swimming

The boys were getting awfully restless by the end of Isaiah's Christmas break.  One afternoon my mom and I took them to the Y to go swimming.  We've gone several times (but not lately) and we've been the only people in the pool or maybe a couple others, but this day it was packed!  This is my favorite pool to take the kids too (probably even more than an outdoor pool!) because it is sooooooooo warm, and big, but not huge, plus I can trust the kids alone in it with their life jackets and not worry they are going to get lost.  Levi was going crazy with his jumps into the pool - he was jumping in really far, he was jumping in backwards, he was walking right in - it was really funny!  He continues to have NO FEAR.  Isaiah had fun jumping in too, but nothing like Levi.  He also had fun just paddling around the entire pool.  Titus just slept through it all - I had no intention of getting him in the pool anyway!  What a fun way to play!  Thanks mom for coming with us!

New Years Eve.

We had a fun New Year's Eve with a few friends....When we left it was decided that we'd try to be home by 10... (and it actually wasn't me that set the time!! :)...but we ended up making it home about 11:30 or so... we watched the ball drop at 11:00 and then headed home.  The kids - Isaiah, Levi, Titus, Caleb, Elise and Caiden - had fun running around playing who knows what and barely watching Cars 2 while the adults - Mark and I, Chad & Erica and LeAnna - sat around the table playing fun games and eating lots of food...  I didn't even think to get the camera out until it was about time to go.  

It's definitely fun to ring in the new year with good friends!  

marble surprise!

Isaiah and Levi received a huge marble track set for Christmas (from my sister - she gives good gifts! 2 posts in a row!). This set came with instructions on how to make three different tracks.  Since seeing the instructions on Christmas Isaiah had been really, really wanting to make them and we finally had a chance one naptime.  Isaiah and I worked and worked to make sure we got things just right (the directions were just a big confusing black and white picture - not easy to follow at all!).  But after quite awhile - we did it!  We picked the biggest track using just about all of the pieces.  Shortly after we got it together Levi woke up and was surprised at our creation.  I love the pictures of Levi because it is totally him right now - shorts, no shirt, a tattoo on his arm, blanky in hand and a random stuffed toy with him (he has not attached himself to any one specific toy but will often want to sleep with one - this one is his soldier bear that sings "I'm Proud to be an American", but he also likes a beanie baby dog and rabbit, a cute little lamb that Grandma Michele sent for Titus, along with a few others I can't think of right now).  We did keep this track set up for a few days but then it got knocked over so we ended up doing the other two when that happened.  What fun!

UNI Carnival

On December 29 UNI Athletics held a family carnival at the dome before the women's basketball game.  My dad wanted to take Isaiah to the basketball game, but my mom, Levi, Titus and I joined them at the fair first.  The kids had a blast in the bouncy house and maze when we first got there - and good thing too because it got crowded with long wait times.  After watching lots of people dance to the Kinect on the big screen, Levi decided to join in and did NOT want to leave.  He looked pretty cute up on stage next to everyone else!  The big boys finally talked me into letting them jump on the big track mats with all the other kids, but it got crowded and made me too nervous so we made them get down!  And just as we were getting ready to go, we spotted TC.   Levi refused to get up close to him, but spent a good 5 minutes a few feet apart from him while TC tried to convince him to at least give him a high 5.  Isaiah gave him a big hug.  And Titus, well, he slept through the entire thing!  It's fun living in a college town! 

slippers

Titus got lots of cute little gifts from so many friends, family members and even friends of my mom's!  We love each and every one of them.  And I sure hope I remembered to write each person their thank you card - if I didn't send yours - please know that I thought it and we are so thankful!   I did happen to catch a couple of my favorite pictures from the week after Christmas with the cute little slippers my sister gave Titus in the hospital.  

Sweet Brother.

 Dear Friend.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning the boys woke up to find that Santa had come and filled their stockings (which never did get hung up this year!) and a few other gifts.  Along with a few gifts from us - we kept our tradition of getting the boys each 3 gifts from us like the Bible talks of the 3 gifts for Jesus. (however, Titus did not receive gifts this year :).

1 - A spiritual gift (like frankincense) - a Bible story book each - Isaiah's was the story of Adam and Eve and Levi was David and Goliath 

2 - A gift they might cherish or really want (like the gold) - board games this year - Isaiah received Operation and Levi received Ants in Your Pants

3 - Something to keep them warm (like Myrrh) - long Batman socks with grippers on the bottom (and the slippers from the day before too)

Santa brought them each a Imaginext airplane, a small transformer, a Corvette Hot Wheels car and monster truck, and a personalized Cars book.  Santa did bring Titus a little teether toy and Mark a bag of mini Reese's Peanutbutter cups and a dark chocolate orange for me (I remember getting an chocolate orange several years as a kid and I usually try to find one for myself to get each year)

The boys each gave us a gift too - I got a new pair of sock monkey slippers and Mark got a Superheros T-shirt and some much needed new basketball shoes!  Mark and I decided to buy a family pass to the Rec Center as our gift to each other! 

Then it was time to go downstairs to see the gifts from Grandma Michele and Great Grandma Mary.  A real drum set for Levi and a keyboard piano for Isaiah!!

Around lunch time we headed to my parent's house for a yummy soup lunch.  Of course presents came next.  Isaiah had a good time helping pass out the presents while baby Titus got passed around from one person to another!

 We spent the rest of the day just enjoying each other's company and doing a craft project that got all 5 grandkids crying...I thought they would think it was fun, but they all didn't want to do it and cried when it was their turn - go figure.  But we did end up with 3 somewhat cute handprint wreaths. 

 At least they did better for the group picture - my mom wanted to be sure we got a picture of all 5 kids together and I'd say for a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, a 9 month old and a newborn baby we did pretty good!  

We ended the night with a Herky show from the boys wearing their new Herky the Hawkeye costumes that Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy gave the boys -- super cute and funny!!

What a Merry Christmas we had! 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a fun day for our family!  We started the morning by having the boys open one small present - we usually open one small gift on Christmas Eve each year and the morning was really the only chance we were going to have ... and the boys have been very into slippers this year and Levi only had a pair of like 18 month slippers he had been cramming his feet into for a few weeks.  They were very excited about them - Isaiah Transformers and Levi Batman.  We then enjoyed some blueberry muffins for breakfast (after I went on a hunt for donuts - I like to do something special on holiday mornings, but didn't have a chance to get anything prepared and not a single store was open at 9ish am on Christmas Eve).  Mark then had to go play some laser tag for the rest of the morning and afternoon and the boys and I made some puppy chow and hung out together.  Things were running a bit late at the store so the boys and I headed to church and Mark met us there just a few minutes after we got there with our friends Chris and Mohammad (there is no better time to invite friends to church, we were thankful that they agreed to come!).  The service was beautiful and the boys did really good - a big thank you to whoever thought to play the Christmas Story cartoon as we were waiting for church to start - definitely made our life easier as we got to church early to make sure we had enough seats.  It was pretty special to sit in the very dimly lit church with a brand new baby celebrating the birth of baby Jesus.  

 After church we headed to Mark's dad and step-mom's house to celebrate Christmas with them.  Grandpa Mark took first dibs on holding baby Titus and held him just about all night :)  The perfect Christmas gift for him!!  Mark shared the Christmas Story of Jesus' birth with all the kids around the table and then we sang happy birthday to Jesus.  Shortly after we heard sleigh bells and Santa arrived!  The kids were all sooooooo excited! Baby Titus was excited to meet Santa too (as his shirt says he is Santa's favorite -- thanks Gretchen!!).  Levi kept asking Santa where his reindeer were, but because there was no snow, Santa had to park them in the field a ways away!  Grandma Cindy couldn't let Santa leave without some goodies, but Levi thought he needed another cookie too and tried to get Santa's :)  He did let him eat a bit of the frosting.  haha The night flew by with eating good food, giving gifts and enjoying the chaos of 7 kids 6 and under and before we knew it we had to head home.

at the park in December!

The weather in December was unusually warm and the boys were getting restless being stuck at home with a new baby so one afternoon we made our way to the park!  It was the first time I had driven with all three-I was glad it was a short drive!  The boys had a good time playing together, I had fun taking lots of pictures with the new camera and baby Titus snoozed the entire trip.  

baby's first bath

On December 16 it was time for Titus' first bath.  Of course it was really just a wipe down since his belly button couldn't get wet yet, but the boys insisted that he must have a bath in a bathtub so I figured why not.  He was happy as can be sitting in the tub fully clothed, but once the big boys were settled in their bath and I got him undressed the screaming began and didn't stop until he was all dressed again.  The boys couldn't seem to figure out why he was so upset, poor little guy!  

Since his first bath we have tried a couple more times but he screams and screams. Isaiah wasn't really happy about baths when he was a bitty baby either so I used to shower with him.  I gave it a try with Titus and he doesn't mind the shower, in fact I think he kind of likes it.  So for now we are sticking with the shower, but we will try a bath again soon.

baby story.

So the days leading up to December 12 came and went and baby decided not to make his arrival so we went to bed on December 11 as normal, but Mark and I got little sleep as we knew big things were happening the next day!  We were up, showered and out the door before 6 to get to the hospital to have a baby!  (Thanks mom for coming to be with the big boys!).  Being induced once before I knew what to expect which from my experience with Levi, I'm not sure this was a great thing (he came fast and things were VERY intense with him), but none the less we were very, very excited about what was to come.  By about 8:30 paperwork was done, nurses had prepped me and our doctor arrived and he placed 1/2 the normal dose of induction gel to get things moving.  At this point I was still dilated to a 2 (which is what I was at 37 weeks), but I was having contractions on my own about every 15 minutes.  Shortly after the gel was placed I was contracting very regularly.  After about an hour I was able to get up and moving and Mark and I did some walking of the halls with lots and LOTS of good laughter... I think people thought we were crazy laughing loudly down the halls while in very active labor - but it's the laughter that get Mark and I through the toughest times.  Next we decided to try the tub as things were starting to be a little more intense and I was looking for relief!  By 11 I was checked again and still only to a 4 which was a bit surprising as with Levi's delivery I was pushing by this time!  But we had to make the call - an epidural or not?  I hadn't had one with either of my other deliveries, but after lots of consideration the weeks before, we decided to go ahead with one this time... so they came and gave one to me - an experience that was like no other - and then we waited for baby to make his move.  This was so different for me as I couldn't feel anything and there really wasn't anything I could do to make things speed up, we just had to wait.   I think I was also thrown off because I was told I may have some numbness in my legs, but it wasn't just numbness it was like each leg had gained 1 million pounds - I couldn't move.  On my right side I couldn't even wiggle my toes!  During this wait time our doctor asked Mark if he wanted to deliver the baby and right away Mark agreed.  He was so excited! Shortly after 2 the waiting was over, it was time to push.  The doctor and nurses had to tell me when to go because I just couldn't feel a thing!   After one round of pushing the doctor could tell his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice so he had Mark cut the cord as soon as he could and then had me push again and Titus Cohen was born...  a miracle.

Because the cord was around his neck he was very blue/purple and the nurses needed to suck the yucky stuff out of his lungs right away to get him to scream.  I was sooooooooo nervous as I couldn't see anything that was happening, I just knew they had Mark hand him off right to the nurses and he wasn't making any noises.  My doctor could tell I was nervous and kept saying, "Alisha, he's okay.  He's good."  But I don't think I really believed it until I had him in my arms. What a relief!  I was able to nurse him right away and he latched on first try! Right away I thought he looked a lot like Isaiah did at birth, but as the hours passed I could also see Levi in him and his very own features too. What a beautiful boy.

 My mom had the big boys and Caiden all day long and as soon as LeAnna was off work they all came up to the hospital to meet the baby.  Isaiah and Levi came in first to see their brand new baby brother.  They were so excited to meet him and wanted to hold him and love him as soon as they could.  The nurses had given him a clean up bath shortly before they arrived so he was still in his little cradle under the warmer so they got to see him in just his diaper first.  Then he got wrapped up and they were able to hold him.  It was so precious.  Along with his brothers, Titus had lots of visitors while we were in the hospital.  Thanks everyone for coming to see us!!

 Thanks to LeAnna, Kammy and my mom Mark was able to stay with me for the entire hospital stay -- THANK YOU!!   It was such a joy to be together the 3 of us and to soak up every minute of this brand new baby together.  Titus was so tired after his birth that he slept and slept his first night - after about 4 hours I tried and tried to wake him up to feed him, but he really wasn't interested so after 2 more hours I had to try even harder and got him to eat.  He was such a mellow little baby while we were in the hospital, but he was up a few more times the next night and the nurses did come and take him for a couple hours so we could get some sleep.  His blood sugar had to be monitored closely while we were in the hospital since I was diabetic while I was pregnant.  Thankfully all of his levels were good every time they checked.  He was all around healthy! (by the way - my blood sugar was never checked, guess once baby is born, mommy doesn't matter anymore, huh? haha)

 On Wednesday morning it was time for us to head home.   We were excited to take our new little guy home, but also a bit nervous...not only did I have to get to know this babe, but I also had to take care of the other two little boys...yikes!  The big boys were so excited for us to get home and they were very interested in their baby brother.  They wanted to hold him and touch him and look at him.

The transition from 2 to 3 has been easier than I expected.  We've had so much support from friends and family helping us - I don't think I can even count the number of meals that have been made and delivered to us (thank you very much - a HUGE help!), and then those who have come by to be entertainment to our big boys or even taken them on adventures (thanks dad for 2 trips to the museum!).  And all of this has happened while Mark's Adrenaline X Laser Tag has taken off at the mall.  It's doing better than we expected and the business keeps coming (thank you friends who have gone to play!! your support there is also so appreciated!). 

Titus' birth story is one all of his own, just like my other two deliveries.  We are so grateful to God that he has blessed us with three little boys.  All the Glory goes to Him!

Christmas program

Isaiah's preschool Christmas program was December 13 - the day we got out of the hospital with Titus.  I was thrilled that it was a day that I could actually go!  When the date for the program came out, I was so sad that I was going to miss it.  But was very thankful  it worked out that I didn't have to!   Because Titus was just 2 days old I wasn't ready to leave him home with my mom (thanks for offering!!) so she came along and we had a fun time.  Levi did a pretty good job watching the concert but I'm pretty sure he was itching to be up singing along with all of the kids - he is already so excited for preschool next year!  Isaiah and his classmates did an adorable job - there is nothing like a bunch of 3,4 & 5 year olds singing (and screaming) at all different keys and tones to Silent Night.  :)  But Isaiah's favorite by far was definitely singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with the arm movements and such. After the concert there was a chance to sit and eat cookies and milk.  We quickly grabbed a couple cookies for the boys and left as soon as they were gone - we didn't want Titus out in the crowd too long! 

                                                              What a fun Christmas celebration!

5x7 Folded Card

Posh Pinstripes 5x7 folded card

Send custom cards from Shutterfly for St. Patrick's Day.

View the entire collection of cards.

1 month!!

Titus isn't so sure how he feels about turning 1 month old today!

It's hard to believe that he's a month old today!  This month has flown by, but it also feels like he's been a part of our family forever, funny how that works!  I suppose the chaos of the holidays didn't make the days pass any slower!  

Titus continues to be such a mellow little boy.  He is very happy and content about 95% of the day (minus about an hour sometime between 5-7) as long as he his being held.  But he could really care less who is holding him - a rowdy little 3 year old, a loving grandma, or his mama, they are all the same to him :).  He has started to move his little arms and legs a lot and is beginning to focus his little eyes.  He can tell if someone is talking to him and when he hears my voice he definitely pays attention!  He continues to eat about every 1.5-2 hours during the daytime and eats about every 2-3 hours at night.  Our night time routine has not changed since we brought him home - he sleeps in a cradle next to my side of the bed, eats every couple hours and occasionally  always ends up in bed with me.   His big brothers adore him more and more every day.  They both try to be big helpers and don't even mind throwing away his dirty diapers for me!  Sometimes they are a little more help than I need as I've turned around to find one of them have gotten him out of his swing, car seat or bouncy chair and are trying to bring him to me...this would be a big help if it didn't mean they were carrying him by his neck - haha.  But really, Titus seems to love his big brothers right back and enjoys being in their arms.  He has officially grown out of just about all of the newborn clothes that I had him wearing and fills the 0-3 month clothes nicely.  I have a feeling it won't belong before I'm saying they are getting snug.  He had a doctor's appointment on 1/4/12 (3 weeks 2 days) and he weighed in at 9lbs 6oz - up 1lb 2 oz from birth!  He grew an inch to 21.5 inches which puts him in the 50% for height & weight (along with his head circumference, but I can't remember for sure how big it was 14.5 maybe???).  Doctor had no concerns and thought he was a healthy little guy.  Titus has lost most of the hair on the top of his head  and it is coming back in light blonde just like his big brothers.  He definitely uses a binky, but doesn't want it most of the time.  He seems to just want it when he's done eating and when he's very tired, but he doesn't typically sleep with it.  Titus prefers showers over baths, just like his big brother Isaiah did.  He relaxes in the shower and acts like he is trying to drink the water off my (or Mark's) arm, but he screamed all the way through both baths I gave him.  We will probably stick to showers for a few weeks and try again!   He toots just about all day long and the boys think it is so funny, but it doesn't seem to bother him, however, he has tooted himself awake many times :)  Is this an indication that we have another baby who is all boy? haha

We are so blessed with this little one and are loving life as a family of 5!!

Black Friday Deal.

I haven't gone shopping on Black Friday for several years and this year was no different.  I did send Mark to Wal-Mart for the 10pm Thanksgiving sale which turned out to be a HUGE lines and probably not worth the savings, but our boys love their Batman and Transformers slippers that came from the trip.  But we did purchase just one thing on Black Friday online and I opened it the other day... 

 a new high chair.  Safety 1st was offering free shipping and this high chair was on sale for $20.40 (regularly like $100ish) and no tax!  What a great deal.  The information said it was for infant on up so I decided to put it together the other day - and they are right!  Titus loved sitting in it and it had the perfect position for him!  He could sit up and enjoy the show of his crazy brothers! 

Doesn't he look so teeny  tiny in it?  

loving the baby brother.

Isaiah and Levi have had an amazing time being big brothers to baby Titus.  They both love him so much and like to be near him.  Isaiah was a little less excited about him at first but has really gotten more and more interested as the days go by.  Levi has been very happy to hold and kiss him from the beginning.  Here's a small look into their interactions with him...

One day Levi found a sheet of stickers and decided he needed to decorate himself with them...but then quickly realized that baby Titus needed the stickers even more so he held Titus and took all the stickers from himself and put them on the baby. :)

 Another day the boys were playing costumes (again) and they decided that Titus needed to be the red pepper.  We've had the red pepper costume in with all the other costumes from the start, but it is an infant costume that Levi wore his first Halloween. 

 I couldn't help but take a few pictures one day when the boys were all three cuddled up together on the couch.  There is nothing cuter than little feet! 

I hear the words "can I hold him?" so many times each day. And usually the answer is sure!  After going through pictures, I realized I need to take more pictures of the boys holding him!  

This list could go on and on with sweet moments of the big brothers with their baby brother -- but baby calls! :) 

Christmas decorations.

Both big boys really enjoyed the Christmas season this year.  They enjoyed the tree in our house, the Christmas lights while driving, the Christmas music, the Christmas specials on TV, the special books we got out and most importantly talking about the Christmas story at home, church and preschool.  I wanted to capture their favorites this year and compare them to future years!

First - Isaiah's favorite Christmas "decoration" from our box of Christmas 'stuff'.  (gotta love Levi in the background putting on a fake smile - I must have said, "say cheese!") 

 Once again the favorite book out of the Christmas batch - I'm not sure what it is about this book but Isaiah has loved it for as long as we've had it.  Isaiah has definitely outgrown Elmo and Levi never really had any interest in him so I was shocked when this was again the favorite! This year Isaiah love, love, loved to say that last five lines as fast as he could (five golden things, four calling monsters, three french friends, two yummy cookies and a red monster up in a tree -- and no I didn't even have to look up the words! haha)

 We got this snow globe as a gift from a friend and Levi thinks it is the most amazing thing EVER. He L.O.V.E.S. to shut off all (and by that I mean any light in the house anywhere) the lights close all the curtains and make anyone who is at home sit and look at this snow globe in the dark (or sort of dark during the day).  This is the only Christmas decoration not put away as I cannot bear to see his reaction when it's missing from the speaker -- I think he's going to have to be the one to put it away! :)

I recorded TONS Christmas specials that were on TV throughout December - Prep & Landing, Frosty the Snowman, Flintstones Christmas, Elf on the Shelf, Pinocchio Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A very Pink Christmas, Enchanted Christmas and many more.  A majority of them we started, but never finished as the kids didn't really like them, but a few they loved and watched several times.  We usually watched one Christmas show each night before bed with just the light of the Christmas tree!  The boys really liked Prep & Landing, and Levi loves the Grinch all the time, but their favorite was A very Pink Christmas with the Pink Panther. :)  It was a cute little show with no words and just music but it talked about how we can save up for ourselves or give to others - definitely a good message to talk about with them!

And last but not least, the favorite thing of Christmas by far in our house was listening and dancing to Go Fish Christmas with a Capital C CD.  And to be more specific the songs Capital C and Little Drummer boy.  I think we spent at least 100 hours in the 2 weeks leading upto Christmas listening to these songs - mainly Capital C over and over and over again.  The day Isaiah realized that Capital C was on the CD twice - once with a comedian and once without he about fell over with happiness and he had to tell everyone who came to our house.  We also spent lots of time drumming on things to the song Drummer Boy.  There's nothing like the Go Fish Guys!

We really had a great Christmas Season this year and were blessed with an amazing gift - our little Titus - along with the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  I can't wait for next year to do it all over again!!