Kellen's Birthday Party

Kellen did have an actual birthday party on St. Patty's day. We originally had everyone plan to meet us at the park... but we got there, and it started raining and then the thunder and lightening came! Of course! So we headed for the house (which was a MESS since we weren't having company!_) 

But it was fun. Tyler decorated the cake so cute, and Kellen absolutely LOVED it! He is the first of my kids who actually digs the whole getting sang too... it was cute. He is such a wonderfully rascally little boy, and I don't think I could love him any more. 

But I do have a feeling he will be trouble as he grows :) 

Missing it

We were in dire straights here... lack of sleep was pulling at our every fiber. Tyler is working swing shift, so he would get home at about 2am every morning, try to sleep by three, and then we would silently fight over who got to sleep in. I think we were very fair for the most part :)
Above are pictures of Tyler taking the kids to the zoo (he also took them to the donut shop) so that they would be out of the house until 11am. From 8 until 11am, I got uninterrupted sleep.
It was bliss.
But I missed this.
I missed every second of that trip to the zoo.
Tyler told me there is somethings special about that place early in the morning before everyone gets there. When the animals are waking and roaming around their pens.
The kids LOVE this zoo. It is small enough to get through in a couple hours, and there isn't a bunch of hype.
But there is a train... which they love too.

I felt sad when they came home.
Well rested, but sad.
I would never get to be in those memories for the kids. I would be at home sleeping.
I didn't get to see the way Colton gazed at the red mained wolf, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new pup in the enclosure.
I didn't get to see the wind whipping Ayla's hair everywhere.
I didn't get to see them watching the alligator move.
Or the mountain lions stalking our jogging stroller (!)

I hate missing things.
Maybe that is why I am scared to send the kids off to school. I will MISS them all day. I think this is a sad part of being a parent. Especially a stay at home parent because the parts you miss are so little, but they hurt all the same.
Next year, when the older two are in school, I am thinking of sending the younger two to daycare so I can start on my degree and knock out some prereqs for my dream job (if there is such a thing!)

One of many firsts...

 

My baby boy started eating solids! This is a little later than I remember starting the others, and I just am giving him a taste... I am not ready for full on solid feeding yet! But he is 6 MONTHS OLD! I cannot believe that much time has passed since I had this little bundle of smiles.
He really is the sweetest little babe. He has been eyeing food for some time now, so I figured he could try some avocados and bananas. He really liked the avocados, but wasn't too keen on bananas! Oh, well. Kellen ate those right up.
I cannot believe he is six months old.

Kellen's 2nd Birthday

  

My boy! Turning two... I can't believe that happened so fast! 

For his actual birthday (the 9th) we didn't do a whole bunch.... we spent our morning at the library and then headed to the local cupcake shop to pick out special birthday cupcakes. Colton was very proud to be able to pick out a cupcake for each person. There are certain big brother perks.

Here is his one year birthday and when he was born. My special third baby. Full of life and love and so many funny things; especially mischief :)

Favorite movie: Cars and Cars 2

Favorite place to go: Donut Shop

Favorite thing to do: Go for a walk

Sleep interrupted

Sleep.
Something everyone needs.
Something that tends to elude me at every corner.
First off, having four kids means you get less sleep. I know that. There is always one with... something; sickness, nightmares, thirst, hunger, you name it. But for the last six months I have been woken every 2 hours by a sweet little babe who INSISTS he's starving! Every two hours, which means after feeding him and getting myself back to sleep, I might get an hour or hour and a half. Might.
Well, we moved him to his crib recently because we were waking him up with every move (I'm talking just lifting the blankets). But he hates his crib and hasn't learned that he can fall asleep on his own without my boob in his mouth! And he still wakes up every two hours on average. The other night I went to bed at 10pm, got up at 7am. Between those NINE precious hours, I got roughly 4.5 hrs of sleep that was interrupted exactly 7 times (unless I was dreaming!!). This seems like a nightly occurrence for us. Sadly.
You would think we had experience. Turns out; no. But I do have a lot of excuses and books on the subject. Ha! Oh, sleep. I dream about you constantly. My eyes ache I'm so tired.

UPDATE::
After reading two different parenting/sleep books, I made up my mind and decided to teach Soren a very valuable lesson: How to sleep on his own.
First book, Bringing Home BeBe. This is my new favorite parenting book. Not that I don't already know a little something about parenting, but one thing I have always had is a bit of guilt. Guilt over not being good enough as a mama to my four crazy kids. For some reason this book helped with that. It has some great advice, no matter what country you live in :)
Second book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child. At first, this book just confused me, which I think was because my lack of sleep altered state. I couldn't figure out WHAT the plan of action was. Then I read just the section I needed to, and voila, I got it! We have used this method the last two nights, and there is a DRASTIC change in the way the night goes... he goes to bed between 7 and 8pm, (cries minimally) wakes up between 12=1am to nurse, back to sleep until 4 or 5am, nurses and sleeps until 7 or 8am. FANTASTIC!!
Anyways, I am on the mend... our whole house is. Sleep is an amazing thing.

45-60 Picture a day

45'365:: a little Valentine's gift courtesy of The Original Tree Swing Company!

46'365:: I love me some grubby kids (mine are ALWAYS grubby)

47'365:: Texas in February= lots of outdoor fun

48'365:: Oh, how I love this man.

49'365:: Love the shoe shot... these are See Kai Run's.. LOVE!

50'365:: My Flamingo lover

51'365:: An almost 2 year old fit.

52'365:: LOVE! (and yes, this isn't from this day, I cheated. So what!)

53'365:: wrist rolls... who DOESN'T love these?

54'365:: I love everything about this picture. The sprinkler, the umbrellas, the suit (on Colton), the dress (on Ayla), the birthday suit (on Kellen), and the random cooler in our backyard. Totally explainable, I assure you.

55'365:: colored carrots. delish.

56'365:: remember that random cooler from above... this is Ayla's picture of what's inside. Shells from our Florida trip!

57'365:: Chomp, chomp!

58'365:: he was in a measuring phase that day.

59'365:: Look at this ADORABLE hat made by one of my best friends up in Montana?! Isn't it just perfect?!

60'365:: My bunch.

Well, that covers February.
I have been so bad at blogging lately. We are sorely lacking sleep around here, due to babies and being sick with something or another.
But I believe we are on the mend!
Kellen had a birthday the other day... totally low-key and fun for a 2 year old... we plan to have a party for him this weekend :) He is such a special little guy!
Ayla and Colton just finished up swimming lessons tonight. And my, am I proud of them. Ayla is our resident fish, she loves the water... Colton has always had a healthy fear, especially putting his head under water! But due to kids not showing up for the last two classes, they had the teacher all to themselves! It was fantastic because he really worked with them, and was very patient. Colton started jumping off the side, into the pool... a new thing for him. So proud :)
We also all took a trip down to Austin, more to come soon. It was a blast!

Thanks for putting up with me, guys!

Giveaway!!!

I decided I better host a giveaway... kind of like karma!
Lately, with all the luck at winning giveaways... best to give back right?

So here it is::
The winner gets to pick something from my Etsy shop! Anything... well, there isn't much to choose from, but you can pick one of the items still in the shop! There are some cute outfits and bibs! (no special orders, unless your willing to wait an undetermined amount of time, ha ha!)

Good luck!
All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what your favorite item is, you can share if you like, but it doesn't get you an extra entry.. .just one per person.

I will then have someone in the house pick a random number (without any helping :)

You have one week... winner will be drawn next Friday, March 9 (in honor of Kellen's birthday!)


UPDATE:: Congrats Nicole McDonald! You won... Kellen picked number 3!