Birthday {the big kid is 6}

I know I pretty much start every post out with how sad I am that my kids are getting big..it's true.  I do get sad about them growing so fast.  With the sadness comes so much joy.

My big 6 year old boy is growing into such an amazing young man.  He is thoughtful, caring, giving, selfless, concerned for others, gracious, compassionate, a wonderful big brother and quite handsome too!  I am always amazed by Jude.  He sets the bar pretty high for his siblings.  I can't really even explain my love for him.  He was my first baby, he changed my life.  He will always be my baby.  I literally cry when I read the book 'Love you forever'.  My kids look at me like i'm crazy, but it gets me every time.  Jude, no matter how big he gets, will always be my baby.  I'm so thankful that he still wants me to lay with him at night, that he cuddles up to me on the couch and doesn't mind all of the hugs that I request throughout the day.  He's a lover, an old soul, and oh he is so amazing.  I know there is a big future ahead for this kid.  We always get compliments from friends, neighbors, teachers and even perfect strangers on his behavior.  He is a good boy, a good helper and very well mannered.  He is a focused student and a lover of art.  He loves to color, draw and write.  He spends countless hours a week at the kitchen table working on his "projects".  He is quite talented with his designs.  I love them and will cherish them forever.

Jude is starting the baseball season this year in love with the game.  He's determined and excited about every practice.  He has been asking for a little over a year now to have a Birthday party at ORU.  We were able to pull this off, and he even got to throw out the first pitch of the season!  He did so great and we were so very proud of him.  He marched right out to the pitchers mound and threw the ball just short of the catcher.  It was so cool!

Here are a few shots from his party in the VIP lounge.  Unfortunately there are none of him throwing out the first pitch due to me frantically trying to video the event...which I did not get.  Ugh.

Singing silliness!  

My attempt at getting a photo of Jude walking out to the mound

 Silly pose pic

 Grandma and Grand-dad were here! 

Trying out a new toy!

Our view from the VIP room

Jude Martin, you are such a special kid!  I love you so much!  Happy 6th Birthday to such an amazing boy.  

She is His..

This past Sunday (February 17th) was a big day for sweet Hattie girl.  Before our family, friends and church body we dedicated her to the Lord.  We prayed over her little life and made proclamations that from a very young age, even now, that she would love Jesus and live to serve Him. That He would be present in her life and protect her.  That His will, not ours, would be done.  That God would be present in our home life, and that Dallas and I would seek His Will in raising her.  It was a special time, and I'm just so thankful that we have such an amazing group of people who care about us and our precious babies.  People who will keep us accountable.  People who are there for us, without judgment. People we treasure.  Thankfully Hattie saved her blow-out until just after the service:).

She was such a good girl and didn't make a peep.  She let pastor Jamie hold her and she just looked around the entire time.  

Jude and Rhett were also SO good.  Someone told me that during the prayer Rhett had his hands raised at one point..wish I could have seen that!  Our sweet friend Mary took these pictures (above) and I'm so thankful for them, she did a great job!  

We had to lose the tights and shoes due to the aforementioned blowout.

She is His, she always was. I love her so much and i'm so very blessed and thankful that God chose me to be her momma. 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139

Month 4

Well, I'm sure you can see by my now monthly posts that I don't have a lot of free time on my hands.  I have to be intentional about getting on here and writing things down.  I'm hardly ever at my desk on the computer anymore.  Typically I'm nursing a baby and surfing the internet via my phone...ugh.

This last month has brought a lot of trials in our life and for those we love and hold dear to us.  Prayers are definitely appreciated for my family right now.  Sometimes life is hard, and the devil wants to win, and he doesn't have authority to do that here, or in my family as a whole.  AMEN.

As far as Hattie goes..that girl is getting huge.  Sweet baby doll is 4 months old now.  She is squealing and gabbing and sucking her fists all the live-long day.  She loves to blow bubbles and squawk at me while I change her diaper.  I feel like she has a funny and witty personality.  I don't really know why, but sometimes I think she is teasing me with her little squeals and sweet smily eyes.  She'll fit right in here.

At her 4 month appointment she weighed 13 lbs even.  She was right around the 50th percentile.  She is wearing size 3 diapers, and pretty much blows out of any brand or size we buy. She is in size 3-6 month clothes right now.

This month she has been dealing with RSV.  It was brutal for a few days, but she hardly had any wheezing, and I think we had a pretty easy case of it. Thankfully we did not have to go to the hospital.  Hattie had a consult with a physical therapist for Torticollis this last week.  We might as well have taken her to visit a rock, because that's how much I feel like this lady knew about the matter at hand.  She thought she had scoliosis instead of torticollis, but after speaking with our pediatrician and numerous chiropractors, scoliosis was quickly ruled out, and doesn't even present itself (even in severe cases) until closer to age 1.  I took her for a Chiro visit yesterday and her neck is seriously 80% better than before the visit.  I'm praying that this will be our answer.  We've also ruled out torticollis.   The Chiro now thinks that the top vertebrae in her neck is tilted from in utero or delivery.  Either way, he thought it was very fixable and said he sees it all of the time.  Jude also visited with him about a little bed-wetting situation we are hoping to cure with his help.

Hattie is doing so much better in her carseat,  and is playing on her mat for alone time and tummy time.  She seems to enjoy both!  She has not yet rolled over, but Dallas has reminded me (several times) that she was born early, so apparently that plays a role in these things.  She is rolling onto her side from her back, but not completely over yet.  She still loves to sleep on her tummy!  I don't plan to introduce food until 6 months, so no new info there.  Still nursing.  She is eating much faster and going longer between feedings.  I have decided that my personality is to feed her on demand (was with the boys too), so we are sticking with what works, and not stressing about what works for everyone else.  She is changing her looks again.  I feel like I see this more with her.  I think because I just expect her to look like one of the boys, and just when I think I see a similarity she goes and changes and looks like the other one:).  She has blonde hair growing in a bit, so that will be interesting as she has seemed dark-headed from day one.  Her eyelashes keep getting longer too. I just love her so much and I think she's the prettiest little baby ever.

My baby boy has been talking with a lisp.  It's not his usual voice he's using, but he's possibly mimicking another child from school.  We have really been working with him on speaking in his big boy voice.  He's done this before with a really deep voice, but this has been going on now for several months with the lispy voice.  He can talk completely normal, but choses not to.  I think he's struggling (without knowing it) about not being the baby anymore.  He has been rowdier than usual and is just having some fits and tantrums that we are working through.  I'm trying to handle it in the most loving way possible.  I feel bad for him.  He didn't choose to lose so much of our attention.  Also, he's three, and three was no picnic with Jude.  Our kids skipped over the terrible twos and jumped right in, head first, at age three.  I love that little guy so much, and he truly is a sweet and loving boy.  So he wants his momma's attention..shame on me for not having the time he needs from me.  The other day I was reading my bible and he was wanting something from me and he threw his hands up and said, "Mom, you're taking FOR a long time!"  I love it when he adds "for" to his sentences.  I refuse to correct him.  Sometimes he'll just walk up to me and say, "I love you so much, momma."  It just melts my heart.  He is such a good boy at school.  I'm always asking his teachers if he is good and they look at me like I'm crazy...as if Rhett would never act up.  Several of occasions they have mentioned that they want to take him home with them.  I'm so happy and proud of him for being a good boy at school and at church.  He loves Hattie so much and is so so sweet with her.  She was on her tummy the other day and Dallas and I turned around and Rhett was saying, "Hey guys, look!"  We looked over at him and had picked Hattie up and was holding her, both of his arms around her tummy.

Jude will be 6 tomorrow.  I really just can't even...how is this possible.  It really does make me sad.  I just feel like he's growing up so fast, and that soon he will be in middle school and then in high school and then college.  Just like that.  I am so so proud of him and the sweet and loving boy that he is.  He is so caring and concerned for others.  He asks so many questions and is interested in all of his surroundings.  He genuinely cares for others...that is rare in kids these days. He is having a baseball birthday party (his request), and he's so excited, AND likely doesn't realize that most other 5 and 6 year olds will not give a lick about watching a baseball game.  BUT, he is the b'day boy, so I will let him do whatever he wants.  He loves to read and color and write.  Most days when he comes home from school he will show me what he made at school and sit down and color and draw for at least an hour.  Rhett sits there with him and writes on the kitchen table.  Jude really wants to lose a tooth, but I'm not ready for him to have those big and awkward bumpy teeth yet.  That will just make him way too grown up.

I'm hoping to start having some date nights with my boys.  I would love to take each one of them somewhere alone (just me and each of them) one night or day a month.  I think they need that time with me...I need it with them.  Sometimes I feel disconnected being so busy and having so much going on all of the time.  I love them so so much.  I want to enjoy them and enjoy each stage and phase.  These are precious moments.

Carpal tunnel is setting in, so I may have to try to post more than once a month:).  Happy February!

this, that and a 3 month old..

It seems like we are in such a crazy season of life right now. So much is going on, and not much of it is avoidable.  It's just life.  Where we are right now.  It's fun, but goodness, it is busy.  The Holidays were no exception to the chaos.  Four days before Christmas, my sweet Grandma unexpectedly passed away (more on her later).  We got in the car and drove 11 hours to southern Indiana, with all three kids and snow storms all around.  It all turned out to be a wonderful time of remembrance of such an amazing life, and there is nowhere else I would have rather been for the Holidays.  It was a pretty special time.

Meanwhile, Hattie girl hit her 3 month B'day while experiencing her first ever road trip.  She had mixed feelings.  Most of the time she slept, and there were times (OH were there times) when she screamed her cute and tiny little head off.  We tried to pull over and hold her as much as possible.  All in all, first road trip with three littles was a success!

Month three has been SO much fun.  Hattie is so smily and happy.  She is cooing and talking all the time, and she lets out little laughs every once in a while.  So many times I will look down at her and she is just staring at me, waiting for me to engage her.  When I do she is so smily, wiggly and adorable.  She still loves to sleep on her tummy and has been sleeping better at night.  When we were in IN she slept 9 hours every night, without waking up.  It was a tiny Christmas miracle.

She is changing her looks quite a bit lately.  Her eyes seem bigger by the day and her cheeks, chubbier.  I have noticed some blonde hair growing in under the dark hair that she's managed to hang on to.  She still loves to hold her hands in fists, but has been opening them up a little more often this month.  She doesn't mind tummy time throughout the day, and is getting quite good at spinning herself around on her tummy mat.  She will spend up to 20 minutes in her swing now (beats the 3 minute max last month). She's got man toots.  I hear her tooting in the middle of the night sometimes and it startles me.  She has found her fists, and likes to chew on them, but still has zero interest in a pacifier.   She loves baths now and cries less in her carseat.  I find her looking at the T.V. when it is on, and I try to avoid that.  We have worked our way (naturally) into a little bit of a routine.

Eats around 7:00 am
Wake her back up to take Jude to school at 8:30
Feed her when we get home
Back to sleep for a few hours so mom can clean and do a Billy Blanks video
Tummy time and back time
More napping for an hour-ish
Lots of eating in between
Bath
Hang out with Daddy
Eat
Bed (whenever I can get her to sleep)

As you can see it is all very official:).

I have started the postpartum shedding of the hair this month.  Oh good heavens..I have so much hair.  It's so weird to see it shed like it does.  I also feel like I've gotten my face back this month.  Pregnancy face is the worst, and 3 months is a long time to wait to feel like yourself again.  Now, if I could just whip my body into feeling like "itself" again:).  I head back to the gym on the 1st, and I am very excited about it!

Here's my big chunky monkey 3 month old...

Okay, so she's not really chunky, but she is a little bit of a monkey;).

And here's a few more from the last few weeks...

And here's some cute little boy action...

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year! Happy 2013!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!  

Hattie {2 months)

Hattie still seems so little to me.  I know she is growing and changing her looks, but she just seems teeny.  She weighed 9lbs 11oz at her 2 month check-up.  She was in the 11th percentile for her weight, 26th for her height, and her head was in the 3rd.  So yeah, she's kind of tiny still.  She has been sleeping really well lately.  This past week she went 8 hours through the night without waking up..two nights in a row.  The other nights were all about 5 hours and then another 3 after eating.  She's been napping in the morning and afternoon, and she has lots of awake time these days.

My girl loves to smile.  We will talk to her and it's like her entire body gets in on the smile.  She wiggles and then we get gigantic grins.  Lately we've been getting some very sweet cooing as well.  When we talk to her she's started trying to talk back to us:).  She is on the verge of laughter too!

She is sleeping on her tummy now.  There, I said it.   I'm glad to get that off my chest.  I flat out lied to the pediatrician when he asked me if she sleeps on her back.  I said yes.  I don't really know why I did it, but I instantly felt guilty and spent the rest of the appointment trying to think of a way to bring it back up again.  I couldn't ever really find a way incorporate it back into the conversation.  Hattie can't stand to be on her back, or in her carseat, or out of my arms, really.  And that's okay. I love to hold her and this is only a season.  AND she is sure to not have a flat head, so there's that:).

Sister has a strong neck.  She can pick her little head up and turn to both sides to look around. She looks a little like a turtle when she does this, but it's so adorable.  She seems pretty proud of herself.

Hattie, you have captured our hearts, sweet girl.  You are such a wonderful addition to our little family, and I can't even remember life without you.  It just feels like you belong here, and I'm so very thankful that God made me your momma.  Your brothers love you and try to console you with sweet high pitched voices when you fuss or cry.  They always want to touch you and make you smile.  It is such a blessing to see this sweet side of them.  It is so wonderful to look at our family and feel complete, and to know that you were the missing piece of this amazing puzzle.  We love you more than words.  To the moon and back.

Our new normal

Time seems to be moving so quickly.  We are in no shortage of activities and events at our house, and these events seem to keep things moving and busy around here.  Over the last few weeks I went back to the Chapel and coordinated a wedding, Aja, Laura and I participated in the fall Vintage Market Days event (which has left me with orders for growth charts to fulfill) and Jude's school is getting busier by the day.  I've also taken on several Christmas Pinterest projects to get ready for the Holidays up in here. I love it, but sometimes I just want to stop the clock.  It's like I look up and my kids are bigger every single day.  I just don't want to miss it surrounded by all of the 'busy' in our lives.  I know things have to happen in order to run this house, and things will get easier as Hattie grows and is more on a schedule, but I also don't want to wish these teeny tiny baby days away either.  I guess I just wish I was superwoman, and could do it all, all of the time...without any yelling or frustration or mental breakdowns and hormones cramping my style:).

Meanwhile, have I mentioned that these kids have grown?  Golly, Rhett seems like such a big boy, and Jude.. don't even get me started.  That kid is huge.  I bought him a size 13 shoe and size 6 (sniffle) jeans.  Rhett is in a size 10 shoe and 4 jeans.  Their hair is losing it's summer glow already and they are quickly turning into winter dirty blondes.  Soon they will be brunettes and we'll just talk about the days they were toe-headed.

I feel like so much has happened over the past several weeks.  We've been keeping some secrets and are getting excited to make some changes.  No, I'm not pregnant.  Good grief, can you imagine?!   More on that later.  For now here are some pictures to prove that I am raising giants.

Woody and Buzz... 

Last night Rhett said, "Mom, two friends are better than one.  Ecclesiastes 4:9".  I was blown away.  I'm so thankful our church is teaching my kids God's word.  Who knew he was able to memorize such things.  

Jude is learning to read and write.  I've been really impressed with how much he is learning at school.  He loves it and is really getting into art projects as well.  He could sit at the kitchen table and color, write and draw all day long.  

 Hattie's eyes are getting really blue and she's getting so long. She has been cooing and making sweet little noises this past week (week #7).  More on that with her 2 month post next week!

This baby loves to be on her tummy.  

Dallas and I have managed to squeeze in a few date nights lately.  Thanks to my mother in law for watching the kiddos.  We went to a super fun 80's prom for the Chapel with our friends, Jeremy and Christel.  It was so fun.

 The hair and makeup was a blast.  Jude asked me why I had "blue things" on my eyes.  Then he told me I looked pretty :).

Dallas, Hattie and I had a sushi date a few weeks ago that was much appreciated.  I love hanging out with Dallas and dreaming about our future over sushi.  It's just fun to have an adult conversation, really.  Hattie slept the whole dinner, and our waitress was likely less than thrilled that we sat there for two hours chatting.  Oh well.  

I have a giant list of things to do before Christmas.  One of them is coming up with some sort of anti-aging regimen (priorities, right?).  Have any of you tried Roden and Fields products?  I'm wanting to try the Reverse product line.  It's just so pricey and I don't know if it's worth it.  I have heard some good things.  

We are getting all geared up for Christmas decorating.  Scroogy McSgroogerson is making me wait until Thanksgiving night to put up the decorations, but that's okay.  That just gives me more time to make things more elaborate in my mental pin board.  I've got Christmas fever BIG time this year.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!   I hope you all have heaps to be thankful for this year!