#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.

The Big Announcement

Nope, we're not moving (but I wish!)

Nope, we're not getting another dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're having another baby!

 

This setup was my contingency plan if I couldn't figure out how to get all the boys to cooperate at the same time.  Luckily Ahma was up here and was able lend a helping hand.  And, she even took a picture in focus!

 

The baby is due the middle of February, but we'll just go with by March.  Once again, the sex will be a surprise.  However, I will admit the more pregnancies I have, the harder it is to stick to that plan!  I went in for a later ultrasound then I normally do and it was SO tempting to find out.  But, I also figured I'd be excited for a couple of minutes and then disappointed that I did know....so we'll keep on the surprise track.  We waited quite awhile to spill the beans, so as of today, I'm already nearly halfway done at 19 weeks!

 

#1 found the ultrasound pics so I explained to him what was going on.  He took the pics and kept saying, "I'm so excited we're having another baby!"  So I don't think he minds too much.  He also told me in May that I'd be having a baby next year, so he's had the idea in his head for awhile.

Pt.2

Other then the lammo fishing, it was a lot of fun.  The boys were pretty well behaved, with my sister and brother there we had lots of helping hands.

Additionally I found out my mom can be sneaky.  She devised this plan to have Husband drive her car back to NP so that I could hangout longer with the boys!  I stayed five additional days between camp and her house in ER.  I would have stayed a bit longer but I had a prior engagement I had to get back for.  Mom stayed here for five days and even watched the boys for 2 days all by herself so that Husband and I could go out to moose camp to pick blueberries.  With all the warm weather, all the berries ripened early and people were picking while I was gone.  It was great to get away, and while I was gone, mom helped to night wean #3, so now I get to sleep through the night!

#1 and #2 displaying a before (#1) and after (#2) eating fresh blueberry pancakes!  It was mandatory payment for leaving them.  Although I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice.

Thanks for Sticking Around! Pt. 1

So, I had no idea that two months have passed since I've updated this thing.  Gosh darn, I was hoping to do so much better!  Well, thanks for sticking with me and checking in, hopefully you didn't waste too much time on me :) 

We've been busy.  Summer has been crazy.  It started with cold and snow, and then moved quickly into bugs and heat.  The mosquitos have diminished over the last couple of months, however, the heat has not.  We have had 33 days this summer with 80+ degree days, a record.  Our house has been hot, and being in Alaska, we don't have an air conditioner....that being said, all the stores up here sold out of their stock, plus additional shipments.  Let's just say it's been so hot the boys sometimes don't want to go outside in the afternoon.  It's like we're living in the south.  We also have had very little rain, like practically nothing; last I heard we had a total of an inch.

In June we celebrated #2's 3rd birthday.  We through a joint bday/#2 and #3 were baptized bbq.  I think everyone had fun.  Ahma came up of course and the boys had a great time.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE having her around, she's an early riser like my kiddos so I get to sleep in a bit without feeling guilty about it. 

 

July Husband and I packed up the boys and headed to "fish camp" down at my parents property to try dip netting.  But first we took the two older boys on the train ride from Anchorage to Seward.  What we learned: a 3 year old will last 45 minutes on the train, while a 4 year old will 2 hours.  It was a 4 four ride.  But we all survived and no one fell off!  We didn't go to camp last year because of how things went two years ago.  I learned quickly that 13 month olds do not belong sleeping in a sleeping bag when night time temps drop to 40F.  So, after that debacle I told my parents I wouldn't be down until the kids were either older, or there was a heated place for us to sleep.  This past winter they came through and bought a toy hauler and we got to use it!!!  It was snug with five of us, #3 in a pack 'n play, but it was SO nice.  It even had air conditioning, and wouldn't you know it, it was in the 80's while we were down there so it came in handy.  The only thing to go wrong was, the fish didn't cooperate and we left with few :(

 

On the caboose!

Aunt Jenny bought chalk for the boys to use.

LOVE this kiddo!

The boys watching a show from the top bunk in the toy hauler.









Road Trip!

I loaded up all three boys and headed to my parents house in ER a couple of weeks ago.  I know, me + three boys = brave.  But, I'm happy to report that both the trip down and back (all 340 miles each way) were largely uneventful.  We've gotten really lucky with how well our kids travel.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact it's a trip we do once or twice a year?  Who knows.  A late winter storm passed over most of Alaska while we were down there, so on the 17th (my birthday) we woke to snow on the ground, and plenty more still falling from the sky.  I hadn't thought to bring winter clothes (really, who would?!?) and luckily I had grabbed their finger gloves before driving away (but managed to leave lots of stuff behind, go figure).

 

#2 trouncing around outside, getting lots of snow into his rain boots.

#3 shoveling snow off the porch.  He did a great job!

 

It snowed for two days, then warmed up quickly and by the end of the trip it was all melted and most of the grass was dry.  It was wild.  #1 went to the greenhouse with Ahma and later all the boys helped plant them in new planters.  

My little ham :)

#1 and mom.  Ahma and Grandpa bought bikes for the boys so I packed their helmets.  Unfortunately #2's bike didn't work properly, neither did the other two toddler bikes at WalMart, it sucked.  But #1 was able to ride his and rode it up to the elementary school.

He's balancing!  Little punk doesn't want to take a step, much less walk.  Wish he would though, he'd get less dirty outside. 

Playing at the school, my old stomping ground.  #1 found several older campground kids to play with, he had a blast.  He's getting to be such a grown-up kid.

 

The boys and I were down in ER for a week.  Now we just need to wait for Ahma to come up in two short weeks for #2's 3rd birthday, and hopefully catch one of #1's soccer games.  

And It's Snowing...

...enough said. 

There was a recent article in the University of Alaska Fairbanks newsletter "The Cornerstone", "The year without summer." http://uafcornerstone.net/the-year-without-a-summer/  It revealed that in fact, there have been summers where the daily temp NEVER reached 60 degrees.  At this point I'll take 59!  We are supposed to dip down into the single digits for nighttime temps, and reach the 20's during the day for the next week. 

An article in the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer today stated our average daily temperatures are 15 degrees BELOW normal this April.  What a never ending winter we're having.  Good thing we brought in more wood the other day.  Looks like Husband will need to get more.

Hope the rest of you are having better luck then we are. 

Spring

Spring is here, spring is here, spring is....well, I think it's here!  This has been one, long, hard, dark, winter.  It has been insane.  It's been cold, so, so very cold, for so, so, very long.  And then April came, and it was supposed to be warmer, but it wasn't.  Now, we've finally gotten some spring temps and the snow is melting!  Yea!  Except for, it snowed in Anchorage today, and we're supposed to get snow tomorrow, and Monday they are predicting a high of below freezing, 28F.  What the heck? 

This winter there were so many times I looked outside, seeing the dark, did I mention the cold? and wondering what in the world the pioneers of this place were thinking.  They would have arrived in the summer and then worked their a$$es off to cut enough wood and to build a house to survive the winter.  And then they did the strangest thing, they stayed.  Maybe it was to difficult to think about doing the trek back home, it couldn't have been easy getting here in the first place.  These first people, especially the women, rocked, and were super strong. 

So, back to spring.  Sunday we unpacked the bikes and did our first family bike ride!  Husband pulled #2 and #3 in the bike trailer, #1 rode his own bike!!!  And I rode my own as well.  #1 did AWESOME!  He followed all of our rules and did an amazing job.  The next day he wanted to go again and it was just me with all three kiddos because Husband was working.  And again, he did great!  He rode 1.3 miles, which doesn't seem like much, but it was just his second ride of the season and he is just 4, pretty good huh?! 

It's been wonderful getting everyone outside once, maybe twice a day, and they are really enjoying it.  They've been coming in wet from all the puddle jumping.  Let's hope this weather continues and that the forecasters are wrong (once again!).

No Way

I can't believe that my baby is nearly 1.  It seems impossible that an entire year has already come and gone.  On the bright side, #3 is still a fabulous boy and has been a wonderful addition to our family.  He was truly meant to be with us.  I'd tell you how much he weighs, but I really don't quite know, it's somewhere in the 25lb range; he has been in size 18 month clothes now since he turned 9 months old.  He is pretty close to walking, he prefers to cruise furniture whenever the option is available, has let go of the couch a couple times to lunge towards me, and has practiced balancing.  Not sure when he'll walk though, he has two crazy brothers that will surely knock him over, so his timidness is well warranted.  #3 now has four teeth, with four more breaking through, it makes him a tad bit cranky, but we're all surviving; he's a super happy kid otherwise, so we'll take the little bit of ugly.  Doesn't sleep at all like the others kids, what is up with that?  He loves his brothers, and is totally enamored with #1.  #3 already wants to wrestle and get in the thick of things so he's had a few bumps.  Usually though he just laughs it off and goes back into attacking #1.  Their favorite game is #1 laying on the ground, #3 crawls on top of him, and #1 bucks him off.  It's pretty funny!  He has shaking his head no down, can now wave goodbye, and "talks" constantly.  Look at my ham :)