Monday, April 25, 2016

He's Here!

Lincoln Jared was born at 5:42 am on April 14. He weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 21 inches long. 

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The Last 8 Days

My induction date for baby #3 has been set and we are eight days away! I've had lots of little issues this time...a low-lying placenta in the beginning (it moved up between 18 and 28 weeks), low iron, and a 2 vessel cord. My blood pressure has been much better this time, but my combination of other issues has me going to a high-risk doctor in addition to my OB. For the past few weeks, I've been going weekly for non-stress tests and ultrasounds. I've gotten to see baby #3 a lot of times! 
Multiple ultrasound techs have also shown me that he is already growing hair! Both of his brothers were pretty low on hair at birth so in excited to see this guy! 

The baby has been measuring big lately so the high-risk doctor advised inducing at 37 weeks. I thought that was a little too early and my OB was fine with waiting til 38 weeks so that's what we are doing. 

We have done less to get ready for this baby, but that's partly because we have been moving and partly because we now realize that not a lot needs to be done. His tiny clothes and blankets are clean, the bassinet is ready and we got him a personalized hat for the hospital. We are definitely a little nervous about the logistics of having three boys and going out in public, but at the same time so excited to meet the little guy that is going to complete our family!

Easter

Easter was really fun this year. The boys were so excited to dye eggs and hunt them and see what the Easter bunny brought! 

Paxton had an egg hunt at school on Friday and it was pretty adorable. 
Porter didn't like being a spectator and one of Paxton's sweet teachers brought him over an egg. Then Paxton got to take him to the playground where all the little girls took turns helping Porter around. 

On Saturday night after Paxton's party, we dyed eggs. Porter had the same mentality as last year, get them all in the dye at once!
Paxton was super patient and would put one in each color and check it after a few minutes and decide if it needed more time or if it was done. He also used a spoon to get them out this year instead of scooping them out with his hands like they usually do (and Porter still did and ended up with green hands). 
They were super proud of their eggs. 
The Easter bunny knew we had just moved and didn't need a bunch of tiny junk that would get lost and thrown away, so he opted for quality over quantity. Each boy got a Playmobil set, a few eggs with M&M's, a pair of sunglasses and some Pop Rocks. 
They were excited. 
Then they got their cowboy boots on and headed out to hunt for eggs. 
We kept the outfits simple this year...as much as I love seeing them in little button-ups and bowties, with moving and having a new baby, we just didn't feel like that was where our money should go this year. The boys were thrilled with their chick shirts. 
Granny V, Papa, Aunt Madi, Uncle Josh and Justin and Jessie came over for fried chicken. 

The boys took a nap and then it was time for the cousins, the aunts and Gramsy to come over!
We cooked out and played and celebrated Gramsy's birthday and she hid eggs for them all to find. When it was getting close to bedtime, we caught Paxton in a precious moment reading to his little brother. 
It was definitely a happy Easter!

FIVE!

So Paxton has known his birthday was coming for months now. He has been so excited and tells everyone he can think of that his birthday is March 22nd and he will be five. The day finally came! He woke up to balloons filling his room and requested his typical breakfast of oatmeal. Since it was his birthday, we added some fun sprinkles. 
He wanted to wear his new bug shirt to school and he had requested to bring donuts and juice boxes for his class, so we stopped and grabbed donuts on the way to school. 
He was so excited that Porter and I walked into his class with him and his teacher was so sweet to immediately tell him happy birthday! 
We went to Chick-Fil-a for lunch at his request and came home and he helped me make his birthday treat-brownies!
He was super disappointed that he had to wait til Daddy got home to open his presents. 
But finally it was time! 
He got a Stormtrooper, paint and paper, two new books, a Playmobil police car, train set and the recycle truck that he had been begging for for weeks. He was so excited. 

We went to dinner at McAlister's (he changed his mind from Arby's at the last minute) and then came home to sing to him and let him blow out his candle!
He had such a fun day and was so excited the entire time, and now he's a whole hand!

On Saturday, we had his party at Chuck E Cheese. It was his first time to get to invite his own friends and all his favorites from his class came. 
He requested a cookie cake for his party and was so excited!
After everyone sang to him and ate cookie cake, he got a turn in the ticket booth. The guy did not explain the rules to him beforehand so he kind of had no idea what was going on...he just hung out and enjoyed the wind tunnel. Then at the last second, he reached under his shoe and grabbed a voucher for 25 tickets. That's all he got. We were cracking up. 
He was so sweet when he opened his presents, he was excited about everything and told everyone thank you. 

And now he's five! So far five has been awesome. He's such a sweet and empathetic kid and doesn't like when anyone is sad or hurt. He has been playing really well with Porter lately and spends most of playtime bossing Porter around. He is getting close to be able to read, he recognizes a few words and knows how to spell several. He says he can count to 99 and knows that 100 comes next, but thinks that 99 sounds better so we stick with that. He's doing really well at school and his teacher always has good things to say about him being a good helper and being funny. He loves to play outside and drive his Jeep and is out there multiple times a day. There are times every week where he does something that seems so grown-up and precious, and I can't believe he's mine! He makes me so proud to be his mom!