It’s official. I’m turning into my mother.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my mom. She’s great. A little goofy, but great. But, does anyone ever really want to sound like their mother?

It has happened to me twice this week.

Earlier this week, while doing some grocery shopping, the boys were trying to persuade me to buy a sugary cereal with some cartoon guy huge on the box. After dismissing the idea of arguing against the evils of cavities and hyperactivity, I came out with this gem that my mom uttered about 16 years ago: “No. Every time I buy that, you just eat it!”

Yup. My mom wouldn’t buy certain foods because we just ate it. Priceless, huh? Now, even back then, at the tender age of 15, I knew she meant we ate that particular cereal too fast. But, that’s not what she said.

Fast forward to tonight. After dinner, the boys (in their state of cabin/spring fever) decided to plays swords with their whiffle ball bats. I did it again. “OK, but if you get hurt, don’t come crying to me.”

Next thing you know, I’ll be saying “Be good, be careful, behave and be home on time.” My mom recited that to me so often that, by the time I was entering college, she could just say, “Remember the four B’s.” No joke.

I could recite more of Nana’s wisdom, but I have to go. There are three little boys all coming down the stairs crying. Apparently someone got hurt by a “sword.” Ugh.

Yesterday, I was occupied with nursing Ferris when I heard Evan “shouting” from the other bedroom. Generally, this means she has climbed into Connor’s bottom bunk and wants down. She hasn’t quite figured out how to climb down on her own but she has enough sense to know she needs help (Smart girl!) so she shouts over and over again until someone rescues her.

Since I was busy, I was letting Evan wait a bit longer than usual. Connor was playing on the floor in our room, but Andy walked by, so I asked him to help Evan. I shouted from my room, “Andy, can you help Evan get out of Connor’s bed?!”

Andy: “Sure!”

Within a few seconds, Andy emerged from their room and headed to the living room with Evan crawling after him.

Me: “Thank you, Buddy!”

Connor looks up from the floor and shouts, “Say, ‘You welcome, Mommy.’ Andy!! Say, ‘You welcome!’”

Aunt Heather and Uncle Tim got Evan some really nice shirts back at the beginning of the fall. Nate’s favorite of the bunch finally fits her:

In case it’s hard to read, it says, “Daddy is my hero.” Fits our family mantra.

Thanks Uncle Tim and Aunt Heather!

I’ve written before about how Evan’s big brothers can’t resist sharing with her. Now that she’s a little older (and has more teeth with which to eat solids,) it’s not as big of a deal. Other than the messes.

Boy, can that girl make messes! Remember the Oreo Disaster of ‘07?

Nate affectionately calls her Grody Buckets. (How in the world do you spell “Grody?!”)

Well, here’s Miss Grody Buckets with the Chocolate Muffin Incident of ‘08.

Nate attended a parent’s meeting for our local baseball league last week. We still don’t know which teams our boys will be on, but that has not stopped the excitement. We do know a bit more about when their games will be scheduled and what they’re expected to provide for themselves (i.e. their own socks, gloves, protective undergarments… etc.)

We went to the store last week to pick up the last item listed above. I had a few other items to get, so Nate took Andy and Brady to pick out their “cups.” I’m sure some of you are cringing that I’m actually blogging about this, but to a four and five-year-old, this topic is very fun and exciting.

When we all met up in the store, Nate couldn’t stop grinning. Apparently, the boys were so excited about their cups that they wanted to hold them and carry them through the store. When we got up to pay, they asked if they could carry them to the van. When we got home, they immediately had to try them on (after a quick lesson on how to put them together.) Their sheer joy over an undergarment had both Nate and me snickering under our breath. [OK, I'll admit that part of my amusement was that they were size "pee-wee." I don't get out enough, remember?!]

Both Andy and Brady had to tell Nana about their “potty cups” when she called. I could hear her trying not to laugh. They feel so grown up! We knew this was an important rite of passage for them, so we tried to let them live out their excitement… but I couldn’t stand it anymore when I awoke the other day and found my piano like this:

Yes… That’s Brady’s “potty cup” proudly displayed on a taper candle (which he moved down) and left for the world to see upon entering our house.

Thankfully, at this point, we’re too busy and too exhausted to host the whole world at our house.

Our kids seem to have close buddies (among each other) in spurts. Recently, Connor and Evan have really enjoyed playing together. They make up their own fun and, since they’re just two and one, they can play these “games” for hours and be content.

Last week, we caught them mountain climbing. Not outdoors (this is Chicagoland in March, mind you!)

They were scaling the mountain of yet-to-be-washed laundry. First Connor climbed* on…

Then Evan had a turn. (Yes, she was having a bad hair day here, too.)

Too bad for them… I’ve done a few loads since then.

*As a mark of humility, I will not Photoshop out the dirty underwear beneath Connor’s hand.

Ferris is three weeks old today.

Those three weeks have certainly flown by. I’m sure it will continue at this pace because I’d swear Andy was just born four weeks ago.

Just wanted to give everyone another glimpse of our newest cutie. Here she is.

I’m afraid to admit this, but my husband has often encouraged our babies to burp after nursing by exclaiming, “Good rip!” when they belch exceptionally well. For the older boys of baby sisters, this proclamation has not gone unnoticed. Case in point:

Monday, Andy was holding Ferris just after she had nursed. She had a very full tummy and seemed to be very content in her biggest brother’s arms when it happened. She started spitting up and boy, did it come up! Volumes of spit-up at fountain-like angles came from her tiny mouth… All over her, and all over her biggest brother.

You should know that Andy has a sensitive gag reflex. I quickly scooped her up and told him to go change his shirt. (I was hoping that, by giving him a task, his mind would be occupied by something other than throwing up.)

It seemed to work. A few seconds later he came strolling out of his room in a clean shirt and said, “Mom, I think you forgot to rip her!”

Hope you all had a great Easter. We did.

It’s fun seeing our kids pick up more about the Easter story each year. They’re understanding now that Jesus “didn’t stay dead.” Praise God!

Here are the crew of goofballs before we left for the Sonrise Service at church Sunday morning:

Here’s just Evan in the darling outfit my Aunt Jane bought her for Christmas. She actually kept the hat on ALL day. Amazing!

Ferris had her first shopping trip last night.

The boys were all excited to take her to Meijer. For those of you outside of the Midwest, Meijer is my haven. It’s a wonderful grocery store and department store in one. (Think super-Wal-Mart, but maybe a bit nicer and in existence earlier.) I think it was one of the first of its kind. My husband likes to point out its convenience by stating that you can get prune juice, a plunger and air freshener all in one place! (Gross, I know…)

At any rate, we now pretty much have to get two carts to contain all the kids. We must be amusing to people watching as we try to assign seats, buckle little ones in and decide on a direction. We got more than a few smiles.

The funniest part, though, was that Ferris (of course) slept the entire time in her car seat atop the cart. Connor, who shared her cart, kept peeking under the blanket at her and telling her what department we were in (”Fair-wuss… we’re by da milk.”) but she slept…. unfazed at the gravity of the situation.

I wanted to wake her up and tell her that when I was a kid, we had to go to Kroger for broccoli, then to 3-D for baseball equipment, then to the local office supply store for binder clips and yet we were getting them all in one place!!

I let her sleep, though. I’m sure she didn’t care.