Kellen is 2

Where to even start with Kellen?  He is our fearless fireball!  He came into this world a fighter and hasn't stopped!  He has a sweet, spunky personality and keeps us all on our toes!  He is very independent and likes to do most things by himself.
A few of Kellen's accomplishments in his 2 years of life:
Talks all the time- he puts 2-4 word sentences together and you can understand most of what he says- if you can't understand him, you ask Carson what he's saying! :)
He loves to play with whatever Carson is playing with.  When he is home by himself, he often is lost and unsure of what to do.
He LOVES to read- he could read all day- the same book- over and over and over!
He loves tractors, combines, and trains.
He loves any food with frosting, chocolate. . . . sugar----takes after his Mommy!
Constantly is getting bruises by his falls or running into things, ect.
He is still in diapers- will go potty if you ask him, but has no interest yet.
He loves his big brother and his little brother- he shows his love by hitting, biting, pushing, ect. Needless to say, he is a little aggressive; but can be very sweet and offers hugs and kisses if he does something to hurt someone.
He sleeps on a full bed underneath Carson (they share a bunk) and does very well when he stays in bed.  He has been getting up 2--4 times a night for the last few months and just will walk in and try and crawl in bed with us- we are very good about getting him back into his bed and not letting him camp out in our room.
His molars have been coming in for about 4 months now- they have been pretty bothersome for him; hoping the last one breaks through soon and they all finish coming in.
Can't imagine life without him! He fills us up and keeps us going! :)  Love you Kellen!

Such a cheeser!

Caught in the act!

Loves running around with no pants on!

Kellen and Grandma 'Wee-Wee"

Carson is 4

I have not done a Carson update in a while so I I'm definitely due to brag about my little man!  Carson turned 4 last month- October 17th!  I am not sure where to even begin with Carson- he is the sweetest, most caring and loving little man I know.  He is so extremely smart and Gabe and I are constantly looking at each other in amazement at the things he says!
He is in 3 year old preschool this year 2 mornings a week.  He seems to be enjoying that and brings home fun things to share.  He just had his 4 year well child visit and he looks great!  He is 36 pounds and 3'3''.  He is still pretty true to size wearing 4t clothes and wears size 10c in shoes.
Carson also visited the dentist just recently for the first time and his teeth look great as well! Our dentist already warned us that he is more than likely going to be an orthodontist patient like his Mommy.  Oh Joy!

Carson is a super helper and will do or get almost anything I ask!  He is such a great big brother and is constantly doing things to show them how much he cares!
I need to start writing down things he says because he cracks us all up!

A few things off the top of my head that he will say
After not being a good listener: "Mommy, I'm sad."
Me: "Why is that?"
Carson: "Because I wasn't being a good listener"

Out of the blue he will come up to Gabe and I say, " Mommy/Daddy, I love you!" Just melts my heart!

If Kellen bumps his head or gets hurt, Carson will say(in a high nurturing voice), "What happened Buddy? Are you ok?  That hurt, didn't it.  It's ok."  OR if Kellen goes potty before bath, Carson will say to him, " Good job Kellen!  You went potty, didn't you.  Your a big boy!"

Carson is very good at coaxing Kellen into playing with another toy if Kellen has a toy that Carson wants to play with.  Of course they are boys and they fight and there are tears quite often, but can't imagine our life without all of them!

Carson still loves to cuddle with us and give hugs. . I hope he never outgrows that!  He loves books, playing with legos, tractors/gators/anything farm, practicing his name, playing with play-doh, helping Gabe do things around the house, and the list could go on.  He is starting to do some simple tasks to help us out such as putting his plate in the sink after a meal or putting his dirty clothes in the laundry, ect.  He can get undressed and dressed by himself.  Kellen mimics or does almost EVERYTHING that Carson does so I'm so thankful we have ourselves such a good little role model (most of the time ;) ).
We are so extremely proud of our first born; love you more than you know, Carson! :)

Just a few random pictures! :)

Cruz is 2 months

It's hard to believe my little peanut is 2 months old already! Where does the time go? I am so thankful that I still have 3 more weeks with the little stinker at home before I go back to work.  Here's a few things about his 2 months of life:

• Has the cutest smile and is most smiley right away in the morning or after naps; smiles more for Mommy and big brother Carson- Daddy just usually gets the scowl face!
• Will definitely let you know with his voice when he's not happy- has to stand out over his 2 big brothers :)
• Is wearing size 0-3 month/ 3 month clothes
• Still in size 1 diapers
• If he gets a bottle, he drinks about 4 ounces of breast milk- we were having troubles with bottles at the beginning- he was screaming after taking one- I like him to have one randomly though so he takes them when I go back to school- I bought a Doctor Brown's bottle and he seems to be doing very well with that
• I'm nursing/feeding every 2 1/2-4 hours- just depends on the day/time of day
• At night he goes to bed between 730-8:30 and will sleep anywhere from 5-7 hours(went 8 hours the last 3 night between feeding), then eats and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8 :)
• He weights 12 lbs. 6 oz.(a little below the 75th percentile) and is 24 inches long(90th percentile)
• We are on the go quite a bit, but if we are home, he usually takes 2 good naps and then a cat nap or 2- I need to start making him sleep in his bassinet/crib during nap time- he just sleeps on the floor right now in the living room- he loves to take naps on his tummy-but lays on his back at night time
• His hands and feet are constantly moving when he's laying under his play gym or being talked to!

Can't imagine our life without him! :) We love him to pieces!

Cruz-1 month

Since Cruz is almost 8 weeks and 2 months a week from yesterday, I will update you on his 1st month of life!  He came into this world sleeping. . a lot!  You always forget how much they sleep.  He wasn't quite back to birth weight at his 2 week check up so Doctor Markham wanted to see him at 3 weeks and he had gained almost a pound!  Can't wait to see how much the little stinker weighs next week at his 2 month check up!
Thank goodness my mom was here the first month, because Cruz took up a lot of my time!  Having no sort of routine and eating about every 1 1/2-2 hours, he was with Mommy a lot!  His fussy time seemed to be at night or random times during the day.  He figured out night sleep pretty well from the start.  He was pretty consistent the first month being up 2-3 times.  He would wake up between 11-12:30, then again at 3ish, and then between 5-6.  I can totally handle that.  He only had a few nights when he woke up at 3 and decided to stay awake for over and hour and not go back to sleep.  Other than that, I was very lucky that first month with getting enough sleep at night!
He quickly outgrew newborn diapers and moved up to size 1 after a couple of weeks.  At 1 month, he was still wearing newborn clothes, but could fit into 3 month onesies- he has such a LONG torso!  I'm not sure how much he was eating at a feeding; I just know he ate a lot!  Excited to update you on his 2 month stats as he is definitely changing, and growing, and becoming more alert!

Here are a few 1 month shots!

Life with 3

So again, it's been awhile since I have updated my blog and a friend reminded me of this so I thought I better get one out to let everyone know how things are going! :)  So some of you may wonder how life with 3 little ones is. . well. . it's Crazy, Fun, Chaotic, Messy, Stressful, Rewarding, Wonderful. . just to list a few!
Honestly, going into this I really had no idea what to expect having 3 under the age of 4.  Needless to say, I am finally starting to get the hang of things(after almost 7 weeks!)
I read somewhere a little while back that a Mommy's plate is always full no matter if she has 1 or 3 or 5 kids.  I totally get it now!  I thought with one child we were busy and my plate was full and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle 2 kids because having 1 child took all my time.  Now with 3, my plate is still full, maybe overflowing at times, but it's a wonderful feeling.  I have to admit, at times, I think I am going to go nuts trying to juggle so many things at one time--but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I have been blessed with 3 amazing little men that keep me on my toes at all times!
The most trying time of the day right now is when Im feeding Cruz.   Kellen knows I can't get to him so he goes into aggressive mode with Carson or does things he knows he is not supposed to be doing- he's my ornery middle child!! ;)
Cruz is starting to develop a daytime routine which makes things a lot easier and predictable!
I'm so blessed to be home another 5 weeks with my boys!  I don't go back to school until after Thanksgiving break!  I will continue to try and update you all on what has been happening and get some more pictures up soon! :)

Cruz James

So it's been a few weeks since I last posted and a lot has changed since then!  We have welcomed a new handsome little man to our household. . .Cruz James Baughman!

To take you back to his birth day!  First of all, I never thought I'd actually make it to my scheduled date. . EVER!  I was scheduled for a planned c-section on Wednesday, September 4th.  When Tuesday rolled around, I was completely ready and prepared for this new little miracle to join the world.  I did not sleep much that night as you can probably guess with the anticipation and excitement of how are life was about to change in a few short hours.  We had to be at the hospital by 6 a.m. and from there, things were a bit of a whirl wind.  The nurses were busy getting me ready for surgery and by 8:15 a.m. we had our 3rd son!  Cruz James came into this world weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces and 22 inches long! Everything went as planned and he was a healthy little man!  So blessed!  

Carson and Kellen absolutely LOVE their little brother.  Carson, our sensitive child, was a bit apprehensive in the hospital, but shows nothing but love for his brother and adores him.  Kellen, our fire ball, was right up on my bedside the minute he got there wanting to hold the baby!  Cruz is doing really well having 2 crazy big brothers running around the house all day long!

Some may be wondering how or why we chose his name.  Like our other 2 boys, it's just a name we ran across and liked.  Gabe actually had mentioned it when we were looking at names at one point in my pregnancy.  Having a list of 10 or so names I would randomly ask Carson if he liked this name or that name.  He would always give his opinion, but wouldn't say much after that.  Well, for Gabe and I, Cruz was always in our top 2-3 names, but we never mentioned this to Carson.  However, Carson decided to tell 3-4 people (that we know of) that his little brother's name was going to be Cruz.  After hearing this and seeing his reaction when we asked him about the name Cruz, it was pretty easy to make a final decision.  In the hospital, Carson was holding Cruz one afternoon sitting next to me in bed, and he looks at me with the biggest smile on his face and says, "I'm really glad I picked the name Cruz"  So precious!

We are all adjusting pretty well to our family of 5!  Gabe stayed home Monday and Tuesday with us and has been a huge help since I can't do much.  My mom was here Wednesday through Friday and honestly not sure what I would have done without her!  She has been a huge help with the boys and keeping our laundry up and house organized.  Gabe's mom came down today and brought about a month's worth of freezer food with her-- Feel so blessed to have such amazing family that drops everything in a heartbeat to be there for us and help us out in any way possible!  

Slowly, I'm starting to feel back to myself- the hardest part is not being able to pick up anything or anyone except Cruz. This is especially hard for Kellen as he is still at that age where he loves to cuddle and be held by his Mommy!  I know that in a short few weeks I will be back to my old self and doing those things again that I can't do right now.  I have taken so many pictures (surprising, huh?) in the last week and a half.  I will slowly get those uploaded so everyone is able to see our little peanut and how his big brothers adore him! :)  Here are a few pictures of hospital stay.

5:45 a.m.- ready for this baby! 

Last pregnant picture before baby arrived

Dr. Markham and Cruz!! :)

Such a proud Daddy!! 

In recovery! First Mommy/Daddy/Cruz picture

First family of 5 photo!! 

Kellen loves his baby brother

My boys!!

Grandpa and Grandma Kloewer with all 3 grandkids 

Great Grandpa Bill and Grandma Louise!  Cruz makes #21 for great grandkids

Kisses! 

Aunt Christin visiting!

Such a proud big brother

Grandma and Grandpa Baughman 

Heading home! 

37 weeks. . . 4 days

Yesterday marked 37 weeks, 4 days for baby #3!  He is still kicking away and just seems to not be ready to arrive.  The way I've felt some days, I would welcome him anytime! With all the discomfort and symptoms though, I am not rushing this little one and am blessed for each day he continues to grow and become healthier inside:)  My scheduled c-section is 1 week from Wednesday.  It's just crazy to think that in 1 week we will be a family of 5.
I know I have been pregnant and preparing for this baby for 9 months, but it's so surreal to think that all the preparation and growing inside of me is just about to come to an end as this little miracle enters this big giant world!  It's a bit scary to think about, but so very exciting at the same time!  I think we all are ready for this little one to be here!  I am so grateful that I have had time at school to get things ready for a sub, but am so excited to be home again with my boys for 12 weeks!

I would post a picture, but for some reason my 37 week photo isn't showing up for me to post- so you will have to wait for another day!

35th week

Getting ready to finish up with my 35th week sends me through an array of emotions.  I am getting very excited and anxious to meet this newest member of our family.  At the same time, I'm nervous and worried how everyone will adjust to this addition.  You hear all sorts of stories and comments from others about the 3rd child.  I'm praying for a smooth transition for our family!  

Kellen was over 3 weeks early so that makes me have a little anxiety as well as to when this little man will decide to make his appearance.  All I have to do is make it through NEXT weekend so I can be there for my best friend as she says I DO!  :)  Prayers would be appreciated! :)

Are we ready for this baby to get here? Well, I have all clothes washed and in drawers, all the 'baby' things clean and ready to use, basinet is out of the closet and just needs to be brought upstairs, baby bag is packed for the hospital, car seat clean and ready to load in the car, my hospital bag things laid out on the floor in our room ready to be packed, and pump ready to go!  We are READY for this baby!  

Some of you may be wondering how the boys are doing or if they are even interested and 'get' what is happening.  

Kellen is infatuated with babies right now and he loves to kiss my belly and point at my belly button and say "Baby"  As I've been bringing out all the baby clothes and toys and such, he will always point and say 'baby'.  It's adorable!  He loves his Mommy time and doesn't like to even share his Mommy with Carson at times ,so it will be an adjustment for him to have to share me with yet another sibling!  Carson totally gets it and has been asking questions for MONTHS!  A few months ago, he didn't get while the baby just couldn't come out yet and why it had to stay in Mommy's belly.  Now he knows that it's getting close and he is constantly asking questions.  If I tell him the baby is moving, he will want to come feel and when the baby kicks his hand or he feels movement, he gets all excited!  Last weekend we were back home and he saw his baby cousin Claire for the 1st time (she is now 2 months old).  He asked me if our baby will be as small as Claire.  After telling him our baby will be tinier than Claire, he was blown away and you could tell he kept trying to process it!  It's hard for him to imagine his little brother being that tiny!  I showed him a onesie I had washed the other day, and he looked at it and said, "The baby is going to be that tiny?"  

I am extremely excited to become a family of 5 even though it may scare me at times!  Both boys are going to be great big brothers and it will be fun when they are able to interact with their new brother rather than with Mommy's moving tummy! :)

How am I feeling? For the most part, I'm feeling pretty well.  I can tell I'm starting to slow down a bit!  I am slower to get up, am getting very worn out doing just the little things, and my feet and hands have been very swollen.  I'm icing my feet as I type! :)  I have still been sleeping pretty well so that is huge!  I have had quite a bit of indigestion lately so that isn't always pleasant, but I'm surviving!  

School starts tomorrow for teachers so that makes me a bit nervous- I won't be able to rest as much as I'm used to.  This 3rd time around though I've been pretty good at reading my body and so I try not to overdo it.  

Kisses for baby!

Zoo Day

A couple weeks ago my mom, the boys, and I headed to the zoo.  I have been wanting to go all summer and Gabe was gone for a few days working so I thought it was a great opportunity to get out of the house.  We were sad he couldn't join us, but the boys had a lot of fun looking at all the animals.  We started the day off with the petting zoo.  Carson doesn't get to close to anything moving and alive, but Kellen is a little braver and will at least attempt to pet the animals.  We saw about everything and even enjoyed a train ride around the zoo.  It was a very fun day and the boys had so much fun!  

Until Next Year! :)

Grandma Nancy and the boys

Watching the big Gorilla rest outside

My boys and me!

Enjoying the Jungle Ropes!

Kellen was too!

Taking a small break

Kellen was very interested in the giraffe!

Nap time!

Exploring the Desert!

Grandma Nancy and Carson