Luke getting into trouble!

Luke is all over the house in his walker! Bryan captured this a couple of weeks ago and since I've just learned how to upload videos to blogger, I thought I'd share!

T-ball for Nate & Henry started yesterday. They seem to be loving it!

Swinging

Flu Update

Well, of course the flu made it's way through our house, one by one, taking us out... Luke was hit next, fever, up all night... Then me. I haven't had 103 degree fever in who knows when??? But Luke & I laid in bed together on Thursday night, tossing back the Tylenol & Motrin as often as possible. Then, Nate. He's finally recovering and we're all hoping that spring is just around the corner marking the end of winter sickness.

2 Teeth

Luke is getting 2 teeth! They're coming in at the same time and he's so glad to have 2 down at once. It's been a long week already (and it's only Wednesday). Bryan got stuck at home due to the winter storm & had the flu. He finally made it to Pittsburg Monday night, about the time Henry got sick. I will be surprised if Luke isn't next, simply because Henry loves him sooo much & constantly kisses him. Here is another shot of Luke discovering animal crackers!

Bryan's home!

So it was a major dose of testosterone in the Duncan house today. The boys spent the day with Bryan shooting the pellet gun, chopping things down with a machete and attaching little green army men to firecrackers & blowing them up!

They had a blast being with Bryan every second of the day. The weekends seem to go by so fast while the weekdays drag by. I can't wait until this training is over. These boys need their Daddy at home!

Esther

So, I'm starting week 4 in a new Beth Moore bible study. I love Beth Moore. Her studies work for me. I have found that for a few months after the birth of each of my 3 boys, I have had a hard time focusing on prayer and devotions. Maybe its the lack of sleep or crazy hormones, but something causes me to be so scattered in my spiritual life (at just the moment I should be most in touch???). Anyway, this is my first attempt to get back to some sort of "routine" bible study.

And my point is...

I have learned something very important in Esther. If you know me, you know that I am a worrier. I worry about germs, I worry about my children being in a car accident when they're riding with anyone but me, I worry about natural disasters occurring when I'm away from my children, I worry about anything that is out of my control when it concerns Nate, Henry & Luke. I am forfeiting my joy as a mother with "futile speculations". So when I feel that worry creeping in, I am going to say "NO!" I will not be in mental torment over things I can do nothing about.

Something else I've learned in Esther is that I need to be thankful for my overly active guilt complex. That feeling sorry for the smallest offense I make to someone is a good thing. Conviction is designed by God so we would make amends quickly.

I had no idea I would learn all this from Esther!?!? Just thing, there are 5 more weeks to go...

Happy Valentine's Day!

So we "attempted" a Valentine's dinner at a new Italian Restaurant in Clemson called Brioso. I shouldn't say "attempted" because it was a great dinner considering it was all 5 of us. The restaurant was wonderful with pastas and sauces made on site & gelato! Yum!
This is the start of week 4 of Bryan being out of town. I'm hoping for a better week this week. Things got a little crazy last week.
Luke is so proud that he made a new sound today. "Bbbbuuuuuu, bbbbuuuuu." and sometimes bubbles come out!

Here are the boys before bedtime. Luke is wearing a pair of pajamas that both Nate & Henry wore! They are quite a trio.

The Pirate Dinner

Aaaarrrrggghhh!

My friend Elizabeth gave me the idea to have a pirate dinner. She told her children that if they practiced good table manners throughout the week, that she'd reward them with a pirate dinner - where good manners are not required. The boys were so excited on Thursday night to have their own. We had rotisserie chicken (compliments of Walmart), buttered noodles, green peas (a favorite of Henry), kabobs of mango, pineapple, strawberries & marshmallows, crescent rolls & chocolate pudding for dessert. All to be eaten without utensils. No napkins, you were to wipe your hands on the tablecloth (a quilt). If you needed to burp, you went right ahead and feet on the table? No problem! Of course, you know my children, they can't do anything in moderation. Of course it got a little out of control. I'm talking rubbing deodorant on the mirrors on their closet doors. Yes, you give my boys an inch, and by gosh, they'll take a yard, maybe more. We had fun, and the mess wasn't too overwhelming.

Here is Henry sporting a tatoo drawn by yours truly, and I wore a moustache! Nate, of course kept his school clothes on, he's not one to get too wild & crazy.... he's so much like Bryan.

So, we start week 3 of Bryan's training....

Week 1 down, 10 more to go...

Well, I just survived the first week of 11 that Bryan will be gone (for the majority of the time) for training at Duke.

I have been dreading/agonizing over this since Thanksgiving and I really thought that the hardest part would be being lonely. I figured that I could handle the feeding, shuttling, bathing & bedtime for these 3 wild boys, and the hardest part would be after they all go to bed, just missing Bryan's company. Well, I was (naturally) wrong. The week was crazy. I did handle the days routine, but it

was tough. Bryan does a lot. And just knowing he's gonna do one of the things on my to-do list, like brush Henry's teeth at bedtime does a lot for my morale. (Sometimes that a difficult job!!) And, I was lonely at night. But, we survived and I think he missed us as much as we missed him.

There were only a few glitches in the week, including a meeting of my car with our house (Bryan wasn't happy about that) and possibly the least amount of sleep I've ever had in a week. We had a great weekend with Bryan that included some bowling, some Texas Roadhouse (Nate's favorite) and lots of books. So, we'll see what week 2 holds...

By the way, here is a picture of Luke with his first sippee cup of juice. Yes, I know he's a little young for this (5 months now) but we were having fun, and by baby #3, you just don't sweat the small stuff!!

Still with Delta????

So, I've had several people ask me how am I still possibly employed at Delta Air Lines. Here's how it worked out:

I went on maternity leave when I was pregnant with Nate. Before I was scheduled to return, Delta offered 5 year leaves b/c of the hit the airline industry had taken after 9/11. At the end of my 5 year leave, I was called back and I said "yes" I would return. Then I found out I was pregnant with Luke. They offered me a "delayed return" scheduled to return to flying when Luke was 6 months old. I haven't been paid during these past 6 years, nor have I taken advantage of flight benefits (other than our trip to Florida), and I haven't received any other benefits (like medical, etc).

While we were travelling this past week, I realized that I didn't miss the job at all. My life has taken a turn for the better. I'll gladly trade in long San Juan layovers, 24 hours in Honolulu or a 3-day in Madrid to watch my children fall asleep every night and then to be the one to greet them in the morning. Children give you a perspective on life like nothing else. They make you think about the things in this life that matter.

There aren't many things that we can take with us when we leave this world. But, I want to be making every effort, every day, to make sure I get to spend forever with my children.

Flying to Florida

Bryan & I have been wanting the boys to experience flying on an airplane for quite sometime. I am scheduled to return to work at Delta when Luke is 6 months old (next month) and I plan on resigning. How could I leave these boys for 3 days at a time? So, knowing that our days left to fly for free were numbered, we planned a trip to fly to Florida to visit Mark, Denise & Silas & a day with Mickey & Minnie! Other than Henry being sick the majority of the trip, we had a great time. It was especially nice to see Silas, the boys only first cousin. (That's him in the picture). We did hit Magic Kingdom on Friday, an experience that will be discussed in a later blog. Connecting in ATL wasn't nearly as stressful as I had imagined. The boys even pulled their own suitcases most of the time.

Happy Birthday Nate!

I can't believe Nate is 6 years old! Here is a picture from the day he was born. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on! I love you Nate!

A Very Special Day for Luke!

Today was Luke's baby dedication at church. This was a special day not only for Luke, but also for me & Bryan, Nate & Henry and all of Luke's family.

A dedication is different than a christening. We present Luke to the Lord and ask for wisdom and guidance while we raise him. We also pray that one day he will committ his life to Jesus. The rest of the family and our friends promise to help us raise Luke to be a Godly man. Our Pastor did a wonderful job and the service was so touching. He even wrote a letter to Luke, to be opened on his 12th birthday. Wow, I hope I can make it 12 years without peeking inside! You know how curious I am.

I hope Luke knows how much he is loved, not only by his immediate family, but he is loved by so many more.

Nature vs Nuture

Luke is so happy. He really is. If you (as a stranger) take the time to speak to him, he will smile. Almost guaranteed. It's like he's saying, " I have 2 brothers, I love them but they drive me crazy. They're always waking me up with loud noises and poking my cheeks. Thanks for being nice and speaking to me." I'm starting to wonder: how much of a good disposition is born in a baby and how much is what we teach/do to them.

Possibility #1 - They follow our lead. I'm a much happier Mom this time around, I worry less about little things, like changing peepee diapers (I just don't do it, I wait until there's poop), or do you feed them at 3 months, 4 months or 5? Maybe babies get vibes from us. They pick up on our moods & imitate them.

Possibility #2 - It's all in their nature. They're born happy or they're born fussy & grumpy. I have definitley had 2 fussy babies. Nate & Henry couldn't have been more difficult, but with Luke it's just going fine.

Possibility #3 - We teach them how to behave. They become so used to being waked from their naps, feedings disrupted & being left in the crib to cry while you attent to "more important things" - the breaking up of big fights, the wiping of hiney's, or turning off the bath water before it overflows - that they grow to be more tolerent.

Joy's verdict - #1 & #3 may be true, but #2 is out. Luke sleeps 2 hours at the most at nights. I feel okay every morning, maybe because I've discovered Red Bull, but maybe because I've adapted. So I think nuture has more to do with disposition than nature.

Lesson I've learned- while having 2 brothers has it's drawbacks, a big perk is that you become very tolerent of many of the problems you will face in life.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of men my boys turn out to be.

Welcome 2009!

Well, the tree is down (actually it was down the day after Christmas) and the toys are (almost) put away! I am very excited about 2008 coming to an end. It was a great year seeing that we added Luke to our family, but I am excited to see what exciting things await us in 2009. Nate, Henry and Luke had a great Christmas. Santa managed to squeeze down our chimney and left lots of goodies for good little boys. Hope you had a good one!

A Robot that cleans my floors!

Well, Santa knew just what to bring this year! I have a new best friend. Mr. Roomba has been all over my house cleaning up dust bunnies, crumbs, etc. When he is working, I have a new motivation to clean. And it really works. This morning I locked him in the laundry room & my closet for about an hour and returned to find a clean floor! Amazing. I love this guy.

Thanksgiving

I love this time of year. I look forward to putting up my Christmas tree, I enjoy shopping on Black Friday (even Walmart at 5am), and I love making my Christmas card. Since Bryan and I got married (1999) we have made a Christmas card with a picture of our family. Until 2003, it was just me and Bryan and the cats, but now we enjoy taking a family picture to share with our friends & family. Each year, it becomes more of a challenge to get everyone looking at the camera & happy. Here are a few of my failed attempts at this year's card.

Laid Back Luke

Luke is so precious. He absolutely adores his brothers. The mere mention of their names brings a smile to his face. If they are touching him, he's happy. But, suprisingly he is a very light sleeper, which isn't good considering the noise level at home. And he's not the easiest baby - but we are enjoying every minute of his babyhood.

Nate

Nate...

He's so much like his Dad. He pays attention to detail. He has to know exactly how it works. He loves the science behind things. That is probably why his favorite thing to watch on TV is "How Its Made" on the science channel. He doesn't like chocolate, he loves raw vegetables. He will pick a pepper or a tomato off the plant and bite in.

He loves milk and vanilla wafers and it is crazy about his new brother.

I miss him so much while he is at school, and so does Henry. Luke misses him too, he just doesn't realize it yet.

O Henry

Henry has beautiful eyes. He is changing so fast right now, turning 4 was huge for him. He actually slept in his bed all night 2 nights this week (not consecutive nights). He is so loving. He wants to fall asleep with my arms wrapped around him. As I'm trying to teach him to fall asleep without me, I keep reminding myself that 10 years from now I'll probably give anything to get to fall asleep with him in my arms. Oh, in this picture he has on 3 pajama shirts, and I wonder why I have so much laundry...