Party On

The party wasn't over quite yet for Aria! On her actual birthday, which just so happens to also be Carl's birthday, we got to celebrate them both together. I had planned on making a really cool cake for them, but because of Tyler's leg we hadn't gone to the grocery store. And on the morning of their birthday I was supposed to be working in childcare for MOPS. So we still went and Tyler sat on the floor and helped by playing with the babies. He did great, but was completely exhausted at the end.

And on the way home we stopped at Coldstone for a birthday cake. It was probably quite the sight watching us go into Coldstone. Watching us go anywhere, really. Tyler couldn't walk and getting him in and out of the car was a very slow process. Getting him into the stroller was even harder because of the tray. And since he had to sit in the front I had to carry Aria. And an ice cream cake. And push the stroller with both boys in it. Not to mention that Tyler was totally falling apart because his leg got bumped when I was getting the other two out of the car. And I couldn't fit through doors very easily because his leg was sticking straight out. And Coldstone doesn't have the handicap door buttons! I think it took over 25 minutes just to run in and out of there. But it was worth it because obviously everyone was excited about the cake later. :-)

Carsten showing a little support for his tired brother.

Ready to celebrate those two!

The boys picked out very sweet gifts for their Daddy, all by themselves.

And they were both so excited to give them to him.

It was really fun watching Aria open these. 

She was clapping before she even saw it. When she did get it open and saw her castle, she started bouncing up and down and laughing.

She was very distressed when she couldn't get her princess out!

And then there was cake. :-)

Blowing out their candles together!

Clearly Coldstone makes a good cake.

And this girl, who cried at the sight of her first cake, would have eaten this one all by herself if we let her. 

She love it.

This is the face of a baby who loved her cake and ran out.

It was so fun celebrating these two. Happy Birthday Carl and Aria! We all love you both!

12 Months

This year has gone by so fast and it has been so fun. I have loved watching the boys with their baby sister. Of course they have their moments of fiercely protecting their towers and "set-ups" but they are so good with her. They are protective of her and they love her so much. She is a lucky little girl to have them around. :-)

Aria is so different than the boys at this age. It's so funny how little personalities can be so different from so early on!

Tyler was my adventurer. He was determined to find a way to do whatever it was he was interested in and he was fiercely independent. He walked at nine months and he didn't care if he fell flat on his face. He would quickly get in as many steps as possible until he fell and then he would get right back up. He learned to walk before he could stand up, so every time he fell he had to crawl over to something he could pull himself up on and try again.

Carsten was always determined to not be left out. He was feeding himself with a spoon ridiculously early because he was not ok with Tyler having one if he didn't. He walked at ten months and he followed after every single thing Tyler did. He completely skipped baby toys because he was only interested in what Tyler was doing. He was (and still is) a hilarious mix of sugary sweet and super spunky.

Aria is the total opposite of both of them. She is such a Mommy's girl that it's funny. She is not walking yet and I'm pretty sure it's simply because she doesn't want me to think she doesn't need to be held and carried around. She could do it if she wanted to. Over a month ago she took a few steps to me because she was mad about something and she didn't even realize she was doing it. Last weekend she walked five or six steps a few times to my mom because she had crackers, but she hasn't done it at all since. She's just not interested. And every small step she does take is very slow and cautious. It's adorable.

She is extremely curious so she still gets herself into everything and we have to watch out for things with her that the boys never even thought about. Carl had to replace all the cabinet locks in the kitchen because she broke them and was always trying to pull out glass bowls. But I can have her out in the kitchen and not even worry about her going down the stairs. She isn't the slightest bit interested in going down there without me, even though she can see the kitchen toys and she loves being down there. So she won't walk and is extra cautious about even letting go of something when she's on the floor. But the day after her birthday she started climbing on furniture - she stands up and lets go to clap her hands and bounce up and down. So she is less afraid to do crazy things in places where she could actually fall and get hurt then she is standing on solid ground. She also figured how to climb in and out of baskets that day and did it over and over again. She was so excited.

She seriously loves her tea sets. It was not even worth the attempt to take these without them. It would not have gone well. :-)

Aria is the funniest mix of a total girly girl and a girl who clearly has two older brothers. She's half dainty princess and half dinosaur with a cute little roar. She plays with cars, but instead of driving them she hugs and kisses them or puts them in her princess castle.

She says hi, bye-bye, peek-a-boo, mama, dada, uh-oh, ow and cheese (for a camera). She claps, blows kisses, waves, gives high fives and loves to put her baby in it's crib. She dances when she hears music and gives the very best snuggles. She is obsessed with shoes. I was getting shoes for all three kids the other day and while I was trying them on the boys she completely lost it because she wanted a pair too. When I chose her pair she held onto them the whole time until it was time to check out and she lost it again. She also loves to try to do things herself. She tries to put on her own shoes and hats, comb her hair, put headbands and bows on, and brush her own teeth.

She does not like to be in trouble. If she does something she shouldn't (like throw food off her high chair) and Carl tells her no she completely melts. Her little lip starts quivering, her eyes tear up and she falls apart. It's heartbreaking, but it's also really hard not to laugh.

At her twelve month appointment she was 18 pounds, 2 ounces (25th percentile) and 29 inches (40th percentile).

Giving her baby kisses!

Helping me clean out cabinets.

K-State baby!

So sweet.

Aria Grace, we are so thankful for you. You are absolutely precious. We all fell in love with you the moment you were born and you bring so much joy and sweetness into our home. You are an incredible blessing to us.

An Unexpected Injury

There were a lot of kids at Aria's birthday party and towards the end of it all the boys were running back and forth across the living room. They were having so much fun together and it was so fun to hear all those giggles. Then the last few people and just Kyle and Emma were still here. I sat down on the floor and immediately all three kids started climbing on me. Like any other normal day I that I decide to sit down. My sister tried to get them all to look up at her so she could take a picture but Tyler walked away and went to his room. Carl went in there and he told him he wanted to rest because his leg was hurting him. A few minutes later he came back out and acted completely normally though. There was nothing that would have suggested there was anything wrong.

But in the middle of the night, around five he woke up really crying hard. He said his leg hurt, he couldn't move it and when we got him down from his bunk bed, he couldn't put any weight on it either. Of course it was a Sunday and our only choice was the emergency room, although it's probably where we would have been sent anyway.

You would never guess the tears that were flowing right before this picture - and not from the injured one!

When we got to the hospital we told Tyler that he would probably get to ride in a wheelchair. Of course Carsten thought that sounded pretty great and he wanted to ride in one too. Carl dropped the three of us off at the door and I told Carsten he could help me push. All the way into the building and the whole time I was trying to get checked in, Carsten was dramatically telling the whole world that he had an owie and he needed a wheelchair too. Finally Tyler, who was in extreme pain and could hardly move tried scooting over to make room for him in his wheelchair. And Carsten's world was right again.

He looked so little and helpless in that bed.

He looks miserable here, and he was. But he was also enjoying watching Frozen while he waited for x-rays to come back.

We ended up being there for about four hours - much longer than we were expecting, although I'm not sure why we thought it would be less. He did have x-rays and they did not show a fracture, which was great news. But he still couldn't bend his leg or put any weight on it. So they had him take some pain meds and said that if there was a fracture he still wouldn't be able to stand on it, but if it wasn't fractured, he should be able to walk at least a few steps. Unfortunately, he still couldn't bend it or put any weight on it. He tried so hard with tears in his eyes until he said he just couldn't.

So they had to treat it as a fracture. The worry was that it was fractured by the growth plate, which wouldn't show up on an x-ray and is obviously not something to mess with. Tyler thought the x-rays were cool but he was a little disappointed that they didn't show us and he didn't get to see his bones! They sent him home in a full leg splint and since he was too little for crutches that also meant we had to carry him everywhere and he couldn't go to school.

But he sure was cute!

He had such a good attitude about all of this. He was sad that he couldn't run and play. But as much as he loves preschool, he didn't even get upset that he couldn't go. He knew it would have been hard and he was happy to stay home and rest. On Monday morning when we were eating breakfast he said, "Mommy, this is such a special day! God is healing my leg and I got a strawberry in my jelly!" What a little sweetheart, rocking the positive attitude. :-)

For the first few days he hardly moved from the couch. Occasionally he would ask me to move him to a different couch or put him on the floor so he could try to play. But mostly he was uncomfortable and just wanted to read and rest. On Tuesday he felt better in the morning and he tried scooting around on the floor on his bottom a lot. But by noon he was sore and exhausted. Wednesday was similar. He would scoot around all over for a little while and then just crash. Finally on Thursday he was like a new kid. He was pulling himself up and down from couches with his arms, scooting everywhere, nonstop and even trying to pull himself to standing so he could slide around on one foot. 

On Friday he had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor and we knew he would probably either be getting the splint off or getting a less temporary cast on. Thankfully, we got the news we'd been praying for! He still couldn't put weight on his leg or walk on it when they took the splint off. But he was able to move it and it wasn't hurting him when they moved his leg around. So they took it off and let him go home without it, telling us to call on Monday if he was still in pain or not walking on it yet. They told us sometimes kids have mysterious injuries and you just never really find out what happened.

So we left and we celebrated! We went out for ice cream. We tried to go to Freeziac but when we got there it was not Freeziac anymore. It was a cell phone store. :-/ I was actually ok with that because I didn't really like it the one time I'd been there before. It was just the closest place. Now every time we talk about ice cream Carsten says, "Is something else there now?"

So we headed off for our first trip to Cherry Berry. They have been talking about that place ever since. New family favorite!

No one would look at the camera because there was a TV behind me. But they were loving their ice cream! It was an extra special and exciting day, so it was also the first time I ever let them know that toppings were an option at places like this. :-)

We were so proud of this guy and the way he handled such a hard week. He is the boy who never sits still so it was not fun. But he had a great attitude and we got to spend lots of fun time reading snuggling and watching movies that week. And we are so happy and thankful that the cast is off!!!

ONE!!

Our baby girl is one already and I don't know how that happened! It is out of control. One of my favorite things to do is throw birthday parties for my kids and first birthdays are so fun!

We celebrated with friends and family on February 20, a few days before her birthday. We took advantage of Valentine's Day and had a very pink and girly heart theme. :-)

With the number of issues we had getting our floor finished in time for party, I was so glad that I had an oven in the kitchen to bake the cakes. We are always last minute people, but this took that to a new extreme. Thankfully, despite the lack of trim and a few other details, we pulled it off!

Notice the unfinished closet on the edge of this picture. :-)

The Birthday Girl!

Naturally most of the girls sat at the pink table together. :-)

I love having so many kids around!

Deer in the headlights! Her smiles were temporarily unavailable for these pictures.

The cake was not her favorite part of this party.

Whose baby is this anyway? A whole cake to herself with tons of delicious frosting and it made her cry! She definitely didn't get that from me.

We had to make her taste it. And she was not a fan. The tears came quickly and she was rescued from the torture of eating cake.

She had lots of amazing helpers when she opened her gifts!

She was excited about her new doll!

The gift to give a one year old girl is apparently tea sets - she got three! Two at her party and one from her brothers that they still wanted to give her. And she plays with them all. A lot. It is so cute. She loves taking the covers on and off the tea pots, drinking our of her tea cups and eating off of the cute little spoons. She is such a girly girl. When I need to make dinner and she wants to be held (so every time I ever even think about cooking) I just bring her tea sets out to the kitchen and she is entertained indefinitely. So the moral of this story is that a little girl can never have too many tea sets. :-)