Matt's Fourth Birthday!

It's so hard to believe that our little baby is already FOUR! Could it really be so long ago that we were with him in the NICU, watching him struggle to breathe, waiting to see if he would be okay, wondering when he'd be able to come home and be with his brothers and sisters? In some ways, it seems like it was only yesterday, but, in other ways, it feels like an eternity.

All the kids get a special breakfast on the day of their birth, and Matt's was themed after one of his current favorite things: Angry Birds!

This was, by far, the most difficult breakfast I've made.
(Note to self: pick something easier next time.)

No matter how hard it was and no matter how long it took, the look on this sweet boy's face made it completely worthwhile!

I hope he wished for something awesome!

(Maybe a maid service for his incredible mother?)

Instead of throwing the kids a birthday party, we've recently begun something a little more personal that I think will be a lot more fun. Each kiddo gets to choose whatever fun activity or event they would like, and we plan it out for them. Matt was very insistent that we all go to Chuck E Cheese's to play and eat pizza, so that's what we did!

No "cheese" for Mom, except on the pizza.

The looks that Zoe and Nicky have on their faces are the best part of this photo.

After several hours of games and food, we headed back toward home. There was, however, one more quick stop we had to make.

What's a birthday without cake?

And the cupcakes from Simply Sweet are definitely the best!

Open wider, Nick! Wider!!

I think Matt had a really great day, and he seemed to be overjoyed with everything. He told me several times how much fun his birthday was, and thanked me for every tiny little thing he could think of.

"Mama, thank you for driving me to Chuck E Cheese!"
"Mama, thank you for letting me wear this shirt."
"Mama, thank you for getting me a cupcake!"
"Mama, thank you for letting me eat some pizza."
"Mama, thank you for not making me take a nap today."

I'm just happy that my birthday boy had fun. I remember this day, exactly four years ago, and how unsure I was that my baby would even see his first birthday.

We are so incredible grateful that he's here with us today, four years later, happy and healthy! It's just as if those terrifying few days never happened at all.

Happy 4th Birthday, Matt-Matt! We love you so much, buddy!

Matt is ONE!

I already posted a photo on Facebook, but I wanted to post here as well. Just to be thorough, and to help in fulfilling my personal vow to blog more this year. On with the show!

Matthew hit a big milestone today - his first birthday!! This is a big deal for any kid, but when it comes to Matt, we are beyond excited to be celebrating the big "1" with him. We weren't sure if he'd make it to this point, quite frankly, after all the difficulties he had at birth. Those of you who don't remember, feel free to read his extremely wordy, four-part birth story that begins HERE. 

One year ago today:

 Just a few hours old, in the NICU.

About a week later, once he was home with us:

 One of Matt's gorgeous newborn photos by Stacy at Sugarbee Photography.

(Check her out! Not only is she a great friend, but she's a great photographer, too! She also has a Facebook page.)

And, one year later:

Mommy's little kitchen "helper."

Taken this afternoon. It's hard to believe how much difference one year can make!

We've had so many people tell us how blessed we are, in reference to our children (and our family as a whole). As much as we agreed, we never really understood the depth of our blessings until Matt came along and blew us away with his strength and ability to overcome. He is such an amazing little boy, and we are so thankful that he's here with us, happy and healthy.

So, to our precious baby boy, Matthew James (Matt, Matty, Matt-Matt, Mattimus, Mattster) - we love you so, so much!! We have enjoyed watching you grow this past year, and we are looking forward to all of the things the future holds.

Anna is ONE!

My little girl turned ONE year old today, at 10:31 this morning!

I am still in disbelief. It's hard for me to believe that an entire year has flown by so quickly. When did I ever get a chance to catch my breath? Have I been absorbing everything that she's been doing, every little change in personality, every milestone, and all those tender moments with her enough to move on? I don't have a choice! I remember the details of that day so well, and I can almost close my eyes and convince myself that I'm still in the hospital with a newborn Anna.

I don't remember feeling this emotional about the other kids' first birthdays. I've been trying to figure out why it's affecting me so much, and I think I've got it. Anna is really a miracle baby for me, an incredible blessing. Three miscarriages, so much anguish, and a mountain of "why?"s - wondering if I was ever going to be able to carry a baby to term again. She was the answer! The affirmation that all of those lost babies were indeed part of a larger plan for our family, and the reassurance that our suffering was only temporary. I want to freeze time and suck up every tiny little moment with her so I can enjoy this stage forever.

I know she's going to grow up, and it's really okay. She has turned into such an amazing little girl, and I know that there is so much more in store!

Anna is crawling (super FAST!), she can say Mama and Dada really well, and she's starting to try and pull up. She can't pull up well because she's pretty short, and seems to need more leverage to actually get to her feet (she can't use things like the couch, because they're too tall). She can do it, though!

Look at me, Mom!

I stood up by myself!

Ethan was helping her stand up the other day. I don't want him to do this when I'm not close by, because she's really wobbly and I don't want her to fall on the tile, but she loved holding her brother's hands!

She loves to brush her teeth!

And has a ton of fun in the swing!

She loves to spend time with her Daddy.

And she likes to reorganize the drawers in the kitchen.

Sometimes she's a little stinker!

Our sweet Anna Beth is such a joy to us all! We're really looking forward to celebrating her big day this weekend with friends and family, and I can't wait to see her face when she gets some birthday cake! You know there will be more pictures to come!

Happy birthday, baby girl! Your Mommy loves you more than you could ever imagine!

Ten months old!

On the 10th, our little Anna Beth turned ten months old. It is completely unbelievable to me that we will be celebrating her first birthday in less than two months, and I have come down with an extreme case of Mommy denial. 

 Nine months - 2/10/12

 Ten months - 3/10/12

Since I'm a terrible parent, I didn't update for her nine month birthday, so you'll get all that info now, whether you like it or not.

Anna is 18 lbs. 9 oz., which places her somewhere around the 55% for weight, and she's 26 inches long, which puts her in the 5th percentile for height. Poor little girl is SO short!

Our sweet little baby girl decided she didn't want to have anything to do with any type of baby food or pureed food, and she skipped directly to table food. The child will pretty much eat anything you give her with gusto (though we are avoiding most dairy products right now). As a result, she has the most adorable chubs and rolls. I love it! She LOVES to eat.

She was really excited about her food, and wanted to make sure we all heard about it.

The other big news we have with regard to Anna is that she's finally crawling! She wanted to get moving for so long, and she got it all figured out about a week ago.

It's hard work learning to be mobile!

And she's got it down!

Anna is the sweetest girl, and she absolutely loves her brothers and sister. If they're gone for too long, she gets really cranky. Then, she gets super excited and smiley when they come back. Now that she's mobile, she follows them everywhere. This is great for Anna, but not so great for the others. I'm hearing a lot of, "Mooooooooooom!! Anna's in our room and she's getting into our stuff!!" I just laugh. I have been warning them for weeks, and I guess they didn't believe me!

Stay tuned, because it won't be long before I'm posting first birthday pictures! I'm not ready!!

Zoe's Third Birthday!

As of March 1, I have a three year-old little girl. How in the world did that happen?! Anyway...

On Sunday, we celebrated with family and friends. And food (of course - did you forget who I am?). There was also a cake. An evil, evil cake. A cake that haunts my dreams and makes my eye twitch uncontrollably.

Moving on.

My sweet Zoe.

 

We all gathered at my parents' house to celebrate, Disney princess style. Well, just ONE princess, more specifically.

 

 

I made a bunch of food (and a stupid, evil cake) for lunch, and we all spent some time chewing the proverbial fat (and the real fat).

The real fun, however, is in the blowing out of candles and the opening of presents, right? Well, let's get there!

In every Disney movie, there exists a villain. Here's mine.

Zoe loved it, and that's the only thing that matters.

(This cake had to be reconstructed three times. I don't want to talk about it.)

Making sure the candle is perfectly straight.

 Happy Birthday!!

Make a wish!!

Boy, did I enjoy hacking that thing to pieces! And it was goooood. Might have been the best cake I've ever made. Mmmm.

 

Then Zoe got to open her presents!

She was really excited about her Hello Kitty backpack.

A real Snow White dress!

She was in a state of bliss.

The other kids were fun to watch. Anna enjoyed playing with the other babies: Judah, who is a couple weeks younger than she is, and her cousin Christopher, who is 19 months old.

They were having a conference, I believe.

Anna wanted to make sure Christopher's ear was working properly.

 Micah, cousin Bailey, and Zoe.

 Ethan, our budding photographer.

 

Nicholas, trying his hand at taking portraits.

 

This is serious business.

We had fun! More importantly, Zoe had fun. :) It was a great birthday!

Eight months old!

  Look at my big girl!!

Tell her to STOP getting so old!

Anna is growing by leaps and bounds. I won't get any "official" measurements until her 9-month check-up, but our scale says that she's currently weighing in at around 17 1/2 pounds. She mastered sitting up at about six months, so now she's a pro, and she has somehow learned that she can inch around on her booty a little if she needs to get somewhere. It's not good for long distances, though, so we've been practicing scooting on hands and knees. She doesn't seem overly interested, so I have a feeling we won't see crawling for a while, if at all. She is super vocal, and is always babbling. Current favorite: banging on stuff.

Our major hangup is that she is refusing all forms of food, unless it comes straight from our plates. I'm still very careful about what she eats, because I don't want her to have common allergens (especially dairy). After trying desperately to get her to eat baby food, store-bought and homemade, pureed and smashed, all flavors and mixtures, I just gave up. She's going straight from breastmilk to table food, I guess. I'm just hoping to establish some kind of eating schedule and narrow down what she will and won't eat before she decides to wean herself from nursing.

Such a big girl!! I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring!

Half a year already!

It's so hard to believe, but on the 10th, Miss Anna Beth was six months old! Yes, that's what I said! I know...it went way too fast. I, personally, prefer to live in denial, and have convinced myself that she's only a few weeks old and that she'll never, ever grow up because I don't want to lose my baby.

 So stinkin' cute!

Per tradition, we had a (small) cake (and cupcakes) for Anna's big day, even though she didn't get to eat any. We're so mean, I know. The other kids enjoyed it (and so did Daddy).

She really wanted that cake.

I had a hard time getting her to look at me.

This past Tuesday, we took Anna for her six-month check-up. She is doing so well, and I couldn't be happier! Developmentally, she's right on target. She's reaching for things, she's working on sitting up and getting really good at it, chattering and laughing all the time, bearing weight really well on her legs when we stand her up, etc. I'm so proud of my girl!

 Don't forget to take off the .5 ounce for the diaper.

Yes, it's a veterinary scale. Get over it. 

It is always perfectly in sync with the doctor's scale. So there.

Anna is currently 16.3 pounds (55th %) and 24.5" tall (6 %). I am not happy with her height measurement (I know she's taller than that because of the clothing she's stretching to the max), and I plan on measuring her at home when I get a chance (if I ever get a chance, that is). So, we have another short girl. Not a huge surprise, since all the women in our family are of average height or smaller. At least our new pediatrician didn't make rude remarks about Anna taking after her mother like our old one did at Zoe's check-ups. Remember? No? Well...read about it.

Long story, short - Anna is healthy and very happy. Not to mention, she's completely adorable and has managed to hypnotize everyone in our house into some kind of perpetual baby-talking, gurgling state. It's so much fun! :)