First trip to the zoo

I had my first trip away from Lincoln this past week.  I was only gone three days for a work conference which was much better than an entire week and thankfully everything went well.  Ryan’s parents helped Ryan juggle the boys while I was gone and I got lots of extra snuggles when I got home.  I missed the boys but it was nice to be back in Kansas City for a few days to see co-workers and sneak a few extra hours of sleep in the hotel room J.  Ryan got to enjoy the ISU basketball game on Saturday and boy did he get to see a good game.   I was home with the boys and we had our first little incident.  I was upstairs for about 10 minutes feeding Lincoln and trying to catch the end of the game and the boys were supposed to be watching a show downstairs. I should have known something was up because they were being a little too quite but when I got downstairs to check on them I found that they had taken the diaper cream and thinking it was lotion rubbed it all over their bodies and the couch.  I didn’t get any good pictures but it was a lovely site and they went straight to the tub. 

This has been such a long winter and we were so excited for the nice weather on Sunday that we decided to make a quick trip to the zoo.  The boys loved seeing the animals and getting to be outside and run around a little.  Their favorite animals were the lions and tiger which they proceeded to roar at very loudly.  This was Lincoln’s first trip and he did great.  He rode around in the stroller for most of it content to chew on one of his toys.  He started to get a little fussy towards the end so we got he out and he loved getting to look around and really be a part of it all.  All the animals were really active which was fun to see and all 3 boys totally crashed on the way home.  Looking forward to more of these trips and the weather continues to warm up.

Wyatt's first trip to the dentist

I took the boys to the dentist on Tuesday.  It was Wyatt’s first trip and he did awesome!  I wasn’t too worried since he’s usually pretty good with doctors and trying new things but it definitely helped that we walked into the office and they were playing his favorite show Super Why.  It was a super cute office with a barn them and had several games for the kids to play and a slide.  The boys loved it!  The staff and dentist were amazing and made the boys feel so comfortable.  I only had my phone so I didn’t get very great pictures but here are a few from the visit.

The only crazy thing is that I took them to McDonalds afterwards since we missed lunch at their school and to celebrate being so brave and both boys scarfed their entire happy meals and begged for another hamburger and proceeded to each down another hamburger.  I’m going to be in trouble when they’re teenagers.

Winter Winter go away!

Will this winter ever end?!?!  This winter is the longest and coldest one that I can even remember and we are all getting a little cabin fever being stuck inside so much.   We are SO ready for spring!!!!

We’ve tried to keep the boys busy with activities but after a while it seems to end up being a game of let’s see how many rooms we can make a huge mess within J.  

Lot's of playing dress-up with costumes

Lot's of building castles and playing with playdoh (clothing optional :))

We were even able to let them play in the snow for a little bit on one of the less colder days and help dad do some shoveling while Lincoln and I observed from the window.  They loved it!

Lincoln - 6 months old

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old already!  Isn't it crazy how much he's grown and changed??

We just love him to pieces and he's such a happy little guy but still our little peanut.  We had his checkup earlier this week and he was 17 lbs (44%) and 26.3 inches (47 %).

He is very into toys now and chewing on everything.  I'm thinking it won't be too long before we see that first tooth.

He tried baby food for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it.  So far he's tried sweet potato, butternut squash and mangos and loved them all.  Gavin even got in on the action and was able to feed him a few bites and they boys always want to try everything he's eating as well :).

Not much progress in the sleep department.  With him we've realized that it's just going to be baby steps.  Our issue right now is that he keeps rolling over on his stomach and getting stuck and upset so we're hoping he will consistently start rolling over from his stomach to back soon to help with that issue.

Trying to get a picture of all three boys with everyone looking is pretty much impossible but i still try :).

This little guy loves his brothers so much and they him!  As soon as he can move he's going to be following them everywhere :).  

5 and 3 year old check ups

I thought this visit would be pretty quick and uneventful so I scheduled Gavin and Wyatt’s check-up’s together since they did so well last year.  I didn’t realize that the 5 year checkup includes 4 shots and a blood draw for kindergarten so this visit ended up being incredibly exhausting and stressful. 

Gavin actually did really well with his flu shot last year but this year was full on freak out  (nurse gave him the award for loudest screamer :))and ever since if he even hears the mention of a shot he starts freaking out.  I felt bad because I had told him several times no shots just a routine checkup and then we go back to have them get their height/weight and blood pressure checked when the nurse mentions a blood draw.  Gavin immediately picks up on that and starts panicking and asking about shots.  I try to explain that in order to go to kindergarten you have to get certain tests taken and he wants nothing to do with it and is already professing that he’s not going to kindergarten if it involves shots.  

Then we get to our room and the nurse comes in and asks if we are going to do it all today.  I have no idea what she’s talking about so she mentions that he needs 4 shots and a blood draw and this brings on the hysteria.  First the nurse comes in for the lab draw and he sits on the table really nicely and she’s explaining everything and he’s doing good.  I’m holding his other arm and then she mentions the finger prick and he freaks out screaming at the top of this lungs, kicking his legs, thrashes his arms and throws his body back.  Neither of us were quite expecting that so it was all she could do to get his finger pricked but as soon as it was done we were able to calm him as he watched the little tube fill with blood.  The rest of the time waiting for the doctor involved him going between bawling and giving me threats about what he was going to do if he had to get shots.  I’m not sure where my sweet little boy went but I was told that he would kick the nurse, spit in her face, throw up all over really any threat he could think of if I made him get shots and I spent the time trying to calm him down and bribe him with anything I could think of that might make him relax a little.  Nothing was working!

Thankfully Wyatt was amazing during all this and just sat in his chair quietly.  When the doctor came in he did Wyatt’s checkup first and he did awesome.  He answered all the doctors questions and sat still.  Gavin was a train wreck but the doctor assured me that they see this all the time which made me feel slightly better.  Finally the nurse came back for the shots and was smart and brought 2 other nurses for back up this time.  We had to force him to lay down but I think it helped because I then held his hands and laid on top of his chest which sounds awful but I think it made it better because then he couldn’t see what they were doing.  He still screamed at the top of his lungs but once it was over he was totally fine and the nurses actually thought he did really well considering all the screaming and crying he did leading up to the actual event.  He was back to normal and excited that he got extra cookies and stickers. 

It’s a good thing that they don’t need routine shots again until they’re 11 because even though he told me it wasn’t that bad after the fact I guarantee if I told him we needed to go back and get another shot tomorrow we would get full on freak out mod again.  So probably the worst doctor’s appointment to date for me as a parent but we all survived and thankfully we have 2 healthy boys :). 

Gavin’s stats: Height – 45.3 inches (88%), Weight – 44lbs 13 ozs (75%), deathly afraid of shots J

Wyatt’s stats: Height – 38.5 inches (75%), Weight – 33lbs 13 ozs (72%)