Joey's Baptism

On January 20 (when he was 17 days old), Josiah was baptized.  I never intended to baptize this early, but the week before it was announced in the bulletin that we were joining the church the next week, and Josiah would be baptized at the same time.  I was shocked for a few seconds until I realized it would mean my parents just had to stay an extra day.  I didn't expect anyone else to come except for Larry's parents.  When we heard it would work for them, we just went ahead with it.  I must say that it was the easiest baptism ever because he didn't even wake up or fuss at all!  The only issue was that I had to send John down halfway through because he wouldn't stand still, nor would he let me hold him.  This was probably because we stood up in front of church for our membership questions and then through a brief teaching on baptism (I think, I wasn't listening because I was struggling with John the whole time) before doing the actual baptism part.  Oh, well!  Luckily, John went straight to my dad.

Here are some pictures of the day:

First bath--his umbilical cord stump fell off the night before! 

My "helpers"

Baptism outfit I bought two days before 

(the one I intended him to wear was too big due to baptizing so early) 

Answering membership questions--notice John getting unruly.

The actual baptism

Baptism cake

Mrs. Kitts made the cake--it was beautiful...and delicious!

an attempt at a family picture--Larry had already changed, so I made him put on the top part.  Unfortunately it got in the picture...Oh, well! 

How I came to be outnumbered four to one...

And now the title of my blog is true...I am surrounded by boys!  I guess I am destined to play trucks, trains, and wrestling for the next several years.  That's fine with me...I love each of my boys.  However, I may have to borrow my nieces every now and then for some girly time to do shopping, manicures, etc.

So, my third son, Josiah Lawrence, was born on January 3, 2013 via C-section.  The day was also my parents' 44th wedding anniversary!  We arrived at the hospital at 5:25 in the morning for a scheduled 7:30 C-section (I found out when we got there that we were supposed to be there at 5:00).  They started prepping me until they realized that the OR was TRIPLE-booked!  Well, actually, my surgery wasn't even on the OR schedule, but we were all in the books for the Labor & Delivery floor.  So, they did three C-sections in a row and mine was the third.  At first they told me it wouldn't be until 12:00.  I started crying.  No one likes last minute changes, especially pregnant mothers.  I was worried my kids wouldn't be able to see the baby anymore before my mother-in-law took them back to her house.  However, I was taken to the OR a little bit before 11:00.

The C-section went SO well.  My anesthesiologist was FANTASTIC!  And, this being my third one, I felt pretty calm and felt like I knew what to expect.  Once I was all fixed up, they wheeled me into the adjoining room (recovery room) where they brought Josiah to me.  This hospital has a policy where they require at least one hour of skin-to-skin between the mom and the new baby.  That was fine with me, especially since I had to wait in the recovery room for one hour anyway.  It was really precious.  He did have low blood sugar, though, so we had to give him some formula (which he spit up!).  He weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz and was 20 inches long!

Once the hour was done, they wheeled me into my room where my parents where waiting.  They were pretty excited to meet their anniversary present.  They each got to hold him for a while before my mother-in-law brought the kids to meet their little brother.  Jacob was pretty excited to meet his brother "Basiah," and John just kept saying "baby" and waving "Hi." It was pretty cute.  Then we said good-bye to our big boys and were able to focus on and get to know our new little boy.

Larry ready to go into the OR

39 weeks, 3 days pregnant! 

My first look at my third son!

8 lbs, 4 oz. 

Grandma Van Duyn

My four boys! 

Beppe with John, Jacob, and Josiah

Ready to go home! (bad picture, I know!)  

All three boys wore this outfit home from the hospital.

Christmas

I didn't take any pictures this Christmas...but my brother-in-law Philip did.  Here are some of his shots.  Most of them included unflattering pictures of me in a red tunic that makes me look like I am 300 pounds. I am getting VERY big, but not that big!  These were acceptable...

This picture is actually from Thanksgiving day...My mother-in-law bought the shirts and wanted a picture for her Christmas card. However, all the boys wore the shirts on Christmas day, too!

Beppe gave the boys stools--Uncle Mike found a different use for them...an instrument in tickle torture!

John sitting on Beppe's lap.  

John on his light up turtle from Uncle Phil and Auntie Rosaline

(Jacob has taken this over for now...)

Also a picture of my big red bowl full of jelly belly!

"All I want for Christmas"

Being the mother of only boys, I often wonder how much longer they'll want to  hug and kiss me, snuggle on the couch, or hold my hand.  I also know that someday soon I will start to embarrass them in some way or another...it's inevitable.  For example, at Christmastime, I love to put on Christmas music and dance around the house, singing at the top of my lungs.   However, this year the boys decided to embrace my craziness and dance along.  Here's proof that little boys don't mind being as crazy as their mom:

My little pumpkins...Comparison

When I dressed John today, I realized that two years and one day ago, I put Jacob in the same outfit.  So, I decided to take a picture of John with a pumpkin in honor of Halloween.  John is technically six weeks older than Jacob in terms of age, so that's why he looks older!  They probably weigh the same, though. 

Random Vidoes (to help me remember this time in my life)

This happened a couple of days ago. I told Jacob his feet were dirty, and then I caught him doing this about two minutes later! I wouldn't normally encourage this, but it was just so cute, and he was so

proud of himself! 

 

 

 

 

 

Not very exciting, I know...But I posted it so I could have proof that I've taught John how old his is. This movie was probably recorded over a month ago.

15 Months!

Some days I cannot believe that my little Johnny is already 15 months old...however, in the same breath, I can't believe he is ONLY fifteen months old!  I feel like he has aged WAY more than three months since he turned one.  He is a completely different person!  He has become more independent, he's starting to communicate, he walks everywhere, he figures out how to do new things every day, and he is starting to understand simple commands!  So, for those of you who get bored easily, this post is really just for me to remember.  I'll post some pictures once I find the camera cord! 

Here's a few of his likes and dislikes:

Food:  likes toast with butter, hotdogs, cheese, deli meat, any fruit we give him, crackers
           dislikes most cooked meat

Activities:  he loves to do anything outside; anything Jacob likes to do, he wants to do; he loves to play in the car, but he hates to get in his carseat; I think he loves nursery, but he screams for the first couple of minutes after I leave;  he is obsessed with balls.

Some of his accomplishments:

Words I can understand:  Momma, Daddy, ball (ba or baba), bottle (baba), juice (ju), bye (ba with a cute wave), Jacob (dayda), uh-oh, cheese (cheee)

Skills: walking everywhere, he does a funny lopsided run, too!; climbs into his own seat at the table; folds his hands when we pray or when I ask him to say Amen; points to items he wants; gives hugs and kisses; points to his nose when asked; sometimes points to eyes when asked; can answer what a dog says; sometimes will say what a cow says, but it sounds like "mmm", can point to his "ding-dong" (belly button); will pull up my shirt when I ask, "Where's the baby?" 

Sleeping:
His sleep patterns are constantly changing, but for the last three days (while my mother-in-law had Jacob I really worked on this new schedule) he has been only taking one nap (for about an hour and a half or a little longer) and sleeping at night from 8:00 until 7:30.  I LOVE it!  Of course, that could change pretty easily.  Before switching to one nap, he was sleeping at night from 9 until 5:45. 

Other random things I want to remember:  He has twelve teeth, but his bottom eye teeth are on their way (red spots where they should be coming in). 

Stats:
shoe size: size 5
Height: they measured 33.5 inches, but I think that's a bit too long...
Weight: about 27 pounds
clothes size: shirts are mostly 24 months or 2T, some 18 months.  Most of his pants are 18 months