Sept Phone Dump (very late)

OK - so it took me til the end of October to realize I forgot to do a September phone dump!  So here goes (better late than never, right?)...

Jackson "roaring..."

 

 Longing to go outside...

 I wasn't feeling well, so they took advantage of me!

 My firstborn. :-)

 Jackson's order at IHOP.

 Ethan's first day of Mother's Day Out this year...

 Beautiful sky!

 Jackson anxiously awaiting Daddy to return.

 The boys decided the baby needed stickers.  :)

 Sweet boys - Noel and Eli.

 Jackson and Ben... goofs.

 The climber.

 We got a visit from Rylee Roo!

 

Love these boys SO much.

 Ethan and Noel - I'm sure they are going to be big buddies just like their brothers.  :)

 Jackson trying on his costume...

I may be small, but I get things done.

 The best time in the world is the weekends when Daddy is home "all day long" (says Jackson.)

 Ryan, taking a "piece" of my mom's cake.  Yep.

Fall Fun!

This weekend we went to Farmland Adventures again and the boys had an absolute BLAST!  We love that place.  The weather was perfect... Couldn't design a prettier day.. This year it was very very crowded but the boys didn't care a bit.  :-)  Jackson led the charge at the corn maze again and ended up having to "pretend to lift a great weight" so he pretended to lift daddy.  Ha.  Ethan, in his usual style, refused (very very vocally) to ride the pony and instead chose to play with some pumpkins and watch & wave to J from the outside. He is so funny how he copies Jackson in everything, but is in no way pressured to do fun things by watching J.  Ethan is such an individual.  He cracks me up. Jackson - he's just the coolest kid.  He could've stayed there and played and ran around all day long.  He's really so much fun.  I just love all FOUR of my boys!  :-)

Bring on the Boys!

17 Weeks!!

• Baby's Sex: BOY!!
• Baby is as big as: Sweet Potato
• At last measurement: As of 16 wk ultrasound, baby is measuring 5 days ahead.
• Cravings this week: Pistachios (I finished a 1.5 pound bag in 2 days. Ugh.)
• What's different this week than last week: Finding out we're having our 3rd boy!
  
• Weight Gain: Didn't check.  A lot.
• Weeks to go: 23 weeks
• Next Appt: November 15 (21 wks)
• Big Brothers: Jackson wasn't very excited at the thought of another brother, but he's coming around.  Ethan officially points to my belly and says "mommy baby."
• Notes: At our appointment on last Monday, it took me a little while to adjust to the thought of a 3rd boy.  After some enlightenment, and much MUCH praying, I realized how beautiful our family is.  We are so incredibly blessed and God is SO incredibly perfect.  He knows exactly what He is doing and doesn't make any mistakes.  I'm really looking forward to watching my 3 amazing boys grow up and being the adventurous tomboy type anyway, I'm stoked about being the only chick in our family and getting to spend the rest of my days 'hanging with my boys."  I'm a very very blessed mom and wife!!

Love this pic of his feet!

16 Weeks!

16 Weeks!!

• Baby's Sex: Finding out this week! (Tune in next week!)
• Baby is as big as: Turnip (approx 5 1/2 inches!)
• At last measurement: Baby is measuring 6 days ahead.
• Cravings this week: Eggs!
• What's different this week than last week: Feeling my stomach "stretching" - no appetite, despite my weight gain... doesn't feel like I've eaten anything! :(
• Weight Gain: 13 pounds total.
• Weeks to go: 24 weeks
• Next Appt: October 15
• Big Brothers: Ethan has had a rough week.  He wants me carry him everywhere, and obviously I can't carry him for any kind of distance (he's almost 30 pounds!). So he's been having a very difficult time with that - lots of screaming and yelling this week as he stomped his little feet all the way to his classroom at school and was just angry when we got there.  Jackson has decided he is not going to accept a baby brother.  Funny boy.  He says it "has" to be a girl. 
• Notes: This week, the stomach bug hit our family.   It started with me last Sunday and I felt crappy all day - Jackson woke up that morning feeling bad too, threw up (a little) once and otherwise was fine.  Ryan got hit Sunday afternoon and he got hit the hardest.  Then on Wednesday night, I got it again!  I hope that darn bug is gone from Arkansas now because we don't want it anymore!

Jackson's Art

I need to brag on my boy for a second.  Not that I wouldn't brag on him every second, but let's give credit where credit is rightly due.  Jackson has been INCREDIBLE in preschool so far.  I mean, I know this could be a result of the right teacher/student match up or just "good luck" but honestly, I think he's just amazing.  So far, 2 full months into preschool, he has yet to receive anything but rave reviews from his teacher on his behavior.  He's came home with what appears to be a really great job drawing his letters and matching things that start w/ that letter, counting things and writing the corresponding number, coloring in the lines and overall understanding of good health - and he is completely proficient writing his name now.  In fact, he finds humor in writing in backward.  He will often write his name and then Ethan's name next to it (his only two words he can spell).  He absolutely LOVES going to school - especially "2 services" when he gets to do the after school care - which is only 2 days a week, but he looks so forward to those two days. When I ask him about his day, he often tells me about recess when he gets to play with his two best buddies - Ethan W and Ben.  I have gotten him to talk about a few of the kids in his own class but he really looks forward to playing with Ethan and Ben at recess (they are all 3 in separate classes.)  I've really enjoyed opening his backpack and finding his works of art.  And he really loves telling me all about it.  Here's a few from this week.

Jackson just finished studying Joseph's "Coat of Many Colors" and also about Jonah - so that's where the inspiration came from some of these.

 

Jackson quickly filled his whole caterpillar with stickers - you get one sticker for each day you are on "green" or "pink/purple" colors - which means good behavior.  So far, Jackson has never not gotten a sticker, so after he filled up his caterpillar, he got to dig into the treasure box and he tells me he picked a "BIG" sucker and also some "colors that smell good."  Sweet boy.  :)

15 Weeks!

15 Weeks!!

• Baby's Sex: ???
  
• Baby is as big as: Avocado
• At last measurement: Baby is measuring 6 days ahead, approx 4 inches long.
• Cravings this week: Peanuts, Coke, Egg/Cheese/Bacon Sandwiches
• What's different this week than last week: I felt very very lazy this week.
• Weight Gain: 11 pounds total.
• Weeks to go: 25 weeks
• Next Appt: October 15
• Big Brothers: What a week!  With Ethan's surgery, I have lifted him so much that I have this annoying pain in my groin area.  Jackson:  He saw a commercial on TV where the parents got a little pink toy for a little girl.  He said "Mommy, we will need that for our little sister."  Made me smile. :) (We'll see!)
• Notes: I remember somewhere it said that in the 2nd trimester you get some 'relief' for the middle-of-the night need to use the bathroom, but pretty much since I've been pregnant, that has not been the case for me.  I think it's God's way of getting you used to being up in the middle of the night with your baby. I have also had the craziest dreams!  It feels like I'm always in a dream state or my mind is just racing.  I'm not sure if I'm actually going into that deep sleep at all at night.  Sometimes I wake up to go the bathroom and can't go back to sleep.  My mind just won't slow down.  And that's especially strange for me.  I'm a great sleeper.  :) Another funny thing is that every day around 230p/300p, I get this crazy exhausted feeling - like I can't make it one more second with my eyes open. I've been trying to put on PBS when this happens and let the boys watch while I lay on the couch and close my eyes for a few minutes... It does help. I think after the crazy few weeks we've had, it will be better next week.

Here we go again...

Ethan had his 2nd set of tubes put in on Tuesday, and also his adenoids taken out.  We decided last week to go ahead and do it since his tubes came out in the spring and he's already had 2 ear infections since then - this last one being in the summer - which is supposed to be the time of the least ear infections.  The ENT looked in his ears and even after 10 days of tummy upsetting antibiotics, Ethan still had a ton of fluid behind his ears.  The doc said he thought we could wait but the chance of him getting another ear infection based on the amount of fluid in there was really high.  So Tuesday, Ryan took him to the hospital to have his 2nd surgery.  :( I was planning on taking him but my nerves were totally shot just thinking about this.  Ethan has been really really whiny and clingy lately and quite frankly, it hurts to carry him.  I knew Ryan would do better.  So I stayed home with Jackson.  This  pic is before surgery....

After surgery, the doc came out to talk to Ryan.  He said everything went perfect. The doc also said he was really glad we elected to do the surgery because they grade adenoids when they do this surgery and on a scale of 1-4, (4 being the biggest, most blocking), Ethan's adenoids were a 3.5!  They are almost completely blocking his airway!  My poor baby boy!  I'm glad we did it.

 

Ethan is a real trooper.  Other than not eating, he was totally fine for the first 24 hours.  We even went to my bible study on Wednesday morning!  However, after his nap on Wednesday, a different child emerged.  He was obviously in some pain and quite uncomfortable - with some of the worst breath I have ever encountered!  He wanted to lay on me, attached me (or Ryan), nonstop.  He cried so much that I started dreaming of him crying when he wasn't... It was like a constant ringing in my ears.  We spent Wednesday afternoon, Thursday all day just laying around holding him nonstop.  I've been keeping the IBU going regularly and that does seem to be helping.  He still isn't eating but as of today, he's playing a little bit - but only with me in very close range.  It helps that Jackson is home today and that always cheers Ethan up.  I hope that we're on the upward curve of getting back to normal.  This has been a crazy year for all of us - Jackson's tonsils/adenoids coming out in June, me having all these ultrasounds for the baby, and now Ethan's tubes/adenoids.  We're ready for an easy winter and healthy 2013!!

J-Man, the big boy.

My firstborn is trying so hard to grow up as fast as he can, without my persmission of course.  He has started preferring the drop off at his school vs me walking him in.  He doesn't mind that on Mondays and Thursdays (the days he says he has '2 services' - which is just after-school care) - on these days he has to take his backpack, lunchbox AND his napmat.  He doesn't mind one bit.  He practically jumps out of my car at the drop off line and runs in the building.  I'm lucky to get a smooch before he goes barreling into the building ready to see everyone he just saw the day before.  Jackson has done AMAZING so far in preschool.  They are color coded based on their behaviors, and <knock on wood> he's only been on green, purple or pink - which are the "good" colors.  If he's on pink or purple, he gets a treat because it means he's made good decisions that day.   So far, he's been on pink every day but one and that was green - which means just a "good day."  I'm really proud of him!  He loves going to school so much, and I'm so grateful for that!  I love my "big" boy so much!!