HAPPY BIRTH DAY KADE MATHEW!

Kade Mathew came into this world at 6:01 pm on Thurday, September 30th!  

Kade is six weeks premature but doing great! 

4 pounds 13ounces

Mom Katy barely squeaked the planned babyshower in on Sunday and was admitted to the hospital later that same evening. After a few days of receiving medication to stop contractions, doctors and parents felt it was best to let nature take it's course.  We are thrilled Kade is here and know he is receiving the best care.

The door wreath Deona made.

Grandma Jackie proudly displays her "World's Greatest Gigi" t-shirt.
She's a tad proud, can you tell? :o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY KADE!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Can you believe I'm turning 29?  Some days I sooo feel like 42. :o) 

Well even though today is officially my birthday, the celebration started on Sunday when the four of us met Dondi, Roy, Jordan, Matt and Grammy for brunch at Division Street Diner.  Thank you for the gifts, birthday song and brunch, it was all wonderful!

Today has also been a great day.  This morning I slept in, snuggled with Everett and Emory,

Iphone photo - apologies for poor quality.



ate a delicious breakfast (prepared by Deona), received  lots of sweet Facebook birthday wishes,



Thanks Tammy for the birthday photo post.  *shaking head* :o)

lounged on the recliner, folded laundry and watched Emory roll from his back to his belly for the very first time! 



Sweet Baby Boy.

 Emory prefers our dirty rug over his clean blankets.   He manages to bundle them up or wiggle rightt off of them. :o)

  

The weather today was absolutely delicious, the perfect combination of sunny and mild with a subtle breeze.  So, after naps we headed to the park 

then met Grampy at El Arroyo, for my birthday dinner.  THANKS DON!

Later in the evening we headed to Grammy's for a bit (thanks Debbie for my wonderful birthday gift!) and then returned home to a a video call from the Jaso's.  I soooo wish I had recorded the beeeeea-yooooouuuuuu-tiful rendition of Happy Birthday, led by nephew Chad on guitar. :)

Inquiring minds: My sis does not usually wear her hair in this style.  Just on special occassions.  LOL!

Soon after, I received a video call from my mom and dad; the perfect end to my perfect birthday.  Happy Birthday to Me.

Everett Loves to Learn

We're suprised just how fast Ev is learning. 

Alphabet

Though he doesn't entirely know the alphabet song, he visually knows all but 4 letters (G,J,V,W). 

Shapes

He knows triangle, square, circle, oval, crescent/moon, rectangle and star.

Colors

He can pick out the colors blue, green, yellow, orange and red.

Spacial Relations

Ev's really quite good putting puzzles together; I'm sure he gets that from me. :op

Goodbye Faux Hawk

Exacly five months later....

(click to enlarge)

Emory's lost most of his hair. :)





Jordan's Birthday Celebration at Abbey's Playtown

Jordan celebrated his 5th birthday today at Abbey's Playtown.   This year Jordan invited many of his friends from school.  

Everett had a BLAST...

as did Emory....

as did Uncle Roy. :)

The cake was not only DELICIOUS, but a work of art:

Everett absolutely, positively LOVED his very first juice box. Do you suppose he's figured out we've been cheating him all along with watered down apple juice.  :-/

Jordan's birthday celebration at Abbey's Playtown was a hit!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!

LOOK what Emory can do!

He's been grabbing toes for a couple of weeks now, but today was full-on foot and toe grabs.  Hooray for our growing baby boy!

And  just when I'm convinced his eyes are hazel, he gives me a shot like this.  Beautiful .

Brotherly Love

Negotiation

Ah, negotiation.  I LOVE IT!!!!   Over the course of the week it's taken some creativity on our part to help Everett understand the concept; especially during meal time.

Everett's a picky eater and lately he's even turned his nose to favorites like broccoli, bananas and grapes.  Lucky for us, he has a few fav's left for us to negotiate with. :)

This morning I made eggs and bacon.  Everett HATES eggs but LOVES bacon.  Before receiving his second slice of bacon, I asked him to eat his eggs first.  IT WORKED like a charm.  :)



Fork, no fork it doesn't matter,  EVERETT ATE HIS EGGS!!.



Mr. Happy

Mr. Happy is wearing size 12 months shorts and 18 months shirt
(both Everett's hand-me-downs).  

Too cute!!

LOOK what came in the mail this week

Progressions

Earlier in the year I blogged about Everett's nightly routine which included putting up toys, changing into pajamas and brushing teeth. Though we had a challenging month of August*, I am happy to report Everett is back on track and has even taken the lead in cleaning up his room before going to bed each night.  You can probably imagine how proud I am when one of us announces, "it's time for bed" and Ev starts the evening routine which inevitably  includes a "nigh-night" to each one of his toys as he returns them to their proper shelf, basket,or bin. :o)
Other Progressions:
Ev is also now able to get out his own toothbrush/paste from the vanity drawer and turn on the faucet all by himself.
Everett now prefers sleeping in the "big" bed now. Although this move is sooner than we had hoped, we couldn't have asked for an easier transition. 

*Thank you for all your kind words, words of wisdom, suggestions, thoughts and prayers during the past few months.  Loving life, once again. :)

5 Months Old Today

Emory is 5 months old today!  Unbelievable.

I really loved the fourth month. It was, by far, the easiest and most joyful month we've had as a family. I'm a bit sad to see it go. Happy Birthday Sweet Baby! Your mommies love you more than they can say.

MILESTONES

PHYSICAL

Eyes: your eyes are still blue but your eyes sometimes look hazel/green depending on what you’re wearing.
Hair: Your hair is thinning and you’ve lost a lot of your birth hair. The faux hawk on the top, back part of your head is just about gone. You have a bald spot from lying on your back. I’m not sure what color your hair is. Most of the time it looks light brown but your hair sometimes appears blonde or red in photographs.
Body shape: You are very long and thick. You have chubby little arms and legs. Your cheeks are round especially when you smile. It appears you too will have dimples like your brother.

Clothing: You are a big boy. You wear 12 month clothing and size 4 diapers.
This week your Mama weighed you on the home scale; you weighed 21 pounds.

DEVELOPMENT
You are reaching most of your milestones. Those you have not reached are only because you are such a big boy. I’m most certain you are stronger than most babies your age as you have more mass to move.

You are:
-so close to rolling from back to tummy
-have started reaching for toes
-grasping and holding objects
-Putting objects directly in your mouth. If Mommy would let you, you’d even put my hair and nose in your mouth.
-can lift your chest and part of your stomach off the floor
-kicking your legs and feet to help you move around on your pallet
-able to turn your head and adjust your body if you are wanting to see something
-able to sit for 15 seconds without support and sometimes you lean forward on both hands
-bearing full weight on your feet
-enjoying movement. You especially like to rock forwards and backwards while sitting on someone’s lap or your exersaucer
-responding to your name and recognize your moms faces.

FEEDING
Emory you are eating approximately 6 oz, every 3-4 hours, and every 6 hours at night.
Your reflux is MUCH better. We are currently transitioning you from Rice Starch formula to Sensitive. The transition has been much easier than we thought.  You LOVE rice cereal; we will introduce a puréed vegetable this weekend.

SLEEP
You sleep and nap very well. You take approximately three 30 minute power naps through the day. This week you even took a 5 hour nap. Typically your bedtime is around 10:00 p.m.; then up once for a feeding around 4 a.m. Both you and your brother wake up around 7:30; mornings in bed with you and Ev are my most absolute favorite time of the day. You both are so sweet and snuggly.

MISCELLANEOUS
You still take 1.0 mil baby Zantac / twice daily.

You are super-duper ticklish; especially your tummy, feet and underarms. Mommy LOVES to hear you giggle.

You already love your big brother; you have so much fun watching him play and especially enjoy his attention and snuggles.

You are a very good and happy baby.  We are so blessed.

Thanks for Noticing

Emory's taken an interst to Everett's hobby.

Everett's been very sweet to notice.

I must say I got a little teary in the eyes. :)
Thanks for noticing Everett, you are a wonderful, big brother.

Fun Shots

Our almost 5 month old is so strong and growing up too fast.   Here are a couple of fun shots I took yesterday and today.

LOVE this shot - our little porcelain doll.

Looks like Emory is in ballet class. :)

Emory's favorite part of the day - Lunch (left).   Emory's worst part of the day - Finished with lunch. (right) 
Poor baby is starved. Can you tell? :)

More Than A Cut

We got Everett's hair cut yesterday (finally). I remembered why we dont go on a regular basis. Our instructions are always to "give it a good trim, layering all but the sides and bangs not too short". Despite our requests, the finished cut usually resembles a chili bowl:See for yourself:

Poor baby. I guess he was feeling especially dorky because he deliberately wore my reading glasses upside down.

A terribly unfortunate site. :) LOL.

After feeling bad for our CBC (chili-bowl-child), I decided to take matters into my own hands. Cutting hair is NOT my specialty, but neither was Ev's look.

After the bang layering, Ev got up and started striking some fierce poses and I swear no prompting from me either. The other interesting thing to point out, Ev wore my reading glasses right side up.

So there you have it. The proof is in the pudding (or the chili bowl). A haircut is more than just the cut - it's an attitude adjustment.

September 1st - Things are looking up!

It appears the man of the house enjoys doing laundry. I think I'll let him.

Ev moving clean laundry from washer to the dryer.

Checking the dryer settings.

Standing back watching the dryer.

Now to get the bedsheets into the washer.

Happy Ev; Proud Mommy.

Everett's going to make a fine husband, one day.