Favorite

This little gray and white sleeper is one of my favorite outfits for my baby. Unfortunately for the sleeper he has a long torso and so even though its a three month-er outfit it doesn't really fit my big baby anymore.  Sad Day, I loved it, he was so cute in it.  Last night he moved into size 2 diapers.  Boy is my boy big and just keeps growing. (I know other people have much bigger babies than 9 lbs, but 9 lbs is two pounds bigger than my other babies, so he is huge for me.) I was hoping he didn't grow out of size 1 before we finished off the two boxes we were given.  We just barely made it. We had to give away a 1/4 of a box of newborns, because he was just too big.

Its high time I post pictures of my other babies in comparison.  I think he is the missing link between the two of them. People have always told me my eldest looks like my husband.  While they say my daughter looks like me, and my baby looks like my daughter or me.
Daughter

  Daughter again

 By the way my sons are not cone heads they both have/had hair that stuck up. Ok, well J's hair curled up, and I give my baby the baby fohawk hair do, when I rub lotion in his scalp.

I don't know, I think in my mind that baby A looks like J, then I look at baby pictures and not so much at all!

Fall is Here

Fall is officially here.  

Snow is on Pikes, we celebrated my birthday, and my cute baby is rocking winter gear. 

 He is ready for a hike, if only my body was.

When I got him dressed for the day in these clothes, my three year old said, "Oh Baby A is so cute! He is dressed so cute for you and me mom."  Ha ha, I laughed, but she was right she and I just wanted to love him in his cute fleece vest.

Pink Sparkly Cast

On Friday at the park Nan had a nasty fall.  We determined she did not have a concussion and even though her thumb hurt she kept using it and let us touch it without crying so we assumed it was a sprained thumb.
Yadda Yadda, come Tuesday she stopped using her right arm.  So we took her in the doctor.  The doctor realized it was not her thumb but her wrist that was swollen.  So we got it x-rayed.  Indeed it was a bell something fracture.  Later that night Brent talked to a doctor on the phone and it turned out she had a fracture on both sides.  If you remember your biology the bone is separated into two pieces there. 
Thursday morning, bright and early, not so bright its been rainy all week.  She got her cast!  The pink cast she had been waiting for, plus it has sparkles. They said if we could insure that Nan would not fall again, she wouldn't even need a cast, it would heal on its own, but that is unrealistic for a three year old and she will be more comfortable in the cast

I asked if it was her wrist or her arm, and they said yes, which is pretty much what I told people, her arm is so little its pretty much the same area. The guy wrapping her cast talking to a nurse said it was fractured on one side and might be fractured on the other side too.  Her cast goes up past her elbow, because at her small size she will be able to pull it off, if they don't wrap her elbow.  Its good we got it, because she stopped whining once the splint was put on, once they took off the splint, she started moving it again, even though I asked her not too, and starting fussing that her arm hurt again. She has been happy as a clam since we left with the cast on.  She gets it off in three weeks.  Hooray, I don't have to fit a halloween costume over it!

Pictures last week

 Two of my favorite people:

My favorite baby in his Halloween shirt.  "i heart my mummy"

The Scout Master's Wife

I've finally started embracing my role in life as the Scout Master's Wife.
My husband left on a camp out tonight, I told him to have fun.  His response, I don't know about that.  I complained, wait you have to have fun, because I don't actually want you to go.  He said, all that matters is the boys have fun, as the leader its not always fun.  What? Then I sighed and said, well in seven years when those boys go on missions I guess these campouts will be worth it.
Six months ago, I would never imagine I would have been capable of such an exchange.
Would you like to hear about the evolution to this?  My husband has been assistant scout master twice since I met him.  This is his second tour as scout master.  The only reason he hasn't spent more time in scouting was our nomadic lifestyle. We often moved, and often moved in wards without scouts, plus there was the two years in the MBA, where he had no free nights.  My husband being who he is naturally became friends with the young men's/scout leaders after we moved to this ward. He loved camping and the outdoors and usually the young men's leaders do too.  Everday he wasn't Scout Master was a gift to me, a tender mercy.  I knew the Lord was giving me a rest.  But low and behold, he got called to be Scout Master in July, luckily right after scout camp. THANKFULLY! For the first few weeks I thought I was being picked on, at the same time I wanted to be a better support than I was last time around.  Last time around, was one of only two times in my life I question my regular church attendance.  It was the first time he wasn't assistant scout master, and I was pretty sure suddenly we started attending a church that was different then the one I grew up in, I couldn't believe how much time it absorbed, and I was pretty sure I could not handle this commitment for the rest of my life.  My mom assured me that Scout Master is one of the most time intensive callings in the church, right below Bishop.  I read, Side by Side: Supporting a Spouse in Church Service, and decided I could handle this. I prayed a lot, and I also reminded myself of the conversations I had with my bishop about my husband being scout master.  I grew up, became an adult, even-though I already had an 18 month old, and I endured.  I must admit it was hard to say good bye to that ward.  They held a part of our souls from the time we sacrificed.
This time, once again, I started to feel picked on.  Not for the time involved, this ward isn't as strapped for priesthood leaders, but I started to realize scout master is a career calling. I thought of my brother in law (Brent's brother) and realized he has been scout master the entire time I've known him. My father in law has also spent a good portion of his life as a scout leader.  I wondered why I was stuck with a husband who was destined to be Scout Master?  I'm pretty sure no one told me what I was signing up for when I said I wanted to marry him.  Then I read, Trails to Testimony, in it is quoted a Seventy who told Bishops to pick your best man in your ward and put him in as Scout Master.  I figured if my husband is indeed the best man, I could share him in this capacity.  I also saw the vision of Scouts better.  I'll be honest, even though all five of my brothers are Eagle Scouts, as is my husband, I always though scouting was sort of weird and stupid. Its not that I don't like the outdoors, I love them, I just never saw the vision of scouting. What does merit badges have to do with the Gospel? I now know, I now get the vision, I now know why my husband stays up stressing over who to have as his senior patrol leader, or how to get the boys to behave better than 12 year old boys.  I understand the vision, actually I guess the pay off isn't in 7 years its in 9, when they come home from missions.  That doesn't mean I don't sometimes whine about all the time it takes.  I now appreciate much more all the time all my youth leaders and seminary teachers put into my life. I only slightly complain when I have to sew on patches, and I get why my husband takes the boys out camping each month when plenty of leaders would skip months.  I guess that is why he is a good candidate for scout master. That being said I'm still not trilled with the campouts. And to all the mothers of boys out there, please don't tell me the reason why you aren't buying your son's scout shirts. For someone reason women think that is my role as scout master's wife, to take away their guilt, but I refuse that role. I think wearing a scout shirt each week is a great lesson to be learned, and I thought that long before I understood the importance of scouting.  I was taught long ago the importance of dressing properly for an occasion, and wearing your scout shirt as a scout, to a court of honor is the only appropriate attire.  That being said I'm pretty sure the scout shorts are never appropriate.

Yes you heard me, my husband should have never worn those shorts. I'm not even allowed to show that much thigh.
My guess is that picture is from the day he got his Eagle, but I don't know.

Life with Baby

Random Baby and Family Thoughts:
Here was my baby on his month birthday.  Great shot huh?  Like his outfit, it gets warm in the early afternoon, at which time he usually ends up swaddled in a onsies, but then in the evening it gets cold and so I send the kids up for a sleeper, and I didn't ever button it up.

 I took the next two yesterday.

• Our baby has red hair, and has since he was born.  Who knows if he will keep the color.  
• He adores his siblings.  He is extremely patience with his sister unless he is already upset.  
• He smiles almost everytime he see his brother, which honestly isn't that often.
• J told me today, I'm glad I'm not a girl.  Why?  I asked, because pacifiers are gross, and I don't like putting them in baby brother's mouth.  (His sister loves to give him a paci)  I told him dad puts the pacifier in Baby A's mouth.  
• My baby loves his paci.  People have told me he takes it really well for a newborn.  But what do I know, my other babies hated them.
• Last week I had multiple exclaim, "No way he is smiling already?!" 
• Baby A has a pretty strong neck for such a little one, he loves to hold himself up instead of cuddle against your shoulder.  This provided minutes of irreverent entertainment to my husband and my husband's friend sitting behind us in church on sunday.  My husband likened it to a tree who needs it stakes removed so it can grow strong in the wind.
• Verbally it seems like my children are all three years apart, 6, 3 and 0.  On calendar it seems they are two years and four years apart, 2006, 2008, 2012.  In fact my oldest son was 10 months younger then my daughter was when they both became older siblings.  Make sense probably not.  My oldest son was 34 months old (2 years and 10 months) when my daughter was born.  My daughter was 44 months old (3 years and 8 months old) last month. In my opinion my first two are three years apart, and my second and third are almost four years apart.  Come on everyone rounds up when it comes to talking about kids' ages.
• I stand by my opinion that he is an easy baby, but thats only because I know what a hard baby is, and I'm always grateful I've never had a sickly baby. If my third was my first, I'm sure I would be overwhelmed by him.  He is an excellent sleeper, but in the evening he is fussy.  Imagine that a fussy baby in the evening?!  He will go right back to sleep after eating in the middle of the night, usually, but that is the only time he nurses to sleep.  The rest of the time he requires to be rocked to sleep, while sucking on his pacifier with a full belly.  Luckily once we accomplish that, it isn't unusual for him to sleep for three to four hours.  I told my husband part of me wishes he was my first, so I could enjoy my evenings in front of the tv while I rocked him, instead of alternating between doing things one handed for my older children as I rock an upset baby, to putting him down and doing things for my two older children that require two hands while he hollers for all the world to hear. Finally after four hours of the baby being upset that he does not have my undivided attention we get to cuddle and rock, sometimes he is will go to sleep in 20 minutes other times he takes an hour or so.  Over all I don't mind no matter how long it takes, especially because he doesn't mind me watching tv while he goes to sleep.  Yes, I said four hours, my oldest gets home from school at 4 pm, and baby A, is annoyed from then on, because that is when life gets crazy.  Anyway back to talking to my husband, I dream of what it would be like to hold my baby for four hours in front of the tv and rocking and nursing him, while my husband cooked dinner for his new mom recovering wife.  Yeah those days are gone... I'm just grateful if we get to spend three out of the seven evenings a weeks together, we are so busy.  But I will say, Brent does help with dinner, he  usually cooks at least two meals a week, usually on the weekends.  Considering I don't cook every night, I'm usually only cooking at the most four meals a week.
• Baby A turned a month old last friday. Its hard to believe he wasn't in our lives a month ago-- well he was just not as a breathing human being.  
• I put my daughter back in pull ups last night.  She pretty much has wet the bed every night for at least the last month.  With starting preschool and a new baby, her body just couldn't handle the stress I guess. I was so sick of washing sheets I could scream!  She willing went back to pull ups which I sort of thought was odd because we threatened to do that during the summer, and she totally stopped having accidents.  This time I think she was relieved.  Today was the first day since school started she didn't throw a tantrum. She did everything I asked almost willingly.  I have no idea if it was a coincidence or not.  
• If you are on facebook you already read this, but I think I might have a disease.  Its called last one to leave a social function disorder. This is what I wrote on facebook, "I think there may be something wrong with me. I can understand being the last one to leave a party or book group, but meet the teacher night? All the other parents have left and I'm sitting there chillin' with my son's teacher from last year and this year, just chatting away (not about my son)." A cousin of mine without children blamed it on my children but no in fact I've had it for years before they came along.  I married a man with the same disorder, people are going to stop inviting us to social functions.  Brent says the party doesn't get good until most people leave.  My daughter did not inherit this disorder and it drives her crazy! I had plenty of social interaction by the time back to school night happened.  I went to book group, people came and visited me at my house, I went to play group for three hours.  No I wasn't desperate, I'm just chatty.
• I stopped wearing sweat pants last week!  Wahoo for me!  Although everyone I've ever met and some I haven't officially met tell me I look great for just having a baby, I didn't own a single pair of pants that fit me other than yoga pants and pjs.  So I went and bought some, I felt like it was a tithing blessing.  I tried on some jeans, then as I walked out of the dressing room, I thought I should go check clearance, the only two pairs of jeans they had back there, were in the size I needed in longs. They were $7 a piece! Its a little bizarre I had to buy pants, with my first two kids I had a bigger postpartum gut, but I could get into normal low rise jeans by now.  This time I seem to have no gut, but my hips apparently grew.  Overall I don't care in the slightest, just stating history for my inner social scientist.

Easy Baby

Our third baby is beyond easy.  Brent and I didn't know having a newborn could be so fun.
Then again, I was thinking about it last night, if he wasn't my third I don't know if I would think it was easy.  My recovery wouldn't have been quick, and I wouldn't realize how lucky I am with his sleep schedule.  I'm sure I would be super stressed out by my baby's need to be held if he isn't sleeping.  But he is my third, so I realize how easy he is, I know how to take care infants.  Sometimes I question his want of being held so much when he is awake, but then I realize it is probably a blessing, because otherwise I might forget to cuddle him, I'm so busy with the other kids starting school.  It makes me take things slow and relax, plus holding him, instantly makes life seem perfect.
We were dreading the infant stage, but honestly we are having a blast this time.  Sure he spits up so much of his food, I wonder how he retains any of it in his belly, but it usually doesn't phase me at least he isn't screaming while he spits up.  I think the only times it has stressed me out is when he is also exploding out of his diaper at the same time.
I'll be honest laundry is overwhelming me.
He is perfect though, and super fun.  Plus he is starting to smile at me. Unfortunately he is also growing up and realizing he can cry loudly when we aren't attending to him quick enough.  Sometimes I think he is getting a raw deal, because he often has to wait until I finish something for his older siblings.  Then again emotionally I'm sure they think they are being ignored with all the excitement of a baby in the house.
I never want him to grow out of the bassinet next to my bed, he is so easy, I just want him to be an infant forever.  If you talked to me before or during my pregnancy you know bizarre it is that we are enjoying this.  I was utterly dreading infancy, I kept wondering if I could some how magically get an 18 month old in our family instead of a newborn.  Luckily my plans didn't work out and we got an infant instead!

Ignore his milky tongue, he is not cooperative with cleaning it.

He also likes his paci! 

 I've never had a child who liked a paci before.  My first was compelled to take one by me, because sometimes I just couldn't handle him eating anymore!  He wanted to nurse every hour, it made me want to scream, and often my husband had to pick up the pieces of a wife falling apart from exhaustion and constant feedings, mixed in with homework deadlines.  My second took occasionally took a pacifier until she was 3 months old and found her thumb.  She was angry with or without the pacifier so who knows if she liked it.  My third, he takes his pacifier multiple times a day.  He is the first one that doesn't seem to understand nursing to sleep, and often takes it to lull himself to sleep.  He is also my first one I often have to rock to sleep.  Its bizarre to me, but as long as its not his siblings bedtime its nice to cuddle and love.  Its nice he likes his paci.  I dreamed of having a paci kid, instead of a 5 year old sucking their thumbs.  Its also nice since his schedule often takes a back seat to his sibling's.  They have to go to school when it starts, and I have to pick them up when its over.  We make three trips each day to school, each ranging from 20-45 minutes, his paci mixed with my long arms that can reach behind my seat is a blessing.

Boys

My boys went backpacking 2 miles in last night.  Brent was itching to get out, and my oldest son definitely needed some attention. The baby boy had to stay home with the women folk.

They came home with a fish....

Hair

For awhile I felt something was wrong with 'the picture' of our family.  Me with long brownish hair, and my daughter with short blonde hair.  So I let my sister in law make be blonde, and I tried to grow out my daughter's hair, but none of it stuck.  Short blond hair is my daughter.  Blond for me? well I'm not keeping it up, but luckily a summer at the park has blended it fairly well with the rest of my hair.  I could cut my hair shorter, and I do every three years, but a prefer long.  I like my hair long and brownish, and short blonde a-line cut is what belongs with my daughter.

Third Baby Bear

Have you ever read You're All my Favorites by Sam McBratney?  Its about three bear siblings who wonder who their parent's love best. Spoiler alert: Their parents prove to them they are all the most wonderful baby bears in the whole wide world.

Well when I was in the hospital three and half weeks ago holding my large and bruised third baby, I kept thinking, "this is the most wonderful third baby bear there ever was, and that is a good answer too". For that to truly making sense you need to read the children's book.

But its true, I knew he couldn't be the only perfect baby, because he was my third baby.  I knew he couldn't be the best boy ever, because he was my second son.  But he definitely is the most perfect third baby ever, and that is a good answer too.

Speaking of the hospital, my son was a gangster thug with his ears sticking out of his beanie just like how his daddy wears his beanie in the winter. P.S. this boy had his daddy's ears too.

Like his sister

At first I thought my son looked like my other son with less hair. 

Son #2

 Son #1

 But then I realized they both just looked like babies.  He actually looks like my daughter, I noticed this about a day before everyone started telling me this. One of my friends was holding my baby the other day, and kept laughing because he looked like Nan and kept making facial expressions like her. So here they are in a picture together.  She was trying to copy how his legs were, but was having a hard time since her legs are so much longer body proportion wise.

Here she is as a baby.  I looked for a picture of him looking at the camera, but he doesn't like to have his head straight on, so there are none.  She is propped on a pillow so maybe I should try that.

 Here they are looking at each other.

Shh, don't tell my son that the baby doesn't look like him much. He was hoping to have a twin little brother.  You know how some families kids look identical just years apart.  Yeah, no soup for us. I've never ever thought that child 1 and 2 looked alike. I found this very bizarre when child 2 was born, I thought we would be one of those families were all our kids looked identical just years apart.  I don't know why I thought that.   I think child 3 is the missing link between child 1 and child 2.
You want the run down from what I can figure.
Child 1 and 2, have the same nose, belly button, and toes (meaning child 3 has a different nose, toes and belly button)
Child 2 and 3 have the same shaped feet, narrow and slightly pigeoned toed
Child 1, 2 and 3 have the same mouth (lips) and chin (but child 1 and 2 have different teeth)
Child 2 and 3 have the same forehead and eye shape
Child 1 had navy blue eyes as a baby, child 2 had light blue, child 3 has navy
They all have different ears
Child 1 and child 2 have different body types (beyond their obvious boy and girl factor, they have different shoulder and torso shapes.) Child 3 too early too tell, but he has long arms and broad shoulders, I wonder where he got that from? Child 1 does not have broad shoulders and never has.
Child 1 has his daddy's head with my forehead, child 2 has my head shape with her daddy's forehead.
Yes, I'm obsessively observant.  This is a curse I tell you.
Child 3 has his daddy's cowlick in the front, and I love it!  Brent hates his cowlick, and when our first baby was born with no cowlicks we thought he was the most perfect baby ever.  (I have a double cowlicks in the back.) But now I'm absolutely in love with the fact my second son has the cowlick.