Jack

It's been 5 months since I did an update on the other boys and just realized I never finished up and did one for Jack! They've been keeping me busy! Dangit. Well jack turned 1! And he is just the sweetest and most cuddly baby.  I love it. He will come crawl on me and just lay in my shoulder whether he's tired or happy or whatever and he'll pat my back while he's at it. He will do this with almost anyone. It's the sweetest. He started walking at 16 months and will stand up and climb on EVERYTHING. He has no trouble getting around. He is a good little communicator, too. He can do a few baby signs. Like "milk" (ba ba), "please", and "more". And he will blow kisses and also give the sweetest kisses with his fishy face. When I tell him no, he will smile and nod his head at me instead. He has starting shaking his head and saying no and ah (yeah). He's a little smartie.  He has about 12 teeth and is getting 4 more and his smile is so cute. He has always been an amazing sleeper and he still lets me sleep all night unless he is sick or teething. He explores the house and gets into everything. He also loves watching and playing with his brothers. He gets teased by them but is usually so patient. We are so grateful for our Jackie boy.

 

Stevie

This post is for my Stevie boy

       Boy, oh boy, any one who knows Stevie knows he can be a little crazy! We love him so much though. This past year, Stevie has been going through his terrible two's, but I actually think he's coming out of them lately! He has been so happy and such a good talker and listener. It makes such a difference when they can talk and communicate. 

        He started showing an interest in potty training pretty early, same as Ty. It was right around the time he turned two. I wasn't ready though! So we waited a couple of months and I think we started officially in March. He has been really awesome and can even go by himself pretty well! He likes to stand up. He goes into the bathroom, pulls down his undies, lifts up both seats and just stands on his tip toes and goes! It is a lot nicer than having to hold down his thing every time he goes!

         Right around this same time, Stevie had been having plenty of meltdowns at church and at Sunday dinners and pretty much everywhere else we went. It was always hard to be in public with him and after one particularly hard evening, I decided we needed to change his sleep schedule. This probably doesn't sound like a big deal to some, or even a great solution. But because he would melt down when he missed a nap, I knew we had to change something. He would be so cranky and tired and would throw the biggest fits if he missed any sleep! I would always tell people, "I'm sorry, he missed his nap. He's so tired. He's not always this way."  But after so many times, it seemed that maybe he WAS always that way! I realized how much I wanted my kids to be more flexible and I knew I needed to change, too. I needed to remind myself that I could be more flexible and that I didn't need to count on a regular bedtime every night.  So I started by taking the dark blankets off of their windows and the fans out of their bedrooms. We moved bunk beds into Stevie's room so him and Ty could learn to fall asleep around each other. After a week or so of this new change, Stevie started to fall asleep everywhere. He fell asleep once while we were shopping and again at church that same week. It was so nice! But he wouldn't go to bed on his own anymore- which I knew would happen. And that was okay.  It took some adjusting for all of us and lots of late nights and no nap days. But when we took our trip to Vegas in May, the kids did so great and they were able to fall asleep in the car and in a bed together at the hotel and they were able to sleep through all the noise and snoring at night. I was so glad I had switched around how we slept at home. Thanks to Stevie, I have learned so many new things about parenting and motherhood. I can see the Lord's hand working in my life and all the pieces that have fit together. I have learned that just because I think it is right, doesn't necessarily mean it is. And just because I think its wrong, also doesn't necessarily mean it is. It helps to keep an open mind with parenting.  Anyways, a few weeks ago, it finally seemed time to take his binky away. It's always a scary thing because it's such an easy way to comfort kids. But I started making the rule that he could have it if he was in his room and in his bed. He agreed and has never once argued about it. He will just throw his binky on his bed when he comes up or he will go down there at night and lay down and fall asleep without me even knowing sometimes! I never thought during all that transitioning time and all those hard days and nights, that it would end up with Stevie voluntarily walking downstairs to his bed, climbing in, and sleeping all night by himself, with his door open and even with the light on sometimes. Stevie has adjusted to less sleep and rarely takes naps anymore and he stays happy all day until bed time. He is a new kid! He's officially out of the baby stage and he knows it and he loves it. And so do I!

Almost all the pictures I have of him during those couple of months are of him sleeping. For some reason I was always so shocked to see him asleep! 

He has the best smile with so many teeth. I love his dark brown eyes and super blonde hair and tan skin. He's the cutest! 

He LOVES the hose outside. I know if I send him outside I can't expect him to stay dry! Him and Ty have gotten really good at taking their shirts and shorts off really fast so they can play in the water without getting their clothes wet.

                He is learning how to buckle his top buckle in the car and learning how to put his undies/shorts and flip flops on by himself. He is very active and actually pretty coordinated. He loves balls and bikes and is quite the little monkey at the park. He wakes up every morning and says he is "hungee" and tells me he wants cereal and then he picks which kind and scarfs it down and asks for more- sometimes 2 or 3 times! He is learning how to put his bowl in the sink and wipe up his milk.
              When he is throwing a fit these days, we will put him in his room until he is happy and he will come out and say "HAPPY!" It's cute.  He asks for fruit snacks at least once a day and he has the most genuine "thank you's". I love it. "Gank ou, mom!"

He loves Ty and wants to be just like him. He also loves his daddy and loves to watch him out the window when he leaves for work. He loves jack and calls him Jackie.  I love when we get one on one time.

He loved the fireworks this year and had the best time with these glow sticks

We love having him in our family and love watching him learn and grow. Stay sweet Stevie.  We love you! 

And look at those lashes!