January 2008 Blog

December 2007 blog

12/17/07   Just a few stories to brighten up your Monday! Here are a few of the things going on at our house that keep us laughing...

   Sophia was singing to her babydoll, who was in a basket which Sophia had decided was a boat. She was rocking the "boat" back and forth singing "Row Row Row your boat" to the doll. The end, which kep getting repeated over and over sounded like this. "Moley, Moley, Moley (merrily?), Like a Butter dream..."

     Sophia had what we call a "whiney day" the other day. Not sure if she wasn't feeling well or just whiney but she just WOULDN'T stop whining. We were all getting fed up with it until Lucas deicded on a solution. Everytime Sophia whined, Lucas pointed his finger at her and screamed as loud as he could, "WHINE! WHINE! WHINE! Sophia is a Whiner Butt!" (Ok, so he got the name from me, but she really WAS being a whiner butt!) I fell out laughing and of course, the rest of the day, everytime anyone whined, they got the "WHINE!" treatment. The good news is, it was so sudden it even got Sophia laughing :)

     Bella has fallen in love with Elmo. She has a little Elmo doll (courtesy of Aunt Melissa and Uncle Steven) whom she hugs constantly. This wouldn't be all that humorous except that she calls him Elbow. I've tried to tell her over and over that it is El MO, but she just won't give in. It's a riot to see her lovin' on her little "Elbow".

   Have a great day!

12/16/07   And so here we are again. Today is the 3 year anniversary of the day we lost our little Emma. Amidst all the excitement of birthdays and the holidays, we took a few minutes to light Emma's candle and think about the few wonderful days we shared with her. We are so lucky to have a few pictures of her and we sat down with the kids and talked to them about each picture (and all the ultrasounds, there are about 30 of them). We love her so much and miss her. The kids don't really understand yet, just that she's in heaven. Lucas still asks to hold her keys and wants to know if she has a car. Sophia is pretty content to just cuddle Emma's stuffed animal lamb. Will and I wish it was that easy for us too:(

   Feel free to send up a little prayer for her and let her know we are doing ok and we miss her. We've sent up ours today and know that she's watching over us and the kiddos.  

12/13/07   Since my last update, the kids had their 3rd birthday! They had a great time. First. PawPaw was in town (Will's dad). The kids (all 3) really bonded with him and had a great time playing with and showing off for him. For their birthday, the kids got birthday doughnuts, then opened presents (this happened all day long). We all piled inthe car and went to the "Enchanted Forest) where the kids got to see lots of neat Christmas trees, and even a peek at Santa himself. There was also a really huge train set with.... THOMAS!!! (a favorite around our house these days). The kids got Chik Fila for lunch, then they wanted pizza for dinner. Overall, a very successful birthday. Check out the pix in the December folder!

   Some new phrases have been flying around our house. Lucas's new favorite is, "That's not right." He likes to throw it out there when someone does something they shouldn't be doing, like pulling hair or throwing things. Sophia's newest favorite is asking us a BILLION questions every second. We finally got the, "Why? Why? Why?" conversation. We also hear, "What's that?" for things she already knows what it is, but I think it gives her some sort of satisfaction that she can make us answer.

   Bella Boo learned a new trick and has mastered it already. She can crawl up on a chair and onto the table in about 2 seconds flat. We have had to lay all of the chairs around the table down on their backs if no one is sitting in them. Otherwise, we find her sitting in the middle of the table (or standing). She has figured out that she has to lay on her tummy and scoot backwards to get down,. but sometimes she misses the chair, so she's no longer allowed on the table (ok, she wasn't every REALLY allowed on it, but we're being really careful now.)

   Anyway, keep checking pix. We're updating alot recently, and also some new videos will be up shortly. Have a great Thursday!!!

12/6/07   Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!ok, so now that THAT is out of my system :) (hey, I had to! It's my last birthday in the 20's!) Lucas and Sophia are getting really excited for Saturday (their 3rd birthday). Sophia saw the presents the other day (wrapped) and tried to barter with me to open "just one" now. She is definitely MY daughter. This is her new tactic with just about everything. She asks for one, and then if she is granted that, she automatically needs two. She'll even make it sound like a deal by saying, "I need JUST two." What a character.

    Bella is dancing up a storm these days - you can tell from the new videos. Will thinks she looks epileptic in her "dancing with glow worm video", but I contend that she is bringing back grunge, complete with headbanging.

   Lucas has started to tell us that everything is funny and/or goofy. He has really started to notice humor in little things, which cracks me up. He has the most adorable laugh something tickles his funny bone and he has no problem yuckin it up. He's been sure lately to tell everyone, "I'm a funny guy." How cute is that?

    The kids got to see the Christmas parade here in Bartlett last weekend. They were pretty amazed at all the lights and floats. We didn't expect it to last so long, so after an hour, we decided to call it quits (it started at 5 and we hadn't had dinner yet). They were tired anyway from a BIG outing to pick out our Christmas tree at the Christmas tree farm. We opted out of sawing down our own since we only had two adults and three small kids around, so picked a precut one. The kids got to help pick and we chose a 10 foot tall one. Wow, it looked big on the lot, but we got it home to our 10 foot ceilings and realized that they slightly underestimated the size of the tree. A few chops later and it fits perfectly! See the pix in our December album! The kids have had a blast decorating it, especially when they realized they could wear the ornaments as earrings (i love the picture of Lucas's mismatched ball earrings!).

    We're having family pix taken tomorrow, and I think we are going to try to visit the "real" Santa at the mall tomorrow too. Then the kids' birthday is Saturday. We get to "help Santa" and deliver the presents the kids picked out on Monday, then it's ALMOST CHRISTMAS! I'll update again soon, but check out our new pictures and videos! 

November 2007 blog

11/29/07    We're gearing up bigtime for the holidays now. The kids have stickers on the calendar so they exactly when the next events happen. First we have PawPaw coming to visit (and my birthday), then THEIR 3rd birthday, then Nana/Papa, and Aunt Neenee/Uncle Ryan are coming in, then CHRISTMAS!!!! After that, it's off to Indy. We've got a busy month planned! We are counting days on the calendar (they know up to 15 by heart, then they know the rest on and off).

    I heard our first REAL conversation yesterday and was totally astounded. We waited so long for words and worked so hard on sounds and then I turn around and they are having their own independant conversations. It's CRAZY! I was getting Bella's shoes on her to go outside and Lucas and Sophia were already heading out the back door. (Noise outside)- Sophia "What's that noise?" - Lu "That's a choo choo train." - Phia " No it's not. It's an airplane." - "No Sophia, it's a choo choo train!" (as he said that, the train honked) - Sophia "Oh yeah, it's a choo choo train! U right! Let's go!." Wow. And then they ran out the door like it was no big deal, leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open...

    Bella pointed to a balloon in the store the other day and said, "Baboo". She also knows the fan goes "RaRaRa - round and round". And when you ask her to do it, she spins round and round too. It's WAY cute. She has also learned to pat her chest when she wants a turn, and lift her arms and say "uh-puh!" When does this happen? Where are my babies??

   We got to "help Santa" the other day. We went to the store and got some presents for local foster kids. I told the kids that sometimes Santa can't make enough toys for everyone, so sometimes he calls families that he knows have really helpful kids and asks them to help. Santa called our house and asked that Lucas and Sophia help pick out some presents for two special kids this year. We are going to take them to "the office" where Santa's helpers work and they will give them to Santa. The kids are really geared up about helping Santa and they had a great time picking out some gifts for the kids. They are such sweet kids, all three of them. We are truly blessed. Despite the whining, the crying, the occasional thrown food, the shouts of "NO!", the refusals to go to bed, the hitting and pushing, and tantrums, Will and I catch ourselves almost every day laughing at something one (or all) of them is doing or saying. We are constantly amazed at the progress that all three have made and how resiliant they are after all they've been through. I can't imagine my life without my kiddos, I do know that it wouldn't be nearly as fun or exciting. (I also would be rested and showered, but come on, who needs showers and sleep??? :) It's the little things that matter the most, like the big comfy blanket the kids call the "Family blanket" because we all huddle under it like a tent and laugh at eachothers' static-y hair, or the marching parades we have all around the house as a family, all with random instruments (I seem to always get stuck with the spoons...) which typically end in complete tickle-meltdown. I always wanted to be a mom, but I never realized that I would learn so much, laugh so much, that my heart would ache so much with hurt when they hurt, pride when they learn new things, and a sense that of love so big that it overtakes my senses. I have to say, it is the most beautiful thing in the world to whisper to my kids that I love the, and get back, "I love you SO MUCH mommy!" (and I get a big kiss blown to me from Bella when I say it to her.) I am quite possibly the luckiest person in the world. Someday, when my kids go back and read this blog (I hope to print it for their baby books), I hope they realize that they, along with their daddy, are the most beautiful things in the whole world. Happy holidays... now let's WRAP PRESENTS! :) 

11/15/07    so it's been a while. All three kids have been sick in the meantime, and we're all finally recovering. Gotta love the first real "sick" of the season :(

But now, with the fevers gone and the snot drying up (i know, lovely visual, right?), we're back to our rambunctious selves and doing (and saying) some pretty crazy stuff. Here are a few favorites recently to brighten your day.

    Will and I were standing in the kitchen the other day talking and Lucas "pulled up" in his cozy coupe car. He "drove" right up to Will, and Will, having experienced the bruised ankles and shins that usually come along with Lucas's driving style, instinctively put his foot up on the front of the car. He sat there for a minute and we continued our conversation. Will gave Lucas's car a little push with his foot and Lucas looked right and Will and said (very sternly), "William Gockley, Don't DO THAT!" I promise, I almost fell on the floor laughing. Will just sat there with a shocked look on his face...

    Sophia's new phrase that we aren't so sure we appreciate is, "I do it anyway. I go to Timeout." hmmm... I guess timeout isn't painful enough to prevent the behavior, maybe we need a new approach...

    Bella has started to talk a little too. She is saying "Chips", "Socks", and "Shoes." She also understands when someone says hi or goodbye that she should wave, and when daddy leaves in the morning, she blows him kisses every day. She also took me by surprise with her astuteness. We were talking about the ceiling fan (what is it about babies and ceiling fans???) and how it goes round and round. About 15 minutes later, we were on the floor playing with the crib aquarium and she figured out that the lever makes the starfish spin around. I saidn "look Bella, the starfish is spinning round and round!" to which she imeediately pointed and looked up at the fan and said "RaRa (I'm assuming that's round and round)". Hmmm, pretty clever! Bella finally had her 1 year checkup. She's 31 inches tall and 24 lbs. For all of you counting, that's the 90th % for weight and the 95% for height. She's gonna be a big'un!

    Lucas has continued his intense fear of the dark, but has now become curious about things that happen in the dark. He has become very interesed in bats and ghosts (thanks alot Halloween). Lucas and Sophia also like to tell me all the things they like and don't like now. All day, I hear, "mommy,. i don't like broccoli" or "Mommy I like playing outside." We get a rundown of all the things they like and dislike just about every hour on the hour. Lucas finally ran out of things to tell me yesterday and so he just said, "I don't like....anything." Spectacular....

     Phia is still obsessed with dolls and we NEVER see her anywhere without one. Everytime we get ready to leave, we have a lengthy conversation about how many dolls she needs to bring with us (the rule is 1, but somehow, she feels the need to argue it every time). We forever hear, "OH! I forgot my babydoll. I be right back." She's started to walk with her foot down (out of tiptoe) now even with the leg brace off! It honestly hasn't hampered her at all. We're still running, jumping, dancing and somersaulting all the time!

    Happy Thanksgiving!!!!  

     

11/6/07      Well. trick or treating was certainly interesting. The kids enjoyed carving the pumpkin and by was it a letdown to see what was actually inside. Still, they were pretty impressed with the jackolantern once the candle was inside. After costuming, we went to a few houses where the kids actually knew people, but after weeks of practicing, they immediately became mute. They refused to say trick or treat at all (however we got a tiii tee from Bella!). We squeezed out a Happy Halloween at one house with the promise of another piece of candy. Actually,as we were leaving that same house, the kids practiced saying (AND SCREAMING) their trick or treats, so at least the neighbors got to hear that they could in fact speak :)

     Lucas has developed a method for easing his fears about the dark. He has created an imaginary friend named, ok are you ready for this?, Honey Dodey (pronounced hoe-knee doh-dee). Honey Dodey sleep with Lucas and as Lucas put it, "watches over me all night." So far, Honey Dodey hasn't made it out of Lucas's bed, but I did manage to get out of him that he is a boy, he's big, and he has straight hair. What an imagination!

    Sophia has begun randomly reciting entire nursery rhymes that I didn't realize she knew. She busted out Humpty Dumpty yesterday, and today she told me all about the crooked man who walked a crooked mile. These are recited only between the million recitations daily of the alphabet and counting (which is now to 15 in English and 6 in Spanish).

    As for Bella boo, shes' a year going on 4. She's climbing everything, her favorite game is "Chase me!" as she RUNS away, and she has started calling Lucas "Dawdy", - Sophia's nickname for Lucas. She still has ear infections (Sophia is sick now too), so we have a sick visit planned to the pediatrician tomorrow morning (too bad her 1 yr. appt is scheduled for Thursday!).

    Have a great day and I'll update again soon!

October 2007 blog

10/31/07     Happy Halloween! Brace yourself for the update of all updates :) So we've been gone awhile.. I got alot to say :)

      We spent the last week at Nana and Papa's house. The kisd tried a million new things, from S'mores from Aunt Neenee's firepit, to Costume Parades in Nana and Papa's neighborhood. They got to feed ducks up close and personal, and they even got a chance to eat out (Boston Market, let's just say we had the restaurant to ourselves by the time we were done eating). I'm going to have a really difficult time remembering all the wonderful things that were said and done since I updated last, but it suffices to say that they are older and wiser than they were before we left.

    Let's see, Bella Boo... SHE'S 1 Now!!!! Bella had her first birthday on October 24th, and we celebrated in style. She got to spend the day with our friend Melissa, and got some presents too. Then on Friday when daddy came into town, Bella had her party with presents and cake! Check out the pictures! She walks exclusively now, and can run too. When we got home, she climbed the entire play structure in the backyard by herself, then went down the slide by herself (w/ supervision of course). She is starting to say some words and repeat some too, like Dada, mama, doggy, nana, papa, sissy, bubby, kitty. etc. She took a major spill the day before her birthday and tore up her face pretty bad, but she's healed and now knows better than to fall onto wooden magazine buckets. :(

    Sophia has picked up some new words like Jalepeno and Guacamole. She also cheers for everyone, (ex."YEAH mommy! Nice JOB!") all the time and declares that everything is SO PRETTY! Sophia got her leg brace on Monday. I had nightmares before we got it of putting it on her and having her fall down and not be able to walk. Again, she continues to amaze me. We put the brace on her and she literally took off running. She played for hours without it even phasing her. She even climbed the slide without hesitation (mind you, she cannot point her foot past a 90 degree angle). NOTHING slows this child down. She is very proud of the brace too, so I guess it's really just MY hangup with the whole thing. It's amazing what we learn from our children. Not only does she wear it without complaint, but now she runs smoother, falls less, and walks almost completely "normally". What an amazing kid.

    Lucas has really kept us on our toes recently.  We had to call poison control (he climbed onto the table and tasted Purell), find Will's only set of keys for his truck (which took two days, and he only has one set because Lucas already lost the other set- Will had to carpool to work), clean up Bella after Lucas fingerpainted her face and hair with Boudreaux's Butt Paste (diaper rash cream) - which by the way, Bella stood completely still for, and fix various other scenarios in which he finds himself. He's OUT OF CONTROL! On another note, he keeps us wondering about where he gets his phrases. Recently he has told us, "I dont' see well in the dark either.", When I asked him if he was going to give me a kiss or what, he replied, "WHAT!", and yesterday at dinner, he held out his hand to Will and said, "Hi Daddy! Nice to meet you!". HMMM..... Lucas has also developed a serious fear of the dark. We've been trying to quell it with nightlights, but he is terrified to go into any room that has the lights off, and somewhere he heard about ghosts, so we have to keep reminding him that there are no such thing as ghosts. We also set him up at night with a spray bottle full of "ghost repellant", which of course everyone knows that ghosts are scared of a single spray of water with vanilla in it! :) 

    Overall, it's been a pretty entertaining week! I'm putting up pictures of our trip in the October folder, but look for Halloween Trick or Treating pix in the new November folder, coming soon! Have a great day and thanks for being interested in our kiddos!

10/15/07     Our words have gotten out of control! Our newest favorite words are Tapioca (a favorite for obvious reasons) and daddy got them saying Encyclopedia. I don't think they have a clue what it is, but they sure like to scream it! We've gotten fun new phrases like, "Cool Daddy-o!" and "C'mon Bella, Walk to me! Let's DANCE!" We've also mastered several new songs, including Yankee Doodle, Pick a, Pick a Pumpkin, and Where is Thumbkin. We're up to 13 now in counting (Did you know there were numbers beyond 10? The kids were shocked!). We've also been discussing lately what is inside a pumpkin. Rather than just tell them, we asked the kids to tell us what THEY think is inside. So far, we have gotten answers such as popcorn, leaves, lettuce, and booka booka (we're still not sure what this means). Won't it be a shock when we carve the pumpkin and all they see is slime and seeds?? Imaginations are a wonderful thing :)

    As for miss Bella, we couldn't figure out why she's been fussy again, and one evening, as she threw her head back to wail, Will looked in her mouth and saw 2 new teeth! She now has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom! Go figure. She got all 4 top teeth in about 2 weeks! Bella's birthday is next week and we are really looking forward to seeing her devour cake and ice cream. The kids still aren't sure it's ok for her to get presents (and they don't), but I keep reminding them that theirs isn't far off. Gotta get new video of Bella walking, she's a MANIAC!

   We'll be in Indianapolis next week, so I may or may not get an update done! See ya when we get back! 

10/11/07    And just when I thought we were past the terrible 2's!!! In the last two days, the kids have managaed to break into my room and dump an entire bottle of nail polish remover onto the carpet (one of them had to scale the dresser to get it) and an entire bottle of sunscreen onto the computer desk (luckily, it didn't get in the keyboard). GRRR.... Time to update the child locks!

     Our favorite phrase around here is "Watch me mommy!" Both Lucas aned Sophia demand to be watched for every little thing they do, and when mommy is busy, it's not uncommon to hear, "Watch me Lucas, Watch me Bella, Watch me Sophia, Watch me Sadie!" When Daddy is home, he gets the pleasure of watching every bite at dinner, every dance move, every jump, etc. too. They LOVE to put on shows for us, showcasing all of their talents :)

    Bella boo is walking almost exclusively now. She got so steady on her feet SO fast. She balances really well and catches herself before she falls most times now. She's started talking some too. She says Bye bye, YES, uh oh, mama, dada, and nana.

     A note about Sophia: We have been noticing that Sophia's left ankle has been getting tighter/ stiffer lately. When we pointed it out to the Physical Therapist, he told us that it's common for this to happen during growth spurts when kids have been through what Phia has. For those of you who don't know or don't remember, Sophia has a stroke when she was 3 weeks old and we were told then that she may never crawl/walk or be able to use her left side. She has been pretty amazing at overcoming this, but still has always had some weakness in her left leg. We had Sophia fitted for a leg brace this week and she will wear it for a while to make sure she maintains flexibility while she strengthens her muscles in her left leg. I was feeling pretty sad about this (i know i know, it's not group therapy here) but Sophia is so positive and I had to laugh when she got to pick out her the specifics of the brace. The orthotist gave us a whole book of colors and patterns to pick from and what did my little girl pick? Pastel hearts, pink velcro and purple foam. I swear we tried so hard to get them gender neutral toys and treat them the same, but somehow, she turned into a girly girl when I wasn't looking. Oh well, at least she knows what she likes! Which speaking of, the other day we were picking out what clothes to wear and Sohpia (who now thinks she should exclusively pick out her own clothes) says to me, " Mama, I want to wear these jeans. They match my flower shirt." WHAT? They MATCH???? Boy do we have our hands full :)

10/4/07     All about Sophia...... Well, the other day, we were outside playing and Sophia was busy demanding things/trying to get me to do things. Ater a barrage of "mommy, i want to swing, mommy hold my babydoll, mommy push me, mommy help me....etc." She decided she was thirsty. She then said, "Mommy, go get my sippycup." I told her that we would get it when we went back inside. She continued asking over and over, which I ignored sinceI had already given her my answer. The insisting escalated, and she eventually shouted, " Mommy, go get my sippy cup RIGHT NOW! " Needless to say, I was  a little shocked at this brash demand. She caught on to my reaction, and continued to demand until I told her that I would not listen to her bossing me around and that she didn't get to demand things like that. She replied, "Mommy, go get my sippy cup right now... please." :)

     Sophia's newest favorite phrase is "Watch MY!" Meaning Watch me. I've tried telling her it's ME and not MY, but she doesn't care. All I hear all day long from her is, "Mommy, Watch MY swing, Watch MY jump, Watch my run, (typically followed by, ooh! i run SO FAST!)etc.So the new phrase on the street..... WATCH MY!

    She is also really into telling me how pretty everything is. At dinner alone the other day, she told me that my limeade was SOOO PRETTY and that her egg noodle was so pretty too. She finished up with, "ooh! Mommy is SO pretty!" which I of course didn't mind. :)

     ok, the other two kids? Lucas sings songs all day. He's memorized yankee doodle, oh my darlin', shoo fly, skip to my lou, and several others. he loves to dance and sing. THe other day, he walked up to me and said, Mama, I love you too." Completely out of the blue. Love the sentiment, need to work on the delivery/concept :)

    Bella is walking so much and is talking too. She calls Will Daddy and me mama. She answers questions with "YES" and when she wants to say no, she says BA. Confused? So are we. They are all getting cuter everyday, but i guess I'm a little biased. :)

10/1/07     First of all, check out our new videos! We've got a bunch of new ones up, and it shows everything from walking, singing, dancing, and much, much more! Entertainment for the whole family (or of the whole family, or something like that...)

    The kids are getting so big~! They are are getting really excited about Halloween and are really starting to grasp the concept of Trick or Treat (well, they know they get candy, that seems to be enough for them to get excited).

    We've been working on a special present for Nana's birthday this week, which got us talking about birthdays. I was telling the kids about the upcoming birthdays (Bella's, then mine, theirs, and daddy's). I told Lucas and Soph, "Mama's gonna be 29! Is mama old?" I know, loaded question. Lucas looks at me and says, "No mama, not old. Mama is NEW." AWWWWW, ok, so he was my favorite that day :)

     Sophia has started imitating EVERYTHING I say to Bella. She repeats it to her baby dolls. Yesterday, we heard her in the backseat of the car saying, "Walk to me poppypee, walk to me." Good job poppypee!" Hmmm. exact words from me to Bella.. She also tells everyone "Good job!" for instance, today, she threw a ball and said, "I threw the ball! Wow! Good job me!" She definitely keep us laughing with all the funny things she says.

    Bella actually prefers to walk now! she's walking probably at least 50% of the time, and really enjoys it. She is starting to talk too! We were in the store today and she waved at a man walking by and said, "bye bye!" Of course she wouldn't repeat it (words or wave) to the cashier when we left, but whatever. So she doesn't want to perform on command....

     Overall, we're having a great time, and getting a lot done! I finally got Sophia's (and hopefully Bella's soon) room painted. It's light pinkish peach. Now I have to do the faux finish and the turrets for the complete princess room (hey, it's what Sophia requested). Hope y'all are having a GREAT start to October!

September 2007 blog

9/24/07    So, as you can see from the vieos, Lucas and Sophia have mastered the alphabet (well, pretty much- we still miss a few letters between l and p, and Sophia ends the song with now my ABC's, you with me. And lucas ends it with, Now I said ABC's, next time won't you ABC's, next time won't you ABC's, next time....). But, overall, they pretty much have it down :) We're also really starting to figure out this potty thing too. Thank goodness, I can start to imagine a day where I'm not changing diapers every few hours (instead, making frantic trips to the closest bathroom and praying for no accidents- wait, why am I excited about this again:) We've also got numbers from 1-10 down in English, still working on French and Spanish though.

    Bella has really taken off walking, although she refuses to do it for the camera, so i'm still working on getting video of it. She's getting really steady on her feet and really adventurous and confident too. She finally started to pop that 4th tooth through, so we're hoping for a short break after this one from teething. We'll see.

    you can see from the pictures that we went to the fair this weekend! I LOVE the fair, but you can really tell that we are city folks when it was a really special treat to see the farm animals. The kids were in awe of them, and even somewhat frightened (I think when the rooster crowed, it really got them). They got to try fair food again (Bella for the first time) and Lucas and Sophia got to go on their first carnival rides! Lucas tried the motorcycle ride with Logan, but they had to stop the ride to get him off because he FREAKED out! He was still hesitant, but better on the bumblebee ride with Daddy, and Phia and I rode together too (she refused to let me make the bumblebee go up though). All in all, a great trip and even no sunburns!

9/20/07    I know, I know... it's been too long. It's been crazy around here! We've been to the water park, played outside ALOT since it's been a bit cooler, and perfected the art of play doh towers. We're almost done mastering the alphabet, colors, and numbers (ok, well up to 10) but we're learning them in English, French AND Spanish!  The kids have picked up many new phrases like "Shoo fly, don't bother me", " That's Hot!" (Paris Hilton would be so proud), and my personal favorite," I'm at the end of my rope!". They are singing songs like Wheels on the Bus, He'll be coming down the Chimney (to the tune of she'll be coming round the mountain) and Twinkle Twinkle little star. Oddly enough, they can recite about 5 books each (it's really sad that we never read to them) and even know when to turn the pages in those books! It's amazing how fast they are growing up.

    Bella has decided that even though she can take steps on her own, walking is for the birds... or the big kids anyway. She can't keep up with them trying to walk, so she's sticking with speed crawling for now. She has started to say certain words like Mama and Dada appropriately and definitely gets her point across when she doesn't have the right words.

    Will just got back from a business trip, so I'm looking forward to a little help the next few days, since it's just been me and the kiddos since Monday morning. We did all sorts of fun stuff though, like cooking, picnics in the backyard, slumber parties (the only way I could get them all down at once), and library trips. Speaking of, the library is a new obsession in our family. We actually can BRIBE the kids with new library books. How WONDERFUL is that?? They love new books and reading SO much that we can get them to do just about anything with the promise of a new book to read, or in the case of major bribery, a trip to the library.

    Keep checking our pictures and videos, they are being updated pretty regularly. Stay tuned to the videos for the kids' newest trick- potty races! You have to see it to believe it....

9/5/07     Just a quick update to brighten your day. Last night at dinner, we were practicing our ABC's. Sophia was getting involved for one of the first times (she wouldn't participate at all, then last night she busted out with ABCDEFG, and about 1/2 the other letters!). We got to W, I said "Say W(double-u)!" She grinned and said, "Double-ME!"

      We were at the doctor's office this morning (Lucas and Bella and Mama- Phia was at Mother's day out). We had to wait a really long time and ech time another kid got called, Lucas would say, "That little girl/boy got called." Finally, when the nurse opened the door to call another kid back, Lucas looked at her and yelled, "Call US!" Needless to say, the whole waiting room plus the nurse fell out laughing. (BTW, turns out Bella has ANOTHER ear infection. That's why we're not sleeping!)

Have a GREAT day! :)

9/3/07     Happy Labor Day! We got to visit with Nana and Papa this weekend!The kids had a blast and now we're getting ready for a new week, and Fall (supposedly, it's still in the 90's here). The kids are growing up so fast! We're in full swing with the potty training (the kids get a chocolate each time they go in the potty). Lucas is getting REALLY close to being totally potty trained, while Soph is still kind of struggling with the concept.  The emergence of potty training has brought up some interesting discussions though, like the differences between boys and girls. We've been trying to teach the kids the appropriate and biological names for things instead of using "cute" terms. While Nana was here this weekend, Sophia was sitting on the potty, and I asked her, "When we sit on the potty, what does Lucas have that you don't?" Obviously in an effort to get her to name the gender-specific parts, however she looked me dead in the face and said, "Chocolate..." Hmmm, note to self, ask more specific questions :)

    Also in the category of asking the "correct" question, Lucas and Nana were singing a little song, "1,2,3- monkey in a tree... 3,4,5- honey in a hive..." Nana got to "6,7,8" and then asked Lucas, " ok, what comes next?" Looking for "Hurry don't be late". Lucas looks at her and answers, "9, 10" Smartypants....

     The kids are also getting more clever in their talents at findng ways around rules. For exmple, we've been discussing how it isn't nice to knock down other people's block towers. Sophia got in trouble for crashing one of Lucas's big towers. We had the discussion for the millionth time about how you can only knock down your OWN towers and it isn't nice to knock down other people's towers unless they say it's ok. During this whole talk, Lucas was rebuilding his tower. I finally asked Sophia, "Do you understand?" To which she responded "Yes." She then proceeded to grab Lucas's hand and swing it so that he technically knocked over his own tower. SNEAKY! The good news is, this time anyway, Lucas thought it was funny.

     Bella has become a little monkey! She is climbing EVERYTHING and thinks she is 2 1/2. She climbs on the picnic table, the kids' chairs, the rocking horses (which she holds the handles, STANDS on, and rocks), and finally conquered the couch this weekend. She can officially climb on the couch all by herself. Time to start padding the floors for those inevitable falls! She is vocalizing like crazy and repeats some words, although she can't do it consistantly yet. She waves all the time though! She also wants to be JUST like the big kids. For example, Lucas and Sophia were drinking from sippies and spitting the water out on the floor  new favorite way to get in trouble. They got caught (primarily from the HUGE giggles coming from the other room) and I told them they had to wipe up the mess. They both got down on the floor and started cleaning up with towels. Bella was sitting there watching them, then put her hnds together on the floor and started rubbing the floor back and forth just like she was scrubbing it, like they were doing! She repeats what they do all the time... now if we can just filter out the ornery behavior and get her to focus on the good stuff:) Yeah right.... 

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.