Tristan's First Food

Tristan got his first bit of real food yesterday. He's about 4 1/2 months old. He really liked the rice cereal mixed with a little milk and water. He gobbled it up like a champ. He's still learning where to put his tongue while eating but he did good for a first try! He loves sitting in the highchair. I think he likes to be able to sit upright and see everything! What a big boy! He's growing too fast!

First Snow

We got our first snow Sat. night. We only got a couple inches but we had some fun with it today. We sledded (as best we could in our yard), had snowball fights and made snow angels and snowmen.
The first snowman of the season.

Tristan came out in the snow too. When I put him down it was too bright for him and he was squinting too much to make a cute face.

I love Haydn's looks of sheer joy!



Connor tried his best to make the most of the slight slant in our yard...

Tristan laughing

Ward Party Nativity

Tristan's Stats

Our little baby is growing up. He's 4 1/2 months old already. A week ago I took him in for his doctor check-up and he was 15lbs 7.8oz and 24 3/4in tall. He's almost in the 75th% for both. He's still VERY much Mommy's boy but he's starting to like Daddy too. I think he's the sweetest, calmest little guy-as long as I'm around that is. He LOVES baths, being changed, patty-cake with his feet, his brothers attention and all the milk he can get. He recently started an I-don't-need-you-to-rock-me-to-sleep phase which I can't complain about. Sometimes if he won't calm down when I know he's tired I'll lay him in his bed and he konks out happily. I love his sweet smiles!

Thanksgiving/Scott's Birthday

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with just our little family. I cooked a HUGE turkey, stuffing, potatoes, asparagus and rolls. We also made a peanut butter/fudge pie that was to die for to celebrate Scott's birthday (which happened to be Thanksgiving this year). Scott is a whopping 29! Dangerously close now to his thirties. It explains the white hairs we found on his head (don't tell him I told you...hehehe)! Anyways, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! I LOVE YOU! Here's a picture of Connor enjoying a turkey leg at Thanksgiving dinner!

Fall Fun

We've been having a fun last few weeks. On Veteran's Day Scott took the day off work and we spent it at the zoo which was a real treat. At home we've been trying to spend every half warm day outside playing. We had a lot of raking to do since we live on a .75acre lot. The boys were more than happy to help with the raking as long as they could jump in the leaves afterwards...what help!






We've been riding bikes a lot since Connor learned to ride on 2 wheels like a pro. I even got a bike trailer so I've been giving the kids rides too.


Tristan loves to watch his big brothers play. He likes being outside a lot. He doesn't even mind me bundling him up. He's so talkative these days. He doesn't laugh much, instead he does delightful squeals of joy. It's super cute!

Soccer Finale

Today was the last soccer practice/game of the season. It was so fun to be the coach for the Red Dragons! The kids were GREAT and everyone of them got better and better as the season progressed so I wasn't totally useless either. I got to hand out medals to them today too. I'll miss my little soccer team.
Here's all the kids that played (all teams) this season...

Connor showing off his medal...

My team: (left to right)Samantha, Mackenzie, Fineas, Olivia, and Connor

Snuggles

Percy likes to find warm, nonthreatening places to snuggle(i.e. not Haydn). I was feeding Tristan and Percy came and snuggled on my lap. When I put the baby and the cat down to go check something I came back to this...

Our Kitten

A new addition to our family.....PERCY. We got a kitten on Halloween. He's the cutest thing...so energetic! He plays hard and crashes hard. The boys are in love with him. We are hoping he will help ward off mice. We live in the country and had a few last winter when we moved in. We haven't had any in a while but we hear that fall can be bad so we thought a cat might be a good idea. I've NEVER been a cat person but so far so good. I'm hoping since we got him as a kitten I'll love him when he's bigger too. He's already housebroken and he's so playful and adorable...what isn't there to love? He's not really posing for the pictures either, he's too busy for that. By the way, Connor came up with that name when we saw him and it just stuck...cute huh! Meet our Percy Cat/Pussy Cat!

Updates

Connor is just growing up too fast. He's missing 2 teeth, as you already know. He's the smartest kid in his class (in my humble, objective opinion, of course!). He's really progressing with writing and drawing (learning to take his time)! He's sure he's in love with a little girl named Holly. The way he goes on about her cute smile is just priceless. He came home almost in tears today because she wasn't at school and he missed her. He's loving his soccer team, the Red Dragons, with Mommy as the coolest coach ever (how many more years can I be cool? I gotta take it while I can!) His newest trick...he's mastered the two wheel bike...just in time for winter! He's so proud of himself. He's a really good brother and helper to me too. An all around awesome kid. I couldn't be much happier!

Updates

Haydn is definitely a rambunctious 2 yr old. He's full of life an energy and he's the clown of the house. He's a great caring brother. He's a good listener and pretty obedient...just gets distracted easily. He's a little smarty too. He can count to 12, and knows all the colors. He loves to color pictures, especially trace his hands. He's finally grasping potty training fully I think! YEAH! He'll come to me and say, "I need to go potty and get a lollipop!" Whatever works buddy! He wants to be a baby elephant when he grows up!

Updates

This little guy is an angel! He's such a little talker! He loves to coo and smile, ESPECIALLY for Momma! Anyone that knows Tristan knows Mommy is his favorite person! YEAH for me! Not so fun for Scott when I leave! He's getting better though. He's getting more on a schedule and much to my delight he's sleeping though the night! He's still a little chunker...with great cheeks to prove it! He's really starting to play with things when we sit him in front of toys and he's holding his head up good too. His brothers are in love with him. He especially likes talking to Connor. Haydn likes to get in his face a little too much sometimes. Haydn, lately, has also been being a big help in waking a sleeping Tristan up if I leave them unattended. He just wants to love on him though. My sister, Susie, got to make a quick trip to meet Tristan a couple weeks ago too. It was great to see her.

Love it!

Pennsylvania Vacation

We just spent a fabulous week in Pennsylvania. Scott had a conference there and my aunt Monica lives there so we went to visit with her and her kids. It was quite the adventure. We went to Six Flags and started off going through a drive through Safari. We got to drive right next to all kinds of animals. A giraffe even licked the top of our car. It was seriously awesome!!! We had fun riding roller coasters too. The kids spent most of the day in the Wiggles area of the park that had tons of kids rides. They LOVED it and managed to stay up til about 10pm before giving out. Nate and I were the only ones BRAVE enough to ride the Kingda Ka(the tallest fastest roller coaster on earth)! It was so fun. One day while Scott was at the Conference and everyone else was working or in school I took the kids to a cute little village where they had a scarecrow festival going on. We looked and all the scarecrows and then stopped off in a little arcade area they had there. That was fun too. Our favorite was the spider scarecrow and Snoopy killing the crows too. We took a little hike down to the river that runs right by Monica's house too. We had to climb down a bunch of rocks to get there. The boys liked climbing it so much they would have done it all day if I let them. The last day of the conference the kids and I waited for Scott to be done in the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. It was an awesome children's museum. Anyways, I chose some favorite pics of our trip and here they are for your enjoyment! Thanks again Monica for letting us come and making the trip so special.

First Smile Caught on Camera

As you can imagine, our littlest angel really is an angel. He's almost 2 1/2 months now and is determined not to be little for long. We love his chubby little kissable cheeks. Nowadays we spend his waking hours trying to get smiles. He's adorable when his little face lights up! He LOVES baths...so he fits right in with the other water boys in our family. He doesn't even mind his brothers splashing around him. He's going 8 hours at night without eating which is GREAT...now if I could only get him to sleep soundly that whole time and we'd be set. He's a sweetie pie who is loved (sometimes over-loved) by all of us.

Connor Lost His 1st Tooth

Another step forward...Connor lost his first tooth last Fri. Sept 11th. He was at school eating his snack when it happened. I packed him a yogurt and he couldn't get it open with his hands so he tried his teeth and voila! He got to go to the nurse and she gave him a little necklace that looked like a tooth that held his tooth inside. He was beaming when he got off the bus to show me. Last night he lost tooth number two, so now he has a double hole in his mouth. He's got a cute toothless grin, that's for sure. By the way, he has some attachment to his teeth and he won't give them up to the tooth fairy. He cried when I tried to put it under his pillow. I think he's finally coming around to the idea though and he's writing the tooth fairy a note right now. He wrote (spelling by himself too)...
"I HAV 2 TETH FAR YAU DER TOOHT FIRE CONNOr I WONT SUM MONI AND CANDE"
We'll see what happens now!

Tristan's blessing

It's been a busy week at our house. Scott's mom came to visit and spend a week here with us. We had such a good time with her. We took her to some parks and the children's museum but the boys had the most fun just reading, doing puzzles and playing games with her. Meanwhile, we had more family and friends join us for Tristan's baby blessing. It was so nice to be able to share his blessing with so many friends and family. Thanks to all who joined us.

BIG BABY!

Tristan went in for a check-up today at 6 weeks old. I have to say his growth surpassed my expectations yet again. He is now a whopping 11lbs 6.8oz. THAT'S A JUMP FROM 25% to 75%. He's averaged a pound per week since birth! He's almost 2 pounds heavier than Connor and Haydn were at this point. I was so hoping to be able to hold on to his littleness for a little longer but it looks like he has other plans! Tristan...PLEASE SLOW DOWN! He's such a rolly polly cutie though and a truly great baby so I'm not complaining. I want him to grow...just not so fast!

First Day of School

I'm officially the mom of the cutest kindergartner I know. Connor had his very first day of school today. We said our sad goodbyes (Haydn was BY FAR the saddest), and waited for the bus. I should say waited and waited and waited and waited and finally after getting the car out to drive him the bus finally came. They were running so late today because of some problem but hopefully it will be solved tomorrow. Connor was so sad we wasn't going to get to ride the bus and practically jumped out of the car and ran on before I could get my camera out again. Haydn was right behind him and climbed up trying to stow away. Poor thing was so distraught. After Daddy let him drive around the block with him he was a little happier though. Connor was so brave about the whole thing, he didn't even talk about being scared or anything. You'd think he'd done it a million times already. He came home happy and he'd had fun. He was excited about a walk they took around the school and that they got to read 2 stories. I love that the pic of him getting off the bus is him waving goodbye to all his new friends. He's such an awesome kid. I can't believe he's really in school already.