Photo Every Hour: October 21st

I'm going to be in for a world of hurt when this baby gets here and I need to start doing monthly baby updates again--I can barely get my act together long enough to get these posts up in a timely manner and these posts take no time at all!

Up a little early to get some yoga in before starting the school-morning grind!

7:00 Breakfast fun

8:00 Nice perk of getting all the boys up and out the door to get William to school? The grocery store is never busy at eight in the morning

9:00 Time for Momma to get some coffee

10:00 Breakfast at seven means a snack in the morning is a must

11:00 Play time at open gym on this rainy day

12:00 Getting some pre-nap snuggles!

1:00 The boys have moved downstairs, but their clothes haven't yet, which means I have plenty of space in their old room to spread out their laundry before putting it away (at least for now--Connor will need to make the move into this room sooner than later!)

2:00 Watching the rain after naps

3:00 All loaded up after school

4:00 William won the game King's in the Corner at a Bingo event over the weekend, and it has been his latest obsession

5:00 Getting dinner ready (and you can tell that I was helping prior to taking the picture due to the mess--when Darrell does dinner prep on his own he does a much better job cleaning as he goes)

6:00 Pokey Mr. Connor deciding that he can't be bothered to feed himself and that someone needs to do it for him

7:00 I lost count, but this was at least game number two or three of the night. Momma loves it :-)

8:00 Getting ready for bed in their new room downstairs!

9:00 Pulling together a few recipes for the new Baking Group that I started at church a few months ago

10:00 On to the next task--typing up the minutes from our last PTO meeting with a nice view of Darrell getting some work done for the Photography Unit of the El Riad Shrine #adulting #iwishihadaglassofwine

Not too shabby of a bedtime!

Photo Every Hour: September 21st

Well, I'm in the middle of taking my photos every hour for October, so I figure it's about time to get my photos from September up. Better late than never, right?

7:25 AM Momma got to sleep in--and steal some cuddles from her favorite oldest son!

8:00 Saturday morning pancakes. Simply the best

9:00 Nothing like doing some last minute menu planning for dinner

10:00 But a perk of procrastinating is getting to go to the grocery store without any kids!

11:00 Headed across town for the Shrine Football Game, an annual event for the El Riad Shrine in which they partner with Augustana University and the football team raise money for Shriner's Hospitals 

12:00 Tailgating fun

1:00 Kickoff!

2:00 Despite having other commitments for most of the first half, Daddy still managed to steal a little bit of time to catch some of the game with his boys

3:00 Somebody couldn't quite hang at the game without his nap, so he got to take a little nap on Mommy's back while she walked around the stadium a few times

4:00 Post-nap popcorn--and just over two minutes away from an Augustana victory!

5:00 Now it's their turn to play some football

6:00 Ugh. Dishes. Why must these things get dirty every single day?

7:00 Snack time!

8:00 I got asked to fill in for the Sunday School choir director tomorrow morning--time to freshen up my kid's music skills and make sure I have songs ready to go!

9:00 Time to relax 

10:00 Ah. Bedtime. I love our bedroom (fun fact--Darrell made that monogram for our wedding! It's been moved once and painted twice, and I love it just as much as I did at our wedding)

Goodnight!

Connor: Two Years!

Well, one word can pretty well sum up how we feel about Connor turning two: FINALLY. Don't get me wrong, we aren't trying to speed up the growing up process any, but he is doing that plenty on his own by following in his brother's footsteps, and it's kind of a relief to finally be able to say that he is two. Because honestly, he hasn't really been one for quite some time.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Height/Weight: Well, after only putting on three ounces between 15 months and 18 months, he decided to make up for it by putting on over three pounds since his 18 month appointment, bringing his weight up to a respectable 26 pounds. Still heavier than Garrett was at this age (by two full pounds!), but half a pound lighter than William. He's actually taller than his brothers were at this age, but by only half an inch, so some of that could just be discrepancies in measurements. Safe to say, no matter how you crunch the numbers, we may have big babies but we definitely have small toddlers. 

Cool Dude sporting his Easter finest

Wearing: We moved up to size five diapers, but that was pretty much only because we realized we ran out of size four at bedtime one night so we had to open a box of size five and they worked well enough that we've just stuck with them (plus I've just been too lazy to go out and buy more size four). Otherwise it's pretty much all the same size 18 month clothes as before (yay....not). I've pulled out a few 24 month/2T items just for some sheer variety in clothing options, but find myself getting equally irritated by his wearing ill-fitting clothing, so I guess I'm just going to have to wait it out a few more months before fully making the switch.  

Summer fun with Mommy (and a donut!) while big brothers were at YMCA camp

Eating: Our pediatrician had a PA student shadowing him at Connor's well visit, and she asked about his food intake, specifically how he does with fruits and vegetables. I laughed a little to myself--I'm pretty sure that any toddler who can identify Brussels sprouts by name at the grocery store is more than okay on his food intake. In fact, his biggest issue with food is probably that he refuses to accept that he isn't quite as big as his brothers and therefore still needs some of his food prepared a little differently (like having his grapes cut up--almost always a guaranteed tantrum). He is pretty much completely independent when it comes to feeding himself, and we've slowly been easing him into drinking from a cup instead of a spouted sippy cup. He is also our biggest milk drinker by far, and we find ourselves making sure to limit the amount he gets in his cup or he'll drink all that first and then not eat as much of his actual food. And--while this isn't solely because of Connor--we have recently become a two refrigerator house because these boys are ALWAYS eating. Since we make a point to feed them as many "whole" foods as possible, we end up buying a fair amount of stuff that needs to be refrigerated (plus we love having leftovers to eat for lunches), and as a result our fridge was constantly full. It's been soooo nice to have the extra space (and I don't even mind having to make the occasional trip downstairs to get the extra gallon of milk or bag of carrots because it's way easier than having to run to the store), but we'll see how I feel once we get our first electrical bill with two fridges. 

Very excited about getting his own cupcake at a friend's birthday party--and proof that we aren't total health-food nuts

Sleeping: Well, one thing is for sure--after looking back at the two-year blog posts for his brothers, Connor definitely has way less drama in the sleep department. At two, both his brothers were dealing with the loss of their beloved pacifiers, a crutch Connor never became attached to, so we haven't had any of those battles or headaches. Garrett was also pretty inconsistent with sleeping through the night at two, and while Connor is certainly a noisy sleeper that stirs a fair amount (he had to share the room with us at the lake this summer so we got to experience it first hand), he rarely needs one of us to come in to him to help him get back to sleep if he does wake up (something that honestly, still isn't always true with Garrett). My only concern/complaint would be that it tends to take him a little while to settle down, especially at bedtime, and I'm worried that when we move him into a big boy bed in the coming months his increased freedom will further delay the time at which he actually lays down and goes to sleep. So we could end up with an over-tired boy on our hands for a few days.

Lately he's taken to sleeping with his lambie over the top of his head--but I'm glad that wasn't the case this night so we could see his awesome bed head!

New Stuff: I kind of feel like this section should be more appropriately called "Improved Stuff", not "New Stuff". Because the things I had considered "new" at eighteen months are pretty much all the same things I was going to mention on his two-year post. But improvement is better than nothing, right?

My handsome boy loving the beach!

Stubbornly independent and wanting to do everything himself? You bet. He does have a pretty good awareness of his limits (he knows he needs to ask for help on the monkey bars), but he will insist on doing as much as he can by himself (such as climbing up the ladder to get as close to the monkey bars as possible).

Very excited to be riding his own bike like his brothers

Love of books? No doubt there. He will ask for books by name (like "Berenstain Bears" or "Football Opposites"), and has heard many of his favorites enough that he can "read" a word or two correctly per page.

Do we have a future nerd on our hands? With parents like us, there's a pretty good chance of that

Affinity for all things ball-related? It's almost gotten scary. He can dribble a mean soccer ball (with some decent speed, no less--and we're talking a full-size ball, not a kid-sized one) and he has progressed from "down, set, hike" with footballs to punting them (legit "drop the ball and kick it in the air with his foot" punting. It's nuts). Oh, and he can toss himself a ball to hit while he swings one-handed with a bat. Because, you know, that's normal for two-year olds (or maybe it is when said two year old has two older brothers that are equally ball-obsessed).

Can you tell he loves his brothers? It's no wonder he tries to copy everything they do

I suppose the one thing that would definitely count as "new" would be his communication. When we were at the beach with Darrell's family in June, he figured out that he could repeat words and phrases that we said, and there's been no stopping him since. With two older brothers some of the stuff he ends up repeating is a little questionable at best ("What the heck" and "yucky house" are two phrases he's recently picked up from Garrett that he thinks are hysterical), but he's also starting to string his own phrases together ("Push Daddy down", "I play soccer", "My asparagus all gone"), which is super fun. Of course, the communication isn't all rainbows and sunshine--he makes sure to find plenty of opportunities to shout "No help, I do it" or "I no want nap" or "I don't want to" throughout the day. But I suppose it's better than no communication, so I guess we'll take the good with the bad.

So, so excited to be fishing with Daddy at the beach

I'm pretty sure I've commented with each kid how silly/funny/happy they are, and I know my opinion is only a little biased, but seriously--Connor might actually take the cake on this one. The kid seriously has personality coming out of his ears, and we swear he laughs more (and louder and deeper) than his brothers ever did at this age. Granted, in addition to having two fairly goofy parents, he also has two equally goofy brothers who love to make him laugh, so maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that he's the silliest--silly is all he knows!

Who you calling silly?!?

And--because I would be remiss in forgetting to mention this--Connor is a total thrill seeker and seems to have very little fear. The playground at William's school doesn't have any bucket swings, so when Connor wants to swing while we are waiting for William to be dismissed, he has to sit in a regular swing by himself (especially since there is no longer any room for him to sit with Mommy on the swing). But he's not content to just sit and swing gently--he needs underdoggies like Garrett gets. And you'd better make sure to push him high enough to he'll make it very clear that he needs "more push". He seriously loves anything that involves spinning or going fast or flipping upside down, and can't get enough of it. Of course, maybe all of his "fearlessness" is a consequence of having two older brothers as well--not only does he do his best to try to keep up with them, but I also seem to recall times in his infancy when they would push his baby swing just a little too high or rough him up just a little too much. At least he does pretty well knowing his limits (like I mentioned earlier), and even when the time comes that he doesn't--I've made it almost seven years into this parenting gig without an ER visit, so I'm due for one eventually, right?

That diving board was no match for this kid. He absolutely loved it

I'm so excited to do another year with this kid in my life, and I can't wait to see what kind of stuff he throws our way next. I know there will be plenty of ups and downs--moving into a big boy room and becoming a big brother come to mind first and foremost--but I just know that no matter what happens it won't be long before he is laughing again.

Peace out one-year old! I'm ready to rock this two-year old business

Woah, We're Halfway There!

It's that time of the pregnancy again! Tomorrow (Friday the 13th... dum dum dum) is our big ultrasound with Baby #4. And--shockingly--we're not planning to find out what we are having. In fact, we're so indifferent on the sex of this baby that we've nicknamed it BOGSWorth, for Boy Or Girl Same Worth. But, because it's always fun to speculate, here's what we've got:

--Starting off strong for Team Girl is Everyday Family's Gender Predictor. According to their super scientific calculations, each of my previous three pregnancies should have produced a girl. And since they clearly didn't, it only makes sense that because they are predicting a boy this time I should naturally assume that it is, in fact, a girl.

--Baby's heart rate has never dropped below 150 at an appointment nor been higher than 170. Most wives tales will say that a higher heart rate is indicative of a girl, but those heart rates are almost exactly identical to what they were for my three boys, so, I'm going with a vote for Team Boy on this one.

--Supposedly when you are pregnant with a girl they steal your beauty (a "fun" explanation for the somewhat common pregnancy acne that occurs). I had pretty bad acne with William but basically nothing with the other two. Even though William does have super long (and dare I say feminine) eyelashes, I'm still inclined to think that the mostly mild and infrequent acne I've had this pregnancy is still a vote for Team Boy.

--Apparently the Mayans just can't seem to figure my pregnancies out. With William and Garrett, their fancy conception month/mother's age predictor tool incorrectly said I'd be having girls. With Connor, it was actually correct and said I'd be having a boy. It's back to predicting a girl again, but clearly there's no telling what that actually means. Forgive me for playing the odds here, but it's hard not to assume that in spite of the Mayan's prediction I have another vote going for Team Boy.

--If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know that I have a serious sweet tooth. So naturally, the salty vs sweet wives tale has always been a difficult one for me. However, while I certainly still want my sweets, there have been a few unusual things presenting themselves this time around. For starters, fruity, gummy-type sweets have been my jam--I'm talking sour gummy worms, the little fruit-flavored tootsie roll things, Skittles, Star Bursts, etc. Normally I'm a chocolate girl, but I find myself reaching for these types of sweets more than usual (granted, these also happen to be pretty much the only type of sweets we have in the house since it tends to be the type of candy the boys get at parades, but still--I haven't found myself missing the chocolate or trying to justify the expense of going out to buy some). However, I have a very low threshold for the amount of sweets I can have without getting what can only be described as gut rot. I went to my friend's birthday party for her one-year old daughter, and by the time I got home I was feeling absolutely miserable from the one cupcake and one (kind of large frosted sugar) cookie I enjoyed at the party. So while my sweet tooth is definitely a little different than it has been previously, my tolerance has decreased. Since it's different, though, I'm putting this on in the column for Team Girl.

--According to my previous posts, the Chinese Gender Chart correctly said that William would be a boy, but then incorrectly said both Garrett and Connor would be girls. However, after a quick Google search to check the chart for this pregnancy, I'm finding conflicting information. Some of the charts I'm seeing don't agree with the results I had for the first three pregnancies, and I'm also seeing a variance for this pregnancy. One of the charts clearly states that you need to use the Mother's Lunar Age at conception and the Lunar Month of conception, which I most certainly have never figured out in a previous pregnancy. Maybe at some point I'll go back and recheck the other three (the right way) and compare it against a result for this one, but for now I'm calling this "test" totally inconclusive.

--Oh morning sickness. What a misnomer you are. My "crummy" feelings in the first trimester were always worst in the afternoon/evening and the fatigue was a constant all day every day sort of thing. However, in four pregnancies, I have never once gotten physically sick, and although there were certainly bouts of nausea and food aversions, there was never anything major. Bloating, indigestion, and gassiness though were a totally different story, though, especially while we were traveling or when I overdid it on the sweets. And the fatigue was unrelenting (and seemed to never end), but I think that just happens when you have three kids (and all of them are at home because #summervacation). Plus, thanks to summer, not only was my body acting like a furnace as it tried to grow a baby, but we had what felt like eternally long stretches of heat and high humidity which just made it oppressive to even consider rounding up the troops and leaving the house to go somewhere. So, all external factors considered, I'd say this first trimester was fairly on par with where the others have been, which makes this another vote for Team Boy.

--I haven't really compared pregnancy photos yet (who has time for that?!?), but based solely on how I feel like I look, it definitely seems the same as my other pregnancies. In Garrett and Connor's pregnancies I constantly tried to find differences in my shape or how I was carrying to try to prove that there was at least a chance that I was having a girl, but honestly, when I look back at pictures they look super similar (save the obvious differences that happen between a first pregnancy and a third). So either I just carry babies the same regardless of sex or this is another definite vote for Team Boy.

So the final tally? Five votes for Team Boy, two for Team Girl, and one gender prediction tool thrown out the window. Of course, with three boys at the house, it's only natural that my interpretations of a lot of these wives' tales would lean toward boy, since that's obviously all I know. But you know what else I know? Boy or girl, this baby is going to be so loved. William and Garrett are unbelievably excited and love giving my belly hugs and kisses, and I just know Connor will be a wonderful big brother once he gets used to seeing me hold a baby (he still isn't thrilled when I hold our new niece Lucy, so that will be a fun transition). Twenty weeks down, twenty(ish!) to go!!

Photo Every Hour: August 21st

It may not seem like sleeping in to you, but considering school starts tomorrow this is the closest I'll get to sleeping in for quite some time!

7:00 At least someone is willing to give Momma some cuddles in the morning!

8:00 Just lounging around the house

9:00 Getting in one last trip to the golf course with Grandpa this summer!

10:00 Fore!

11:00 Time to get lunch ready

12:00 Someone is being a silly boy at nap time

1:00 If puzzles could be a love language, they would definitely be his

2:00 Snack time!

3:00 Trains and Twins baseball at Great-Grandpa's house

4:00 Mid-Afternoon coffee and last minute school supply shopping #crushingit

5:00 At the kickoff for the Augustana Vikings Kid's Club--Go AU!

6:00 We had hoped to have the older two moved to their bedroom downstairs before school started... Instead we're spending the evening before school starts finally shopping for the furniture for the room. Oh well. It'll get finished eventually, right?

7:00 Snack time! (Is it just me or does it seem like we spend at least half our day eating?!?)

8:00 Crossing my fingers that their selection of school supplies hasn't been completely picked over

9:00 At least I remembered to deposit money in William's lunch account before the first day of school, right?

10:00 Squeezing in a quick workout before bed

Definitely not the bedtime I was hoping for--looks like it's going to take Momma some time to adjust to a school year routine as well!

Doubly not the bedtime I was hoping for #thanksfornotsleepingthroughthenightConnor