Big Brothers

Before Lincoln was born, Jared and I had more than one late-night talk about how the P's would be as big brothers. We both agreed that Porter was the biggest potential disaster but that Paxton could definitely have adjustment issues too. 

We were so excited for the boys to come to the hospital and meet their new brother. They were ecstatic! They immediately wanted to hold him and snuggle him and were so sad when they had to leave without taking him with them. 

We were glad but we knew that taking the baby home and settling in with a crying newborn could make them change their tune. 

It didn't. They have both been so sweet with their baby brother. They have not been annoyed with his crying at all so far; in fact, if I ever don't tend to him the second he starts crying, on or both of them are at his side trying to make him feel better. 

Whenever they are playing, they will always take frequent breaks to make the cars or superheroes they are playing with come visit their baby and tell me how cute he is. They love to tell strangers that this is their baby brother, he's zero. They usually follow it up with "isn't he the cutest?"

I know that things could change, but I really love their love for him. 

Mother's Day

So this year was kind of a cool Mother's Day because it was my first year with my complete set of sons. Nobody was missing and it felt good. 

I opened my eyes to Paxton standing next to me, kissing my arm and asking if I could open my presents and telling me happy Mother's Day. A few seconds later I heard him run into Porter's room and tell him to go tell me happy Mother's Day. They couldn't wait for me to get dressed before opening. 

They got me 3 pots of flowers for the front porch and a stacking ring with Lincoln's name. 

We were planning on going to brunch at Mimi's, so we all got ready. Unfortunately, when we got there the wait was an hour...we drove to Jimmy's Egg, IHOP, and Allisha's...they all had huge waits. By then, the boys and I were all starving and it was almost time to go to Josh and Candy's house for lunch. We decided to try one last place before giving up. We tried Corner Bakery and it was perfect. Paxton and Porter got pancakes which is what's important to them and it wasn't busy at all. 

We went to Josh and Candy's for a cookout for lunch and then to McAlister's with my family for dinner. 

I'm always so thankful for Jared on Mother's Day because he makes a huge effort to make me feel special and help the boys pick things out that they want to give me but that I'll also love. And for the first time, I had some surprises that Paxton made me at school that were really sweet. 

I love being a mom to these three precious boys. Paxton and Porter are so good about telling me multiple times a day that they love me and just coming up for snuggles. And Lincoln would be totally fine if I just held him all day every day. I feel pretty lucky that they're mine!

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. 

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! 

Paxton & Speech

So last week, we had Paxton's annual IEP meeting with his pre-K teacher, his occupational therapist and his speech therapist. We were expecting things to stay pretty much the same, but they aren't going to! 

As the speech therapist went over the goals Paxton had met since December, it started sounding like there wasn't much left for him to do. We assumed she would set him some new goals for the coming year, but we're totally shocked when she said that he had met the objectives, had mastered all the milestones for his age and was even ahead of the curve on some of his L blends. WHAT??! We had never heard the word "ahead" to describe Paxton's speech, so we were completely blown away. I might have teared up right there in the conference room. So Paxton will continue with OT...we all agreed that he's a little behind solely because he doesn't want to do it, not because he can't...but he will no longer have speech. She will continue to monitor him to make sure he doesn't fall behind. 

I just remember how worried we were at his 2-year check-up when all he would say was "dada" with different inflections for everything. His pediatrician advised waiting 6 months, but that's not what my heart was telling me to do, so we pursued speech. I remember the day when he was 2.5 at speech therapy and he called me Mimi (like always) in front of his speech therapist and she asked if that's what he always called me. Then she worked with him on saying "mommy". I was sitting next to him at lunch that same day at Fazoli's and he looked over at me and got a thoughtful look on his face and moved his mouth around a little and said "mommy" perfectly and just got the biggest smile on his face. 

I remember his first IEP meeting in Durham when they used the words "special needs" to describe him and I cried on the way home. I pictured a life of kids making fun of him because of the way he talked, and him struggling through school. I remember feeling so frustrated for several months as it seemed like he wasn't making progress, but hen watching videos of him talking from a few weeks before and realize that he was improving. 

I remember being nervous as he started pre-K and the speech therapist left, a temp came and then a third replacement took her spot and Paxton never talked about her. I couldn't even get him to tell me her name. Every Wednesday he would come home talking about Miss Chris and OT and how much fun they had, but radio silence on the speech front. 

I am just so proud of my little perfectionist. Now that he has mastered his L's, he usually pauses before he says a word with an L and says it so carefully so he's sure he's doing it right. He has worked really hard (and we have too) and he is just so proud of himself when he says things the right way. I'm so happy that we're here now. I didn't know this milestone would be here so soon, but I'm so relieved and happy and proud.