ONE

He came and he conquered and we now have a toddler on our hands.  Severan turned ONE YEAR OLD on 1/13/14.  I'll just sit here with my box of tissues while I cry through the next year of his (going too fast) life!  Oh, not to mention my first baby is going to be SEVEN next month.  That just might put me over the edge...

We had a small gathering (with our friend Ali and her daughter) where we watched Sev stare at his cake, eat a little frosting, and then it was over.  I had invitations ready to go out to 8 other families but before hitting "send" on the E-vite I had this feeling of dread and I just couldn't take on one. more. thing.  I knew I could put my SuperMom cape on and make it happen but I decided that it wasn't worth it and since Sev didn't care I deleted the invitation and called it a night.  I think I'm getting a little wise in my "old" age. =)

Severan is pretty much doing everything that other 1-year old
kiddos are doing.  He can walk (he took his first steps several weeks ago
but is pretty confident now) and point and say a handful of words.  He
loves opening cabinets and the microwave and has a thing for light switches.
He also loves to dance and sing and if he can find an object to bang - he
will do it.  He loves taking a bath and most importantly... cuddling with
his Mama.  

The spots on his head are not better but
they're not worse either.  Well, we don't think so.  In fact, they're
just different this week :(  They appear to be darker in color now - which
may be blood, or not - we just won't know until Wednesday when we go in to see
his surgeons again.  The spots are very sensitive and if they are even
grazed in the slightest he screams in pain.  It breaks my heart.

A happy happy birthday to our sweet baby boy.

Your head may not have been perfect

but you are beautiful and perfect for us!

 

Hannah, I mean Princess, is 4

We celebrated Hannah's 4th birthday last weekend.  I tried to stunt her growth over the last year but it didn't seem to work.  She's such a big girl now.  Fortunately her voice is still the sweetest thing I've ever heard.  She talks big, but in a small voice and sometimes I just listen to her talk but don't pay attention to her words and then she gets really mad at me.  "Mama, did you hear what I said!?"  And her conversations with us are so advanced sometimes we forget she's three... oh wait, I mean four!

She's still funny.  We even considered starting a Twitter account where we could post all the funny things she says.  She likes to give me "Ugamunga kisses" (Eskimo kisses.)  I corrected her and she said, "No, I like Ugamunga better."  There was a fly in the house today and she was trying to figure out how she could kill it. Then she said, "Daddy has the best eyescopes ever! He will get that fly!"  Oh, Hanny.

Hanny loves princesses, pink, jewelry, dressing up (in princess outfits), painting her nails, makeup, and playing with her daddy.    Oh, and she loves Elsa and Anna from the movie 'Frozen.' - that's a pretty important part of her life right now!  And if I hear "Let it Go" one more time, I might... :)

Oh, but there's a dark side...  We have a sassy one on our hands, folks.  Look at her:

 
She looks 100% sweet, doesn't she?  Her blonde curly hair, blue eyes, sweet smile, and infectious laugh fool the masses.

The truth: Girlfriend pushes the limits ALL. THE. TIME.

It's not a totally bad thing: she is unique and independent and sure of herself.  She knows what she wants and pushes hard to get it.  She is smart, quick, decisive, and this little girl is a gift to me.

I love you Hannah Grace.  Happy 4th Birthday.

 

Update

Our baby boy is 4 months old.

We had his appointment last week with Dr. Miller.  He's a BIG boy :)

Weight: 15 pounds 6 ounces 50th percentile
Length: 25.5 inches 75th percentile
Head: 16.75 75th percentile

Severan is the sweetest, most lovable, happiest, most cuddly, amazing baby!  He is joy and laughter and goodness wrapped up in pure adorableness :)  And he is on track with everything developmentally

He is rolling over - back to front and front to back.
He is grabbing for toys and shaking them, quite violently I might add :)
He is laughing, a lot!  And of course still smiling a lot.
He listens to us and 'talks' back.
He is extremely vocal in the morning when he first wakes up.
He loves watching his brother and sister talk to him and do their thing.
He looks for us when we talk to him.
He is sleeping 8-9 hours at night and is on a pretty regular eat/sleep schedule during the day.
He loves his Mama :)

We have a good time together during the day.  I usually sit by him on the floor while I work on my computer and we both love the time together.  He talks and rolls over, talks and rolls over and makes me smile.  Love this little dude!

My big sweethearts are growing up too.  This is Blaine's last week of Kindergarten which we are all in denial about - even Blaine - because we love his teacher so much.  He gets teary eyed when he talks about leaving Mrs. Vogt and not having her as a teacher next year.  Sigh :(  What an amazing year our Mister has had though!  He has grown leaps and bounds and we're so proud of him.

Isn't he beautiful?  After an entire year of not missing a
day of school, poor guy had to miss two due to
a nasty virus he and his sister got. :(  Here he is sleeping
in the middle of the day!

Field Day 2014!

Dear Blaine's Future Wife: I'm doing my best to
raise him right.  Here he is cleaning!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  I think we've found a winner people! :)

And then who do we have here?  The independent, fiesty, beautiful, funny one.

At swim lessons.

About to eat at Cracker Barrel.

Annie Oakley meets Beauty Queen.

Hannah has developed quite the attitude in the last 4 months.  I don't know where it came from but it has hit us like a freight train.  Girlfriend still loves pink, pink, dresses, and pink!

Severan's surgery is just about 5 weeks away.  I'm looking forward to getting on the other side of that surgery ASAP.

I can barely keep my eyes open (a common theme around here now) so I'd better get to bed.  G/night!

3 Months Old (Almost)

Oh, how much he has grown!

This amazing little dude will be 3 months old on Sunday and I just can't get enough of him!  This is what my little Mister is doing right now:

* laughing
* "talking" to us with the sweetest coos
* grabbing for toys
* sucking on his fingers (he also stared at his hand the other day for about a minute.  So funny!)
* Smiling at anyone that talks to him or at toys hanging above him (he's a happy baby.)
* Sleeping through the night and has been for almost a month now
* One long nap and two shorter naps during the day
* Making his Mama's heart explode with joy everyday!!

And the big kids are doing well too.  HG is only wearing dresses and skirts these days so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her closet full of shirts and pants.

We went to Cabelas today and Blaine arrived at the fish tank just in time to feed them.  Score!

Last but not least, Big Papa arrived on Tuesday for a surprise visit (for the kids.) They were so excited when they saw him - Blaine's eyes even welled up with tears.  At school on Wednesday he wrote a story about Papa.  It's the sweetest story: "My Papa Came to Visit: Yesterday my Papa came from Michigan to Colorodoe.  First he watched me play Mario.  Then he wrestled with me.  Then he took a nap.  Then it was time for bed.  It was the best present ever.  The end!"

Here they are making fishing lures together.  Two peas in a pod, I say.

I'm going into my 6th week of P90X3 and clean eating plan (yay!) but plan to press pause on this workout so I can start Focus T25 in a new Challenge group.  It is going to kick. my. buns.  I'm hopeful it will kick my buns OFF! :)

Have a great weekend!

7.5 Weeks Old and Happy About It

(Besides me sounding like a weirdo in the video below, it's awesome!  David was in Portland for the day so we were sending him a video.)

We're getting smiles out of our handsome boy all the time now.  He's so expressive and acts as if he has something on the tip of his tongue that he wants to say to us (which I am sure he does ;)

Aside from his beautiful smiles he is grabbing on to our clothes, hair and really anything near him.  When he wakes up and he's hungry he doesn't cry he just puts his sweet little fists in his mouth and sucks.  This is the sweetest sound to wake up to!  But then he realizes that his fists are not producing milk so he starts fussing.  But even his fussing is sweet.

He is on a schedule now.  Up around 5:30 am, eating every three hours thereafter with several short naps and then is down for the night by 9:30 followed by a solid 6 hours of sleep.  It's a pretty miraculous 6 hours, if you ask this sleep-deprived Mama!

We've nailed down a decision for his surgery.  The more invasive "open" surgery seems like the best option for him.  Both his neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon have been wonderful at answering our questions, so we feel confident with our decision and know that the care he will receive will be exceptional.  Because he has multiple sutures closed and they will be working on his eye orbits they want his skull a little more firm (making it easier to work with) and they recommend surgery at five months of age.  So, come June S.J. will have a new-ish looking skull (or as we like to call it, a melon :)  Prior to that we will have several appointments at the Children's Hospital which will prepare him (and us) for the big day.

Blaine is SIX! OMG.

Well, your birthday has arrived.  Blaine Miller, you are six.  SIX!  Excuse me while grab a box of tissue and sit down.

I love to look at pictures of when you were a baby.  I remember it like it was yesterday.

And then you were the cutest toddler.  With your beautiful curly hair.

And then sometime between then and now you grew up!  

This is too much for a Mama to handle. Oh, how I love you BML.  Your birth thrust me into the world of motherhood and God couldn't have done any better, blessing us with you on this day in February all those years ago.

Your Kindergarten year has been nothing short of spectacular.  I am not just saying this because I'm your mom - but you are a brilliant one.  On every standardized test they have given you, you have blown past the benchmark and are months, if not a year+, ahead of your peers.  Your school recently held mid-year conferences and Mrs.Vogt decided to have her class do a student-led format rather than the typical parent-teacher format.  You did AWESOME!

Here you are setting everything up.

Here you are presenting your reading progress.  You're almost
reading at an end-of-first-grade level.

You had to wait patiently for a friend to finish reading this
information before you could start.  You whispered
to me, "Mom, it won't take me that long.  I know this."

Afterwards you told me you were nervous to do this with me, but you really nailed it Buddy!  You did everything in the order it was supposed to be done, explained your work to me in great detail and I was very proud to be in that room with you.  I remember on the first day of school you brought home a blank sheet of paper which was supposed to have a picture on it and then a sentence to describe what you did last summer.  Though you knew what we did last summer you couldn't quite get it out on paper.  Well, Writer's Workshop is a whole new experience for you now.  You're writing books about "How to Make a Snowman" and this gem of a writing sample on the Statue of Liberty is one you should be proud of:

"The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of our country America.
You..."

"...can go to the top of the Statue of Liberty's crown and
look out of it.  The Statue of Liberty is green because it is
made of copper."

You continue to take an interest in science and math related activities but will willingly (and creatively) work on a craft or art project.  Soccer is your main sport interest right now and you're always willing to workout with me so I can (and I do quote) "get my fat gone" and get rid of my "mushy butt."  (Did I mention that you're a brutally honest one too! :)

You've matured a lot in the last year.  You're more willing to help with household chores, which is a big help to Mama and Daddy, and since Severan's arrival you jump at every opportunity to help care for him.  You have also shown a tremendous amount of empathy when he's upset and you take great delight in making him smile.  Let's hope this is the case when you're both teenagers!

You made your brother smile on your birthday.
What a gift you have!

When picking out your birthday cake it was
important to you that half be pink and half
be blue because "Hannah would like that."

And boy did she LOVE it!   You're so thoughtful, Mister.

You didn't think it was too bad either :)

King for the day!  You played video games, watched a movie,
ate dinner at Cracker Barrel and told us that really the only
thing you wanted was to spend it with your friend, Siri...
Or go to Hawaii!  Sorry we couldn't come through for you
with those gifts.  There is always next year :)

At your 6 year check-up Dr. Miller said you were in perfect health, though he wishes you would have gained a few more pounds over the last year.  You were 45 pounds and 44 inches tall.  

You are a remarkable young man, Blaine.  I love your curious, thoughtful and insightful ways.  You are a superb student, talented athlete, and a sensitive soul.  Truth is: you're a handful but you're my handful and I love you to pieces.

Happy 6th Birthday Mister!