The Darnedest Things

Do you remember that show Bill Cosby hosted a few years ago, "Kids Say the Darnedest Things"? It was a great show! All about kids and what they say. Well he was right on the money with that saying because they really do! Here are some things said around our house in the last week that I hope I never forget and just thought I'd share.

"The Highchair"
The boys were getting settled to eat lunch and Peyton tried to sit at the table (because he wants so much to be as big as Tristan). But I told him "Pey, you can't reach your food at the table. You have to sit in your highchair."
Tristan laughed and said, "The highchair?!?"
Me, "Yes... this (pointing at it) is Peyton's highchair."
T, "Oh! The HIGHchair!!" There was a slight pause. "Hi!!! Hi Peyton!!!" As he waved at Peyton.
I cracked up and couldn't stop giggling about it. The new and improved "Hi"chair.

"Jumping on the bed"
One morning while brushing the boys teeth, Tristan laid his head over on my belly and was very still. I asked what he was doing and this is where the conversation went.
T, "Um... I'm listening."
Me, "Oh, what do you hear?"
T, "I hear Kohen."
Me, "What is he doing?" (all the while he is still listening closely)
T, "Well, I bink (think) he's jumping on the bed."
Me, "You do?"
T, "Yes. Mama, you need to spank him."
Me, "Well, I think we should just tell him not to jump on the bed."
T, "Kohen, we don't jump on the bed! Mama will spank you!"

"Medicine"
Peyton was particularly snotty, sneezy and red eyed one day. He is prone to allergies like his Daddy. So at lunch I gave him some allergy medicine hoping he could get some relief from his itchy sneezy face. Tristan saw me giving Peyton the medicine and says "Mama, my tummy hurts. I need some medicine too."
Me, "Well, this medicine isn't for tummies. It's for Peyton's itchy eyes and nose. I think you should probably just eat and that will make your tummy feel better."
About this time I finished giving Peyton the medicine and along with a shutter he rubbed and scratched his head as the medicine settled. Tristan watching Peyton's reactions, started scratching his head. And said, "Mommy, my head is itchy... I bink I need some medicine..."
Smart one he is! And such a turkey!

I realize all of these stories were only things Tristan said. Peyton does talk and A LOT as a matter of a fact! He just doesn't carry on conversations yet. I'm sure there will be many more posts and laughs out of him too in the future! Things he does say as of late that always make me smile...

"Inna helt" - I want to help
"Awuder won" - Another one
"I steent" - I stink
"Ere dit dow?" - Where'd it go?
"Is dat?" - What is that?
"Inna hoed it" - I want to hold it

I love the little words and little conversations that go on in our home (most of the time anyway). I know our hands are full. And as soon as Kohen arrives they will be even more full! By the way I am two days late today and we are just waiting! But I would much rather have my hands full any day than for them to be empty.

The home s t r e t c h

It's so easy to believe that my pregnancy is almost over. You're probably thinking wait... what? Don't people usually say, "It's gone by so fast!" "It feels like we just found out!". These statements were both true of my first two pregnancies but for some reason this one has just seemed longer! And I haven't even reached my due date yet! But boy, am I ready!

The boys loving on baby Kohen

This whole waiting thing isn't the most fun. I am two days away from my due date and it could happen anytime. However, I am not holding my breath for an early delivery. Lets review, shall we? Tristan was forced out 3 days early because my Dr wasn't sure how big he was going to be. I have a feeling, based on how long it took to persuade him to come out, he would have stayed longer before deciding to come out on his own. Peyton seemed to enjoy his stay in my tummy so much he decided to stay 6 days past his check out date! Not to mention my Mother was 16 days late (exactly) with all 3 of us kids. I blame my slow oven on her by the way. So yes, he could come early and I would welcome it. But I highly doubt it.

You know what I find interesting? I went into a local children's boutique a few days ago and aside from finding the sweetest little Hippo lovie for Kohen (the same brand as Pey's giraffe), I met a lady who was pregnant with her second child. We, along with 2 other women who were currently not pregnant but had been at one time, talked about all the things you do to try and induce your own labor in the last weeks of pregnancy. Some were quite interesting, I must say. And others were just plain wrong! As I drove away I had to laugh, only pregnancy could bring women together who had never met before to discuss the intimate things we discussed! I am still laughing about it today! (giggle and sigh) What a common bond.

I have been feeling very round these days. Indigestion and sleep have been my worst enemies. And my feet started swelling this last week. On the other hand I have become particularly fond of whatever small part of Kohen has been moving underneath my right ribcage. It doesn't jab me or take my breath away like some of his low kicks do. It's just a little nudge, very sweet and slow at times. I am so eager to meet him. He is so loved and blessed already and he has no idea yet.

His Daddy and big brothers are ready to meet him too! We have all pitched in on getting his room and things ready for his arrival. Daddy climbed up in the attic and pulled down all the itty bitty clothes and baby stuff. The boys "helped" me wash, dry and fold them. And even helped hang them up in his closet. I love seeing all the baby clothes out and ready. We still have a couple things on a to do list that will hopefully get done before he arrives but nothing major.

Itty bitty clothes washed and ready to be put away...

Here are some pictures of his nursery...

Diaper changing station (notice his bag packed and ready for the hospital)...

This bedding is the same bedding we used with the other boys. Still as cute as ever!

Two big brothers ready to meet their little brother!

And of course the truth is, it will be a little while before he will actually occupy his room. So this is a picture of his cradle that is patiently awaiting him...

And so we wait. Patiently and sometimes impatiently. But all the same... we wait. I am encouraged by my friend who tells me, "He will come out! He won't be 13 and still in the womb." For this I am very thankful.

To baby Kohen, please come soon. We are so ready to meet you!

And as for me...  "I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

-Lamentations 3:24

Blessed.

A couple of weekends ago my dear friend Kendall threw Kohen (and me) a diaper shower! It was such a huge blessing and so much fun! Here are some of the pictures and highlights...

Look at all the yummy food!

The diaper cake!

"For you created my inmost being; 

you knit me together in my mother's 

womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and 

wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, 

I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you 

when I was made in the secret place. 

When I was woven together in the 

depths of the earth, 

your eyes saw my unformed body. 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book 

before one of them came to be." 

Psalm 139:13-16

This was such a neat idea, Kendall took clothes pins, glued magnets on the back and wrote Kohen's name along with this scripture reference on them. She gave them to the guests as a reminder to pray for Kohen and his arrival!

Another sweet idea! She got a book that everyone at the shower wrote messages to Kohen in the front cover (instead of a guestbook). I can't wait to get to read it to him. The book and all the sweet notes from people that love him so much!

We were so incredibly blessed by all of the gifts we received. Diapers, wipes and more!

Let the games begin! We played a few games. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture or not but in this game we were smelling diapers! No, not actually dirty ones. It was melted candy bars and we had to guess which candy was which by smelling the diapers! It was pretty funny!

I didn't get any pictures of the other two games we played. We did a word scramble of baby related words. And the other game was guess my belly size! 

Some of the lovely guests! Oh, and the hostess made it in this picture too! 

Zoe (One of T's little buddies) was one of the smallest shower guests. I snapped a quick shot of a smile as she was peeking out from her hiding place behind her grandma. Too cute!

I was so glad that Mom and Jess came in for the shower! They drove 16 hours round trip for less than a 24 hour stay! Whew! 

I have to post these pictures too, Tristan saw his Daddy taking our picture and jumped right in!

I love this!

Here's the loot he made out with! WOW! I counted the diapers we received... 1,080! And that's not even counting the diaper cake and extras Kendall had left over from making it! Isn't that such a blessing? 

I want to thank everyone that came! And Kendall for talking me into letting her do the shower in the first place. "Every baby is special and deserves their own shower!" she said. She is right and I am so blessed to have a friend to want to do something so special for my baby and me. We are so thankful to be so loved. God is too good to us!

Finally Fall

I am so thrilled to say that it is finally feeling like Fall around here! The weather has been beautiful over the past few days and should stay this way for a few more before we get some more not so fall-ish weather.

But while it is still cool we decided to visit the Pumpkin Patch!

It was so nice out and the pumpkin patch was full as you can see.

The boys quickly got a wagon and started loading it up with pumpkins...

They had so much fun! And no, we did not buy all the pumpkins they loaded! We'd have pumpkins (and gourds) running out our ears!

Then it was time to take pictures... dun dun dun. I had to add the theme music. You know, there are just some things in life I could do without. And trying to get that perfect shot is one I kind of love and hate at the same time! I love to take pictures of my boys, they are the most beautiful children I know (except for yours of course). But for some reason when the camera comes out my patience isn't always enough! But the truth is what you see and what I usually get is TRUE to life. None of that fake stuff! You know what I mean... everyone sitting still with your little smiles on, pretending that your mom didn't make you wear the hat that is on your head! (yes this was a real life moment for me... more than once) So what we have is LIFE and I love it...

This was actually the first one I took and I was impressed! But (of course) not satisfied. So we go on...

Tristan decides to "help". Luckily, he still had all of his fingers after such a brave attempt to get Peyton to "Wook at Momma."

I can only laugh! What is this face??? And of course Peyton is sweetly saying, "cheese."

Tristan is getting a little crazy with his "CHEESE!".

And... we're done. (note Tristan still perfecting his "cheese")

Thankfully we had some good friends there with us, Brian and Kendall and their sweet baby boy, Adley. We took turns taking each other's family pumpkin patch pictures! So here we go again...

Getting set up.

This was the first and best of our family pumpkin patch pics. Thank you Kendall for your excellent photography! I will share the rest because they are like I said earlier, true to life.

See... these are the moments I want to remember. Us being truly... us.

BIG Beds for BIG Boys!

We are slowly (but surely) starting to get things ready for Kohen's arrival! This past weekend we spent all day Saturday moving furniture around. And when I say we I really mean Brandon moved furniture around... I just pointed and vacuumed when needed.

The boys have shared a room since we moved here just over a year ago. They have done great even from the beginning being roommates. We didn't think adding a baby into the mix would be wise, even if there was room in their room to add another bed (which there is not). So Kohen will have his own room until he is old enough to join his big brothers (or gets bombarded with another sibling down the road).

Here are the boys in their new Big Beds! Tristan moved up from a toddler bed to a twin size bed...

Along with his sleeping buddies Scot and Puppy.

Peyton moved out of the baby crib and into the Cars toddler bed...

With his sleeping buddies Puppy and Giraffe (his other buddy that didn't make it in the picture but I'm sure isn't far).

Tristan is SO proud of his Big Bed! Friday we had already gotten his new sheets and blanket for his big bed even though it wasn't going to be set up until the next day. Going to bed that night he said, "Momma, I need my big bed. Not this one..." pointing to the Cars bed. I told him that this was his last night to sleep in the Cars bed. He was okay with that. He jumped into bed, not another question asked. Oh and it was one of the first things he mentioned the next morning... "I'm gonna have a BIG BED!"

Peyton was so extremely excited about his new bed that it took him a lot longer to go to sleep than usual. You have to know that Peyton usually falls asleep while you're walking him to his bed! He has never been one to argue with sleep. But has already realized his new freedoms that come with this big boy bed! Like the fact that he can, oh I don't know, GET OUT OF BED! He was found... playing in the closet... playing with the door stop... and just standing at their door starring down the hallway at us. Each of these times he was put back in his bed only to be found doing the next thing. I have a feeling this is going to be fun...

The first night in their new beds they actually ended up falling asleep in the same bed! It was priceless. Brandon went to check on them and he quickly came back and got me to follow him into their room to see them... they had both fallen asleep on Tristan's bed! Tristan was actually laying on Peyton's back like he was a pillow! It was so sweet. I wish I had taken a picture!

It's hard to believe our boys are as big as they are. And they're doing nothing but getting bigger everyday! I know when Kohen gets here they're going to seem even bigger. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet! Good thing we have 6 weeks left before he gets here. Wait!!!! What?!?!?!?!