Emily: Will we take the crib with us if we move?

Me: Yes, we'll take all our furniture.

Emily: But what if we don't have any more babies?

Me: Papa Jim built that crib so will will save it and your children can sleep in it.

Emily: What if I don't have a baby?

Me: Then Ethan's kids will sleep in it.

Emily: Ethan isn't going to get married.

Me: Why do you say that?

Emily: I know it.

Me: Then maybe Emerson will have a baby who will use it.

Emily: I think I will marry Emerson.

Me: You can't hon, that's not how it works.

Emily: Well, who can I marry?

Me: One of your friends, maybe Sebastien or Ben.

Emily: Ben. And now he doesn't have to call me "Friend" anymore.

Me: What should he call you then?

Emily: Honey.

Then today Emily comes into the living room with my drivers license.

Me: Hey! Where did you get that?

Emily: From Ethan.

Me: Ethan! Where is my wallet!

Ethan: I don't know.

I found it on their kitchen toy in the play room.

Me: Ethan, what were you doing with my wallet?

Ethan: Looking for dollars, my need some dollars.

Me: Ask your father.

I run over to the hospital where the x-rays were taken to get his films to bring with me to Children's Hospital. I hadn't packed anything for the kids for lunch so I had to stop at home to get some food and rush into Boston to make my appointment.

I get there and all the way up to the orthopedic department only to realize I had left the x-rays in the car. So I check in and the girl tells me that it will take her a few minutes to prepare his chart so I have time to go get the x-rays from the car. I go do that, and it didn't take as long as I thought, but as it turned out they wanted new x-rays. Thankfully the radiology dept is very close to orthopedics and we didn't have to wait. It was pretty much in and out all day. When we got back they were ready to see Ethan and talked about what type of cast he would need and right into the casting room we went.

He has a "buckle" fracture of his first and second metatarsel in his left foot. So the bones are fractured on one side only. Because he is such an active kid they decided to put a waterproof walking cast. Its pretty cool. It can go in the bath, pool anywhere. He picked a cast with soccerballs on it. He thinks it's a big band-aid.

After that we just came home. He's doing fine, hobbling around a bit but not slowed down too much. He has to wear it 3 weeks then he should be back in business.

First of all, Ethan was in only his diaper....He was put to bed in fleece pj's. David picked him up and put him in his bed. I picked Emily up and she started talking:

"put that down........no,no,no,no,no.... Ethan!......stop that"

She was sound asleep.

Anyway when he woke up Monday morning he was still limping on it and it was a little bruised so I called the pediatrician and brought him in. The doctor sent him for an x-ray, although she didn't feel it was broken. She wanted to be sure because fractures can be hard to diagnose. So off we went to the radiologist. Ethan was great. We had to take a couple extra pictures, because he moved. But at the end of the day he did great. He was cute and sweet and behaved -- which is pretty good.

When the doctor called we discovered there is a fracture. So he will have to see an orthopedic doctor and who knows what he will say. How do you get a 2 year old to stay off a foot long enough for it to heal? Hopefully they have an idea about that.

Emerson has been suffering from ear infections for the last month off and on so he has been taking various antibiotics. He ended a cycle the 22nd of December and we headed to NY for Christmas on the 23rd. We drove down to New London to catch the ferry as we usually do and it was an uneventful ride. As we reached the Long Island side Emerson began to fuss. By the time we were in the car and underway he was crying like I had never heard him cry before. It was a horrible sound. He continued to cry for the next 40 minutes solid, and could not be consoled- we tried everything! So we drove straight to the emergency room in Riverhead.

As many of you know I have spent alot of time in the Riverhead ER in my last few trips to LI , so much so that I am beginning to wonder if we should continue visiting there or just insisit my parents always come to us, haha.

To make a long story short his ears were still infected, and now he is back on antibiotics and has to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to possibly have his ears tubed.

Christmas was really nice. We spent it with my parents and the kids had a wonderful time. We brought less than half the gifts the kids received but there was a huge pile under the tree. It was so much fun watching their faces as they opened the gifts.

The weekend was tough for Emerson. He was uncomfortable and battled a fever all weekend. So David and I headed home with the boys on Tuesday and Emily stayed with my folks 'til Friday.

When Emily got home on Friday we had a second Christmas with the gifts we had not brought to LI. The kids were pretty excited, and maybe a little overwhelmed too. David and I are definately overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we have to finds room for now!

The other news is that we have adopted a second cat. Alot of people were shocked we got the first cat, since we are dog people, but we can't have a puppy yet with the kids so young. Anyway Finley, we thought, needed a friend and our neighbor's cat had just had kittens so we decided to take a calico. We took her home when we got back from LI-- and Finley was not as pleased as we had hoped. He tries to pounce on her at every opportunity. I think they will grow to love each other but we will see. The new kitty is named Orla.

We wanted a name like Finley that had sentimental origins, but nothing really fit. So we decided to go with another Irish name. The decision was between Orla, Sinead and Molly We ended up going with Orla since it was the most unique.

David and I are such huge partiers that we were asleep by 11 PM on New Years Eve. That is what having 3 kids and 2 cats will do to you! But we do have some resolutions. They are mostly involving fitness, reducing clutter and getting more sleep. The kids are both in swimming for the new year and David is going to get Emily on skis in the next week or so. There is a small ski area about 2 miles from us.

So, that brings us up to date on the family. I'll keep you posted on ears, swimming and skis.

Happy New Year!!

This morning Emily had dance class. It was uneventful as usual, I dropped her off, came home and put Emerson to sleep, played with Ethan a few minutes then he and I went back to get her (David was working in the basement...I didn't leave Emerson home alone haha)

When the baby woke up I piled all the kids into the car for a trip to the mall. Yes, I took ALL THREE kids to the mall, in December. The plan was to get pictures with Santa and lunch, MAYBE do a little shopping ...I wasn't holding my breath.

We get to the mall and stop into the Apple store quick, just to say hi to some friends of mine who work there, so far so good. Then to Santa. First good sign, no line!! One family ahead of us, which is so great 'cause the kids can only wait so long before it all goes to h*&$. The last few years have not gone well. One has always been crying or scared or fussing in some way.

So now it's our turn, both Emily and Ethan jump right up on the bench next to Santa and start in on their lists. I am feeling optimistic, so I take Emerson out of his seat and bring him over. I give him to Santa and stand next to the photographer. We were able to get 5 different shots and still no crying!!! It was great. The picture came out pretty well too.

Now the kids are hungry and asking for food, so I decide to take my chances in the food court. I figured I would keep both boys in the stroller and it shouldn't be too rough. We get our pizza and find a table and Ethan is asking to get out of the stroller. This scares me. If he takes off I am in trouble. I warn him if he shows the slightest hint of getting out of his seat he is going back into the stroller. He say's "OK, Mommy". I don't believe him, but I decide to give him a chance anyway. All kids stayed in their seats and ate their lunch with no problem. I must be dreaming, somebody pinch me!!

The day continued to be great, the kids behaved while I shopped a little bit. We came home and Emerson took a nap and so did Ethan and I. All and all a very successful day. We even took a trip to the supermarket before dinner with no issue. Both kids ate dinner without having to be threatened and now they are watching a little TV before bed. Life is good, today anyway, tomorrow may be a different story.

I won't think about bedtime still to come, it is bound to be a doozy!

Claire with Raphael and Sebastien; Daphne and Kathy with Fred and Ben; and me with Emerson, Ethan and Emily. The kids were playing well in the yard and the moms were talking. The 3 oldest decided to have some races and Claire, Daphne, Kathy and I watched them run across the yard.

Emily, being at least 4 inches taller than either of the boys, won every time. Ben got frustrated, he wanted to win, so he decided he wasn't going to race anymore. But instead of giving up he decided to be the "ready, set go-er!" So Emily and Sebastien lined up for the next race and Emily won again. Well, this was more than Sebastien could take. He got very upset, stomped his feet and cried. But then he shouted loud enough for all of us to hear- in a voice full of determination "I will never give up!!".

Emily couldn't understand what the problem was, she explained "I tried my best and ran fast so I winned."

Of course you did, honey, of course you did.

I must have forgotton momentarily that Emerson crawls, because I put him on the bed and proceeded to change Ethan's diaper without looking at Emerson. So when I look up I see him halfway off the edge of the bed, the far edge. Then, in a move not unlike something you might see in Charlie's Angels I leap across the bed to catch him. But unlike the Angels I miss and he goes over the edge onto his cute little face. I rush over to pick him up, crying, but not too badly. He's fine, a little knot on his head but no worse for the wear.

Between this and Emily's bead incident, the publishers of Parents magazine will not be calling the Dobrindts for an article on child safety.

Ethan is doing great, talking so much. His speech is coming along well. He learns so many new words everyday. I think his favorite thing to say (other than No! or Why?) is "Stop that...More!!" He is trouble with a capital T but so cute.

Emerson is growing so quickly. He has finally gotten forward motion to his crawling so as soon as he gets all the parts moving together we will really be in trouble. He has 2 teeth... one on top and one on the bottom, on opposite sides so he has a silly smile but he is soooo happy. Now if he would just eat something solid I think he might actually start sleeping through the night.

Life is good even if we are sleep deprived, seriously sleep deprived.

The ride down went well, we brought Ethan's carseat on and strapped him in so the only real trouble was him kicking the seat in front of him despite our efforts to discourage it. There was no crying, shouting or fighting for 2 hours! So therefore it was a success. We brought lots of snacks and activities for the kids (stickers, markers and movies). I think we were pretty well prepared.

On Friday we drove up to visit one of David's friends from work, Uncle Bill, and his family. They have an amazing home north of Atlanta, his wife is a great decorator. It was alot of fun. He has girls 8, 5, and 3 so Emily was in heaven. The girls played Polly Pocket and put on their own version of HSM. If you don't know what that is ask Unc, he's an expert.

And with the exception of one escape by Ethan it was a lovely evening......I'm blocking out the horrific traffic we had to sit in for the ride up. Anyone who complains about Boston traffic should try driving around Atlanta at 3:30 PM.

On Saturday we had a nice relaxing day with David's parents. Their neighbors came over for pizza that evening and Larry entertained us by exploding diet coke and mentos. We are planning to perfect the experiment while we are in Virginia Beach next week, I think we have worked out the kinks.

Sunday morning was our trip home and after such a good trip down we thought we would have a rough trip back, but no, it went fine. Actually it was better than the ride down. All the kids were well behaved and Emily got a real treat. She got to be a flight attendant for a day. Miss Lisa, the flight attendant in our cabin, let Emily help her give out all the snacks in coach. They announced over the PA that she would be helping and thanked her at the end of the flight. It was fun.

We are glad to be home, but in just a few days we are off on our next adventure. A 15 hour dive in the mini-van!! I'll let you know how it goes

Anyway on her first day when I picked her up I asked her counselor how she did that day. She said she did well and in fact had gotten a bullseye at archery. Our girl is a star, I knew this all along. But, I was surprised they did archery. So I asked the counselor, "You give arrows to 4 year olds?". Yes they do, small ones. And its one kid to one grown up and all the other kids are out of range.

So, look for Emily on the 2020 US Olympic archery team.

Imagine any evening, 7:30 PM..... the kids are in bed and all is quiet ....until.....

Emily: (whispering) Ethan, call for Dad.

Ethan: (whispering) Daddy

Emily: (whispering) No, no. Go to the door, say it louder!

Ethan: (screaming) DA- DDY!! DA- DDY!! DA- DDY!!!

Emily: (laughing) Keep saying it.

She's a trouble maker that one!

All in all having them share a room has been pretty good, so far. Ethan really likes being in there with her and gets upset if he has to go to bed without her. And he has finally stopped sleeping on the floor, so things are good. Now if he would just sleep past 5:30 AM.

Emily is going to camp. Right now she is at her preschool and she is having alot of fun. In August she will go to a full day camp for 2 weeks at the YMCA. Hopefully it will wear her out, but I am not getting my hopes up. She is incredilbly curious about the world; and after a drink of water went down the "wrong pipe" she made me explain in technical detail -from begining to end- all the "pipes" that make up the digestive system.

Ethan is a devil with an angel's face and I love every inch of him. For the last month he has been a bear about going to bed, screaming crying and stomping feet. It has been hard not only to get him to bed but also to keep him there. I think we have won the war though. We took a hard line with him and just gated his room off and let him do his worst- regardless of wether it was bed time or the middle of the night (god bless Emily she sleeps though it all!! Emerson too actually.) Now he is done fighting it and goes to sleep with little or no protest. We do however often find him asleep on the floor behind the gate instead of his bed. One morning I found him there and he got up and said with a smile "sleeped right there" spoken with a slight Boston accent and pointing at the floor.

Emerson is so full of smiles, oh, he is cute. And I have no bias at all. He is rolling over now and sleeping well. He spend most of his time watching his siblings play (and fight) it keeps him entertained. We are going to start him on solids in a week or two, I'll keep you posted.

David is working from home alot which is great, but when he was away for our anniversary (he came home in the evening and we had a nice dinner) the thing that was memorable enough for him to post was his conversation with a ticket agent. It's true love.

All in all things are good. We spend alot of time outside, or at the town pool, wearing them out in hopes of a solid night's sleep. We have big dreams around here......

Last night she asked to speak to Emerson on the phone but he was already asleep. She was disappointed, so I told her I would hold the phone to his ear while he slept and she could sing him a song. I listened instead! It was about the cutest thing I ever heard. I will try to write down her song as close as I can remember.

"lullaby, goodnight, sleep little baby. be happy little baby. in the morning you will smile. happy little baby"

All of a sudden Ethan starts saying "hat, hat, hat" and pointing to the brook. Sure enough there was his little baseball cap (my favorite one I might add) floating downstream. There was no way for me to save the cap, the edges of the brook are pretty dense with foliage, and steep, and I had Emerson in the Bjorn so wading into the creek was out. So we watched the hat float off and eventually sink. I felt weird about just letting it go, but what could I do?

Back in the house I was getting Emerson changed and Ethan comes trotting up chatting away, pointing and gesturing "hat....duckiees...dropped....hat. dropped...hat....duckies ha hat" Yes, I tell him, the duckies have your hat. We can't get it back, it's OK. But he keeps on talking in his adorable little voice and pointing first at his head then toward the brook "hat...hat...dropped...duckieees"

Its the first time he has tried to tell a story and it's so cute. He kept telling it to me, and everyone else all day.