3 months old

Will, you are 3 months old as of yesterday! You have gained a bit of weight in the past month (some in our family call you chunky, but mommy would never say that:=) You are smiling at everything and have even giggled a few times. You have slept through the night a few times here and there but still wake up at least once during the night usually. We stopped swaddling you for bed this week, and you have awakened a bit more often but are getting used to having your hands free:-) You still take a pacifier but this week have started sucking on your first 2 fingers.

You have moved from 0-3 month to 3-6 month clothes for the most part:-) You nap 2-3 times a day for at least 30 minutes but usually at least an hour at a time. You still like your Mama roo and your baby gym. You also really like being held. You did very well at your 2 month check up--you weighed 12 lbs and were 24 inches long. You had 3 shots and 1 oral med and did very well--you calmed right down after I picked you up. At your 2 month check up, our pediatrician agreed with me about your noisy breathing and spitting up and made us an appointment with a pediatric ENT doctor (ear, nose and throat). We went to that appointment and discovered you have laryngomalacia--which basically means that his larynx is a little floppy because the cartilages hasn't formed completely yet. He will grow out of it by age 2. He also was diagnosed with reflux, and has been on Zantac which is helping a lot with his spitting up--we aren't changing near as many outfits:-)

Your siblings are still being very good with you, although Jake has been in trouble a few times for waking you up. We are so happy to have you in our family and can't wait to see all the fun things you will show us as you grow!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

So on Saturday I decided to make cupcakes for the kids for Halloween. I loved the cake idea from Angela's blog but thought cupcakes would be easier. I followed this recipe for the batter:

1 white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
yellow and orange food coloring gel (I found mine at Wal-Mart)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and mix on high for 2 minutes. Divide your batter in half and color. Below are the pictures of the colors.

Next use a cookie scoop to evenly fill each liner with batter--yellow on bottom. orange on top.

Here they are after baking for about 22 minutes.

Finally you can add your frosting. Store bought would be fine, but here is a really yummy recipe:

5 Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup sugar

Begin by whisking together your flour and milk in a saucepan and heating it until it thickens up--then put it in the fridge to cool it down. Once it is cool, add your vanilla. While it is cooling, cream together your butter and sugar until all the sugar is incorporate--no grainy texture:-) When the flour mix is cool, pour it into the butter/sugar mix and beat on medium high for 7-8 minutes--yes, minutes. That is why this works great with a kitchen aid mixer. I used the wire attachment and just left it alone. When it was done, the frosting was phenomenal--very light and not too sweet but it stacked up high on the cupcakes.

A few orange sprinkles and you are done! I think I am going to make some for Christmas that are red and green:-) The kids loved them and the taste was very good--Shon even ate one and he doesn't like sweets.

Perception

Isn't it amazing how one little piece of news can change your perceptions. I have had a long week--Shon was home sick all week and the 4 kids were basically mine to deal with (he doesn't do sickness well:-) I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and was short with the kids, wondering when I was going to finally have a break and some time to myself (short of locking myself in the bathroom, which doesn't work because they still come in/knock on the door). Then on Saturday I found out one of my best friends from middle school on has a 4 year old little boy who was diagnosed with leukemia on Friday. Today they are in St. Jude's in Memphis waiting for chemotherapy to start, central lines to be put in, and bone marrow to be tested to find out what kind of fight they are up against. It really put my petty complaints into perspective. So what if my house isn't cleaned up and my kids still step over their toys rather than pick them up and take them upstairs? They are all healthy and happy for the most part--and I need to remember to be more thankful. Same goes for my husband--yes he tends to be more crabby and helpless when sick, but he is a wonderful provider and helper when he feels well and I should try to have more sympathy when he is ill:-)

I pray that I will remember to let the little things go, as the time the kids are little is so fleeting. I pray I will try to laugh more and make things fun instead of always telling them something they need to be doing to clean up or help out with their younger sibling, etc. I want them to look back on their childhood and remember it fondly. I also pray that my friend Mandi's little boy Eli will be miraculously healed of his cancer and this will be just a bump in the road of his very long life. More later....

10-10-10 Happy 2 months Will!

I thought for your 2 month I would leave you with a video of Will and Jake:-) You are getting so big! You have your 2 month check up on Wednesday, so I will have all of your stats then. You are sleeping about 5-6 hours at a time at night, which averages to me waking about once, usually. However, at times it will take you about an hour to an hour and 1/2 to get back to sleep, so I 'm still not doing great with sleep:-) The kids are all still taken with you--they love to hold you and get upset when they miss a day. You have moved from newborn to 0-3 month clothing. You are exclusively breast fed--which is another reason mommy is more tired:-) You have started to lose your hair in the back, and you are definitely more alert. You love your new swing daddy bought you--it is called a Mamma Roo (I'll put a picture on here). You are also enjoying your baby gym, although you have only been using it this past week. You are smiling and generally happy unless you are hungry, and then you make your presence known quite loudly. You have been to church a few times but had to leave the service both times:-) We all love you and can't believe you are already 2 months old!

One month old!

Will is 1 month old today! How is that possible? It really doesn't feel that long in some ways, and in other ways (mainly the sleep-deprived category) it feels like he has been here forever.

Here are some statistics just for me to remember:-)

Weight: 7lb 13 oz at 2 week check up
Length: 21 in at 2 week check up
You are sleeping between 4 and 5 hours at a stretch at night, and going about 3 hours between feedings during the day.
You have some periods of fussiness that last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
You do not like the swing at all, and really only tolerate the bouncy seat, car seat, and the newest contraption, the MamRoo.
Your favorite sleeping position seems to be on mom or dad's chest:-)
Your siblings all love you and will fight to see who can hold you first.
You are our last little one and we are so excited to see the person you are becoming!
We love you Will--happy 1 month birthday!

More baby pictures and the first day of school

And finally, tired baby at the end of the day--I love how he curls up like this.

And here is one from yesterday--wide awake and actually in clothes for only the second time as opposed to pajamas and gowns:-)

We were not having any cute pictures in our hat--apparently we don't like them at all:-)

Precious baby feet--love how little they are:-)

Will on his beautiful blanket from Jennifer--so soft and I love the personalization.

Will and daddy--too cute!

Second real bath but we didn't get pictures of the first one--such is the life of a 4th child.

Thought this was cute of Will--love the tongue out:-)

A shot of Will with with Nana--at least her shirt:-)

Trying to get a good shot of Will with his eyes open--and I really can't tell now what color they are:-)

Proud big brother--although his arms tend to get tired very quickly--especially if Will starts crying:-)

First day of school--and yes, every picture of Emma she had her eyes closed:-)

And once again I managed to put in every pictures backwards--it's a talent I have:-)

Baby is here:-)

Our newest bundle of joy arrived on August 10th at 5 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 in long. We started out our morning headed to my routine doctor's appointment. While there, our doctor asked when we would want to have the baby--and he decided that we would be able to go over to the hospital right then and get induced! We went next door and were admitted and set up pretty quickly. Shon was completely unprepared and was in a suit for work, so he ran home and got all of our stuff while I was being prepped for induction---they started the IV and got the antibiotic started due to me being Group B strep positive ( a first for me). They started Penicillin, and I immediately became sick to my stomach and threw up. The nurse was unsure if it was from the meds or from the strong contraction I had just had, so we waited a few minutes and tried again. That's when things got fun:-) A few minutes after restarting the medicine, I felt myself get very light-headed and then everything went black. I could hear the nurse but that was about it--she told me that my blood pressure had bottomed out at 70/30, and that we would definitely stop the penicillin and try something else! Shon felt really bad that he was not with me but there really wasn't anything he could have done. Anyway, they got orders from the doctor to stop the penicillin and start Vancomycin instead. That went in fine until about the last 5 minutes when my scalp started itching very bad and my palms and in between my fingers were itching. So they had to stop that as well but I got most of the dose. Then I got a dose of Benadryl and felt fine--it was so strange for me to have all these reactions as I have never had a problem before.

She had the Pitocin going during this time and my contractions were regular but not very strong, so she came back in after about an hour and doubled the dose--after feeling about 4 of those contractions, I opted to have my epidural put in:-) That went fine this time ( I had issues during my epidural with Jake) and I was not feeling any pain:-) My water broke on its own while the epidural was being put in, and I think that helped speed things up as well. I was able to rest a bit over the next hour or so, and then apparently the baby's heartbeat was going down with the contractions so they put on an internal monitor and then another monitor to measure the baby's heartbeat a little better. I think I was about a 6 at that point. About 20 minutes later I felt a lot of pressure and I was at a 10.

Mom and dad had left Mountain Home about 12:30 and made it to Columbia about 4:50pm. Mom was able to come into the room just as I was getting ready to start pushing:-) We had my doctor, a medical student, 2 residents, and Shon and my mom in the room--it was pretty crowded! I pushed 2 times, and Will was born! He did so well and was able to be put right on my chest--he cried right away and had a great color--I thought he looked just like Jake!

They took him to be cleaned up and weighed/measured and then brought him back all snug and secure. After everyone cleared out of the room, dad was able to come in and see him for the first time. My nurse and the doctors were all wonderful that day--everything went great!

The kids were able to come that evening and see him--along with my mother-in-law. They helped us when we had to move to the post-partum room:-) All of the kids did really well around the baby--something I was very happy about.

We went home after 2 days in the hospital-we were able to leave after 24 hours but I was given the option to stay another night and I took it:-) I knew I needed more rest than what I would receive at home and it was nice to send Will to the nursery in between feedings. Shon and my mom were able to come and help us get home while my mom-in-law stayed with the other 3 kids. Dad had to go back to Mountain Home after the first day, so mom has been with us since he was born and has been such a big help. My mother-in-law was here up until he was born and she was a huge help as well-we have been very blessed with our family support.

Will is doing great so far--he goes about 4 hours between feedings at night and 3 hours during the day. The kids only fight about whose turn it is to hold him:-) They are all very gentle and loving with him. I am learning to survive on less sleep again and trying to nap at least once a day right now. I will post more later but wanted to get a few pictures up while I had the chance (sorry about the order of them--not sure how to change that).