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Today was a fun day! The girls' 4A State Basketball Finals was today, and the top two teams? Apollo and Shadow Mountain! This is the first year the school Layne works and and the school I work at have been in the same region, so it has been fun going to the games, and rooting against each other. The state championship is, of course, a big deal, so it is held at the arena in Glendale where the Coyotes play. We brought Sammy, Rex and Grandpa along for the fun. I hadn't been to the arena since Apollo won the first of their three consecutive boys' state championships in 2005. Back then, I was coaching cheer and was 9 months pregnant with Jonah. My original due date was the night of the game, and I remember wearing a shirt which had a basketball perfectly placed on my gigantic belly. Of course, Jonah did not appear on his original due date, or his recalculated due date, or the second recalculated due date, but arrive he did. Back to the present day, we had a good time going down memory lane and at the present day game, and the winner of the game? Well, that's not really important :)
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Another bath picture! Seems like there are a lot of these and I'll be honest about the reason. Sometimes, the day ends and no pictures have been snapped. I remember this as the boys are splashing around, so I grab the camera and hope for a cute shot. I tried to get a good shot of Sammer's chubbiness in this one. He is perfectly
squeezable here as his Buddah belly lays across his thunder thighs. I absolutely LOVE how chubby this kid is, but as of late, he is moving around so much and so quickly, the baby fat is sure to start disappearing soon. 22610

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Something I love about my boys is that they love each other. Even with all Jonah's limitations, his love for his family is truly evident, even if he expresses it in sometimes strange ways. (Like hugs that are actually painful and an odd need to touch his mouth to your cheeck in violent ways) Rex's love for his brothers is also extremely evident (and sometimes painful to Sammy whose head nearly gets squeezed off from Rexie hugs) Rex worships Jonah, and I love that even though in many ways, Jonah is not a typical big brother, in this way, he always is: Rex follows Jonah around like a puppy. Here they are playing together at my school. I love these images of Rex being Jonah's little shadow. Being a brother is such a blessing for me and my boys. 22510

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Layne's computer charger broke, so we made a rare family outing to the mall, so he could get a replacement. The boys LOVED running through the play area. I took at least a dozen pictures and pretty much all of them are a total blur as one or the other rockets past the camera on their way to something new. It's funny how different they are, Jonah rushing from one thing to the next, Rexie rushing to follow brother, getting nervous whenever he lost sight of him, and Sammy barely able to keep his eyes open and so happy to watch. What a fabulous life we all lead. 22410

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No doubt he loves the tub :)I love getting a shot of this kid looking at the camera; the smile is a bonus.
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If you've known Layne long, you've seen the crazy shapes he can make with his tongue, and he's shown you how he can touch his tonsils with his tongue. All this explains why, within minutes of his birth, I noticed Sammy's tongue. He kept sticking it out like lizard, testing the environment. He plays with his little tongue all the time. Look closely, he's twisting it around in this picture. Looks like he and Daddy have a quality to bond them, and Layne has a protege. 22210

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Rexie has started noticing when people's clothes match, and when they do, he gets so excited. "Hey, We match together!" Here is one of Daddy and Sammers, matching together for church. 22110

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Jonah is the MOST determined kid I've ever known of. When he decides he wants something, he will ask for it using his signs or by dragging you to it so many times you actually think you will go insane. If trying to persuade one person to give in to his demands fails, he goes to the next person and starts the whole thing over again. When he has exhausted each person, he turns to his own ingenuity. When something is out of his reach, he moves whatever he can, stacks things on top of whatever he has moved and begins to climb. In this picture, he has moved Sammy's playpen to reach the top of our dresser; however, along the way he got distracted by something on TV, and decided to take a rest. No worries, soon after I found him proudly perched atop said dresser. 22010

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Rex has this golf set. He couldn't care less about the golf clubs. He uses the bag to caddy around as many tiny toys as he possibly can. He then carts them all over the house, dumping them out on a whim to get another load. He loves his "wagon" and if he can't find where he's stashed it, despair ensues. Layne, however, wishes it would get lost forever, especially when he runs into one of Rex's discarded toy loads in the middle of the night. :)
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One of my favorite events of the year is the VNSA booksale at the fairgrounds. Hundreds of thousands of books for sale for a couple of dollars a piece. Seriously, Heaven better have a VNSA booksale. Anyway, this year I found this set of blocks for $2. Boys love blocks. When we got them home, they all play with them differently. Sammy eats them. Rexie knocks them down. And sweet, sweet Jonah. He alphabetizes them. See him here with his tower starting at A, apple and going through I, ice cream. Try as he might he can't get to Z. His record it T, and each time it falls, the cry of despair is painful to hear. He is nothing if not persistant, and in love with the alphabet. 21810

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The kid learned to crawl, and there is no stopping him. He gets so dirty, and he is always getting into something, usually something his brothers are trying to keep him out of, but most of all he is just so happy, and so proud of himself when he discovers something new he can do. He is proud in this picture because I just stopped him from heading out the open door. I should've let him go, it's not like he could get ANY dirtier. 21710

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A couple of months ago, Jonah's support coordinator suggested he be evaluated for physical therapy because he never had been and she had never had a kid who'd been eval'd turned down, and if he qualified, he could get horse therapy or fun gym like time. He's never missed a physical milestone, so I was skeptical he would qualify, but again she assured me kids on spectrum always qualified in some way. So we had the eval, and the first thing the physical therapist said after watching him for 2 minutes was, "He sure can jump." She has no idea. This kid is a prolific hopper, and he loves to jump. Here is an action shot of the monkey jumping on the couch. He can get some height too, this is an on-the-way-down shot!21610

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Rexie found this little toy someplace; I have no idea what it goes with, but when you push the big button on it, the red light flashes. He has started walking around saying, "Smile for my camera. Right here, smile. LOOK AT ME!" At least someone has noticed my new dedication to photography. 21510

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For Valentine's Day I dressed the boys alike (I am that kind of mom) and after I dressed myself, I realized I matched too! Here is a cute one of me and my boys. Later, Rex and I made brownies and Valentines and delivered them to Grandma and Grandpa. So much fun! 21410

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Boys are like plants (maybe girls are too, but I wouldn't know anything about that :) They need fresh air and sunshine to thrive. Today, Daddy was doing yard work, Momma was cleaning out the van, and boys were enjoying the outside. Bonus picture today! 21310

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Because I missed two days very close together, I decided to import a picture from our fairly recent family photo shoot. This picture would be UBER cute had my hand not been in the way. I live my life telling my boys (and my students) to keep their hands to themselves; if only I'd heeded my own advice.

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Rex has been trying since birth to get Jonah to pay attention to him on his terms. So much interaction is only on Jonah's terms. There is one thing Rex can always do with his brother: full body contact wrestling. I'm always afraid one of them will get seriously hurt (they DO NOT play gentle) but Layne is always cheering them on. Poor Rex though, he's such a shrimp he's an easy take down. I think he's just happy to play with his big brother. 21210

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I missed a day!

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As soon as Sammers mastered crawling, he started pulling up. He always has to be where the action is, and to try and pull himself level with his boys, he pulls up on anything. Sometimes, as in this photo, it works out. However, when he pulls up on Cosmo, for instance, the outcome isn't always perfect. He has a spattering of blue, green and yellow bruises as he learns to get around on the hard tile floor. He is super tough though! 21010

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If you're looking for a toy your kids of all ages can play with together, the Busy Ball Popper is for you. Our kids already wore one out. Grandma bought a new one today, and all three of my guys were entertained for several minutes. All that ended when Jonah decided he needed to maintain control over all of the balls at once (you can see the idea forming in the picture) and Sammy realized he was strong enough to pull the popper toward himself and away from his brothers. Luckily, it was bathtime, and all ended cleanly, if not exactly happily. I do love it when all three boys play together though! 2910

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My mom has this thing for bathing babies in the kitchen sink, she loves it. In the rare event that my kitchen sink is empty at bathtime, the babies get bathed in it in her honor. I have to admit he sure seems to like it, and seriously, is he not simply adorable in there? 2810

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We watched the Superbowl at Grandma and Grandpas tonight. Photo evidence to the contrary, it was not a wild, raucous party. When my kids are tired, they sleep wherever there is space, just like their Mama. 2710

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Is there anything more precious in the universe than an adorable baby sound asleep? Methinks not. 2610

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Here's the Popeye face again. This time we're grocery shopping. One thing I continue to love about doing this blog is that it helps me look for the joy in the little moments of our lives. One of those joys is shopping with Rex. He is so much fun at the store. When you put something in the cart he'll say, "You got that for ME?" or "Thank You, Mommy! Thank you for the potatoes" He loves to help load everything on to the conveyer belt when it's time to pay, and he always wants the green car. Grandma likes taking him to the store so he can get things out of the freezer, plus he is great company : ) 2510

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He's crawling!! Sammy has been up on his hands and knees rockin' it out for a couple of weeks now, but today, he forged ahead. Slow and robotic and not big on the distance scale, but definitely crawling. It never ceases to amaze me how babies go from being startled by their own hands to independently moving across a room in mere months. Now that he's mobile, we're all in trouble! 2410

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Composition wise, this photo stinks, but I love it. Layne loves to come home from school, sit in his easy chair and cuddle the boys. We are so blessed to have a daddy that works hard for our family, loves us all so much and is so cuddly. 2310

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Rex is a really good big brother. Sure, he gets frustrated when Sam is after his toys, but he truly loves to help. I ran inside to grab the camera while the boys were swinging, and when I came back out, I found this. Rex had gotten off his swing to give Sammy a little push and hear his baby brother giggle. I tell ya, brothers are the best! 2210

Back from hiatus

Yikes! I was gone for awhile! Brittany, I finished your gift! You'll get it soon. I wish I could blame my absence on extreme activity and that I had something to show for it. In reality, I lost the cord for my camera, and I had to order a new one. My wonderful mom ordered one for me too, so now I have two!! One is in a secure location, so if I lose my cord again I have a back-up, provided I can remember the secure location in such a situation. (Note to self: Secure location= top drawer of computer desk) At any rate, expect several posts a day over the next couple of weeks as I catch up. Look forward to another contest soon too!