Needing a little "pick me up"...

...so I thought I'd share a few photos of our family from our trip to California. These always bring a smile to my face.

I bought this sun shade at a yard sale for $5. I was one of the 3 smartest things I brought to California.Kraig got stung by a Stingray. And just to debunk a common myth: You don't need to pee on a Stingray sting. That's jellyfish. Steve Irwin died of a Stingray sting to his heart. Kraig didn't die (thank heavens!). It's apparently not as serious when it's in your ankle.

Can you hear us shouting, "DISNEYLAND!!!"?And Mr. Toad didn't get the best of Thomas on his wild ride.

We had a wonderful time at the Webb family reunion in Newport Beach. There was a lot of playing, laughing, body surfing, good food, eating ice cream and laundry and not enough sleep.

Now I'm ready for another vacation. Who's with me?

Thwappity thwappity thwappity thwapp

Sorry for the deluge of videos. Thomas discovered his little toy during dinner and Andrew and Joshua were laughing so hard at him, I had to catch it on video.

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Enjoy!

This is for Amanda (and Robin's sanity)

Apparently there's no dignity when I'm trying to get smiles out of my children. Please enjoy at my expense :)

Kraig is the heavy breather in the background.

If this doesn't make you smile...

...then you might not have a heart.

Sunday morning photos

I bought matching Easter shirts for the children and Kraig and then we were out of town on Easter. Today was the first Sunday Kraig's had off since the baby blessing, so it was the perfect opportunity for photos of my matchy-matchy-blue-squared guys.

I wish Robin were here to take our photos, but my feeble efforts will have to suffice.

This is what my children are like 95% of the time: Thomas yelling while his brothers harass him.

Thomas looks like he's trying to hang himself with his tie :)

Easing into his roll

Joshua loves being a big brother. He's good at it, too. He always wants to sing Thomas songs, kiss him, touch him, and play with him.

Thomas totally lights up when his brothers are in the room. He knows their voices as well as he knows mine and Kraig's. I can tell he already wants to play with them. There will be no stopping Thomas as he grows and develops, just so he can keep up with his big brothers.

I have the best boys in the world! (I can easily say that now that this day is over, all three are sleeping soundly, and I have more than 2 minutes to myself.)

Melt a Mama's heart

Thomas at 2 1/2 months old. I love my smiley guy, and I know he loves me too!

We met with the early childhood specialists this week for their evaluation on Thomas. It went really well and both Kraig and I felt really good about these 3 women and how they'll be able to help Thomas as he grows and develops. We both felt that the specialists were concerned for him and eager to see him progress as he gets older. The neatest thing about the visit was that after they were done doing the evaluation one of the specialist said, "Well, if Thomas didn't have the diagnosis of Trisomy 21 we wouldn't be able to recommend him for therapy because he's perfect!" I swear my heart was singing. What an answer to prayers that our Thomas is just as healthy as can be.

Thomas' Baby Blessing

Kraig blessed Thomas at church last Sunday at 11am. It was a beautiful blessing filled with promises of bringing happiness to those around him. I was so proud of my Tommy.

Kraig's parents braved the crazy Colorado spring weather and came to the blessing. They were such a big help and it was so fun to spend time with them.

My parents were with us also and kept tabs on Andy and Joshy during church that morning. I'm still waiting to hear Dad's story about what Joshy did. Brenda and her family came down and Darren, true to form, encouraged Andrew to be the first to say "AMEN!" whenever possible. I'm sure this will come back to bite later.

My dear friend Nicole's son Gavin was blessed also. The boys are five weeks apart (like their big brothers Joshy and Logan are only 2 weeks apart), so we've decided they'll be good friends.

Thanks once again to all the love and support we've received for our little Thomas. He's our snorty little lamb, and we love him!

Does this speak to anyone else?

Welcome Home, Thomas and Good bye, Big Ugly Bush

Thomas was in the hospital last week with RSV. No fun. It turned into a 5-day stay which meant that I was away from the hospital for a sum total of 5 hours (about an hour each day to run home, shower and get a change of clothes). I slept each night on a pull out couch that was, surprisingly, not that uncomfortable. I ate an impressive amount of hospital cafeteria food. I learned a lot about nasal aspiration. I'm now convinced that a mother can never know enough about nasal aspiration :) We're so grateful that it wasn't more serious than it was. Thomas seems to be getting better every day we're home, especially with the help of the battery operated Greco nasal aspirator. Forget the bulb suctioning, Moms. Go with the high powered suck :) $20 at Babies R Us. It's dishwasher safe.

We were also very blessed to have Kraig's parents come out to help while Tommy and I were in the hospital. After Tom and I got home, we all had lots of fun playing and working in the yard. Mom and Dad actually helped us do a little landscape remodel. Check it out:.

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The Big Ugly Bush before. I've posted about weeding this monster.

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Dad and Kraig hooked the Big Ugly Bush (heretofore known as BUB) up to Kraig's van and pulled it out. It was a slick way to remove BUB and some old tree stumps that were there.

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After pulling out BUB, we had to remove a ton of dirt to make the spot level with the rest of the grass. This necessitated Kraig going to buy a new wheelbarrow, which in turn led to a few rides around the yard. Thomas was around to enjoy the action also.

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Then came the sod. This van just keeps on giving. I've found out that laying sod is like doing a larger than life puzzle. Kraig, Dad and Mom are aces at puzzles. The only thing we saved from the BUB bed was a little tree. He now has a proper home.

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Finished product. We've been watering it like crazy and it's already almost as green as the rest of the lawn. I'm SO excited about the landscape remodel. Now we can play soccer in the yard without running into BUB. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Some days are diamonds

Well, life pushes on.

Kraig's been working morning shifts this week. That means he's gone by 7:20am (like most husbands) and home by 5:00pm instead of the noon to 9pm shift. I appreciate him being home in the evening so that he can help wrangle the children into bed. They appreciate not having mommy do everything too.

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Joshy's potty training. I was convinced that Josh would never be potty trained because I was too tired before Thomas arrived and just plain exhausted after Thomas got here to put forth the effort. But this precocious little boy proved me wrong again. One morning last week I was too tired (and lazy) to go down stairs to get a clean diaper for him, so I let him put on a pair of big boy under ware that was in my room and the kid stayed dry all day! He even took himself to the potty numerous times. Granted, every day since then hasn't been as successful, but I'd say he's got an 85% success rate. Not too shabby.

.**Josh took himself outside after using the potty and "forgot" to put his underware and pants back on, but thankfully remembered his boots. What a nugget!

Thomas is getting bigger and bigger every day, it seems. He's more alert and awake than he was 3 weeks ago, and we are all loving it. He makes the funniest faces and I swear all of his smiles aren't gas related (although he is a Webb boy, so they quite possibly could be;). Of course I can never catch these heart melting smiles on camera, but trust me: They're great!

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Kraig was off work today so we were able to go to church as a family. I was nervous about taking Thomas, but thankfully people admired from a distance. It felt nice to have a reason to shave my legs, put on a skirt and blouse instead of a t-shirt and jeans, and "fill by bucket," so to speak.

3-21 National Down Syndrome Awareness Day

Unfortunately, I had no idea there was a day to celebrate my son.

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Fortunately, we're celebrating him every day.

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Here are a few recent photos of Tommy.

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Trying to get the jaundice down. He looks pretty good with a tan:)

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I wish I could say that we're sleeping a lot more than we are. The last few nights have been rough, but we're pushing through. Thank heavens for Kraig's middle-of-the-night help.

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I can't believe how big Joshy looks next to Thomas.

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Andrew and Joshua certainly won't be outdone by this little boy. They dote on him like all big brothers should.

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And a few random photos...