{MoMenTs}

It's moments like these that literally MELT. MY. HEART. as a Mom!  This morning, I plopped Maddix down on the couch so I could go mix a bottle for him.  The next thing I knew, Ayden grabbed a book, sat right in the middle of him and Zoe and started reading!!  I don't know what I love more about this picture.....the fact that my little 5 year old Kindergartener is reading, the fact that he is such a sweet boy that he would read a book to his brother and sister, the fact that there was complete peace for a minute....no TV on, no toys being thrown, no fighting and screaming, or the fact that I looked over on that couch and saw 3 of the greatest things that have EVER happened to me!

There is no doubt in my mind that we were supposed to have 3 kids.  I can honestly say that since Maddix joined our family, I have probably been the happiest I have ever been!  There is just something about having all 3 of them....TOGETHER!!  I know that Jeremiah and I were meant to be each of their parents....and more importantly that they were meant to be each other's siblings!  I love the fact that Ayden and Zoe can play together and enjoy each other's company 90% of the time (the other 10%, someone is usually tattling, screaming, or crying) and I love the fact that Ayden and Zoe can get Maddix's face to light up with complete joy and happiness!  He loves his brother and sister.....although he can't say it yet, I just know it already!!  And I love that Maddix's arrival to our family has brought out the best in our family!  Jeremiah and I often ask each other how on earth we were so lucky to be blessed with 3 of the cutest kids ever!!  I love that I can say that and not be bragging since their cuteness has nothing to do with my own genes!!  HAHA!!  The path we had to travel and the pain we had to endure to get to this moment was SO worth it!  And if you would've told me 7 years ago that there would be a day that I would be the Mom to 3 of the happiest, most adorable kids.....I would have sworn that there is NO WAY that could possibly be true!  Yet here I am, living my dream, enjoying every single day with my little ones, watching them change and grow, striving to make them decent citizens, learning from them....all while having my patience tested the ENTIRE way through!  Every day has it's struggles.....and most every night I can't wait to get them in their beds and close the door behind me!!  But that doesn't mean I would want it any other way.....because it is those little moments (the ones that are sometimes few and far between) that make it all worthwhile!  What a lucky Mommy I am!!!

{daDDy/DauGHteR moMeNt}

A couple nights ago, I walked by Zoe's room and witnessed an adorable Daddy/Daughter moment.....I had to grab my camera and snap a picture.

Zoe sure is lucky to have the daddy she does that will sit down and have a special tea party with her and all her favorite furry friends!  :)

{GirLs jUst wAnt tO hAve Fun}

This week it was our turn to have Zoe's little playgroup friends at our house!  My mom was here and was super excited to see Zoe in her element with her little friends.....and to read them a Fancy Nancy story!!  :)

Sadly, Zoe has been a little bratty lately when her friends are over!  I hope it is a phase...she is having a hard time sharing!  I guess I am just super grateful that she is not like that at all when she is at other people's houses!  But she was acting snotty this day and this was the first time that she really was smiley and happy.....of course it just so happened to be the time that the other 3 girls were treating her like royalty and were doing her hair and makeup and nails and making her look as pretty as a princess!!  Crazy girl!!  I hope she grows out of the snotty phase!

{waRm daYs}

We have had some warm weather the past few days and it has felt good for a change!  We've been wearing our shorts and shades......

And we've been playing outside a lot more than usual too!  Which is making us tired and afternoon naps on the couch are just oh so nice and cozy.....

{BusY sPrinG}

We are officially kissing goodbye our free Saturdays and a couple week nights.....Ayden has started spring baseball!!  Last night was his 1st practice.....an hour and a half long!!  When I texted Jeremiah in the middle to tell him how bored I was, he said "baseball is boring...let's never do it again"!!  HAHA!!  Baseball IS boring, but we will get through it and he is super excited about it....and I believe that the more sports we can expose our kids to, the better!!  :)

It really wasn't THAT boring....I was just reminded that there is a lot of down time in baseball!!  My biggest challenge is going to be keeping Maddix and Zoe entertained  since the field that Ayden practices on is the farthest away from the playground!!  At least I have this cute sassy pants to keep me laughing.....

I'm excited for the season and to see how Ayden does since this is his first time playing baseball!!  He was really dreading it and didn't want to play t-ball cuz he said it's for babies and he wanted to be pitched to like a REAL baseball player!!  But after the practice last night, he was SUPER excited about it!!  :)  YAY!!!

{cOw LicK}

Ayden's "show & tell" day at school is on Mondays.  He had last Monday off for one of the President's day and then Tuesday was Valentine's Day and they had a party.  So all the Monday show & tell kids had to share on Wednesday last week.  Well, by the time Wednesday came around, we had forgotten about show & tell.  When I picked Ayden up and asked him about his day, he told me that he forgot to take his show & tell.  I felt bad and said "oh no" because I know how much he looks forward to that each week.  He, in all seriousness, said, "It's ok....I just shared my 'cow lick' with everyone"!!  Ayden has the cutest little colick right in the front of his hair.  It is a cute colick.....not one of those silly ones that makes your hair stick up in a weird spot.  Last summer, my dad told Ayden a silly story that when he was a baby, a cow came up to him and licked him on the forehead with his big slobbery tongue and that is why his hair sticks up like that!  He believed his story 100% and really thinks he has a TRUE cow lick!!  I love the fact that his cute little brain thought up the idea of "sharing" that when he didn't have anything else to share that day!  He said he told all the kids in his class all about when he was a baby and the cow came up and licked his hair!  Oh how I wish I could've been a fly on the wall that day!!  I love this kid!  :)

{haPPy bOy}

I can't seem to get enough of his laugh and his dimples.....I love this age and the fact that his personality is growing.  He is such a happy baby!!

{video of Maddix having a case of the giggles while playing with my mom}

{sLeeP}

I don't want to jinx anything just yet....I am hesitant to say this out loud, but this little guy might FINALLY be sleeping through the night!  For the past 6 night in a row, he has at least, so I hope that is the new trend!  He eats his last bottle and goes to bed at about 7:30 pm and has been sleeping all night until 7:00 am!!!  A couple of those nights, he has woken up once or twice, but just needed a binky popped in his mouth and he was off to dreamland!  We can handle that....much easier than a feeding or two!  So far, 4 months is agreeing with us!!  :)  Keep it up big guy!!!

And I had to put in a picture of Maddix's "bedroom"!  Yes, he sleeps in his swing in the middle of our family room!!  I hope he doesn't get so big that he outgrows the swing before he is ready to sleep good in his crib!!  HA!!  Only time will tell!!  But we did try the crib a couple weeks ago and it was a torturous 3 nights of no sleep!!  So the swing it is....we sure have gotten our money's worth with this swing!!  :)

{FuN in tHe SuN}

I felt bad when I looked back on pics from my camera from last weekend and realized that EVERY single picture I have from the weekend is of Maddix.....nothing of Zoe or Ayden!  Sometimes I feel guilty for whipping my camera out so often to take pics of Maddix, but then I remind myself that this is just the stage we are in....it is fun and easy to take a picture of an immobile human.  There will be a time when he is an on-the-go toddler and I will probably feel guilty that I have so many pictures of obedient little Ayden and Zoe that will sit there and smile on command!!  On that note, here is Maddix's weekend he spent all by himself in La Quinta last weekend with Grammy and Grandpa!!!

Maddix went to the pool and went swimming for the 1st time!  He tried on Ayden's goggles and they really helped him to see underwater!!  :)  Check out that bulging buddha belly!!!  Good thing he was wearing a rash guard so he didn't have to be embarrassed by his bulging gut!!!  :)  HA!

He loves to stand, so I had to let him out of the pool every once in a while to keep him happy!!  :)

Oh wait....Mommy was there with Maddix too!!  YAY!!

And then he relaxed in the sun enjoying the mountain scenery of the desert all around him!

And then it was nap time....

Then it was time to go golfing with Grandpa and Maddix happily volunteered to be Grandpa's caddy!!  He was definitely dressed for the part!!  :)

Oh wait....Ayden WAS there TOO!!  :)

Our future Tiger Woods....

Happy boy.....

....with that infamous tongue that hangs out when he smiles.....

Such a cute boy....and he obviously had a very nice and relaxing weekend!!  It sure is a tough life to be a growing 4 month old baby!!  :)  I wonder where he will travel to next?!?!?

{hEaRt dAy}

Happy HEART Day to our favorite hubby and daddy.....from your 4 favorite people in the world!!!  :)

{4 mOntHs Old}

It has taken me 8 days to sit down and write about you turning 4 months!  I better hurry up or you will be turning 5 months before my very eyes!!  You are getting to be so much fun!  You are definitely becoming less blob and more personality!  We can now interact with you and make you smile and laugh whenever we want to!  You seem to be the happiest baby on the planet!  All someone needs to do is make eye contact with you and you flash the biggest, most flirtatious smile you can!!  Your whole face lights up when you smile!  Your eyes are so bright and shiny!  We love that about you!

You are very aware of your surroundings....you turn your head back and forth and back and forth all day long to keep your eye on your crazy brother and sister that run around and keep you entertained every waking minute!!  You love to watch them, but sometimes they get a little loud and it scares you!  The other day, Ayden was playing with you and he said something too loud and you got scared and cried!!  Awww...poor Ayden felt so bad!  Don't worry, you will get used to his loud voice in no time!!  :-/

You don't really love playing with your toys yet.....we always put toys down on the floor by you or in your hands, but you are not interested!  You also don't really love being put into any of your activity seats yet for more than 10 minutes at a time!  I remember your brother and sister LIVED in their activity center....so far, you are not a fan!  That is just one of the many ways you are different than them!  Mommy likes to think that you are just lazy....but who can blame you...you are such a big boy that I am sure it is hard work to even move!!  :)

You do love your swing though....in fact you love it so much that you are still sleeping in it every night!!  We tried putting you back in your crib a couple weeks ago for 3 nights and they were 3 LONG nights!!  Must be something about being flat on your back that makes the reflux more uncomfortable and also makes you more congested!!  Hopefully you will be able to sleep in your crib soon....or else you will go straight from swing to big boy bed!!  HA!  Speaking of sleeping, you are still getting up at least once a night to eat!!  We only feed you one time, but you wake up many other times a night and we plug your binky back in!  The doctor gave us the green light at your 4 month check up to let you start crying it out at night!!  YAY!!!  

We went to your 4 month check up on Feb 10th and you blew us away on your measurements!!  You were a whopping 19.5 lbs (off the charts.....100+ percentile) and were 26 1/4 in long (95th percentile)!  There is the big boy that we always thought you were going to be!!  It's just funny that you started out so small, but seems like you are finally catching up!!  You are becoming so heavy in your car seat carrier that I am almost tempted to just leave it in the car and move you from place to place!!  It gets hard to carry around 40 lbs everywhere I go!!

The doctor said you looked great!!  He was impressed at how well and how long you could stand up!!  I told him that is your favorite thing to do and you would rather be standing than sitting or laying down!  You get so giddy and happy when you are standing!!  You are so strong and you might just walk before you can crawl or even roll over!!  You have rolled over here and there, but are definitely not doing it consistently!  You had 3 shots and the docs office and you cried before she even poked you the first time!

That is typical though....you are quite dramatic!!  :)  You already know exactly what you want and you are willing to let everyone know about it until you get what you want!!  This sounds a lot like your sister....maybe we will have another Zoe in the house!!  UH OH!!!!  :)  We have started trying to give you some rice cereal and you are not at all shy about proving to us that you are not a fan!!  I guess we will keep trying!!  I remember your brother and sister couldn't wait to start rice cereal and loved it from day 1....just another way that you are totally different from them!!

You are cute as can be though....I love your sweet round face and your adorable smile!! You have brought so much joy to our family and we really cannot imagine what are days would be like without you!!  Keep on growing big guy!!!  :)

Here are some pics from Maddix's 4th month....

Went on the swings at the park for the 1st time....and loved it!!!

Sissy was there to hold your hand at the doc office while you got your 4 month shots!!  What a good sissy!! 

Trying out some rice cereal....not so much a fan!!!  :(

Cute pics on your 4 month birthday!!!  :)  I had to put them all cuz I just couldn't pick my favorite!!!

Showing off your standing skills....with tongue hanging out!!  All we need to do is slap a basketball in your hand and we can call you Michael Jordan!!!  :)

You are definitely a fan of tummy time now....now that you are really good at it!!  And look at how cute you look when you prop yourself up!!!  :)

Our sumo baby.....we really have had a few people ask us if he is Samoan!!  LOL!!  Love it that he is so chubby!!!

No teeth yet, but they must be on their way because you keep putting your fingers in your mouth and biting on them!!

 

Here is your 4 month carseat pic!!  Of course you are gnawing away on those chubby little fingers!!!  :)  HOW CUTE ARE YOU?!?!?!