Just some pictures over the last couple of months.

 

Halloween

Ok, Ok I know... I'm late... again! So, here are some pictures from Halloween. The kids looked so adorable and had such a great time! Ethan wanted to be a dragon again, so he wore his same costume from last year. Jett was a bat, Hudson was a zebra (which they have all worn before, only he was the only one that was walking while he was wearing it... our little Huddy... he's so tiny :) and Ella was a flower. We took them to Haunt the Zoo and it was so much fun! Jett figured out that if he stayed in the stroller, that he could be wheeled right up to the candy and never have to set foot on the ground. It was pretty funny... especially if you know our Jetters.






We also went to my parents house and the kids carved a pumpkin and played in the leaves. It was a great time.

What a big boy!

IT IS OFFICIAL... I no longer have 3 in diapers! Yea!!!!!! I have patiently waited for this day for a while now and it finally came this past weekend! Jett decided he wanted to wear "big boy underwear" and go in the potty. I think the biggest incentive was the candy reward, but hey, it worked and I that's all that matters. I was telling Rod that it was so much easier this time around because I didn't stress out at all. I knew, from past experience, that Jett would decide on his own when he was ready and it just clicked! I'm telling you, you just have to be patient and wait until they're ready because it will only cause frustration for both of you if you try to press the issue... this is what happened with Ethan. So, now I only have 2 babes in diapers and I feel much better about that! I was beginning to feel like I was changing a grown man's diaper, it was so gross! Anyway, had to spread my excitement and give encouragement to those of you who are or will be going through this soon. Don't worry, they will potty train on their own time and it WILL be before they start school... promise! :)

I'm feeling crafty...

 


I never knew I was "crafty" and I am so glad to know that I have a little craftiness in me after all! :)
Here are the clippies I made today for Ella! I just love them! They are really huge on her head right now, but I think they are adorable! This little girl is going to be so used to having things in her hair that hopefully she won't mind later on when she's older. I can just see her now... wrestling around with the boys or playing out in the dirt with these ridiculous bows or flowers in her hair. It makes me smile! I am going to post some pics of her later, I just wanted to share this really quick.

Okay, so I'm a terrible mother...

 

I know, I know, I haven't been the quickest at updating my blog. I haven't taken the time to actually get on here and publish, but I am taking the advantage of a quiet house right now while the kids are sleeping. I just want you all to know that I am foregoing my nap today just to do this, so you should feel so proud of me... I'm exhausted. ;)
Most of you already know this, but our sweet baby girl was born Aug. 5, 2009 at 2:15, weighing 6#8oz and 20 1/2 in long. She is so precious and we are just loving on her all the time. The boys really love her and they ALL love to kiss and hug her. When we first brought her home, I wasn't sure how Hudson would react to her and I stayed really close to him when he came around her because he liked to throw things at her. Anything he could find: a toy car, a ball and even he went over and grabbed his shoe and came back to her with his hand held in the air ready to strike... I, of course, was able to stop the object before it hit her. He hasn't tried that since and now all he wants to do is come over to her and rub his face in her hair and "kiss" her. He just comes at her with his mouth wide open, full of slobber and puts his face on her head, leaving a rather large wet spot on her head. It's so sweet. :)
Well, her first week was eventful here at home. She had jaundice pretty bad and had to be put on bili lights, well actually it was one light that she could still be wrapped up with... thank goodness, because I know some people are not so fortunate. When we went to the doctor the first time to get her first little check up, like 3 days after she was born, her bilirubin count was 19.4. I didn't know how serious this was, but they sent the people out with the lights and set us up immediately. A nurse came everyday and she was so wonderful. After 4 days, her bilirubin came down to 10.7 and our dr. said she was finally able to be without the light. We were so excited! Since then, her color has improved and she is doing great!
Another thing we had to do was switch to strictly formula after only 6 days. She just never got the hang of nursing and she was losing too much weight. Our ped wanted me to nurse her for 20 min on each side, then give her 2 oz. of formula and then she wanted me to pump. I tried this process that afternoon and into the night and decided, with many tears, that I had to switch her to formula because I just didn't have the time to do this routine. With three active boys running around here, I didn't have an hour and a half to devote to nursing without stopping. It was a very hard decision, because I wanted to nurse her, but there really was no other option that was best for all of us in the family. Since then she has gained weight and is doing wonderful and I feel so much better about the decision and a lot less stressed out. We are all doing great around here!
Well, that's pretty much up to date with Ella. She goes in this Friday for her first set of shots... SO not looking forward to this! I am going to post more later. I have some adorable pics a sweet friend took of her when she was a week old, but I can't do it right now. I also have some great pics of the boys that I am going to post soon. So, come back later and check it out!

Summer Days...

Well, not much is going on around here. I thought I would just post some pictures of the boys outside over the last couple of weeks. All three of them are really enjoying the water table that Hudson got for his birthday... it's pretty cute to see them together.

 

Hudson is officially a 1 year old!

 

On Friday, May 29th we celebrated Hudson's first birthday! I can't believe he is already one! The time seems to have really flown by!
We celebrated his birthday by having family over that evening for cake and ice cream. I got a cake that really wasn't a cake at all, it was 24 cupcakes placed in the shape of a 1... really cute! He LOVED his cupcake and probably would have had more if I had let him. It was a great evening and we spent it outside on the back porch. I am so thankful that we have a house where we can have people over and enjoy the indoors or the outdoors. God has been so good to us!
Friday was also the day that marked 10 more weeks until Ella is here! I am so excited, I cannot wait to meet her! She is very active these days, especially during the night when I'm trying to get some sleep. Ethan is so excited and can't wait to meet her as well. He likes to hug my belly and tell me that he is giving Ella a hug... very sweet! :)
Well, back to the birthday boy... he is on the verge of walking! He has been trying to for the last couple of months, but has really tried more frequently during this last week. We really thought he would be walking on his birthday, but that didn't happen. He looks so tiny trying to walk around, it is so adorable! I will have to post a video of his walking... too cute! ;) He has four precious teeth and he is starting to get his "I" teeth in, so he is a little cranky at times. He got his first official haircut this week as well. It was so long and in his eyes, that we broke down and decided to cut it... it definitely makes him look older, so I'm not sure if I like it. But, I do have to say that you can see his beautiful eyes better! :) (You will notice in the pics that we started the cutting process but have not finished it yet)
Well, all I have to say is that he is so precious and I am so thankful that God has blessed us with 3 wonderful boys that bring so much joy to our lives and to think that he continues to bless us by giving us a girl is too wonderful to explain... we will be complete once she is here with us!

My Newest Purchase for Ella...

 
 
 
 

I found this place online that custom makes car seat covers and I was so excited because she makes them to replace the cover that comes with the car seat and it has so much more padding than the ones that come with the seat. I am not disappointed at all with the end product! You get to pick your own fabric and how you want it to look and she is so easy to work with! I recommend this for anyone who is looking for a new car seat cover!
Anyway, I screamed when I saw it, I just LOVE it!!! It makes me so excited to have a little girl where I can buy cute girlie things!! :)

Rod & Hudson

 
Rod was wrestling around with Hudson one night after he got home from work and so I snuck out the camera and started taking pictures of them. They were so cute together! I just love watching him with the kids... they just light up when their daddy is around! :) I took some great pictures before Huddy realized what I was doing... He's so cute!

Ethan is so funny sometimes!

Yesterday, my mom and I were running errands with Ethan and Hudson while Jett was at Mother's Day Out. We were getting out of the car to go into Target and Ethan said he needed to poo poo, so my mom took him in while I got Hudson out into the store. We met up after he was done and my mom was telling me this little conversation that she and Ethan had while they were walking into Target. (Apparently there was a really horrible smell as you walked into Target) Here is their conversation:

Ethan: "Ew, I can smell myself"
mom: "You can smell yourself, did you toot?"
Ethan: "Yeah, I think so... I can smell myself because I need to go poo poo"
mom: "Honey, I don't think it's you, it just stinks out here"

We were cracking up!! He is so funny sometimes with the things he says! :)

My boys...

 

Here are a few pictures I have taken over the last several months. I really need to get better at blogging! ;) I am a little preoccupied with girl stuff right now, but I don't want to forget my boys. I could never do that, though! They are so precious and fun!

Ethan's Craft

 
 
 
 
This morning, papa came over and picked up Ethan and took him to Home Depot for a craft session they hold every first Saturday of the month. This one was about making a bird house that has a see through side that fits up against a window so you can watch it make a nest. You just suction it to a window. Well, Ethan had such a great time! He is such a big boy! I am really going to try to make it a point to get him to this every month... he had so much fun! Here are some pictures from today... way to go, papa, for taking pictures! :)

Our Family is Complete!!!

Well, I am sorry to say that I am just now getting around to blogging about finding out the sex of our baby! My appointment was last Friday, the 27th. I have to say that I have been thinking this entire time that it was another boy because our odds seemed pretty high. But on the morning of my appointment, I woke up and thought "I think it's a girl"... I really tried to make myself not think of a girl because I didn't want to be disappointed. I would have loved having another boy, don't get me wrong, but I was also wanting to have a little girl that I could someday go shopping with and just do girly things with! :) Well, we went into the ultrasound and first of all, I had a student work on me for like 30 min and she didn't really get any good crotch shots, but she said that she didn't see anything sticking out when she looked... so when the tech came in to take over I was so anxious for her to look, but she went back over everything the student did and it was like another 20 minutes until she came to that part. She was doing the ultrasound and said, "well, it's a girl!" I was like, are you sure? I have 3 boys and I want to make sure it's a girl! She said that she couldn't say 100 percent that it was but she was 99 percent sure and then she showed me the 3 lines, which I couldn't tell... all I could see was that it wasn't like any of the boy's ultrasounds! I was so shocked and so was Rod! Ethan was so excited because he wanted a baby sister so bad! So, we are having a girl! We are very excited and I have to say that I am a little overwhelmed at all the choices that I have when looking at everything girl! I cannot decide on bedding for the life of me! I think I have something picked out and then it changes... so, we will see! We have named our baby girl Ella Jean. Jean is a family name on all sides of our family and it is very special to us. Ella is the name we have liked for a really long time and it sure feels good to finally get to use it! Well, that 's the big news! Thought it was about time to take a brake from looking at girl things online and post about it!

Most of you already know...

Well, most of you already know, but I thought I would make it official... we are expecting our new baby bloom #4 to arrive this summer! We found out right before Christmas and we were very shocked! But, after the initial shock wore off, the excitement settled right in! We couldn't be happier! Ethan is especially excited to having another baby and he is hoping it is another brother. Jett has no interest whatsoever, but that's pretty typical of him since he doesn't even pay much attention to Hudson now as it is. I have to say that when we found out, we were pretty much in a daze that day and I was changing Hudson's diaper and I was teasing him about being a big brother and he couldn't even sit up yet! :) It was pretty funny to acknowledge that. He just turned 8 months on the 29th of Jan., so he and the baby will be about 15 months apart... Oh my goodness! ;) I am officially 10 weeks and 3 days along and my due date is Aug. 28th. But, since I have my babies early because of high blood pressure late in my pregnancies, I expect the end of July or the first of Aug. My birthday is July 28th and Jett's birthday is Aug. 2nd, so it will be interesting to see when this little one will be born! Well, this is our first picture of our baby... it is 8 weeks and 6 days here. The technician said it was 2 cm and looked like a gummy bear with nuby arms and legs... pretty cute! I will update more later. I have been very sick with this little one, so this is really the first time I have felt good enough to blog... it may be a while until there is a new update!

A few pictures from the Holidays!

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