The "A" Team Update

Joyfully my younger 2 were napping at the same time and I had a minute or two to update my blog! It's about time! After a fabulous Christmas with lots of fun time with family, we have had a great start to 2012. The kids are growing like weeds and make us smile and laugh everyday.

Aidan and Asher at the Capital during Aidan's scout parade.

The shirt we made for his 100th day of school (it had to have 100 things on it).

Aidan will be 7 in a couple of months and I can't even believe it. These days he is really into Angry Birds, Hot Wheels, and Legos. He's so smart and doing great in school in the 1st grade. He has enjoyed several sleepovers this year which is new for us as parents, and is really enjoying hanging out with his best buddy Kyan. He is an amazing reader and it's fun to seem him pretty much choose any book off the bookshelf and be able to read it himself! Yesterday Aidan decorated a cake for a school Valentine's event and won 2nd place! I was one super proud Momma! He is still not into the typical sports and has no interest in baseball, football, soccer, or basketball at the moment but does want to try tennis which we are hoping to sign him up for soon but he is loving Cub Scouts and looks so darn cute in his uniform. He was in his first parade near the Capital in Austin and had a lot of fun. He still loves the color red and we are slowly making his room reflect that. He really loves holding and kissing on Abbott, and even if he won't admit it, he likes playing with his sister when he gets home from school and is bored when she is not around. :)

Our beautiful little gymnast.

Before the Daddy/Daughter dance.

Asher is 4 1/2 and cute as ever. He hair is almost to her waist and she still lets me make it look pretty most days. :) She just went to her first Daddy daughter dance this past weekend and looked so beautiful with her handsome Daddy as her date. She LOVES playing with Abbott and hanging out with Aidan and is still really into princesses (Aurora is her fave) and babies. She just started gymnastics and is doing AWESOME! Most importantly she loves it and is having a lot of fun. And of course looks very adorable in the cute leotard Meme bought her. She had her first big girl sleepover at our house with her BFF Hannah and did great!! Her favorite colors are pink and purple and she loves eating avocado, cheese, and eggs at the moment. I am so glad I have one more year with her before she starts school because this momma is just not ready to let her grow up!

Abbott is already 7 months old!!! Yesterday he showed us his new skill of starting to crawl! It was only a little bit, but he was on his knees rocking and made a couple of forward moves! He is settling into a pretty good routine, although I am still not super strict with that. He usually wakes up around 7:30 or 8 to nurse. Then he eats breakfast around 8 which is fruit and some oatmeal or rice. He heads back down for a nap around 9 and takes a solid 2 hour nap most days. Nurse at 11, then lunch which is a veggie. Nap around 12:30ish, up to nurse around 2, pick up Aidan from school at 2:30, nap from around 4-5, dinner which is usually a veggie, and then nursing and bed around 7 or 7:30. He is a GREAT sleeper most nights. He's been a little off lately because he's been a little stuffy and had a cold of some sort, but in general you just lay him down and if he has his "lovey" blanket to hold while he sucks his thumb he is out and has been sleeping all night (7:30 - 7:30) for a couple of months now. He is a great napper too! I don't even have to pat his back or rock him, just lay him down and he falls right to sleep!

Some other things about Abbott:
*Sucks his thumb at night and loves to sleep holding onto something (his "lovey" blanket)
*Still sleeps on his tummy or side.
*Has eaten a lot of different foods including: rice, oatmeal, squash, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, green beans, pears, peaches, strawberries, bananas, apples. He is not a big fan of peas, strawberries, or peaches and seems to like apples, pears, and carrots the best.
*I make his baby food and he is a little picky about texture lately. Used to like peas, now they may be a little too lumpy for his taste at the moment. He also likes to take a bite and then immediately put his thumb in his mouth. Very cute and a little messy.
*Is a great nurser still but also takes a bottle well and has formula bottles on occasion to make all of our lives easier (if we are out or if he is really fussy when running errands)
*Has 3 teeth!! 2 on bottom (at 4 months) and 1 on top (6 months)
*Babbles a lot, but nothing we recognize yet except for sounds. Today he was saying "babababa a lot so Aidan was really excited he was saying "Bubba!" :)
Loves bath time and likes to splash. He is always very content during this time. *Still has clogged tear ducts which means his eyes are gunky and goopy daily, and often times red from us cleaning them out. :( He doesn't seem bothered by it though! *Loves to play on his tummy and has no problems with tummy time. Actually prefers it and can play for long periods of time with toys scattered on the blanket on the floor.
*Sleeps great in his pack and play in our closet if we need it to be more quiet than the room he shares with Sissy.
*Gives HUGE smiles at all of us, but most of all Aidan and Ashy.
*Loves the dogs and smiles at them and reaches for them. Max has given him many of sloppy schmoodles on the face and Betty has not once nipped or growled when his pet came away with a handful of fur...
*Still enjoys his swing, bouncy seat, and exosaucer/jumper. Sometimes will sit in the Bumbo to play and seems to like it too.
*Likes to listen to music. Sleeps with it on for every nap and at bedtime and likes music time at church.
*Best fits in 6-9 month clothes but wears 6 months too.
*He is pretty laid back now, almost always happy unless he is tired, and we are all so in love with him.
*Weighs between 17 and 18 pounds - was 17 about 3 weeks ago...

On a non-kid note, Matt and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this summer. Can't believe I've been blessed to be married to my wonderful hubby for nearly 10 years. :) Love you honey.

And as for our furry children - Betty is as sweet and cuddly as ever - always wanting to be around us and in general a pretty amazing dog.



Max is gently giant of a puppy - weighing somewhere around 140 pounds. He finished puppy school and is a much better dog because of it. Before he was completely unmanageable, and now he has learned that he does not rule the house. He learned to sit and stay, down, stays on his place bed, walks well on a loose leash, and in general is a much more well behaved dog. His favorite thing to do is still sleep on the couch, and he also now sleeps in our room (on the floor - not bed!) at night. He is not perfect, and he is still a puppy.... hence the next picture...



Apparently Great Danes and trampolines don't mix when left alone together for too long...

4 score and... actually 4 months

Abbott is 4 months today. About a month ago Tiff and I were at our wits end with a colicy baby that was either crying or sleeping with not much in-between. From the time the older kids went to bed until 11 to 12 at night, one of us was rocking Abbott the entire time in an attempt to keep him happy and quiet until he fell asleep. One good TV thing I found during this time was since I was up I could watch the beginning of the Jimmy Fallon show at 11:30. When he finally fell asleep around midnight he would sleep well until 4 to 6 in the morning which any new parent can tell you any solid sleep beyond 3 hours is gold. He would wake up around 4 to 6 to eat and it was always a crapshoot as whether or not he would go back to sleep at that time. I can recall many early morning trips to the livingroom in a sleepy haze to rock a little boy that refused to settle back down to sleep. Another good TV thing I found was that Fox News replayed The Factor episode from the night before at 4 in the morning.

Abbott during less happier times.

A month later our little diaper full of cries and frowns turned into a bundle of giggles, smiles, and laughs. A couple of weeks ago he decided that swaddling at bed time was not for him, and would no longer take the pacifier at night. Both of these unnerved us not knowing then how we would get him to go to sleep. As most kids do, Abbott figured it out.

The first way had to do with self soothing which he figured out by finding his thumb. I know you're thinking "so what, babies suck their thumbs all the time." Well not our kids. Neither Aidan or Asher sucked their thumbs and had paci's until they were 1, which is when we took them away. This is a whole new arena for us, and I wonder at what point and time do I need to remove Abbott's thumbs.

Self soothing with a little thumb action

The second way, coupled with the first, had to do with sleeping. When it is time to sleep, and he will let you know when he is tired, we rock him a little and then just lay him down. It's just that simple. If he cries we give him a little time, check on him, and if he's fine let him carry on. So now he sleeps better on a schedule and when he wakes up he is all smiles; a completely different kid. Some of you may subscribe to the 4th trimester theory, I know I do. The 4th trimester is the first 3 months after the baby is born where it is all about physiological needs. Sleeping, feeding, and changing is all there is to their life. But once they hit the 3 to 4 month age they move from those physical needs to also having social needs. They react more to your voice, they smile when your eyes lock, they develop more of a personality. Abbott has finally hit that point.

So Happy 4 month Birthday little boy. You have two parents and two siblings that are head over heels for you.

BFFs

I think they are starting to like each other a bit more...

The Park

Beautiful day - we decided to take a trip to our neighborhood park.

King of the park
I don't think she ever takes a bad picture...

Our neighbor from the old house, Angelina. The kids love her!

Abbott was a big fan of the swing!

He gave LOTS of smiles and laughs to big brother. :)

Bobcat Badge

Aidan earned his first badge in Tiger Scouts - the Bobcat Badge. He was very excited. I'll have to say, he was the cutest cub scout in the group too.

Sissy love. And I love that smile with his missing front tooth!

He's always such a good boy. :)

Getting his first badge.

His Bobcat paw print.

Aidan with his new badge and his handsome Daddy.

His best friend and fellow Tiger Scout Kyan.

Drinking Bobcat pee (aka- yellow Gatorade).

They did a tribal dance during the Pack Meeting.

Big changes for Abbott!!

Big changes here for Abbott this week. After really never loving his pacifier like his brother or sister, he has decided to completely stop using it altogether. We feel like we've been trying to get him to like it for awhile now, knowing it's our golden ticket to calming him down and getting him to sleep, but he wants no part of that anymore. And after really not seeming to happy to be swaddled and it really not calming him down at all anymore, we stopped swaddling too. But - it is all working out great because... he found his thumb! And he is doing a fantastic job of putting himself to sleep these days. And looks insanely cute doing so. We are super happy that little man figured out what worked for him and we are all sleeping better for it!! I guess we have mixed feelings about no paci, knowing we can't take his thumb away when we are ready for him to be done, but it was what he wanted and he let us know that! :) He is also really "playing" with his toys - batting them and reaching for them. And giving tons of smiles and coos. And rolling over while sleeping from tummy to back. Whoo - a whole lot of change!! Love him.

Lego Time

When I was at the Women's Retreat, Jake came over and he, Matt, and Aidan put together Jake's new Lego set - a VW Bus. They stayed up until midnight. :)

It Finally Rained

We have finally gotten a little rain. Not much, but enough that the kids made it outside and got a little wet before it stopped. After about 90+ days of over 100 temps, no rain for about 3 months, and not a lot of days when we could play outside this summer, the kids were ecstatic when they heard raindrops and immediately headed outside!

Ashy turns 4!!

More pictures later - but wanted to post of picture of my beautiful daughter on her 4th birthday, Abbott when he turned 3 months, and Aidan on his half birthday.

Asher - 4 years
Asher's favorites:

favorite color - purple and pink
TV show - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Food - cheese, sushi, chips
Toys - princesses
Best Friend - Aidan
Movie - Snow White
Favorite thing to do outside - Ride my scooter

She loves her brothers so much!! She prefers cereal to pancakes any day. She is learning more and more when we do "school" and usually sits really well and pays attention. She is a great helper and a great sleeper. When I lay her down for a nap she never complains, although lately if she doesn't fall asleep she pops up after about 5 minutes and says she napped and is awake now! I usually let her stay up because she isn't usually grouchy. :) She takes a lot longer than Aidan to fall asleep at night. She needs lots of hugs and kisses, back scratches, and wants us to come in and say goodnight "one more time." She has the most beautiful hair that she still lets me do, although I don't think she likes me to do it as much now. She prefers to wear dresses to anything else. Her favorite princess is Aurora. She had her first sleepover at Miss Jada's house and did great!! She is a joy and sweetheart and blesses our lives every day!!

Abbott - 3 months

Abbott is now giving TONS of smiles. He is sleeping much better and is on a fairly decent schedule. He usually gets up around 8 and eats. Naps around 9 or 9:30, eats at 11, naps around 12 or 12:30, eats at 2, naps around 3:30, eats around 5ish, then takes a short nap in the evening after this, eats around 8, and is in bed usually by 9ish. He is getting up at least once in the night, but some nights it's more... all in all we have seen BIG improvements in sleeping since getting him on a schedule. He loves to grab his binky or stuffed animals and hug them when we put them on him. He still doesn't seem to love his paci all that much. We give it to him but he can't really keep it in his mouth by himself yet. He talks and coos a lot and has the cutest little dimple. He LOVES his brother and sister so much!! He fits best in 3-6 or 6-9 clothes. 0-3 are getting too small now. He takes bottles great and even spent his first night away from Mommy while I was at a church retreat. He took the bottles great and even had his brother and Sissy feed him. He's not a big fan of tummy time still, will sit in his swing for just a short time, and prefers his bouncy seat to most other things. He LOVES staring at the ceiling fans like his Sissy. He is holding his head up pretty good so his brother and sister really enjoy holding him a lot. He is so joyful and cute when when smiles at us!!! He still has his fussy times, but we are learning what they mean now. He still pretty much hates being in the car and usually cries most of the time although it seems to be getting a little better. He likes one song by the Wreckers and when we play that really loud it seems to help. He still loves his bath and seems to enjoy walks now that it is nicer outside.

Aidan and Daddy - looking more alike every day! 6 1/2 years

October marks Aidan's 6 1/2 birthday! Stop growing up son! He is now in first grade, reads really well, and his teacher tells us he gets along great with others and is a good role model. He gets good behavior marks every day. He also loves to ride his bike to school and is working on learning to ride without training wheels. He is a great big brother and the first thing he likes to do when he gets home is play with his sister. He is a Tiger Scout and wants to try playing Tennis, although we may wait a little bit on that. He falls asleep within a minute or two of laying down at night. He is great at singing and says it is his "talent". His best friend at school is Kyan. He loves Legos, Bakugans, and Hot Wheels. He loves the color red. He also loves cereal for breakfast over anything else, loves Chinese food, and hates cheese. He is a sweet little boy, a great big brother, and a fantastic son.

I love you kiddies!!! I can't believe I get to be your Mommy! xoxox And please stop growing up!

Tiger Scout

We have a Tiger Scout Folks. And a SUPER handsome one. I am really looking forward to watching Aidan start this new chapter of his life following in the footsteps of his Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncles. I love the idea of him and Matt doing Scouts together.

Pumpkin Patch

The littles and I had a great time with my friend Kelly and her girls. It was a actually a very fun ride to Sweetberry Farms even though we were in the mini van for an hour with 2 4 year olds, a 3 month old, and a 9 month old! Between nursing, feeding the kids, changing diapers, getting the babies into their baby Bjorn's, loading up strollers, and trips to the potty, it was a busy but SUPER fun day! We did the mini maze, a hayride, and the girls did the train ride. We also picked out some pumpkins to bring back. Only wished Aidan and Daddy could have joined us!

The girls in the mini maze

Needed a hat to protect Abbott's head from getting sunburned. This one was Aidan's and it was way to big but still super cute!

Caught this cute little pose. :)



Two of my little pumpkins

All in orange. :)

Love his feet!

Hannah and Asher

She loved feeding the goats...

And the horses.

Melts my heart.

Up on the haystack.