First haircut

My shaggy little 18 month old girl got her very first haircut today!!

It's a...

We actually found out at my 12 week appointment the sex of the baby, but the doctor said he was 98% sure and to not go and buy anything.  We decided that was a big enough percentage to tell the kids and the grandparents, but to keep things pretty quiet until it was confirmed at our 18 week sono.

We had our sono yesterday and it was confirmed!  We are having another.... BOY!

I had mixed feelings about what I wanted... Obviously no mixed feelings about having a healthy baby, no matter the gender.  But if I got to choose... I think I was hoping for a girl.  It would have been nice for Ryane to have a sister- I had always wanted that relationship in my life. I also had a name picked out and the nursery designed.  Plus, the seasons they were born would have been the same and I wouldn't have needed clothes. And no circumcision!!!

But on the other hand, since Ryane is in the middle, it would be nice for her to be the only girl and have that all to herself.

Cam wanted a boy and he wants to name him Tootie Butthole Baby.  Kaden wanted a girl so it would be even, but I don't really think he cares either way.  He wasn't upset with the news.

I'm used to the idea at this point and I'm getting excited to meet him... (although THREE BOYS seems loud and overwhelming) whatever his name will be! It's hard to come up with this many boy names, but I have a few that I like that are on the top of my list.

I'm starting to feel him move a little bit, mostly at night.  But when I'm holding Ryane and she's pressed up against my belly, he kicks HARD!

I'm almost 19 weeks... It's gone by fast.  Cam and Kaden rub my belly, which I love.  Kaden and I look up what the baby is doing each Sunday night and it's fun to see his excitement when he learns the baby will be able to hear him soon, or that he will be able to feel him kick soon.

I really appreciate the support I've been given from my friends and family.  4 kids is a lot of kids but my friends and family have made me feel like superwoman and that I can handle it.  Thank you!

Our Cam-bone is FOUR

Cam turned 4 on April 14th and it's a little hard to believe how fast he is growing up.  Cam is a sea of extreme emotions- sometimes happy and sometimes horrible.  We are trying to learn to roll with it and see what each day brings.  For the most part, Cam is sweet and likes to snuggle.  He is shy and hides behind me when we are around people he doesn't know very well.  Cam is easily entertained and sometimes can be my easiest kid.  He looks up to his Daddy more than anybody and loves his little sister, too.  He is gaining confidence in himself this school year.  On his birthday he got to choose his job for the day, which for the first time all year, he chose LEADER! Cam knows what he wants and knows what he likes. For his party he wanted a gymnastics party with ninja turtle plates and napkins and a ninja turtle cake from Target. He wanted ALL ninja turtle gear too, from toys to underwear. Cam is good at things that Kaden wasn't (they are quite the opposite in every sense of the word) such counting and has an interest in reading and following along. Cam gets joy out of simple things like when I bring him a snack on the way home from school. Cam gets his feelings hurt very easily and has a very dramatic reaction such as, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore." He gets very proud of the little things that he has learned or grew to do himself like getting dressed, reaching light switches, making a happy plate and helping us with things around the house. Cam says some funny stuff, and I can't figure out if he's trying to be funny or not.  One day when I was putting on a sweatshirt and had it halfway over my face, Cam said, "you look stylin'!"  Another day he said, "I have some really bad news.  Logan called Rebeca a doody-butt today." Cam still has meltdowns and still won't tell us what's wrong during the tantrum.  He does calm down quicker than he used to and afterwards, he will usually tell us his "version" of what happened. He's "sun and rain, fire and ice; a little crazy but it's nice." 

4 year old stats:

Height: 3'5" (73%)

Weight: 36 lbs (50% )

 Missing a few kids from the picture but it was a great party and everyone seemed to have a great time running around!

We love you more than you know, Cam.  You keep us on our toes and we are so grateful for your sweet hugs each day.  Happy birthday!

17 months

It's like all of a sudden, I've got a big girl on my hands!  Everything is changing with her and her sweet personality is shining through.

At 17 months old:

Ryane wears size 4 diaper. She wears 18-24 month clothes and some 2T.

Ryane mostly takes one nap a day at 11:00.  I plan to start extending this in the summer when we don't have to leave to pick up Cam from school.  She usually sleeps about 2 hours.

Ryane is sleeping better at night and usually only wakes up if she can't find Lucy. 

She has been waking up more consistently around 6:30. 

Ryane has a few new words:

*apples

*mommy (instead of mama)

*daddy (instead of dada)

*off

*bye bye (insead of bye)

*bampa (grandpa)

*bama (grandma)

*please

She is babbling a lot and talks to herself most of the day

 

She comes over and says "ahhh" and lies her head on me

 

Ryane has a consistent bath time routine where she likes to have the lotion and then call for Kaden to come get it and use it and then bring it back to her.  When she is almost ready for bed she starts saying "muh" because she wants to go give the boys a kiss before bed.

Ryane is an eater.  She loves food and she will at least try everything.  A few things she doesn't like are hard boiled eggs and potatoes.

 

Ryane is walking!!  Yep!  Walking, standing up from the middle of the floor and walking some more!  She walks probably about 85% of the time as of now but each day it seems like more and more.

 

She nods her head yes when you ask her a question.

 

She started laying on her belly, propped on her forearms to play with toys.  Too cute but it makes her look WAY too old.

RYANE PEED ON THE POTTY!  The past few days she has said potty and has gone over to the toilet and tried to open the lid.  On Sunday she was walking into our room saying peepee.  Nic took off her diaper and put her on the potty and she peed!

Ryane learned how to ride her riding toys!  Life (and back) saver!

Ryane loves to climb!

 

Ryane says "happy" when I sing you are my sunshine.
 

She starts walking towards the garage door saying "Daddy" when she hears the garage door go up.

 

She loves to wait for Kaden after school and see the bus.

 

 

Love you, sweetest big girl!

 

 

The news

I went to an annual appointment with my OBGYN on Tuesday, February 11. It was just an annual and I was really excited to get to see my doctor since it has been over a year! That sounds weird, but after 3 pregnancies, I've spent a lot of time with my doctor and her nurses!

I went back and chatted with the nurse. I reminded her that I had called a couple of months before because my cycle had gotten off (two cycles in one month then none the next) and she reassured me that this can happen while you are weaning from nursing and taking the mini pill (progesterone only pill they prescribe to nursing mommies).

I met with the doctor and we talked about my future tummy tuck! True story! She said I was a good candidate and when we are sure we were done having kids, she would refer me. I was so excited! 

The appointment went well and before I left I told her what the nurse and I talked about with my cycle. She said that can happen and asked me if I took a urine test. I laughed and told her that the nurse told me I only had to do that if I thought I could be pregnant! She insisted and said she just wanted to rule it out before I left. So I left, did the urine sample, and headed out the door. Right before I opened the door, I heard giggling. I ran back to the office and both nurses were standing there looking disappointingly at me! They showed me the positive pregnancy test and I demanded they do another. The nurse did another but the same results occurred. The doctor came out of a room in disbelief. 

I then had an ultrasound which confirmed the pregnancy and I was 6 weeks along. 

I was in shock and scared to death to tell Nic. I waited all day till he got home and the kids were in bed.  We sat down for dinner and I told him about the couples massage I had booked at a day spa the next night for Valentine's Day. He said, "that is the best news I have heard in weeks!" Yeah... 

Then I told him I had some other news that he may not think is as great. I told him the entire story and about halfway through he interrupted and said, "are you pregnant?" I tried to finish but just nodded and started bawling. He immediately jumped up and hugged me. He looked so stunned and happy, but I watched his face as the news processed. It's a lot to take. We spent the rest of the night asking questions- what are each other's thoughts on this or that. 

It didn't take Nic long to feel excited. I'm still getting there. I spent the next two weeks in tears. It's hard for me to process how life will be affected by a new baby. I already feel stretched between my three. 3:30 until bedtime is difficult at best most days. I have no clue how I can be there for Kaden to help with his homework, to play with Cam and Ryane and to take care of every need of a newborn. Overwhelmed is a good word. 

It's been several weeks now and I'm doing okay. I've been queasy and it's very mild compared to my other pregnancies, but it's lasting quite awhile. To be honest I'm ready to feel back to normal. I'm exhausted this time around and there are days I just cry because I don't have the energy to get up and take care of everything.  I'm extremely emotional and have cried reading Facebook posts and watching commercials. I have gotten used to the idea of having another. I think about the c-section and the hospitalization daily. I spend a lot of time planning, thinking and worrying. 

But we are blessed. Our family and friends couldn't be more supportive and we are grateful for their constant encouragement. I know for a fact I couldn't get through this without Nic and our family by my side. 

So with that I present Miller baby #4...

16 months

 

 

Ryane wears size 4 diaper. She fits best into 18-24 month clothes but I did buy her some 2T for the summer.

Naps are very inconsistent this month and unfortunately, that's mostly my doing.  I started to transition to one nap after daylight savings and started to put her down at 11:00.  Ideally, I would slowly transition her to a later nap time (1:30) but with Cam's school schedule, I can't do that yet. 

She sleeps about 2 hours when I put her down at 11.  On days that she wakes up early (5:30) I put her down for 2 naps.

 

Ryane continues to sleep better at night but and is inconsistent with her wake up time.  Generally sometime between 5:30-7. 

 

She is ready for a nap by 11 so she doesn't put up too much of a fight. 

Ryane has a few new words:

*yummy

*apes (grapes)

*mimis (berries)

*mah (kissing noise)

*all dah (all done, at the end of a book)

She is babbling a lot of long sentences and then looks at me like, "right?"

Ryane moos like a cow

In the bath, when asked, she washes her belly

Says "I do" when asked who loves Lucy

I am done nursing! It was a hard transition just for a couple of days and she was mad when I took her out of her room those mornings, but she got over it pretty quickly!  That was a good 16 month run!

Ryane

*is walking a little more!!

*she will push her car around, let go and walk to the couch when it's several steps away

*she will walk between furniture

*she will walk to me when someone else has her (she rarely walks to others but I think she's just putting on a little bit of a show)

*will walk holding one hand longer distances and sometimes initiates this on her own

 

She loves to play patty cake with her feet

 

She loves to point out peoples eyes, ears, and nose

 

Ryane still loves to brush her teeth and whenever she is in her bathroom or mine, she asks to brush her teeth "eeeee?"

 

She wants to bring Lucy everywhere

Ryane doesn't play by herself as much as she used to.  She loves to push the cars around the house.

Ryane climbs on things in the fridge and pantry and then cries because she can't get down

She loves to climb into and sit in small chairs, and she is quite proud of herself when she does

She has a very cute, squinty face when you ask her to smile

Ryane was a little pickier with food this month, but she eats more than her brothers combined

Ryane says "app" when she wants to watch If You're Happy And You Know It on the Ipad

She has her Daddy wrapped around her finger.  As soon as he grabs his keys to go to work, she brings her head forward and says "mahhhhh" and wants him to come over and give her a kiss.  It's adorable.

 

 



Happy 16 months, Lovie!

Kaden is 6

Kaden turned 6 on Saturday, March 8th.  It's so fun to see his excitement knowing that his birthday is coming.  Every morning he says, "Hey Mommy, let's do the countdown!" and we counted the number of days till his birthday. 

We had his party the same day, and I was feeling really sad about having the party during spring break!  I didn't think too much about it when I booked the party, but it seemed like one by one his friends were responding that they couldn't come because they would be out of town.  I need to remember to have his party a week early next year!

But Kaden and his friends seemed to have a really great time.  We had ClubScientific come to do space themed experiments.  They shot off all sorts of rockets and did experiments with AlkaSeltzer and Mentos/Coke.  The kids got to take turns doing the experiments and it turned out to be the perfect amount of people.  For the first year Kaden was so excited to open his presents and wanted to do it at the end of his party (usually we don't make the other kids suffer through that!). 

For me it was just fun to sit back and watch how different Kaden is at 6 than he was last year.  He talked to the science guy the minute he walked in the door, he asked questions, he participated in all the activities, bossed his friends around and genuinely had a great time.

Kaden has changed a lot in the past year, and I honestly have to say that it's been a rough year!  I feel like OT really helped Kaden with his sense of confidence after he was able to accomplish some physical goals.  But the confidence was a little bit of a double-edged sword.  Instead of being scared to do activities and being glued to my side, Kaden grew to be loud and quite frankly a little obnoxious (I say this in a loving way...).  He is more physical with Cam and not as patient.  He gets in trouble in school (NEVER would I thought I'd be writing that in my blog!) for talking when he's not supposed to, getting another little kid a bit riled up, and he has even needed to be on a behavior chart!

But with the bad comes the good.  Kaden is helpful and has always been.  He loves to be included in projects around the house or being in charge of helping with Ryane while I'm trying to get something done.  He is so lovey and is a very good snuggler.  The last few months we pushed back his bedtime till 7:30 and he comes downstairs with us after we get the other two to bed.  I've really enjoyed our time to read books, answer questions and talk about the day.  It seems like sometimes all that stuff gets lost in the day and time slips away. Kaden is kind hearted and really wants the best for people.  When I watched him and Cam this past weekend at the Purim carnival, Kaden constantly had his hands on Cam's shoulders and was showing him where to stand in line, when it was his turn, where to put his shoes, etc.  Kaden has a wonderful sense of humor and picks up on sarcasm really well.  It's fun to joke around with him and he gives it right back. 

I feel guilty and bad a lot of times because I am hardest on Kaden.  The other day he asked me why I treat him differently and I was just honest.  "You're the oldest and I need you to help me throughout the day and set a good example for the littler kids.  I was the oldest in my family and I had to do the same thing." He just said thanks and smiled and walked out of the room.  He gets it.  But I need to cut him a little slack every once in awhile, too.  He's a good kid and I love him to pieces.

Happy 6th Birthday, Boo!!