Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was pretty mellow this year.  The boys each made Valentine's for their classmates.  Keller lost interest about half way through so I only got a picture of Vance.

 The cards came with these fun mustache finger tattoos. Vance said the kids at school were pretty excited about them.

 We got each of the boys a few goodies too.  They all love this hat Daddy has. I went back to the store and they were on sale so I bought each one of them their own hate.  Sutton got some heart pacifiers and the two older boys got a stuffed animal, Chapstick, a necklace, and some treats.  Way to go Cupid!

My mom offered to watch the boys so Chad and I could go out to dinner.  It was fantastic! A few hours away to date each other! I have missed date nights and we definitely need to make them a bigger priority.

Vance at 7

Vance is seven. Seven? Seriously? I can't believe I have a seven-year-old who goes to school all day. He is growing up way too fast.  I'm not sure how much of this is new or not but here are my ramblings about Vance:

Vance is so sweet. He genuinely has a kind heart and notices things other kids may not.  He is quick to lend a helping hand and tells me the sweetest compliments. 

He is a great big brother. So nurturing. He can definitely butt heads with Keller, but the next minute they can be best buds again.

Vance loves his daddy! He worships Chad and I'm so grateful Chad is such a great example of an amazing father/husband/worker/friend.

Vance is a talker. He talks and talks and talks. Nonstop! Sometimes I have to tell him to be quiet because I just can't chit chat anymore.

He skips to school everyday. I love it. It's like he can hardly contain his excitement for life.

Vance is a great student. He performs and behaves excellent at school and makes me one proud mommy!

He is learning how to play the piano. He catches on quickly and seems to enjoy it (for the most part). He likes to cry during lessons sometimes but he loves to practice. We hear him playing at all hours of the day.

Vance cries whenever he gets frustrated or feels like something is out of his control.  If I can think of a way for him to feel in control that usually solves our problem.  If I can't...waterworks!

He loves to play outside.  When he gets home from school he immediately asks to play out front. All of the kids usually end up in our backyard.

Vance loves to go to Grandma and Grandpa Sutton's house. He invited himself for sleepovers about once every two weeks (okay sometimes it might be more like once a week). We are lucky to have them so close!

Vance is at a stage where he is really defensive, even when he isn't in trouble. He starts raising his voice at us when we talk to him. Even once we start talking he just keeps talking louder and more intense. It is getting him in trouble. We're hoping this phase passes soon.

He is independent.  He gets himself breakfast. He takes a shower, gets dressed, makes his bed, brushes his teeth, etc.  all without any help. It is nice for him to be doing some of those things on his own.

Vance is hard on himself. He is a perfectionist. He definitely doesn't need outside pressure to perform his best. Sometimes I wish he could learn to chill out a little, try his best and be okay with that.

Vance makes friends so easy. He is never afraid to put himself out there.  He makes a friend just about everywhere we go. He also likes to be a host. When friends come over to our house he makes sure they have all the snacks and drinks they need.  He might have to start pitching in on the grocery budget soon! Haha.

He loves his iPad. It's nice that he is at school all day because I don't have to monitor his electronics time as much. His favorite thing to do is to watch Netflix on the iPad. I don't know why he doesn't just watch it on the TV but he likes to have it on his iPad instead. I think it goes back to that control thing.

Vance is signed up for soccer and getting ready to start tennis.  He doesn't have an interest in other activities so I think we may be sticking with this for awhile. 

He still goes to bed with his blanket every night.  There are a few holes worn in it but they don't bother him.

We love you Vance!!!

Vance's Birthday Celebrations

As usual there were lots of birthday celebrations for Vance. He turned 7 on February 13th. Where does the time go?!  I will write more about Vance at 7 in another post. This is just the many ways we celebrated!

First up was brunch with the Waldrons.  He got a new watch, a remote control car, and a Wubble Bubble ball. 

 Next up was the celebration at school. He wanted me to bring in Sutton when I brought his treat. We didn't let anyone get too close but Vance was excited to show off his little brother.

 He was grinning from to ear to ear the entire time we were there :)

He was supposed to have all of his cousin's over for bowling and a sleep over but we had a last minute change of plans.  My dad was going to the sand dunes for the day and invited Vance to go with him.  He decided he wanted to go and cancelled his sleep over.  Luckily no one seemed to mind. Chad tried to take Colton and Vance bowling on the 13th instead but the wait was long and the boys didn't want to wait. They decided to go get some frozen yogurt instead. Easiest birthday party every!

The last celebration was with my family on the 15th at out monthly birthday dinner/FHE. I made him a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting (his request).

 He was VERY excited to open up his presents. He got a street hockey set -

 My old iPhone in a new case. We also paid to get his iPad screen fixed and got him a new case for that. Then we bought him a wireless speaker for him to play his music on. He loves all of it. :)

 We also got him a new jacket and gloves for snowboarding for next season.

 Aunt Amy got him a Frozen piano book that he has already started playing as well as the Piano Guys cd.  Vance and I are going to see them in May so we are excited to get more familiar with some of their music.

 We also gave him a TNMT watch and Aunt Leslie gave him a gift card to 7-11.

Happy 7th Birthday Vance!!!

Boy Scouts

Vance's tiger cub den went to Impact Archery to earn the archery belt loop. He was beyond excited for this den meeting.

 He also had his first field trip. The first grade went the Smith Center to see some Junie B. Jones plays. To be honest, I think he was most excited about the bus ride :)

Fireplace Makeover

 Here is the fireplace when we bought the house - 

 We immediately ripped it out and had it like this for the last two years while I decided what I wanted -

Here is the fireplace now -

I absolutely love it! It was worth the wait ;)

1st Two Weeks

The first two weeks have been a bit of a blur. I am trying to document everything but I haven't been great about getting out my camera.  Here's what we've been up to -

We've had lots of visitors. We love having company and introducing Sutton to all our family and friends. We've had so many people us and we feel so blessed. We've had lots of dinners/treats brought over and help with the older two kids. Plus I've had help while I recover too.  I haven't gotten pictures of the majority of our visitors but here is what I do have!

 Our first day home. It felt good to shower in my shower and relax on my own bed.

 He loves relaxing in the swing Grandma and Grandpa Sutton gave him. It is pretty cool!

 Sutton has jaundice so home health care brought us over a bilirubin blanket. It was this light that wrapped around his belly/back. We kept him in it 24 hours a day for a few days until his levels came down. He also had to have three blood tests to monitor his levels. He still has jaundice but it is low enough that just giving him a little sunlight during the day will do the trick.

 I steal most of his cuddles but every once in awhile I let Chad take a turn ;) Apparently my focus is only on the baby because I didn't even get Chad's face in the picture. Whoops! Oh well...we all know what he looks like right?!

 The boys have gotten lots of cuddles in too! 

  We went over the Waldron's house for brunch one morning. Grandma Lebaron got to meet and hold Sutton.

 We do lots and LOTS of this -

 Sutton had a pretty wicked mullet thing going on with his hair. I decided it is never too early for a baby's first haircut and we said goodbye to those long neck/ear hairs!

 Keller found a new favorite spot to relax! 

 I just found these two pictures and I'm not sure I've ever posted them. This is about two weeks before I delivered. I spent the weekend at my nephew's basketball games. We realized my belly looks like I swallowed a basketball. The boys thought they were funny and stuffed a basketball under their shirts. We don't look too different ;)

Our Three Boys

Because of the flu season, the hospital has a rule that absolutely NO visitors under 16 are allowed - even siblings. I was bummed at first but I had time to get used to the idea ahead of time so I wasn't too upset.  The OBGYN who did rounds told us some people have their kids come up the window in their room and have their own private viewing party. I loved the idea, especially over the alternative (holding them up to the nursery window for a quick minute).

First we got Sutton ready to meet his brothers. We bought the two older boys shirts that said "Big Brothers Rock!" and bought Sutton one that said "Little Brothers Rock!"

 Keller waited patiently. His face pressed up so hard against the glass cracks me up!

 I was in the room with Sutton and Chad was outside with the boys (and Grandma Linda and Aunt Leslie).

 Everyone was all ready and it was finally time!

 You think the boys were excited?!

 Their first look!

 We had our phones on speakerphone so we could talk during the whole thing. They were so cute. It was absolutely adorable.

 I mean seriously...just look at the looks on their faces ;)

 Love this one with all of our hands!

 Then we had the boys open up their gifts from Sutton. He brought each of them a card with a little surprise.

 

 Vance got a gift card for the Playstation Network (something he has been wanting for awhile now). Keller got two new cars that he promptly opened and starting playing with on the window.

 After that we said our goodbyes and the boys anxiously waited for us to be out of the hospital. Once we got home they were so excited to hold their baby brother.

 The boys have been great. Keller LOVES Sutton. He has become king of the pacifiers and the swing. He won't let anybody else touch those things.  It's nice that he has a few things where he feels like he is in charge because then he is good to let us take care of the other things. You better believe if Keller hears Sutton crying he will be rushing over, pacifier in hand, to put it in Sutton's mouth! He also loves to hold him and give him kisses on his forehead.

Vance has already been a huge helper.  He is quick to see when I may need help and offer me a hand.  He has helped me change the load of laundry (with a little assistance), do the dishes, grab clothes for one of his little brothers, etc. The list goes on and on! I try not to ask for too much but he genuinely doesn't seem to mind most of the time. He has learned how to pick up the baby from the couch, swing, etc.  He does a great job holding him and talks to him in the sweetest voice. He is a great big brother times two!