Piles of Snow

I've had these Winter Carnival Snow Sculpture photos just waaaaaiting and waaaaaiting to be blogged. They're from January! And while it was technically about the sculptures, they were more excited about the sleds, and even more excited about the giant piles of snow upon which to climb. So here they are, the photos shall be blogged.

Comin' Back

I haven't updated much in the last while. I'll blame it on two things. One, winter. We're inside our house a lot and it's just not that pretty a place to photograph- both because of the lack of window lighting and the lack of decorating budget. The second reason I haven't updated much is because we've been sick with something for a while. Truly, we've passed around a couple colds, the flu, and a cough in the last two months. I can't even remember what it's like to have an unclogged nose and a clear throat. It bounces around between the kids, so it's a general mix of this:


Someone feels kind of blah, not terrible, but not good...


Someone is wiped out on in the living room...


Someone is actually kind of perky and able to participate well in life...

and the baby's taking a nap. If nothing else, all this sickness has gotten her to take more consistently long naps.

Honestly, one nice aspect was that the relationship dynamics between the kids were so different that there was much less fighting. You know how when you're at home, the kids feel safe and comfortable and kind of let loose emotionally? Well, things were different enough (and everyone was more subdued) that there was a lot more peace. So that's something.

Anyway, more updates coming!

Vide-photos

All sorts of videos and instagrams dating back to October!



This is how he balances out his tremendous tantrums.


Warning: this will make you pout. Poor Wrenny is a sympathetic cryer.


Their parts in the Primary Program of 2015


Wren's first swing!


Winter slide slo-mo


The perfect example of the Dash Bounce, aka why it's so hard to get a focused photo of Dash.


Liam's Thanksgiving song.


Grey singing Follow the Prophet


Geez, she's sweet. If only I could be so happy when someone wakes me up.


Copycat! This pleased the boys to no end.


Grey is so good at his states! I must admit, I only know these because of doing the puzzles with my kids. His speed blows me away!


We did a little plane watching from the parking garage of the Mall of America (with a little surprise).


Slow-mo tape measurer. The boys idea.


Liam's primary talk. All his ideas.


Watching Grey drift into dreamland.


Slow-mo Pie Face.


Entertaining Wren. Having a little sister is so fun.

SLOW MO BEAN BAG VIDEOS:

Dash


Liam


Grey


Wren jabbers

NOW ONTO THE INSTAGRAMS!


One of the first nights having three boys in a (very small) room. They bug each other a lot but it's generally gone pretty well!


Happy Halloween, from the Octonauts!


|| three months || wren is spectacular at these things: nursing, sleeping, diaper blowouts, spitting up, big smiles, sympathetic crying, screaming when her brothers hold her, sweet coos, and staring soulfully into your eyes. Can you guess which two skills are the reason for her cuter outfits being in the laundry?


Grape-cheeked Grey


Kickin it on a warm day


That just changes the whole look, doesn't it?


What, am I going to say no to visiting Santa when they spot him in the mall? Turns out we never visited another Santa because of sicknesses, so good thing we did the impromptu visit in early November.


She's just the berries.


Afternoon project


Potty training the naked way


Babies have the best breath, fyi


When you have leftover cheesecake, it disappears forkful by forkful.


|| four months || wren is still a fabulous baby. She has had several nights without waking up until seven or so. She likes to watch everyone, especially her brothers, flashing her fabulous, gummy smile. She's been seeing greater heights as she pushes herself up with straight arms. Her favorite (which I measure with her laughter) is big swings and big bounces by mom or dad. She's our little sweet pea!


We fill it up


Two girls chillin


Beauty sleep


Shady


We've been elf-ed! We're soooooo excited!


Now Liam has a gappy mouth! After being loose for over a month, we're very glad the tooth has finally vacated.

"What IS this?"

Epitome of sick. Always sleepy, moaning, vomiting, fever, goobery, coughing, all around misery. Her brothers and parents had/are experiencing it too but it's so much sadder with a little babe.

ITISSOGOOD

Happy Christmas!

Snuggling with the cousin's fuzzy legs

FIVE PHOTOS from WILD FLORIDA:

Friendly birds

Big, beautiful birdies

Grey the exile

Air boat riders

Baldie

One of my favorite profiles.

Bushy and bright

Remembering the travels on the way to Florida.  When we were all getting over some sort of cold/flu torture. When we were notified while in line to check in that our first flight would be so late that we'd miss our connection. And we decided to still take that flight and stay the night in Atlanta. Then when our flight got in so late that we didn't go to bed until after one a.m. When I slept on pillows on the floor since there wasn't enough bed space. When we had to wake everyone up at 5:45 to catch our next flight and every single child started crying. When we didn't have time to get breakfast and the flight was too turbulent to even serve drinks. BUT WE GOT THERE.

Beach day!

Wren was not a fan of the beach. Cries the moment her feet touched the water. Cries as the wind stroked her face. She even slept with a furrowed brow.

|| five months || Little Girl is as sweet as can be. She smiles with her whole body. Wren had her first major bout of sickness but she's about 99% better. But I was always eager to feed her during the night during that time and habit has stuck. Wren is grabbing things and bringing them to her mouth. If there's nothing to grab, she'll just munch her fingers. She's starting to scoot just a bit by slamming down her feet and arching her back. Wren's as patient as can be and loves when I give her soft kisses along her jaw. We all adore this girl.

It's a new year and we had news to share- Sean has accepted a pediatrics position in Colorado Springs! We'll be moving in the summer. We're very excited but NOT looking forward to leaving our incredible Minnesota friends. Change is hard, change is good.

When you're trying to take a selfie but you can't take your eyes off each other.

Oh seester, I meeeess her!

Back from vacation and one thing's for certain- these guys are gonna miss their cousins somethin fierce. (Photo by my lovely sister)

Dear Secret Elves,  With our early departure that rushed your final deliveries (we're sorry!) we never said a proper thank you. Your kind and clever gifts were a highlight of our holiday season! It was all we could do to keep the kids from sitting on the front steps each evening awaiting your mysterious arrival. The fact that you would spend so much of your time and resources on our little family warms my heart and moistens my eye. Thank you for reminding us that true, generous love is all over this world. Thank you!

With love,

The Bradleys

Last winter I was pregnant and, tragically, hot chocolate didn't agree with me. I'm so glad to have this back as an option on these cold days. It is one of the season's few pleasures (second only to extremely cold drinking water).

Cute from any angle

My girl

Reasons why Wrenny Pie has a helmet: a) her brothers were head butting her too often, b) her football aspirations couldn't be denied, or c) she has a flat head. While it's not my favorite thing to have happened, I'm glad there're ways to help reshape her skull. Focus on the positive

|| six months || Half birthday! SLEEP: goes to bed at eightish, wakes between four and six am, sleeps again until nineish (sometimes its completely not this pattern too). Naps have been tricky- the helmet is a little weird but trouble is her rolling over/kicking is getting so strong that she ends up in positions she doesn't like and can't fall asleep. She often protests her third nap completely. DIAPERS: she averages one blowout every other day. Never fear, Fels Naptha soap to the rescue! HELMET: tolerates it really well and I feel lucky. PLAY: gets so excited when anything is within reach, works hard to grab it. MISC: coos and squawks cutely, chortles at her brothers' antics, smiles brightly, occasionally has stranger anxiety, still a super calm baby, universally adored.

A-OK (as long as I'm not driving in it) (which is funny because it caused the next photo...)

Well, I'm a dope. Took the garbage and the recycling out in each hand through thick snow, didn't have a way to brace myself when I slipped and fell flat on my face. Still got the containers to the curb though!

Injury update. Three cheers for glasses and bruises that look like makeup!

Having a good 40 minute cry. About a dried out marker we threw away. Yesterday.

I think all the snow play might have wiped him out

The best children's museum selfie we can manage with a not-so-into-it three-year-old.

When you wear a helmet to bed, you can sleep face down, no problem!

After school the twins requested a family photo but I thought a key family member wouldn't be in it. Luckily, Sean got home just in the nick of time. Also, residency can't be over soon enough.

Snagged a burp rag from the neighboring chair and draped it just so.

Oldest and youngest

Snow is more fun without the winter weather part.

|| seven months (ish) || Tidbits about our Wrenny: Still the happiest, cutest, sweetest baby. Not keen on eating real food. Sometimes sleeps through the night. Transitioning to two naps, although her naps are not reliably lengthy. Gets woken up so frequently to transport her brothers to and from school, which pains me but doesn't seem to bother her too much. Spitting up finally not a regularity. Has no interest whatsoever in standing, as opposed to her brothers who loved straightening their legs from the get-go (seriously, she'll do it for one second and no more). Loves her bath. Close to sitting up on her own for long periods. Not crawling but lots of rolling and scootching. Helmet's doing its job. Had two consecutive colds so it seems like she's been sick all month long. Despises cleaning out her nose. Lots of jabbering sounds. She's the sweetest little sweet that ever did sweet!

Swapped faces on the twins... But they look the same! Even to me! I guess their differences are more in their head?

Kid pile!

Came around the corner as Grey was adding the last bow to his neck. May as well make use of the hair bows during Wren's  helmet days. Smart move, Grey.

When they're sick, mommy and daddy's bed is the place to be (even if one of them isn't suck anymore) (with replacement bedding that hasn't been thrown up upon)

Sad, pathetic baby has the flu and a new tooth.