Showered With Flowers

Since Tobias was born, we have been basking in the warmth of the affection of our friends and family both near and far. We have received meals, gallons of milk, cookies, clothes, candy, babysitting and beautiful bouquets of flowers. For a solid week there, I felt as though I were living in a greenhouse. Each time I walked by one of those gorgeous vases of flowers it reminded me just how lucky I am. So far, life with baby Tobias has been a bit bumpy. He is a wonderfully sweet baby, but has had some unexpected needs. All of this love and support is seeing me through a difficult adjustment to 5 little boys 5 and under. I wanted to share our beautiful blooms (not to mention the balloon flowers Marc made for me) and a cute picture of the little man himself. Thank you, thank you to all who have showered us with the blessing of your friendship.

The David John Dialogues

We are thoroughly enjoying David John's 3-year-old-isms. Here are some of our recent favorites:

David John came with me to the side door when we heard a knock. We found a flyer asking us to support our local fire department.
D: Is that mail, Mommy?
Me: No, buddy. It's a flyer. Do you want it?
D: Yes. (thoughtful pause) Can I put it in my backpack to go to preschool?
Me: Sure,
D: Maybe I should not take it out of the house. If I take it out of the house and it flies away, it might not fly  back to our house.
Me: Oh. I see. I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't really fly. It's just a piece of paper.
D: (smiling at me as though I am teasing him) No! Mommy! It is not paper. It is a flyer.
He happily took it to school in his backpack and I can report that it did come back home.

At preschool, they are doing an ocean unit so there is a lot of talk in our house about fish and other ocean creatures. The boys have also been bringing home a lot of ocean-themed crafts.
D: Mom, we made an octopus at school today. Octopusses have lollipops so they can walk.
Me: You made an octopus at school with lollipops for its legs?
D: No! I did not make a octopus with lollipops. Octopusses just have lollipops ON their legs so they can walk.
Me: Hmmm.... I'm not sure what you mean.
D: Mom! They have lollipops on their legs!
Me: Oh! Do you mean suckers? They have suckers on their tentacles?
D: Yes! Suckers! Lollipops!
I then tried to explain that "lollipops" was not always a good synonym for "suckers" but I don't think he got the message. At least I figured out what he was talking about.

Marc decided to run out and pick up a prescription one evening while I got the boys ready for bed. Marc generally hates shopping and does not often go to the store unless I am with him.
Marc: Okay guys, I'm going to run to the store for a few minutes.
D: Mom, are you leaving to the store too?
Me: No, just Daddy is going.
D: What?!? Daddy is leaving to the store by himself?!?
Me: Yep. Daddy is going to the store all by himself.
D: That's impossible! If Daddy leaves to the store I will pee my pants!
(Other people almost peed their pants because they were laughing so hard.)

David John loves to check the mailbox for mail and help carry the envelopes and sales ads into the house. Sometimes he checks it multiple times a day which means he is frequently disappointed by an empty mailbox. Apparently, he thought something sinister was going on because when he checked it today and found it empty he exclaimed. "I guess somebody stole our mail AGAIN!"

David John kept turning off a show the other kids were watching at a play date. I sat him down on my lap to talk about his naughty behavior.
Me: I hear you are making choices that are making the other kids sad.
D: No, I am not making them sad. (wicked grin) I am making them angry.
My friend and I tried valiantly not to laugh but it was a while before I could talk to him again with straight face.

Oh, we love that kid.

Tiny T-Ricks

We are thrilled to announce that Tobias Joshua Ricks arrived this morning at 5:21. I am even more thrilled to say that he only weighed 7lbs 14oz, much much smaller than our last two babies. He is a tall guy at 21 3/4" long.

We had been anxiously anticipating his arrival for more than a week because not only was I a big blue whale, I was a big blue EMOTIONAL whale. Serious mood swings times 150 tons equals chaos at home. Anyway, I was pretty convinced that little T-Ricks was coming on Wednesday. My mom even drove up from Fairborn and then everything came to a screeching halt. No more contractions, false labor. My mom stayed for Thursday and Friday but nothing was happening on the baby front and my OB appointment on Friday seemed to indicate we still had time before this little guy was going to arrive. So, at around 7 pm my mom drove back home to Fairborn. At around 8 pm, I started having contractions again. Curse you Murphy's law.

Because my mom had just left, and because of Wednesday's disappointing experience, I convinced myself that this was just another bout of false labor. I kept talking myself out of packing my bag or calling the hospital until around 3 am when I realized, amidst the fog of labor pain, that these contractions were just as bad as anything I had had with Benjamin and that likely I was having this baby really soon.

We enlisted our poor friend, Ben, to come sleep at our house and take care of the boys when they woke up. By the time we got our bags packed, Ben settled in and drove to the hospital it was about 4:50 am. Tobias was born 30 minutes later, an all natural labor and delivery. He had the cord wrapped twice around his neck, but a few seconds later he let out his first little dinosaur roar, a perfectly healthy little boy.

We are so grateful for his arrival and are truly thankful for the heroic efforts of those who have taken care of our four other little dinos while are at the hospital with this one. Thank you, Ben, for letting us drag you out of your house at 3:30 am and for wrangling little boys when they got out bed at 6 something this morning. Without you, Marc would have had to deliver a baby at home. Thank you to the McMullans for coming over last minute to feed and play with our boys, not to mention clean our house? You guys rock. Thank you to my mom for driving the four hours back to our house after only one night's sleep in your own bed. You are amazing.

Grandma and the four big brothers came to visit little Toby this afternoon. They all adored him. We are pleased that Benjamin likes him so much. We'll see if anything changes when we bring him home.

Marc wanted a picture of all of the Ricks boys together. We tried, it didn't go so well. Marc wants me to post it anyway and I guess he has a point. Life with so many little boys is just like this sometimes.

Welcome to the world, little Tobias. We are so glad you came.

Benjamin the Baby

I thought before our new baby comes I should post a few pictures and say a few words about little Benjamin before he loses his place as baby of the family. I have a feeling the transition to big brother Benjamin is going to be a bit rough. He revels in the attention of being the youngest and even though he likes baby dolls and other people's babies I think he will feel differently when it is a baby that I am holding all the time. We have a "big brother" t-shirt all ready for him to wear but I doubt that will soften the blow much.
Anyway, here are some things that 22-month-old Benjamin loves to do.
Benjamin wants to be a helper. There is nothing that gives him more joy than sorting silverware into the drawer or "helping" Daddy sweep the floor with his toy broom. Other chores he helps with include putting dishes in the sink (you have to be careful with this one, he broke a plate), taking diapers to the trash on the back porch, putting dirty clothes in the laundry chute and putting toys away.
As mentioned in the previous post, Benjamin loves to have his picture taken. Here is a self-selected pose complete with the "Cheese!" smile.

Benjamin loves to sing. His favorite at present is "Baa Baa Black Sheep". He is great with tunes, but you can usually understand only a few of the lyrics. He also sings ABCs, the chorus to Angels We Have Heard on High (the ohs), the theme to Elmo's World, and a rendition of Barabara Ann as sung by the minions which he calls "BaNaNa". We love that he sings, except when he occasionally sings really loudly in church.
Benjamin also loves to dress up- if it's his own idea. In these pictures he is stylin' in some hats and glasses the older boys brought home from a Michael Jackson themed birthday party.

 

We are blessed to have yet another book addict in the family. He would be happy if someone just sat on the couch and read to him all day. Favorites are Pigeon books, Go Dog Go, Maisy books, anything by Mercer Mayer and a board book called "To Market, To Market". I like to stop reading every once in a while and hear him fill in some of the words. I also enjoy watching him read to himself and occasionally saying some words out loud that are associated with a certain page.

Benjamin loves to be silly. He loves to surprise or be tickled and he finds his brothers' antics hysterical. Apparently, his tendency to silliness extends to when he is asleep. We are always finding him in amusing positions when we check on him at night.

We love you, baby Benjamin and we will love big brother Benjamin just as much.

My Mustachioed Men

A favorite breakfast around here is smoothies. Because I usually put both spinach and strawberries in them they taste delicious but turn an unfortunate color. Lately, Gabriel and Elijah have taken to drinking them straight out of the cup instead of using a straw (We're like Uncle Joe, Mom!). The combination of the brown color and the thick consistency makes for some great mustaches.

Benjamin insisted on having his picture taken too. Whenever he sees a camera he starts saying "Cheese!" and then requests to see the result on the digital camera screen.

David John does not drink his smoothie straight out of the cup, but he remembered me taking the other boys' pictures and requested that I photograph his milk mustache a few days later.

I am not usually a huge fan of mustaches, but on these guys it's pretty cute.

Big Blue Whale

My boys got an animal CD from the library and fell in love with a song called "Big Blue Whale". As a result, we listen to it frequently and I often find that I am humming or singing it involuntarily. The boys even wanted big blue whale pancakes for breakfast. While eating them, they discussed the relative size of the blue whale. "It is definitely bigger than a truck." "Yeah, way bigger than a truck." "It is not bigger than the earth, then it couldn't live on earth." "Yeah, but maybe it is bigger than the moon." "It is not bigger than earth, but I think it is bigger than outer-in-space."

For a couple of weeks now, I have decided that it is a very fitting theme song for a woman nearing the end of her pregnancy. I often feel like a beached whale when trying to get out of bed in the mornings or, you know, go from sitting on the floor with the boys to a standing position. So, here I am at 39 weeks, the big blue whale:

"Bigger than three school buses;

Bigger than twenty-five elephants;

Bigger than a brontosaurus and a t-rex combined;

It's the biggest animal that ever lived on Earth;

And it makes the loudest sound you've ever heard;

With a big spout of water coming out of it's head;

It's the big blue whale!

It's the big blue whale."

February Funnies

David John sometimes gets very creative with his prayers. Recently he said the following in his prayer, "Please bless Jesus to bring us toys and wrestle with us." I am glad he believes that Jesus is a real person. I am little concerned that David John might be mixing Him up with Santa Claus. Does Santa Claus wrestle?

Gabriel also says very creative prayers, although his are a little more self-serving. We've recently heard prayers including the following, "Please bless all the brothers, especially me." and "Please bless Elijah to listen to Mommy and Daddy like I do."

Elijah has become quite the wheeler and dealer. Whenever he wants something he always tries to barter for it. One evening the boys had hot dogs for dinner and David John was in possession of the last hot dog.
E: David John, how much does that hot dog cost?
D: It costs too much money.
E: That's okay, I have too much money, David John!

David John walked away from a toy in the waiting room at the dentist's office with a dejected look on his face.
D: Mom, I can't play with that toy anymore.
Me: Oh, why?
D: Because, sigh, I keep *tesploding it.
*exploding


The boys often ask about what is in "real life" and what is not.
G: Daddy, do you know any reindeer that can fly in real life?
Marc: Um, nope. I don't know any reindeer that can fly in real life.
G: Daddy! What about Santa's reindeer? They can fly. Did you forget about them Daddy?


We invited Elijah to sleep in the guest room because his brothers were being crazy and keeping him awake.
E: I don't want to go sleep in the guest room. There is one spiderweb left in there.
Marc: I can clean it off.
E: (wide eyed) There might be more we can't see.
 As it turns out Elijah has a bit of a phobia about spiders. His helpful preschool friends have made him aware that there are spiders that can kill you with one bite.


All of our boys are very interested in the concept of resurrection. Gabriel and Elijah had an argument about it that came to blows, and David John uses it as a way to reset his imaginary games. For example, after dinosaurs had eaten or pushed all of Elijah's trains off of a cliff, David John decided to make things right.
D: Look, Elijah! All of these trains got resurrected!


Gabriel was gloating a bit when he proved to be right about something and I was mistaken. We then had the following exchange:
G: Mommy, am I always right?
Me: No son, no you are not always right. No one is always right.
G: Not even mommies?
Me: Not even Mommies. No one is always right.
E: But Jesus is always right!
Case in point, son.

Elijah wasn't looking where he was going and ran into a door jamb on his way from one room to another. Obviously, this was not his fault because he immediately yelled, "Mom, you have got to move that piece of wall!"

One day when David John "missed" he informed me that he had somehow gotten his shirt, pants and underwear wet in addition to some landing on the floor. As he showed me the mess he commented, "Don't worry Mom. Pee on the floor looks just like water on the floor." Clearly, we need to be bleaching the bathroom floor more often.