Train Boy!

For Christmas, Grandma & Grandpa Shook got Parker a subscription to a Thomas the Train magazine. He got his first issue today.  He was very excited about it.  He was playing upstairs with the GeoTrax trains when I took it up to him.  He immediately started looking through it with a big smile on his face.  He said "Choo, choo!" a lot!  

Monday!

Julia as happy as can be- I raised up her exersaucer to the next level, she is getting tall :)

Oliver doing a silly dance

and the dance continues

Building a GeoTrax town!

Today started out busy.  Eric had a call with Kent State (in Ohio) this morning to start discussing a start-up package as he has been offered a tenure-track position there.  Very exciting news for us!!  While he was on the call, I took the boys to a friend's house and dropped them off.  Then I took Julia to an appointment with her geneticist- Eric met us there.  The appointment went very well, no new information really.  He said she looked great- she weighed in at 17 pounds, 6 ounces and was 26 inches long!
After her appointment, we went and picked the boys up and then we dropped Eric off at work.  It was almost 50 degrees when we got home so the boys played outside for a little while before lunch.  The rest of the day was pretty quiet, Eric finished up the day at work and we hung out at home.  After dinner, we all went upstairs to play for awhile.

Sunday

We had a good day today- we went to church (me, Eric & Julia), Sunday school (Oliver), and nursery (Parker).  Then we came home and had brunch.  Oliver, Julia and I went to a birthday party for one of my friends.  In the afternoon, 2 of the kids friends came over and we watched them while they parents went out- they had done the same for us last weekend.  The kids all had a lot of fun running around and playing.  Tonight is going to be short and sweet- I was asleep on the couch and ready to go to bed when I remembered I needed to do my post.  Tomorrow I'll try and take some pictures.

Happy 5 months Miss Julia!

Our smiling baby girl is 5 months old today.  Julia stays busy with lots of fun things in life.  She likes to roll and can roll both ways.  She seems like she really would like to crawl, but can't quite do that yet.  She tries to sit up whenever she is being held.  She likes her exersaucer and swing.  She does pretty well sleeping at night- last night was 9-6.  She still likes to snuggle.  She is wearing 6-9 month clothes.  She likes to look at books and loves it when we sing her songs.  She loves watching her brothers.  She is playing with some of her toys (and by playing I mean holding them ;)).  She wakes up in the morning with the biggest smiles.  

She makes us smile everyday and we love her so much!  Julia- we know this upcoming month is going to be a little rough, but I'm sure you'll be smiling big for your 6 month picture!  We love you baby girl!

Last Friday's Campout

Last Friday night, we had a campout.  We did our usual Friday night movie and pizza, only this time, we set up tents.  The boys had a lot of fun.  We even made a "fire" and "roasted" marshmallows.  Then the boys got to stay up late and watch a movie and snuggle with us.  Parker didn't really have any interest in going his tent when it was actually time to sleep.  He ended up going into his crib.  Oliver was very happy to sleep in his sleeping bag in his tent.  Julia and Eric slept on the couch for quite a while, but then eventually made their way to the pack and play and bed.  I opted for the bed :)

Here are some pictures from our campout:

Julia was asleep before supper - don't worry she woke up later that night :)

Parker happily went in and out of his tent prior to pajamas

Oliver excited to get his tent all set up for the night

Sitting by the fire

Roasting marshmallows

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was a fun day at our house.  The kids and I went to my MOPS group this morning.  The boys each made some valentines there.  I got a big surprise from Eric and he brought home a bouquet of flowers.  I made a yummy BBQ chicken pizza for supper.  After Eric got home from work and we finished up dinner, we all hung out and read some books.  The boys each got a "The Flash" shirt from us and when Oliver opened his, he was very excited- he said "I have been dreaming about this every night!"  

Happy Valentine's Day!

40 Days of Posting

I am planning on blogging for Lent this year- so the plan is a post everyday for the next 40 days.  I am giving myself a bit of a pass the week of Julia's surgery, but will likely post updates throughout that week.  So here's the start.

Life at the Shook house has been crazy- Eric has been interviewing for jobs for the fall- very exciting, but very busy.  He actually just got home about 1 hour ago from Madison, WI where he was interviewing for a tenure-track faculty position.  Last week, he was gone from Sunday-Tuesday interviewing in Kent, OH at Kent State University for a tenure-track faculty position.  He was offered a fellowship at Dartmouth the Friday before that after a few phone interviews with them.  We are very thankful to have an offer on the table and are anxious to get some decisions made soon.  We are hoping to hear from Kent State either late this week or early next week.  Now that interviews are done, Eric will be focusing on finishing up his dissertation.

I've been staying busy with the kids.  We have been going to lots of playgroups.  I have been trying to take the kids to the library one morning a week- they seem to really enjoy that.  I've been holding down the fort while Eric has been galavanting around ;)  

Oliver is busy as ever- He loves doing crafts- especially when they involve cutting and gluing.  We painted on Monday and he was by far the messiest of the three kids- he painted his hands almost up to his wrists.  We have been working on trying new foods and he is making some progress- he tried pineapple and liked it.  He tried shredded cheese and blueberries- may not sound like much, but improvements.  He is actually finishing up supper right now and is thinking about thinking about eating a vegetable :)

Parker is our wild man.  He goes 100% all the time.  We are planning to move him to a big boy bed in March sometime.  He loves trains and all things that go.  He likes craft time-painting is his favorite- and drawing on the walls and couch- I've learned crayons and pens cannot be left out with him around.  He loves books right now- his favorite book is Dinosaurumpus and we read it many times every day.  He is talking more and more and he definitely has a lot to say!

Julia is changing quickly.  She is rolling and getting around that way.  She is full of smiles and tolerates her brothers very well.  She likes to snuggle and be held.  She had really good results on her AFP levels at her most recent test- she was at a 71 (which is actually in the normal range for kids her age without BWS).  Her tongue reduction surgery is scheduled for February 27th- 2 weeks from today!!  

So now that you are up to date, I will be working on keeping everyone that way.  And I will post pictures tomorrow too :)