in his crib, what?!

Going into baby #3 I knew that we would choose to co-sleep.  I think it is just so much easier for me and we both get better rest if we just sleep together.  I know that some people (including doctors) are completely against this method and there are risks involved (like rolling over onto the baby) but I also know some people (including doctors) think it's the best thing for the baby for emotional reasons.  I don't really agree or disagree with any of the experts out there (I really haven't read too much about it), I just know that I need sleep to keep up with 2 other kids and that getting up 5 times a night to nurse a baby or comfort a baby just isn't going to work for me.  So from day 1 Titus was in bed with me.  My original goal was to have him completely switched over to his bed at 6 months old (July).  I told Mark that was the plan and he was such a good sport with sharing our bed and being kicked by a baby and such for the 6 months.  Well, July came and I did start putting baby in his bed at night but he would somehow magically appear in our bed at some point in the night -- and then he got a cold and wasn't sleeping well at all so he was back in our bed full time. A few months went by with no changes, by then Mark decided our queen sized bed just wasn't big enough for the 3 of us so he started sleeping on the couch.  Well, a few more months went by and baby was still in our bed and Mark was still on the couch so it was time to give the crib another shot.  So the day after his birthday we started putting him in the crib at bedtime.  Things were pretty good for several weeks and he would just be up once or twice a night.  I'd nurse him once and then Mark would go in and put him back the second time.  A few days into this new routine Titus was extremely exhausted from crying it out (for about 10 minutes) and fell asleep like this...

sitting up in the corner of the crib.  When I went in to check on him I was sure he was just sitting up quietly being mad about being stuck in the crib, but I went back in a few minutes later and looked a little more closely to see he was in fact sleeping sitting up.  :)

In case you want to know the rest of the story - he did pretty good getting up once or twice a night for about a month and then decided that wasn't enough and would sleep until about 1am and then would get up just about every hour on the hour from 1-7am and then when Levi got up shortly after 7 either Mark our I would get out of bed with him, only for him to need a nap by 9 which he would easily sleep 3 or more hours in a row without waking :)  After about a month of this, it got OLD FAST.  We didn't really change anything other than letting him cry a little longer in the middle of the night instead of rushing in to get him.   He is now back to waking up about twice a night again although many nights it is 3 times.  I'm not really sure what the deal is and both of his brothers were great sleepers by the time they were 14 months old....I have commited to not bringing him back into bed with us in the middle of the night (however, sometimes at the 6am wakeup call he does make it back into our bed) and have not once gone back on this...I just am longing for the day that I get more than 4 hours of sleep in a row again (I mean it's only been about a year and a half)-- but am really trying to remember just how fast this season of life goes and that one day I won't even really remember these sleepless nights.

So with that being said, who wants to have my baby over night?  HAHA.  just kidding, I really don't think I'm ready for that yet!

busted!

I will often bring the baby downstairs with me and put in him with the toys while I switch over the laundry.  One day this is what I saw when I peaked in at him...

He thought he was so cool.  I was pretty impressed that he was able to climb up there all by himself -- sneaky baby!

Levi's Christmas Concert

Levi had his preschool Christmas concert on Wednesday December 19.  I had to make such a hard choice that night because it was also "prize night" at AWANA for Isaiah so of course he really wanted to go.  I really wanted Isaiah to go to Levi's concert to show support for him - especially since Levi has had to sit through quite a bit of Isaiah's stuff - including 2 preschool Christmas concerts, but I also wanted Isaiah to get to go to his prize night since he has worked so very hard at AWANA and has memorized so many Bible verses and hasn't missed a single class.   After much debate, we decided to let Isaiah go to his AWANA night.  Levi didn't mind and he did a great job at his concert.  He looked so handsome!  

 (I looked and looked for his dress shoes and could not for the life of me find them --- until the next day - but whatever! :) 

He was so proud to be walking in with the little battery powered tea-light.  (which we had talked and talked about since he broke one during practice at school because he was being too rough with it!).  The concert was a mix of all the preschool classes together so there were lots of kids!  Levi did a great job and of course loved shaking the jingle bells.

 After the concert we got to have a sweet treat for desert and goof around with grandpa!  I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of me or Mark with Levi - but at least we got one with grandpa and grandma and his class assistant Mrs. Kimball!  

Way to go Levi - you did great in your very first concert!!

Christmas Baking.

My boys like the idea of helping in the kitchen, but often get bored very quickly.  It seems like anytime I have this grand idea to make some fun kitchen project it ends up with me doing the baking and the boys finding something more rowdy to do :)  But we did slow down a couple times this Christmas season to make some goodies.  Once at home and once at Caiden's house.  

As the boys got tired of the cookies -- the mom's finished up while the boys were boys on LeAnna's bed.  This picture is such a true picture of how wacky these boys are.  haha.  Love it.

The Christmas cookies we made at LeAnna's house ended up being the ones we sat out for Santa this year.  What a fun time of year!  

in case you ever wonder...

In case you ever wonder...a typical day at our house could look something like this.

We were making homemade pizza with pre-made crust and for some reason Levi put the crust tube on his head and was snitching the mini turkey pepperonis while Isaiah sits on the table downing the rest of the cheese.  This is just another day.

oh dear.

If you know Levi, you know that you can always expected the unexpected ... all of the time.  He is always doing something crazy, thinking up a crazy idea or saying something crazy.  It's just his nature -- I guess you could say he is his father's son! :)  Well, one morning Levi came out of bed looking like this...

He had found the markers the night before and decided to color himself before falling asleep.... including the parts you cannot see under his shorts (that are under his jammies -- this is another typical thing for Levi).  When asking him about it he was just like, "what?"  It was too funny not to laugh and take a picture...it was definitely a bath morning and we had to rush fast because it was also a school day!  He did a look a little "blue" that day, but it did come off pretty good for the most part! :)

Thank you Levi for keeping things crazy at our house!  We love you!

Carriage Ride!

Down by Santa's workshop this December was horse drawn carriage rides every Thursday night.  We made sure to make it as a family one cold night.  The boys and I had gone last year and the wait was forever so we made sure to be there before starting time so we wouldn't have to wait too long.  Even being early we still waited about 20 minutes! But the boys loved it and that's what matters anyway!  It was fun to go down the street with Christmas music going and lights everywhere.  We even saw some of Santa's friends walking around (a penguin, a few elves, the Grinch and a snowman).  After our ride we waited in line to say hi to Santa.  We walked over to see the live nativity scene too.  Of course Levi loved seeing and petting the animals (sheep, goat, ponies) and Isaiah couldn't care less.  Titus was just along for the ride and did great even though it was pretty cold.  

It was definitely a fun family memory and a great way to celebrate the Christmas season!

climber!

 Titus is just like his big brothers were at 1 year - he is adventurous, brave and excited!  The big boys have stairs that lead up to their bunk bed and he figured out how to climb up them so that he can join in the party on the top bunk.  His big brothers thought this was so fun and love to have him play too.

The mommy and daddy in the house think this is awfully dangerous since a fall from the top bunk would be pretty scary so have moved the party from the top bunk to the bottom. Definitely not quite as fun, but still crazy for the baby.

To try to eliminate this danger and create more room in the boys' room we did move the stairs out and have let them just climb up the side to get in and out .... unfortunately it didn't take long for the baby to figure out how to climb up the side either ...

capes

Dress up has always been one of the boys' favorite activities.  We have so many costumes and they've always loved to put them on and run around the house.  I'm sad to say that they have started playing less and less dress up (and more and more legos!) but for about a week the boys were loving their capes.  Levi's cape always consisted of his very special blankie tied around his neck while Isaiah went with the favorite red one.  Titus didn't wear a cape that week, but I did have to put a picture of his sweet smiling face in the mix too :)

And yes, Levi continues to wear shorts most of his days - he really could care less how warm or cold it is outside.  If we are going somewhere I do typically make him put pants on over his shorts, but he still keeps them on...it's just one of those battles we choose not to pick!

Baby is one.

It was so hard to believe that Titus was already one in December.  It feels like his first year was a blur.  We had a fun birthday party planned for him the weekend before his birthday (trying to keep it as far from Christmas as we could!).  Instead of trying to make our house work for all the fun we rented our church coffee house room and it worked perfectly!  As we were getting things set up, grandpa took on kid duty in the big gym.  The kids had fun running around with their cousins and friends!

We played a few games at the party.  The big boys and I filled 2 sippy cups full - one of cheerios and one of saltines and everyone had to guess how many were in each cup.  We also set up 5 toys on a table that represented what Titus would be when he grew up - an airplane (pilot), ball (athlete), mailbox (mailman), xylophone (musician), and computer (computer wiz) and had everyone guess what they thought he would be.  Titus really gave it some thought when we put the toys on the floor and let him go.  He made us think he was going to go to a couple of them before he ended up picking the xylophone.  It was pretty cute!

We then did presents where Titus was given so many very, very nice gifts!  He wanted to stop and play with each one, but he especially loved the ride on car that Grandpa Mervin and Grandma Karen gave him.  And I will say that my sister's family who gave him the My Discovery House was my favorite - that thing will keep him entertained for quite awhile - even now that he's had it several months!  THANK YOU EVERYONE!

And then it was time for CAKE!  The boys and I had worked hard the day before to create a "Panther Train" for Titus.  I thought and thought on this cake trying to figure out the perfect one.  After I had the cake made I let the boys pick the colors and it was no surprise they wanted Panther colors so I went with it :)

Titus wasn't so sure about the cake right away - which I gave him the full train car with his name on it.  But after some convincing by daddy he did end up eating some of it.  And then got a nice bath in the sink.  (Another reason why this location was nice!)

Thanks to all of our family and friends who made it to Titus' birthday party!

Happy Birthday Titus we love you!!