Boys will be Boys...Girls will be Girls

It's funny how some things are just gender specific from early on. Boys like to play in the dirt, love loud noises, and enjoy almost anything that includes destruction. Girls love to dress up...again...and again...and again, crafty projects, and enjoy anything that is, well girly.




For instance...a camera appears...and suddenly boys are all smiles...or grimaces! This picture was taken at the hospital when Rebekah's cousins came to visit. Ian and Ethan are like two peas in a pod...just one a little shorter than the other! Their mannerisms are sometimes so alike they could be mistaken for brothers.






Then you have Miss Emma. This picture says it all. She just loves getting her hands on that baby girl. Not to say that Ethan and Ian don't enjoy holding and loving the baby...they most definitely do. However, little girls just can't help being little mommies. It was very sweet.




Just so you know...Ian did get to hold the baby too.

BackTrack Part 1

I found myself going through some of the millions of pictures we have saved over just the past several weeks, and lo and behold I suddenly remembered all of the things we had done prior to Rebekah's arrival.

We weren't doing much mind you, I was much too big and tired for that, however, we did manage to capture some cute pictures of the boys before their sister came home.

Ethan has loved Rebekah since before her birth. He loved looking at and touching my belly. Never did I imagine we'd be touching our belly's together mind you, but that's exactly what happened. He sat on my lap and told me that he wanted his "Lima" (the pretend baby that lived in his belly), to kiss Rebekah. It was really tough to explain to him that Lima didn't exist in his belly and that only girls could have baby's in their belly's, but I don't think it really mattered to him. For anyone who knows Ethan, once he gets something in his head, it's really tough to get it back out again. It is what it is...and Lima was his baby. Since Rebekah was born however, we haven't heard much more about dear sweet Lima.


Another fun event that occured before Rebekah was born, was our huge cookie making frenzy. Ethan has never shown interest in baking. Basically, if he couldn't use his dump truck, John Deere equipment, or spin around while doing it...he just wasn't interested.


Surprisingly, this time, he wanted to help me make some of the most delicious cookies of all...peanut butter choc. chip! Mmmmmmmmm...yummy! We needed to make a dessert that we could travel with for Christmas, as we had family to see. I knew that dessert would be everywhere we went, and that's some of the hardest stuff for me to deal with, never mind the kids! :)

So, Ethan said he wanted to help. And he did, from start to finish, AND the best part was eating the finished product right out of the oven!

Meanwhile, brother Joshua, found it entertaining driving his brother up the wall by wearing his favorite John Deere hat. Josh has discovered the best way to get back at his brother, for now, is to touch, play with, or move Ethan's things around. It's so hard to discipline that...

Our Family

Here we are, our family of five! It still hasn't registered with us, that we now have a little girl. For the most part, at this age, they are all pretty much the same. Good thing I have lots of pinks and purples, and reds to dress her in. Although, I do keep referring to them as "my boys". What I need to learn to say now is "my kids". I can still say "my monkeys" because she is filling that role as a Ouellette quite nicely! :)

Calm vs. Chaos

I have been writing this post in my head for over a week, just haven't found the time to actually sit down and get it into the blog.

Ahh...a moment of calm. She just had her first bath before that picture, and as you know it can be quite exhausting. She loved every moment of her bath though. She is proving to be nothing like her brothers so far.

Let's see...first of all she nurses well. That's right folks, she actually does what her brothers couldn't seem to grasp for the first several months. She even managed to put her birth weight back on in the two weeks that they typically do. Unlike her brothers who took several weeks to months to gain back their birth weight. Even the pediatrician didn't know what to say other than see you in 2 months. Weird!

She also sleeps. Well, as well as a newborn can, but the other two just screamed their precious little heads off from the moment we put them in the car seat to take them home. She loves her carseat by the way, and the bouncy seat, and the mini pack and play, and the cradle...just about anything we put her in...except the swing. She isn't too keen on that yet.

So, that's where we've had the calm. The chaos however, comes from the other two twirling vortex's of energy known as Ethan and Joshua! Between Ethan's constant energy and stubborn will, and Joshua's inability to form sentences thus making every sound that comes out of his mouth a loud, grating, grunting sort of noise...it shouldn't come as any surprise that Rebekah decides to just shut down all the time. It's kind of like having the vacuum cleaner on as white noise to help the baby calm down. My boys ARE the white noise...for her anyway. I think I'd rather have the vacuum on. (At least it doesn't talk back!)

Yes, indeed. We are constantly caught somewhere between the calm and chaos. Never really sure when the scales will tip in favor of one or the other, just always trying to stay one step ahead of it. Then in the few minutes when it is calm, I can try to sit back and enjoy this wonderful job of motherhood. But when it is chaotic, I can speed dial my husband several times an hour, and while on speaker phone share with him the rest of my day.

Rebekah Simone

born on December 30 at 1:52 am. 7 lbs 4 oz and 18 inches long. Long night! But I got my tax deduction! All is well and we are all home. Thankfully Joshua had kept us somewhat in shape, for those of you who do not know. Josh still thinks it a good idea to wake up at least once during the night. So it's not such a drastic adjustment!

More pix to follow!

.mike