Man am I ready for Thanksgiving!  Not to complain (well, it’s my website so I can do what I want) but I have been working a lot the past few months and have not taken even a weekend without putting in some hours.  I am looking forward to a nice long 4-day weekend and can’t wait to kick it all off with some good quality family time and lots of yummy food.  And I must admit, seeing that they’re calling for some snow tonight (ok, yeah, it’s only .01″, not even a dusting) I’m excited to get the holiday season started.  I think it’d be awesome if somehow we could get a few inches of snow before Monday.

The Christmas tree farm down the road kicks off their season Thursday and I’m actually pretty psyched to get a tree this year.  Jen and I are both pretty excited to see how much fun Alex and Avery will have this Christmas.  I think they’re at an age now where they’ll enjoy the tree, the decorations and Santa. They’ll also get excited about seeing family.  Another nice thing lately has been using the “Santa is watching” line to get them to behave.  It doesn’t work much, but sometimes if you throw enough out there something works.  It’s nice to have another one to add to the arsenal, even if it’s just for another month or so.

Jen has finished all of the Christmas shopping for the kids already, which is very cool.  It seems like we’re always running around at the last minute.  Thank god for the Internet, it really does make things so much easier and with free shipping available most of the time, it’s really a no-brainer.  I need to get my butt in gear and get some of my Christmas shopping done.  Luckily Jen handles most of it so I really just need to focus on her

I also plan on catching up on some of the pictures and videos that we’ve taken lately here on the site over the next few days.  We’ve got a few good videos of Adam and his new tricks to share too.  He somehow has developed dancing skills in tht past day or two and yesterday started to cruise around a little bit on the couch and transitioned himself from the coffee table over to the couch.  Man, he’s going to be walking soon!  It’s so cool to see how much he loves Alex and Avery and how he wants to be right in the middle of whatever they’re doing.  It’s really cute to see them run down the hall with him following closely behind doing his “turbo army crawl”.  They’re in trouble once he can keep up with them at full speed.

So if I don’t get anything up before Thursday have a good Thanksgiving and be sure to spend some good quality time with YOUR family!

Many of you have asked for details about my mom’s memorial service. We finalized plans and will be having a small service Saturday, September 27 at 7:00pm. More information can be found here.

My mother, Pam, passed away this past Wednesday morning. She fought for over three long years after she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer over Labor Day weekend 2005. Her fight came to an end on September 17, 2008. It’s a testament to her strength and will to live that she surpassed every expectation doctors had for her survival.

Even though she did not get to spend as much time with her grandchildren as she wanted to, I know that she loved them with all of her heart and more than anything. She was a wonderful mother and made me the man that I am today. I hope I make her as proud as she made me.

The twins didn’t get to spend enough time with Grandma, but they have great memories of the times they did share with her. Both still talk about “Grandma’s Beach House,” which was really a condo where we stayed for only one night in Ocean City with her back in May. It was their first beach trip, and it made quite an impression on them. They drive their couch pillow cars there, push their strollers there, and even occasionally ask with a hopeful tone if that’s where we are going when we get in the van. It’s a shame there won’t be any new memories to be made, but we will make sure the kids know her through stories and pictures as they get older.

She will be dearly missed by everybody and will be in my thoughts every day.

We’ll miss you grandma!

——–

In an effort to keep friends and family informed about details regarding a memorial service, I have setup a page on this site where I will post all of that information. Please check back there if you have any questions regarding a memorial service, any donations, etc.

http://www.kitchenfamily.org/pam

We made it back from the beach late on Tuesday night at around 12:30 am.  The drive home wasn’t bad at all.  We left the Outer Banks at maybe 7:30pm so we definitely made good time.  Luckily even with road construction in various places traffic never slowed down at all.  Alex and Avery took a little while to fall asleep but did pretty well once they were asleep.  Avery screeched every 45 minutes or so but it didn’t take much to get her back to sleep.  Adam surprised us all and slept from home all the way to my dad’s house on Friday, which shocked me and Jen.  I kept asking her if she was sure that she put him in the van.

The vacation itself was great.  We got to spend a lot of time with grandpa (my dad) and the kid’s aunts.  The action pretty much consisted of going to the beach and swimming in the pool.  Luckily we were blessed with good weather the whole time, so we didn’t have to spend any of our short trip couped up in the house if we didn’t want to be.

Here are the pictures from the trip.  I didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted too, but the ones that I did take I think were pretty good.

Wow, it’s scary how much time has passed.  It’s hard to believe Adam is almost 4 months old!

I feel horrible that we’ve been slacking on new posts and haven’t been as quick to put new pictures and videos online.  It’s hard to find the time but I’m going to make a commitment to get a post up here at least once a week.  Even if it’s a few sentences, you’re going to hear something new from the Kitchen camp.

This weekend will be interesting.  We’re planning a trip down to North Carolina with my dad, my sisters and a few of their friends.  They invited us to come down because they had some extra space in the house they rented for the week.  I’m super excited as I haven’t been down to NC since I was a kid.  While I’m sure it’s changed a bunch since I’ve been there, my memories are fond and I remember nice beaches without hoards of people.

The drive down won’t be too bad as we’re going to stop at my dad’s in Virginia on Friday night.  After staying there Friday we’ll convoy down to NC.  Stopping at my dad’s will pretty much cut the trip in half with about 3 hours each leg.  So far, 3 hours is about the maximum the kids have been in the car so that’s not going to be anything new.  We’ll head back Tuesday night and will be driving straight through.  That will be about 6 hours, which I am not looking forward to.

I’m sure we’ll have good stories and pictures to share next week when we’re back.  Wish us luck and have a good weekend!

Wow, it’s been a month already (well, it WAS a month last week). We both feel guilty that we haven’t had as much time to post lately. Don’t worry, we’ve been taking plenty of pictures (see the April and May galleries) and have lots more that need to be uploaded.

Last week Adam had his 1 month checkup appointment. All was well and he has gained weight as expected. He clocked in at 12 lbs 6 oz and 22 1/2″. Definitely still a big boy and has plenty of smiles to share. He seems to enjoy his floor gym and lets out little coos and noises when laying on it. He also has no trouble holding his head up and dishing out the occasional head butt. His strength scares me and Alex needs to look out once he’s mobile!

Here are a few pictures. Jen took the one on the rocking chair on his actual 1 month birthday. We’ll use the same chair for each milestone and try to put some signage up next month. An old co-worker of mine puts their son next to a bear so you can see the size contrast. We’ll have to start doing that too.

Jen’s been doing a good job with all 3 kids by herself.  We all (me and the 3 hoodlums) are all VERY lucky to have such a good mom/wife around the house that can deal with the daily stress associated with being a stay at home mom of 3 kids under 2!  I definitely don’t think I could have the patience to be here all day with the kids and not go completely nuts.

Yup, it’s been 1 week and 1 day since Adam was born. I am happy to report that he is doing GREAT and is a dream baby so far. He picked right up on breast feeding and even spends the better part of the night sleeping in his own crib in his room.

Tuesday was his first doctor’s appointment at our pediatrician. He got a clean bill of health and was already back to and above his birth weight. He clocked in at 10lbs 1.5oz at the appointment, which we were happy to hear. His appointment was also our first trip out as an entire family of five. The appointment was fine and Alex and Avery behaved great.

It actually worked out well that we all went because Avery’s eye, which had been bothering her, ended up being infected and needed some prescription drops. While her eye seems to be better she has been battling a fever and now what seems to be a cold or something. It just seems weird to me that she’d get since now since she hasn’t really been anywhere significant in the past week as we’ve been pretty limited. On a normal week between story time, play dates, etc. she has 100 chances to get sick. It figures that when she’s housebound she seems to pick something up. I’m sure Alex will be picking up the baton shortly once she’s almost done with it. Oh well, such is life and such is life with 3 KIDS! (wow, that sounds scary)

My days home are numbered and I’ll be headed back to work on Monday the 7th. Luckily it seems that we have help lined up for the two weeks following my return to work. We’re very lucky to have such wonderful friends, family and neighbors. We’ve had two meals brought to us this week by our neighbors (both were great by the way) and tons of other offers for the same from friends, co-workers, etc.

Keep checking back for new pictures and more videos. I’ve got a bunch of videos from the past week featuring various things with the kids. We’ve also started an April album which picks up where the Adam Arrives album left off.

Sorry for the delayed email. Jen and I are proud to introduce Adam James Kitchen. Adam was born today at 5:27 PM and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 15.1oz (just shy 10 lbs). He is 21 1/4″ long. Baby and mom are both doing well and are together in the maternal child unit. After delivery when I escorted Adam to the nursery for his checkup the nurses informed me that he was the current record holder for the day as far as weight goes. Who would have thought that such a big thing could come out of such a small person?

And what kind of parent would I be if I didn’t have a photo album setup already?  Check it out here.

There are so many times that I think to myself, “Hey, I should put that in a post.” But lately it just hasn’t been happening. So here are a few little things:

New Baby
Things are good with him. I’m almost 37 weeks, he’s head down, and my due date is rapidly approaching. He’s crazy active almost all the time. I’m starting to be really uncomfortable, and heartburn has been a major issue the last week or so. The twins always want to sit in my lap, but I don’t have a lap anymore, which makes things difficult at times. I’m doing weekly appointments now and at the last two, the doctors told me I needed to get onto the c-section schedule at the hospital in case I don’t go into labor on my own. So I finally pulled my head out of the sand and called today, and if I don’t go into labor on my own before then, Dr. P will go in and get him on March 26th. I could have gone a bit longer, but then I wouldn’t have been able to get the doctor who I like who also happens to have delivered the twins. I am still hoping for a VBAC, but know that what will be will be, and as long as we get a healthy baby and mommy out of it, we’ll be happy and manage the difficulties either type of birth will create.

Avery

Avery is so smart it’s scary sometimes. Well, lots of times. She says the cutest things - the latest includes “Here ya go, honey” and “Thanks, honey.” She also loves to wrestle with Daddy and will go up to him and say “Bodysam? Peas?” when she wants him to throw her around. Not so cute is “NO WAY!” which is her answer to even her favorite things when she’s in a mood. Can’t imagine where she gets that attitude from! She’s still in love with Mickey and Pooh and can name all the characters from those two shows. She knows her colors, can sort of count to ten (1,2,3,2,3,2,3 and then eventually if you give her 4,5, she can do the rest,) and can say most of the ABCs. She’s been having some trouble with bedtime the last few nights, screaming when we leave the room and/or playing for up to an hour after lights out. Not sure what’s going on there. I worry a lot about what her reaction will be to the new baby. She loves the idea right now, but of course she has no idea of the reality of it, and she’s stuck to me like glue most of the time. Like, she literally has to be touching me most of the time. I cannot imagine the NO WAYs and worse that will happen when I’m trying to nurse or hold or do whatever with her new baby brother. Her little world is just going to be rocked. And I feel a bit guilty about that.

Alex

Alex and Daddy are best friends these days. He wants to do everything Daddy does - helping him build and fix things, following him around with his tools, asking for him as soon as he wakes up. It’s very cute. He’s really gotten to be pretty independent and doesn’t mind spending time playing on his own with his trains or vacuum or whatever. He LOVES to be outside and throws a fit anytime we drag him in, no matter how cold it is out. In the last couple of weeks, it seems like he’s realized that people communicate by talking, and while his vocabulary isn’t nearly as prolific as Avery’s he is starting to put two words together at times, and he babbles up a storm. I very often comment that I just wish he spoke English. Lots of context is helpful, since things like Colby (Cubby), cup (cuppy) and glove (gubby) all sound nearly identical. He loves to tell you what noise something made, even if you were right there to hear it. So he’ll say something like “Cubby *blech*” when Colby coughs, or “Daddy wzzzhhhh” when Don is using some nosy tool. Our little reporter.
He’s still doing well with the potty and us not pushing full-on training. He usually sits on it after breakfast, after nap, and before bed and at least pees every time. We have a really cute word book about a mouse named Maisy, and in it there’s a picture of a bull going poop. That seems to inspire him to go, which is very funny - he asks for the Maisy book and the poop page and then he goes. We had one incident last week when he woke up dry from a nap and I wanted him to get on the potty but he didn’t want to, so I told him he could have a piece of candy if he went. That worked like a charm - he got one M&M for peeing. Unfortunately, it backfired quickly when he wanted another candy and I said they were only for going on the potty - he ran right back to the bathroom and threw a fit when I wouldn’t help him get back on. The tantrum lasted 10 minutes and I decided candy was not going to be a good motivator for him for the potty - he got part of the logic but not enough of it for it to work.

Other

We’re still working on getting everyone in the house well again. I posted before about Avery & Alex being sick. Since then, the they both got another cold, and we had Alex at the doctor on Friday to make sure he didn’t have an ear infection. I hope they are getting it all out before their brother comes, but in reality I know they are just little petri dishes of funk at this age and there’s not much we can do. I’ve finally made some new mom acquaintances in the area thanks to storytime at the local library, so we’ve had some playdates and that’s been a nice break for us all. I get adult conversations and the twins get some interaction with other kids as well as out of the house once in a while. I think we’re all ready for spring and better weather - being cooped up sucks!

Don is finished the guest bathroom project he took on 3 years ago, and it was worth the wait. It looks amazing, and I’m so proud of him for doing it all himself. We spent lots of time at Lowe’s and Home Depot this weekend getting things to do the kids’ bathroom on the main floor, which is really the only room left that we haven’t redone in this house. We just had french doors installed in the basement to replace the slider that was rotting at the bottom by the “pros” at Home Depot. Yeah - it’s neither square nor plumb, the caulk the guy did at the bottom on the coldest day of the winter never set and ran out when it rained two days later, and there are holes big enough for mice to come in through and air to flow through on all sides. I don’t know why we bother - every installation experience from them has been awful. The installer said it was how all the doors from this manufacturer are, but how much can you trust someone who installs a door without ever using a level? At any rate, the manufacturer has been out and given us a written report that it’s HD’s fault, so now they have to come reinstall the door and I will be bitching to get a refund of our hefty installation fee. And we’ve learned that while it might take Don longer to do something, he always does a better job in the end and we’ll be sticking with that in the future, I believe.

And with that, I believe we’re caught up!

Wow, here we are with 29 days left until Baby 3.0’s due date.  It’s hard to believe he’ll be here in a month!  I can’t lie that I’m definitely getting more nervous as the time gets closer.  I think at this point it’s more an issue of dealing with the possibility of Jen going into labor early in the middle of the night or something.  Before Alex and Avery it really wasn’t a problem because we can just jump in the car and go.  Now with these guys to worry about I’m in a panic of what we’d have to do with them.

We’re also realizing now that we should probably get a back packed in case the time does come early.  I think we’ve both just had it in our minds that he’ll come on time and everything will go exactly as planned.  We were even talking the other night about possibly going to visit my dad before 3.0 comes and quickly realized we probably shouldn’t put ourselves in a situation where we’re 3 1/2 hours away from home.

What I’m NOT nervous about is having a new baby.  Before Alex and Avery I had zero experience with tiny babies, changing diapers, etc.  At least now I’ve got that level of confidence where I don’t have to constantly ask myself if I’m holding the baby the right way, if that noise he made is normal, etc.

But please don’t get me wrong, I’m still a paranoid person (parent) in general.  For example, Avery recently had a small scab on her head that neither Jen or I knew how it got there.  It just seemed to show up one day out of the blue.  At first we weren’t sure if it was a scab, a mole or what.  So we kept watching it and it didn’t seem to be going away.  So I started to think man, it’s probably a mole.  Then I thought, wow, if it’s a mole we should get it checked out in case it’s like cancerous or something more serious.

It turned out to just be a scab that Jen was able to pop off with her fingernail.  But, it just goes to show the process I went through in my head of “no big deal” to “we should get it looked at”.  I’m sure that will happen less and less as I continue to get more years of parenthood under my belt.  I’m sure once the big bangs/bruises (i.e. skinned knees, etc) come I’ll definitely brush such things off much easier.