Garrett: Five Years!

Who is this handsome big kid?!?

Garrett's Birthday Interview
Age: 5
Height: 3 ft, 5 in
Weight: 35 lb, 4 oz

What is your favorite color? Red and Blue
What is your favorite animal? Puppy Dog (No surprise there!)
What is your favorite book? Puppy Dog Books (Shortly after he remembered the name of a specific puppy dog book, "The Perfect Present", although I honestly think he only named that one because he had read it the previous day)
What is your favorite song? Hark the Herald
What is your favorite sport? Football

Hanging at an Augustana football game last fall!

What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Birthday Outing (I'll just pretend he means all the outings I take him on, not just his singular birthday one)
What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Cuddle (A little surprising, since most "cuddling" with daddy turns into a tickle-fest. Although maybe that's why it's his favorite...)
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Dig (Seriously. He got some construction trucks for his birthday/Christmas, and while he's made do with using them in the snow, he can't wait to get them out in some sand and dirt)

If I had to guess, I would say fishing is a close second to favorite outdoor activity

Where is your favorite place to go? Pavilion (Same answer as William at five!)
What is your favorite fruit? Cherries (I believe it, although I could justify indulging him more often if they weren't so darn expensive)
What is your favorite vegetable? Sweet Potato (Fortunately, these are generally easy to find for a reasonable price)

He likes them so much he insists on helping Mommy peel them! (Seriously--we had to get him his own peeler. He loves helping out in the kitchen, and most of the time he is legitimately helpful)

What is your favorite cereal? Marshmallow Treasures
What is your favorite treat? Lollipops (Thank goodness we get enough Dum Dum suckers at parades during the summer to last us the whole year)
What is your favorite meal? Jambalaya
What makes you happy? Playing with Mommy and Daddy (Awwww...)
What makes you sad? When everyone is sick and I can't play with them (This is been the story of his life this year. William was sick for something like five days in January, and Connor was sick for another two, plus they all recently took turns being sick over President's Day weekend. It's been fun running an infirmary... Not)
Who are your best friends: Kason and Oriya
What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction worker who works on roads (I'd like to think he could set his sights a little higher than that, but hey, whatever makes him happy!)

I think he'd also make a pretty fine construction worker who built houses--or even the architect who designed the builds!

What was your favorite part about last year? Going to the bowling alley (And thanks to the Kids Bowl Free summer program, we get a whole bunch of trips in during the summer!)
What is one thing you want to do this year? Play with toys (Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure we can arrange that)


Well, here we are. Another five year old. Another kid starting school in the fall. Two years ago when I was worried about William's separation anxiety and how he would adjust to Kindergarten, I would have told you that I wasn't worried at all for when Garrett's turn came around. But now that we're here, I'm not sure how I feel. I can't exactly pinpoint when it started, but he's gotten way more clingy to me, he acts super shy all the time (to the point of not even wanting to answer questions from grandparents; he'll hide behind my leg instead), uses a whiny baby voice most of the time when he actually does talk, and his ability to control his emotions (especially the disappointing ones--like being told no) seems like it has gotten worse. Oh, and he absolutely does not like participating in instructor-led activities (like songs at library story times). So that stuff will be fun for him to figure out in kindergarten. And honestly, even if he navigates those hurdles well, I know the first few weeks will still be rough because he sometimes still struggles in the evening if he doesn't get a nap during the day--so a solid day of kindergarten without even his normal afternoon rest time is sure to leave him exhausted (and prone to acting out). Yay.

While he has never been the "star of the show" during Sunday School performances, he's regressed from at least singing and attempting the actions to this: standing like a statue and hiding out as close to his cousin Jonathan as he can

He did start YMCA camp last summer, which seemed to go well despite some reservations on his end, so at least that's a good sign for kindergarten (although I'm curious to see how this summer goes; I'm a little nervous that it might be worse than last summer!)

A few notable accomplishments from the past year: he figured out how to ride a pedal bike (William got one for his 6th birthday and Garrett had it mastered about as quickly as William did) and he started full-on reading shortly after his 4th birthday (and he is now reading the chapter books William brings home from school!). I'm sure there are tons of other ones, but those are the big ones that come to mind.

Biking boys!

And just a few other notes/observations from the past year. He definitely likes to be silly (see above picture for proof) and enjoys making other people laugh, but sometimes to a fault. Connor will sometimes do things he isn't supposed to do (like throw Legos), but because Connor is laughing and thinks it's funny, Garrett will sometimes join in (and usually escalate the situation to a higher level of wildness), even if he knows it is wrong. On the flip side, if he doesn't join in on Connor's bad behavior, he will try to reprimand Connor for it. And not just a simple telling him to stop; I've heard him threaten Connor with consequences in a full-on parent mode. So we've been working on what is appropriate for a brother to do (remind him that he's breaking the rules and getting Mommy or Daddy if he doesn't listen) versus what is appropriate for a parent to do (set consequences like being sent to his room).

Living his best life at the beach

Enjoying the smoke bombs at the 4th of July

As I mentioned earlier, Garrett has a tendency to have some really big emotions, and I often find myself struggling with how to parent him through those moments, and I think part of that is because he is showing a tendency toward being a right-brained learner, and I am very (very) much a left-brained person. He's really good at coming up with creative solutions to problems (especially if the solution--like moving chairs and climbing on to things--gets him something he wants). He really gets into art activities and loves to free play/free build with things. He is a lover and a nurturer through and through (which I know I've mentioned on probably every single one of his updates). And I know that absolutely none of these things are "negatives", but man, it's been a challenge for me to figure out how to get into that side of my brain so I can do my best to meet him where he is.

Onions making me cry? I'll just wear my sunglasses! Problem solved (well, sort of. The onions still bothered him a little bit)

We took the boys to see my cousin's son perform as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and Garrett was totally enthralled the whole time

Who needs building instructions to create awesome block towers?

Still nothing but love for all (and I do mean ALL) his stuffed animals

Happy Birthday Garrett! You may be small in size, but you do life big--you love big, you play big, you fight big, and you give me attitude big (I couldn't get through the whole post without throwing that last little bit in there--you can be plenty sweet but boy when you want to you can be full of sass!). We love you!

It's A...

BOY!!!


And not surprisingly, I'm a little late getting this post up since Matthew was born about three weeks ago, but hey--I'm getting it posted before his one month update, so that counts for something, right?

But before I delve into Matthew's birth story, I have a few "back story" bits of information to share (and I promise to throw a few pictures in as well since that's probably all you are here for anyway)

Backstory One: When I was pregnant with Garrett, my doctor brought up getting induced. I was 41 weeks and 5 days and rationally I knew the induction conversation was coming, but I still remember leaving that appointment in near tears. Labor was something that was supposed to happen on its own, and it felt like I had failed because I needed to be induced. Add to that all the horror stories you hear about inductions--the contractions being worse, the increased likelihood of needing a c-section, etc--and it's safe to say I was pretty much a wreck the rest of that day. Fortunately, Garrett ended up coming on his own (and in relatively quick fashion!) later that night, so I didn't actually need the induction (full birth story here). Fast forward 2.5 years later and the same situation presented itself with Connor; while I was a little more mentally prepared to schedule an induction, I was still dreading it and was equally glad when he came on his own the day before the induction was scheduled (although I was not glad that we almost didn't make it to the hospital for his delivery--full story here).

Backstory Two: When I found out we were pregnant with Matthew, I called my OB to schedule my first appointment only to find out he had retired. We weren't terribly surprised by this, but it kind of put us in a pinch for finding a new one. After some recommendations from a few trusted friends, we picked a new OB and scheduled our first appointment. At that appointment, she asked about my previous pregnancies and deliveries, so we shared with her all the quick and chaotic details about Garrett's and Connor's births. She chuckled a little over the craziness of their deliveries, and immediately followed up with a comment that she would like to see this baby born in a much more controlled environment, perhaps by breaking my water at one of my last appointments and then sending me over to the hospital to be admitted. Darrell immediately jumped at this plan (the prospect of having to "catch" the baby terrified him), and I was surprised to realize that I was also okay with this plan.

Backstory Three: At Christmas with my mom's family, my sister and I got to talking with some of our female cousins about babies and labor and delivery. My sister was sharing about the birth of her second child and how she was supposed to be induced with him (mostly due to gestational diabetes) but that she complained enough to the doctors and nurses at her induction appointment that the rescheduled the induction for the following week and she went into labor naturally before then. She then proceeded to basically bad-talk inductions and all the issues/problems with them, and after a few minutes of this she turned to me and halfheartedly apologized because she had forgotten that I was planning to be induced. I laughed a little bit, and responded with "Let's have this conversation again after you've almost delivered a baby in the car and we'll see if you still feel the same way about inductions"

Now the fun (and actually relevant) part. At my 37 week appointment, my OB went ahead and scheduled my induction for a few weeks later when I would be 39+2. She had said from the start that she was never going to let me go past my due date, and my gestational diabetes diagnosis pretty much solidified that the induction would happen sooner than later in my 39th week. Despite my rationalizations that an induction made the most sense and was ultimately the safest choice for me and the baby, I still had a fair amount of doubt and reservations in the days leading up to the induction. Nevertheless, we showed up at 7:00 on our scheduled day to get things going. I'd had been dilated since my 37 week appointment, and was up to 4 cm that morning, which was a good start to the induction. By the time they got all the monitors set up and everything ready to go, it was probably around 7:30 when they started the pitocin. Despite all the horror stories, I didn't really feel anything, and Darrell and I proceeded to walk laps around the labor and delivery wing. Every 30 minutes or so we had to report back to our room so they could increase my pitocin, and it was at one of these "checks" that our decision to have an induction was solidified. The nurse was adjusting my monitor and asked how I was managing the contractions. I responded that I hadn't really been feeling any, at which point she looks up at me (hands still on my belly) and says "well, you're having one right now". I laughed a little and joked "well, I guess I'm managing them fine then!". She then checked the record on the monitor and told us that my contractions were coming about 3.5 minutes apart. At that point, Darrell remarked that he was so glad we were already at the hospital, and I must say, I had to agree. We continued our walking routine until 9:15 when my OB came to break my water. I was warned that the contractions would likely start to pick up soon, and sure enough, around 9:50 I had my first "real" contraction that I could identify the beginning and end of. At this point we were still walking laps as best we could, but I was also stopping in the room more frequently to sit on the birthing ball for a little bit. It was on the birthing ball (probably around 10:30) that I had my first contraction that I couldn't easily breathe or talk through, at which point Darrell immediately called for the nurses (he had been instructed to do that; for some crazy reasons the nurses didn't exactly trust my ability to be able to recognize what was happening in my body and they wanted to be sure that I actually had my baby in the room and not in the hallway or something). They had me get in the bed so they could check me, and I was nearly at 8cm. I immediately asked if it was too late for an epidural, and the nurse laughed a little. When she realized I was serious she leveled with me--she told me that she would certainly call the anesthesiologist if I really wanted her to, but she felt fairly confident that if I could power through for another hour or so the baby would be here, versus running the risk of slowing things down by getting the epidural (or, even worse, getting everything prepped and ready for the epidural but then not being able to get it in before it was time to push). Darrell shared her sentiment, so power through I did. They were able to give me some sort of localized numbing shot into my cervix that was supposed to help numb the "ring of fire" sensation, although it's hard to say exactly how well that worked. After a few position changes (my cervix had a "lip" that was stuck and not moving out of the way), some seriously long contractions that made it really difficult for me to be able to figure out when to push, and some wonderful coaching from Darrell (a student was serving as primary "catch", and I think it was her first catch because she wasn't exactly giving me any cues to how baby was progressing, so thankfully Darrell stepped in to let me know where the head, shoulders, etc were), Matthew was born at 11:16 and I very happily solidified my status as "Boy Mom". The post-birth stuff was a little messy and they had to keep the pitocin going to force my uterus to contract back down (as well as give me some sort of shot in my leg to help with the bleeding), but it's amazing how much easier it is to tolerate those shots and stitches when you have the sweetest little baby on your chest to cuddle.

We've been loving life as a family of six, and I can pretty confidently say that our family is finally complete!

Photo Every Hour: January 21st

My goal is usually to get up around 6:20 and no later than 6:30 on school mornings. My cold and nine-month pregnant body had other plans this morning

7:00 For lunch and dinner I refuse to play short-order chef. At breakfast? That’s a whole different ball game. I’ve got toast and an egg going for William, oatmeal in the microwave for Garrett, and inevitably Connor will want yogurt and Cheerios for his breakfast

8:00 Momma pulled out her phone to take a picture and Connor brought his puppy over to show off. Works for me!

9:00 Don’t be fooled, they aren’t as helpful as they look. Although at ages 2 and 4 I’ll take what I can get

10:00 The only way I can get these boys to sit still to get their nails cut—letting them watch videos on the iPad 

11:00 This chair and I have been best buds these past few days. Between this cold kicking my butt and being nine-months pregnant I’ve been doing way more sitting and resting than usual

12:00 This picture would definitely have been better as a video. I have no idea what they are playing, but they thought it was the most hysterical game EVER 

1:00 Lunch time—followed by my last blood glucose test of this darn pregnancy! 

2:00 Game time with my favorite 4 year old (side note: Chutes and Ladders can take FOREVER to finish. I know Candyland gets a bad rap sometimes, but I definitely think this game might be worse. But he loves it so I love it)

3:00 I’m pretty sure William got these cars for his 1st birthday (so almost six years ago). Suffice to say we’ve gotten our money’s worth out of them 

4:00 You mean you don’t usually lay awkwardly on the floor to watch TV?

5:00 My bags are packed and I’m ready to go.... To Grandma and Grandpa’s house because Mom and Dad are headed to the hospital in the morning to evict this baby!

6:00 Waiting on Mr. Bottomless Pit to finish his dinner so we can load up and head to Grandma and Grandpa’s house

7:00 Adios kiddos! We’ll have a new brother or sister with us when we come back to get you (and for the record, the drop off and good bye wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, although it certainly made the whole thing very real)

8:00 Wrapping up a few things with the PTO at William’s school  (and yes, drooling over delicious looking pizza was definitely necessary—can you say best fundraiser ever?!?) 

9:00 Snack time, Friends time (on the TV in the other room), and time to goof around on the iPad and (try to) relax before my induction tomorrow!  

10:00 On to round two of my snack and putzing around on the iPad 

Ready for bed—and as ready as we’ll ever be for the changes coming our way tomorrow!

Photo Every Hour: December 21st

I didn't quite get this posted in December like I was hoping, but I'm about three weeks ahead of when I got around to writing my November post, so that counts for something, right?

I'm not even ashamed to admit that this is totally sleeping in and I love every minute of it

8:00 Play dough was a a popular gift item at Christmas with Darrell's family, and it has continued to hold the boys' interest, so I'll make peace with the mess and count it a win!

9:00 My grandma (mom's mom) turns 98 today! We're going to celebrate her birthday tomorrow when we go out to Mitchell (which is also our Christmas celebration with my mom's family) and I was volun-told by my mom that I would be providing the cake

10:00 Taking a break from the cake for some puzzle time with my favorite six-year old

11:00 Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get ready since we're starting our Christmas celebration with my dad's family today at 11:30 (nothing like a super busy weekend of Christmas celebrations at 8 months pregnant!)

12:00 Nothing but chaos with my dad's side of the family (I'm not sure if we were having our annual photo shoot with Grandpa or getting ready to sing Christmas carols or both!)

 1:00 Forgot to take a picture, but just imagine a similar scene to the one above--lots of people, lots of food, and lots of chaos packed into my sister's house

2:00 The annual bowling outing has officially started, but we are getting a quick loop in on the interstate so Connor can catch a little bit of a nap and hopefully survive the rest of the afternoon

3:00 Bowling!

4:00 I think they were getting a little stir crazy after nearly two hours at the bowling alley...

5:00 So of course it was a great idea to take them across the street for our annual Christmas dinner of Chinese food! (To be fair, I make it sound worse than it was. While it was a super long afternoon, the boys were definitely troopers. And we even managed to polish off a full two plates of our Chinese food!)

6:00 Home at last--doing what else but more puzzles

7:00 Snack time!

8:00 Feeling accomplished (and acting silly) after getting the boys down for an early bedtime

9:00 Time to finish the cake!

10:00 Cake: done. Bedtime snack: eaten. Crazy family Christmas Day One: survived. Time for a little putzing and then off to bed for Crazy Christmas Day Two tomorrow!

Bedtime!