Busy time of the year

Here are a few of the things that have taken place over the past week. Granny, Brian's dad's mother came to visit. We celebrated Valentines day and went house hunting on Saturday after doing Christmas with Granny. Ava celebrated her 3rd birthday. Jaxon turned 6 weeks on Monday, February 14. I had to go to my doctor's appt. to get approved to go back to work:o(. And then I started back Tuesday, Febrary 15. I am so glad we have the rest of this week and Monday off of work! Maybe I can catch up on some things around the house!



























We celebrated Christmas with Granny on Saturday up at Brian's parents house. Granny got to see Jaxon which she loved and was able to spend time with the other great grandkids as well. They loved opening presents from Granny! Then Brian and I went to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse and had a great time being by ourselves:o) We also drove around and looked at houses and were encouraged seeing several houses for sale that were in our price range.



Jaxon is smiling all the time! And the other night, he laughed in his sleep! He is 11.6 pounds. Yesterday he started staying awake all day! Crazy! He would take a couple 20 min. cat naps but was awake from 7 til 7 at night. Now the nice thing that came from that was that he slept til 5:15 that night! Today, he did the same thing. He woke up at 9:30 and didn't go to sleep til 6:30. When he's awake, he doesn't fuss or cry most of the time unless it's time to eat. It works for me, except for when I am trying to make dinner:o)



I went to see my doctor on Valentine's Day. Everything checked out well and I was able to go back to work yesterday. It was a great first day back and everyone made me feel welcome! It was a little bitter sweet. I missed being at home with the baby but we are blessed to have a wonderful babysitter and being able to take them to the office twice a week. I think next week will be tougher since it will be a 4 day week.

Today, I got three root canals done at the dentist. It was not as bad as expected but the pain after the numbness went away was almost unbearable! Thank goodness for pain medicine. I would be laid up in bed and the kids would be destroying the house if I couldn't get relief. I still have to have the crowns put on and then this 3 year ordeal will be over and hopefully I will just be going to my 6 month cleaning!

Lots of things happening. Hopefully some days to relax are in the future:o)

Growing Up

Jaxon is growing up. He was one month two days ago on Feb. 3. He is out of newborn diapers and just about out of his newborn clothes. Some fit and others do not and same with his 0-3 month clothes! I love it because it is as if he has all new clothes again!

We started a chart for the girls and they each have 3 things they work on. Every evening we put a penny on the chart for each task they complete. After they master them, we replace it with another task. On Sunday, the girls take the pennies off and divide them up for tithe, savings, and spending. The girls have just completed their first week of tasks that they are working on to master. Ella and Ava had the same tasks for the first week which were, staying in their seat at meal time, cleaning up their toys, and staying in bed at bedtime.

Ella mastered staying in her seat at meal time and did well at the other two but is still going to work on them for next week. I think we will replace the one with "Getting out and playing with one toy at a time". That one will definitely take some time!

Ava did really good at all three but we are still going to work on them for this coming week too!

It helps us all stay focused and consistent on a few things. Sometimes life is too busy to work on everything all the time. This week has been so much less stressful because we are working on a few things. Does this mean we forget about everything else? No, but we don't lose our temper as much and keep in mind those things that can be worked on in the following weeks. I have enjoyed my kids so much more and am making time to reward the kids for their good behavior. Today, Ava put her shoes in her closet without being asked. Yesterday, she put her toys away without being asked! I was so proud of her. Ella let me know she was finished eating before she got out of her seat at lunch and she also put her clothes in her hamper without being asked. I was amazed. Now, this may happen again or it could have just been a one time thing but I know that something is working!

Dentist Visits

Ella went to visit the dentist for the first time yesterday. We went into the waiting room and it was as if we were entering a jungle. It had a large tree with an opening at the bottom with toys the kids could play with. It had 2 big screen tv's and then a room where kids could play video games. The only bad part was the fact that I was there for an hour and a half! When Ella was called, she went back with the nurse all by herself. She was hesitant at first but she came out with a big smile and a bag full of goodies. And she had a good report which I was thankful for! The dentist came out and introduced himself and talked to us about her visit and then we were ready to go! I'm glad Ava came because I think she is now excited to go to the dentist! I also went but it wasn't nearly as fun. I think I would rather push out 10 babies than go to the dentist. To say the least, I will be making that visit a few more times:o(

4 Weeks

Jaxon is 4 weeks old today! It is crazy how the time has flown by. He has been letting some smiles sneak out and make our day. He has just started to grunt. Sometimes the smell that follows lets us know why and other times he just grunts to grunt. He watches us more intently and can follow our face or fingers. He still sleeps a lot but is awake for longer periods of time. In the last few days, Jaxon has wanted to eat at least every 3 or 3 1/2 hours and eating between 4 and 5 ounces every time. We try to hold him off and even wait to feed him more than the 4 oz. bottle but nothing works. After he gets fed he is in Heaven!

The girls still love having Jaxon as a little brother but I think the grace period is over. I have seen a little bit of jealousy for Brian and I. Because he is up more when they are awake, there isn't as much quality time to spend with just the girls. We make a point to spend time with them while Jaxon is sleeping but when exhaustion kicks in, it doesn't always happen. We are just making our way through and I know that this too shall pass. I love the fact that the girls enjoy taking care of Jaxon and the times where he will stare at them as if he is dying to get up and play with them.

Also, please pray with us as our lives begin to transition into some new endeavors. I will post more information in a couple days. But we need some miracles!

* Selling our house
*
* Safety and Good Health for all of us

Here are some pictures of Jaxon at 4 weeks and the girls.

Jaxon's First day at Church

Today was a very appropriate day to take Jaxon to church. The special guest speaker spoke on the sanctity of life. She was funny and had great points on the subject. A couple great things she mentioned was one: We, as parents, have got to stop being are kids friends. She said she had plenty of friends and didn't need her child to be one of them. Haha! She also mentioned that as parents we give them information and guide them to make good choices but unfortunately sometimes, we can't make their choices for them. They will have to. We as parents will stand up in front of the Lord for our choices we made, not our children's so don't be friends with your kids; be a parent to your kids because that is what God has called you to do. I love the fact that she told the truth and what was right. Purity is something we should be teaching and showing our children. That is not only talking about sex but the way you live your life in it intirity.

Jaxon did great in church. I did have to get up once to feed him his bottle. It is funny how as you have more kids, things happen faster. I waited to put Ella in the nursery for 6 months, Ava about four and we are thinking Jaxon will be going at about 2 months. LOL! It is nice to completely focus on the message and have your hands free too!

Here are a couple pictures from yesterday and today:o)

This is what happens while I cook and leave Jaxon with the girls. (Don't worry, I removed the balloon as soon as I took the picture!)



This picture is goofy of the both of us but Jaxon reminds me of David Todd here! Haha:o)



Here is Jaxon right before we leave for church:o)



We didn't have a NB church outfit so this was as close as we were going to get:o)

3 Weeks Old

Jaxon was 3 weeks old on Monday. The time seems to go by so quickly. My favorite thing about him right now is when he is eating, he will stare at me like he is trying to figure me out. It is so sweet to look into his eyes and wonder what he will be like as he grows bigger. He continues to become more alert. He is awake for longer periods of time. For the last week, he has been acting as if he is hungry almost every 2 1/2 hours. Sometimes we can hold him off but other times it is nearly impossible. We read that it could be him mistaking pain for hunger or he could be going through a growth spurt. He is doing exactly what is expected of a 3 week old. His movements are still sporatic but not as much. He will grasp onto his bottle with one hand but I don't think it is intentional. He also is very interested in the tv, probably because there is so stimulating. When I change his diaper, he will stare at it if it is on. Not only do I have to limit the girls tv time, but now his! Ha ha!

Ella had school today so it was just Ava, Jaxon, and me. Ava's birthday is coming up so we took the opportunity to go pick up some party supplies. She was going to have a Mickey/Minnie Mouse Clubhouse party, however, when she was looking at everything, she decided on Dora. So now it's a Dora party. We went to the toy section to look at some possible birthday gifts. She had a lot of fun and it was nice to spend some much needed time with just her (well almost, since Jaxon was asleep the whole time!).

These pictures are from the last week and a half.

January 13- Jaxon is 10 days old



January 16- Jaxon is 13 days old



January 17- Ella and Ava had a blast finger painting!




January 19- Jaxon is 16 days old





January 21- Ms. Minnie came over to visit. Jaxon recognized her voice right away and stared at her the entire time she held him. He did hear her voice probably more than anyone else besides me. Jaxon is 18 days old.



January 24- Jaxon is 21 days old; 3 weeks old.

And then there were Five

It has been 12 days since we had Jaxon and I feel like everything has worked out smoothly. Sure we have had some tough moments but for the most part, Jaxon has made it an easy adjustment so far. He sleeps all the time and if I let him, I think he would sleep through the night! Because I have had issues with breastfeeding in the past, I decided to stick with feeding him every 3 hours. While at the hospital, he had a really hard time latching on. The lactation nurse told me he wasn't curling his tongue and so it would just take practice. It took him about 8 days to really get the hang of it. Now we are on a good schedule and he latches on pretty good. Because my milk isn't coming in real strong, I have had to supplement a 2 oz. bottle during feedings. It was quite emotional to think I could not nurse my third child too. So I am continuing to try although it is double the work to nurse and feed him a bottle. My milk has started to come in stronger the last 2 days but I don't know how long it will last. I have started to feed him every 4 hrs. at night tonight so we will see how that goes:o)

Jaxon rarely cries unless he is hungry. He is pretty laid back most of the time. This morning, he started coughing and sneezing a lot so we took him to the doctor. We didn't want it to be anything serious. The doctor checked his lungs, ears, mouth and nose and came to the conclusion that it was just a cold. I was relieved!

The girls are loving having a little brother. Ella is constantly wanting to hold and feed him. She has even changed his diaper(with Brian's help). Ava loves to give him kisses, play with his toys, and hold him. We haven't had any hard moments with them since Jaxon came home. It has been a very smooth transition. Ava has nicknamed Jaxon, Jaxy all on her own and it has kind of stuck with us.

Jaxon is starting to become more alert as the days go by. He even has given us a couple smiles. I don't know that he does it on purpose and they are probably from passing gas or burping! Ha! But it melts our heart when we see it. I try to hold him as much as I can because the days seem to go by so quick. I spend late night feedings just holding him an extra 10 or 15 minutes because I know the time will come soon where I will have to go back to work and he will continue to grow into a wiggly active little boy.

The Lord has blessed our family so much and He is daily rebuilding my faith in Him. I am amazed everyday that I watch my kids grow and learn new things and how Lord is working in them even now. The Lord brings people our way and help every time we have felt overwhelmed, even when it is just a visit from a friend or a meal for dinner. We don't deserve the kindness people have shown and are so grateful for it and it makes me want to do better and serve people because I know how it feels to be blessed when you are tired and worn out or just plain busy.

I can not wait to see what the Lord has in store for this family of five. I am excited to reclaim things in my own life so I can be used by the Lord to bless others.