Thanksgiving has come and gone.  The leftovers have been eaten or made into something delicious like turkey pot pie.  I had grand intentions of posting all the things I'm most thankful for this year, like a healthy baby boy named Jonah, funny and smart kids like Carter and Evan, a loving and supportive husband like Shawn, but I just never got around to doing it.   (My list of things to be thankful for could go on and on by the way.  I'm a very blessed person.)  I even have a sticky note on my computer desktop with ideas for posts, one of which being what our menu is for the week.  That's how life has been lately though...we haven't even eaten regular meals.

Even though our lives have been busy and hectic and a whirlwind, Carter and Evan still say the funniest things.  So I'll leave you with this little conversation Carter had with my parents after seeing a commercial for an Active Adult Living Community on television.

Carter: Gran, why don't you live in a retirement home.  You're retired aren't you?
Gran: Well Carter we don't need help yet...
Carter looks at Gran with a very skeptical look.
Gramps: We do live in a retirement home...we're both old and retired and this is our home.
Carter looks convinced.

The funny realization I had after this conversation is that the older I get the younger older people seem, but to Carter my parents seem really old, old enough to need assisted living.

Carter needs to remember though that his "Old" Gramps does silly things like this still.

What's For Dinner

I read this blog every week. I'm a natural meal planner and organizer so when I found this blog I fell in love. Plus, I've won two of her giveaways. It's always fun to win something. Now that I'm adjusting to life with a newborn and two other children I'm back in the kitchen. It makes me feel one step closer to my "old self". So, here's what I'm cooking this week.

Monday: HEB Deli Turkey cranberry salad wraps on whole wheat tortillas. ( I love the Mission brand whole grain tortillas ) with a tomato and feta cheese salad.

Tuesday: Pancetta Leek Pasta & Salad

Wednesday: Broiled Salmon Teriyaki , Cilantro brown rice (maybe I'll post the recipe some time), and steamed green beans.

Thursday: We attend small group at church for a little Bible studyin' and eatin'. We eat every time we're at church it seems.

Friday: Shawn is playing piano for an event located downtown. Carter is going with a friend to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate going up a reading level for their AR program. Evan and I will probably eat some left over soup from the freezer.

Saturday: Hopefully I'll get Shawn to take me out...or all of us out. Or maybe we'll just eat Pizza. The kids have been wanting to watch Captain America in our home theater/garage and eat pizza.

Sunday: ...I can't plan this far in advance...

**Post edit** The pancetta leek pasta was delish. We had zero leftovers. Good thing I wasn't planning on eating it for lunch the next day.

Jonah's 1st Photo Shoot

Sunday, in between crying, pooping, eating, more crying, and a little sleeping my mom and I tried doing a photo shoot with Jonah. He's 4 weeks old, so I feel like these can hardly be called newborn photos, but getting to things of this nature are difficult for me. I wasn't too pleased with most of our pictures, but after editing them to the best of my ability I'm a little happier. Maybe within the next few days I can stage a few more photos and hopefully get something to frame soon. Let me know what you think.

The Sick House

Our house has been the sick house for a few days now. Sunday afternoon Carter started throwing up and within an hour Evan was throwing up too. Jonah and I escaped to my mom and dad's to avoid the plague. When stuff like this happens Shawn immediately goes into pandemic mode. He wears a surgical mask, rubber gloves, and enters a room with two cans of Lysol as his weapon of choice. A neighbor across the street kept giving me updates on how many times Shawn was going outside to wash out trashcans. Poor thing!

I came home at one point, leaving Jonah behind with my parents, to find Carter walking through the house naked looking for more toilet paper. The back view of his sick little body was NOT CUTE! He had made a huge mess in his bed and was worried he would get in trouble. I put on my surgical mask and gloves and stripped the bed. Yuck. I do not do these things well. The whole time I gagged and prayed I wasn't going to get sick.

When I came home Monday night Shawn had come down with a cold and was pitiful in bed. Thankfully there is a twin bed in Jonah's nursery that I've been using the past few nights. Just to be safe I'll probably sleep there again and continue to disinfect light switches, door knobs, sinks, and countertops for a while longer. It's hard to tell if they're still sick or not because both boys are running around like crazy maniacs already...in fact, Carter and Evan are wrestling in the back yard as I type. Thankfully they still have their shirts on.

I don't have a picture of the sick ones for this post. It was too gruesome to share. I do however have the sweetest picture of Carter from a few years back when he was sick. He was chosen to represent his class for a school wide coronation and ended up getting sick sick sick the day of the show. It was too late to get a backup so he had to follow through with his duty. He was so sweet and mild mannered that day. Sometimes I wish he was always just a little sick.

Relay For Life 2011

This past weekend was Relay For Life. I have a strong connection to this event not only because it's fun and raises a lot of money for the American Cancer Society, but because both sides of my family have been touched by cancer. I also have been the Event's co-chair in my community two years in a row. This year, with the birth of Jonah, I had to take a step back when it came time for the actual event. It was hard to let go of the control I like to maintain. (I like control.) The American Cancer Society staff and my other co-chair did a great job picking up the slack that I left when I had Jonah. In my opinion though the event wouldn't have gone as well without my mom and her role on the Relay For Life Committee. I felt like she was a lot of the glue that held the event together and she was a tremendous help! Thanks mom for all your hard work!

My Aunt Helen was there for the...oh, I don't know how many years in a row... She entered Jonah in the costume contest where he placed second.

These guys didn't make it in time for the costume contest because they were eating a hamburger in the food court. In my opinion they would have won for most outgoing. Evan is the Ninja on the left, Carter is the phantom on the right, and Carter's friend is the phantom in the middle.

My mom, my Aunt, and I Relay for their dad, my grandfather, Albert Smith who died of colon cancer over 20 years ago. Luminary bags were given in his honor by all of his daughters and my grandmother.

I also Relay for all the Cancer Survivors who walk the track. Some are surviving for 6 weeks and some are surviving for over 20 years. It's a touching sight to see them all together walking their victory lap.

I love Relay For Life! It's a fun event...even Jonah thought so. But, by about 8:30 we were ready to go home and snuggle together in our big comfy chair.

First Day of School

Here's a little rewind back to August.

Let me tell you, school couldn't have started early enough for me this year. I was SO happy when they finally went back to school (even though I had a few tearful moments thinking of Evan starting kinder.) OK, it wasn't just a few moments, it was like the whole entire day. I was 7 months pregnant and hormonal. And, he was my baby.

Evan is in Mrs. Hahne's class. She's the same teacher that had Carter two years ago. I actually heard from some of the staff at the primary school that she was excited to have another Cheek boy. I'm not going to lie, she might be a little crazy. Cheek boys are a lot of work. Evan strategically picked out what he was going to wear the night before. He wanted everyone to think he was a "soccer ball player". He's never played an organized soccer game in his life. Anyway...he also decided to style his hair all on his own too. Can you see the bald spot right in front? I guess he thought his hair was getting a little long on top.

Carter is good at the first day of school by this point. He's a second grader, he's in a new school and loves feeling like a big kid. His hair is his strength, power, and pride. I even jumped into the room mom pool this year. We'll see how that goes as the year goes on. So far, I've only had to write a letter asking for money.

(Taking pictures on the first day must be painful.)

They've both survived the first six weeks of school. Carter made all A's and Evan's teacher said he is such a thoughtful and giving kid. Both boys had perfect attendance and don't complain about getting up in the mornings. Evan doesn't like buying his lunch. He says "the food is horrible and they don't even have spinach on the sandwiches."

4+1=5

With a little encouragement from an auntie of mine I've decided to come back and try my hand at sharing again via this blog. We've always got something going on around our house. Sometimes it will be worth sharing and sometimes it may be so shameful that we'll keep it all to ourselves until we're ready to admit it ever happened. (Like the time Carter pooped on the floor and a curious Evan picked it up with his bare hands. Uggh, I shudder at the memory.) Our newest member of the family, Jonah Cheek, was born October 13 at 5:26am.

He was by far the hardest pregnancy, labor, and delivery I've experienced. I want to say it will be the last. I'm like 99.9% sure. The .1% is me not wanting to be that person that says in a snooty voice, "Oh, I'll never have another child...this is it for us." Then find out a year from now that I'm pregnant. Let me assure you though, we do not have plans to add on to this family right now. The house is full. No vacancy at the Inn.

Jonah doesn't have much of a personality yet, unless you count eating, sleeping, and pooping. He does stare off into space occasionally. That's pretty cool, since seeing his eyes are a new thing. The most entertaining thing about Jonah is the things that Carter and Evan say about him, or rather, their observations about babies and how they come to be in this world. This is mostly what you'll see on this blog. Updates on what's going on at the Cheek household and the goofy things Carter and Evan say.

For now, I'll leave you with the first thing Evan wanted to know when he showed up at the hospital to meet his new brother Jonah for the first time.

Evan: So mom, did he come out of your butt or your mouth?

(Carter, sitting next to him horrified at the thought of either option being a possibility, get's up and walks away)

Me: Trying to move past this conversation I say, "It was near the butt".

(Evan is distracted by Jonah, and starts playing with his feet.)

Evan: Wait, (quizzical look) did you say near the butt....

Here's our first family photo. When I asked someone to take it I remember saying, "can you get a picture of the four of us". I had to correct myself when I realized we are no longer a family of four, we're a family of five. Five times the love and five times the fun and maybe sometimes it will be five times the tears. But, if I get and am able to give five times the hugs and kisses it will make up easily for the tears.