Color Me Rad

Back in September, Biggest Brother and Kevin ran in the Color Me Rad 5K. We had great intentions of helping him train to run his very first 5K, but they fell a bit flat. I think we got him out 2 or 3 times for a jog. That's the great thing about being a kid, though- you don't really have to train- you just go for it! I didn't run. Instead, I stayed with the younger two and watched for them near the finish line. Kevin said they ran most of the way with only a  couple walking breaks. They completed the race in around 40 minutes or so. Not bad for an 8 year old's first 5K run!

Once we spotted them, I grabbed a couple of photos and sent Big Brother on his way to join them for the last section of the course. He is in the LOVE shirt in the photo below next to Kevin.

In this race, you get color bombed about 4 times throughout the course. They throw colored cornstarch and sprayed them down with insect sprayers with some color concoction. The result is a pretty fun time and pretty messy car ride home!

2 Months

 He turned 2 months 3 weeks ago, but here they are!

The biggest change from 1 to 2 months was that our Little Man started smiling! So sweet! So hard to capture on camera too!

 He's a great-natured little guy still that loves to eat and sleep! That was proven at his checkup: 24 3/4 inches (97th percentile!) and 12lb 3 oz (60th percentile). For those of you who know our 2nd born son- he's off the charts tall. Little Man is consistantly measuring taller at each age than he did. Watch out NBA we have some competition growing here!

Our night sleep got a bit erratic for a while. Some nights he would sleep 10-6 and only get up 1 or 2 times. Then, we'd have a few nights getting up every 2 hours or so! (Thankfully that has changed now that we're closer to 3 months!)

He is interacting more with the boys. He gets a lot more time with Big Brother, since Biggest Brother is at school for long days. Big Brother is good with him, but rough and in his face at times. It doesn't seem to bother Little Man too much, but we're working on it! Just as he can be rough and tough, he can switch and be just as loving and sweet.

He's also starting to love his crib mobile and play things. He watches them and smiles. The big boys call his toys "his friends". He watches "his friends" while I am busy with life with the big boys and it buys us about 10 minutes or so without interruption. He loves his bath, taking walks in the stroller and is a perfect fit into our crazy little life!

Oh Happy Day!

Why are we so happy around here today? 

This little guy slept from 9pm -6am last night! That's the most uninterrupted sleep this Mama has gotten in 11 weeks! Hooray for the sleepy little baby!

Ordinary Days (Aug and Sept)

We have photos like this of Biggest Brother when he was 4 months old. Here Baby Brother is one month old in Biggest Brother's Bronco helmet.

Look who started smiling in August? (about 7 weeks old)

My 3 boys hanging out- (probably watching Woody Woodpecker or Avengers!)

 On Biggest Brother's Birthday he got to go to a Rockie's game with Daddy. Big Brother was

 j-e-a-l-o-u-s.

So, I made it fun with a walk to the park and his first bath with Baby Brother! It worked (phew!)

We are sure in love with this sleepy little guy!

Army Party

We celebrated Biggest Brother's 8th Birthday with an Army Party. It was a lot of camo, ammo, and a ton of fun! Kevin and the boys made the marshmallow shooters and decorated them with camo duck tape. They were a hit according to the boys. The grenade water balloons were another favorite. Grandma Sheryl was visiting and helped us get all of those ready. There were about 100 grenades just waiting to be launched!

Kevin started the festivities with some Basic Training- jumping jacks, pushups, etc. The boy thought it was a joke until they had to keep going because some boys were slacking!

Then, they moved on to the obstacle course set up in the yard, crawling under tarps, shooting water guns at a target, running around cones, jumping over obstacles and crawling through tangled ropes. 

The first time through they got to use all their body parts. But, the next few tries they had to roll dice. Depending on their number, they either lost an arm, a leg or their vision. They had to do the obstacle course with their injury the next few times. It was funny to watch them trying to hop through it or go through with a blindfold over their eyes!

The littlest guy slept through the whole party! A water grenade broke and sprayed on him and he slept through that too. Go figure! He wakes up all night, but sleeps through that!

The camo cupcakes were a hit- thanks to Grandma Sheryl for making these look and taste so great!

Not sure if you can see it, but they were really launching the marshmallows at me while I took this photo. You can see on on the right side coming out of the gun! Perfect timing!

We ended our time at the indoor pool. You could easily find our boys since they still had their camo painted faces! It was another great party to remember.

For his real birthday, he woke up early before school to open his gifts. The highlights were a Peyton Manning Broncos jersey, a new scooter, and $100 bill from Granny. He couldn't believe it was his to spend- not even for the college account! He ended the day with a trip from the tooth fairy, as his tooth fell out while blowing out his birthday candle. Not a bad day, I would say!

Thanks to Grandma Sheryl for all of her help while Kevin was out of town and for all the help to get ready for the party. The Army Plane above is still the favorite birthday toy. We had a great visit!

Happy #8!

I'm a few days late, but Baby is sleeping, Big Brother is at McDonald's with a friend, and Biggest Brother is at school taking spelling tests and learning his subtraction facts! Better late than never!

How can it be that you are 8 years old? Having another baby has brought back so many memories of you as a baby and little guy that I can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed. You are in 2nd grade- a big shot now! This school year has brought some new reluctance to doing homework and reading, but still you do it and I'm proud of the progress you are making. You are a brave boy, always willing to try something new. Your latest adventure was skateboarding lessons. You turned down the opportunity to play sports with 2 different friends to take lessons without knowing anyone. While I can barely watch, you are learning to ride in the skate parks- even doing the ramps! Yikes! 

You are a great big brother to both of your little brothers. With Nathan, you still like to be boss, but sometimes you let him have his way. You are helpful to him and try to be patient. He looks up to you and wants to do and be everything you are. I hope you continue to be a good role model to him. With Colton, you are gentle and sweet, always taking time to say hi and give him a kiss when you walk by. You love to hold him and rock him at the end of the night. I know he's much younger, but I think you two will have a special bond throughout life.

You were the first to make us Mom and Dad and we certainly still make a lot of mistakes, but we're grateful that God has blessed us with you as our oldest boy to help mold us along the way!

So, here you are, a mouth full of missing teeth (even losing one while blowing out your 8 candles on your cake). I see glimpses of the little boy you were and glimpses of the boy you are growing up to be. I am proud of the boy that you are right now! 

Love you, Buddy!

One Month Old

Our little man is one month old! 

It's been a long time since we had a newborn in the house and there was so much I'd forgotten. For instance, I forgot how many diapers one baby can go through in a day. I would just sit down from changing him, when he'd dirty another one. One night he went through at least 4 diapers in less than 10 minutes! I forgot the amount of laundry one little person adds. I forgot how late babies stay up at night before falling asleep for a few short hours. I forgot how hard it is to wake up for those middle of the night feedings night after night. 

But mostly, I forgot how you can love someone you just met so deeply and unconditionally and sacrificially.

This past month has gone by so quickly. When he was born, he cried for 2-3 hours straight. We looked like deer caught in the headlight wondering what we were in for. However, after that, he mellowed out and was the sleepiest, calmest baby I'd ever had or seen! What a blessing to have this little guy be so easy. However, as the weeks went on that sleepiness turned into a little problem. He wasn't eating well and wasn't gaining weight well. My milk supply was diminishing and the doctor said he wasn't getting enough calories to even eat effectively. The remedy was to feed him, pump, and then bottle feed him. This meant I was feeding him pretty much around the clock for several days. It wasn't easy and I wouldn't want to do it again, but we got back on track and I'm happy to say he's eating and gaining weight like a champ now. 

This first month he typically slept long periods and would wake up for an extended time around 7pm. (Just in time for the big boys to start their bedtime routine!) Then, he was up until about 11. Thankfully we had the Olympics to keep us occupied as we waited for him to give into sleep. He was getting up usually 2 times a night, but even had a couple of 5 and 6 hours stretches at night. Can't complain too much about that. 

The big boys have transitioned well. Mostly they like to hold him during book time at the end of the night. They like to laugh at his silly facial expressions and arm movements. Biggest Brother asked, "When will he get self-control?" I replied, "That's something we all struggle with our whole lives." I'm pretty sure I didn't help him out with that one!

Pictures Below are at One Month Old!

Don't you love those lips?

His hair is pretty wild, so we just went for the mohawk. Why not? 

We've been battling thrush and a doctor at Children's treated him with Gentian Violet. His mouth was this awesome purple for 2 days. It made everything it touched purple too! The boys and I sang the Purple People Eater song to him for 2 days straight. Seems like we're on the mend now and thankfully he's back to his normal colors!