Our Cute Centerpiece

Just thought that I would share with you all our cute little centerpiece. He's sooo smiley and happy.

Crazy Daddy

Funny Funny Funny Story!

Dad was going to get my pj's on the other night. Mom tells him, "There's some pj's on the shelf beside his diapers."

Here's what my dad put on me...


These clothes were not found on the shelf beside my diapers they were just "in" the same room. Crazy Dad! He had no idea that he was putting on my little brother's clothes that are a) way too small for me

and b) so dirty already with spit up. Wasn't there some kind of question in your mind like "Man, these pants are skin tight" and "Man, this shirt stinks and his shoulders barely fit through." I guess not.

I love you Daddy but sometimes you're too crazy.

Rolling Over

Our Little Man is rolling over already. I can NOT believe it! He is a tummy sleeper but now has learned to turn onto his back. The first time he did this stunt was Nov. 4th and I thought it was a fluke. But now it's almost instantaneous as soon as he lays on his tummy, which makes going to sleep tricky sometimes.

For his morning nap yesterday, I just left him on his back to see what would happen, and this is what happened...

our little boy fell asleep on his back. This was a good thing except he didn't sleep nearly as long as he usually would have. For his afternoon nap, he did the same thing but once he was asleep I went in to flip him over again and he slept so well.

I have also figured out that he only likes to roll on his right shoulder so if I butt him up in the pack and play close to his right side then he won't can't roll over.

He's even found his thumb on occasion (like yesterday). When he does, he's just like his older brother, and will just sleep and sleep and sleep, I have to go wake him. It's so odd.

That's what's new in Tucker's life. Growing leaps and bounds each and every day in all sorts of ways. That's for sure. We are so blessed!

First Sleep Over

I was sooo excited for my sleep over with my cousin Jackie-Boy. The first night my mommy tried to put me to bed at the same time as Jack but we soon figured out that was not going to work. Cousin Jack turns in early and I am kind of a night owl, so I just kept talking to him and he wasn't able to fall asleep. So this is what my mom and dad did instead: I started out going to bed in my mom and dad's bed and then once I was alseep they transfered me into my sleeping bag in my room with Jack. I had a great time spending a couple days with Jack. I miss him already. Love you Jackie-Boy!

Tucker 4 Months Old

I am a BIG boy! Here are my stats: I weigh 17 lb 7 oz (97%), I am 26" long (95%), and my head is 16.25" round (50%). I am doing well on the growth chart. My head circumference percentile actually decreased from 75% to 50%, but the doc. said that that measurement is ok to fluctuate a bit at my age. "It's ok," she says. My doctor also checked my ears and I have some fluid in them (especially the right one), she said to just watch me. If I start acting different, then my mommy should call into the office to get me some medicine (my sister has ear infection problems). I am kind of congested a little bit, which may be the reason for the fluid in my ears. I hope that my body can just get rid of it itself and that I won't get an infection.

I am a VERY HAPPY baby. My mommy use to say that if I were half as happy as my cousin Orin, she'd be thrilled. I think that I am. I love to smile, love to coo, love to giggle at my siblings. It doesn't take much to make me happy. As long as I am fed and have a clean diaper I am good to go.

Sorry, my mommy didn't have time to get my red eye out

Here are some other facts about me at my age:

• I love to play under my playmat
• I love to suck on my fingers (I may be teething a little bit)
• I wear 6-9 month clothes
• I just switched to wearing size 3 diapers all of the time (not just at night), I started blowing my size 2 out--sorry mommy
• I still love my pacifier
• My mommy is letting me cry it out in the middle of the night if I wake up (I don't get my pacifier again if I spit it out)
• I use to bunk with my sister but since mommy is letting me cry in the night, I sleep in their room or the office until I learn not to wake up--I don't want to wake Lilly up with my crying
• I drink 7-8 oz of formula every 4 hours
• I take 2 good naps during the day and sometimes need a 3rd in the evening
• I am getting too big for my carseat bunting so mommy needs to find something else to keep me warm in this weather

My really cute birth mark on my tummy

That's about all that's going on with me at 4 months old. Enjoy the pictures that my mommy thinks she always has to take:-)

Our Little Ballerina

(I finally got a picture of Lilly in her dance leotard and tights. I will take more when it's not raining outside.)



This is my first year in dance, at Robin's School of Dance, in Sioux Center. I absolutely LOVE it. I have met some really great friends. I don't tell mommy and daddy everything that I learn because I finally get to keep something to myself. I often say "well, maybe you should just come and watch me then if you want to know." It's a pre-dance class that I am in. I learn tumbling, basic dance (ballet) movements, sing songs, and have a lot of fun.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Kollasch for this great gift. I love you!

It's Working--slow but sure

Our life has been pretty crazy lately. Adam's busy with the fall rush of construction, trying to meet a deadline for the house they're building, putting plans together for a new spec house to build yet this fall, Butlers, Converge, so on and so forth. I just have to keep reminding myself that this season too shall pass, even if it's a couple years down the road, it too shall pass.

I have been so blessed to be able to stay at home all the while with not only my own kids, but as of late, my nephew Orin-while his mommy does some subbing at the local middle school. It has been so great getting to spend time with Orin and seeing my own kids interact with him. Lilly is such a mommy.

This brings me to my main topic. Lilly. She is going through some major changes right now. She's trying to adapt to 2 little siblings and discovering her own will. Adam and I have had to really bare down and be extra consistent with her, in lots of areas of her life-general schedule, naptime, bedtime, discipline, how she talks, how she acts.

I feel like we have always found it crucial to be consistent but as she's gotten older and gained siblings, it's so much MORE important. When she directly disobeys us, she is not only disobeying us and the Lord, she is showing her siblings how to disobey. This is so dangerous, especially when Thatcher is in super copy mode. It seems like Adam & I could be kind of lenient before we would simply verbally correct her and go on. Now, once Lilly is disobedient or disrespectful she is verbally corrected and if it continues a spanking is necessary. She knows what we expect out of her and the second she deviates from those expectations, a verbal talk is needed, we can no longer shrug it off. (Her and I have had numerous heart to heart talks in her bedroom) It will only get worse and worse if the situation is not taken care of right away. I definitely feel like we are breaking her spirit--not breaking as in ruining it, but breaking as in breaking a wild horse. Does that make sense??

Now, when her attitude starts to turn negative or she starts bullying her brother, all I have to do is look at her because she knows what I expect of her. I will catch her correcting herself now. Instead of "Mommy, help me." She'll say, "Mommy, may you help me?" (even though it s/b will you help me, but I will correct that later). If she doesn't correct herself, we will say, "Lilly, try again" and she knows what we mean.

She's to the point now that she really needs meaningful attention from daddy AND mommy. We can no more just go through the day without making Lilly time. Bedtime is a disaster if we don't have this special time for her.

Those are the 2 areas where we've had to concentrate a lot of time, 1)her spirit and 2)her quality time

Lilly, we love you dearly and love the little girl who you have become. Stay strong, stay energetic and stay close to us. We love everything about you!! ~Mom & Dad

My 3-Month Old Baby Boy

Tucker, you were 3 months old yesterday. I can't believe that 3 months have passed us by already. It seems like just the other day we were bringing you home from the hospital. Here's what you've been up to lately:

• Not sure how much you weigh or how long you are this month???
  
• You sleep through the night (10-12 hours)
• You sleep swaddled in your blanket on your back--you're even getting a bald spot. This is something that I had to experiment with just to see what you liked better. I tried a sleep sack on your stomach, a sleep sack on your back, just on your stomach (like Lilly & Thatch), but you would still wake up a lot during the night, so I went back to swaddling you and you love it!
• You love to go to sleep with your pacifier. I will sometimes have to give it to you early in the morning but then you'll sleep again until I wake you to eat.
• You drink 5 oz bottles every 4 hours, except I squeeze a 5th bottle in before bedtime that is 6 oz of formula
  
• You take 1ml of Zantac twice a day but still spit up quite a bit, but isn't cranky about it
  
• You wear 3-6 month clothes
• Your wear size 2 diapers but even blow them out once in a while
• You're pretty predictable now, if your fed, not in dirty pants, & not sleepy, you are so content to just play and take it all in
  
• You can sit up pretty good against the couch or in your bumbo
• You love to stand on your chubby little legs
• You love your play mat
• You love your bouncy seat
• You love to give smiles and laughs to the people you love

This is what your schedule for the day looks like:

8am- 5 oz bottle
10am- 11:30am- nap
11:30am- Zantac & 5 oz bottle (we wait a good 15 min after we give you your meds so that it can get into your system a little better)
1:30-4pm- nap
4pmish- 5 oz bottle
6pm-7pm-nap
7:30pm-5 oz bottle (I try to do this one a little earlier b/c I want you to eat again before bed)
9:30-10pmish- 6 oz bottle

I am still pretty flexible with your schedule, I know that it doesn't exactly follow a 4-hour schedule but it works for you and for our family.

Joyful Kids

This just amazes me--time really does fly by.

I have a nephew who just LOVES cars--hotwheels & CARS to be exact. When he picked up this love for playing with cars, I remember thinking to myself, "I can't wait until my boys are old enough to 'drive' cars all around the house."

I didn't expect this time to come so soon. Thatcher was given his own money to spend and with mommy's help at Target we decided that the 10 pack of hotwheels cars was the perfect toy to buy. Thatch has been entertained for hours with these new cars! Whether it's playing with them on top of the kitchen table or even underneath the kitchen table, he's definitely happy to be with his "trucks" as he calls them.

I have so much joy seeing my kids happy. Now, I hope that I don't sound out of line here. It's not that I have to buy them new toys to be happy. I pray that my children will let Jesus come live inside of them and make them happy and joyful just as Thatcher's new 'trucks' have made
him one happy little fellow.



Thank you, kids, for being who you are. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. And thank you for being happy!

Zoo

We had a blast at the zoo. The weather was so nice. I do have to say I don't think it would have been a great idea for Adam & I to take all 3 of our children by ourselves. We were blessed to have 4 other adults who were able to help us out. Thanks Mom & Dad and Christa & Drew. We had a great time.

Here's some of our favorite things that we saw:



Lilly had a great time! She was very good at following the rule: if you aren't going to ride in the stroller, you must hang on to someone's hand. There were a few times when Adam had to chase her down, but for the most part she abided. She really really wanted to see hippos but didn't and was content with the elephants and rhionos. She also really enjoyed her snow cone until the bee decided that it was his.


Thatcher seems to think that any animal that he sees is a puppy. So, we saw A LOT of puppies at the zoo according to him. He was more intrigued than I thought he would be but his facial expressions would probably tell you differently. He's so mellow (as the picture posted below shows). My favorite moment with Thatch Man was when the rhinos started to head butt. After we all gasped at the rhinos, Thatcher wanted nothing to do with them anymore. He didn't even want to see them no matter how far away we were.


Tucker pretty much slept the whole time. He was a trooper. The first photo was when we first entered the zoo. Can't you tell that he was SO excited??

Grandpa & Grandma Love

This weekend both sets of grandparents got to spend time with the grandchildren. My kids are so excited when Grandpa & Grandma come they don't even really act like themselves. We are so blessed to have such loving, caring, and playful grandparents. Thank you for always being willing to play with our children and for loving them unconditionally!