2 months...

Stennson is 2 months!! Wonderful, rewarding and a little sad all the same time! The weeks are flying by! We are thankful for Stennson's smiles and sweet talking that are now filling our days. He amazing me with his patience and blesses me immensely with his sweet spirit! Stennson we are madly in love with you!!!

At two months...

You no longer fit into your newborn clothes and are now in 3-6 months!

At your two month apt. you weighed 12 lbs 10 oz and you were 23 1/2 inches long!

You are going 8 to 9 hours between feedings at night!! (Eating at 8pm- then at 4 or 5am and again at 7 or 8am) Just getting up one time is great and once I get out of bed :) I truly enjoy my middle of the night feeding with you. It "our time!" You are the best snuggler!

Your typical day time eating schedule is 8am,11am,2pm,5pm, 8pm.

If I try to feed you closer than 3 hours in the day it usually upsets your stomach.

You spit! But, some days are better than others! It rarely bothers you!

You are amazing at putting yourself to sleep. You now perfer that I lay you down awake and you go to bed on your own. If I'm trying to get out the door and you're ready for bed you will fall alseep in your car seat!

You always sleep on your tummy. (I know they say not to, but you spit and you like it SO much better)

You are getting strong. Lifting your head up so well.

You smiles are the best! You smile the quickest for your daddy! You love him! You love it when he sings to you. When he sings you'll try to sing with him.

You are just starting to reach for your toys and try to grab them with your hands.

Shaelyn continues to adore you. She is great with you. She loves it now that you'll give her smiles. She definitely thinks she's your second mom!!

Some sweet pictures at 2 months...

You are getting some good little roles and a serious double chin :) There's nothing like baby chub!

Couldn't resist posting a picture of McLleyton at just over 2 months! They definitely look like brothers to me!

Friends!

We've had a lot of fun this summer getting together with friends! Combining our favorite place (the cottage :)) with friends is so much fun!! I didn't do the best job pulling out my camera this summer. But, here's a few fun pictures from our time with the Karsten's and a day with the Sharpe's!

Wow! 8 kids have joined our lives since we met :). We are so blessed! Karstens- Evan (8), Caleb(6), Olivia (4) & Nolan (2 1/2)!

Nolan and McLleyton hanging out :)...
Matt and Nate. I'm so thankful for these two ... who would have thought that Lisa and I taking the same job 10 years ago would have lead to so much!

Fun with the Sharpe's! Shaelyn and Elle...

Monreau and Amelia..
It was so great having the kids play and getting time to just sit and talk with Missy! I'm so thankful for her friendship!

Old News...

This is old news, but still exciting :)! Shaelyn learned how to ride a 2 wheeler this summer! We told her at the beginning of the summer that she had to learn before her brother/sister arrived! Sure enough one weekend in June she picked it up in just a day and a half of working on it! We live on a hill and there's really no where to ride or practice at our house (such a bummer!), so she was a little behind in learning, but thankfully we have the cottage and grandpa and grandma's house to ride at! She is loving her new independence and has had so much fun riding along with her daddy while he runs! She's made one more step in growing up :).

Here she on her first ride to the general store!

All four at "Pronto Pups" for dinner...

Sweet sisters...
Poppy and McLleyton
Getting a quick nap in :) Such a laid back boy!!

Riding back home!

Love this girl!! She'll be on a 2 wheeler before we know it! (She's already trying!)

Smiles!

  After a few weeks of waiting we are finally receiving some highly anticipated smiles... and they're the best!! :) Stennson is such a great baby! So content, patient, calm and now smily! He is 7 weeks old already! It's amazing how quickly these weeks are passing by, I wish I could slow them down! Stennson is sleeping 8 hours at night and on a great day time schedule! We have just over 2 weeks left of summer and then we'll see how we do getting 4 kids on a busier schedule :). For now I'll enjoy our lazy days and the quiet moments I get to snuggle this sweet boy!! 

Smiling for daddy! 

Potty Training...

McLleyton Potty Training!

Wearing his favorite t-shirt with his favorite reading material... Sports Illustrated! You should see how excited he gets when "his magazine" comes each week! He truly is Matt's dream son :) (ok and mine... I love it :))

Well, it's calm and boring around our house, so we decided to add a little excitement and POTTY TRAIN :)!! The truth is that McLleyton decided about 2 months ago that he was ready to potty train, but I've been pushing it off, not wanting to do it right before having a new baby. But, I was feeling like I was holding him back, so we just went for it! We started last Thursday and overall he is doing great! I went with the same approach that I trained the girls with- once the undies go on, no turning back (except for nap/bed time). I gave him lots of drinks and just tried to get him to pee as much as possible. Day 1 and 2 he was about even on accidents/successes. My parents were gracious enough to let me do it at the cottage where there's tons of things to do outside, so we just stayed outside with a little potty for 4 days and went at it! Day 3 and 4 he did awesome! No accidents!! Today we ventured out to the gym, and errands and he stayed dry the whole time- going 2x while we were out! I was so impressed!! He seems to really be getting it. He still isn't telling me that often when he has to go, it's been more of me telling him to sit and try, but he is definitely making great progress! For just turning 2 in June I think he's doing awesome :)... hopefully we can just stay on top of it for the next week or two until we really have it down! Only having 1 in diapers will be great. It's amazing how much my sweet boy is growing up!!!!

Cottage Living...

Two days after Stennson was born my whole family came into town for our family time at the lake! The cottage truly comes alive! The energy and excitement of the kids is contagious and it's an amazing gift to have a place that we can all be together! Even in my post baby, tired state it was a lot of fun!! :)

There's no time right now to write about all the fun events... so some pictures will have to tell the stories :)!

Our family continues to grow! We are now 26! 13 adults and 13 kids!

My mom had scheduled family pictures... Stennson was 3 days old :) Good thing he was born 10 days early!
All the grand kids!
My sister Jenn and Darren (2)
McLleyton and his best buddy Uncle John! He really misses him now that they live in NC!

Golf! McLleyton's favorite past time!
Movie time! All tired out after a long day of playing!
Talks on the front porch!

The 4 years olds playing! These two are great buds!

Football in the backyard :)

Swimming with Aunt Belen and James! Mc and James had so much fun together!

Sweet Elena! Such a happy girl!

Aunt Kelly and Uncle John with Stennson...

Playing in Poppy's convertible :)... what will life be like in 14 years when they can take it out? :)
Off to the boat ... hours and hours of fun were spent out on the lake! Tubing, boating, and JUMPING!

Cousins! :)

Monreau and Patrice... when I look at this picture I feel like I can see them at 16! :)

Elena (1), Kelly, Belen, James (2)...

Off to go tubing...

The best Nanny and Poppy around! Thanks mom and dad for all the amazing memories and experiences :)

McLleyton back with Uncle John :)...
Uncles gone wild! :) John, Darren and Matt having A LOT of fun jumping off the pontoon boat!
More golfing...
Stennson getting some love from James and Jurrien (7)...

John, Shaelyn, Kelly...

Sophia and Ro playing in the waterfall...

Monreau is an amazing swimmer! She has the green hair to prove it :). She loves the water! Her new thing this summer is diving to get rings in the deep end!

Lauren and Shaelyn...

As I looked through pictures I realized I wasn't in any of them :) Not such a bad thing as I just had a baby, but here's the one I could find to prove I was there! It's been great watching the kids have so much fun!