Coltina

Colton and Cadie were playing together in the living room while I was working in the kitchen. There was a lot of giggling from both and I went to see what was so funny. Cadie said, "I would like to introduce you to Coltina!!"

Good thing Grant doesn't read my blog :) - he would not be pleased. Coltina, however, loved all the attention from his big sister. And, he was quite adorable in his pink and brown bow.

Cadie, Colton and I were driving in the car yesterday to a birthday party, and Colton was crying. He does NOT like his car seat. Colton sits in the middle in the back when we are in the Prius and Cadie does an amazing job trying to keep him happy. He finally settled down and I told Cadie she may want to leave him alone so she didn't do something that upset him and made him cry again. She said, "I will try, but that is going to be hard because he is such as sweetie!" So cute! She called him sweetie! She is the best. She makes me smile EVERY day. She has made a huge difference in the ease of the transition from 2 to 3 kiddos because she is so very helpful and loving to both of her brothers.

Colton: 3 months

My very own little piece of heaven turned 3 months old on Oct. 18. He is so sweet and lovely that when we are out and about people ask me if he is real! Such an odd question, why would I be carrying around a big baby doll? But, I guess it is because he looks so perfect with his big blue eyes, round head, creamy skin, sweet little pink lips... I could go on and on.

This week he sat in his high chair for the first time. He is a bit slouchy, but he seemed to enjoy the new view. He sleeps in his own bed and goes to sleep easily most nights. Around 8pm he starts to fuss just a little so we swaddle him, lay him in his bed, turn on the mobile, pop in a paci and we don't usually hear from him for about 8 hours.

He doesn't love to cry and when he is upset he often gets a scrunchy face and sticks out his bottom lip. If the situation is fixed, he never actually moves on to the crying phase. He also sometimes starts to breath heavily and this works up to one medium-volume yell. Then, he looks around to see if someone heard him and is going to take care of things. If yes, he is good. If no, he will let out another yell before moving on to crying. Once he is crying, he also calms down quickly and easily most of the time.

He laughs at me, Sarah, Dad and his siblings. He loves it when we talk to him and he coo's back. He has recently gotten "grabby" and is tugging at his clothes, my clothes, Sarah's hair if she doesn't have it in a ponytail, etc. He is a super nurser (amazing, considering how we started out) and when he fusses in the night I just bring him into bed with me, he latches on and we both fall asleep.

I love you love you love sweet Colton!

Colton: 3 Months

Stats:

- Weight: 13 lbs. 13 oz = 95%

- Length: 24 inches = 50%

Sofa Gymnastics

My kids have never had trouble entertaining themselves...

Back to Work

This was my first week back to work and I am doing surprisingly fine! I am tired (of course) but there have been minimal tears (I tried once, Cadie cried once) and the week went smoothly with no real drama. I had prayers from lots of friends and family and I felt God's grace on our whole family this week.

On Monday evening Grant and I and the kids went out to eat at Chilli's and we talked with the kids about Mommy being back at work and how everyone was going to have to do their best to help each other, be kind and be obedient to mom, dad and Sarah. While the kids weren't perfect, they did their best and Cadie especially helped as much as possible. She got herself dressed for school and set a good example of obedience for her brothers with lots of "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, Sir's." Colton gave me a gift and slept from 9pm to 6am on Tuesday night!! Of course, last night he ate at 9pm, midnight, 3am and 7am. But at least now I know he CAN sleep through the night.

I always tell people that I really like my job, it is just that I like my kids a whole lot more! I am certainly not going to a job filled with drudgery, but I sure do miss those sweet faces. There is a lot of goodness about living in the USA, but our maternity leave policies are the pits. Babies don't even eat food until they are 6 months old! Why do we think they should be away from their moms anytime before then?! Thankfully Colton takes a bottle well. However, I didn't love having to pump in a bathroom this week while I attended a meeting at a conference center.

I guess with my third I have known better what to expect so the transition has been easier. I also made the very most of my maternity leave which helps. I felt like my leave has been refreshing  and has allowed me to spend time bonding with Colton, be with Cadie and Ranger and it has even included some rest. Thanks to having nanny Sarah full time during my leave I was able to get my hair done and even get a massage before returning to work.

A few pics from this week...When Mom's away, the kiddos (and Sarah) will play! Well, actually, Sarah mostly works her tail off... :)

Sarah helped Colton take his first selfie.

Colton testing out the jumparoo for the first time.

Cadie tried her first dance class. It was ballet and tap. She liked the ballet but said the tap was "too loud." I am going to see if there is a class we can sign her up for with no tap.

Ranger made a pilgrim hat at school.

Snuggles on the couch.

Kansas City Visit

We arrived in Kansas City on Friday, Oct. 25 and returned to Dallas on Tuesday, Oct. 29. It was my first time to fly with all 3 by myself and it went so smoothly. I have a lot of travel systems, but you still never know how it will go with three littles including a newborn. It also helped my stress level to make the trip while I was still on maternity leave so I didn't have to lug a computer or worry about work.

It was important to me to make a trip to Kansas City for a number of reason. I wanted to introduce Colton to my extended family. My Dad is in the middle of having surgery on one knee and a full replacement on the other knee so they aren't able to come to Dallas for awhile. And, my sister Bethany and her son Samuel were also in KC visiting from their home in Georgia which made it even more special.

We attended a Fall Festival in the neighborhood, went to church on Sunday, had family over Sunday afternoon, and played a lot in the basement. The time seemed to fly by! On my last night in Kansas City, Bethany and Samuel had already left so we figured we had 3 adults and 3 kiddos so we all paired up for the night. I had JR (he slept soundly with me in bed all night), my Dad had Cadence and my Mom had Colton. I got SUCH a good nights sleep and was thankful for my parents help.

Dressed up to attend the neighborhood Fall Festival.

On the way home from church, Nina took Jack Ranger on a detour to a small local airport. He was so excited to meet Dusty!

I love Nina!

It meant a lot to me to introduce Colton to my 90-year-old grandmother. 

Cousin Shanna Keller, Samuel, Aunt Kathy, Cadence and Aunt Cynthia.

My Dad, his sister (my Aunt Kathy) and Colton.

Kansas City Pumpkin Patch

Jack Ranger has been to the awesome Kansas City Pumpkin Patch every year of his life - all 3 of them :) This was Cadie's second time and I think also Samuel's second time. It has all this crazy, homemade play equipment and is really creative and fun. I love it as much as the kids. We didn't actually get any pumpkins :)

Of course Jack Ranger said his favorite thing with the barrel train.

Papa carried Colton most of the afternoon. I know his arm had to hurt!

Matching cousin coats!

Yes, I went down the PVC pipe slide with JR. I was trying to slow us down with my feet sliding against the edges but we still went down faster than I was comfortable with!

The three big kids went on the zip line 3 times each! They loved it. Jack Ranger could barely touch the platform when hanging on to the bar, but he still held on tight and slowly made his way all the way across and back.