This perfect little prince is now 8.5 months.  I did take this pictures on the right day but I'm just now getting around to posting them.  I'm only half a month late so I am going to call it a success.  He's a pistol of a little guy, with strong opinions and some big feelings.  At eight months Asher:

• loves to eat.  He watches the food travel from plate to mouth and grabs whatever he can.  He is getting much better at feeding himself and loves bananas, puffs and little bites of whatever momma is eating.  
• loves to nurse even more.  He's pretty insistent on nursing whenever he feels like it.  It's hard on daddy to not be able to appease or distract him.  
• is a terrible sleeper.  We've been making improvements but (see above) this kid is opinionated.  He will cry himself into hysterics before he can let go and fall asleep.  
• is super social. He loves to catch the eye of anyone who will look his way to try and get them to smile back.  
• is into everything he can open, pull off a shelf or dump.  
• is still everyone's favorite brother. 
• crawls, pulls himself up and is working on standing for a few seconds at a time.

These boys, on their first days

 It's past time to steal away from all the other household responsibilities and write a little about this milestone.  The three oldest went back to school this week.  They are all there ALL day EVERY day now and I can't believe how quiet my house is.  Asher, Hyrum and I manage to stay busy and the boys walk through the door before I know it.  This is the last year that I will have three kiddos in school together.  I recognize that this is the time when I have more family autonomy than we will ever have.  We aren't beholden to many extracurricular activities or jobs for the boys.  I am trying to relish the last of these years. 

 This little guy is preschool aged.  But I felt like this wasn't the year to start anything formal.  Whenever I asked him if he wanted to go to preschool he told me that he just wanted to go to grandma school.  What that means is that he goes over to Grandma Meg's house to learn the lettters, cuddle and eat treats out of the treat basket.  He's a little dream of a thing, loving and cooperative most of the time.  He keeps us in stitches with his funny comments.  He's been a gift and a joy to me since the day he was born. 

 Mrs. Jones is pretty lucky to get this little man all day.  He's the brightest little thing, eager to learn and follow the rules.  He's an intense soul, ready for school with at least 20 minutes to go while he waits on his slow poke brothers.  He's reading well and just this summer I saw the lights really go on as he started to really enjoy books.  He's also a perfectionist, hard on himself when things don't come easily.  He's self assured and doesn't seem to really need a large group of friends, he's happy with the few close friends and one cousin he has in the neighborhood.  He's a treasure, for sure. 

 

Noah is the most social of all the boys, constantly seeking opportunities to be with his friends.  He is a friend to the friendless and is quick to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  He decided this summer that he, in his words, "is really into geology".  This has resulted in rocks all over my backyard and big plans to sell the rocks he finds and cleans off.  He likes to read, though not as much as his big brother.  He's tender with the baby.  He's also constantly worried that he's about to miss out on some fun.  We saw this a lot while on the trips that we took this summer- he was almost frantic to make sure that he wasn't missing out.  This resulted in a fall of a log in the wilderness and ten stitches in his knee.  He started third grade with stitches and a good story to tell.  I love this bouncy boy.

 

And then there's the oldest.  He's earnest and sincere and a darn good big brother to this crew.  He's also emotional, needing to talk through his day often.  He's questioning his talents and wondering what he's good at.  He's still a voracious reader, disappearing for hours with his books.  I hope, oh I hope that his last year of elementary school gives him the skills and the confidence that he needs before we launch into junior high next year.  This boy of mine stole my heart 11 years ago and has yet to give it back.  I do love him so.  

Five(!) months

In honor of Asher making it five whole months I dug up pictures of all five boys all at five months old.  Enjoy. 

 Asher

 Hyrum

 Isaac

 Noah 

Luke 

Four months!

I have decided that there is no right way to approach this blog.  When I get to it, I'll post.  I'd like to write more but the reality is that five boys, a coaching career and life in general just keep getting more and more busy.  These boys are growing at lightening speed and I find myself constantly amazed.  They get up every morning and astound me with their growth.

Today I found myself at the computer after emailing out the results from the junior high track meet that we hosted yesterday and remembered this little photo shoot from the other day.  Asher hit four months last week and I stopped doing laundry long enough to take his picture and I figured it would be good to capture a few thoughts about him at this age.

At four months he is:

• starting to use his hands, grabbing at the toys in his play mat and is actually getting them into his mouth some of the time.  He grabbed and pulled my hair the other day and shocked me with his strength.  
• nursing more comfortably than those earlier months when he struggled with reflux.  It is starting to be the sweet connection that I love about nursing a baby.  He will often pull off to coo and smile at me.  
• chatty!  He coos and babble and giggles and generally delights us with his little voice.  The big boys LOVE this new development.  They sit and talk to him just as long as he will talk back.  
• in love with the sling.  He sleeps in there comfortably every day while I coach track.  
• charming.  He is now into staring at people until they look back and smile at him.  When he makes eye contact he bursts into a full body smile, kicking his chunky little legs with delight.  
• rolling over when he gets mad enough.  He rolled over several days in a row and then lost interest.  The only time he's rolled over lately is when he is on his stomach and gets mad enough to throw himself over.  
• scooting around and then wondering how he got there.  He'll scoot all around his play mat and then get mad because he can't reach the toys anymore.  
• weighing in at 15 pounds even and measuring just over 26 inches.  He's stretched out of his 3-6 month clothing.  It amazes me to think that he's grown six inches and doubled his weight in just four months.  Growing is serious business for a baby. 
• in love with his brothers.  Luke carries him around all the time while Asher gazes adoringly at his oldest brother.  He loves to watch his boys play and laughs at their peek a boos.  
• fascinated with the dog.  The dog is protective from a distance with him.  I think that their relationship is about to really get close as he starts to eat in the high chair.  
• everything that I could ever want in a baby.  He thrills me with his personality, his adorable dimples and sweet, sweet spirit.  I feel so divinely connected to him.  I will often sit and stare at his amazing little body and thank my Heavenly Father for another perfect boy. 

Hyrum, right now

These amazing boys of mine just keep growing and changing and I thought I'd make an effort to capture their stages. 
Hyrum is a gem of a little guy.  He turned three in October and keeps us in stitches.  He is a tender little thing who informs you that his feelings have been hurt when he's offended.  He's been my little side kick since Isaac entered kindergarten and we had a great time coaching cross country this fall and he helped me get ready for Asher's arrival.  I loved toting him around and listening to his chatter while we shopped for diapers, pacifiers and baby wash.  He loved hearing the stories from his arrival and infancy.  I loved remembering the mellow, perfect baby he was and marveled at how quickly he'd become a talkative little three year old. 

To be honest, he had a hard time adjusting to his new role as a big brother.  He adored the baby from the start but was pretty angry with me that I wasn't devoting all my time and energy to him the way he was used to.  During my second stay in the hospital he stopped using the potty.  It's taken some effort but we seem to have gotten back on track with potty training. 

He entered Sunbeams at the beginning of the year and loves it.  He's attentive and loves having his own class.  I love hearing what he's picked up on at church that day.  

I feel like within the last couple of weeks he's really started to settle into his new role as big brother.  He frequently asks me how much I love him and then answers his own question, "oh yeah- you love me the whole world."

He's so right- I do love him the whole world.  

2 weeks of Asher

Asher's arrival

I'd better get these memories down before they're lost.  It's hard to know where to start.  The end of my pregnancy with Asher was much different than any of the other ones. While I've always been sick (nausea)  for the first 20-25 weeks of pregnancy, I have had healthy pregnancies.  My blood pressure has always been stellar, minimal swelling and very few aches and pains.  At about 35 weeks my blood pressure spiked and my midwife was a little concerned.  I was monitored closely and it came back down.  Also at 35 weeks I had a final ultrasound to check the weight, position and fluid levels.  The baby was measuring quite large at 7lbs. 3oz. (+/- a pound).  My original due date was January 5th but after the ultrasound the midwife looked at the other two ultrasounds and the size of the baby and settled on the 27th of December as an adjusted due date.  This was December 2nd and so I went into Christmas overdrive and got everything decided on and ordered for the boys.  Later at my checkup on December 16th my blood pressure was elevated again, I had some unusual swelling and there was protein in my urine- all signs of preeclampsia.  The midwife came in and told me that she thought it would be best for me to have the baby that day.  She walked me right over to the hospital into labor and delivery.  I called Nat and my mom and was started on a pitocin drip.  This was about three o'clock in the afternoon.  I started labor dilated to a three.  The pitocin started some mild but regular contractions.  I kept thinking though that none of the contractions were strong enough to really do anything- I would not have even come into the hospital with any of those contractions.  I went on contracting until about seven o'clock when the midwife came in and checked.  I was only at a four.  She told me it was time to break my water.  She broke my water at 7:20.  The contractions immediately picked up and got serious.  I went into that quiet zone of concentrating and relaxing through the contractions.  She came back and checked me at 8:00 and I had progressed to an eight.  There was a pause in the contractions and I knew that I was through transition and about to push.  The next contraction I could feel the baby start to crown.  I tried to get into position to push but while I was moving the next contraction started and I could feel that he was on his way out.  I yelled, "he's coming out!"  Vivian told me, "don't sit on him" and pushed me backwards, Nat caught me and I looked down to see a squirming pink baby on the bed.  He was perfect.  He cried right away, was placed in my arms and I couldn't get over how amazing he was or how funny his arrival had been.  He was born at 8:19 just an hour after she had broken my water.  He weighed in at 7lbs. 1oz and measured 20 inches.  He latched on to nurse right away. There he was, another perfect baby boy to add to my collection.