Pre 3 vs. Post 3

In my opinion, the transition to 3 has been the easiest so far, but a transition nonetheless. There are a few things I would have NEVER...like in a million years...have done before having 3 kids. My how times have changed...

Pre 3: never got help out to my car with groceries
Post 3: always take the help. Whether I have all 3 kids with me or not! Let those high school kids do the lifting. I am too old and too tired! For real. Why did I ever say no???

Pre 3: never used paper plates on a regular basis.
Post 3: use paper plates every meal. Everyday. Not just for the kids either. Jon and I use them too! Seriously, I have been buying them in bulk at Costco. It may be a little wasteful, but at least I am saving water by not running the dishwasher as often...right? We will eventually go back to real plates, but for now, it sure is nice...

Pre 3: never let my baby wear footed sleepers in public.
Post 3: Anna wears footed jammies almost exclusively. Day, night, whenever, where ever. Caroline and Miles NEVER left the house unless they were dressed in "real clothes" but practicality rules this time, people! The sleeper things make the most sense. Obviously. Which is why everyone else has always dressed babies in them. I was just a weirdo on this one.

I am sure their are about a hundred other examples, but I can't think of any more because another post 3 change is that I can't remember ANYTHING! Ha!!

The great thing is that life goes on and everyone survives regardless of what plates they eat off of or what they wear...at least so far... ;)




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4 months!?

Anna Banana is already 4 months old. I cannot believe it. It's like the first 3 months are a sleepless blur, then all of a sudden you wake up and have this precious smiley baby!
She is such a doll. Smiley, social, and loves to "chat" with anyone who will listen :)
She used to sleep through the night, but now she doesn't :( We are hoping to get that straightened out soon!?
She laughed for the first time the week before thanksgiving. It's hilarious and adorable of course!
Anna rolled from her tummy to her back TWICE on the day after thanksgiving. Daddy was the only one to witness it, and I can't get her to do it again, but we are still super proud ;)
We recently found out she has kidney reflux. And suspect she also has a milk allergy. Sooooo, we have been working through all of that.
But, despite all of that she remains a laid back and happy little lady! I sure do love her sweet smiles and precious coos and goos.
The verdict is out on who she looks like. I see both Caroline and Miles in her, but she definitely has her own look. Big blue eyes and a strawberry hint to her hair...although most of it has fallen out.

Chillin in her second home...the Carseat.


Talking about something super important.


Watching Duck Dynasty


Practicing her propped up sitting skills.


Those little lips!?


Cheese!!


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Our BIG Little Bear

Two weeks ago, we had a baby boy who slept in a crib and wore diapers.
Now, we have a big boy sleeping in a big boy bed and wearing big boy underwear.
How can it be!?!


After he broke the zipper on his crib tent, and kept crawling out, we had to move him to his bed. This was tragic, as I had hoped to keep him securely zipped in his crib until kindergarten (or college). But, the transition has been less painful than I anticipated. For the most part he stays in his bed! He is definitely waking up earlier than he used to, but we are hoping that will work itself out (soon) :)

As for the potty business...I had planned to wait until kindergarten on this too (kidding), but the bear was ready. He had started asking to go on the potty more frequently and had started keeping his diaper dry at school, so we went for it. Loaded up on candy corn and did potty training boot camp style over the weekend! Once again, he surprised me with how well he did! Only a couple of accidents so far!?! He has even started telling us when he needs to go (sometimes). So proud of him :)

It's always so bittersweet when they reach these milestones. Less diapers to change is always a bonus, of course, but its so weird to see him in his little undies!?




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Trash Day Fun

The kids looooove to sit on the driveway and watch the trash truck come by. It's the highlight of our week!

Sometimes we set up chairs and enjoy our breakfast while we wait...


Sometimes we sleep in, and daddy has to chase the truck down the street while we all laugh hysterically...




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Anna's Dedication

Yesterday, we had to wonderful opportunity to have sweet Anna dedicated at church.  What a wonderful thing to stand in front of the church and pledge to raise our sweet girl to know Christ.  We certainly feel blessed to have the support of such amazing family and friends as we strive to do that each day!

Family of Five

Precious Anna

Scar Face :(

With a wild and crazy little guy pike Miles...It was inevitable that we would end up with stitches as some point, and I guess it's probably a miracle that we almost made it 2 1/2 years before we ended up in the ER!?

Monday evening, our little bear fell and hit his head on the fireplace :( As soon as I heard him crying, I said,"what happened?!" and Caroline said, "I didn't push him!" Ha ha...
It was immediately clear we needed stitches so, we loaded up, dropped big sis off at the neighbors and off we won't to meet Daddy at the ER.

His expression looks so pitiful, but he was actually quite happy the whole time we were there. Between the iPhone games, the TV, and all the attention fro the nurses and doctors, he was in heaven ;)



Changing channels with the fancy remote...


The put a topical numbing gel on first...



The they wrapped him in a sheet, gave him a numbing shot, and sewed him up. He didn't cry at all! He was totally distracted and didn't feel a thing...that made things muuuuuuuch easier on mommy.

3 stitches...



After it was all over, he got to ride home in Daddy's truck. Such a treat!





So proud of our brave little bear and praying we can make it 5 days without busting our stitches open!!!

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A hunting we will go...

Jon has been looking forward to taking the kids hunting since before they were born :)  This summer, they have been spending a lot of time at the ranch, getting "prepped."  He practiced shooting with them around, so they wouldn't be afraid of the guns, etc.  

He even let them shoot the gun!

(Jon is VERY careful and safe with the guns, i promise)

The image of Caroline wielding a firearm is scary...ha ha!

Miles got to shoot, too, but there aren't any pics of that.  I am guessing Daddy needed both hands to supervise mr. m with the gun ;)

Daddy always gives them candy at the ranch!

Such fun!

Gotta love the rain boots :)

Labor Day weekend marked the official opening of Dove Season, so Daddy and Caroline headed out EARLY Saturday morning.  They were gone all day, and had a blast.  Hunting, swimming, kayaking, cooking out with friends, and just running around outside!

They were too busy having fun to get many pics, but you can see our little huntress was all decked out. Complete with pink headphones, and of course...pink and zebra rain boots ;)

They can't wait to go back soon!

Anna at 1 month

I am not going to promise monthly updates, but I do want to try to remember some of the little things about this sweet time!
Precious Anna is proving to be an easy baby so far. She eats and sleeps wherever (like she has a choice!?) and basically just goes with the flow.



This week she has started sleeping longer stretches at night. Jon gives her a bottle (5 oz or so) around 10ish. She usually wakes up around 3-3:30 to eat and then sleeps til I wake her up around 7-7:30.
She isn't really napping in her bed, which is a HUGE change from what I did with the other kids. I need to work on that : /



She gave us what we thought was her first "real" smile ( not a gassy reflex one :)) last week. But, she hasn't done it since, so now I am thinking maybe it wasn't real smile afterall! Guess we will just wait and see :)




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Happy Birthday, Caroline!!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to the sweetest, smartest, most hilarious girl I know! We love you Caroline!!!


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Sibling Love

The big kids have been adjusting well to their new roles. Big Bro Miles likes to pull up his hair to "keep an eye on Baby Anna."


When we first brought Anna home, Miles referred to her exclusively as "baby bear." Then it was just "baby Anna." Lately it's been " baby Anna my sister." he really is so sweet with her :) The first week or so, he was a little confused by the while nursing thing. He kept saying "No, baby bear! Don't eat mommy's tummy!" ha!

Big Sis has become quite the little mommy. At first, she pretended to nurse her baby, which was hilarious and awkward at the same time. This morning, she kept telling me it was almost time for her to feed Gigi (her gave stuffed bunny). I wasn't sure if she was going to "nurse" or what. I guess Gigi, prefers the bottle...


Caroline did insist in using the nursing pillow, of course!

And last but not least, sweet Anna! She lives her new "taco." this thing rocks...we didn't have this with the other kids but it's so nice to move from room to room so Anna can always be part of the action :)


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