Wishing for Spring!

I can't believe I haven't posted since the beginning of March! I just uploaded all the pictures from our camera and it had been about 4 weeks since I had done it so there were a lot and they were so much fun to see!

Those of you in the more normal part of the United States are enjoying the arrival of spring-in Wisconsin however, we just pretend that it is spring. For example, last week when it was 38 degrees and sunny out, me and Nathan decided to go outside and wash the car! Every day if it reaches 40 we are wearing short sleeves and head out to ride our bikes (with jackets on of course). This is just sick and wrong. But talk to me next January when I am living in a wonderful place where the average LOW in JANUARY is in the 40s. The LOW and we are enjoying it as our highs in March! Don't get me wrong though, I am going to miss Madison so much. And anyway, who could be sad in this weather when they have that cute smile to look at each day. <----------------------

Dallen is a smiling and cooing machine lately. He is a really happy and mellow guy when his tummy is feeling good. I have cut dairy out of my diet as much as possible and it makes a big difference for him. I still eat some dairy but avoid ice cream, milk or meals that are heavy on dairy-oh and tomato sauce too-and he spits up and fusses much less. I think chocolate may be giving him gas but he may just have to deal with that one. I don't know if I can give up chocolate!

By the way, I do in fact love my other boys, I just haven't taken any pictures of them lately. And I figure that is ok because look at me! I have pictures of the THIRD kid. I am determined to not have way less pictures of him than the others.

Things have been good lately. It really is nice to be able to go out and ride bikes in the afternoons. They are so much happier when they can get outside. We will really love it when we can start going to parks-hopefully in the next few weeks.

Josh will start writing his thesis in about a week. I am looking forward to that because he will just go to the library each day to write meaning a 5 minute commute instead of 45 or so.

I am trying to think of what else we have been up to in March. We had a fun Easter-me and the boys threw an Easter party at our house. Twenty some odd kids and about 9 moms (and that was with 3-4 moms unable to come). I think I got a little carried away on the inviting but it was fun. We also had a cookie dough eggroll party for my birthday-that was really fun-and yummy!

Oh and great news-this past week Dallen finally learned how to put himself to sleep without help (he doesn't do it every time but does it frequently) and is sleeping pretty well at night! Yay!

A friend of mine posted a picture of each of her kiddos on her blog with a little bit about each kid and I thought it was a great idea, so here you go:

NATHAN:

Nathan is our little imagination boy-he is never just Nathan-he is Larry Boy, he is a king, he is a bulldozer or racecar. He has a whole wardrobe of costumes to help with his characters but if he has no costume he just creates one himself. I have given up on folding the clothes in his drawer because he just sifts through them to find what he needs anyway. In the picture he is a "space guy" driving his space ship. He is a thinker and loves to learn and ask questions. He loves to help around the house. He is very musical-he can memorize a song after hearing it just a few times and can even sing harmony sometimes! I love to just sit and talk with Nathan-sometimes we sit and color together and just talk and talk.

JACK:

If I don't say the words "loves trains" in the first sentence I won't be describing Jack. Jack LOVES trains. All he thinks about is Thomas the Tank Engine, the Polar Express, Bullet Trains and any other kind of train he has ever seen. If you ask him what his favorite thing to do with mom is-"play trains." How about with Nathan? "Play trains." With daddy? You guessed it-"play trains." He is also a little ball of fun. The kid has a temper and a strong opinion that he is not afraid to use, but if he is happy, he is nothing but fun! He gets so excited about things and has a ton of enthusiasm for life. Our home wouldn't be the same without his fun energy!


DALLEN:

Today was Dallen's blessing day-he looked so handsome in his little Tuxedo and he was so good during the blessing. I can't say that I know too much about Dallen yet. I can't wait to get to know him better and better as time passes and his personality emerges. Josh bless him that he would be strong and have courage to face challenges (his middle name-Andrew-means strong and courageous). I think he is going to be a tender hearted little guy who will bring peace and love to our home. But only time will tell. At this point we know he is happy (learned to smile by about 3.5 weeks) and patient (his brothers are all over him and he doesn't seem to mind). He has had-we think-a sensitivity to dairy since he was born and yet he is rarely fussy. I love the little guy so much already!

So those are my three boys. Happy day-Dallen has learned to sleep! It took 6 weeks but we are finally getting some decent sleep. He is still up fairly frequently in the night but then he eats quickly and goes back to sleep. We are in heaven! Especially Josh since he doesn't even have to get up at all. We aren't sure what has made the difference. I have cut dairy out (bummer-no ice cream!) and we moved him from his cradle to the crib mattress to see if he might like that better and all of a sudden he is sleeping well. That is wonderful!

Everything else is going pretty well here. I took a beading class yesterday and made my own bracelet and I just love it! Maybe I have found a new hobby. The weather still stinks. Today was in the 40s and that was fantastic, but it is supposed to snow several times this coming week. Have I mentioned we are moving to San Diego? :) But at least it has been warm enough to let Nathan and Jack play outside sometimes (in the 30s). I will end with a cute picture of Nathan out in the snow!

Spectacle

Here is a video of Nathan and Jack singing I am a Child of God. One night for family home evening we were singing it and it was just so sweet to hear their voices singing it that I had to get it on video.

Well, we are adjusting well to having three kids. I am suprised at how much work it is-I feel so busy these days but I am getting the hang of it. I feel like such a spectacle in the world though. We were walking through the mall this week with me carrying Dallen in his carseat (because I forgot part of the stroller and couldn't use it) with two more boys trailing behind me and I realized that we really did stand out among the people-me and my gaggle of boys. Oh well, I don't mind being a spectacle!

Dallen started smiling about 2 weeks ago. We have had a hard time getting it on camera but finally got a pretty good one.

My dad came to visit us last week and we had tons of fun! Actually we surprised him with the airline tickets and the idea was that he would come and help bless Dallen. Turns out church got canceled because of snow so we didn't get to bless him but it was still fun to have Grandpa visit. We even took a trip to the Mustard Museum and the Chocolate House while he was here.

Dallen is finally starting to learn to sleep and we are so glad! He has been tougher than our other babies (maybe why having 3 seems so hard). But I think we have turned a corner and he is going to be a better sleeper-I hope! Oh, he has also lost all his hair on top but I can see new fuzz growing in.

The big brothers are still just loving Dallen-Jack still can't see Dallen without commenting on how cute he is! It is fun. Nathan is still loving preschool and Jack is excited because he is going to start a soccer class.

We are 100% sick of Wisconsin winters. We have had the most snow ever recorded in WI and it is only February! Not to mention the days that are 40 below 0 with the windchill! Ugh!

What is Dallen doing?

I took this picture this morning just to show Josh what Dallen was doing because this is NOT something he did last night other than for one hour between 11 and 12 and again for about an hour between 6:30 and 7:30. The child apparently does in fact know how to sleep in his cradle, he just forgets how or likes to tease mom and dad during the night. It was a long night! I was up every single hour of the night. Ugh! I hope I can get a nap in today!

But Dallen is a great baby overall. Poor thing has a cold, I think that is why he isn't sleeping well at night. He is sweet as can be. Still tiny and snuggly and we are loving having him around. I can tell that life with three is going to be quite a bit harder than life with 2 was. I wasn't really planning on that. Everyone said going from 1-2 was harder. I guess we will see what the coming months hold.

My business is doing fantastic which is great but does add to the busyness of my life. Oh, and this week I celebrate my business' 4th bday! I had a huge huge order last week which was fun-made about $600 in one order. Nice! The boys are slowly getting back on schedule after being totally off for the last little bit. Hopefully we can get things back to normal fairly quickly.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures. The one of Jack and Dallen was what I caught them doing this morning and I ran for the camera. I thought it was so sweet. The other is Dallen showing off his awake face and then I had to have a picture of the cute hat that Dallen got from the hospital.

It's Cold!

I think it was somewhere around -30 this morning with the windchill here so we aren't going too far from home! Especially with a new little baby. Dallen is just over 2 weeks old. At his 2 week checkup he was 6 pounds 12 ounches, so still smaller than either of his brothers even when they were born! Both Nathan and Jack had gained 2 pounds by their 2 week checkup so he is definitely the little guy of the bunch! He is sweet as can be although I wouldn't mind if he started sleeping a little better at night.

I have had a few requests for new pictures! Here are some plus a couple of videos!

Here is one to make us proud:

In case you need a translation, Jack just told you that he is the princess from the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (he went to see that movie with Grandma Saturday night-first thing when I saw him after the movie he said "mom! I am the princess from the movie!) So, I guess even in a home with 3 little boys we can have princesses! :) Did I mention his favorite color is pink?

Big brother Nathan loves his little tiny brother! He rocked him for quite a while today. Do you like how he holds poor Dallen's head?


Dallen loves to look at Snoopy in his cradle. I love this picture because it makes me want to pick him up and snuggle him!

More pictures

Just a few pictures I took today of my little man.

The Boys meet Dallen

Jack was so excited to meet Dallen. He just kept saying "He's so cute mom!" over and over! He was also excited that he brought me flowers in the hospital and was excited to see the second day that they were still there!

Nathan was excited too but also fascinated by the hospital room's bathroom and the cookies mom had ordered from the cafeteria!!