See ya 3, hello 4!

Here it is.  End of September.  Another year of our babies' lives has come and gone in a flash.

Three was a tough year, the toughest so far.  Potty training 3 kids has been challenging and at times mentally exhausting, but we have arrived at the light at the end of the tunnel and it's glorious.  Elsie was potty trained at 2.5 years, and took very little time to figure it out.  I started Sam at 2.9 and he has taken to potty training like everything else in his life....in no hurry.  He has been out of pull ups since December and does well (85%) when we are out, but not that consistent at home.  This summer I was up to my ears in washing out underwear in the sink, when I decided to buy a bidet.  I read an article saying this was a lifesaver for potty training, and Sam's poor bottom was so red from wiping and wiping and wiping I thought what the hell, and bought one that attaches to your toilet.  Um, a huge hit.  Sam loves it.  He loves it so much he likes to make little poops for the opportunity to wash his bum more than once a day.  I tell you people, I can't make this stuff up.  Who would have guessed a $25 add-on bidet from Amazon would be the break through for him after a solid year of training.  Well Amen to that.  Best purchase I've ever made.  Danny did not start potty training until 3.5 years old.  He had some GI struggles since birth that kept him on Miralax, and we were doing everything from fiber to prune juice to try to help.  In the spring I took dairy out of Danny's diet and that made a huge difference.  So started training shortly after and he is out of pull ups and 80% accident free and getting better everyday.  I am looking forward to not spending hours a day in the bathroom this year.

This month we started our second year of preschool.  We are going to Smith Mills again and love it there.  We don't make the cutoff to jump to Pre-K this year, but the strides they have made since last year are overwhelming.  Forget sentences, they are talking in paragraphs  chapters now.  They know all their colors, letters, numbers, days of the week.  They like to sing songs and enjoy listening to the radio in the car so they can hear songs and learn the words and sing along.  They like to use words to tease each other, argue, and interrupt one another, and to ask thousands of questions a day.  Like literally.  THOUSANDS OF QUESTIONS A DAY.  And they repeat their questions till you use their questions in a sentence.  So answering them is not enough, you have to repeat back to them what they said as you answer it or you get the same question over and over again.  As much as it drives me to the edge of insanity, it is also awesome to see them connect those questions and answers to things we have done and seen.   Their memory is enormous, they have incredible sign recognition, and will call out letters and name the location of the signs as we drive by.  Sometimes they'll reference a place we've been when they were little, like 1-1.5 years old, and I'm like how do you remember this?  For example, Elsie got a new snuggie the summer before her 2nd birthday to keep in her car seat so we didn't need to lug her bed one with us everywhere.  We drove by the store and she said 'that's where we bought my new snuggie' and I was like yea, you're right.  Unbelievable.

First day of preschool

Elsie was literally skipping in the parking lot she was so excited

our signs

making 3 lunches is no easy feat

all excited for school!

The rest of September has flown by between getting back on a school schedule and prepping for their birthday party.  I was worried this year's party would be a bust, but the weather cleared last minute and it turned out to be a nice day.  I made three separate cakes this year now that they let their individual personalities shine through.  Elsie asked me for a Hello Kitty cake with strawberries, Danny a chocolate Spiderman cake, and Sammy a Thomas the Train carrot cake.  So no challenge there lol.  I'm glad we ordered the majority of the food so it freed up the 30 man hours I needed the day before to make and decorate 3 cakes.

Sam's Thomas the Train carrot cake

Danny's chocolate Spider-Man

Elsie yellow cake with homemade strawberry filling, and homemade strawberry ice cream. 

Danny sticking his finger in to test.

I tried to grab pictures of everyone at the party, and then handed the photography duties over to Tracey, and she got lots more of the family enjoying the day.

I think they liked them

Danny helping Sammy out

love these girls

They love opening presents!  

Sammy said 'look Mom, I got a hovercraft!'  

bouncy house fun

he loves Uncle Peter!

love the Tia photo bomb here

In all the hussle and bussle of the party we sometimes forget to get a picture of us.  

Danny was more interested in building a new machine in the yard then doing party stuff

Uncle Pete and Auntie Char got dress up clothes and the rest of the party they were doctors, firemen, and construction men.

Sam kept chanting 'FIRE CALL' into his walkie

he loves books

On their actual birthday we took them to Southwick's zoo.  This place was amazing.  I'm sad we had never been before but pumped to go back next summer.  We had a blast.

outside preschool on their birthday, excited to celebrate at school!

Hard to believe they were all born under 2 lbs when you see pics like this

my world

the zoo crew

giraffes

this little monkey jumped from the tree to this small ledge to interact with them

throwing up the '4'....Sammy was figuring it out :)

being silly

they all fell backwards after the picture

Danny between 40-42 inches

Elsie just over 36 inches

Sammy right at 40 inches

We also celebrated Dean's, Abigail's, and Liam's birthday, so this has been a busy month of cake and ice cream!

ready for the pinata

I made the cake and cupcakes for Liam and Abigail

Davy giving us pinata strategy tips

cousins!

Some honorable mentions from this month:  Miguel was eating Fritos, and Sammy asked for one.  He had never tried Fritos before and took his few into the other room.  He came back in a few minutes later and said 'Daddy I want more tacos'.  We got a good laugh out of that.    Also, when Miguel's mom Beth comes to babysit, she brings linguica cheese rolls from the bakery.  Well in this house, the kids call linguica 'portuguese meat', and thus linguica cheese rolls are called portuguese meat bread sandwiches.  
Here are the rest of the pics and videos from this month.  Most of our days are spent outside playing, basking in the last few warm days of summer.  The last video is the year 4 video.  Enjoy!  

when we sit on the couch, they bombard us to try to all sit on our lap at the same time

Elsie took this selfie.  I'm pretty impressed

Danny at the doctor's office

playing dress up

at Home Depot!  This is how we roll!

hugging his Grammie

A girl's gotta be ready for everything

selfies!

Here it is, the year 4 video.  I spend about 2 solid weeks putting this together every year, but so worth it.  It really does capture our entire year in a 5 minute video.  This year I picked 'Born to Fly' by Sara Evans because when I see the strides and accomplishments they made this year coming from such a fragile start, I have no doubt they were Born to Fly.