Time is flying by...

Stratton turned 5 months on Sunday, Beck turned 21 months on Friday, and Kylie hit 5 1/2 on Wednesday of this past week. Whew! Time sure does fly by when you got these crazy kids to keep you going! Where to begin...

Stratton has now given us 3 nights of sleeping through the night, although it hasn't been consistent. I still consider it progress, but in general he's been sleeping rougher than he use to. I know this is partly because he's teething, but the other part is he's now breaking out of his swaddle and waking himself up many times throughout the night. I ordered a new swaddle contraption last week and I'm hoping to get it in tomorrow, so I'm praying that this will help! The other thing is that this boy is an eater to a crazy degree! I'm now feeding him baby food at breakfast, lunch, and before bed time (as well as rice cereal in his bottle before he crashes at night). It is AMAZING how much this boy can eat! So when he does get up to eat in the middle of the night its tough to get frustrated because he usually downs 6-7 ounces and falls right back to sleep. Still, I would LOVE to start getting more rest at night. I was amazed how much better I felt on the days after he slept through the night. I've been sleep deprived for so long that it is now the new normal....

Beck is starting to talk so much more now. We've been introducing colors and he knows blue and red so far (you have to start somewhere right?) It's funny because he loves to watch the cars and trucks whenever we're driving around and he'll now point and say, "blue car" or "red truck" when he sees them. I've decided for MANY reasons to hold off putting him in school this fall. I actually made the decision that we were GOING to enroll him and for the next three days I thought of nothing else. It will have to suffice to say that it just didn't feel right, which is really the only explanation I could give my husband as well. There is still the slightest bit of baby in him that needs the nurturing of a mom who loves him...and the life lessons that he'll learn when he starts school will be there when he's ready and when the time is right. Speaking of getting big... This weekend Beck let me know BEFORE he needed to do the deed in his diaper. Im use to him telling me after the fact...but this is a sign that this boy is getting close to potty training, and I'm very much looking forward to getting at least one of them out of diapers! We also made the move last weekend to take Beck's blanket away during the day in hopes that this would cut down on the thumb sucking. And so far, so good! I usually grab his blanket when he sets it down in the morning and hide it until nap time. The amount of time his thumb has been in his mouth has decreased SO MUCH! I'm glad we made the move and I really feel that the time was right.

Kylie is counting down the days until Kindergarten starts! This past week Stephanie and I took Ky and Makenzie to get school supplies. We wanted to beat the crowds and since we have vacation the week before school starts, we figured we would go ahead and get it out of the way. Ky had so much fun picking out all her stuff and came home and immediately put it all in her new backpack after showing daddy. I'm hoping my mom can embroider her name on her backpack, so I'll be sure to post a shot after we attempt to do that. This weekend we are taking Ky to the water park and having her first sleepover at our house. She's excited to the point that she had me print out a calendar so she can mark off the days till we go. (I'm a fan of this since it cuts down on how many times I have to answer the ?...mom, how many days until we get to go?)

I think that just about sums up the happenings at the Alcorn house over the past week or so!

Here's a shot of Ky and Kenz playing at the sand/fountains in Allen this past week...

My big boy...

Loving on Strat before church on Sunday...

It is IMPOSSIBLE to get him to stand still to take a picture anymore...

Haircuts and more...

There aren't many pointers for how to cut the hair of a 4 mo. old, then again, most 4 mo. olds don't have hair quite like mine! For the last two months Stratton's hair has just grown bigger...and curlier, but mainly...just BIGGER. Tonight, I finally wore J down enough to take a pair of cutting shears out and try to tame the beast. But just before we did...i took a couple before shots...just for fun! I wish I could say I 'frowed' it out a bit, but really, this is just what it looks like now-a-days...

Due to his typical bug-eyed expression, Jason thinks he resembles Newman from the old Seinfeld shows (see picture below) and although I found the comment humorous, it is far from flattering. However, J loved it and has since then referred to Strat only as Newman, or Newie, for short....I have also caught Ky calling him this from time to time as well....NOT COOL....

Now if I was going to pick a look a like for him.....with his amazing hairline..I'd have to pick Eddie Munster...although I'm not sure that's any better than J's pick.

See how long the back is? and the crazy thing is that the back of his hair isn't nearly as curly as the rest is, so it just sticks out even more...

J's first snip...I love Stratton's expression. I'd be scared too buddy...

The after. Now, his curls will only stay this tight for about an hour or so after getting out of the bath, then they loosen quite a bit. But still, I think it looks MUCH better. J disagrees. One thing is for sure, this boy is going to have some of the coarsest hair I've ever felt. If you get past the baby hair on top, what is growing in at the roots feels like a 90 yr. old lady's hair whose gone through a lifetime of dye jobs. (He gets this from J, as well as the curls)

Along with a new hair cut, Stratton also has two bottom teeth, which have caused him to wake a ton at night over the last week. (Not fun!) He continues to eat enough for an army, and is starting to get close to sitting up on his own. He's still got a way to go, but for all of my babies, they learned how to sit up before they rolled...strange, but consistent....

Ranting 101

Well, I call it ranting, but some might identify it as more of an emotional melt down. Let me start from the beginning.

Today was a great day. One of those days where none of the circumstances are in your favor: Stratton is cutting teeth, Kylie is still fighting this skin rash for going on 2 weeks (thanks to new sunscreen), and Beck, well, we all know Beck, it isn't a normal day in the Alcorn household unless he has a minimum of at least 10 total breakdowns, it was a steady and stifling 100 degrees all day, making it impossible to do anything outside, and J's flight from College Station was cancelled causing him to drive the 4 hr. trip home, getting him in around 10 pm .

However, for some strange reason, all the planets must have aligned, and it turned out to be a wonderful day. We played inside with only minimal whining, all the kiddos got along great, and they all went to bed BEFORE 8 (even Strat) without so much as a single complaint. It is in moments like these where I think I could do this stay at home mom thing FOREVER! Which gets me thinking...

To school or not to school, that is the question...

After Kylie was born, staying home wasn't an option. We went through our fair share of bad preschools before coming across the one she is currently in, and trust me, I had my fair share of breakdowns over feeling so guilty. But in the end, the bills had to get paid, mommy had to work, and I know she was well taken care of. As Kylie got older, and was able to express herself more clearly, I felt more at ease with sending her to school because I could tell she LOVED every bit of it. She will head off to kindergarten in August, and I am fairly certain she's well prepared, in part because of the amazing job her preschool has done.

The plan was always to start Beck in preschool when Kylie started kindergarten in August. He is your typical boy who goes 100 mph, the stimulation meter can never be too high, and a slight rest in action causes fits beyond belief. He would benefit from school in a different way than Kylie did. Kylie was shy, too shy, and needed to be pushed out of her shell, and preschool did just that. Beck is another story. He's active, too active, to the point where I can't provide enough stimulation at home (while dealing with Strat) to really keep him happy.

Well, August is just around the corner, and I kid you not when I say that I am at a point of hyperventilating when I think of sending Beckster to school full time. He's always been home with me. For going on two years I've listened to the pitter patter of his too-heavy footsteps behind me every step of the way. I've woken him up from every nap, fed him every meal, and laughed at, and with him, more times that I can even count.

I never had a choice in sending Kylie to school, but looking back, I'm glad she went. There are experiences a child has while in that environment that you just can't recreate at home. With that being said, having now stayed home for two years, I'm well aware that there are also experiences a child has while staying home with a loving and supportive parent that can't be recreated in a school environment. I think of the hundreds of times a day where I turn to see Beck running into my arms with a big smile on his face, just because he wants to hug me. And I think of him at school, away from me, and it feels like my biggest fear coming to life.

Thus, the dilemma. Which is better? To have him at a school where he'll be able to interact with kids his age, learn patience and manners and how to deal with new situations, or to have him home where I can love on him indefinitely and know he's safe. And how do I separate out my fears while making the decision. Is my fear in sending him to school based on money spent that doesn't HAVE to be? Or is it simply that I'm not ready to let him go. Once he's out of that box, as Jason puts it, he's a schooler, and there's not really any going back. Can I do it? Can I handle taking him in that first week, every morning with him pulling on my neck, crying as I put him in the arms of his new teacher (knowing full well that I'll pick him up later, ecstatic and overjoyed). I just don't know.

Every kid is different. And as a parent, every experience is different. No one said it was going to be easy...man, that's a bit of an understatement if you ask me. There are days where I come close to pulling all my hair out. Where all I want is a moment of quiet without Ky asking for a snack, Beck whining to watch show, or Strat crying for a bottle. But at the end of days like today, I want it to last forever.

Life is always easier when options aren't involved. Such was the case with Kylie. Will Beck benefit in the huge ways Ky did? There is no way to know. But it is decision time in the Alcorn household, and I'm sitting right smack dab in the middle of the fence, just waiting for a slight breeze to blow me one way....or the other.

4th of July Weekend!

4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays (behind Halloween, of course)...and it's also our wedding anniversary weekend. This year we celebrated #6 by having J's friend Gary and his girlfriend Christina in for a visit. The weekend went by way too fast, as usual, but it was a great time!

Here's a pic of Ky and I before heading out to watch fireworks. J stayed home to watch the boys while 'the girls' went and met some friend's of ours to watch the fireworks show. We had a blast and Ky was VERY excited she got to stay up later than Daddy (who was already in bed by the time we made it home)

Happy 4th everyone!

The best of a group shot that we could muster before Gary and Christina headed back out to the airport. Notice that beck is in tears...he was so tired from going non stop all weekend.

Strat is still doing great with eating solids. His favorite is def. sweet potatoes, but so far we've also had peaches, peas, bananas, avacado, pears, apples, and next will come squash and carrots this week. And the biggest news of all! Stratton cut his first tooth! The bottom, middle left tooth cut yesterday and the one to the right will be here in the next day or so. This is about the same time beck cut his first also, and even though Strat seems a little fussier than normal, he's really taking it like a champ!

Strat and Sissy before heading to church.

Busy, busy, busy!

Let me start by saying that I can't believe it's almost July already! Its been a super busy week, and a fairly busy summer in general around here so far!

This week Kylie went to VBS at a local church and got to be in class with her BFF, as they like to refer to each other, Makenzie. These two have been inseparable all summer. Stephanie and I started to hang out when the girls were not yet quite 2, and it has been amazing to watch them develop from babies who played in the same room together, but didn't even acknowledge each other to actual real friends. Nothing makes me smile more than listening in on these two's conversations! They are HILARIOUS! This pic was taken after VBS one day this week when Kenz stayed to play dress up and do some crafts while Stephanie ran some errands. The rest of the week, Ky was more or less a McGilvray herself, spending more time over there than at her own house! But she wouldn't have had it any other way! I still remember, one day a while back, when she was driving me insane and I told her I was just going to drop her off somewhere and leave her. She got really excited and started jumping up and down yelling 'drop me at kenzies!!" This wasn't really the response I was looking for! =) Anyways, she even had her first sleep over, which she was VERY excited about.

We also celebrated my 29th bday! Although apparently I posted last year that I was indeed 29 already...what a typo. And Stephanie was the only person who caught it a year later? I mean I know I don't have much of a fan base here...but come on guys! Anyways, when you get to a certain age, I think its reasonable to not really remember exactly how old you are! (Or maybe it's just that we don't WANT to remember). Oh well, I have one more year before the BIG 3-0, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it. I would just like to get from here to there without the news of a pregnancy! hahahahaha!

Beck is a big fan of Kylie's dress up shoes. And this weekend, I found him running around the house carrying a fairy wand, wearing pink light up barbie heels, and a pearl necklace. The crazy thing was, he did a REALLY good job walking in them...MUCH better than Ky ever did, which just cracked me up....he likes the sounds the heels make on the floor. Anyways, this is one I'm saving for future blackmail purposes for sure!

A couple random pics I snapped of Stratton after the bath. He went in for his 4 mo. appt. this week and ONLY weighed 17.6 lbs! Which means he's only in the 95 percentile now instead of off the charts! I'm well aware that I can't quite call him 'lean' just yet, but at least we've slowed down a little bit! He's still doing great eating solids and we've ventured out to apples and sweet potatoes so far. I'm introducing avacado this week, which was one of beck's favorites! So far, he loves everything, and already I'm having to cut him off in terms of amounts, as he shows no interest in getting full on what is considered a 'normal' serving size for his age. =)

Stratton turns 4 months...and some random stuff!

It has only been 3 weeks since we last cut Beck's hair. And it's already long enough to spike. I think he looks so silly with his hair like this, but Kylie likes it and so we did it after the kiddos got outta the bath the other day. Notice that cheese face...

Side view...

The last 4 months sure have flown by! Here are a couple more pics of the littlest big man. Looking back at some of his baby pics, I can really see how much more curly his hair has gotten. This week, we introduced Strat to solids. With both Ky and Beck this was an event! We had to get everything all situated and we took a million pictures. Both of them made the funniest faces the first time I got that spoon in their mouth and we captured every dirty face picture we could. Last night, i finally had time to sit down and attempt it with Strat. The older kids were asleep, so J grabbed the camera and we went to work. Well, it might be the most anticlimactic event ever. I'm probably the one to blame because I was sitting on the couch in such a way that Strat could see the t.v. so he was automatically amazed, and very focused on sports center. Anyways, the spoon went in and out, he sucked it down without so much of a drop coming back out, and his facial expression never changed whatsoever. I swear, you would have thought he had been eating solids for months! Anyways, it was just some mixed fruit rice cereal, and I'm looking forward to making some other foods we can introduce him to over the next week or so.

This is the after shot of the first bite....I told you...nothing.

More interested in the t.v. than what he's eating.

This past weekend Kylie, Jason, and our friends Aaron, Makenzie, and Ashlyn went on a daddy daughter date night. Ky was very excited and had me straighten her hair and paint her nails. She LOVES when she gets daddy all to herself!

Father's Day Gift

For Father's Day, I took the kiddos to get their pics taken while J was in Portland visiting with friends and attending John's graduation. It was nice since I had both my parents around to help. I knew it was going to be tough getting Strat to look and not cry, and getting Beck to just sit still long enough to let them take any pictures. They turned out so-so, but honestly speaking, they look a lot better than I thought they would while we were taking them. I didn't intend to be in any of them, but came dressed just in case the kids weren't cooperating, and as you can see, I ended up taking almost just as many as they did. Oh well, when you're shooting a 5 yr. old, a 20 mo. old, and a 4 mo. old, what more can you expect? J liked the pictures and is taking them into work to put in his office. These are scanned in, so obviously the quality isn't quite as good as the originals.

I love Strat's goofy grin in this picture. You can see how big he is for 4 mo. when you compare him to me. I love my chunky monkey!

I thought this one turned out best of all, even though they're looking at me right next to photographer instead of the camera itself. Oh well, can't win them all!

My sweet Kylie enjoyed the process, but getting her to put on a real smile instead of the fake one she usually gives took some creativity.

Group shot of all of us. Seriously, I know these look like the kids were very calm, but between all these pics were MANY of Beck walking away and Strat crying...

I think my favorite part of the event was Beck on the way out of the mall. The poor boy ran full speed into the glass doors leaving the mall. He fell completely backward cracking the back of his head on the tile. I couldn't help but laugh as he sat there screaming because it really was one of those moments where you wished you had a camera. In the end, he's fine, minus a couple bruises and the evil looks I got from all the other mom's sitting in the play area right next to us. Seriously, if they knew my Beckster, they'd laugh too.

I have one other story to share. While watching t.v. this past week Ky asked me how someone can be so happy they cry. I tried to explain to her that sometimes when you get so excited or happy that you're overcome with emotions, and happy tears come out. Last night, while I was putting her to bed, we were talking about how she was going to start VBS with her friend Makenzie today, and she said in her best fake sad voice...'I can't wait until tomorrow. Did you hear me mommy? I said it very sad because I'm so excited." I just started laughing hysterically. I love that silly monkey!