Colton had his 3-year check up yesterday at the Dr.  He weighs 33 pounds and is 3'1" tall!  He is growing and doing great!  Austin came to the appointment as well, so both boys could get flu vaccines.  They had the nasal mist for both of them and they did really well.  Austin wanted to go first.  The nurse told him that after she mists it into his nose, he needs to pretend he is smelling a flower so that it gets sucked up.  He did great!  After that, Colton did just as great as Austin.  They were very proud of themselves and the nurse let them each pick a sticker for being so brave. 

Last night, the five of us went on a walk around our neighborhood.  The boys collected sticks, pinecones, rocks and leaves.  They brought all their treasures home and we had an arts and crafts time.  They each glued all of their findings onto construction paper.  This morning, they were very excited that the glue was dry and they could hang up their 'science projects'.  Austin explained to me that next year when he is in kindergarten, he will be doing a lot of science projects . . . so this one was really good practice!  He is so cute and of course had a great reason as to why we were collecting items on our walk!  Colton was excited because he got to use glue, scissors and the stapler!  And to be honest, with all the glue they used, I was surprised that it was actually dry this morning.  :)

Colton turns 3!

To celebrate Colton we had a little get together at a hotel swimming pool.  The grandparents were all able to be there, as well as Nate & Amanda, Nick & Courtney, Sarah & Charlee and Jamie, Jeff & Keller!  The kids were very excited to get to go swimming.  They were singing a "Let's go swimming" song all the way to the hotel pool.  This was a made up song, that basically consisted of the words "Let's go swimming" repeated over and over and over and over . . . 

 At the request of the birthday boy, I made a construction site cake.  He wanted a backhoe and this was about as close as I could get.  He thought it was great that he could drive the dump truck right off the side of the cake!  It tasted delicious as well!

 Here is a picture of Colton and Charlee.  They are relaxing in the hot tub!  I didn't get in the water, but apparently it was freezing.  Brian spent most of his time in the pool throwing the boys up in the air and letting them jump to him in the deep end.

 Keller, Colton and Charlee blowing out the candles on the cake!  We sang 'Happy Birthday' four different times so each kid could have a chance to blow out the candles, although I think ever time, they all helped eachother!

 Colton is giving Charlee a hug and thanking her for his new Team Umi Zoomi bath toys!

 

On the day of Colton's birthday, he woke up to a bedroom full of balloons and he got to take cupcakes to Mindy's to share with all of his friends.  Austin also got to go to Mindy's for the day, which was a special birthday treat for Colton!  Mindy had a gift for Colton and also had a little birthday party for him in the morning.  Each kid at her house, got a teenage mutant ninja turtle party favor and a cupcake too!  At the end of the day Brian and I picked up the boys and the five of us went to Pizza Ranch.  After dinner, we went home to open gifts and call one of Colton's birthday buddies . . . Uncle Jon (who was turning 30 the same day!)  So, we talked to Jon for a minute and then had to get right back to opening up gifts. 

 

 The big boys waiting patiently for the go ahead to start opening gifts!

  

 An shot of Gavin, trying to get in on the present opening action!

And a thank you hug to big brother Austin for all of the new Chuck and Friends trucks!

 



Gavin's baptism

Gavin is such a sweet baby.  He truly is always happy and smiley.  He doesn't complain too much and he has a lot of patience with his brothers, who are always in his face!  Well, he was baptized on October 13th at St. Pat's church and he screamed and cried the first 10 minutes of the ceremony.  It was heartbreaking to hear him cry so intensely.  I think he was tired and if he would have slept through the mass, he probably would have been just fine, but unfortunately that was not the case.  He did get baptized so at least the day was a success!

 Deacon Loving administering the sacrament of baptism.

 God parents:  Uncle Aaron and Aunt Courtney

 Gavin and his family.  This was the best picture I had on my camera of the five of us!  Colton was very interested in everything about the baptism and Austin was not as interested as I thought he would be.  Austin was just recently learning about baptism at preschool so I think he thought he already knew it all!

 Gavin is all smiles after his nap back at the house!

And this picture is definitely overdue but wanted to make sure I got it on here . . . Gavin at four months! 

 

Gavin had a Dr. appointment last Tuesday.  So, on October 15th, (almost five months old), he weighed 19lbs 4oz and is 27" long.  He is at the top of the 95th percentile in weight and in the 90th percentile for height.  When we walked into the Dr. office, the nurse called him a 'bruiser'!  He is a big guy, and he is healthy and so happy!

Toes!

Gavin found his toes today!  He pulled them up to his mouth and even tried to get them in his mouth!  Such a smart little guy!

Cuddle Time

Austin has been wanting to 'cuddle up' with Gavin quite a bit and what better time to do this than on Saturday mornings!  These two little guys cuddled for an entire episode of Justice League!  Both boys were pretty happy and Austin loves being able to help take care of Gavin.  Gavin was smiley until I got the camera out . . . and his little middle finger popped up too!  I didn't notice until I uploaded the picture, I will have to talk to Gavin about keeping the blog G-rated!!!! 

Austin!

 

Well, this little guy gave us quite a scare last Thursday evening while we were in Arizona.  Brian and I landed in Phoenix in the morning on September 12th.  My parents were watching the boys at our house and everything was going great all day long.  We talked to them twice throughout the morning and afternoon and every thing was going smoothly.  Then, that evening, Austin climbed up on top of the sprinkler/car wash we have for the boys to play with and was told to get down.  He got down, ran outside, then ran back in the garage and climbed right back up to play on the sprinkler again.  This time, he fell.  He hit his head and my parents knew he had a concussion once he threw up some of his dinner.  My dad and Austin headed to Urgent Care, where they were sent to the Emergency Room at Covenant.  Brian and I were scared and feeling helpless since we were thousands of miles away. 

 

The Dr. looked him over and decided to give him a CT scan.  Thank goodness the scan came back perfect!  It was just a mild concussion and he needs to drink plenty of fluids and take it easy.  He also took a 30 minute cat nap at the ER, and when he woke up he was pretty much back to his old self.  My dad said, he was wide awake, alert and asking a lot of questions about the ER when he woke up.  Brian and I finally got to talk to him on the phone after his nap and it was such a huge relief for us to hear his voice!  He got on the phone and said, "Hi mommy, I love you!  We talked to one Dr. and now we have been waiting for 10 HOURS to see the next Dr."  When we heard his sweet little voice, a wave of relief washed over us.

 

 After talking to him and feeling reassured that he was going to be just fine, we got off the phone with him.  Austin and my dad got home at midnight and of course Austin was hungry since he didn't have any food in him and he had been at the hospital for over 3 hours (not quite the 10 that it felt like to all of us).  It was a very scary evening for all of us, but we are so grateful that he is okay!  When he got home, he told my mom that "They put a donut on my head and took a picture of my brain!"  He has also acted out exactly what you do when they take a picture of your brain.  He said Papa told him he was very brave, but couldn't hold his hand while they took the pictures because his arms had to be in the machine.  Since Austin never forgets ANYTHING, I'm sure he will remember the details of this for quite awhile! 

 

So, the Dr. said for two weeks we need to keep Austin settled down and to drink lots of fluids.  Drinking lots of fluids has been no problem at all but explaining to Austin why he has to settle down, is quite a different story.  Last week we had some rainy evenings, and I was able to get a couple movie nights in so the boys just kind of laid around.  This coming week may be more of a challenge because of the beautiful fall weather we are having!  I keep telling him to be careful and take it easy and he keeps telling me that his brain doesn't hurt anymore.  This makes me smile . . . but I still have to tell him to take it easy for a while longer.  We also had to talk to him, again, about why it is so important to listen, rules are for your safety, we don't want anything to happen to you.  He seems to get it, and hopefully he will be a better listener.  But actually getting our four-year-old boy, who is always so full of life, to settle down is quite the challenge! 

 

The rest of our trip was great!  Phoenix was amazing, Jen was a beautiful bride, and we had a lot of fun celebrating at the wedding reception with our friends.  Austin, Colton, and Gavin got to spend Friday night in Fort Dodge and played on Saturday with Lindsey's little boys and Griffin's little boys; 8 kids all under the age of 5.  They had a blast!  Sunday, we all met back at Nick and Courtney's.  It was so wonderful to get to hug all three of our little guys!!  We headed back to Cedar Falls that evening and all five of us were exhausted from all the fun we had been having.

 

 

 

 

This evening Brian and I will be heading to Maxwell to stay with Nick and Courtney.  Tomorrow morning we are flying out of Des Moines to Phoenix, AZ for my friend Jen Tilton's wedding!  We are getting excited and in anticipation of the trip I explained to Austin, Colton, and Gavin everything they would get to do this weekend . . .

Me:  "Annie and Papa are coming tonight.  They will be at our house around dinner time!  Then tomorrow you get to sleep in before Papa takes Austin to preschool.  I'm sure if you ask Annie and Papa nicely, they will take you to McDonald's some time while you are with them!  Then Friday you are heading to Fort Dodge, Saturday you get to play with Masan, Nolan, and Collin Redman.  You boys are going to have a fun playdate and then have pizza together.  Sunday morning you get to wake up, have breakfast and head to Nick and Courtney's house.  You get to play with Nick and Courtney all afternoon and then mommy and daddy will pick you up some time on Sunday." 

Colton:  "I want Annie and Papa to be here now!  Where are Annie and Papa?!?"

Austin:  "I'm soooo excited that Annie and Papa are coming because I won't have to brush my teeth!"

So, apparently, Colton is ready to start partying and Austin is just happy to have a 'teeth brushing free' weekend to look forward to.  (Or so he thinks!)  How funny!