Growing...

Well, although the boys aren't sleeping well, it must be a growth spurt. In ONE week they have each gained a POUND!! We weighed them tonight. Crazy. At least all of the eating is for a good purpose! :-)

I took all the kids and myself to the chiropractor yesterday. Figured a little adjustment wouldn't hurt anyone. I actually think Levi is holding his head up better. Plus, he was a little congested and it should help with that.

Ezzy Giggles

Finally caught Ezra on video giggling. It's so cute. He's been laughing SO MUCH lately! They really are such happy babies :-) For some reason he really likes fart sounds and to pretend he's dropping. Levi even started laughing at Ezra laughing!



Wes' mom was here visiting this past week and took some pic's! Yea, for someone with a camera out and ready! I'll try to get some of those pic's up soon so you can see these kids. I'm sure Wes would enjoying seeing their pic's once in a while anyways.

Growth Spurt?

So...I wondering if these boys are involved in some sort of growth spurt. Now, we are up every 1.5 hrs!! I'm thinking they MUST be growing. I'm off to try to find some Brewer's Yeast to see if a little increase in milk production can help anything. They do great during the day. Seem to go every 2-3 hrs, but at night they just want to chow! Lactation lady at the hospital when I first had them said milk production drastically increases around 10pm...so maybe these kids know that and want the good stuff? :-) I'll let you know if I ever get any sleep! I'd REALLY love to give up drinking coke again...but can I say HEADACHE?!?!

I gave up..

So, how many of you would have guessed that I wouldn't stick with the rice cereal? Well...you are right! I will say the boys seemed to enjoy eating it, HOWEVER, yesterday Ezra had a pretty bad belly ache. He was still quite pleasant, but couldn't nap. When it came time for bed he was just screaming! I eventually had to give him a little squirt of a suppository and the first part of his poo was kinda hard! Poor baby. Then, when I went to change Levi's poo diaper this morning he had a terrible rash! It's awful and bumped up. I blame all of this on the cereal! Plus, it didn't help the sleeping situation at all. So, for now, I'm done with food. Back to just breastmilk, which is all they really need anyways! Ahh, makes me happy to know that they don't need that crap yet.

Cereal...

So, are you wondering if the cereal helped them sleep last night? (probably not) But guess what...it did not help one bit!! Instead of every 2 hours, I was up EVERY hour!! It's my own fault for not getting them on the same schedule, but after the 1st woke I thought the 2nd might keep sleep a few hours. Nope!

Thank the Lord my sweet friend Casey watches the kids for about 4 hours every Tuesday. I have to run a few errands, then I'm going to try to get a nap at my Mom's house!! SO TIRED!

STATS:

All the kids had their check-ups today. I'm not sure scheduling all three at the same time is a good idea. Thankfully Mom went with me b/c Elliot turned in to devil child in the office. She was stomping her shoes as loud as possible, screaming, pinching anyone (babies, me, mom), trying to scratch, etc. etc. .etc. That girl has the face of an angel but can sure not act like one! However, as soon as it was her turn to get weighed, checked, etc. she was perfect and listened to everything she was told. I think we have some attention/jealousy issues!

Anyways, here's what's up
ELLIOT:
31 lbs (37 %ile)
39 in (70 %ile)

EZRA:
12 lbs (15 %ile)
25 in(53 %ile)

LEVI:
11 lbs (4 %ile)
25 in (53 %ile)

*It is AMAZING how much heavier one pound feels! Ezra seems huge next to Levi.
** Apparently all of our kids are on the taller side? Can you believe that?!? HAHAHA

In other news, the nurse practicioner recommended we start rice cereal. I'm pretty much opposed to any food before 6 months. Just not necessary. Plus, they are both growing very steadily (there was about a 1 lb difference since birth!) However, the last 3 nights they have woken up every TWO hours! That's the time from the first waking, to the first waking again. So, that basically means 1.5 hrs. of sleep for me at a time. Quite frankly, that's just not cutting it for me. Call it selfish, but it's tiring and since I'm the one providing 100% of the nutrition for these boys it can be a lot. (I don't mean to complain. This is definitely a choice I've made and love doing it. I know that it's what's best for the boys and will continue it even if it means no sleep.)

I hate to admit it, but I did give them some rice cereal this afternoon. Just a little. They both absolutely LOVED it. I did Levi first. Put about 1 TBSP of cereal in the bowl with some breastmilk. He ate it up! No problems and didn't spit any out. I thought, "this is such a pain to mix it with milk, I think I'll just do it with water for now on." Mixed Ezzy's up with water and he spit that stuff right out. Made him a little bowl with some milk and he ate it up! Guess those boys know what they like! I guess I'm giving it a shot for a few nights. If sleeping improves I'll continue it, if it doesn't...then they'll have to wait 2 more months for some food. I've heard that it doesn't make them sleep any better and I have my doubts, but I am willing to give it a shot. No pictures of the big eating event (I'm a little ashamed I gave in to it!)

4 months old

BROTHERS:
The boys are 4 months old today. They are growing so much. They are both giggling and talking a lot! They are so easy-going and rarely cry. Most tears are shed over abuse from their big sis (as seen in the video below.) Guess that's life with siblings. Here's a collage of them together today (remember, you can click the pic. to enlarge it) Whenever they are near each other, they are touching. One day I even put them on opposite sides of the bed and when I went to check on them their heads were touching! Ahh, it's just precious! You can see they were holding hands in some of the pic's.
EZRA:
Ezzy is still about a pound bigger than Levi (we'll know exactly how much after their check up on Monday.) He is a drooler!! He loves to talk and play with toys that hang above him. He's such a sweet boy and loves his sleep. He does get upset if it's his nap time and I haven't gotten him to his bed. He is really trying to sit. If you are holding him in a relaxed position, he will tighten up his belly muscles so that he is in a sitting position. What a big boy!
LEVI:
Levi is still so happy and is talking more everyday. We're still catching him giggling...sometimes he giggles just looking at me. haha. Guess he thinks I'm funny looking. He loves to see what's going on in the world around him and will follow people all over a room, especially his big Sis. You can tell he loves her already. He's getting more control of his big 'ole head everyday!

VIDEO:

Giggles

If you need to make your day a little brighter, just watch this video of Levi cracking up! (Haven't been able to capture Ezra on camera just yet)

Atlanta

We spent this past weekend up in Atlanta for my cousin Kaitlin's wedding. 1st, I do NOT recommend going on a "road trip" with 3 young kids!! NO, not much fun! Thankfully, I threw the breastpump in at the last minute! This way, when the boys got hungry, I could sit in the back(my parents were in the van with us) and pump, then give them bottles. Otherwise, it would have taken us FOREVER to get there if I stopped to nurse them. (Yes, I'm that mom that won't let her kids out of the car seat. It freaks me out!)

Once we got there, we had a great time and the kids were wonderful. Friday we had brunch at my Aunt's, then the wedding rehearsal and dinner in the evening. Elliot had to practice her flower girl duties! Saturday morning we went for a walk along the Chattahoochee River, then I took Elliot to the hotel pool for a little bit. The wedding was in the evening and it was a beautiful! My cousin was gorgeous, Elliot did a great job as the flower girl (although it did take her a few minutes to slowly walk the isle and strategically place each petal!), and the reception was wonderful! Elliot had so much fun DANCING! She didn't stop!! It was adorable! If you want to see more pic's of the wedding, click HERE

Here are a few video's of Elliot dancing! Now, when she has dance class...she thinks she's going to a wedding reception! HAHAHA!



Sunday we spent a few hours at the Georgia Aquarium (largest in the world). It was lots of fun. Pictures of that coming in a future blog post. :-)

Animal Kingdom

Wes got to come home for a few days between being in Iraq and now Afghanistan, so last Sunday We (along with Mom) took the kiddo's to Disney's Animal Kingdom. You know, it's an odd park! There's a whole lot of nothing there! There's one safari thing where you see animals, and that's about it. The rest is so commercial. You do a whole lot of walking to no where. Regardless, we had a pretty good time. Elliot got super excited when she got to meet the characters and ride a little carnival-like dinosaur ride (She LOVES dinosaurs!) The boys were fantastic. Wes had Ezra in the Bjorn and I had Levi in the wrap almost all day! We put them in the stroller for a few minutes. Ezra lasted about 5 until he started to fuss. That was the ONLY time we heard any crying all day! Impressive.

To see more pic's of our day, click HERE

Elliot's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Elliot's 3rd birthday party tonight! yea for half birthday celebrations (3 days after Christmas is a hard date to plan a party, so we just pick a day later and do it.) We just had immediate family over, but it was fun! Elliot wanted Princess stuff and I guess that's quite appropriate since she is the only girl in the family! :-) I'm no cake decorator, but I tried to make her a castle. She was happy so that's all that really matters.

To see more pic's of the fun, click HERE

Parenting

So, having a 3 year old has made me realize that parenting is definitely no easy tasks. For a while, Elliot was getting a bit out of control. Just down right defiant and rude! It was tough! I just wasn't sure what to do with her and was at my whits end. Nothing was working! I realized that counting to 3 was the dumbest thing I ever started. She needs to listen the first time, not after 3 seconds of thinking about it (and then still not doing it). I feel like this is for her safety and really to help develop a strong character. She needs to know that she is not in control.

Then, yesterday, I had a small revelation-STICKERS! Instead of disciplining all the time (which was NOT working) why not reward the good behavior? I've had a new kid the last day and a half! We have one chart that say "I listened the first time." When ever she obeys and does what she is told the first time she gets a sticker. I've been going a little crazy with the stickers right now, but I want her to know that she is a good girl and that her good behavior is really appreciated. The other paper says "I Disobeyed" and I draw a frowny :-( face on it every time she doesn't listen. Tonight, she was in TEARS because she did not want a frowny face! I don't think the girl has ever cried over a time out or spankin'. I hope this lasts, or that it at least starts a new attitude with all of us. I went out and bought some new stickers today because she gets to choose her sticker from a case. She was so excited.

I also had these charts that I bought over a year ago. One is "The Blessing Chart" and one is the "If...Then Chart." We've taped these under our other papers and read a Bible verse that goes along with the good/bad behavior. She actually sits down by the chart with me and wants to read them. She's memorized Eph. 6:1, "Chidren obey your parents in the Lord for this is right" (except she always says, "Children obey your mother!" HAHA)

A Day of Firsts & Sevenths

Today Elliot had her first day of swimming lessons. She did good. On the way there Elliot was in her car seat and said, "How do I get this hair off my legs?!?!" HAHAHA. I totally craked up. I guess the sun was shining in the window and she could see it. I just said, "talk to me in 10 years or when it turns black and we'll take care of that!" After lessons we went to my moms and practiced some more in her pool. She did good jumping off the side and swimming from one person to the other. (You can click on the collage's to see them enlarged)

She also had her first day of dance class this afternoon. The boys were busy crying the entire hour, but when I did get to peek in on her it was quite entertaining. They were supposed to be doing toe taps and she was busy doing some crazy hip dance! I asked her what her favorite part was and it was the forward rolls & cartwheels on the mat. So, I'm thinking maybe she belongs in gymnastics class. Hopefully this will be good for her because the teacher is older and strict on them listening! Definitely a skill Elliot needs some work on!
And for the 7th's....today is our 7th anniversary!! YEA!! We went from getting married and having a big celebration 7 years ago, to me not even getting to talk to my man today. oh well, 'tis life. Hopefully he'll be home in a few days! Can't wait!