Where did the last year go??

I can't believe it has been over a year since my last post. Even then it was mostly pictures!

Well, I hope catch up in multiple posts... but, I will do an overall update now.

On August 4th, 2013 at 9:35 pm (after 6 hours of easy labor) Leo Isaac-Thor Earl was born (yes, his initials are LITE). I had him completely natural without any pain medication and it was the best experience of my life! I loved being in labor and the only time I remotely felt pain was right before I had to push him out. (Bones separating isn't as bad as I thought, but not a pleasant feeling.) Unlike with Will and CJ, right after I had Leo I literally wanted to do it again. Hmmm... does that make me a labor junky?!?

Anyways, Leo weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. He was the same weight as CJ, but was my shortest baby. Leo didn't want to come out- I was induced and he REFUSED to come out! I was sent home and two days later went in labor on my own (at 40 weeks 5 days). From the moment our eyes met it was pure love and we both cried.
In his first months of life we had struggles- Leo wasn't gaining weight due to a tongue tie, then I developed mastitis which made my supply drop terribly, no sooner did my supply start coming back I had to have emergency surgery to repair my hernia and removed a 4 inch blockage. After that, things evened out and he started gaining weight like crazy! At his 6mo check up he weighed in at 17 lbs!

CJ is doing great. He is still receiving speech therapy and is doing amazing! In January, he had some tests done and met with specialists to figure out his "shaking and twitching" episodes. We found out he has Complex Motor Stereotypies- Non Autistic and Sensory Processing Disorder. Neither one he will out grow, but with occupational and behavior therapy he will learn how to redirect his shaking/twitches.

Will is doing good considering everything he has been through... if you have been keeping up with my FB page you'll understand what I mean by that. However, I will write an entire post on what has happened in the near future. Will is one of the sweetest boy I've ever met and I hope he always stays that way. <3 p="">
Otherwise, things are going as good as they can. The boys keep me really busy, but I love it. I will try to update more soon!

Baby #3 (aka Owl Baby)

It's official, I am pregnant with our 3rd child and am due July 15th! We are yet again not finding the gender until Baby is born. I must say this time I am battling wanting to find out at the ultrasound, but I do love the complete joy I feel when I meet Baby for the first time.

Anyways, so far Baby is measuring right on track with my due date. The first time we heard Baby's heart was at my 12wk appointment and the BPM were 170. This time (at 16wks) it was 160 bpm.
When I was 13wks pregnant I had a follow-up renal ultrasound. The ultrasound tech I had was amazing. During my post-void bladder measurement my baby "accidentally" jumped on to the screen! It was so good to see Baby. (Even if it was "unofficial" and I didn't get a picture.)
I must say this is the first time I haven't had an early ultrasound, but according to my midwife it is a good thing. As it means I don't have a history of miscarriage or placenta issues, etc. I was just spoiled with the boys and got to see them early. :)

As far as pregnancy symptoms, I am still nauseous A LOT and am exhausted all the time! And you wanna talk about sensitivity to smells, oh my gosh. Smells are everywhere and they generally make me nauseated. I miss the days I enjoyed baking and *gasp* doing the dishes.
I have felt early movements and it helps remind me everything is fine. :)

I wish I had a picture to include, but I don't. Next time I write about baby I will!

CJ*

CJ is doing great! He started speech therapy at Rite Care last week as he is a couple months behind with his vocab and sounds. He LOVES his SLP and really enjoys the attention from her. She suspects he will catch up really fast! We just decided to get him therapy sooner than later, so he won't experience as much frustration from lack of communication as Will did. Aside from that he is on track!!!

I can't believe he will be TWO in about two weeks!! How did time go by so fast?!
He loves going pee on the potty, but still has a baby bladder. So, I'm still working on that. (I'd love to have CJ only wearing his pull-ups at night by the time the baby comes.)
He is such a goof and imitates my tone and mannerisms when I talk to other people. It can be really funny. We are really enjoying watching him grow up and turn into a little, big boy from a baby.

Will :)

I can't believe yet again it has been over a month since my last post! UGH!

So, I'm going to be doing individual posts. :)

Will is doing great in school! He knows all of his ABC's and is counting up a storm! His speech is improving greatly, sometimes a little too much... he is becoming quite bossy and talking back. A lot of the time you can laugh it off, but other times it can be mean.

Otherwise, I enjoy him so much!! He is the biggest helper and sweetest boy. He is also, so funny! Some of the things that come out of his mouth make it REALLY hard to correct him and not laugh.
For example:
[In his speech therapy one of the many things we're working on is his "Fr" words and sounds.]

So, last weekend when we were walking out to our car Will paused, pointed and was getting really excited about something in the car. He bouncing up and down, grinning ear-to-ear saying, "F*** in car! F*** in car! F*** in car!". I was shocked and kept thinking I heard wrong, but no. So, I looked at him and told him that was a bad adult word and asked him to SHOW me what he meant. (He was talking so patiently slow he was practically spelling out the word by this point.) He gladly showed me! It was our FROG on the dashboard! He was so happy we put Squiggy the Frog in our new car. I was so relieved and then about died laughing! (Will was laughing at ME, saying I was being so silly!)

Merry Christmas :)

 

Student Of the Week!!!!

The 2nd week of December Will was Student of the Week!! We are so proud of him and all of the accomplishments he's achieved.
He was honored at school with an assembly and had his picture taken for the school newsletter. He was so excited to tell me when he got home that day!