Happy Birthday Jacob!

A week has passed since Jacob turned 9. It is incredible how fast time flies. In some ways it feels like last week he was born and in others it seems like its been forever. I surely cannot imagine life without his quirky charm. I finally feel like he is on the road to getting help with his struggles in school. We should be starting occupational therapy soon through Children's and his school is also doing a full phsycological evaluation. It is relief! Thankfully the way everyone brings things up to him is all about helping him and making him feel better so he is totally on board. He is a smart boy. And while his attitude could use some adjusting (don't know where he picked that up from....) he is such a huge helper and just wants to do good. I love him! Here are a few pictures from his day. Ian had to work but was home in time for Jacob to open his gifts and I brought cookie dough cupcakes (his request) to school. All the kids in his class were so cute and it was a treat to see Jacob so loved and happy. Friday we spent the day lego building and Saturday we got together with our friends Paige and Dylan and had a pic nic and lots of fun. Paige's birthday was on Valentine's Day so it was a dual celebration. All in all I think he had a great week. LEGOS!!!

PARK FUN and NERF WARS! (Jacob used his gift card from Gramps to get a BIGGER, BADDER gun!)

Falling into place....

I have been writing this in my mind all day today. Thinking of the past three months or so. So many words could sum them up, overwhelming, wonderful, exhausting, quick! I can't believe Luke will be three months old on Friday. I finally feel like things are starting to even out. I transitioned him to his own room and crib about two weeks ago. He is sleeping fairly well in there. He is even starting to take longer naps in there than 45 minutes. He napped for three hours yesterday! I got so much done it was amazing! I have been exhausted trying to keep up with all the boys and the baby. People always say "sleep when the baby is sleeping" those "people" must not have had three other children to tend to and drive places and cook for and clean for etc etc. I was thinking about it today. When I had Jacob it worked out great. If he was up half the night no problem I knew I could just sleep with him the next day. But that was all good and fun until I had Nathan. Once you are on round two the whole sleeping while the baby sleeps flies right out the window. I can remember being pregnant with Nathan and a wise, seasoned mommy told me "give it three months". She said by the third month I will look around one day and think to myself "I got this". That is kind of how I felt today. Am I exhausted? Yep. More often than not I don't sleep after 4. But Luke and Owen seem to at least be overlapping their naps and even when Luke wakes I can be sneaky and cuddle with him and he will fall back to sleep:) It is my sanity. I am beyond thankful for Ian who lets me run away even if it is to go get groceries and for my "big" boys who help as much as they are able to with the baby so I can do fun things like switch laundry and make dinner. Life is crazy but I am so very thankful for my boys. I can't believe that a year ago right now I had no intentions of having another baby. Little did I know that in a few weeks that would change and I can't imagine not having this funny little boy in our life. Fun times are ahead, all the awesome milestones. I am so happy Ian is home. Last year was beyond hard but I am so grateful things have worked out the way they have.

My Boys (2/1/12)

Just wanted to share a few photos of the boys from yesterday and then one of Owen and Luke playing from this morning. Luke is starting to enjoy tummy time more. I know my days are numbered of his being totally immobile and not being able to roll over and turn. I think Owen is going to have a run for his money!:)

I love all his expressions. He was trying so hard to pick up his head and watch Jacob and Nathan play kinect.

Photo "Bomb"

Here are some photos from the past couple of days. They are really just of Owen and Luke so I will have to get going on taking some of my big boys! Enjoy the smiles!! Owen is obsessed with his new transformer rain boots that are hand me downs from my friend Aleisha. I thought he was so cute riding his scooter in them. Luke is officially all smiles. He is even giggling some. So for family...stay tuned for a video....

Luke is growing!

It is crazy to think it has already been over two months since Luke was born. Time is flying by, too fast! I took him in for his 2 month check up earlier this week (and five shots:( ) And he now weighs in at 12lb 4oz and is 23.5 inches long. He is 50% on the charts for weight, height and head size. Perfectly proportional in every way according to the doctor. She even remarked on how mellow he is. He let her do everything to him without any sort of fighting. She even got a few smiles. He was in a bit of pain from the shots and fussy that afternoon and most of the day yesterday but he seems fine now. Unfortunately I think he has a bit of this cold junk. He has a little cough and I keep praying it does not go any further.... He is smiling all the time now and even has had a couple of tiny chuckles so laughs are not too far off. The more he interacts the move in love with him his brothers are. They are all huge helps and want to make sure he is happy and taken care of at all times. It is so rewarding to watch them all four interact. Someday they will make wonderful daddies just like their daddy is to them. I see SO much of Ian (and Nathan) in Luke. I snapped a smiley picture on my phone yesterday and was amazed to see a baby Ian smiling at me once it was frozen. I LOVE it. I love Ian so much and so to get to have this little person who reminds me so much of him is such a treat. Here are some pictures from the last two weeks....these first ones are from two Sundays ago. He looked so cute and then slept the entire time at church so I had to document the outfit!

I love the little tshirts my mom got Luke. They all have cute sayings. They fit him perfectly and are even getting a bit snug so I have been trying to have him wear them often because they make me smile.

He loves his hands these days. I love the one of him passed out cold after his bottle. He LOVES his brothers. Jacob does so good with feeding and burping him. He can be such a huge help especially when I am trying to prepare dinner and Ian is MIA. I can't thank him enough for all of his help and he knows it. I have never had a buggaboo seat for the boys but a friend had one that she gave me so I tried sitting Luke in it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It has a high back and helps support them when they are still small. I tried again today just for a minute and he seems a bit more stable. He sure does like sitting and looking around that is for sure. My biggest issue is OWEN wants to sit in the darn thing. Figures!

And last but not least a picture of my big baby boy. Owen has changed and grown so much the past few months. He has gotten so much taller and his face has lost its baby roundness. He is my challenge for sure but he is also so very sweet at times and he too is truly a big help with the baby. (almost too much at times!) My sweet big three year old....

.....who after about a milisecond after I hit the picture button got the crabbiest look on his face and yelled at me to go away and not take his picture. Sorry Charlie got a cute one! He is such a booger.

Happy 7th Birthday Nathan!!

Our house has been invaded with an unwanted cold/flu the past two weeks. I am so ready for it to be gone! Last week I was beyond miserable but had to buck up because it was Nathan's birthday and Ian was gone. Nathan requested sugar cookies for school so Owen, Luke and I took those to his class. That night we had ice cream at Baskin Robbins and a nice surprise of Daddy coming home earlier than expected so at least Nathan got to see him before bed. Here are some pictures of the birthday boy on his day.

Overall if you ask him he had the "best day ever". Then on Saturday since I was still miserable I stayed home with the babe while Ian took the other three boys to the Aqarium and that night we let Nathan pick out a cake from Cold Stone. So, he got to have a full week of celebrations!:)