Our Buddy

I've been experimenting with my camera to get some shots to frame on my black and white wall. I'm no professional, but they turned out kind of cute. I haven't figured out on our laptop how to make them black and white to post but I think they look pretty good in color too. Jackson jumped in for the fun too and was real helpful in getting the baby to look up. As a matter of fact, when he's looking up to the side, he's looking at his big brother Jack.

Growing Up

Colton has been really fun this week smiling when we ask him to. I've managed to take some pretty cute pictures of him. He is absolutely huge, we went in to weigh him on Wednesday and he was 15 lbs 5 oz already. I think we're going to go broke feeding this boy! I'm about to start washing 6-12 month clothes already. He's killing me!

Learning to Play

Daddy loves his piano and hopes his boys will develop his love of music and instruments. Here he is starting the little guy right off the bat. He looks mighty perplexed! He seems to enjoy listening when his daddy plays. Jackson is about to start piano lessons so perhaps Colt will be right behind. Connor seems more interested in the drums and guitar. All that rock band and guitar hero!

Microbiologist for a Day

Connor had the unique opportunity today to visit our lab at the hospital. This was specially set up for him on his day off from school. When he arrived he was given his very own lab coat with his name on it. He went through four different areas; hematology, microbiology, chemistry and blood bank. He spent the majority of the day in the microbiology area learning about how to run different tests and actually running them. He can run a rapid strep now! He got to use the training microscope to see all kinds of different plates and was even able to run some of his own experiments. He tested his own blood they drew and doing swabs of things he dropped on the floor for 5 and 10 seconds to test "the rule". He had an absolute BALL and is even more sure now he wants to be a scientist. He's headed back to the hospital tomorrow to see if his experiments have grown anything. He is so cute, took notes and came home and read me his notes and showed me all the pictures he drew of what he saw. What an amazing learning experience for him.

I'm 5 Years Old

I can hardly believe it's already been 5 years since Jackson was born. Seems like just yesterday he was Colton's size. He has been such a fun little boy, and I am really enjoying the big boy he is becoming...well, most of the time. He is developing a definite personality. He wants to do everything his big brother does and actually keeps up with Connor pretty well. For his birthday this year we decided to go bowling as a family with two other families the Lawlors and the Hayes and have pizza and chocolate cake. All I can say about the bowling is that we all bowl much better on the Wii! Jack shared his birthday with his school mates at school with a cup cake party. Mom even tried to make them look like soccer balls...I thought I did pretty well, he wasn't so impressed. Oh well. Given the sleep deprivation he should be glad I showered on his birthday! So what is Jackson like at 5? He loves to sing and dance and play on the Wii. He really enjoys any activity or sport that takes place outdoors and involves running. He has at least three scars on his face already from being such an active little daredevil. His favorite movies are the Batman movies. He still loves his chicken nuggets as a favorte food along with pizza with macaroni (pepperoni). School is not his favorite but he can already do some simple math in his head thanks to his big brother. He had his 5 year well check up and he weighed in at 46 lbs and 44 inches in height. He's real excited because this makes him tall enough to ride most big roller coasters. Hope he doesn't expect mommy to ride them with him!

Basketball Star!

Connor has started winter basketball season. Unfortunately Jeff wasn't able to coach his team this year, the first time in the 5 years he's played. Connor has proven to be quite a good basketball player this year much to the joy of his father. He's starting to really understand the game and where to position himself. He scored 18 points on Monday night's game. We are real proud of our smart athletic 10 year old!

SMILING GIANT

So okay, maybe I'm a braggy mom, but my child is BRILLIANT!! And so is his little new smile. He's been trying to smile for us, wide open mouth and finally on Saturday morning, he graced us with two attempts that were just gorgeous! He knows he's done so well, you can just tell. Colton has continued to grace us with at least a smile a day on command. Just makes my heart melt, and I have to continue to wonder where this angel came from. I look forward to more of these along with giggles soon.
So why do I call him giant? Well, I took Jackson to his 5 year well check up appointment and asked to stick the Colt man on the scale just to check how much he weights now as I've had to wash all his 3-6 month clothes up already and he's nicely filling them out. Well, the verdict, 14 lbs 8 oz at 6 weeks to the day. I looked, Connor was 13 lbs at 3 months. This is all new to us, having such an enormous baby. I gotta think it will slow soon.

I'm 1 month old

I can hardly believe a month has passed already. January 2, and our baby is growing well. He was 10 lbs 2 oz at 2 weeks so we imagine he is close to 12 lbs by now. He's filling out all his 0-3 month clothes already. He's still not sleeping terribly well. We have him on a strict 3 hour schedule but he likes to continue to maintain that schedule at night. He's also been fussier in the last week and a half. We think he's having belly issues as he seems uncomfortable. But we love him all the same and he's trying to smile at us, I just know it. He ends up smiling at the pictures or lamps he's looking at so perhaps it's really just gas!

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year!We had a quiet celebration at home with friends. Our friend Kelly's husband deployed just 2 days after Christmas so we asked her over along with our neighbors the Edens. We played alot of Wii, ate far too much, and had a bit of liquid celebration. Rang in our new year while watching the British version of the apple dropping in NYC, a countdown clock projected on Big Ben and fireworks on the London Eye. 2008 brught a very unepected baby, can hardly wait to see what 2009 brings for our family!

Happy Christmas!

Our first Christmas in England. Well, we had the 400 wakeup call from Colton and I guess the bigger boys thought that was an okay time to get up and take a peek for presents. After being told very strictly that we were NOT getting up yet, they managed to make it to 1100 before making mommy get out of bed after a very sleepless night with Colt. He was wearing his "all mummy wants for Christmas is a silent night" t-shirt but it unfortunately did not have it's desired effect. Guess I have to forgive him since he can't read!
So it was the Christmas of Wii! We got a Wii and about every game you can think of to go with it I think. I guess it is pretty obvious what we did all day! My sweet husband not wanting to have me in the kitchen all day with a baby to feed suggested we have our flank steak and potatoes meal so it was an easy cooking day. All I had to make was a traditional pecan pie. Having not had one at Thanksgiving I was eager for one too. Jim & Lisa came over again for dinner and the Wii games continued. I was excited to get a new lens for my camera and the tales of Beatle the Bard from my sweet Connor who hunted down this new JK Rowling book specially for me. I love that he's becoming such a thoughtful boy. I also like our new Christmas morning breakfast tradition of scones, jam and clotted cream and crumpets! Kind of like fish and chips on Thanksgiving!

Jeff is 39!

WOW, NEXT year he turns 40! Can't believe he is getting so old! Jeff celebrated his 39th birthday on the 24th of December. We had friends Jim Forrest and Lisa over for dinner and spent an enjoyable evening visiting. We had the traditional chicken noel and chocolate mayonnaise cake that Jeff loves so much for dinner. Of course, after all the presents had been opened and the cake eaten, it was time to put out cookies and milk for Santa and herd two little boys off to bed.

Party Boy!

Well, it's been a great few weeks so far with the little guy. He has been quite a trooper as we've dragged him to soccer games and Christmas parties all month. I'd forgotten how much they sleep in the beginning and how easy it is just to pop them in the car seat and go. Colt got all dressed up in his Santa suit for the group Christmas party. It was a loud party but he slept the entire time.
The boys have been having a ball with him although once he is a bit more active, I think they will enjoy him more. I keep answering loads of questions like when's he gonna smile, when's he gonna talk etc... Connor doesn't really remember Jackson as a baby as much as I thought he would and Jackson is all new to this. Both boys have been incredibly helpful either holding the little guy or running and getting something for mama that I might need. I love that the older boys love their little baby so much. Jackson has already asked for another.......

Our Miracle

I can hardly believe Colton Lee is finally here. It seems impossible that it has been 9 months since the doctor told me over the phone that I was pregnant. After picking myself up off the floor, I think it has literally taken me the entire nine months to realize there would be another little White boy running around soon. By the end I was pretty miserable and HUGE! So I begged to be induced just four days from my due date. The doctor who agreed actually did not deliver Colt, but a friend, our group commander's wife, Liz did the honors. She came in to check on me early in the day and asked if she could be a part of our case. We jumped at the opportunity! This made the delivery even more special for me. By 9:20 p.m. after only 15 minutes of pushing and completely numb from the epidural (thank goodness) I gave birth to Colton. He was 9 lbs 7 oz which after having a 5 and 6 pounder was quite unexpected. Where did this ginormous baby come from? My mom arrived from the states that afternoon, and she was able to come up with two very anxious big brothers to see the new baby. The big brothers adore their new baby. We had lots and lots of visitors having delivered where daddy works. It was a good experience and I would have stayed longer if they would have let me, but after two days in the hospital we headed home. So I guess it's back to cooking and cleaning for me!