Lost her 1st tooth! Yes at the age of 4!

Onery but Cute and almost potty trained!

Tessa 3 months old

Introducing Tessa Marie

Tessa Marie is finally here! She is one week old already too! She was born May 5th and weighed 7lb 14oz and 19in long. she is the runt of our litter. She is doing wonderfully! The kids just adore her as do Zach and I of course. So far it has been easier for me adjusting to 3 kids than it was 2. Everyone is doing great and just enjoying Tessa!

My Sweet boy is almost 2 years old!

My sweet, loving, onery little boy is going to turn 2 years old on May 8th! It always amazes me how fast time flies when you have kids. Carter is a sweet little guy with a very curious mind. He reminds me of Curious George. He is always wondering how things work and trying to figure it out, he is so smart even though he can't always communicate himself. He just adores his big sister, he always wants to be where she is and almost every night cries before bed because he wants her to be with him. He is my little boy who takes balls to bed with him to sleep instead of baby dolls or puppies. He runs up to me and gives me big hugs, best feeling in the world. I am thinking with little sister coming around his birthday its going to be a busy time so I wanted to write about him early. God has blessed us with a wonderful little boy who we love so much and have enjoyed every day of his little 2 year life.

Words from Carter

As most of our family and friends know, Carter has been behind in his speech and language. They think it is contributed to how many ear infections he had when he was a baby and that he did not hear during that time. We had him evaluated several times by a speech therapist and because of his age he was denied however this last time when he was 18months old they rated him at a 7month old level. This was heartbreaking for us. We couldn't figure out what caused it, what we did wrong, how we could help, etc. So he started speech therapy twice a week. This is challenging sometimes when you are extremely prego and have a 4 year old to take with you, but she does great and even helps him. When he started speech therapy I started doing a lot of research, reaching out to friends for advice, and taking him to other Drs to make sure he wasn't behind in other ways. So after a lot of worry--more on my part--we had his ears checked again, started vitamins/supplements, changed his diet, took him to the chiropractor, and really started working with him with advice from the therapists. And I am happy and proud to say he is saying words now!! His favorite word is "NO" or "no no no no" but he is now saying "ma ma" "da da" and even "Taylor". I almost want to cry every time he comes to me and says "ma ma" I have waited so long to hear those words. He can also say bye, hi, book, teeth, juice, eat, different animal sounds, and he will repeat most words you ask him to. We are just so excited for him, his life is so much easier now that he can communicate without being so frustrated. And even though he tells me "No" ALL the time, its ok because I love hearing his sweet voice. I have a video of him saying "no" but I couldn't get it to upload.

Pictures

Here are some random pictures of the kids. We got a new camera so we are trying to get used to it but it takes great pictures. Here are a few pictures before church one day and at the park. Soon we'll be taking pictures of another little one too!

Disney On Ice - Toy Story 3

Snow Day

So what do you do all day in the house on a snow/blizzard day!? Well today we played play-doh, made cookies, watched a lot of movies, danced a lot, and ate fun dip. The fun dip then turned into a big mess and required bath time. The kids were a little stir crazy and so was mommy and daddy! And tomorrow we have another snow day! So more dancing and movies and play-doh. We can't possibly eat more cookies and fun dip though.