Halloween 2009

HAS was adorable...

Check out that look of mischievousness (don't even know if that's a word )

LPS enjoyed his ride around the neighborhood in a stroller

Mommy with all three of the boys... love how HAS is checking LPS out...

HAS is not in a photogenic mood...

My tiniest snuggle bug

Daddy... I'll take him :)

Daddy is dressed up as the police.... oh wait, he's actually working. It's a shame crime can't take a break for Halloween :(

JMS in the Choir

JMS decided to join the choir at church. We had a family service tonight and the kids choir sang. JMS is in the middle row on the far left. The cute kid with glasses :) He really enjoys it and I think it is a great activity for him.

Oops...

Night number 2 wasn't as successful as night number 1...

We had gone out to dinner for a friend's birthday and when we checked on HAS when we returned, this is how we found him.

HAS is Out of the Crib

He stole daddy's pillow b/c it was the thinnest one in the house.

He looks so little, but I feel like he is growing way too fast :( I love this picture with his name, his new bed and part of the mural on the wall.

First night in the big boy bed... so sweet... Notice he has my watch on his wrist...

Getting out from under the covers

HAS just waking up from his first nap in his toddler bed...

My mother-in-law told me about a friend of hers from work who had issues with a toddler who didn't want to share the "crib" with his new baby brother, so she learned from her mistake and between the next two, moved the toddler out of the crib earlier so they wouldn't think of the crib as their bed. Knowing how possessive he is and how he likes things just so, we decided on a whim to try to see how he would do in his toddler bed today during naps. We sat outside his door the first nap just in case he decided to get up, but he hasn't gotten up one time today. He just calls for us when he wakes up. It will be interesting to see how he does tonight, but so far, so good.

Wish I had a camera

I have been pumping since LPS was born because he wouldn't really nurse when we first brought him home from the NICU. He is, however, starting to nurse three - four times a day. He is really picky about it and the conditions have to be just so, but it is still progress from where we were a month ago at this time.

Today, while I was rocking LPS to sleep, HAS picked up my pumping pieces and held them up to his chest as if he was pumping himself... Then, to make it easier, he put them both down, lifted his shirt with one hand and picked up one of the pumping pieces with the other hand and held it up to his tummy... I laughed so hard, causing him to laugh...

Later, he kept saying Poppy (which is what he calls my dad) so I called them and let HAS "talk" to them. He calls mom "G" which is short for Grams and he talked to her and said "G" as soon as he realized it wasn't poppy. When dad got on the phone, HAS kept saying his name and laughing hysterically over and over.

If I had only had a camera and video camera today up by my chair...

A true Mirror

I had a hat on and HAS didn't want it on me, so he took mine off and found one of his. He wanted to wear it around the house for awhile.

Maybe no one will see me get him :)

Mom... I see how these gates work :)

I would like my ketchup in this compartment only please.

Every day I look at HAS and watch him, I see myself. He is OCD about many things, he will not sit still for more than 2 seconds, and he laughs about everything that life throws his way. He knows what he wants and how he wants it. This can be a little frustrating for us because we don't always know what he is trying to say because he is only 21 months old.

It is truly an eye opening experience to see yourself in a little person, but I have loved every minute of it. David will watch him and then say to me, "I blame you for him." Truly, I will take all of the blame because while he is definitely high energy and a lot to deal with, he is also so much fun and so full of life. He lives his little 21 month old life the way I try to live mine... trying every new adventure possible.

Where does the time go?!?!?

Today, LPS is 1 month old. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were in the NICU dealing with tachypnea, jaundice, and reflux. I remember feeling like we were going to be in the NICU forever because escaping from there is so difficult. I have to blame the American way for that. Because everyone sues for everything, the doctors in the NICU are terrified to let even the tiniest of things go unnoticed for fear of being sued for malpractice. We got out of the NICU on Monday, September 21 and began daily trips back to the hospital for a bilirubin test because his was so high. Then... there was the bili-bed which he refused to sleep on. Now, through all of this the reflux was still present with medicine that wasn't working. On October 6th, we made a trip to the pediatric GI specialist who changed his medication but said it would take 2-3 weeks before we noticed a difference. YEAH!!! Last week, we realized that he also has colic. Three days ago, we seemed to get everything under control. I had a baby who would only sleep in the swing or on our chests or on his tummy, but definitely not on his back like the pediatrician recommended. After many nights of sleeping with the baby bjorn on and him in it, we made another appointment with his pediatrician, only for her to say he looks, sounds and feels great. We finally tried using a bigger "swaddle me" and propping him up on his side to sleep. We have found the miracle cure :) We thought he hated being swaddled but it turns out the one we were using just wasn't big enough. He has a little bit of a cold now, so we aren't always sleeping through all of the congestion, but he is sleeping in long chunks... but more importantly, he is no longer sleeping on my chest in the baby bjorn. He is 4 weeks and 2 days old... one month. Why does this time in life go by so fast when you only want to cherish every minute. He weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces this week after he was born at 8 pounds 10 ounces. However, after several days in the NICU, he was down to 8 pounds even. While he is much more difficult as a baby than HAS or JMS were, he is more of a snuggler than either one of them was also. He is a joy in our lives and both of the older two adore him. JMS even said that the baby will be his favorite brother because he is not as energetic as HAS.

Kids say the darndest things...

Dandy, Murphy, and Shadrach

Every morning we let the dogs out. Well, this morning we were a little slow because LPS was up most of the night, so we asked JMS to do it. Shadrach (old, blind yellow lab) goes out when he moseys downstairs. We never worry about him b/c he doesn't have accidents in the house. Well, HAS comes in our room to get him and in his unclear annunciation of things grabs him by the collar and says "Shadrach... ousssside...Shadrach....oussssside" over and over again. Keep in mind, HAS is 30 pounds and Shadrach is 75 pounds, but he convinced he is going to get him outside :) Wish I had a picture of this to post... or even better... video :(

I also have to take credit for the fact that HAS is a little bit OCD... I can however, pass on some of that credit to my mother and grandmother who are a lot OCD. He knows exactly how he wants things and the way they should be and gets very frustrated when things are not done that way. He can't always communicate exactly what he wants at this point in the game, but he definitely knows.

Cabin Nightmare

Proud Grandparents... Poppy and Grams

We love going to the cabin and when we started traveling up there with Hunter it was easy, because HAS was an easy baby. LPS is still suffering from reflux. The biggest problem we had was it was so dark that we couldn't see to change Logan without some light, which in turn woke up HAS who kept saying "Mommy... Daddy... Mommy... Daddy..." He wasn't mad, just talking so he ended up awake, just like LPS did. LPS wouldn't go back to sleep, so I put on the baby Bjorn and bounced him to sleep until I fell asleep on the futon in the living room. It also didn't help that I left HAS;s blanket at home and he is definitely a creature of habit and struggled to sleep without it. JMS slept in Kerri and Patrick's room and never noticed that anything was going on. He slept great :)

Grams Visits

Grams and JMS dissecting an owl pellet.

LPS asleep on Poppy's legs

This is how a baby with reflux likes to sleep :)

Mom and Dad came the first weekend in October. Dad built me the most awesome island ever for my kitchen and I love it. Mom stayed the whole week and then we'll take her back to the cabin next weekend.

My Little Pumpkins... or is it a BIG Pumpkin

Sokol family- October 2009

Mommy and a tired HAS

Getting a decent picture of these two is difficult.. HAS won't sit still and JMS is in that awkward photo stage. Love this picture ;)

David and Chris lift our actual pumpkin into the wheelbarrow.

Mom... we'll take this one.

Love this picture... He thought he would pick one up :)

He doesn't seem like my little baby anymore :(

The first pumpkin that I picked out... this one ended up back in the patch :)

Hunter didn't mind pushing the wheelbarrow (although, the signs said you had to be 15) but he refused to sit in it.

Our family- HAS was 20 months, LPS was 17 days and JMS is 8 and a half

Jimmy and Logan, Hunter would have nothing to do with getting in the wheelbarrow.

HAS loved the pumpkins. He ran from one side of the farm to the other.

Love this picture of my sweet boys.

We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends of ours that have 1-year old twins...  We had a great time. Those of you that know me know that I tend to go overboard on many things and I am definitely an extremist. If a 30 pound pumpkin is good, then bigger is great. We bought a 131 pound pumpkin. David threw his back out lifting the pumpkin, but I LOVE our pumpkin. This was the first year that we had been to Burt's pumpkin patch, but will definitely not be the last. I had picked out a pumpkin and David said, "This one over here is good," but I was determined that my pumpkin was better, so David lifted it into the wheelbarrow. I walked over to the pumpkin that he was talking about and realized how much better it was than the pumpkin I picked out. He had to put my pumpkin back and we ended up with the pumpkin he originally selected. It didn't have a price on it, but ended up as only $30, I was SO excited. We plan to paint the pumpkin at some point, but have to have a couple of days in the forecast for no rain. We'll see when that happens, and we will post the pictures of the painted pumpkin :)