I Stand Corrected

Hmmmm, maybe it's the sleep deprivation. Maybe it's having four boys in five years.  Maybe I'm just getting old...but, it seems I erred on my eldest age.  Turns out, I get an entire year back with him! 

So, to right my wrong, Happy 5th Birthday to my oldest boy!

We Have a Six Year Old!

Our oldest turned 6 back in December. (Yea, I know, back when I wasn't keeping up).  And what a fantastic six year old he is!  I am constantly amazed at how giving he can be with his brothers.  We often watch him give up great things, like candy and favorite toys to others.  I think was amazes me the most is how excited he gets when they each learn new things.  He notices everything!  #1 can also be more sensitive then you think he is.  The other day we passed a memorial for a young woman who died in a car accident.  Later the next day he placed stickers around the house so, "when I'm gone you can remember me."  This summer he got right back up on his two wheel bike and took to it like it was just yesterday, not eight months like it had been.  #2 just moved from the balance bike to the training wheels, and he is SO excited for #2 to be getting bigger and better at things.

What has been truly heart warming is his bond and love for his newest brother.  Since brining him home from the birth center, he has had this incredible bond with him.  He has held him, rocked him, soothed him, talked with him, bounced him, you name it.  And #4 just eats him it up.  #4 loves his oldest brother in return.  #1 has been a big help, and what is surprising, but shouldn't be, he WANTS to help, he desires to help, and it's great.  When #4 was pretty new, #1 loved sitting on the couch watching TV, holding his baby brother.  There was more then one occasion that he put the baby to sleep while I was able to get other things done, like dishes or dinner.  He has been a great helper.

We love our oldest boy immensely, and are so happy and thrilled with the boy he is becoming.  We are looking forward to the next big adventure, Kindergarten!

Hear no evil, speak no....

.....evil, see no evil.

The headlining photo for the blog is the first one with all four boys.  It took me way to long to get this done, I think the baby is two months old...yikes!  With all my goofball kids it's hard to get them to take a good picture, so I try to trick them by bribing them with a goofy picture AFTER taking a nice one.  This was the best picture out of the entire set, and it wasn't until I showed Husband the blog, that I even saw what they were doing.  It was totally spontaneous, so that's pretty neat!

#2 is now 4!

 

Happy birthday!  Four years old already.  He has grown so much, and can do so many things.  I'm thankful that he still likes to snuggle on my lap when he wakes up or while watching a show.  #3 really likes giving the baby kisses and hugs.  And he fights with #1 over the baby looking at him. 

 

He has outgrown the balance bike and has peddling a training wheel bike down, so I'm sure sometime this summer we'll take the wheels off and he'll be riding a big boy bike!  He is also in speech therapy, which is going well.  He's made great improvements, and I'm glad he'll have one more year before starting kindergarten. He is a VERY squirrely child, so it's the only place he's learning to sit and listen to follow directions.  I'd love to put him in preschool two mornings a week, but that stuffs really expensive.  He just started a preschool workbook.  I think he needs a new prescription for his glasses, it seemed he was having a hard time seeing the dot and dashes to follow for practicing fine motor skills.

 



The Big 2!

My darling, precious, 3rd son turned two this May.  It really is true that time flies by.  He still is the perfect fit for our family that he was the day he was born.  #3 is an all around happy, delightful boy.  He loves playing, wrestling, and following his older brothers around, and has taken to his younger brother like a dream.  At his well child check up he weighed in at a healthy 33lbs (just two less then his older brother), trust me when I say he knows how to throw his weight around.  My mom has always said that he was born big for a reason, and well, he can keep up with them! 

 

Temperament wise he's coming into his terrible two's, which, is delayed, and welcomed.  For the most part his temper tantrums aren't even on the scale of bad. I just think he's overall, still, an easy going kid.  He still goes with the flow and is very content with life.  It's awesome!

 



 

Unfortunately his 2nd birthday was overshadowed by the fact that I had my gallbladder removed the day before his birthday.  Grandpa went to Safeway and bought the only cupcake/cake thing they had, seriously, they had a run on desserts or something, and got him a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting.  Luckily he's too young to know he was gypped!  

 

I think that every older sibling can agree, the best thing about being an older sibling is being able to use all the baby gear!  #3 loves sitting in the vibrating chair while watching TV.  

 

Snuggling with littlest brother.  So far so good.  No real big jealousy issues, and he leaves #4's pacifiers alone, not that #4 really likes them.  #3 wants to hold him and lay with him, super cute!  He helps me change diapers and is currently interested in the whole wiping business, so once I'm done, he goes back through, just in case I missed something.  I'm sure if we bottle fed he'd be wanting to do that too.

Welcome to the World Evan!

 

 

On February 19th at 7:47pm we welcomed our fourth boy, Evan, into the world!  He weighed in at a measly 10lbs 13oz (almost a whole pound lighter then Colin!) and I think 22.5 inches long.  It's been awhile, and my brain is already forgetting these important facts.  It was another quick labor and delivery, really everything I have ever wanted.  The midwife did an amazing job listening and helping implement what I had asked for.  Evan was born in the water just as his two previous brothers.

 

He is super cute and adored by all three of his older brothers.  #1 especially is smitten with him, and almost four months later is still tuned in with him; holding him, soothing him when he's upset, rocks with him in the rocking chair, it's great!  #2 will be four in just two short days (wow) and is for the most part impartial, he's too busy to really give much more then a quick hug and kiss.  #3 is doing well with the new baby.  He really didn't show too much jealousy.  When I have Evan with me to get #3 out of the crib (still not climbing out, yes!), he says, "baby," pats the mattress, and lays down.  I put the baby in with him and then cuddle for a little, even sharing a blanket.  It's pretty awesome!

 

I'd love to give great news like Evan is sleeping well, but he isn't, which isn't anything new to this house, although I wish it were different.  It's a little easier to take the fourth time around, we don't set our hopes to high, but the sleep deprivation is tough, the screaming is tough.  I can get pretty cranky. Hopefully my willingness to apologize for my bad behavior will, in the long run, be good for my kids.  That they may understand that parents/adults make mistakes also, but that we too should own up to them.  Maybe?

 

Stay tuned.  Going to get back into the swing of things and get on here a little more often.  Things are starting to calm down a little.