Wide Open Spaces

 Riley and Evan racing to the soccer ball

 Brody playing with his food ;)

 Team Huddle- Payton was the Coach- he isn't fond of running on uneven terrain just yet

 The boys eating their picnic lunch. I have Jess to thank for this- she has them trained very well!

Brody being a typical big brother and filling PJ's hood with grass....

 PJ paying it forward to Riley ;)

 Evan was excited to play some more, but didn't waste any of his lunch

 The boys found "a jungle" to play in- I could barely see them through the leaves at times, but Brody was supervising and it was a very enclosed space with only one way to get out (back to to Mom)

Now I think Evan was just hoarding the balls from everyone else

 Blowing the dandelion seeds doesn't work so well with the paci in...

 This is Evan's blowing face, it's cute and he looks like this when he is trying to cool his dinner down as well

 PJ was not very happy that all of the bananas were gone- but he wasn't going to let me have the peel

 Evan taking a little break

 Of course Brody found a stick- I fortunately talked him out of bringing it home

 Trying to round up the crew

 But they had different plans

We had a good day today- Ben enjoyed the time home alone for a bit to watch some football and the boys and I enjoyed the nice Fall morning at the Park. I know how to get to a side entrance that drops right into this nice area, and we get to avoid passing the play structures (because we wouldn't make it past them). Weekend mornings at the park are too busy for me to want to attempt to keep track of 4 boys myself- I wanted to enjoy myself too! And that we did, we had the whole nook to ourselves.

After the afternoon nap we all went out for a walk and ended up having Riley and Evan walk for most of it- Evan holding my hand and Riley holding Brody's while Ben pulled PJ in the wagon. E and R did so good- they didn't try to pull away their hands or run off one time- they just walked perfectly, for about 4 blocks! It was a nice day to end the weekend :)

Lazy Day

We went out for dinner and drinks with a big group of fun people last night- which made us up later than usual and a bit tired today! The boys were full of snuggles and fun this morning, napped well, enjoyed a walk with dad (I got a bonus nap!), napped again, and then just played and got into trouble this evening. I am looking forward to some family fun out of the house tomorrow, not sure what yet- but they deserve a treat too :)

Ransoms

Evan loves his cards (actually he addicted to them), Brody teaching the boys about belly buttons, Riley is good as long as he has the card case and a few of "Evan's" cards, and Payton is a lounger these days! The boys have had a good week- we all have, actually. It's about time ;)

Hugs!

Evan really wanted to give Payton a hug :)

Hugs are my new favorite thing from the trips these days :) They are giving them to each other and most importantly- to me! Evan wraps his arms around my neck so tight when we are saying night-night that I almost don't want to put him down. Almost. They also are fully aware when we ask if they want to go "night-night." We either get a screaming "noooooo", or they straighten up and quit fighting (when we use it as a threat) or head straight to their cribs- that's when it's a good night- straight to sleep.

 Riley

 Payton

 Evan

Brody

We are still doing really well with plates/bowls/utensils! I am not sure if they are growing through a growth spurt or if this new task has provided so much joy that they eat anything we give them! I think it also helps that we started feeding them earlier and cutting out the PM snack. This is a lifesaver when I get home and Jess already has them fed and I just get to enjoy our time together and on days like today where I got to get home a bit early and enjoy making dinner for them (gourmet as you can see) before they go completely bonkers! We followed dinner by completely destroying the house with toys and games- fun was had by all.

Morning!

The boys are up but not quite awake this morning- kinda like their Mom :) Brody has a new habit of waking up (way too early) and watching cartoons in our bed while I am getting ready....he should join us downstairs just as soon as RescueBots is over upstairs- he is growing up way to fast!

Spoons!!

We brought out the bowls and spoons again tonight. We have tried before but the bowls were always thrown to the floor within 30 seconds. I am happy to report that not one bowl was flipped or thrown! I think it helped to have Brody at the table showing them the ropes (he usually eats later with us). They all had a great time and ate tons of food, which was impressive because I made a meal they usually barely touch (mac and peas). I was so happy that they got their first cookie after they had their fruit. It was cute as they didn't really get just how yummy cookies are and they played with them with them with their spoons for awhile before digging in and finally enjoying them :) Notice Payton holding his spoon in the first pic (followed by Evan, Brod and Riley), he didn't let go of that spoon until bed time. He is so dang funny.

Play date

I took the boys over to my friend Katie's house for dinner tonight with her 2 girls (big brother wasn't home) and they had a great time exploring new territory and toys. Brody LOVES Katie and is already asking when he gets to go back. Her youngest (2.5) calls the trips "her boys" and is just so sweet. I wish I was able to get more pictures but we were mostly on guard trying to prevent the babes from getting into too much. It was pretty funny- in just 2.5 hours Riley fell off the top of a slide, Payton put hazardous objects in his mouth, one of the girls cut her finger on a olive can, and Evan had some mysterious spit-up. Katie and I didn't get a chance to eat the homemade pizza she put together so I get to go back for some girl time after the boys are all tucked in (3 down, 1 to go!)

Finally

A normal night with my boys!! We spent lots of time playing after dinner. The activity of choice tonight was cars, they seem to be following right along in B's footsteps with their love for cars. I think they currently are more interested in them than Brody. This is nice since we don't have any power struggles over the cars with B vs. the the babes. Check out the bottom pictures, hopefully they keep the panorama view through this email. I updated my iPhone and the panoramic camera function is a fun new feature! Thank goodness I have an awesome nanny to fill me in on these new tricks and more :)

Mommy Loves You!!

I hope these cuties know how much I love them even though I don't get to tuck them in tonight....again :( The crazy work week is almost over and I can't wait!!

Beeeep!!

Alright, I was finally home at decent time tonight (before 6pm) and was able to spend time with the boys/Ben and have enough energy to pull out my laptop (my Mac, not the dreaded work HP laptop) and finally upload this video of Brody at his 4 month well child check up!

I was able to meet Ben and Brody for his appointment on Monday. He was quite the riot and gave us all some good laughs! It started with his eye exam out in the hallway where he was covering his eye and letting the MA know what he could see and not see on the chart. He is so smart and his witty little adult-like comments were almost too much to handle. We proceeded to the exam room where he weighed in at a whopping 40 pounds and 41" tall! Growing like a weed :) He liked having his blood pressure checked as he remembered checking mine while I was on hospital bedrest with the trips and he often "took care of me" with his own Dr kit that included a BP cuff. This video is of him passing his hearing test while making us all laugh. The appt ended with 5 shots :( (4 immunizations and 1 flu shot) He did great overall and Mom even joined him in the flu shot fun. Brody's new pedi was pretty impressed with him and got out of the appt with some new comedic knock-knock jokes to take on and try with his next patients :) We love our big boy and couldn't be more proud of him- in every single way.

Life has been crazy in the Waind house, unfortunately stemming from a crazy work schedule I am suffering from this week. I am seeing my boys far too little for my liking, when it rains- it pours with meetings and commitments at times. I am hoping for a much less hectic week next week, and the strength (and energy!) to finish out this week and hopefully get everything I need to complete done before the weekend- I don't want to have to give up family nap time ;)

Ugh!

All this technology at my fingertips- iPhone, iPad, google+, blogsy, etc. And I still can't figure out how to post a video to this blog without pulling out my laptop! What am I doing wrong here? I wanted to share a cute video of Brody at his 4 yr old well child check and now I am too frustrated to give in and just use my laptop (sorry!) Poor bug got 5 shots :( and is still recovering! But he passed his hearing and eye test and was quite entertaining through it all. Someone help me by making this blog easier for me! And you will be rewarded with a cute video ;)

Sent from my iPhone

Wilshire Park

We stopped at a new park today for a change of scenery from the ones right by our house. Wilshire Park is still close enough, but not walk-to close. The boys loved it because it had a lot for toddlers and was not crowded (not sure if that's normal or not?) They all climbed, swung, went down slides, and played in a giant sandbox. It did the trick of tiring them out enough so we could all enjoy a nice afternoon nap :) The boys are still a bit cranky recovering from their colds but a nice long bath after dinner helped with settling them down for an easy bed time. The weekend went quick like they always do- but the work week goes equally as quick these days so no complaints here.