Holiday Pics of the Seaton Kiddos

Brotherly Love...

I love the relationship my boys have with each other! They support, love and watch out for each other. They fight, threaten, and tease each other. Sometimes, they back up each other's stories and other times they reveal their version of the truth.

Perfect example of support and then the threat heard tonight....Connor said "I put your dirty clothes away that YOU left in the middle of floor! Now, you owe me a million dollars or else!!"

Sorry....

I know several of my friends and family like to keep up with us through our family website....sorry that I have been a little delinquent. The kids either keep us busy or we stay busy doing things with the kids...we have had a lot of fun lately! I hope to submit some updates from the last few months....not that anyone is really out of the loop if you follow us on facebook! However, this website is a great way for us to memorialize the Seaton Family events also....so keep posted!

Fall School Pictures

I love the kids' school pictures....they look so great! They are growing up so fast!

Bowling Adventure

For good behavior after pictures in October, we decided to take the boys bowling for the first time. Well, technically the first time if you don't count a daycare field trip the kids took when they were three. It was so cute watching the boys try to figure out the different ways to hold the ball. Connor always tried to do it the proper way (as best he could), which usually landed in a thud and then a slow roll down the lane. Brady decided pretty quickly that he was going to do the granny role which resulted in a decent amount of pins knocked down and a strike or two.

 

 

 

 

Claire - 6 months old!

Way to go Connor!!

I am a very proud mommy...Connor learned to tie his shoes! We had bought him and Brady both tie shoes back in August with the urging that they need to learn how to tie shoes...it is a childhood rite of passage! Connor came home from school announcing that he knew how to tie shoes now. I immediately responded with "that's great, show me". Apparently, Ms. Bunner, a retired teacher that helps out occasionally, took all the kindergarters that did not know how to tie shoes aside for a one-on-one repetitive lesson.

Of course, he had to let someone else teach him and would not take instruction from his parents. I have a feeling that is how it will be on several things....parents don't know anything!

Ever since then, Connor has been a huge help to us with Claire and Brady's shoes. That is until Brady had to go back to Velcro due to size limitations/availability in new shoes.

Fall Festival

It's an annual tradition to head to the Fall Festival at least once during the week. In the last couple of years, the focus has moved from the food to letting the kids ride rides. This year, we purchased unlimited wrist bands for the boys since they had so much fun riding rides last year! I was the lucky parent of the four to also get the unlimited wrist band to ride with Brady when he needed an adult companion.

Working on best mom award and trying to ensure adequate daylight time, I picked the boys up early from school to head to the Fall Festival. We also met up with the boys' best friend, Carac and his mom. The dads joined us later in the evening. We spent the entire evening in the kiddie ride area with a parent occasionally disappearing to go grab some food. I felt like I spent the majority of my evening in a state of dizziness and I am pretty sure Chris paid some of the ride attendants to go extra long for better pictures of me!

The boys had a lot of fun riding as many rides as they could that evening, some more than once!

Fall Pictures 2010

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we made an attempt at family pics in the park on a fall Sunday afternoon...three kids and two adults does not make for a coordinated group photo. It was always one of them! Got some great personality shots though! Great example of their personalities...stubborn and bossy, defiant and defensive!

October Weekend Fun

Friday night, we made a spur of the moment decision to do something different than our usual "unwind the week" at home. We went out to dinner at one of our family-friendly choices, Red Robin. During dinner, Connor commented that he wanted to do something after dinner rather than just go home and I was in complete agreement. So, we decided to take the kids to their first high school football game where our friend coaches. Little did I know that it was Homecoming weekend and the stands were packed! The boys had a great time watching the game, the cheerleaders (who were directly in front of us), and Connor enjoyed monitoring the scoreboard. It was a fun Friday night and something to be repeated since Connor was so disappointed that we left the game early!

That Saturday, Chris and I had received free tickets to the Philharmonic Broadway Nights. While the boys enjoyed time with their grandparents, we had a kid-free dinner at Rafferty's before heading to the Philharmonic. We saw Chris's dad and Donna there (dressed appropriately alike - like father, like son), saw a few others we knew, and we had excellent seats. If we were any closer, we would have been conducting!

Sunday, we were going to get fall pictures in the park of the family. As usual, I underestimated the amount of time it takes to get everyone out the door for pictures and then I also underestimated the level of cooperation. Connor was not very cooperative at all, so the boys lost the opportunity to play on the playground afterwards. However, we did keep our promise to visit the Goebel pumpkin patch, where the boys had the most fun with the loft slide (which was free). We decided to cut our time there short due to the cold with a promise that we would try to return another time.

My boys...the planners

At dinner one night, the boys were planning their evening of activities after dinner. They were discussing making a deal about the plan and agreeing on it. I only requested that baths be somewhere in that plan, so Connor stated it would be in the middle. They made a plan, apparently agreed on it, and then "presented" the plan to us to be sure we agreed.

Step 1 of the plan was started...Brady decided he didn't like the plan and was making his own plan. He then disappeared upstairs to start the new plan. Connor, so confused by Brady's departure from the plan, said he needed to have a meeting with Brady. He then started re-negotiating the plan with me. Somehow, the bath was falling off the list.

The other night, Connor was having trouble deciding what he wanted to order from McD's. Brady came up with a plan to get one of each, cheeseburger and nuggets, and they could then split. Great thinking Brady...that sounds like a plan!

We think it is so cute that our boys have those discussions with each other and make decisions. We will take that as a good sign! A friend commented that they come by it honestly!

Fun at the Doctor's Office

Daddy got a kick out of Connor's statement that "he was brave for his flu shot". Daddy was the brave one as he took all three kids to the doctor today. The nurse took note of that also since daddy did the same thing back in August. It was a scheduled visit for the boys flu shots, but turned into a full-fledged doctor appointment. Brady had a really infected toe that needed amputation, I mean medicine, and Claire came down with a nasty virus. Good thing Claire has reserves with her 20+ lbs as it hurts for her to eat right now. She received lots of loving instead!

Weekend getaway to French Lick

Each September, we try to take a mini-vacation with the kids. This year, we decided to spend a weekend of fun in French Lick at Big Splash Adventure and Indiana Railway. As an added bonus for the boys, we invited the Johnson family to join us. After swim lessons on Saturday morning, we met up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch before we were to hit the road. We were hoping to show up in French Lick and have the joint vacation be a surprise, but we ended up spilling the beans before we left town that we were meeting our friends there.

The boys (Connor, Brady, and Carac) had a good time playing in the water park that afternoon and into the evening. They made their way around the water park spending time in the lost river, time in the bigger pool where you could play basketball, and lots of time in Buccaneer Bay. They loved Buccaneer Bay where they played on the slides over and over again. Claire loved playing in the water sprays. The daddies got a chance to try out the large slides. The majority of the time, the parents played the role of referee and lifeguard. There were good times and bad times between the three boys...sometimes feelings would get hurt if they ran off from each other or picked a different slide partner. By the end of the day, the boys were exhausted and ready to get a good night's rest.

The next day, we let the boys spend a couple more hours back at the water park. We then had plans to head over to the Indiana Railway for a 2 hour train excursion. The boys had a good time and sat back and relaxed for the trip. I think their favorite part was the tunnels. After fun-filled days with the Johnson family, we then headed back home.

Mommy and Claire

We didn't plan this...if I remember correctly, Chris dressed Claire while I was getting dressed. We coordinate so nicely!

Boys are tough (and oblivious)

Brady came home from school with a nice black bruise and goose egg on his forehead. When asked what happened, we got a response of "I don't know", "no, I didn't fall", "what bruise on my head". I asked if he cried when it happened - "no, I was brave". Later in the conversation, he said he fell INTO the wall. Hmmm...I guess as long as he isn't bothered by it, we shouldn't be.

Baby Food - does she like it?

It's official....Claire is moving on to solids! In the last week, we have introduced 1st baby foods to Claire's diet. She now enjoys joining us for dinner where we feed her spoonfuls during our dinner. She likes to make the feeding as messy as possible by trying to suck her thumb or fist and then wiping her eyes, ears, and hair. She does best when you allow her to slurp the food from the spoon.

Claire's New Bath

Claire is not so little anymore and was ready to move to a bigger tub since she has outgrown the sink. I remembered using an inflatable tub with Connor to make the bathtub safer, so I went on the hunt for one for Claire. I think we skipped that step with Brady since he took baths with Connor.

I couldn't wait to try it out since Claire is sitting on her own really good these days. She loved it and just splashes away...it's like her own little swimming pool.

Look who's 5 months now!

Claire turned 5 months old this week! She is getting to be a lot of fun these days with her constant smiles, giggles, and screams. She loves hanging out with her brothers and she has started hanging out on the floor more. She will sit or lay on her tummy playing with toys these days and the boys are right there to help her out if needed. I suspect that she will be crawling in no time based on the excitement she gets when the boys go running down the hallway. She gets those arms a pumping, those legs pulled up, and she can get some movement when she tries hard enough. If she sees a toy, she will figure out how to reach it. I love watching the expressions on their face as they problem solve and learn new things.

I can get that toy if I really want to...

Got it...now I need to take a thumb break!

Claire Health Update

As mentioned in an earlier post, Claire ended up with a high fever that was due to a UTI and a kidney infection. The antibiotics did the trick, but did require further testing to be sure that those types of infections would not be recurring. Our baby girl has went for doctor appts, testing, or nurse appts 8 times in the last month. She is such a trooper though! She has been the perfect patient at every one and wouldn't know there was any cause for concern! (I also applaud the doctor's offices for finally having the check-in procedures finally streamlined.)

Claire has been given a great report from her heart doctor that the heart valve is functioning as it should and they don't need to see her again until her 1st birthday. Yay! She had several tests performed on her bladder and kidneys. She will not need to repeat those tests until her 1st birthday also. As a precaution due to some weakness identified in her bladder, she will be taking a 3 month daily antibiotic. While that has it's own side-effects and concerns for when she goes off the antibiotic, the good news is that she should be able to ward off infections for the fall season.

Claire's Day w/Grandparents

While we spent the day with the boys at Holiday World, Claire had a fun day with Mimi & Papa. Shopping of course...and she was spoiled as usual! She even got to pick out some of her Christmas gifts during their outing to Toys-R-Us. They had an enjoyable day together!

Holiday World Fun

Every September, we make a trip to Holiday World for my company picnic. It's a great day to go since the park is closed to the public. We weren't sure if we were going to make it this year. The Thursday before, Connor had a high fever that apparently was all he needed to "kick" whatever was ailing him and was fine by Friday morning. That Friday, Brady came down with flu-like symptoms that developed into a fever later in the day. By Saturday, the boys claimed to be 100% better and were not going to miss the Holiday World outing.

Since the weather was mild that day, we decided we would still go and take our chances. Plus, Claire had plans to spend the day with her grandparents. We arrived at Holiday World during some light sprinkles, but that soon passed and the rest of the day turned out to be beautiful. The boys rode their normal choice of rides. We spent an extended time in Hollidog Funtown, since we saw a friend that the boys played with for a little while. We ended the day in Reindeer Ranch, which is the perfect place to end the day. We saw several people we knew, the boys got several quick rides in, and the exit was in close proximity so no distractions on the way out.

We headed to get Claire and decided to prolong the day. Unsure of why we would torture ourselves this way..but we went to dinner with Mimi & Papa. The boys were as good as could be expected after a long day at Holiday World, but seemed to meet the approval of the wait staff as they gave the boys extra attention. We survived the day and had a relaxing Sunday to look forward to.

Cousins

The cousins on my side of the family...my three, my brother's son (hiding in the back), and my sister's group. With the exception of Tyler (age 2 1/2), my three are the youngest.

Cousins - Oldest & Youngest

On my side of the family, the oldest grandchild is my sister's son who will be 14 later this year. The youngest grandchild is my Claire at almost 5 months. They look like they could be siblings!

It's Not Too Cold!

On our final day of the Labor Day weekend, we went to my parents for an afternoon visit. The pool was a nice 75 (or less) degrees...nice for the crazy kids that is. It turned out to be a hot, sunny afternoon...which at least helped a little bit for the kids that decided to brave the pool. Nice end to the weekend - we had a nice day of food and visiting with family.

To make sure he doesn't get off the hook here - my brother even showed up and met Claire for the first time (yes, she is almost 5 months). Hopefully, he will not wait so long between visits next time as I know several were glad to see him.

Labor Day Family Time

We had a fun-filled Labor Day weekend. We kicked off the weekend on Saturday at a friend's 4-year birthday party. I had to go solo with the three kids since Chris was sick (and needed to get better for the family gatherings). The boys had a blast running around with the older boys that were there and Claire was just content to watch all the excitement.

On Sunday, we went to the Gottman's for the annual Labor Day pool party. However, it was a little on the chilly side for the pool. While the boys did brave the pool for a little bit (and made daddy join them), they had their bikes as an afternoon activity also. Claire received lots of attention that afternoon as she was passed between, I believe, every family member. It was nice to visit with family for what turned out to be a really nice afternoon.