This boy loves his cars.  

 He found my lipstick.  I'm glad one of us is brave enough to wear that shade.

 Sometimes a boy just needs to sit in a box, OK?

Me: Whatcha doin'?

Kai: Oh, I'm just finking (thinking)

I couldn't resist.  He fell asleep and I put his Superhero cape on him and took pictures.

Kai, "pumping" milk from his "buggies"

 Relaxing on a Sunday walk.

 X-Rays at Shriners.  He was excited about changing from his pants into these cotton shorts.  

This was taken in December (I think).  Grey was about a month old.  Kai loves being the big brother!

I detect a theme, here...

 And me.  This is from a while ago (I was still pregnant).  I'm usually behind the camera; there aren't a lot of photos of me so enjoy it.  It'll be the last one you see for a while.

Medical gloves on Kai's feet per his request.  It's never boring when Kai's around!

Also from a while ago.  In the waiting room of my OB's office.  I'm not sure we brought enough McQueens..

From Christmas.  Kai and Grey with their cousins.  So many Rivas boys!!  I love it!  From the left: Joseph, Kai, Baby Grey, Jacob, Baby Evan, and Matthew.  

Merry Christmas 2012

This year my greatest accomplishment was creating a human being.  Here I am, still in the creation stage.  36.5 weeks with baby #4.  

Then, at 11 PM on Saturday, November 10, my water broke.  

NINE LONG HOURS LATER, this little man was placed in my arms:

Grey Carlos Rivas

November 11, 2011

9:38 AM

6 lbs 11 oz

20 inches

blue eyes, dark hair

He was a sweet, tiny little thing.

First my sister came.  I didn't take any pictures because I don't like her very much.

Just kidding.

Carrie, why didn't we take more pictures???  People, I love my sister Carrie.  She and I have so much fun together.  I'm sad that we only got to keep her for a week.  

She left and John's mom, Elizabeth came.  I am a truly blessed lady because I have a fabulous mother-in-law.  She is funny and sweet and a joy to be around.  Both my boys just love their 'Mama Ani'!!

After Mama Ani left, my mom came. It was sooo nice to have her come visit.  A girl needs her mom.  I wish she would move next door.  Truly, I do.

 Just in case you missed the look my little Hailey Kate is giving the camera, here it is close up:

j

She was so over having her picture taken.  I love that girl!

My mom and me

Baby Grey, one month old

I Wish...

...I would've taken a picture of Kai's face yesterday when, in a store, a lady came up to us and started talking to him in baby talk--EVEN AFTER I told her he was three years old.  His face was a perfect mix of disgust and incredulity.  It was priceless.  

Daily Dose of Kai

Sometimes I blog more for myself than for anyone else.  I've forgotten a lot of the cute things my girls did because I didn't write it down or take a picture.  Thanks to advancements in technology (oh, how I love my smartphone!), most of Kai's cuteness is photographed and recorded.  

This, for example (did I already post this one?  I think I did.  But it's just so dang cute!):

The cutest little pouter on the planet.

And of course, Target's "ABC trashcan".  He can't read, but The Boy recognizes letters when he sees them!

 New t-shirt.  He's graduating from little brother to big brother and he's so proud!

 Kai also loves my phone.  He loves to take pictures and videos and then watch them.  He wanted to take a picture of the baby.  So here you are, people of the internet.  My 17-week GUT.

 Forget the carts with the steering wheels.  Kai nearly always insists on getting the "baby" carts.  I know, I know--he's not buckled.  But he's happy and adorable and I'm standing righttherenexttohimalways.

This was in Kai's fortune cookie at dinner the other night.  Strange?  Ironic?  Coincidental?  Truly fortuitous? Kai has lots of medical opportunities in his near and distant future.  I wonder which one will be "interesting."

Hmmmm.

P.S.  Potty training is going great!  He reminds me now when he need to use the bathroom.  Our biggest impediment now is (oddly enough) ME!  Lifting Kai onto and off of his little Lightning McQueen toilet is taking a toll on my back and tailbone, which are always weak and achy starting at about 20 gestational weeks (this is thanks to a 20-year old tailbone injury).  

Ryan's Room in Kai's Room

These tiny wooden people and their household have been packed in a box for the past five years while we moved around the countryside. They now live in Kai's room, on his bottom two closet shelves (until I find them a new house).  I love these dolls because they are durable and unisex*.  

It's interesting to watch how Kai plays with these dolls and furniture as opposed to me or the girls.  My girls and I would be all about setting up the rooms and posing the dolls.  Kai couldn't care less that the bed is in the kitchen and the toilet is in the living room.  And to him, the home is not complete without a few matchbox cars scattered here and there.  

*Even if they were girly, I'd love for Kai to play "house" with them.  Some of you may not agree with boys playing with "girl" toys.  That's OK.  There's a fabulous children's book by Charlotte Zolotow entitled, "William's Doll".   For every parent with a son, it's worth a read--and then a good, long think. 

It's Working! My Blog is Working Again!!

Blogger did some "updating" a few months ago which rendered my blog completely useless to me.  I couldn't post ANYTHING.  I was thisclose to giving up on this blog and starting over somewhere else...I'm so glad I don't have to now!

FIRST thing's first: Baby is doing great. This week is 16 weeks for me.  I'm mostly over being sick.  I'm just in that awkward is-she-getting-fat-or-is-she-pregnant stage.  We've already had an ultrasound and Baby's long bones are measuring on track with his gestational age with no indication of dwarfism (more later on how I feel about that).  We'll have another ultrasound on July 5th to re-measure.

NEXT, all kinds of Kai cuteness from the past few months:

Art.  This boy loves working on "projects".  This is probably because his sisters and I also love working on "projects."  

Mis-match day.  One of those days when nothing is clean except stuff that doesn't even remotely match.  But here in Oregon that's cool.  

What started out as "helping" me with the dishes turned into an impromptu Kai-only hot tub party.  

Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones but a few weeks ago I became obsessed with emergency preparedness.  I made 72-hour kits, bought a 55-gallon drum to store water, started hoarding small bills and change, and created a folder with all our important documents, including ID pages for all of us.  Kai wanted to make sure I got a shot of him with his precious bike.

What a ham.

I included a full body shot in his ID kit (the girls' pages only have headshots) and all his medical information.  Look how big he's getting!  By the way, this is his favorite outfit he's wearing: "truck shirt and bball shorts".  And yes, he says "bball", not "basketball".  They're his favorite because his dad wears bball shorts, too.

Rare snow.  This was waaay back in, like, February.

Throwing snowballs at the girls.

His round little footprints are my favorite!

  

Rhubarb Crisp

From the Recipe Book Everyday Food


"Rhubarb is a vegetable, although it is typically used in jams and desserts; its tart flavor makes it the perfect companion for fresh strawberries, or in this case, strawberry ice cream."


Serves: 12 
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 35 minutes


Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter; chilled, cut into pieces
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Strawberry ice cream, for serving (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Slice the rhubarb stalks on the diagonal into uniform 3/4 inch-thick pieces.  Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish; toss with 1 cup of the sugar and 1/4 cup of the flour.


2. In a food processor, pulse the remaining 1/2 cup flour with the butter until the clumps are pea-sized.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the rolled oats, and cinnamon; pulse just to combine.  Sprinkle over the rhubarb.


3. Bake until the rhubarb is tender and the topping is golden, 35 minutes.  Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.