Jax : 2 years and Case: 1 month doctor appointments.

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I look at these pictures of Jax and just think he looks like such a cute, sweet, and fun little 2 year old. Which he is, most the time. Lately, Jax has been acting, well like a 2 year old, something I am not that familiar with because Colt really never went through the "terrible twos". Jax's behavior is not really terrible but there are definitely some trying moments for me. The worst moment so far coming at his 2 year doctor check-up. The doctor was nice enough to schedule both Jax's 2 year and Case's 1 month at the same time so I didn't have to make two trips to the doctor's office with three kids that week. I thought that would work out great, I have taken all three kids to the doctor office on 5 different occasions in the past month. Every appointment went great and the kids were well behaved so I didn't think much of this appointment being any different. The biggest difference was that this appointment was for Jax, all the other ones he had been with me but they had always been for either Colt or Case. In fact Jax hasn't been to the doctor for himself since his 18 month appointment and I am pretty sure he cried through that one too (though nothing like this). I guess there are some drawbacks to having a healthy kid all the time. The minute we got into the room and I put Jax up on the table and the nurse tried to listen to his heart he started screaming and screaming and screaming and honestly never stopped for the almost 2 hours we were in there. He screamed when she measured his head, checked his ears, eyes, mouth, screamed while I tried to talk to the doctor about Jax (I am assuming he is doing fine because she didn't look concerned though I couldn't hear a word she was saying) and then proceeded to scream through much of Case's appointment. I was trying to hold him and calm him down but he wanted out of there, it only got worse when I had to take Case outside the room to weigh him. Jax followed me out (he had stopped screaming momentarily) and then he saw it and went running. When I say "it" I mean the treasure chest, and next to the treasure chest was a huge clear glass bowl filled with little colored bouncy balls. Jax has an EXTREME obsession with any type of ball. Once he saw the balls and I told him he couldn't have any until after his appointment he started screaming again. I pulled him back into the room and he continued screaming every once in a while he would stop and say " blue one, green one, orange one" meaning he wanted a blue ball or orange ball, etc. I kept telling him as soon as we were done he could go pick one out, at this point he was beyond reasoning and I was seriously ready to go out to the treasure chest and get a ball for him just so he would stop screaming but I also didn't want to give into him when I had already told him he had to wait. Luckily I had Colt with me, Case started fussing a little bit towards the end of the appointment as we were waiting for the nurse to come in and give the boys their shots, so Colt did his best to talk to him, put the binky back in and kiss him repeatedly. As soon as Jax got his shot I told him he was done and we immediately went to the treasure chest and he picked out a ball. All of a sudden he got quiet, looks at the doctor and says "tank oo" and walks away grinning. Meanwhile I had left Case alone in the room with the nurses (yes they had sent in two nurses to help me at this point) and he was screaming from his shot. With Colt and Jax both happy I got Case settled down and into the carseat and off we went to the car. The best part of the whole appointment was walking back through the office and reception area to get to the car and not one of the kids were crying. In fact from an outside perspective it probably looked like I had three adorable, well behaved little boys.:) Just like they say in the Halloween Berenstein Bears book that Colt keeps asking me to read lately "appearances sure can be deceiving".

Stats

Jax at 2 years - height 34.5 inches (75%) and weight 29lbs (60%)

Case at 1 month - height 22 inches and weight 10lbs 14 oz (no idea on the percentile, I couldn't hear what she said with Jax screaming in my ear).

Colt turns 4!

Today is Colt's 4th birthday, he has been looking forward to this day ever since we celebrated my birthday back in February. Since then he has had to wait for daddy and both his brothers to have their birthday's as well as his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandpas. For the past week he keeps asking how many more "sleeps" until his birthday. To say he was excited was an understatement. He woke up that morning and went running down the stairs, Dave said he was so excited he almost fell half way down them. We had his presents all wrapped and put out for him to open up right away.

 I love the look on his face when he opens his presents, he always act like each present is the best thing ever!

 Colt asked for a lot of superhero stuff this year, we got him a Spiderman skateboard, mask and webslinger. Along with some Ironman stuff. He was thrilled and had so much fun playing with his new toys all day. Jax especially loved the skateboard and was very excited when he finally woke up and saw Colt's new skateboard.

 Colt and Dave went outside right away and Colt sprayed him with his web slinger over and over again. He thought it was hilarious.

 Breakfast time, growing up all the kids in Dave's family always looked forward to bread dough pudding on holidays and birthdays. We convinced Colt that he should have it this year so I made bread dough pudding and sliced up some strawberries to go with it.

 Colt asked for a chocolate cake with raspberries and a football on the top so that's what he got. I made the chocolate cake from scratch and used my mom's homemade raspberry jam as a filling. Dave frosted the cake and decorated the top.

 My mom made a bunch of jars of homemade strawberry jam for Colt to give to his guests. She brought over a bunch of stickers and they decorated the jars together.

 Later that afternoon all of Dave's family and my parents came over for Colt's birthday party. He had been asking all day when he could open gifts so the minute everyone got there we let him open them. He got lots of super hero clothes, t-shirts, shorts and a cool spiderman backpack.

 In full Ironman gear with the Spiderman back pack.

 Colt was very good about letting Camryn help him open his presents. These two have so much fun together and love playing and running around everywhere. They are getting to the age where the play more and fight less which is really fun to see.

 Memah and Jax reading a book.

This kiddo is such a great big brother, he adores his little brothers and loves playing with them both. He is often asking to hold Case and loves to give him kisses. He loves to play with Jax and they have become quite the little playmates. It is so fun listening to them run around, laughing, screaming and just having fun together. Colt is so great about reading to Jax when he asks, we can often find them in the same bed together with a book and Colt doing his best to read the book to Jax.  He is a very observant kid, physically tough but with a soft heart and his feelings get hurt easily. He is really good about going to bed when we tell him too (to bad the same can't be said for his brother) however, he is an EARLY riser and a morning person (much like his mommy). He really struggles with change and he needs to know exactly what is going on before it happens so he can mentally prepare for it. He can spell his name and even write it (though not always legibly), knows all his letters and can count past 20. We are working on teaching him to tell time, once he learns we are putting in the rule that he can't get out of bed till the clock says at least 6:30! He loves anything that has to do with bad guys and super hero's, hunting, fishing and sword fighting. He is constantly telling Dave and I as well as his brothers that he loves us and smothers all of us with kisses frequently throughout the day. He loves going to church and playing with other kids. The day he was born four years ago was one of the best days of my life, he made me a mommy for the first time and I can't even begin to describe the love I have for this little boy. Happy 4th Birthday Colt!
Daddy and I are loving watching you grow up and are so excited to see the plans that God has for you in your life!
 4 Year Stats
 Weight : 43lbs (90%)
Height: 43 inches (90%)

Case : 1 month

Case is 1 month old today. Can't believe how fast the time goes, I always want it to slow down especially when they are babies. Mr. Case is doing really well, he is eating a lot and gaining weight as is evident from his chubby cheeks and double chin. He is also a really good little baby so far, he has been eating about every 3-4 hours and sleeping about the same at night (up until the last two nights, all of a sudden he's been waking every 2 hours just starving, hopefully it does not last). Most the time he is pretty content and both the boys have gotten really good at putting his binky in when he cries. Jax immediately starts yelling "binky binky" every time Case starts crying and runs to find it for him. He is a great little snuggler and spends lots of time sleeping on my chest whenever the older boys are sleeping. He also smiled for the first time today, he smiled at both Colt and I when we were talking to him.  Hopefully I will capture it on camera soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Catch up

These last couple weeks have flown by and I have so many things I need to get caught up on, my blog being one of them! We are having a lot of fun with our boys and I am enjoying every minute (well almost every) of being home with them. Three sure keeps you busy, I knew it was going to be more difficult than two because everyone I know that has had three had warned me about how much tougher three kids is than just two. I would say the hardest part for me has been that I literally never have a free moment. There is always a kid that needs something, even when the older two go down for naps it seems that is always when Case needs fed or changed or snuggled (of course I choose to snuggle him rather than do something productive). I am REALLY tired, like the kind of tired I didn't know was even possible, but it is truly amazing having this new addition to our family so I would not trade it for anything. Colt, Jax and Case are all great little boys, they each have their own difficulties and things I struggle with but I love them all the same and I wouldn't want my life any other way right now. It is hard for me to put into words the emotions I have right now, I am really trying to live in the moment and enjoy these days no matter how tired, trying, or tough it is to be home all day with three little ones. We have been busy every weekend since Case was born with either my family or Dave's family and this coming weekend is Colt's birthday and our good friends are coming to visit. I know both Dave and I are looking forward to finally having some alone time with just us and the boys in July. We love having our families so close and they are such a huge help but we are really ready for a free weekend and looking forward to having some time to ourselves. 

I figured I should post some pictures of Mr. Case since he is changing so much right now, the kiddo is a great eater, a pretty good sleeper and the best snuggler ever!!

 Case and Colt. I need to get out some comparison baby pictures because Case looks a lot like Colt as a baby. The tongue out in every picture was exactly what Colt did as a baby too!

I figured out a way to still get my run in with a double jogger and three kids.:) It actually works great, when I have to run with all three of them I usually run with them in the jogger down to the track by my house and then let Colt and Jax play in the grass at the track while I run around the track with Case. With three active boys I figure I need to keep myself in shape ( and I need to run to stay sane:)).

Case meets the cousins.

My sister Amy, Andy and their girls Madelyn, Elena, Emma and Lucy came to Walla Walla this weekend to meet Case.

Elena and Case snuggling for the first time.

We pretty much just hung out most the day talking and laughing. Later that night we had dinner at my parents followed by some homemade ice cream and smore's!

Papa, Di Di and their grandkids.

Lucy, Elena, Madelyn, Emma, Colt, Case and Jax.

It was really fun to see everyone. Colt and Jax had so much fun with their cousins and the girls were all so nice to them. They pretty much would do whatever Colt and Jax wanted and it was a nice break for me too!

Just can't get enough.......

 .....of these boys!

My look alikes. 

Case looks so much like Colt's baby pictures.

Just some pictures....

I know these are not the best quality pictures but I still wanted to share them. These boys are so sweet!

Reading TIme!

 Reading is one of the boys favorite activities. Especially now that Case is here and he is needing to be fed every 2.5-3 hours it gives us all something we can be doing why he is eating. Plus, it keeps the boys out of trouble they may be trying to get into when I am not watching.

 Mommy and her cute cute boys!

 Colt and his best buddy Byson.

We are doing well and have adjusted to having another one in the house. Between my MOPS group and our church we are being supplied with meals and have more coming this week. I was really bad towards the end of my pregnancy about cooking dinner every night, I was so nauseated all the time that food never sounded good and the thought of cooking it made me even more sick. I am hoping to get back to meal planning and cooking healthy meals again. I have 2 days left of teaching this week and then I am on summer break. We are looking forward to a pretty low key summer with no big plans until the end of July when we will go to the beach with Dave's family for vacation.

First swim of the year.

 We went over to Kennewick today to celebrate Randee's 19th birthday and we got to go swimming. Dave's parents have a community pool in their neighborhood that we get to use and we were the only ones there today. It was 85 degrees out and felt HOT! Case and I did not get to swim so we hung out in the shade but the older boys and Dave had lots of fun.

 

 Colt immediately jumped......

 .....right in!

 The group swimming in the pool.

Jax even liked it which was a huge improvement from last summer when he didn't want much to do with the water. Colt will be taking swim lessons this summer but Jax is still too young. I wish I could find a place that did swimming lessons for 2 year olds by themselves. The only option I have is the parent-child class and that will not work since I would have Case with me too. We are looking forward to some warmer days and more swim time!