. he missed last year because he was in tennessee, bu the year before he entered as well. he didn't place, but he had fun and that's kind of the general idea. if fun were measured in mud, well, it looks like he had an absolute blast.

and yes, those pants were hosed off before being washed!

with sarah and chase's wedding less than two months away, i'm on a mad mission to lose a few sizes. there's no way i can safely lose enough to reach my ultimate goal weight by then, but if i can get halfway there, i'd be happy. so three weeks ago i started walking. two miles a day, pushing the older littles in the stroller and wearing remington in the moby, walking a route that involved going uphill and downhill. and i started trying to eat better; not just smaller portions, but healthier choices.

things like chicken and black bean chimichangas in whole wheat tortillas with a side of organic brown rice. it was yummy.... i didn't think i'd like whole wheat tortillas, but they weren't bad! kelvin even liked them. the kids, not so much; they're also not as receptive to new things as some kids are, so changing the way we eat is going to be a tad more challenging than i thought.

after three weeks of eating better and walking around 10 miles a week, i lost a pound. a single, measly pound. talk about disheartening... so yesterday i went to talk to the lady who owns the nutrition center in waupaca. because i'm nursing remington, the only thing she felt comfortable recommending was a really good multivitamin and what she calls the 6-1 diet. for every bite of whole grains or protein, take 6 bites of fruits or veggies. for a girl who really doesn't enjoy veggies that much, this is going to be a challenge. also, there are no starches or flour. erk. oh, AND she recommended a glass of tepid water with the juice of one lemon (a fresh one, not the pre-squeezed stuff) right away in the morning before eating or drinking anything else. this is definitely going to take some creative thinking... and the kiddos, though somewhat involved in our new eating plan, will not have to suffer day after day without the occasional meal of mac-n-cheese (organic!), pb&j or grilled cheese. they're still growing so they need normal stuff. my trip to the store last night yielded lots of produce, which i fully intend to put to good use. these extra pounds WILL get kicked to the curb, even if it means eating chimichanga filling on a bed of brown rice instead of in a tortilla. actually, that doesn't sound bad at all!

remington's doing more smiling and "talking" every day... this particular day he was telling jokes to his dice. :)

my snack-sized baggies of veggies to add to scrambled eggs... spinach, green onion, red peppers, green peppers and mushrooms. i put them in the freezer so they're ready to use, no mess or fuss. i'm a total hot-pepper person; sweet peppers have never been my thing, so this is a real stretch for me. a leap outside my comfort zone, if you will. and you know what?

i liked it! i really liked it... a lot, actually. at least having a healthy breakfast will be easy.

monday (or was it tuesday? i don't remember!!) kelvin took the kids outside before supper to run off some energy. they didn't run too hard, considering it was in the mid-90's and humid. they found a turtle in the yard, so i had to come out and see it too. even the neighbors came over to check it out... :)

kelvin ran out to get a paper last sunday morning and happened to pass a garage sale that had some kids' toys. he scored this little pink and purple ride-on for madison... now she can keep up with cole and they don't have to fight over who's turn it is to ride the tractor!

our little miss squish, looking pretty cool on a very hot day.

cole sat down and wrote his name all by himself the other night! just out of the blue, no sample to look at, no help from kelvin or i. what a big boy!!

as long as we were taking photos of cole, madison wanted to show me something to take a picture of too, so she loaded a bear and a moose onto her play food tray and proudly showed it off too. :)

wednesday night, i was able to get madi's hair into a ponytail for the first time! we've done two little ones or a half-pony in the back, but never a full one because her hair hasn't been long enough. must be the vitamins the kids are taking (have been for quite some time...)? i like that i can pull it all the way back, because even though she's adorable wearing her hair in two ponytails, there's a bare patch at the back of her head that shows when we put it up that way. i forgot to ask linda (at the nutrition center) about it when we were there yesterday. oh well- now i have an excuse to go back :)

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this is what i overheard this morning: cole was talking to remington, telling him stories. he told him how when he (remington) was in mommy's tummy, he didn't have a carseat or a swing or a bouncy seat. but when mommy went to the doctor and he climbed outta there, then he came home in his carseat so he could swing in his swing and sit in his bouncy seat while coley and madi had chocolate milk at grandma's house. i lovelovelove these things that cole comes up with... and the whole part about going to the doctor so remington could "climb outta there" made me laugh out loud! oh, the things that come out of little ones' mouths... :)