Mama needs a new pair of shoes...

...or maybe the babies do...I finally found shoes that fit into my budget ($7 each pair!!!)

Ben-Nate-Sam

Eli
Ben-Nate-Sam

T-Ball

Eli
Playing the field

Big Swing

Ben & Nate
soaking up the sun

Sam-Ben-Nate
watching Eli's game

Tubbies & Towels

Nate looks like he's leading a lecture from the tub.

Sammy striking a pose.
Should he be Mr. May?

Ben loves to show off his new tricks.

Ben

Nate refuses to stay on his belly.

Sammy's got big muscles.

Holy Guacamole!!!

We decided to experiment with avocados since I read that they were a perfect first fruit for babies.

Sam

Nate

Nate-Sam

 Notice there are no pictures of Ben on our first attempt.  That is because he gagged all his avocados up and made a huge disgusting mess.

So...onto our second attempt.  This time we decided to use the self-feeder things to see if that would alleviate some of the gagging...

Sam thought his would be best mixed with squash.

Nate really seemed to get the hang of the self feeder.

Ben wanted nothing to do with the avocado, but still loves his squash.

 Then because the boys were thoroughly covered, we threw them in the tub...bumbos & diapers too.

Sam & Ben getting a sprinkle

Eli & Nate getting hosed off.
Mind you, Eli did not need to be rinsed off, but thought it would be fun to take a tubby with Nate.

If you like Cinco de Mayo...

...then get your margarita on...

Sam-Ben-Nate
passed out after enjoying some delicious bevies

Makin' Squash

Because I've clearly got nothing better to do, I decided I should make the boys' baby food.  It's obviously not a boredom issue as much as it is a money issue.  I can feed the three of them for a week for what it would cost to feed them for a day.  Hmmm...is that a tough choice?

They've done a super job with their green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes so now we're moving onto squash.  Because of Dave's food allergies, I'm a bit of a freak with introducing foods.  I go slow...really slow.  I don't want to see any reactions.  This is why everybody else's 8 month olds have had filet mignon and mine are just getting to squash.  We'll start fruit next week.

Here's what I did to make their squash:

Step 1:  Buy frozen squash.  I get 2 bags to make a double batch.

Step 2:  Steam the squash to death.  It needs to be mushy so don't be
afraid to let it go for a long time.

Step 3:  Drain squash in sink.

Step 4:  Transfer to a big bowl.

Step 5:  Refrigerate overnight.  This step may be unnecessary,

but I get a little nervous about adding cold formula to

hot squash.

Step 6:  Use emersion blender to mix.  Add formula for a

liquid.  Keep adding & mixing until you get a consistency you like.

Step 7:  Spoon into ice cube trays.

Step 8:  Cover with plasic wrap.  This step may also be unnecessary

but when I stack the trays, I don't want the bottoms to

get goopy.

Step 9:  Stack trays.

Step 10:  Freeze.

I typically freeze mine until hard.  Then I transfer all the cubes to a bowl.  I takeout 6 cubes every night for to thaw for the next day's dinner.  We heat up the meal in a crock pot full of water (we keep a crockpot filled with water warming all day to warm up their bottles).

Bon Apetit!  The boys seem to like it...

Nebulize Me

Over the weekend, we noticed that Ben was wheezing.  Really wheezing.  He sounded like an old man with emphysema.  It was noticeable on Saturday (when his pedi has office hours), but got really bad on Sunday.  I called the doctor and he told me to wait until Monday to bring him in.  Since he wasn't having retractions and wasn't in distress, he didn't want Ben to be exposed to all the germs in the ER.  It was nerve wracking though, listening to his lungs crackle like Rice Krispies.

Dave brought him in on Monday and he was given a nebulizer treatment.  Luckily, his O2 sats were at 100 so we didn't have the same issue that put us in the hospital 2 weeks ago.  The doctor then prescribed him a nebulizer with steroids and the whole sha-bang.  We have to torture him 4x/day.  Here's what my poor little monkey looks like with his pathetic little machine...

The mask is supposed to resemble a fish. 

We think he just looks like he has 4 eyes.

We're supposed to bring him back in a week to check his lungs again.  We're crossing our fingers that this isn't a chronic thing...