18 months old!

This little guy is already 18 months old! Here he is playing in the cupboard next to the refrigerator.  He fits perfectly and really enjoys jumping out and "scarring" us! He had his 18 month Well Child visit yesterday and is growing, as we already knew. He weighs 26lbs 8oz, is 32 3/4", and his head measures 19 1/2".  He is staying steady at the 50 percentile for weight & height and the 90 percentile for head size. He's just growing steady!  He is also a very solid little guy to carry around, so I honestly thought he might weigh more than what he actually did at the appointment!

He is climbing everywhere, even daring to climb the banister on the outside of the staircase.  This led to a nervous mom as I came around the corner and saw him standing at the top. He just looked at me, said "Hi" and then just kind of stood there. I think he was excited to get to the top and then didn't know what to do once he got there! I'm just thankful he didn't decide to jump. He is definitely the climber out of the three boys. Just another little challenge to keep me on my toes around the house!

He likes playing patty cake and peek-a-boo. He likes putting blocks together and then he loves knocking them down. Austin and Colton like to make towers for Gavin to knock over too, so this is a fun game for now! He likes eating with a "poon".  He will sit in his chair and say "poon, poon, poon" until you hand him a spoon.

He says, "mm-hmm" and nods his head if you ask him a question and the answer is yes. He says, "NO" if the answer is no.  And last night I raised my voice and yelled "Now" to Austin because he wasn't coming to eat dinner.  When he sat down, Gavin looked at him and yellowed "Nooow". Austin and Colton thought it was hilarious so of course Gavin kept repeating it and all three of them would crack up. Not sure how I'm feeling about that word being repeated!

He eats everything we are eating . . . and he loves 'dip' (ketchup).  He enjoys having dip on his plate. When he says the word 'dip', he puts all the emphasis on the 'p' (almost sounds like di-pah).  It's ADORABLE! 

Colton held Gavins hand while Gavin got his shot yesterday at the Dr. office. Gavin didn't cry but he gave the nurse the evil and was very mad at her when we left the office. Colton was a really great big brother, telling Gavin over and over that it was going to be okay and that we think Gavin is a very brave little boy!

Austins first conferences!

So last Friday we received Austin's report card in his backpack! He had conferences yesterday. Everything looked great. He has the highest mark you can get on all things academic . . . and he is "nearly meeting expectations" in most of the behavior columns. He seems to be a social butterfly, which did not surprise us. The teacher said that through initial testing this fall he is already well passed the levels they want to see him at next spring. So it is encouraging to know that he is doing so well academically. She said that she can tell his mind is starting to wander when she starts to talk about something that he already understands. (Basically he gets bored because he already knows the information) So, he just needs to work on sitting still and being quiet!  :)  Which is probably pretty standard for most boys his age!

After conferences we went to the bookfair and I let him pick out two books . . . then he won a drawing and received a FREE book. So, he was very excited to get to pick out a 3rd book and couldn't wait to read them when we got home last night. I love his excitement for reading!

Our little ninja!

This past weekend we celebrated Colton's birthday!

We had a wonderful weekend for a birthday party and had some friends over to play party games with the birthday boy. We played "pin the eyeballs on the monster", musical chairs, a balloon popping game and had a nature scavenger hunt.  It was a beautiful day so after the games we put up a bouncy house in the backyard and played Freeze Dance! It was a great time for all the kids and everyone left happy and tired!!

Monster Cake!

And I also made two dozen little monster cupcakes to set on the table.  It turned out super cute and Colton got a kick out of it!

Birthday party friends! It was so nice to spend the day with our friends. (Tate, Austin, Zoey, Macy, Colton, Braxton, Charlee) In this picture Colton is trying to do whatever Zoey is doing. . . just being silly!

And Gavin could not get enough of the bounce house! He loved trying to walk around while the big kids were bouncing. He fell over a lot and would just giggle, smile and get back up for more bouncing action!! In this one he is trying to go down the slide with Tate and Colton!

Dentist visit

Austin and Colton had dentist visits a month ago and it was discovered that Austin had a cavity.  Yesterday I took him to the dentist and he was a champ!  He did a great job listening to everything the dentist had to tell him and also did a good job listening to all of her directions.  He was the best helper she had seen all day!  Which made him very proud and he got a little toy motorcycle for being so brave. He also now has a little silver filling.  Hopefully he will do a better job brushing his teeth now. 

More news on Austin's teeth . . . he lost another tooth last Friday night.  It was another one of the bottom front teeth.  The tooth fairy brought him 8 quarters and he is dreaming of all the ways he is going to spend his money.  He's thinking he would like a Wii!  Brian told him that a lot more of his teeth are going to have to fall out before he can afford a Wii. :)

Well Baby visits!

Gavin had his 15 month check up yesterday.  He weighs 24 lbs (50 percentile), 31 1/2" long (50 percentile), and head circumference is 19 1/4" (90 percentile).  He is growing great and doing well!  It was a nice visit and the Dr. told me I was doing a good job.  He did have to have 4 shots!  Austin and Colton could not believe he had to have so many shots.  Austin stood on one side of the bench and Colton stood on the other.  They both held on to one of Gavin's hands and told him how brave he was.  Gavin did cry, but only for a minute or two!  Once we got out of the exam room everyone was a bit happier.

Austin had his 5-year-old check up yesterday.  He weighs 50.8 lbs (90 percentile) and is 3' 9 3/4" long (75% percentile).  Austin is also growing great and passed all the tests with flying colors.  They even did a quick eye exam and he has 20/20 vision!  So, that's good news. No shots for Austin, which made him very happy.

Since we went to swim at Jeff and Jamie's after the visit, everyone was cheerful and excited when we left the Dr.'s office.  I think Gavin even forgot all about his shots by the time he saw the swimming pool!

Birthday Cake!

Well, yesterday was my birthday! On Sunday my mom came over to help us celebrate and she made this delicious birthday cake.  We opened gifts, went to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner (every 30-somethings dream!) and then came home to have cake! It was a really fun day.  Yesterday, on my actual birthday, we went to Jamie, Jeff and Keller's to swim and grill out.  The boys jumped in and out of the pool non-stop, even Gavin. They played in the sandbox and then swam in the pool some more.  By the time we got home last night everyone was exhausted and ready for bed.  It was a wonderful day!

 



15 months today!

And here is a picture of Gavin!  I was just noticing that he hasn't been mentioned much in the first day of school pictures.  He's a happy little boy who is constantly trying to keep up with his brothers! He has his 15 month check up on Monday!!

Colton's First day of Preschool!

This has been a busy week!  Colton started preschool on Tuesday and he had a great time!  He LOVED preschool and didn't want to leave when I got there to pick him up.  He's been telling us a lot of little stories through the week about preschool.  He goes to preschool on Tuesday and Thursday this year. On Thursday morning he even got to ride the bus from the big school!  He was really excited to ride the bus and was only a little nervous when we first got to the school.  He has to wait in a room full of all the big kids and he doesn't like this part.  It is rather intimidating!  Austin's friend, Lincoln, is in the 4-a-day preschool program this year and he came over to Colton and asked him if he wanted to sit with him on the bus.  This was a huge help for Colton's confidence!  He was also excited to share with Austin at dinner that he sat with Lincoln on the bus and at lunch time!  It was very cute!

No training wheels!

So, this past week we decided it was time for Austin to try to ride his bike with no training wheels.  Thursday evening we were out in the driveway and Austin and Brian went up and down the road and Austin couldn't quite get the hang of it.  He couldn't keep himself balanced.  They tried several times and then Colton wanted to try.  We at first tried to talk him out of it because he is 3 and so little!!  He was pretty adamant that he wanted to try his bike with no training wheels so Brian took them off for him.  Brian was right behind him as they went up the road, but Colton didn't need his help after the first 20 yards or so!  He just pedaled up and down the road, to all of our amazement, especially Austin!!  Austin said, "Mommy, that isn't fair.  How come Colton can do it and he's so little and I can't do it?"  It was pretty cute and Colton was so proud of himself!  We clapped and cheered as Colton rode around.  I told Colton he was a bike riding stud-with-no-training-wheels!  Austin said he would wait until next summer to ride his bike with no training wheels.

Friday night Colton rode his bike up and down the road some more.  Friday he mastered the brakes.  He couldn't quite get the hang of braking on Thursday night but he pretty much had it all figured out Friday.  Austin rode his big wheel.

Saturday afternoon Austin wanted to give bike riding a try again.  He tried Colton's bike, insisting that his big was really wobbly and Colton's wasn't.  (Colton's bike is smaller than Austin's)  Austin was a little nervous his first round so we followed him close.  Second time up the street, he got it!  He rode Colton's bike for a few minutes and then hopped on his own and did just great!  Austin pulled up next to me in the driveway and said, "Mommy, I'm a bike riding stud-with-no-training-wheels now too, like Colton!"

Sunday we went on a family bike ride.  We rode over to the City Park; Gavin relaxed in the bike trailer! We played for about an hour at the park and then rode home.  We didn't want to go too far because we were worried about little legs getting tired.  They did wonderful!  It is the cutest thing to watch Colton ride his bike, his little legs just pedaling away!!

First Day of Kindergarten!

So it has finally arrived.  The first day of school!  Austin has been looking forward to this day since Preschool was over!  I cannot believe how grown up he is.  I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up and he says, "a worker or a baseball player!".  So, the sky is the limit for this kiddo!  When I dropped him off at school, he was worried because he couldn't remember his locker number.  We found it right away, he gave me an extra big hug and then he walked into the classroom.  He didn't look back!  I made it to the car before I let the tears fall.  How is my baby already a 5-year-old Kindergartner?  I love his amazing spirit and I hope his teacher is able to help him continue to be a good leader in his classroom.  So many emotions today, but I'm so excited to pick him up at 3:05 and hear all about it!!

Okoboji vacation!

So, all of last week we were on vacation in Okoboji.  We were able to spend our time with my mom, dad, brothers, and sister-in-laws!  It was a great time and we stayed at Terrace Park in Milford, IA.  It was a really great week.  Saturday we got to go on a boat ride on Donna & Randy's boat, along with Judy, Wayne, Mallory and Kelsey.  We at first thought it was going to rain but it got sunny and hot out, so the boat ride turned into swimming and all the kids got into the water!  After dinner we grilled at Anthony's and then had a fire in their fire pit (s'mores included).  What a great way to start off our vacation.  Colton still says that his favorite part of our trip was jumping off of the boat!

Sunday we went to Spirit Lake to watch Kelsey's soft ball team and then headed to Arnold's Park for lunch.  It was really nice to get to spend so much time with cousins!  After lunch, we went out on Donna & Randy's boat again!  This time the kids were able to climb around and play on a huge 'lily pad' that was attached to the back of the boat. 

Monday Brian and Jon took Austin & Colton mini-golfing while us girls (and Gavin) went shopping!  After mini-golf the boys came and met us at the Candy Shop!  Colton thought he needed everything in the store and both boys got to take a sack of candy home with them.  I think most of the grown ups also got something for themselves.  After the shopping we hung out at our condo and went on a walk down by the lake.  Austin's wiggly tooth finally came out!  The Tooth Fairy found us and he was a happy boy, planning out what he was going to buy with all of his new quarters!

Tuesday, Nick, Courtney and their niece Tatem arrived!  Nick and Brian took Austin, Colton & Tatem to the Nature Museum, Papa stayed home with Gavin and took a nap, and the rest of us went to a place called 'Creative Spirits'; where we sipped some beverages and created some amazing masterpieces!  The boys loved the nature museum and had fossils and rocks to show off when we all got back together.

Wednesday, the big boys all went golfing.  Courtney and I took the kids to the beach!  It was so nice to be at the beach and just relax.  There was a dock that the kids could jump off of and we practically had the beach to ourselves for most of the morning, which was nice too.  After the beach we headed back to the condo for lunch, before we went to Anthony's for another boat ride.  So much fun on the boat . . . the boys enjoyed seeing all the seagulls, fish jumping out of the water, and waving to fellow boaters.  We were also able to swim and jump off the boat some more before heading in to have dinner. 

Thursday we spent the morning and afternoon at Arnold's Park.  Brian & Nick got wrist bands and joined the boys on all of the rides!  Brian and Nick were not feeling so hot after all of the spinning and twirling.  I'm fairly certain that they will not be volunteering for this job next year. :)  We had lunch at the park, more rides, cotton candy, snow cones and everything else you can think of.  After the park we went back home and Nick and Brian took the boys fishing.  They didn't catch anything, but the boys were happy to get to go try out fishing and are already looking forward to the next time they can go.

Friday we spent the morning at the beach before we had to pack up and head to Nick's house.  The beach was probably my favorite part of vacation.  It was such a peaceful place and the boys really enjoyed building sandcastles!  We continued our vacation at Nick and Courtney's with a fire pit in their backyard on Friday night (again Smores included)! Saturday we saw some more extended family, two of my aunts, Wendy & Christy, as well as several cousins while we were at my Great Aunt Evie's memorial service in Colfax.  Christy and Wendy came to Nick's afterwards and it was great getting caught up with both of them.  We spent one last night at Nick's house playing bags and having homemade ice cream.  It was hard to head home on Sunday morning because we had such a wonderful and relaxing week away! 

I am having trouble posting pictures and my camera lens is broken so I plan on getting a new one next month.  If I can get the pictures from my phone to upload, I will add them later.  So many wonderful memories were made over the last week!!  Our family is awesome!

Austin has a loose tooth!  Are you kidding me?!?  I told him to stop growing so fast!!  ;) 

Austin also said last night at dinner, "I wish there was a shortcut to get to Denver to Jon and Clare's house . . . like one that would only take ten minutes!"

I took all three of the boys to the Dr. yesterday.  Here are their stats:

Gavin weighs 23lbs 8ounces and is 31" long
Colton weighs 38lbs and is 3'3" tall
Austin weighs 48lbs and is 3'10" tall

Everyone is growing!!!

The boys had a busy 4th of July week!  They spent the first half of the week in Fort Dodge at Annie and Papa's house.  They made a fort, went to the splash pad, played in the swimming pool, played games, and had a great time!  The second part of the week, they spent time in Emmetsburg at Grandma and Grandpa's house . . . lots of lake time!  Brian and I came up to Emmetsburg on Friday morning and we all spent the 4th of July in Emmetsburg together.  Friday was a great day for jumping off the dock, going for a boat ride, playing bags and of course watching the fireworks.  Gavin slept through the fireworks show and Colton & Austin stayed outside for the entire time. I had to hold Colton, but it was great that he wanted to watch all of them this year, he even fell asleep at the end! Austin laid in the back of Uncle Nate's pick up truck next to Grandpa!  Colton's favorite ones were the green ones and Austin loved ALL of them and couldn't pick a favorite.

 

On Saturday Brian was in a golf tournament so Austin, Colton and I went to the beach to meet Jamie and Keller.  We played in the water for a couple hours, tried to catch minnows and then Nate and Amanda showed up to say hi.  Amanda's sister, Sarah, brought five baby ducks with her to the lake to show the boys.  Austin held one of the ducks!  Nate's friend Cory took Ausitn & Colton on a boat ride after that.  Jill and I took Gavin on a long walk while the big boys were gone.  When Brian got home from the golf tournament, we sang happy birthday and celebrated!  Gavin was not sure about that cake . . . there was too many candles!  :)  It was a great weekend and it was a wonderful week for the boys!

We have another walker!

Gavin has been taking steps now for the last month and now we have a full blown walker. . . he walked through about every room in the house last night without falling down.  Everyone is always cheering him on and his big brothers do a great job of alerting Brian and I as soon as Gavin takes more than 4 steps!  We are all very proud of him.  He still loves being picked up and carried around but he also wants to keep up with his older brothers pretty badly!  It is really adorable to see how cute he is toddling around the house! 

Gavin's 1st Birthday!

 We woke the birthday boy up with a parade of balloons and here is a picture of that!  He was excited to see us and hear the Happy Birthday tune that he got to hear all day long.

 We had Gavin's birthday party on Sunday and it was a lot of fun!  We had lunch and then of course cake!  Gavin was not too sure about the cake being in between his fingers.  He started out eating the frosting (which he loved!) and then tried some cake.  Once he grabbed it and squished it in his fingers he wasn't too sure about it anymore.  He made a big mess and then ate more cake when I helped him with his spoon . . . but he wasn't too thrilled with all the commotion over the cake!

I attempted a Rainbow cake and it turned out great!  After the cake we opened gifts and Gavin had a lot of help with the gifts.  The big kids let him work on this first one by himself for about 30 seconds and then they were all over it trying to help him figure it all out.  It was a wonderful day and the kids were also able to play in the water outside. 

Gavin was worn out after the party was over.  I gave him a bubble bath and then he was a little fussy about bedtime.  I think his tummy might have been upset with all that sugar!!  It was a great little party and it was great to see family and friends!

Last Day of Preschool!

This is a "silly face" picture of Austin on his last day of preschool.  He is going to go to the Shamrock Summer program starting on Monday and he is really excited!  This afternoon I am going to his school for a little program that they are having for all the kids on the last day.  Should be fun and it is a beautiful day so I'm also sure I won't want to come back to work!

There is nothing better than this big ol' grin!  Love him to pieces!



Gavin is one!  He started out his birthday morning with a crib full of balloons and a birthday serenade by me, Colton and Austin!  We paraded in with balloons and he had the hugest grin on his face!!  We took treats to Mindy's and that evening we all went to the park.  We checked out our new little park in Hudson!  It was a great day and a great evening to celebrate!  It's so hard to believe that this little smiley guy is already a one-year-old!

I took him to the Dr. on Friday for his 12 month check up and he is 21 pounds and is 30" long.  He is growing!  Turns out he did have an ear infection in his right ear so now he is on amoxicillin for a week and a half. . . poor baby.  Friday Gavin, Colton and I had lunch with Jamie and Keller.  Friday evening Annie and Papa came to see our new house and all of us.  Saturday the boys got to go to the park twice and to the grocery store in Hudson twice!  They got Bug Juice at the store, so this week they have been asking when they can go back and get more Bug Juice. 

This is a picture of Brian and I in front of our house!!  We are still unpacking and getting things figured out but we are loving having a place of our own.  The boys are enjoying it and don't want to go back to our old house.  Colton's favorite thing about our new house is his bedroom.  Austin's favorite thing about our new house is all the nature in our backyard!  Very cute!

Saturday, Jamie came over and helped me paint our kitchen and our fireplace room.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  We spent Memorial Day at Jeff and Jamie's in their swimming pool.  Austin and Colton were swimming for almost a straight 5 hours.  We had to stop them for lunch and then snacks in the afternoon.  Needless to say, all of the boys were exhausted by the time we got home on Monday night.  It was a wonderful Memorial day weekend!

Well, here are the three boys waiting patiently to go look for Easter Eggs from the Easter Bunny!  Last week Austin and Colton got to go to Nick and Courtney's house for two nights and they had a great time.  They went to a bounce house, the animal shelter, toy shopping, and helped Nick chop down a tree.  I heard all about how loud the chain saw was!  I have also been hearing about how much they like puppies, doggies and kitties.  We met up with them on Saturday in Fort Dodge so we could celebrate Easter. 

The Easter Bunny found us!  The boys found around 45 eggs in less than ten minutes.  They did a great job!  Gavin was only interested if the eggs made noise when he shook them, so he found one or two eggs and then he hung out by his easter basket.  We went to church, dyed Easter eggs and had a great ham dinner before heading back to Cedar Falls.  I got the boys adorable matching shirts that they wore to church and for breakfast, then they took them off to go outside to play before I was able to get a picture!  So, I failed on that one and this is the only picture I have of all three of them together on Easter.  Gavin is looking at an Easter egg!

We have buckets of candy and treats now . . . plenty to last us until Christmas!  :)

Colton - just hanging out in his jammies and a Superman hat!

 

Conversation between the boys last night:

Austin - "I want a sister"

Colton - "Me too Austin.  I want a sister too"

Austin - "Well, if I get a sister then we will have to share her"

 

 

I laughed . . . Brian wants to know why they think they need a sister!

Austin's Kindergarten Round-Up!

So today was a big day for the Kliegl family!  Austin had Kindergarten round up.  We dropped off Colton and Gavin at Mindy's house and then Austin and I headed to the Hudson Elementary School to drop him off.  We went in the front door and checked in, they gave him a name tag and then we had to stand in the entry way and wait until they called for his color name tag . . . he was one of the purple friends today.  He had been excited all morning!  Once we were there and he started looking around a little bit, I could tell he was getting a little nervous and of course I was about to burst into tears (I cannot believe my baby is going to Kindergarten next year and I can only imagine how I'm going to do on the ACTUAL first day of Kindergarten!).  He held on tight to my hand and when they called his group he asked if I would please come with him.  I told him that I couldn't go and that he needed to go with all the rest of his new friends.  He said okay and started walking away, then he turned back and ran to me for a big hug and told me he loved me.  I told him to have fun and I would be back before he knows it.  Then I walked out of the building and started crying.

I went back to pick him up two and a half hours later and he was so excited to tell me all about it.  The first thing he said was, "Mommy, I love this place!"  I was so happy to hear how much fun he had.  He made three crafts, did an activity, had a snack and got to go out for recess on the playground.  He wanted to show me the playground and also wanted to show me the lockers because next year he will have a locker to put his stuff into.  He was slightly bummed that he wasn't going to have a "secret code" to get in his locker but was otherwise ecstatic!  He was also pumped because for snack they had a cookie and milk but not just any milk . . . CHOCOLATE MILK!  He has never had chocolate milk at school, so this was a huge bonus for him!  Austin and I went out for lunch so he could fill me in on all the details.  It was wonderful to get to spend some time hearing all about his morning! 

 So, what a fun month we have had so far!  The first week of April was filled with April Fool's Day jokes. . . Austin thought it was hysterical to pull pranks and tell us there were spiders on our backs and both boys got into the fun of telling us stories to make eachother laugh. 

 

 Austin had his friend Lincoln Wheelan over for a play date the first Saturday of the month and the two boys had a great time.  They call eachother best friends and they really did play well together for right around four hours.  During lunch Lincoln told us that his uncle Brooks was on the tv show 'Saturday Night Live', to which Austin replied, "well, my uncle Jon has his office at his house so he doesn't even have to go to work.  It is so cool."  To which Lincoln responded, "wow, that is really cool!"  Loved hearing their conversations throughout the day!!

 

Annie and Papa were here for the second week in April, to help Brian with the boys as I was out of town on business.  So, I was at a conference in Palm Springs, CA enjoying the sunshine.  The boys had a fun week playing games, baking cookies, playing outside, going on walks, etc.  Sounds like everyone had a great week.  I was anxious to get home on Thursday night and was excited to get to spend Friday with my boys!  Gavin started clapping this week!  He is so adorable and as long as we cheer along with him he will clap often!!  It is so cute.

 

Friday we went to the library, ate lunch outside and played outside as much as possible.

 

I brought back some fun stuff from the gift shop at my hotel.  These are pictures of the boys eating a sucker that has a scorpion inside of it!  I thought that there might be more hesitation but both Austin and Colton wanted to try it right away.  Austin ate the entire head of the bug and Colton ate one of the legs.  Austin said, "the scorpion tastes like caramel, so it must not be real, because no bug tastes like caramel!"  I, however, still did not want to try the sucker.  It was gross!

 

Saturday was an amazing day here.  The weather was perfect and so warm.  The boys spent every minute they could outside playing with the neighbors.  We went to Harrison's, went on a walk, went to Cason's and the boys all ran around together until dinner time.  By the time we ate dinner, they were all exhausted.  When book time came, Colton told me he didn't want to read books and he just went straight to bed!  It was nice to spend a great spring day outside for a change.  Colton was even wearing shorts and declared his black gym shorts to be his favorite.  He asked if he could wear them every day now!  Sunday was rainy, we had family game night, which was great and then today we woke up to snow and ice!  Crazy weather . . . I hope that it starts to warm up again soon!

 "All aboard the Baby Express".  Austin says that quote over and over while pulling Gavin around the living room and kitchen.  He is good at giving Gavin rides, he also picked Gavin up and put him in the "Baby Express", so Gavin didn't have much choice in the matter.  Austin gave Gavin a blanket and couple of toys to play with while he was getting a ride around the house!

Colton and Austin did some paint with water on Sunday.  Colton and Austin took pictures of eachother with their art work.  This is about the only picture that turned out!  We enjoyed a beautiful weekend outside.  We got to play outside quite a bit, both Saturday and Sunday.  We went to Charlee and Zoey's on Saturday to jump on the trampoline.  We walked to the bridge on Sunday to throw rocks and then played kickball and foot ball and baseball!  I put Gavin down in the grass to see what he would think of it and he crawled around in a little circle and then wanted me to hold him.  He was starting to get a little panicked by what the grass felt like.  But you could also tell he was torn, he wanted to crawl over to where his brothers were wrestling in the yard too!  It was wonderful for Gavin to get to spend time outside!!!

I also wanted to update everyone on Austin's size!  I took him to the Dr. on Friday (he's fine) and he is 3' 9&3/4" long and he weighs 49.1 pounds.

Left to right, this is Raelyn (Rae Rae), Kambryn and Colton.  These are the lovely ladies Colton gets to hang out with most days!  The girls are wearing matching shirts and Colton is just being his silly self!  And of course Colton is wearing ISU gear to cheer them on for tonights game!!!

Three's a Crowd!

This was a pretty exciting bubble bath for all three boys!  Austin and Colton were thrilled when I said they could get in the water with Gavin.  Gavin, was excited but I think he also enjoys having room to splash and he didn't have as much room to move around!  The boys did a good job getting all cleaned up and played with Gavin really well.  They helped wash his back and his hair, of course.  After Gavin got out, we put more water in the tub so the big boys could continue their bubble bath time without Gavin.  I would say it was a success but I'm not ready to have every bath time be this crazy!

And I love this picture of Austin!  Well, I love this picture of all three boys.  Austin just has a fake smile in so many pictures that it was great that Brian captured a true smile!  

To the store!

Colton was trying to be silly for this picture!  Colton loves going to the store.  He is a pretty big fan of the grocery store and Target.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that when we are with Annie, he has a pretty good chance of getting to pick out a treat!  So this past weekend we went to the grocery store to get a few things.  Gavin got to sit in the 'race car' with Colton.  Gavin did a great job holding on to the steering wheel.  Colton thought it was great that Gavin could sit there with him.  Both boys were so good the entire time we were in the store!  It's amazing that Gavin can sit up and ride in the cart now.  He turned 10 months old on Saturday!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 We had a great weekend in Emmetsburg celebrating St. Patrick's Day!  We got there on Friday night, so we were ready to go bright and early on Saturday morning.  Jill took Austin and Colton to the donut shop so they could pick donuts out for everyone.  Austin got the biggest chocolate donut in the case and Colton picked out a big one with green frosting!  We went to a juggling/magic show in the morning that was pretty entertaining. The boys were impressed with all the things that the juggler could balance on his chin . . . a pole, a feather, a folding chair!  It was pretty impressive.  The only disappointment was that Austin wanted to be a volunteer so bad but he didn't get chosen.  After the show, we waited in line for balloon animals, face painting, made a craft, did some coloring and had a caricature done.  This was all before lunch!

 

After lunch we went to watch the parade.  The boys got so much candy!!  We were able to sit right in front of Brian's grandparents house and watch the parade.  It was a pretty great location because it was right at the beginning of the parade and there were not many other kids around to compete for all the candy!  After the parade, Nate and Amanda took Austin and Colton to the movies.  Brian, Gavin and I went with Brian's parents to the Corley's for a gender reveal party . . . where we found out that Matt and Kirsten are having a girl!  It was a very fun day!  Needless to say we were all pretty exhausted all day on Sunday.  Now Austin and Colton get to spend the rest of this week in Emmetsburg with Jill and Dan.  Gavin gets to hang out with mom and dad and get our undivided attention for an entire week!

 

This is a picture of Gavin this morning before we headed out the door!  I don't think he misses his brothers yet, but I'm sure this evening he will be rather confused by how quiet it is going to be!  Happy St. Pat's!!!

Happy Tuesday!



We had a great weekend!  Gavin spent most of the weekend indoors because it was so cold outside again.  The big boys had swim lessons, went to the library, went to the movies and got to play with Keller over at his house on Sunday.  We were busy and it was a lot of fun.  Gavin is still trying to get over a runny nose/cough this week.  It appears he may have more teeth coming in as well, because he isn't sleeping well and is constantly wanting to have his hand in his mouth.

 Here is a picture of Austin and Colton from this morning before heading out the door for our day!  Austin is howling like a wolf and Colton is growling like a bear!

And here are the lyrics to the song Austin was singing at breakfast this morning:

 

My mommy is beautiful and I love her.

My brother Colton is great and I love him.

My brother Gavin is the cutest baby in the world and I love him.

My daddy has no hair, but I love him!

 

I sure can't wait to tell Brian the newest song the boys are singing.  I'm sure they will sing it again for him tonight, as I laughed out loud when Austin sang the last line of the song.  There's nothing like a little laughter to encourage them to repeat something over and over and over!!

Well, Gavin is pulling himself up nicely now!  He loves getting up by the couches to see what his brothers are doing.  Colton likes to line all of his toys up on the couch, then Gavin wants to check out what Colton is doing.  He's also getting into cupboards and drawers!  Love his energy and he is definitely keeping us all on our toes even more lately.

Winter fun!

 We haven't been able to get outside too much this winter because it is freezing cold out almost every single day!  When we can go outside we have been, to the point where Colton says his favorite thing to do outside is to shovel!  So, I guess that is a positive from all the snow and cold we are having.  The boys also enjoyed "cleaning" the deck off for me.  They made a little fort underneath their picnic table.  Austin stays outside a little longer than Colton and Gavin just likes to stay in the house so far!  We have been enjoying lots of hot chocolate, even if the weather doesn't cooperate to go play in the snow!

That is Austin and Colton under the picnic table on our deck!

9 months old!

 

Gavin is 9 months old!!  We had a Dr. appointment yesterday for his well baby check up and he is doing fantastic.  He is growing at a steady rate and seems to be able to do everything the Dr. wanted him to be able to do.  He weighs 21 pounds 8 ounces.  He is 29 inches long.  He is staying steady at the 75 percentile.  His weight gain has plateaued because he is now crawling and getting himself everywhere!  The Dr. said, when he was 6 months he was chubby because he wasn't able to move around as much.  This made me smile because he is the most adorable "chubby" guy that I know! 

 

Gavin can sit up all by himself.  He is pulling himself up to a standing position (not walking yet!) and is crawling all over the place.  He is working on being able to pick up little pieces of food and put them in his mouth, still need some practice on the 'thumb and forefinger' coordination.  He babbles all the time and will soon be ready for more solid foods.

 

He is doing great!

Annie and Papa showed up on Valentine's Day all loaded up with fun gifts.  Here is a picture of the boys on Valentine's day!  Please make sure to notice Gavin's pink/white/red socks, this is the only day he will ever wear them!!  All three boys were more excited to get the presents open than to smile for the camera.  The boys received activity books and step stools, which Colton has strategically placed around the house so they can figure out a way to reach just about anything now!

 More swimming lessons love. So, in the above picture I told them to put their arms around eachother and this is what I got.  Then, in the below picture I gave more instruction and tried to physically place their arms where they needed to go . . . fail.  (but still pretty cute!)

And this last one is of Colton working on his back float.  He is doing a great job in swim lessons.  He is a great listener and loves to come home and tell us everything his teacher has told him.  Austin is also doing well.  Austin is working on the back stroke, the tuck float, the back float and treading water.

Reading books

So, this morning Austin decided that Gavin needed to know all about Animals.  So, he got out one of the Animals books and started reading it to him.  He pointed at every animal and explained to Gavin what it was and where it lived.  Colton and Gavin were very attentive, they all laid on the bed this morning and read together.  When we were headed downstairs I overheard Austin telling Colton, "It is our job to teach stuff to Gavin."  Colton responds with, "I know that Austin."  Such great little teachers so far!

Bath time!

 So, bath time is one of Gavin's favorite times of the day.  He starts flapping his arms around and kicking his legs as soon as we walk into the bathroom where he takes his bath!  It is so cute, he gets so wiggly in my arms, as if he is just going to jump straight in the tub and doesn't need me to help him!  He splashes up a storm!  Austin and Colton tried to tell him that he couldn't do that because he was getting water all over.  So, they are trying to let Gavin know the rules but I told them that when Gavin is this little, it is okay to splash all over!  They were confused that Gavin could splash all over and they couldn't, so I assured them that when they were babies, they were allowed to splash all over too!  This seemed to help, so they hid under towels as Gavin splashed away!!!  All three boys (and me) had a great time!

Both brothers also want to help do things for Gavin.  It is very sweet in the mornings . . . Austin will turn off the fan, Colton turns off the space heater, Austin turns off the mobile in Gavin's bed, and Colton gets a new diaper for me and puts Gavin's clothes in the dirty laundry.  The jammies probably don't need to go into the dirty clothes basket every day but we have a great system down and each brother has the same amount of "chores" so it works.  I also think it is funny that Austin calls these chores, "Come on Colton, we have to do our chores for Mommy!"

 

Colton has also taken a particular liking to helping with Gavin's bath.  He will get out a towel and the lotion.  Colton also gets Gavin toys to play with and sometimes washes his belly and back.  He likes me to put shampoo in Gavin's hair and then he rubs it all over.  Colton makes a big production of having his sleeves pulled up (because if they get wet at all, he wants to take his shirt off immediately).  And, as you can see, Gavin is a good sport about letting his brother help!  It is very sweet to have such a great helper at bath time.  I don't know if this will be happening a year from now, but last night it was pretty cute!

 

There is also a rumor from the babysitter that Gavin can pull himself up.  Well, as always, if Mommy and Daddy haven't seen it then it will remain in rumor status!  :)  We are going to keep trying to get him to do it at home and I will keep you posted as to if we are successful this weekend!!!

Austin is 5!

 What a fun and busy weekend we had celebrating Austin's 5th birthday!  On Friday, Austin got to bring treats to school.  He chose brownies with mini m&m's sprinkled on top!  He was happy to report that his birthday was a lot of fun at school.  He wore a crown for all of his preschool class and they sang to him two times at snack time . . . one round of happy birthday and then a round of the thank you song, since he brought treats!

 We got home Friday evening and had presents waiting for us!  The boys were all excited to get started on ripping the wrapping paper off of them.  Austin wanted me to read all the cards out loud to everyone.  One of the cards was a Transformers card that talked and it was a lot of entertainment the rest of the evening.  Another card had ninja guys on it, so Austin and Colton tried to act out all the moves the guys on the card were doing!  Gavin just wanted to get as much wrapping paper in his mouth as possible!

 Austin's big boy bike!  The bike has rockets on it and the helmet has flames on it, so obviously this bike is going to go super fast.  Austin cruised around inside on Saturday because it was way to cold to go outside first thing in the morning.

 Captain America cake as requested by the birthday boy!

 Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party for Austin and a few of his friends at the Jump House place in Waterloo.  The kids LOVED the party.  They took a 20 minute break from jumping so that we could eat cake and open presents, otherwise they jumped from 1-4pm.  It was a great time.  Colton wasn't up for a picture when this was taken, so that is why he is not in it!!

 Gavin, having a blast at the jump house!

 After the party we went to the hotel where Annie and Papa were staying.  Austin and Colton got to swim, open more presents and we ordered pizza.  Grandma and Grandmpa Kliegl had to take off after dinner because the weather sounded like it might get bad.  We headed home from the hotel around 8:30 . . . . everyone was tired.  It was a long fun day! 

 Gavin didn't swim on Saturday night, he was exhausted, but on Sunday morning we went back out to the hotel so that the boys could swim and Gavin even got in the water.  I held him at first to get him used to the water . . . he kept picking his toes up out of the water!  Then Brian held on to him and walked him around for a little bit so he could see what all the excitement was about!  He seemed to enjoy it and really just laid back and kicked his legs a little bit!