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.

What the....

Connor got the brilliant idea to make Haydn into a girl this morning by giving him some earrings. It's always fun to laugh at your kids when they do something silly or look hilarious.

Swimming Plus A Visitor

We spend almost every afternoon swimming in our pool. Connor is an amazing swimmer. He can dive to the bottom easily now. Haydn is fearless and silly in the water too. We have a little fountain that we hook up to our filter that is awesome to play in. The boys love jumping off the side into the pool too. Yesterday we had a little visitor...a butterfly landed in our pool. We played with it a little while he dried out his wings. It's so fun to see beautiful creatures up close with your kids like that.

What we've been up to...

The other boys have been keeping busy too. After Grandma Beckie left, we got brave and went to play with our friends in a nearby lake for playgroup. The boys LOVE playgroup and were sad we missed in for a few weeks after the baby came. We've gone to the park a couple times. More than anything we've been swimming in our pool. Connor has REALLY gotten brave and can now swim the entire time without waterwings or floaties and now he can even dive under to pick things up too. We did a fun project last week where we painted rocks for our garden and made rock paperweights which we sent as a surprise in Daddy's lunch today. The boys liked painting and Haydn quickly found that it was just as much fun to paint himself as it was the rocks.

Baby Pics

Here's some more much needed pictures of our littlest angel! He really is such a sweet baby! I love how he still fits in the sink to take a bath, that he's barely bigger than a soccer ball, and that my hand is about as big as his arm. I am cherishing every moment because he's growing so fast! I took some pics of him in his blessing outfit (we haven't blessed him yet though) and he is just too precious in a little white tux! We love our little Tristan.

How they GROW!

So...my computer isn't working and it is a pain to upload pics from the laptop for some reason. Hopefully Scott will work magic on my computer soon and I will post more pics but for now here are some stats from Tristan's doctor appointment. He went in last Fri for his 2 week check. He had gained over a pound since the previous check a week before, jumping from 6lbs 2oz to 7lbs 5oz. He's 25% all the way around but with the way he's packing on the pounds he won't be so low for long. I couldn't believe how much he'd gained. The doctor said she's happy when babies gain .5oz per day, Tristan was averaging 2oz per day. I guess I've got some nice rich milk! Apparently he's wasting no time in trying to catch up to his brothers!

Awesome Friends!

A BIG Thank You to all of Scott's awesome friends at work! Today I got a great surprise! They sent us this beautiful edible arrangements bouquet! I have always wanted one of these! It totally made my day and we sure enjoyed trying it out tonight! YUM! Thanks so much!

More Precious Pics

Here's some more pics of our little angel. He's such a good baby!

A Baby Story

So...I know not everyone wants to hear the gory details but for posterity sake I want to write it down. Tristan was very comfy in my tummy but wasn't growing at a steady rate inside. I measured small like always, my belly stops growing at 33cm. So my doctor, being very thorough, did a few ultrasounds near the end. The baby wasn't growing steadily and actually declining from 69% to 44% to 20% within 4 weeks. So, he decided based on that and the convenience of scheduling that he'd induce me Thursday night July 16th. We got the the hospital and around 11pm I was 2cm+ and they gave me cervidell. The next morning, around 8:30-9, I'd made little if any progress and wasn't having contractions either so they broke my water and started pitocin. Things picked up from there. Scott helped distract me by watching a movie with me and then we played phase 10. I decided to go for a walk around the halls hoping it would speed things up. By then things were getting more intense. I made it walking for and hour and around noon I asked them to check me because I was in a lot of pain. They practically broke my heart when they told my I was 3cm. I knew I couldn't handle much more and so I gave in and opted for an epidural. That was over with within the next hour. When asked how it was helping, I told him I was still feeling a lot. He insisted it was pressure and not pain that I was feeling. I could tell it definitely took the edge off what I had been feeling so I believed him and hoped it would get better and better as time when on. No such luck for me. It got worse and worse and within about 40 min I felt as bad as I did before and started feeling like I needed to push. The nurse checked me and said, "oh, your and 8 or 9!" and called my doctor to get him on his way. She asked me to try pushing to see how it felt, and as soon as I tried she and Scott in sync yelled, "STOP!" They baby was pretty far up but apparently was coming down nicely and after huffing and puffing away the urge to push for about 10-15 min my doctor was finally ready and with one contraction baby Tristan was born. Needless to say I felt EVERYTHING (minus a little of the edge off the pain) but thankfully he came fast. He was perfect! The hospital was kinda hectic right at the moment I delivered and so my nurse was like a one woman show helping my doctor and taking care of the baby. It seemed like forever until she gave him to me to hold. He was a feisty little thing. He cries so cute! When he gets real mad he makes this squeaking noise we think is kind of like a guinea pig. He was 6lbs 9oz. The boys came to meet him that night and they love him. Haydn is very gentle and sweet with him and Connor is already a pro at holding him. Today Connor said, "The reason I wanted a baby was so I could show you how gentle I can be." Bringing the baby home today was so surreal. I can't believe he's here. In the car Haydn said to Tristan,"I bring you to our home and I show you your room Tristan." Then in a mock Tristan voice he followed with "OK!" It was really cute. Welcome home little guy!
For fun here's a pic of me the day before I had him, 37 weeks 2 days, and then here's more pics from after the delivery and the boys meeting him for the first time.