4 months old

Our friend Amy (our photographer)  took these pictures at a baby shower we went to. 

I am afraid  if I blink I am going to miss something with this kid. He is growing so fast. The days when I could just leave him on the changing table and go put a load of laundry in are long gone as he is trying to roll with all his might. He rolled from tummy to back for the first time when we were in Hawaii. He is trying to arch out of the swing and bouncy seat so it is a must he is always buckled in now. He grabs for toys and puts them in his mouth and I am not positive but I think he might be a thumb sucker. He will take the binky but really prefers sucking on his hands. He just hasn't quite figured out how to get his thumb in his mouth on a regular basis. He had his 4 month well-check last week and he remains at the top of the charts. At 17lbs he is in the 90th percentile & still in the 75-90th for height. He is wearing 6 month clothes & fitting into some 6-9.  The twins were always in size-age appropriate clothes (at 4 months they were in 3-6) so this is a a whole new experience for me.  We have been doing more bottles and even a little bit of formula while we were in Hawaii so Momma could have a bit of a break & relax. I have to say there is something so liberating about formula. I never care if it gets wasted & you can just make a little bit at a time rather than thawing an entire thing of stored breastmilk.  My goal is to at least breastfeed for 6 months and then we will see how it goes from there. I have enjoyed  doing it this time around it is so much easier just feeding one baby rather than having to pump milk for two. He still sucks at sleeping...I mean REALLY.  The Dr. has given us the go a head to start sleep training him because of his size & also that he is 4 months old now it's ok to start crying it out.  We have  tried a little bit but I feel like I need to work up to doing it. I know I needed to do that with the twins and eventually we let them cry (I cried to, A LOT) and eventually they started sleeping through the night.  So I know there is hope that he WILL at some point sleep & so will we. He is sick as a dog right now. So take a baby that doesn't sleep well normally and give him a really bad cold and you get two really sleep deprived cranky parents. 

This to shall pass. This to shall pass.  THIS TO SHALL PASS. 

Even though he feels terrible and has not slept really at all in the last two+ days he is still smiling. He is a an easy going guy and actually seems to have a little bit of a sense of humor about things. I figure that will be a blessing as he grows having two older siblings that are both demanding. 
It was one year ago yesterday that we found out we would be having another baby. 

What a shock that was! I mean really.
 But  now here we are with our last & perfect addition to our family. 

Chaseyboy, Baby Chase, Chaselounge, Chaser you have made us complete in so many ways. Xo 
love your extremely proud (but exhausted) Momma

Sky

We had the most amazing sunset one evening back in January it really was breathtaking. I think almost every other post on FB commented on it while it was happening. No editing all done to this pic. Beautiful! 

hawaii time

These pictures make me smile.

 What wonderful memories we made during this trip...

I wonder if the twins will remember when grow up? 

life around here

We spent last week in Maui. It was wonderful and so needed for our little family. We ate, drank, swam and played. It was probably our most enjoyable vaca to date because the twins are getting to be at such a good age. The flight was a breeze and Chase was the best little traveler. We really couldn't asked for better behaved kiddos, and I really mean that! I can't wait to share pictures hopefully I will get my computer situation figured out soon. 

We resumed our little schedule this week and it was nice to get back into the school routine and being home in our house has been good to. Jerame did his fist trip in a very long time which was weird to have him gone because he hasn't had to travel for such a long time. Luckily it was only 1 night and I had some help with the kiddos. Other than that things are good. Carter will have his next Dr. appointment next  week. He has continued to do great with no recurrence of anything.

My baby is growing so fast. He is growing out of a lot of his 6 month clothes and people often think he is a much older baby than he is. He is such an easy going baby but still doesn't sleep great at night. Things would be pretty near perfect if he just slept (I would even take 4 hour stretches?!). Sometimes I feel like a 1st time Mom again trying to figure out how to make him sleep at night. I already broke out the sleep book again. Having a newborn again has been no joke especially while having 3 year old twins. My hair is falling out in handfuls again. This happened to me with the twins as well but was hoping that was just a 'product of twins' BUT nope the hair is on it's way out. I feel like I will be lucky if  it fits into a pony tail by the time it's all over Oh the joys of having babies! 

Just a few pics from my phone from yesterday. 

I feel like I am looking in the mirror when I look at her. My little mini me

Chase & I on a little stroll waiting for the twinnies to get off the bus. Those lips are just to die for. 

A rare smiling moment during tummy time...he is not the biggest fan

Family Pictures

Taken back in October when Chase was about 2 weeks old.  I am so glad we have these pictures. We had the twins pictures taken when they were newborns & I still truly cherish them. Although it wasn't an easy task to get a everybody ready for pictures and then to get everyone to cooperate for the pictures was challenging.  When our photographer showed up at our house for the session at 3pm the twins were still in their PJ's & extremely grumpy I might add, Jerame trying to make everyone lunch and me sitting topless in the nursery nursing Chase (probobly crying. ha ha). 

We were a true sight to be seen. 

Good thing our photographer is also a good friend :) She did such a good job and who would have ever known we were a total S*** -show right before these were all taken! 

                                       

Santa Baby

New Year

It's a new year already...Christmas has come & gone and I feel like my head is starting to slowly stop spinning. Have been wanting to post an update on us but have found it's hard to find the time lately, that or I haven't been to sure what to say or what I want to share on here.  In short, we got a huge dose of perspective over the coarse of the last few weeks. The little things just don't seem matter anymore and the big things like the health of our children & family/friends do. Jerame & I remind each other of this on a daily basis. Without going into to much detail... we had a major health scare with our biggest boy. Based on some of the symptoms he was having a series of blood tests were ordered, an MRI of his Brain & Spine and not to mention several very scary doctors visits. When your pediatrician has no reassuring words and tears up while sitting in complete silence  it is never good. Jerame & I experienced some of the worst feelings of our lives.  BUT the GOOD news is. He is doing better and there has been no recurrences of his symptoms since the last major episode. There is still no solid explanation for what happened & why. But we will take it and as our Pediatric Neurologist said the less we know the better. Meaning that the best scenario would be that it just never happens again and we never know what exactly it was. We are so lucky to live in a city with access to a world renown Children's Hospital. I can not say enough good about Seattle Childrens. I hate that we have been there so much but am so very grateful it is there for us & that it is the amazing facility it is. It goes without saying we are thankful and everyday that we have a healthy, jumping, running, happy boy we will take. We are not totally out of the woods yet as the MRI surfaced a totally unrelated issue that needs to be looked into now. We have been reassured not to worry so that is the route we are taking. We have been humbled that is for sure. Your thoughts/prayers are still appreciated for us & most importantly our boy. WE seriously could not have gone through this without the support of our family & friends. 

We had a wonderful Christmas but will save that for different post. I got a new Camera lens for my DSLR camera for Christmas & it takes beautiful pictures. I am having trouble with my lap top right now so am unable to download any new pics from my camera. So I m left with only the pictures from my phone to share. 

Chase continues to be such a joy in our little family. He is now 3 months as of 1/8. He is going on his 100th cold . The good news is, he will have an immune system made out of steel when he is a toddler. Nights get better between colds but once he gets a new one he has a hard time sleeping which means I am up a lot with him. He is not a huge fan of the swing,  bouncy chair or front pack. Loves the playmat and if he is not being held will stay there the longest. His favorite place to be other than our arms is in the car seat. This we feel lucky for! He is a great little traveler and will sleep the day away if we are out & about. He laughed for the 1st time yesterday and is smiling up a storm. He barely ever cries and when he does something is normally wrong. He still pukes like no other baby I have ever seen. I do LOTS of laundry over here. I hate laundry. Well, I actually don't hate it that much it's just that I never have time to do it so it just sits. I am sure I am not the only one but it's just that thing that's always in the back of my mind when I have a spare minute (like now) saying you should really be folding laundry. It's a revolving door...once I feel like it all gets done there is  another pile. So annoying! 

With all the stress of the last month I almost forgot we had a vacation planned. We leave for Maui in no time! Yup with our whole bunch. I am not really even that nervous for the plane ride, that is  how excited I am to get out of here! So thrilled  be able to enjoy a Mai Tai or 10 this time!