Jackson at 20 months

I am loving the stage that Jackson is in right now.

At his 18 month checkup, he weighed 24 pounds (57th percentile) and was 31 1/2 inches tall (16th percentile).  He still has a huge head (83rd percentile)

He is growing and developing just right.

He is becoming more picky now, but still eats most of what we give him.  He loves strawberries, bananas, grapes, yogurt, bread, pancakes, waffles, and cheese tortillas.  We give him whatever we are eating for dinner, and he'll usually eat some of eat.  I keep putting vegetables on his tray, and he keeps throwing them on the floor.

He is also like his momma, and loves sweets, and we discovered he loves ice cream cones.

He tries hard to keep up with his brothers.  He loves being included with them, but of course he usually just gets in their way.  He loves to play outside on the playscape or his tricycle.  He just loves being outside, and recently learned to open doors.  Yes, I have had to chase him out of the street, but only once did someone have to bring him to the door when he escaped.

He finally (FINALLY!!) learned to walk at 17 months.  Such a slow poke, but now I just love the way he walks.  He literally toddles around, and I especially love to watch him try to run and jump.

When I took him for his check up, the pediatrician asked about vocabulary, 10-20 words for an 18 month old.   I knew I could count up to about 10.  But since then, his language has exploded and I don't think I can even count everything he says.  I really think he was focusing on walking, and once he got that, then all his words came.   He learned Brady's name first, but now knows everyone's name, and love to call out to his brothers.  He loves to point out doggies, and tells us they say "woof." One of his first words was actually "thank you."  One of his newest words is "push play."  He says it when we get in the car, and he wants to watch a movie.  I don't know if I should be proud of him, or worried.

He is still a great sleeper.  I am hoping the new baby sleeps as well.  From the time he was born, Jackson would wake up to eat in the night, and then go right back to sleep.  He goes right to sleep now, as long as he has his blankie and bottle (which we are trying to wean him from), and sleeps for a good 10-12 hours at night.  He goes to sleep well for naps and sleeps 1-2 hours then.

His personality is really coming out.  He has the cutest laugh and loves to be silly.  I can't imagine our family without.  We love you Jackers!

Meeting Great-Grandma

At the end of June, my aunt and uncle were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and my parents were going to their open house.  We decided to tag along, but mostly to visit my grandma.  This is my dad's mom, and my last living grandparent.  She just turned 92, and none of my kids have met her.  We only live 3 hours away, so while we have lived outside Utah for most of their lives, we should have been before now.  First we have a 4 generation picture, then Tyler with his great-grandma, and finally my grandma with 6 of her 7 children.

 While we were there, the twins found my uncle's motorcycle.  My uncle has always had a motorcycle, and I remember him taking me on rides when I was a little girl.  Well, first Brady just climbed on, but then I asked if he would mind giving a ride to my kids.  Of course he didn't, and Brady and Tyler took him up on the offer.

 

 And finally, we also had a chance to swim in the hotel pool that weekend.  Grandpa was the good sport who got in and let the kids jump in to him over and over again.  Jackson was much more happy sitting poolside.

Four

Let's play some catch up.

Brady and Carter turned 4!

For their first birthday, we had a big party, actually celebrated twice.  Their second was low key since I was pregnant.  Their third birthday was pretty big again, and then this year was low key because I'm pregnant.  I think I see a pattern.

They got up that morning and wanted to open presents the second they saw them.

Hot Wheels track, spider man toys, Beyblades, bubbles, and water guns.

We had lunch at McDonald's, and I let them stay and play as long as they wanted.

We had grandma and grandpa over for a BBQ.  Then we invited the rest of the family for cake and ice cream. 

Carter has a bit of stage fright, so when we all started singing to them, he hid under the table.

Brady at 4
At his check up, Brady was 41 1/2 inches (77th percentile) and 38 pounds (69th percentile). Brady is a smart but stubborn boy.  He learned to write a B last year, as evidenced by the many B's I found on my walls in permanent marker.  He loves to play outside, especially riding his bike. While he often gets in trouble for being the ring leader, he also has a real sweet streak and can hold so still during family prayer.  His hair lost it's signature curl :( but his dimple still gets me every time.

Carter at 4
Carter is 41 1/4 inches (73rd percentile) and 39 pounds (76th percentile). Carter learned to write his name in school, and I love finding scraps of paper with his letters on them.  (He too went through a phase of writing on walls, but he seems to have stopped.)  Carter is smart and can sit still and work on things like puzzles, coloring, and can sit forever playing games on my phone.  He does love to ride his bike, and asks everyday if he can play outside with his friends.  Every few mornings, Carter comes to our room very early, and wants to snuggle in bed.  I love those early morning snuggles.

Pregnancy so far

Here I am at 15 weeks, but I am now 16 weeks.

Yes, I am pregnant.  No, I never thought I would have 5 kids, especially after spending years dealing with infertility.  I suppose it is just more proof that Brady and Carter really needed to be in our family.  In fact, my mom was teasing me about an "unplanned" pregnancy, and I responded that this wasn't my plan at all.  I had a plan for my life: get married, about two years later have our first, have another 2-3 years later.  End with 3, maybe 4, have a nice boy/girl mix.  If life went according to my plan, I'd have been done having kids 4 years ago, and instead I am having my 5th at 37!  Just a reminder that God is the one in control of our lives.

First off, because a few people have asked, and I know many more are dying to ask, was this a surprise?  Yes and no.  After Jackson was born, Dan and I discussed birth control options.  I can't take hormonal birth control due to my blood clotting issues, so we didn't have as many options, but seeing as how our biological children are 8 years apart, we figured our chances of conceiving were small anyway.  So we agreed to: if it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't.  I thought in the back of my head, it is going to happen, while I know Dan thought, it's not going to happen.  Well, it obviously happened.

This pregnancy so far has been my roughest, but I know I still have easy pregnancies compared to so many.  I had my worst morning sickness this time around, from 6-14 weeks, I was so nauseous every afternoon.  I sipped ice cold water all day, and kept eating nonstop to take off the edge.  (Yeah, 12 pounds in the first trimester is proof that I never stopped eating.)  My poor family, I don't know what I fed them, because being sick when it's time to make dinner sucks.

I've had lots of the usual symptoms.  I've been tired; I have to pee all the time; insomnia, dizzy spells.  Luckily I am in the stage now where I am feeling so much more myself.  I craved sweets like no other the first trimester, but in the second I haven't had too many odd cravings.

Medically, this pregnancy is a lot like the last.  I have been taking my blood thinner shots every night.  I also had a subchorionic hematoma this time, just like with Jackson.  I bled with Jackson for 4 weeks, while this time I only had one episode that only lasted 24 hours, and the hemotoma is now gone.   My thyroid is crazy, just like last time too.  The doctor just keeps upping my dose, and I'm sure we'll just wean me back down when the pregnancy ends.

The kids are all excited.  Tyler wants a baby sister, while the twins say they want another baby Jackson.  Dan was shocked at first, but now excited. (I think his shock was mainly based on the fact that we are getting old, and when you tack 18 years on, we are going to be really old when this baby leaves the nest.) I really did feel someone was missing from our family the months before I got pregnant, and was so happy when I found out.  Overall we can't wait till the beginning of next year to meet this new little one.

May in summary

As they say, May is the new December--busy.

So what were we up to?

Well, this is how we welcomed May:

Yup, spring blossoms and snow all at once.

But most of the month was beautiful spring weather, and we spent a lot of time outside.  First up, the twins learned to ride a two wheeler.

Their cousin Rachel brought her bike over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to show how she could ride without her training wheels, and both boys just hopped on and took off. We came home and took off their training wheels and they haven't looked back since.  (I only got a good picture of Brady that night, but they both were taking turns.)

We had an awesome Mother's Day celebration at our house.  In an effort to not feel disappointed, I decided a few years ago to make Mother's Day all about my own mother.

I honestly have one of the greatest moms in the world, and it is such a pleasure to honor her.

The twins had a "graduation" from preschool.  They should have called it the end of the year program because the twins are going back to the same preschool next year.

Horrible lighting!  It was such a cute program--all about going to the zoo, and each class had an animal costume.  A few days before, Carter told me he didn't want to put on his elephant costume and didn't want to go on stage.  He said he didn't want people looking at him.  We managed to get him up on the stage, but no costume.  That's him in the corner, with Dad behind him and his teacher right next to him.  Brady was only a little better, that's his elephant ears next to his teacher.


We spent time together as a family on Memorial Day as well.

We visited my grandparent's grave, and then went back to my parent's house for snow cones (which Jackson kept stealing from Grandpa) and then a barbecue.

We also spent a lot of time in the backyard:

One thing I love about our neighborhood--see all those boys in my back yard?  Tons of little boys to play with all the time.

Jackson thought he would climb on everything.  (But he did finally become a walker at 17 months!)

And we finished off the month with a visit to the doctor's office:

4 little boys + sticks as swords = 2 stitches

Our Spring Break Stay-cation

We tried to see if we could do some last minute getaway, but it just didn't happen.  So I decided that we needed to do at least one fun thing each day for the break.

Monday
We ended up at Chick-fil-a for dinner, and didn't even know that the cow was going to be there.  While it freaked the twins out at first, by the end they gave him a high five.

Tuesday
We went to Jump on It for the afternoon.  I wasn't sure I could handle all four kids myself, so Tyler had to promise to be my helper.  He did great.

Wednesday
It was beautiful weather, so everyone was happy to play ALL afternoon outside with friends.  At one point I think I had 10 little boys in my yard!

Thursday

We took our "picnic" aka McDonald's drive-thru, to the park and played.

 

Friday
This was the cold day.  It was just warm enough that evening to go to Grandma's for hot dogs and smore's and to play outside with our cousins.

Jackson at 15 months

This has been sitting in my drafts folder for almost a week, so I really should title it Jackson at 16 months since he hits that on the 23rd.  Oh well.

We finally made it in for his 15 month check up, and here are his stats:

Weight: 22 lbs. 7 oz. (41st percentile)

Height: 30 1/2 inches (18th percentile)

Head size: 48 1/4 cm (84th percentile)

Yes he still has a huge head.

He is STILL not walking!  I know that there is a normal range and all, but come on kid! However, his pediatrician isn't worried, so I won't be either.  When I mentioned that he still wasn't walking, the ped asked me a set of questions: "Does he pull himself and walk on furniture?" Yes.  "Can he stand on his own?" Yes.  "Can he get where he wants to go." Yes, quickly.  "Does he have older siblings that help him out?" Yes.  "He'll get there."  And the more I thought about, the more it makes sense.  It is so his personality.  He has always been content and calm.  Even in utero, he was that way.  I remember stopping almost daily to count kicks because he was so calm. I just don't think he sees the need to walk.  (And in the last week, he has taken one step about 5 different times.  It'll happen.)

He is getting more interactive with us, and I love it.  He has a few words: uh-oh, no, bye-bye, momma (well, still more a ma ma ma ma), but he communicates with lots of head shakes, points, waves.  He just added the bye to the waving this week.  He gives high fives and kisses.  He also tries to get my attention by gagging himself.  Weird kid.  He has actually made himself throw up before, so I do give him a lot of attention when he does that.

He has definitely picked a security item.  He has a blankie now that he loves--when he's sad or tired, just give it to him and he buries his head in it.

He is a great sleeper (12 hours at night with anywhere from 1-3 hours of napping in the day).  He is a good eater.  I think his favorite food is strawberries, but he will eat almost anything I can cut into bite size pieces.  I am sad to say that he is not too fond of any vegetables.  He drinks about half from a sippie and half from his bottle.  (Oh he is such a fourth child.)  He doesn't like milk in a cup. 

He likes toys.  He loves to go up to the playroom and tries his best to keep up with his brothers.  He loves to empty out drawers, but he will put things back if you coach him on it.  He is just starting to like and understand the concept of books.  He is also realizing what tv is.  He likes Mickey Mouse, and cranes his head (since he's still rear-facing) to watch the DVD in the car.

More and more often we have been calling him Jackers.  

It's such a fun stage where he is really developing a personality and wants to communicate with us.  We all just love and adore him.