Spring Break and Bryce's Two Month Checkup!

I had really been looking forward to this week...spring break!  I had the week off, as well as Mason and Bryce.  Poor Zane and Matt...it was off to work for them!!!  We kicked the week off by grilling Sunday night!

Matt and his "shadow."  Mason has REALLY been Matt's sidekick lately!

"Let me help you Daddy!"

Okay...so...we didn't luck out in the weather department this week...it rained EVERY SINGLE DAY of spring break!  It sure didn't motivate me to get anything done!  All I wanted to do was sit in my jammies and cuddle my boys!  Every day Mason would say "Can we go outside and play?  Is it done raining?"  We got out some to shop and run errands...and I decided it wouldn't hurt one bit to let them go out and play in the rain!  Stomp in the puddles...search for worms...they are boys after all!  So that's what we did...and they wanted to do it every day after we got home from getting Zane!

There's one!

Where should we put them?

Just me and my little brother...

Bryce had his 2 month checkup and it went well!  Overall he looked really good.  He's growing like he should be and doing everything that's expected of him (and then some...rolling over...)  Here are his two month stats:

• 12 lb, 7 oz (50 %ile)
• 23.25" (50 %ile)
• Head circumference - 16" (50 %ile)

He has a little case of cradle cap and either sensitive skin or eczema...which the other two have also...so an easy fix.  I did have him check out Bryce's pelvis as we had felt a hard bump off and on.  He had a look of surprise when he felt it, and told me he thinks it could be a hernia.  He is referring us on to a surgeon.  I know it's not a big deal, and that it's common, but I worry that my little baby will have to have surgery.  A mama doesn't like to hear that!  We are praying that the doctor is right, and that it is just a hernia, and that they can quickly and easily fix it.  I'm hoping they call soon and that we can have peace of mind!

I just love little baby toes!  :o)

The week flew by unfortunately...but it was nice to have a week of not having to get ready and go anywhere!  This weekend my parents were in town and stayed with us Saturday night.  We were lucky that the weather was GORGEOUS this weekend, so we spent most of our time outside!  The boys are WORN out...I feel sorry for Jo and Ms. Thomas tomorrow!

"Farmer Mason."  See the buckets?  They have "feed" for his cows and sheep!

Brycers feel asleep on Papa

Papa and Bryce

LOVE this face!

Look at the steps...this is the feed Mason threw down for his cows and sheep!  He has such a great imagination!

Today we headed to the park after lunch.  We were shocked that it wasn't any busier than it was!  But that was good for us because the boys could play wherever they wanted to!  I had my camera along and wanted to practice taking some photos...I'm learning...I'll get there!

Wow, doesn't he look old?

Sweet baby Bryce asleep at the park

And Matt sleeping with him!

Growing up so fast!

I have to tease Mason to get him to pose and smile for me...it's a chore!

Here he was on the slide and I was tickling him!

My toothless baby!

Whee!

This weekend Bryce has really been sucking on his hands a LOT!  He found that he likes these fingers!  I'm trying to keep him hooked to a pacifier versus his fingers...but I may not succeed!

Well, after all of this rain...our grass was green and LONG!  So Matt had to mow this weekend!  But it sure does look nice!  I had to take some photos of our house for Bryce's baby album, so I thought I'd include them on here just so someday we can look back at our beautiful house and yard!

Last night after the boys went to bed, we headed to the theatre to see The Hunger Games (thanks Mom and Dad for staying with the boys)!  When we got home, we checked on Bryce in the monitor and noticed that he was rolling around, and was almost rolling over onto his stomach.  We swaddle Bryce...he seems to do best being swaddled...but now we are questionning if we should NOT swaddle him...because we are scared of him getting onto his tummy and then not being able to move his head to the side or get back over.  Tonight I put him down without his swaddle and right away this is what he looked like:

But after about an hour of restlessness...and me going in every few minutes to give him his pacifier...I caved and put his swaddle on.  He's now sleeping soundly and I'm watching him in the monitor!  Either way...swaddled or not...I'm guessing I won't be sleeping too soundly!

Zane-isms

• As we were searching for worms outside, Zane saw one moving really slowly.  He said, "That one is an Old Papa worm."  I asked him why he called it that and he said, "Slow worms are Old Papa worms.  They're like 100 or something..."  (Old Papa...please don't take this wrong...I don't believe he meant it in a bad way...my students think I'm 90 years old...)
  

 

Mason's Marvels

• Yesterday when Mason was outside helping Matt, he noticed my pop sitting there and said, "Oh Dad.  I need a drink.  This is my freshment (refreshment)!"  Then every time he'd get a drink, he'd say, "Dad, I need some refreshment!"
• We told the boys to get in the van cause we were going to go have supper.  They asked where we were going and we said "Pizza Shoppe."  Mason looked at Matt, made a fist, and pulled it down toward his side as he said, "Rock and Roll!"

A Week on the Farm and Rolling Over!

Last week was Zane's spring break so Grandma offered to take the boys or a fun week on the farm!  She offered to take all three boys, but I just wasn't ready to be away from Bryce for that long!  As always, they had an amazing time and didn't miss us a bit!  I have a feeling they missed Bryce though...they were all over him when they got back!  Here are some highlights of their week!

Mason and Big hanging out on the porch

Giving each other a "squeeze..."

Papa, Mason, and Zane...at the zoo!

Leave it to Zane...

This looks serious...

Apparently Mason insisted on wearing his shirt backwards...the entire day...wonder what everyone thought when they saw him...

What a beautiul day for the zoo!

Growing up so fast!

Grandma reported that the boys spent a lot of time outside...from sun up to sun down!  They wore themselves out and slept well each day!  It sure would be nice to have all of that space all the time!

Riding around the farm!

Tryin out the brakes!

Mason in his element!

Mason was "working on the motor"

It was so weird to have just Bryce with us all week...Matt made the comment that it felt like we were just coming home with our first baby!  I agreed...except for the face that we were much more calm and relaxed!!  It was definitely quiet!  We didn't get a THING done!  Whoops!  However, we did enjoy our time.  We had a few supper dates...went shopping...and just enjoyed time when we could relax and didn't really have to be anywhere!

On Tuesday I went to visit another teacher from my building who had a baby three weeks ago.  Little Ethan will be going to Jo's in the fall...he and Bryce are sure to be good buddies!  Putting Bryce up next to Ethan made him look like a giant!

Ethan and Bryce...7 weeks apart

A few weeks ago when my parents were in town, Matt and I met our friend Justin at a piano bar called Howl at the Moon.  While there, we sent a text to this number in hopes of winning a happy hour.  We couldn't believe it when on Monday...BOTH of us received texts telling us we'd won!  We decided to have one of our happy hours this Friday!  We ended up having 9 of us there and had a blast!  One of the things you can do is pay money to have a message put up on the mirror.  Your message stays up until someone pays more for a new message.  Matt had this message up there for quite awhile:

Aah!  Love you too honey!



Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and also the first day Bryce rolled over from his back to his tummy!  Seriously...bitter sweet!  It's so great to be able to watch another baby through all of these "firsts..." but knowing it's the last baby we'll see do all of these things is sad!  He's been rolling over onto his side and trying to make it all the way over...and he kept doing this as we were playing in his room.  Zane, Mason and I were all there, and we kept cheering him on.  Zane was saying, "Come on buddy.  Face this way so you can see your fans."  Mason was saying "Come on buddy, you can do it!  Come on, come on, come on!"  When he did we all started clapping...it had to have been a sight!  (I looked at the other boys' books, and Bryce did this earlier than either of them!)

Love this face!

Had to take one where you could actually see the tie!

My boys...

The closest I got to them all looking...and happy faces on everyone...

Then they had to act like goofballs...

Which reminded Mason about his owie from the farm...shut his thumb in the tractor door.  Poor buddy!

Mason seemed to be Matt's "shadow" as soon as he got back from the farm.  It was pretty cute!  Grandma spent Friday night so we could go out, and headed home after lunch.  The boys always hate to see her go!  Honestly...Zane's cried himself to sleep for 3 nights calling her name...they love their grandparents so much and will always have such amazing memories!

Zane-isms

• Last weekend as we were driving into Lenox to see my parents, Zane said, "Why did Papa give his store away?"  Oh buddy...
• We were on our way to Grandma's house and Zane said, "We will be at Grandma's house, so you can have some peace and quiet!"

Mason's Marvels

• One day I was trying to get through a doorway and Mason was blocking it.  He said "what's the password" so I said something silly and he said, "No, it's pasamaquodi."  Okay, I don't know if I spelled that right...but apparently it's the name of the town in the movie "Pete's Dragon" that they watch at Grandma's all the time!  Ha!
• Mason and Matt were driving around in the country and were getting in the pickup.  Matt started to go and he said, "Wait Dad.  I didn't close the door 'coe-wect-wee' (correctly)."
• It's so cute to listen in to Mason with Bryce.  He'll say "You're so cute.  You're so beautiful.  You're so precious."  He loves him!!!
 

I Shouldn't Have Spoken So Soon...

I should have known better...that the minute I posted about Bryce sleeping through the night...it would end.  He slept 3 night in a row...and now has gone back to waking up once.  But I still can't complain.  Once is okay.  And it's usually 30 minutes or less from the time we get him up to the time he's back down.  But seriously, those 3 nights of sleeping all night were like Heaven...

I have been meaning to post these photos for weeks now!  Back in January, when Bryce was just 4 weeks old, I had a friend come over to take some pictures.  Although we took many pictures of all of the boys...they were less than cooperative, so we only got a few good ones!  We'll try, try again!  Anyway, I wanted to share the ones we did get!

PRECIOUS!

LOVE!

Sweet!

Oh man...love him holding onto my finger!

Don't you wonder what he is thinking?

My boys!

Again...if we could hear his thoughts!

The weather has really been shaping up around here!  Okay, really it's been nice all winter so I can't complain, but THIS weather is totally making me ready for full-fledged spring!  Anxious to have these boys outside every day!

Playing with chalk at Jo's

Nora and Mason making masterpieces!

Hanging out...talking...after bath time!

Bryce and Zane watching tv in the morning!

Smiles for Jo!

This story is hilarious!  Braeden seems to be smitten with Bryce.  His mom tells me he talks about him all the time.  He plays at home and has a "baby" named Bryce...he just loves him.  So the other day I said "Are you going to help Jo by changing Bryce's diaper?"  He said "Yea!" with a huge smile on his face!  So...Jo summoned him to help the other day...ha!

Tummy time at Jo's!

This past weekend we headed to Iowa.  We left a little bit late because Zane came home from school saying he didn't feel well.  He was complaining about his legs hurting.  I have had 3 cases of influenza A in my class this past week, so I was scared that's what he was getting.  So I took his temperature, but it was fine.  I gave him some tylenol for his legs.  In about 15 minutes he was jumping all over the place!  So...we decided that since there was no fever we could head home.  The closer we got...the more Zane was sneezing and stuffy...that darn Iowa air!  He got worse as the weekend wore on.  Saturday afternoon he ended up with a 101 temperature and his head was just full.  So we kept him on tylenol all weekend and he seemed to be fine...just a stuffy head...so we stayed on top of that.  Saturday we spent some time with my parents and Sunday we went to Grandma Beggs' for dinner.  The boys had so much fun playing there! 

Zane's eyes were super red and scratchy all weekend...so grandma gave him tea bags to make them better.  He was hilarious with them!  Even took them in the van with us and put them under his sunglasses.  The poor kid looked strange with tea running down his face!

Mason vacuuming at Grandma Hammer's house!

This week is Zane's spring break, so Grandma Farmer offered to have the older two boys stay on the farm for the week.  She actually offered for all 3 boys...but I wasn't sure I was ready to be away from Bryce that long yet!  So my excuse for not posting this until Wednesday is that we've been enjoying our time with one child!  Weird how I seem to have LESS time to get things done with LESS kids here!

I also have a couple of videos I've been trying to upload for 3 days now...and I'm just giving up for now.  Hopefully I can get them on here soon!!!