Tree House

  When Mason's brother and his wife told us over a year ago that they wanted to build our boys a tree house for Christmas, I wasn't quite sure how serious they were.  When they came at Thanksgiving to scope out a site, I was more convinced that this would actually happen, and we've been looking forward to it ever since! 

Today was the day.  Uncle Tyler & Aunt Molly drove down from Delaware yesterday and spent all day today (with some help from Grandaddy & Mason) building the most incredible tree house.  Tyler is a contractor, so he very much knows what he is doing (which means Mommy can rest in peace knowing that this thing isn't going anywhere!).

Construction well underway!

The boys loved watching

 

 

 

 

 

Just hanging out

 

Not a bad view

  

 

And, complete!

Team Tree House :)

 

 

Best Christmas present EVER! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Tyler and Molly, for this incredible gift!  I think we officially now have the greatest backyard that any little boy could hope for. 

Snow day

 

We had our first (and let's be honest, probably our last... we are in North Carolina after all) snow of the year overnight.  I was so excited to see what the property looks like covered in snow!  Another inch or two would have been even better, but I wasn't too disappointed :)

 

 

 

The boys were, of course, pretty excited too, although I'm not sure Kaeden really knew what it was.  Ethan was kind enough to sleep in this morning so that I could take the older boys out to play before it started to melt.  

Kaeden was afraid to step in it initially, but once he did, he loved stomping in it to hear the crunch sound that it made!  

 

 We wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was too icey - it just crumbled when I tried to pack it into a ball.  So, they had fun shoveling it into buckets for a little while, and then we decided to go for a wagon ride.

 It was really heavy with both of them, so I enlisted Ryan's help to make it all the way down the driveway :)

 

 

 After a while, they got cold, so we came inside to have some snack with hot chocolate, which, in my opinion, is a necessity on snow days!

 

 

 Eventually, Ethan woke up, and I decided to try to capture his first snow day without actually exposing him to much snow.  He does have a cold, after all, and I doubt that many one-month-olds are too excited by snow!

 

Happy winter, y'all! :)

One month

Dear Ethan,

You are one month old today.  As a general rule these past few years of my life, I would say that time flies, and I often don't know where a month has gone.  This past month, however, has gone blissfully slowly.  I can't remember the last time that I truly enjoyed a month as much as I have this past one.  That's not to say that there haven't been hard moments and even days as we've all adjusted to being a family of five.  But I can honestly say that I have savored this time, and I am so thankful.  

 

In some ways, it's hard to believe that you're only a month old.  So much has happened!  And as I've told many people, in many ways it felt like you entered the world as a one-month-old.  You were only 6 days late, but you were a pound and a half bigger than either of your brothers when they were born (and you're still growing fast - 11 pounds exactly as of today!).  You were surprisingly alert from the moment we laid eyes on each other.  You were holding your head up on your own at one day old.  You rolled over for the first time at 3 1/2 weeks old.  At this rate, you'll be walking by the time you're 6 months old!  Please don't grow up so fast.  

 

 

 In addition to your first Christmas, this month you had your first visit from Uncle Dain:

You also had your first real bath finally after 3 weeks - that umbilical stump just did not want to come off!  You like it much better than the sponge baths.  Being cold is one of your least favorite things, after all! 

 

You are a very good eater (clearly) and an equally good sleeper.  By the time we brought you home from the hospital, you were sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night, and you've already done 7 & 8 hour stretches a few times recently.  Most of the time, I can put you down in your crib drowsy and you will put yourself back to sleep.  I guess you learned quickly that having a well-rested mommy is a good thing :)  During the day, you have a bit of a harder time.  If I can catch you at the perfect moment, I can sometimes put you down in your crib or pack 'n play and you'll put yourself to sleep.  Otherwise, you either fall asleep nursing, fall asleep in the car seat (rarely), or fall asleep in the sling.  You LOVE the sling.  It's the only thing that works when you're over-tired, but boy, does it work!  I'm so thankful to have something to turn to when I need to calm your fussies. 

 

Speaking of fussies, you typically have a fussy time in the evening for an hour or sometimes more.  In general, there's not much we can do to help you until bedtime arrives and I can feed you and put you to bed.  As a general rule, you like to be held.  And if we put you down, we had better be right there with you.  You do not like to be left alone.  I don't mind, though.  It's nice to have an excuse to hold you all the time :)  Your brothers might like it if you let me put you down a bit more, though!

 

Overall, Ryan & Kaeden are adjusting quite well to your presence in our family.  Ryan has warmed up to you very well.  He likes to hold you, and his very favorite thing is when you sneeze.  For some reason, he thinks it's very funny!  He has, on various occasions, called you "cool" and "cute".  And he is as sweet as could be to you, even trying to protect you at times from your other older brother who doesn't quite remember to be gentle at all times.  Kaeden still adores you and asks to "see Ethan" many, many times every day.  He always asks about you when you're not around, and when you are on the floor playing, he is guaranteed to be right there next to you.  I think he'll be very excited when you get big enough to actually play.  For now, he just harasses you with toys, even if you don't care about them yet.  

 

 

 

 

 

In case you couldn't tell, your brothers like to hold you! (and they learned early on that holding you means having their picture taken, so that has pretty much become a requirement every time they hold you.)

Ethan, you are such an important part of our family, and as is always the case with my babies, I already cannot imagine our lives without you.  I never pictured myself having three boys, but I am so thankful that God had a perfect plan for our family that included you!  Knowing you now and seeing how you fit into our family so well, I can't imagine it any other way.  You are such a blessing to your mommy, and I am loving every little snuggle... even (especially!) the 3 am ones.  

These are your one month portraits.  You have a cold (your second one already... poor 3rd child born in December!) and you were getting tired when I took them, but in my opinion, you're pretty adorable anytime.