August 2007 blog

8/23/07    Words are developing like crazy around here. Sounds that were missing just a few weeks ago have been found and perfected (like SH and F) and the sentences are getting clearer and clearer! Makes for much more pleasant conversation around here when I can completely understand what they are saying!

Lucas and Sophia got a crash course in pizza making last night. The favorites were pepperoni and mushrooms. I think they ate half the toppings before they ever even made it on the pizza! 

    Bella is taking a few steps at a time now, and is balancing when she does it, not just falling forward. She FINALLY popped through the top tooth she has been working on for about 3 weeks now, so the mood is a little better :)

     I'm off to exchange library books, a newfound love in the Gockley household. Thy can't get enough reading! Have a great week! 

8/16/07     It's a day of mixed emotions for mama. Today, I dropped all three kids off at Mother's Day out. Lucas and Sophia have graduated to the bigger kids class, and Miss Bella is starting to go one day a week. I am at home, it's quiet, and I have no children crying, laughing, talking, needing diaper changes, or anything. It's wonderful, and sad at the same time. They are growing up so fast! Hope everyone has a wonderful day, and I'll let you know how the first day went after I pick them all up from school (and after my nap! :)

8/13/07     This week has been a doozy! Sophia's ear got water in it, and since she has tubes, it started bleeding, so she's on ear drops, which she HATES. Bella has an ear infection, so she's on antibiotics, which tear up her tummy. So she's in a pretty foul mood (and sleep deprived to boot!). Lucas has just been plain ornery this week! It doesn't help that we can't really go outside since the heat index is about 110 degrees, so the kids are stuck inside the majority of the day (except evenings when we hit the blow up pool).

    The sentences are coming in full force these days with Lucas and Phia. Lucas told me the other day at lunch, "Mommy, Mac and Cheese tastes good to me." WOW, i was impressed. Sophia came to me crying yesterday and I asked her where she had been." In my bed." When I asked her what was wrong, she told me, "Poppypee hurt my arm!" Ok, so Lucas threw the doll, which hit Phia's arm, but she got the basics right!

   Bella is taking two consecutive steps in a row now. She also learned to climb the stairs, as well as onto the top of the kids' little picnic table. She is pretty proud of herself too :) She stand indefinitely playing with things, but still crawls in warp speed when she wants to get somewhere (ie when the kids leave the room).

    So Lucas was watching Will fill up the tires on his bike the other day with his air compressor. The kids don't really like it because it's pretty loud when it fills, but he was watching nonetheless. Will came out after putting Lucas to bed that night laughing and told me that after doing his nebulizer treatment, Lucas pulled the mask off the hose as usual. Will went to turn off the nebulizer, and Lucas said, "No turn off!" So Will left it on and Lucas took the hose and put it next to the axle of the wheel of his little people firetruck. I never would have put the two together, but it definitely makes sense! He was filling up the air in the tires! What a smart kid!

     Keep checking our videos frequently! We're putting up new ones all the time, which means we have to erase the old ones because our free membership has limited storage. :(

8/6/07      So I think she was just waiting for me to update, but I have HUGE news! BELLA TOOK HER FIRST STEPS THIS EVENING! She took a step toward the play table, AND she took another one outside standing up in the pool! What a little overachiever. She was a little shocked at first, but was so proud of herself. Go Bella!

8/6/07      IT'S HOT!!!!!!! We've been doing our best to stay cool by playing inside, as well as in our blow up pool and the sprinkler. I think we've also hit up everyone we know around here who has a big pool to play in too. We have a heat warning in 106 degrees today, and it's actually supposed to get hotter as the week goes on.... :(

    The kids are officially talking in sentences, and repeating EVERYTHING they hear. Sophia has gotten bossier than ever, and has recently become the "timeout" police. Anytime anyone does anything wrong, she orders them to timeout and persists until she feels they have "served their time." She has even ordered Bella and Sadie to timeonut (they both look at her like she's nuts). She went so far as to try to send ME to timeout yesterday. That's when we officially had the "Mommy and Daddy decide who goes to timeout, not Sophia" talk. We'll see if it sticks...

    Lucas is a wild man these days. He jumps off everything, from the couch to the coffee table, to stairs. He jumps into the pool, and off the ladder for the slide. He jumps on the trampoline and on my bed (even though he knows he isn't supposed to jump on/from 99% of these places). He sings a million songs, ranging from the alphabet (most of it), to Old McDonald. Some of his favorites still are Baby got back (thanks Uncle Jake) and Vanilla Ice Ice Baby. When the kids aren't singing songs they know, they are making up new ones. It's a riot to hear what they come up with.

    Bella has turned into a serious crabapple the past few days. She's working hard to gether top two teeth in, and it is apparantly killing her because she can't eat or sleep. She's a mess! In her good moments, she's cruising like a pro and standing by herself. She wants so desperately to take that first step, she's just not quite there yet. She is still absolutely in love with the kids, and the feeling is mutual. Neither kid EVER eats anything without breaking off a tiny piece for Bella . Bella has to be included in every game, storytime, and group hug or tickle session (by decree of Luca and Phia). Bella just eats it up. When nothing else cheers her up, the kids can always bring a smile to her face. It chokes me up sometimes how much they love eachother. Yesterday, we were in the car and Bella was overtired and screaming. Lucas and Sophia got these worried looks on their faces and when I told them that she was ok, just tired, they spent the next 15 minutes (until we got home) alternating back and forth singing songs to her to keep her entertained. When we went to get them all out of the car, we saw that they had both given her their sippy cups and they were all holding hands too. Maybe it won't last, but for now, I couldn't be prouder of my kids for being so kind and loving. Even in their bad moments, they really are sweet kids. :)  

July 2007 blog

7/29/07     It's been another busy week! First off, SOPHIA WENT PEEPEE IN THE POTTY TODAY! She has been trying SO hard ever since Lucas went and she just sits and pushes and tries, and finally today all that waiting paid off. She was so proud of herself, and she got a chocolate, which I think was her favorite part (what a little sweet tooth!). In other big news, Bella pushed herself up to standing from my leg (I was sitting on the floor). She crawled up, got her legs under her, and balanced her way up to standing! She stood there for about 7 seconds before she plopped back down on her bottom. They are getting SO big. Lucas is getting more reliable on the potty, which means we are heading toward fewer diapers!

   The kids got their first real taste of swimming today. We went over to "Aunt" Ann's house and got to swim in her big pool. The kids were a little hesitant at first, but it wasn't long before they were jumping in (into our arms). Even Bella would sit on the edge and lean forward and "fall" into our arms. They LOVED it! Check out the pictures in our album on Shutterfly!

     We finally decoded Bella's sniffing (video on Dropshots). Turns out she does it when she wants more of something. When she's in her highchair and gets something she likes, she wrinkles up her nose, closes her eyes and purses her lips, and sniffs in and out. what a silly kid!

    The older two have really taken to playing together and playing pretend. Today, they were switching back and forth being the baby and the parent. One would put the other one to bed with a pillow, cover them up and sing them a song. Then they would switch roles. I think they put eachother to bed on every flat surface in the living room! I'll keep you updated on all our new progress! Have a great week! 

7/23/07    We've had a crazy week! First off, as you may have noticed from the top of the page, or by trying to view our photos, we are in the process of changing photo sites! Yahoo photos is closing, so we are switching to Shutterfly. Our new address is http://gockley.shutterfly.com

Be sure to change your favorites link :) Right now, there are only a few pictures up, but Yahoo is in the process of transferring over all of our photos (over 2500 of them) so you'll be able to see them all again soon.

     As for the kids, Bella got her first bite (Soph was mad that she took her sippy), we broke our first window (Lucas didn't mean to), and we've learned quite a bit of the alphabet this week. The kids also learned to ride a two wheeler this weekend! (with training wheels and helmets of course). Check out our new vidoes on dropshots!

   The kids are growing up.... I got nervous the other day because the kids were down the hall and very quiet. I went down to check and they had closed themselves in Sophia'sroom. When I opened the door, Sophia was playing with one of her purses and Lucas was rearranging the dollhouse. I asked if everything was ok and they both looked at me and said, "yep!" So I just went back down to the kitchen.... nothing broken, no fights, no need for mama to entertain them....

     Sophia has taken to calling me "Mommy Jessica". Hmmm..... She actually called me just Jessica the other day. I about died. She was trying to get my attention while I was on the phone and she said, "Mommy, mommy, mommy (increasingly louder each time)." when this failed to work, she screamed, "JESSICA!" It got my attention. Lucas called me mom the other day. What happened to mommy or mama. They are growing up too fast :(

     Bella has two teeth now and is crawling at warp speed. She said night night the other night! She had her 9 month checkup last week and is 19 lbs. and 28 inches long. The doctor said she looks GREAT! Check out our new videos and we'll have the new photo site up and running soon!

7/16/07   What a weekend it's been! We officially transitioned the kids from their cribs to toddler beds. They have had the beds iin their rooms for a while, but mostly still chose to sleep in the cribs. Well, since the cribs had become more of a jungle gym than a bed lately, we moved them out of the rooms and started decorating them a bit! I'll get pictures up of the rooms soon.

     LUCAS WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY YESTERDAY! We had a big party for him and he got a special big boy toy (Thomas the Train set). He was pretty excited and so are we. I'm seeing an end to diapers soon... WAHOO!

    Sophia isn't so sure about the potty yet, but she has started to LOVE to cook. She helped me make noodles yesterday for Chicken and Noodles, and she did a great job mixing and rolling with the rolling pin. Her language continues to explode, and she's getting more and more animated with her songs and dances.

     Bella learned to wave bye bye! It's so cute, and she waves to herself sometimes to practice. She also learned to carry things in her mouth when she crawls, like a little doggy! The other fun thing she learned is to RUN in her walker and then pull her legs up and coast. It's hysterical to watch.

    We keep growing and getting bigger everyday! Keep checking out our pictures and videos to watch the changes!

7/13/07    Little Miss Sophia has turned into quite the little bossy girl lately. She is constanty telling Lucas, Bella, Me, Daddy and anyone else who will listen what to do. I find myself starting to do what she says, and then realizing, WAIT, I don't need to be bossed around bya two year old! Some of her favorite commands are, "Go get that (fill in object)", "Go! ( and if you don't move fast enough) GO NOW!", "Sit down", and various others that are just as demanding. She's quite the little character, telling on her brother and sister, but getting angry when they tell on her.

    Lucas has just been plain ornery since we got home. He tells me no before I even get the question out, which gets pretty annoying. However, despite all the "two year old" behavior, they still would do anything in the world for Bella, and she absolutely thrives on the attention. She tries so hard to be just like them, and got her first taste of talking on the phone the other night (see video). She now battles the other two for it everytime someone calls :)

    We had an interesting morning, which I'm guessing will give you a little chuckle this Friday the 13th :) I decided to get the kids dressed and let them play outside in the backyard while I mowed the back lawn this morning. I realized as soon as we got outside that it was a bad idea when we walked into the grass and it was drenched! But, since we were all dressed and ready, I figured we'd try it. I got the mower going and tried to make quick work of the lawn when I noticed that Lucas had his bubble mower out and was walking alongside me. He proceeded to trip and fall face first into the wet, freshly cut grass and came up with a "grass mask". Literally covered in grass. I looked around to see where Sophia was and she had sat down in the grass, so not only had a wet bottom, but was covering her legs and arms in wet grass clippings. After finishing the mowing, I got out the hose and sprayed off my now green children. After Lucas was hosed off, it was Sohia's turn, during which Lucas managed to run BACK into the grass and get covered again. Sophia realized that being clean meant going inside, so she too bolted back into the grass. So here's the image, me 1/2 covered in wet grass clippings, chasing around two wet, grass covered two year olds who are screaming, 'No inside, no inside!" and running in two different directions all over the yard while I am frantically chasing them with the hose. And poor little Bella is sitting in the swing looking at us like, "How did I get born into THIS family?". I did manage to eventually get them hosed off and undressed and inside, where we ALL had to hop in the shower to get the rest of the grass off. I can only imagine what this afternon will bring.....

7/8/07    We're back in Memphis, but both of our computers are broken! Sophia accidentally dumped a glass of lemonade in the laptop and for some reason, our other computer doesn't want to turn on! I'll do the best i can to keep the site and pictures updated during our technological meltdown!

    The kids had a blast in Indy,and got to be in the neighborhood parade for the 4th of July (check out the pix!). It was led by 2 firetrucks, and the kids got to climb on the firetrucks and got firehats from the firemen. They had so much fun! They learned several new songs from Uncle Jake, Aunt Neenee, Uncle Ryan and Papa, and Uncle Jake taught them to play piano and harmonica!

     Lucas actually went pee pee in the BIG potty today, and Sophia sat on the potty, which is a HUGE step since she is petrified of it. Lucas also runs around singing a variety of songs he learned in Indy, but more often than not, he changes the words to things he sees or remembers, or sometimes just nonsense words or phrases. For example, the song he sang on the video "Uncle Ryan, Uncle Ryan, hey hey hey, goodbye", ended up "Uncle LouLou, Uncle LeeLee, back back back, hello...". Who knows where he gets it?

    Sophia's language has really taken off lately. She has told me things that I didn't even realize she heard or knew the names for. She is constantly surprising me with new phrases. She's getting so big. She spent almost 15 minutes tonight putting her dolls to bed, and probably would have gone longer, had it not been HER bedtime. She kept covering them up (all had exactly the same blankets -she sorted through ALL the burpcloths to find the ones that matched), then uncovering them, moving them, singing to them, rocking them, then covering again, one by one.....

   Miss Bella is growing up literally before our eyes. She learned to clap today on command, and gets the biggest kick out of it. The kids cheer and clap, and she just claps along and beams because she knows she is so big. She pulls up and cruises now, and had learned to plop back down on her bottom to get down. She crawls up steps and over large objects (pillows, etc.). She talks ALL the time and is still just as in love with the kids as she ever was. They are just as in love with her too, so it is really fun to watch them all together. The kids won't eat a snack or meal unless Bella gets something too. They always remind me (as if I need reminding) to bring Bella in the car, or the house, or wherever we are going. I will tell them, "Ok guys, it's time to get in the car!" and they both ask, "Bella car too?". I hope they can all stay this good of friends forever! :)

7/5/07    A really short update, but I had to post it. I know it will probably humiliate Lucas in the future, but LUCAS WENT PEE PEE IN THE POTTY TODAY! He's such a big boy and he even went on two different occasions today. I have a feeling Soph won't be far behind since she was pretty jealous of the attention he got :) Also, the kids have learned some new songs since they've been here (in addition to the uncle ryan song - see videos). Titles include (lyrics from...) Old McDonald had a farm, Holla- Holla Back, Vanilla Ice Ice Baby, and Baby got back.... Stay tuned, videos to come:)

7/2/07   We're in Indianapolis visiting and the kids are having a blast. I'm just gonna post a short update since they will be waking up soon, but I'll do more when we get home next weekend.

    Last week, Nana was at our house and she brought the kids new animals for their set. Sophia's was a donkey and she tells us now that the donkey says, "SHE-haw!" (Must be a girl donkey?)

     Lucas now beeps when he backs up his trike :) Our car(since it's as huge as a BOAT) has a backup sensor, so I guess that is where he got it from. I about fell out the first time he did it.

    Bella is everywhere and started waving hi and bye bye. She is being very shy since we've been here. She just grins at people and then dives into my chest. She started cruising down the couch yesterday for the first time. She's gonna be walking just as soon as she can figure out the whole balance thing.

    We're having a great time and the kids are looking forward to the "boom booms" (fireworks- we're still missing F's and R's, so we tried to make it easier). They are also going to be able to participate in the neighborhood parade on the 4th, so we are going to decorate Lucas's trike, Sophia's double baby stroller, and Bella's stroller and walk behind the firetruck through the neighborhood! How exciting! I'll have pics up soon!

Have a great 4th and stay safe!

June 2007 blog

6/23/07    We're doing pretty well this week. Nana came into town yesterday and is here all week. Then we drive back with her to Indy for the 4th of July week! The kids are having a blast with her, and I think she's enjoying herself too :)

    We're headed to the March of Dimes awards ceremony today. We get together with all the other "mission families" (families who have had preemies or kids who benifitted from the march of dimes). We celebrate our success of this year's walk and individual successes too! Thanks again to all who donated to our cause!

    Bella is everywhere and refuses to eat baby food now. She's eating lunch meat, cheese, mac and cheese, noodles, chicken, basically everything the big kids eat, only in smaller pieces. She couldn't be happier about it either.

    Lucas and Soph are getting so big and such a great big brother and big sister. They are always helping feed, clothe, diaper, bathe, etc. Bella, and it makes it more fun for her too to have them help. The kds are talking a mile a minute and are telling me all sorts of things that I swear they shouldn't remember. It amazes me how much they know, and how much they learn every single day. Anyway, gotta run, gotta get ready for the MOD party, but check out our new videos! We have a BUNCH!

6/15/07    AND SHE'S OFF!!! Bella is crawling everywhere now, and fast too. I find her under the table, in corners, peeking around the doorway from other rooms, etc. I guess I had already forgotten how everything on the floor is game for little hands and mouths too. Things that the older ones have learned to ignore, like dirty shoes, pieces of lint, the occasional cheerio that got kicked under the table from breakfast, and that was just this evening! As if all this wasn't enough, Bella decided that it was time for another milestone today. SHE PULLED UP ALL BY HERSELF!!! She just crawled up to the little leapfrog table that Aunt NeeNee got the kids two Christmases ago and put her hands up and pulled herself all the way up to standing! Will and I were watching and we couldn't believe our eyes! Of course now that she's done it once, she tried the rest of the evening to pull up on everything she could get her hands on... the cabinet, the book bucket, my leg.... the list goes on and on. She's growing up WAY too fast for my liking :(

     As for the older two, here is a rundown of the highlights of the last two days. I'll start with a laundry list of skills they have mastered or are mastering (some more recent than others) and then I'll throw in a few stories :). They are pretty much dressing themselves completely, saying please, thank you, you're welcome, and excuse me appropriately (although they need reminders sometimes!), eating withforks and spoons all the time, covering their mouths when they cough and blowing their own noses when they have runny noses, asking for help when they need it, riding tricycles (Lucas is, Soph is SO close), jumping WAY off the ground, counting and starting to sing the alphabet, and I  know there are a bunch of others, but my brain is tired right now, so on to the stories.

     The other morning, Lucas was dangling bites of his breakfast over the edge of the table while the dog was sitting under his chair. Sadie kept sticking her nose out to sniff the food, when Lucas all of the sudden yelled, "No doggie, MY breakfast. You go to another McDonalds!" Needless to say, I fell out laughing, so now he repeats it all the time.

    Sophia was standing the bathroom with me this morning as I was "getting ready" for the day. I had put lotion on my face, brushed my teeth and was getting ready to brush my hair when I looked over and saw Soph holding my lotion bottle (lid on). She "squeezed" some in her hand, rubbed her hands together (just like I do) and then started to rub it on her face (just like I do). She was in her own little world, not paying attention to me at all while I watched her be just like me. :)

   Also, this afternoon, she had gone into the laundry room and taken the lint shield out of the dryer (a forbidden fruit). She carried it into the kitchen and dropped it on the floor. I said, "Sophia, look what happened. That is why we don't take that out of the dryer. Now there is a big mess." I took the lint screen back to the dryer and by the time I had gotten back out to the kitchen (which by the way is adjoined through the hearth room (all open and visible), Sophia had gotten the broom out and was trying to sweep up the lint. I just stood there and smiled, I mean what do you say when a two year old is trying to clean up her mess with a full size broom that is taller than she is? It was so sweet and cute.

   Speaking of.... today I caught all three kids sitting on the carpet having a cheerio and sippy cup picnic. All three were drinking out of sippies and all three were feeding themselves cheerios. They were laughing and "talking." I knew it would happen, just didn't realize it would be so soon.....

6/12/07   We have a new look and new pictures! Check out the June album in our photos and also there are a few new videos up. Still haven't figured out how to download from our video camera, but these are from nana and papa's camera when we were in Indy. Have a great one!

6/11/07 The kids are talking so much now and are saying all sorts of fun phrases. They definitely keep us laughing. Lucas has started to say NOPE to everything. He often responds with the "NOPE" before we even get the question out. He also likes to inform us everytime he stops and gos on his bicycle with a loud, "STOP! GO!" Are we ready for Red Light, Green Light? He likes to sing the alphabet, but when he gets stuck on a letter, he just starts repeating whatever letter he's on, for example, "ABCDE-E-E-E...." His other favorite phrase is, "It's H-O-T HOT outside!" I said it once, now it's stuck. Does he know he's spelling? Probably not, but he loves to say it!

     Sophia calls everyone a potato. This started one day a few weeks ago when she just busted out with, "My Dada is a potato." Well, we laughed since it was so random, and now she says it all the time. However, it has evolved to calling prople sweet potatoes, hot potatoes, little red potatoes, mashed potatoes, etc. Daddy also taught her to scream, "Dyno-MITE!" which is her new favorite word. She also has started to "soothe" me when I am upset, which completely cracks me up. If I am frustrated, sad, angry, etc. she will lightly pat my hair and say, "OK Mommy...". I realized that is what I say to soothe them (It's ok Phia...).

    Bella is crawling forward now and has developed her own method of getting to sitting. She goes from hands and knees to stretching her legs out to the side. She sits in the complete splits (side to side) and then pushes her body back over so she is sitting on her bottom in the splits. Then pulls her legs forward to balance herself and Voila!, She's sitting! Oh to be that flexible.... Bella has gotten tastes of real food now too, and for the first time yesterday, she actually SPIT the baby food back at me. Oh how fast they grow up!

6/4/07    Hey there strangers! We've been gone a while! We are back in Memphis from our trip to Indianapolis! It would probably be easier to tell you what we DIDN'T do while we were there, rather than try to list all the things we DID do. The kids got to visit the Children's museum (sit in a real racecar, play in sand and water, ride the carousel, look at dinosaurs, etc.), ride a pony at Uncle Randy and Aunt Lori's farm, take their first boat ride at Aunt Jenny and Uncle Rob's house (Which the kids insist is Kelli's house and boat - their daughter), touch/hold a snake for the first time at NeeNee's house, and visit and meet many firends and relatives. In the rest of our free time :) the kids made cookies and brownies, fished and swam in the hottub, poured water in the baby pool, rode tricycles around the house, learned to roller skate and pretty much tore up Nana and Papa's, as well as NeeNee and Ryan's houses.

   During the trip, Bella also did some amazing things. She learned to sit VERY steady AND.......drumrole please....... Started CRAWLING!!!!!! That's right folks, I now have three mobile children. What am I going to do with myself? She is alsobabbling all sorts of sounds and learned to rub her hand over her mouth when she talks to make the buBUbuBU sound.

     Lucas and Sophia's vocabularies also exploded while we were away. They learned all sorts of fun phrases, such as "More McDonalds Please!" (hey, they have a playland and it's an 8 hour drive!), " I love Nana Papa howwwwwse!" and "My mommy is a sweet potato, but Dada is a hot potato." (don't ask).

   We made it home and recovered briefly yesterday, so today we decided to "kick" ourselves back into our usual routine. The kids had school (mother's day out), and mama went to the doctor. (don't remember if i mentioned this before but I threw my back out before we left trying to pick up Lucas). Turns out it's probably a muscular problem and not a spinal one, so that's good news. It's anti inflammatories, PT twice a week (in my free time....) and a back brace for mama. After I picked the kids up from school, we raced to the ear doctor, with Sophia and Bella screaming pretty much the entire way. We got there late because of traffic, and I jumped out and attempted to put the seats back in the triplet stroller, which we have to use now that Bella outgrew her infant carrier. (I have to take the seats out every time because I haven't figured out yet how to close the stupid thing with the seats in). So while I am frantically attempting to assemble the stroller, both kids manage to kick off a shoe (the tennis shoe lace kind) and Bella manages to fill her pants. I piled all three kids into the stroller, threw the loose shoes into the bottom of the stroller, grabbed the diaper bag and ran for the elevator to the second floor. Once up there, I signed the kids in and plopped down in a chair to rest. After a two second rest, I started to get snacks and sippies out for the kids when a man walked up to me and asked, "Do you drive a blue Expedition?" I said yes and he asked, "Would you like me to close your door for you?". Yes, that's right, I am losing my mind. I got the kids all the way upstairs but forgot to close my car door. The man was nice enough to leave his two daughters in the waiting room and go all the way back down and close my door for me so the "crazy lady" wouldn't have to take all three kids to do it. It's nice to know there are still some good people in this world. Anyway, after an hour wait and cruising circles in the waiting room 5000 times, we managed to get out of the office and listen to Bella wail most of the way home.

     The good news is, the kids recovered after we got home and we spent a considerable amount of time this evening giggling and rolling around on the floor as a family. Apparantly our pest control guy forgot to spray for tickle bugs :)

    (Also, either Lucas and Sophia have learned to tickle, or Bella just thinks it's hysterical when they poke her and say "tickle tickle" because they even had HER belly laughing!)

    Always an adventure at our house. The kids are already asking for "More Nana Papa Howwwwwwse!" so we may try to make another trip this summer, maybe for the State Fair! I hope that your day is not nearly as eventful as mine has been, but that you get to hear the sweet sound of giggling toddlers and babies... you know, that sound of just absolute pure joy :)

May 2007 blog

 

5/14/07   We had a pretty good weekend. The kids are all feeling better, and Bella continues to amaze me! She is now babbling all sorts of syllables, and really enjoying it too. When she's not "talking", she's silently practicing the facial movements to make the sounds. Yesterday, on Mother's Day, we were playing in the living room and she I think she was as surprised as we were, but we got all excited and she busted out this HUGE grin! Unbelievable! She's gonna be chasing the kids around before we know it!

    Lucas and Sophia got to wash the car for the first time this weekend. They had a blast with the hose and sprayed eachother/ themselves/ the yard and even managed to get some water on the cars! They were eating lunch yesterday and Will was doing dishes. He opened up a sippy cup that had been sitting for a few days (we tend to lose them every now and then). Well, apparantly it had milk in it, and Will yells out, "Oh my God!" as he poured the contents down the sink. In return, the kids began a chorus of "Oh my God!" 's which continued the rest of the weekend. Lucas's tend to be more like, "Oh. My. God." whereas Sophia's are, "Uhmuhgaaaad." (True valleygirl style- I'm just waiting for her to bust out the "gag me with a spoon" :) Guess we really need to watch what we say a little closer....

    Lucas and Soph have also started the "Gockley 500" around the house. Since Lucas and FLY on his tricycle (parallel park, reverse, the works), he drives all over the house. Soph hasn't quite figured out the steps to make the trike move (namely keeping her feet on the pedals), so she chases after :Lucas as fast she can while pushing her double stroller with babies strapped in. Boy do they get a fun ride! And Bella just watches in amazement, waiting for the day she can join in all the fun :)

   I probably won't be posting again for a while. We have a crazy busy week (Will's out of town 3 days, kid's have eye appt's, therapy, etc. ) and then  Friday, we are driving to Indianapolis for a two week vacation! I have a feeling we'll be REALLY busy visiting with family and friends, so I'll take lots of pictures and try to keep those updated, but I probably won't get a chance to update the blog until we get back in June. Until then, keep smiling and i'll do my best to jot down the funny moments we have between now and then! Have a great one!

5/6/07   First, Happy 25th birthday Aunt NeeNee! The kids are all sick again. They keep passing this cough/runny nose/ all around yucky feeling virus back and forth. The great news is, Will and I have caught it too. :( We're a cough-y, hack-y, snotty mess around here!

   Last night, we had a little get together at our house for a few friends. We had adults, AND (including our kids), a 5 year old, a 3 year old, 4- 2 year olds, a 1 year old and a 6 month old. The kids did GREAT and were so good about sharing their toys and swings! I think they were a little overwhelmed to have so many kids running around in their backyard and house, but they seemed to have a really good time! Other than that, we've been busy making milkshakes, being sick, and playing outside as much as we can! We're really looking forward to our trip to Indy in two weeks, and we look at the sticker on the calendar daily to count the days!

    Let's see, the kids learned to do the monkey bars, although they need a little help holding on between bars. Bella gets up on all 4's now and rocks (check out the pictures in the May album!). She's also crawling/scooting backwards across the room! The kids are throwing out new words and phrases every day, and we are constantly wild and crazy around here!

April 2007 blog

4/30/07    We had a GREAT walk on Saturday! Our walk was led by Denny Hamlin's racecar, so Lucas was in heaven since he got to see (and hear) a real racecar. We got to meet some other preemies and their families, and we had a really great time in the bounce house and at all the booths for the kids. The kids also learned a new word (and animal!) at the walk. At Shelby Farms, which is where our walk took place, they have a big field with American Bison. Since the kids are still missing the "s" sound in the middle of most words, we told them that they were buffalo, to which both kids started screaming, "Buppalo!" The walk was kind of windy and we passed the buffalo several times. Everytime we passed the field, both kids pointed and screamed, "Buppalo!". Everyone walking around us thought it was hysterical.

    Today, Lucas went to Mother's Day out and Phia and Bella and I went to the pediatrician. Turns out they have ear infections.... Bella also did her 6 month checkup while we were there. She weighs 17 lbs. and is 27 inches long. She's growing like a weed! She tripod sits now, and she got to ride in the BIG stroller for the first time today (the double stroller - on Lucas's side since he was at school). The good news is, the new carseat came in the mail today, so Bye Bye infant seat!

     Will update again soon! Check out our new pictures!

4/26/07    So first I want to thank everyone who donated to our family team for WalkAmerica. We are so excited about the walk this weekend! I have the shirts (almost) made and we've been taking laps around the neighborhood to warm up!

   As for the kids, they are ornery as ever! Sophia tells everyone "NoNO!" and has gotten extremely bossy! She definitely runs the show around here, although I'm still vying for the "mama" role. Lucas just likes to do things he knows he isn't supposed to do, and often will be shaking his head no or saying "no no" while doing it. He rides his tricycle ALL over the house nonstop, so fast that I worry about little (and big) feet getting run over before I can get to them. He also can back out of corners and parallel park his bike. SCARY! Sophia is still working on reaching the pedals, so it may be a little while for her. Both kids are absolutely in love with Uncle Jake's music and ask to listen to it all the time. They are also still in love with Bella and spend mass amounts of time bringing her toys, singing and dancing for her amusement, and tickling her (they have realized that tickling and screaming make her laugh... lucky us)

   Bella is eating us out of house and home. She is THE happiest baby ever to live. She coos and giggles from the time she wakes up until she falls asleep. She is still working on getting her legs up under her.

   Overall, not a WHOLE lot of new stuff to report, but we're doing pretty well and really looking forward to this weekend! Check out the pictures after Saturday, I'm sure we'll get some cute ones at the walk!

4/19/07   I know, I know, you are thinking, "Wow, didn't she just post yesterday?" Yes, I did. So maybe I'm feeling a bit like an overachiever today, OR maybe I have HUGE news! Bella got up on all 4's yesterday for the first time! She flipped right over onto her tummy, locked her elbows (first time I've seen that!) and pulled her knees up under her. She only stayed that way for a few seconds, and spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how she did it, but she DID IT! Go team!

   As for Lucas and Sophia, Soph's new favorite word is "potato"and she says it with an accent we're still trying to figure out. She says, "Puh-taah-toe". She runs around repeating it over and over. And speaking of potatoes, this morning I caught Lucas trying to put the Mr. Potatohead ears into Bella's ears as if she was the spud. Gotta watch out for that one, Lucas spent all day yesterday riding his trike around the house by himself. I swear this house looked like the Indy 500  all day, and since he's still learning to steer, you can imagine what the table/couch/walls/ toybox/ etc. looked like too! Have a great day!

4/18/07    We're using a million words now! It seems like they learn new words and new phrases every single day. The speech therapist can't believe how much Lucas and Sohpia's speech has developed recently, and we are having trouble remembering those days (not that long ago) when they couldn't say anything! Lucas and Sophia are still absolutely in love with Bella, and she returns the affection whole heartedly! It is so sweet to see them pat her head and give her kisses all the time, and she still responds with smiles, giggles and squeals of joy everytime the kids are around. Their newest favorite is to lay on the floor with Bella and "show her" how to roll over and crawl. We'll see if she catches on, but they keep trying to teach her!

   As you can see from the new pictures, Lucas and Sophia got new shoes "with holes in them" (Crocs) from Nana and Papa. They love to run around in them and they keep telling anyone that will listen about their "Sha-ewwwwwwwwws!" The kids also spend a huge amount of time singing and dancing, and they know SO many songs! They know the motions to a ton of songs too, and it is adorable to watch them do the wheels on the bus, or I'm a little teapot (I personally like it when they tip over and pour out!)

   Bella is eating lots of different things, however she still gives me the sour face when I try to feed her fruits or veggies "straight" (without cereal mixed in). She is pulling her legs up under her now, but still hasn't figured out how to push up her arms too (which I am constantly thankful for!)

   We are looking forward to our walk for the March Of Dimes on the 28th, and are still working toward our fundraising goal. If you haven't checked out our page yet, please do so! It gives a brief history of what the kids (and we) have been through, and also talks about the mission of the March of Dimes. Thanks SO much to all who have donated, and if you are planning to donate, please do so SOON! We only have a week and a half left before the walk!

http://www.walkamerica.org/gockleybabies

4/11/07    Let's start with Bella this time.... SHE SAID MAMA!!!!!

Ok, so she had idea why I got so excited and she then proceeded to say Nama and various other babbles, but she said mama, and she said it like 5 times yesterday. WAHOO! I think Will is jealous, so we'll start working on the D's now :)

     Sophia and I are butting heads again. She has decided that SHE is Bella's mama, and she wants to carry her around (yikes!), spoonfeed her all the time, and give her toys (which I'm ok with). She also is convinced that Bella needs to have a blanket on at ALL times, which will be interesting come July and 100 degree temps. She also tries to change her diapers and burp her.... I keep reminding her that I am the mama and she is the mama to Poppypee, but so far, she's not biting. We'll see how long it is before she tries to breastfeed her too :)

    I've read that successful parenting involves consistency and reliability. I wonder if this is taking it a bit too far... So I about fell on the floor laughing the other day. I was getting frustrated with the kids, who were "being two years old." I started to get to my "walk away and take a break" point when Lucas looked right at me and sucked in a huge breathe and let it out slowly. I realized that I was JUST about to do that, and that he had beat me to my "frustrated expression." What a character. Now, Sophia does it too when I get upset, and it takes everything I have not to fall on the floor laughing. I guess maybe it's just more predictability than anything else. We ask the kids, "What does mommy do when she gets upset" and they both do the deep breathe thing. They've got me pegged! I suppose I could have them repeating a lot worse!

   

4/9/07     Happy (late) Easter everyone! We had a great time yesterday. The kids really understood the concept of hunting easter eggs this year, so we had a good time cruising the backyard for eggs. Sophia was AMAZING at it! She really took off and found a bunch, while Lucas fell a little behind because he stopped everytime he found one and ate the jellybeans out of it. :)

    On Friday, I took Lucas with me to Walmart because he refused to take a nap (he finally fell asleep around 5:30PM). We were getting some things for the easter baskets, and I got Lucas a Little People school bus. Well, he obvoiusly saw it and was talking about it the whole time in the store. As we went down one of the aisles, he looked at me and said, "little people", I said "yes, little people school bus", to which he said, "Where Big people?" I told him, "Well, WE are the big people and the little toy people in the box are the little people." To which he responded by pointing to himself with a puzzled look and saying, "Little boy". Yeah, got me there. A lady in the aisle just chuckled at us. This whole little/big thing is pretty confusing. I did a smooth over job of explaining that he was little compared to mommy, but big compared to the toys.

     Sophia has really taken off with her inflection when she talks. She runs her voice all the way up and down the spectrum, often within one word. It's sort of hard to explain without audio, but our favorite right now is when she says Purple shoes! (Nana is getting her purple crocs). The caps letters are when she goes up and the lower case are when she goes down. It sounds a bit like this purPUuhUL shOEoeOEoes. It's a riot. My mom also commented while she was here the Soph doesn't do anything without at least one doll under her arm. She will be building with blocks, or doing a puzzle with one hand and have poppypee under her other arm, completely forgotten about until you ask her if she wants to put her down. then we get "NOOOOOOOOOOO". My mom said I was the same way when I was little :)

     Bella is talking so much and eating new things too. We tried to start her on sweet potatoes, then peaches, then applesauce, all of which she turned her nose up at and made sour faces. What does the kid end up liking? Peas. Yes, you heard correctly, peas. Whatever works. Makes for "lovely" colored diapers, but for now, we're sticking with the peas. She also has gotten REALLY accurate with her hands, and is grabbing EVERYTHING! Her favorites include my brastrap (which she holds when she nurses), Lucas's hair (he actually lies next to her and just lets her pull and play with it for minutes at a time) and Sophia's hands. She loves to hold hands with Phia. So cute!

     More to come soon, have a good one and check out our April pictures!

4/5/07     Hi. My name is Jessica and this is a website about my three kids. I guess I felt like I should reintroduce myself since it's been SO long since I posted! Things have been a little wild around our house. Here's a brief synopsis of the most recent events, and then I'll try to throw in a few tidbits about what the kiddos are doing too. I'll try to post a few times inthe near future to catch up on some of the cute and new things we're doing for those of you who don't have time to read a novel right now (come on, who has time for novels anyway anymore?)

    Nana flew in on the 24th in March so Will could fly out for a week business trip. We were looking forward to a busy week, which ended up being significantly busier than we expected. Tuesday morning, Lucas started vomiting, and shortly after, Phia did too. Welcome back Rotovirus..... The kids were really sick and then the horrible diarrhea started. Long story short, Nana ended up sleeping on the living room floor with a vomiting Lucas one night, and a vomiting Phia the next. Bella only hit my pillowcase, but Lucas managed to cover my sheets with vomit, and to add a little interest to the story, our dryer broke on about Wednesday. I didn't get sick until Saturday, but then vomited literally for 24 hours straight and lost about 10 lbs (no seriously...). I almost ended up in the hospital dehydrated with a 103.5 fever, but managed to stomach pedialyte and tylenol, so I was able to stay home. Still recovering though. Unfortunately we sent Nana home sick too. :( This one is a nasty one!

     As for the rest of what's going on, the kids picked up on my mom calling me Jessica, and now both kids can say (and do say).... "JessEEEcA!" We have officially masted the milestone of "possession". I hear it's 9/10's of the law, but for some reason, the kids now think that EVERYTHING is theirs. All we hear is, "My nana, my chair, my poppypee, my truck, my mama, my cereal.. etc." You get the picture. We've also masted MINE and NO. However, we also hear all the time, I love you! and we get so many hugs a day that we wonder whether the kids are two year olds or snugglebugs. :)

    Bella is rolling everywhere and gets her knees completely up under her now. She hasn't figured out how to push up AND get her knees up yet (thank god) but she'll be crawling before we know it. She is also getting much sturdier sitting, so I think that's coming soon too. The kids taught Bella to blow raspberries with her food the other day, so i ended up covered in rice cereal AND oatmeal after breakfast. Bella, Lucas and Soph loved it though. They all just LAUGHED through breakfast! They also taught her to "smack" her mouth like she's blowing kisses, so now they all blow kisses to eachother like it's some kind of secret sibling"handshake". Only a matter of time before they are keeping secrets from me too :(

    I'll update again soon (maybe tomorrow since Will has the day off!) with more cutesy stuff, but I wanted to let you all know we are still alive and recovering...

ALSO, we are walking in the March of Dimes WalkAmerica walk to raise money for premature birth research and funding, so if you are interested in sponsoring our family team, reading about our experience, or just seeing a little bit more of the kiddos, please check out our site at

http://www.walkamerica.org/gockleybabies

We walk on April 28th in honor of Lucas and Sophia, and in loving memory of Emma.

March 2007 blog

3/19/07   The kids are finally starting to feel better, which mean the orneries are back out. They are such the little two year olds! Constantly pushing boundaries and checking to see if mama and dada will actually enforce the threats of time out or taking away the toys when they can't share. Aside from that, they are having a blast outside enjoying the warm weather. We are hearing more and more words, every single day it's something new. Will and I are getting ever more cautious of what we say around the kids too, since they repeat everything. We've learned to spell pretty well too.

    Bella started cereal and LOVES it. I have never seen a kid eat so much at once! We kept watching for her to turn her head away, or act disinterested or whatever to signal that she was done, but everytime she sees the spoon, she opens her mouth as wide as she can and starts kicking her feet. She looks just like a little bird waiting for a worm! I think she's gonna give Lucas (our BIG eater) a run for his money! Here come the grocery bills!

  

3/13/07  Good Lord, are we ever going to get healthy? We've been back to the doctor's office twice this week, once with Lucas and Soph, who were diagnosed with having "lingering infections", whatever that means, and once with Bella, who has an ear infection. GRRRR.... All of this adds up to no sleep for mama and dada. This is not such a great thing since we are both sick too! Come on Spring, we're ready for healthy kids!

   We've been busy this week, nonetheless. I learned that my kids are much smarter than I had guessed (ok that sounded bad, not that I thought they WEREN'T smart, but you know what I mean). I tried to teach them to sort the colored bricks up in the playroom, but apparantly they already knew how (or picked it up amazingly quick) because I didn't even get through the "demonstration" before they started going to town sorting by color. We had four HUGE towers of green, red, yellow and blue bricks, which of course had to be knocked down with a vengence. It turns out that they can also string beads pretty well. Since the box said 3+, I thought maybe it might be a little over their heads, but by the time I gave a brief demo, and then had to go change Bella's diaper, they both had necklaces in the works and I had to RUN to grab the camera. They are just too smart!

     Despite having temperatures and runny noses, we have played outside on our new playset a TON this week, It's been in the 70's here, and the kids have had a blast climbing the ladder and sliding down the big slide. We've definitely gotten the hang of BIG and little thanks to our two slides! They also have had a good time exploring their new backyard and getting to know the neighbors a bit too!

    Bella is fully into teething now. I had forgotten how insistant little ones can be with chewing when they want those first little teeth to pop through. She is constantly chewing on toys, fingers, our fingers, blankets, bibs, clothing, her brother and sister, shoes, and any other object that she can grab ahold of. She's 15 lbs. now, and squirmy as she possibly can be! She gave me the treat of her first refusal to sit in her carseat the other day (for you moms, you know the arching the back pose... it was lovely). Gotta love independence!

3/6/07    It's been a doozy of a week already! Yesterday, I took Lucas to the doctor because he had been up all the previous night wheezing and coughing. Turns out he has croupe.... again. and so we're back on the 'roids (steroids). Today, we had occupational and speech therapy. Since Lucas decided last night to rub his plate on his head after eating buttered noodles, he had a "gorgeous" hairdo going on. Sophia asked for pigtails this morning. They were adorable when we got in the car. 35 minutes later when I got her out, she had one pigtail and no rubber band for the other one. So i attempted to pull the other one out and give her a ponytail, but of course, the rubber band broke. So she went into therapy with a lovely 'do also. As we were coming out of therapy, the kids decided to show me how big they are. I usually just throw them in the stroller (without straps) and run them out through the parking lot to the car. Then I put Bella in her seat and put them in. Easy enough, right? Well today, as I was taking Bella out of the front pack (it takes about 7 seconds), they both threw up the trays on their seat and BOLTED out of the stroller.  Turns out they both can run really fast, especially in two different directions. I ran after them and rounded them up about 50 steps from where we started, only to send up a small thank you prayer that there were no moving cars in the parking lot at the time. We had a long talk in the car afterwards about parking lots and cars (as if we haven't had that discussion a million times). Sophia, of course, threw a tantrum and refused to get in her seat. Once in, I decided to let them play the "put it down" game (see previous entry) on the way home since they were tired and it keeps them fairly occupied. Let me preface this with, "I had been warned." When I told my mom about the Put it down game, she said and I quote, "Just be careful or you will have shoes thrown out the window." So, everything was going fine until I noticed Lucas holding a shoe (and chewing on the laces). I calmly asked him to give me the shoe, to which he said, "NO". I tried to grab it, so Lucas threw it out the window to keep it away from me. Keep in mind this whole time I'm driving on a busy street with three lanes going each way (of course I'm in the middle lane). I had to cut across traffic to pull over and retrieve the shoe (since Lucas only has one pair that fits these days). Needless to say, we lost window AND shoe privileges in the car today. Mama's tired.....

    On a lighter note, Bella has a new game when nursing. When she's done, she "detaches" and looks up at me. As soon as I look down at her, she gets this huge coy grin on her face and DIVES back in to nurse again. She does this over and over until I cut her off. She's so silly!

     Hopefully, your week is going a little smoother than mine! :) Have to say though, as we were driving to therapy, Lucas and Sophia were having an independant conversation (independant of me) talking about all the people they love. It is pretty heartwarming to hear "and I love mama" from the backseat in little two year old voices. (Of course they also love the crossing guard that works for the school across the street, and the little boy who lives next door that they have only met once, but hey, we take what we can get. I'd like to believe they said they loved ME a little more emphatically than they did the other random people :)     )

     

3/2/07     We've had several 65 or 70 degree days this week, so in honor of that we learned a brand new phrase! PUT IT DOWN!!!!! Ironically enough, Will and I have said this 50 million times to them referring to things they weren't supposed to be holding, but the kids finally picked up the phrase when it became to their advantange. We learned that when we scream, "Put it down!" in the car, the windows "automatically" go down! Then when we say "Up please!" they go up! As fun as it is in the car, it gets a bit annoying for mama when we spend 1/2 the day inside hearing, "Car, put it down!" and having to explain that we can't spend all day in the car. Bella likes the windows down too and it makes for a much more pleasant ride in the car. Plus the kids like to wave at the cars next to us when we hit stop lights.

     The imaginations have taken off in our house recently. The kids are having pretend picnics all the time, getting dressed up, and riding pretend horses all over the house. The feed their baby dolls at dinner, and change their diapers whenever they get changed.  Tubby time, the kids become fish like Nemo, and the monster babies return occasionally too (if you don't remember that, they all the sudden start screaming like monsters and stomp around the house "scaring" mama and dada).  We're singing, dancing, and playing our way through the beginning of March!

    Bella is still the happiest baby alive I think, and she loves to play with the kids. It amazes me, Lucas plays so rough with her, and she just smiles and laughs! Soph mothers her and makes sure she is covered up and has toys all the time. She runs up to her and tells her she loves her and gives her kisses too. Bella just grins every time she sees them. She actually cries in the car when the kids aren't sitting next to her, like when we drop off the kids at Mother's Day OUt. She's quiet and happy the whole way there, and then cries on the way home. At least they like eachother (for now) :)

Happy March!

February 2007 blog

2/25/07    So we've had an interesting weekend, weather wise. Saturday morning, a thunderstorm woke the kids up. Lucas was scared and woke up crying. I ran into his room and picked him up. We sat down and I explained to him that the flashes were just lightning and they wouldn't hurt him. What does Lucas do? He points to his "Cars" poster and asks me where Mater is. Ok, so cute, but then I tried to explain to him that the loud Boom he heard after the lighting is called Thunder, to which he says, "No No No, Boom (is) Mater." The rest of the storm, everytime there was lightning, he would yell, "Lightning! Mater!" and, "Mater! Loud!" What a goof. I also had to explain hail to the kids this weekend. It started hailing shortly after the previous conversation, and the kids were jumping up and down screaming, "Balls! Balls!" How do you explain little balls falling from the sky?

    Sophia has really taken to caring for all of her dolls. I think she has something like 10 that she carries around and cares for all the time. Will and I were laughing the other day because we came into the living room and there was a doll in every single one of Bella's "gear". The boucy seat, the swing, the Bumbo seat, the boppy, and her carseat ALL had baby dolls in them, all covered up with burp cloths (Phia's blanket of choice). She's become quite the little mother!

   Bella is giggling all the time and rolling all over the place. She pushes way up to watch the kids, and talks ALL the time, goo'ing and maa'ing.

    We had a little oscar party this afternoon. Mama's a bit of an awards show junkie, so we dressed up for the Oscars and colored pictures of awards today. Check out the pictures!

January 2007

December 2006 blog

November 2006