My cute kiddos!

I tried to get some shots of the kids after Church in their Christmas clothes and as you can see the individual pictures turned out nicely but the one of all three of them turned out a bit blurry. Oh how I want Santa to bring me a digital Rebel G for Christmas or something similar. I will try again next Sunday because I am making them wear the same thing. Since I didn't get a Christmas card out I am going to shoot for a new year letter and picture. I can't believe Christmas will be here in 2 days and a wake-up!! I think I am as excited as the kids!!

Mia is pointing to her tooth because she has a loose tooth already, at just 5 years old. Does that girl have to do everything early? I think it will be out by the end of the week. She wanted me to pull it today. Yikes!!! No thank you! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas with lots of love and cheer!

Christmas Festivities

Since I am up at 5:30am with Jack who has a cold passed to him by his sister, a baby who thinks he is done sleeping for the night and a cold of my own I thought I would post some more. I post so randomly but that is how my life goes.

We went to Lake Metro Farm Park with our friends, the Yonkers. This was our first year and certainly won't be our last. The kids had a great time! We first went in to see Santa. Jack likes the idea of Santa but wouldn't even look at him. So much for making this our Christmas picture. We then went on a carriage ride and then on to the workshop where the kids were able to choose from over 50 different wooden cutouts, sand them and then paint them with an elf. It was a very cold night so we had them bundled up. The kids even got to see how a cow is milked. They liked that a lot and Jack asked for a few days if he could go back. It certainly brought back memories of when I was a child and my aunt milking the cow. Being a kid was awesome. Not that milking a cow has a lot to do with Santa. We had a great time with great friends.

My baby is 4 months

Speaking of time flying, read the previous post to understand, Cole is 4 months now. It seems he has reached milestones so much sooner than Jack or Mia. I think that is just because time is moving more quickly this time around. He is such a great baby, a bit needy but if he wasn't I would be missing out. He gives some great belly laughs now. Mia seems to be the one to get the best laughs from him. I hope I can get it on video soon.

He has settled into a routine and I seem to be more in tune with it. It's about to change I am sure. His appointment went well and he did great with his shots. He will occasionally go a long stretch at night without waking to eat but not always. It is getting better, thankfully. I do love to snuggle with him early in the morning though. He is just about as long as his bassinet and he still loves to be swaddled. His talking has gotten high pitches and he likes to squeel sometimes. If I do it back to him he will copy me. He has such a sweet face and loves to be kissed.

Mia adores him more and more each day. He will watch her until she looks at him and then he gives his incredible gummy grin to her. She loves to get him to talk and laugh. She is my big helper. Jack is becoming more and more interested and is very gentle with Cole. I love to listen to him talk to Cole, "He's my baby brofer."

Cole weighed in at 15 lbs. 3 oz. He is not as big as my other babies but seems to be pretty long in the arms and body. He's a sweet guy and such a sweet blessing! (I wish the last picture wasn't blurry.)

Look Mom, No Cast

This is a bit overdue but where has the time gone? With Christmas coming I feel swamped. I am sure everyone does. It has been more fun this year with the kids understanding more. I get excited just as much as they do. We are really loving the lights and it gets dark here so early we get to see them often.

Jack had his cast removed last week, the tenth actually. When we had the cast put on the doctor said he would walk funny after it was taken off but I didn't expect crawling. He crawled for about a day and a half then limped tiny steps the next day. The limping continues but his stride has lengthened. He turns his foot out which causes him to step to the side a bit so he walks sideways. He is not running on it yet. He is still climbing. Imagine that. He developed a callus on his big tow from walking on it. I am so happy that the cast is off. It was so awkard!! Because the cast was waterproof they were able to take it off, he said the saw tickled, and they taped it together and gave it to him. He likes to play with it and seems to have some attachment. I picked it up to move it and he quickly spoke up to let me know that was his cast! He pretends to take pictures with it. I really don't know why he thinks it is a camera of any sort but at least he has an imagination.

Being Thankful

After catching up on some blogs I have been inspired to write about the things that I am thankful for. I know the list could never end so I will try to highlight the most important and recent things in my life.

Everyday I am thankful to my Heavenly Father! I love to think of life in the pre-exsistence! I am grateful that I have this knowledge. I often think of how much I love my own children and then I know that Heavenly Father loves me more than I can ever comprehend.

Everyday I am also thankful for Jesus the Christ. I know he lived a perfect life and that he died so that I can once again return to live with Him again. He is my daily example and when I don't know what to do with my crazy kids I ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" This simple questions allows me to step back and hopefully be a better mom. Knowing Him is such a blessing in my life. I know that he loves me too.

I am thankful for parents who love me and are such great examples. Their decision to serve the Lord has blessed me in ways I have seen and in many I have have yet to realize. The raised me with love and kindness. I am thankful for my sister and brothers who taught me how to get along with others. I know they love me.

I am grateful to be married to my best friend. He is a wonderful, kind, thoughtful and loving husband who helps me everyday. He puts up with my shortcomings and doesn't say anything if dinner isn't ready and the house is messy. I knew the day I married him that I was marrying my soul mate. He continues to strengthen me and help me on my journey of life. He has given me 3 amazing and inspiring children. I know Colin loves me.

Along with Colin came an incredible family the I am so thankful for. I love all of them so very much. I really have the best in-laws a person could ever want. I know they love me.

I cannot think of my children without tears. There is nothing I could say that would do justice to them. With every part of me I am grateful for Mia, Jackson and Cole! I am thankful that I get to have them in my life, for all the things they teach me, their example of forgiveness, for all the times they have forgiven me, that they keep me young and that they are mine forever. I love it when they tell me they love me!

I have wonderful blessings in my life and I am grateful for all of them!

Getting Around

Jack is really getting around well and it really isn't as bad as most people think. He doesn't complain of any pain or even of wearing the cast. He was even outside yesterday with a thick sock of Colin's, a grocery bag and the other thick sock. It has only slowed him down a bit. He can walk up and down the stairs with no help. The best part is he doesn't climb up on the counters. I don't think I've said, "Jack, get down, stop climbing."

On another note, Jack and Mia were introduced to the world of the Little Rascals movie. Unfortunatly it has taught them to say some things I would rather them not say but, the other night Jack was up late due to a late nap so he went to bed with me at about 10. We were singing as usual and Jack broke out into "You are so Beautiful." It was much more entertaining when we were in bed, he made up his own verse even, but this one is pretty good. He is such a sweet guy.

Sorry about the angle. I forget that I can't video this way.

A really cool camo cast!

I took Jack to the orthopedic doctor yesterday morning. Can you believe I got in the same day I called?! I have to make several trips to the car just to leave. I had to carry Jack and the diaper bag to the car, head back into the house, get Cole and the xrays. Remember, our garage is not attached to our house, its only about 29 degrees out, there is snow around and we have to use the side door that leads to the sidewalk because the grass is worn and muddy. Oh, and of course I have left 10 minutes later than I wanted to because I had to change Cole again because he really spit up all over his clothes. It was a struggle to say the least. We got to the office on a prayer. I hadn't been there before and had only glanced at the google map. I knew the area vaugely. I had to park away from the front door quite a ways and wondered how I would get in with an infant carseat and a sleeping child, xrays and my diaper bag. I am sure it was an interesting sight. We got in quickly, saw the student and then the doctor. He confirmed what we already knew and tried very hard to get on Jackson's good side. He was a bit too enthusiastic for Jack. The hard part came when he had to get a full leg cast on. I had to hold Jack's body, the student held his right leg and the doctor and the casting guy put the cast on as fast as they could. Jack fought the whole way through and just into is Cole started crying. I then had to hold Jack's leg and upper body while the student held Cole. After the cast was complete we tried to get Jack to ride in a wheel chair and he would have nothing to do with that. The student then had to carry Cole out for me while I carried Jack, pantless and it was only about 30 degrees out. The cold didn't bother him at all.

Overall he has been a great sport about it all, walking around, just slower, much to my liking. He sits in the stroller and we have to carry him to and from the car. I was completely exhausted by the time we got home. I did get a nap but by 7pm I was wasted again. It didn't help that Colin had to be on call last night.

I prayed a lot during the day that everything would go well and it really did. Jack was pretty good, Cole was pretty good, even when we had to go to Target to get sweats for Jack. Jack won't have any growth problems and he only has to wear it for three weeks, no more. They will just cut it off, no more xrays and he should be fine.

He's gone and done it!

At just 2 1/2 years old my extreme child has his first fracture. Today, about 4:30pm, Jack decided to stand on the arm rest of our desk chair and jump off. The chair fell over and when I ran into the room he was laying on the floor with the chair on his leg. I could tell he was very hurt by his cry and by the way he held on to me. Normally he cries and then is off and running again. I calmed him down and tried to get him to walk on it but he wouldn't. I called Colin and he was about 1/2 hour away from home. I knew in my gut that it was probably pretty bad, Jack just never complains about being hurt. I made an appointment with my pediatrician but when Colin got home we decided to just go strait to the ER. I guess they took an xray of his foot and found nothing so they xrayed his leg. Colin said it is a buckle or torus fracture on his fibula almost to his knee. I just said to my sister yesterday, "I can't believe he hasn't broken his neck." Well thankfully it is only an incomplete fracture. Colin is not yet home from the ER so I will post pictures of Jack later. I guesss they put a hard splint on it tonight and I have to call the orthopedic tomorrow to get it cast Meanwhile, here is a picture of the chair. The armrest is about 30 inches from the ground.

Snow is falling all around!

We woke up to a cover of snow this morning. It fell some time before 4 am. The kids were so excited. Jack just wanted to tromp around in it but I wouldn't let him before we bought snow boots. My kids eat snow like it was candy. Could it be better than candy? We bought boots and as soon as we got home they started shoveling the deck and eating to their hearts content. I am still teaching Jack not to eat the dirty snow. I think it is time to buy a sled before they are gone.

Happy Birthday Mia!

The night before Mia's birthday I stayed up to make her a Hello Kitty Birthday Cake. It was my first attempt at making a nice cake.

For school I went in with Cole to celebrate Mia's birthday. She read two books to her class and we had cupcakes. She really felt special!
Mia decorated all the cupcakes herself. We used a pastry bag and a star tip. It made it soooo easy and there wasn't that much of a mess.
We headed to Build-A-Bear in the afternoon. They were so excited! How could they not be?
The Cake. I did make it look like a kitty but not so much like Hello Kitty. She loved it though and I was pleased with my work.