Lindsay Claire

February 2010-L

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Lindsay Claire was born Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 10:28pm. She weighed 8lb 15oz and measured 22 3/4 inches long. Thursday, Feb 4, we thought she was coming so we went in to the hospital after 3 hours of hard contractions. But as soon as we got there they stopped, so we went home. My sisters had come up that afternoon to help me out and it was so nice to have them here. So, Friday, we took the kids to Strong National Museum of Play and I walked and walked! Saturday, my parents came up in the hope that she would come that weekend. We went to the mall for lunch at Tom Wahls and then walked for awhile!! I figured if I walked enough, she might just fall out! Then I went home and laid down for a nap. Very strong contractions woke me up and I got in the shower for some relief. After some time in there, I figured they were not stopping this time as they continued at 4 min apart. My brother-in-law, Cody, and my dad went to Walmart to get me a big exercise ball to sit and rock on. I highly recommend using one during labor. It really helps me relieve pressure and pain on my back. We went in to the hospital about 8pm so I could see how far along I was. Labor had not been that bad so I was assuming I still had a ways to go. The doctor checked and I was almost 9cm! I could not believe it but was so thankful! Then 2 hrs later, she decided to come when there was no medical pesonnel in the room! Thank God she did not feel as big as she weighed! She looks just like her brothers.

The next day, my parents brought the boys in to see her. Aaron was so excited to see his little sister. Then, he saw her and said "It's not a girl!" I asked him why and he said "Because she doesn't have long hair!" But he wanted to hold her anyway. Jordan didn't really notice her until we brought her home. Then he learned to give kisses and now just wants to kiss her all the time. The boys are really good with her. She is a pretty good baby! We are still not used to all the pink in the house!

End of 2009 Update

Fall Birthdays and Christmas

So it's been a while since I have updated our information. In September we celebrated our 7 yr anniversary. I can't believe it has been that long but at the same time that seems very short. Stacey, Cody, and Kevin came up Labor Day weekend and we went to the zoo to see the huge white tiger they had this summer. That was a lot of fun and of course Stacey loved it! =) Kevin and Jordan slept a lot of the time.

We carved some pumpkins with the boys in October and Aaron and Tyler had specific requests for how they wanted their "faces" to look. They posed for Daddy so he could see how to make them. =) There is a picture in the folder titled Fall 2009. Jordan just wanted to eat everything. He didn't even care about the pumpkins when we put candles in and turned the lights off. For the last weekend in October, David, Melisa and the girls all came up. Friday, Oct 30, we went to church for the "trunk or treat". Aaron and Tyler had a lot of fun with that even though it was quite cold. Aaron was dressed as a lion, Tyler as an elephant, and Jordan as Pooh. Then we went inside for some refreshments. Saturday night the boys got dressed up again and the girls dressed as princesses and the dads took them down the street for a little trick or treating. It was really cold so Melisa and I kept Jordan and Grace home. I think the kids had a fun time even if the dads didn't! =)

Beginning of November brought Jordan's first birthday! I just made cupcakes for his cake (simple and easy). He loved it and dug right into his. He had no clue what to do with the
gifts even after his brothers showed him but he really enjoyed the toys once he could see
them. I can't believe how big he is and yet still so little compared to his brothers at his age. It's a good thing he is smaller though because I can still lift him when I need to despite my growing size! =) My parents were here for Jordan's birthday so I also made a cherry pie to celebrate my dad's birthday. For Thanksgiving we had our yearly church dinner a few weeks before the day. On Thanksgiving Day we stayed home and just had a quiet time together. We read about the story and meaning behind Thanksgiving to try to teach the boys the true meaning of why we celebrate it. I did not make the traditional meal ...too much work for me at that time!

December 1st was Tyler's 3rd birthday. It was also our first snowfall and Tyler thought that was the coolest thing that it snowed on his birthday. we celebrated the weekend before when Aunt Heather and Uncle Zeb were here. I made a cake with Curious George on it cuz he just loves to watch that show. Since we celebrated and opened presents the weekend before..he was able to go outside and ride his new bicycle since it was fairly warm. He had been wanting a "big bike" like Aaron's not just his tricycle so now he has one and he loves it. He is 3 but he still acts and thinks so much older so it seems he has been 3 for a while now. One of his favorite indoor activities is doing puzzles. He is very good at them and does them much above his age level. Once he has done it once, he will keep doing the same one getting faster and faster each time. Of course that is the only time I can get him to sit still..otherwise he is up and moving constantly.

I was very busy during most of December with a Christmas musical in our church. I was doing the sign language for the songs. The story took place in an ER and had many funny moments. However the message was about telling your friends about Jesus and what He means to you before it is too late. The lead role was a girl named Jenny who had an accident and went to the ER. Her friends came to visit but couldn't see her until their number was called so spent the whole night waiting. They had only heard rumors and didn't know what really happened to her. It turned out she only had sprained her wrist but in their imaginings she could be dying and they had never spoken about their faith to her. It was a very fun musical and also very convicting. We performed that the weekend before Christmas.

The kids had a few "Christmases" to celebrate. A few days before Christmas we went to Grandma Caballeros house to open gifts with her. Then we had our own little Christmas the
next day. Finally for Christmas day we went down to my parents in PA. We had a great holiday time but I am so glad for it to be over and calm down a little now before the baby comes.

Aaron is almost 5 and always reminds us. He cannot wait to go to school "when he gets 5." He counts off the days on his calendar and asks almost daily if the baby is here yet because he can't have his birthday until she is here. Everytime I go to the doctor he wants to know if she is going to get the baby out now "cuz it is taking so long!" I can't believe how grown up he acts now and he is still our best helper. He helps me so much during the day..getting things upstairs for me and helping put things away. He helps a lot with Jordan. He will be such a great help with the new baby too I'm sure.

So now we are down to 4 weeks until due date (Feb 6). We did find out that it was a girl this time. I really debated if I wanted to because once I know it is so hard to wait and I won't have the surprise at the end. But I wanted to be able to be ready for her if it was a girl and give my sister my "boy" stuff to keep for Kevin. So we found out and for all you wondering...I would rather NOT know! It is so much more difficult and now I don't have that surprise to look forward to. So take my advice and keep it a surprise! =) We do have most everything ready for her including a name (which is a secret) so now we just wait...and wait..and hope she's early!! I would like a January baby.

Enjoy the pictures (click the link at top to get to the online albums) and we will update
more after our little girl joins the family! A late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all and hope this new year is great for all!

***SURPRISE***

We found out in July that we are expecting another family member! I guess God thinks we need one more challenge in our lives! The baby is due February 6 but I am hoping this one might come on its own and early! We have many family and friends whose birthday is in February so it would be nice to spread it out a little by being in January! But we will see. As to what gender would we prefer? Honestly it does not matter. Another boy would be fine as we already have "boy stuff" down but a girl would be fine as well for a different challenge. We will keep you all updated as we go along. I am about 17 weeks now so almost halfway already! That is the nice thing about finding out later rather than at 4-5 weeks. So far it has been a great pregnancy. I didn't even know I was so I had no symptoms other than being tired but try chasing 3 high energy boys and tell me you are not tired!! So far this pregnancy has been very similar to Aaron's so maybe this will be a calm good baby! =)

Summertime 2009

Summertime

In May we had a baby shower for my sister, Stacey. Her mother in law, Tammy Lepley, helped as well. It was supposed to be a surprise and amazingly she didn't know until about 20 minutes before! It was fun. Cody was there for the beginning to video her reaction! She received a lot of good things that she needed. Kevin Isaiah Lepley was born June 28, 2009 at 8:45 am. (I think
that was the time) He shares a birthday with his Great-Grandma Burrows. He's a cute little stinker and I was able to stay around the whole week after he was born to help and just relax some with the family.

Our summer until August has been quite cool and rainy! =( The kids have taken to playing in the rain otherwise they would never get outside. Then August arrived and with it the nice summery weather! We finally got to use the pool for most of the month.

We took the older 2 boys to Darien Lake in July. Wilmer was able to get discounted tickets thru Paychex. It rained a lot but was still quite warm so it was fine. The boys had tons of fun. We played in the water park (and Daddy and Mommy froze but the boys didn't seem to be cold!) and went on quite a few rides. Their absolute favorite ride was the bumper cars both big and small. First we took them on the big ones and they loved it. Then they went on the kiddie bumper cars where they could drive and sit in the little car alone and they both loved that. I didn't get pictures on the bumper cars sadly. They were SO tired by the end of the night, they both fell asleep almost right away. It was a lot of fun! I have some pictures here but unfortunately didn't get a whole lot since it kept raining and I was afraid to get the camera soaked. Also we forgot sometimes to get pics since we were having so much fun! They were also
introduced to cotton candy! They loved it and called it fuzzy soft candy.

Jordan has gotten so big now! He is 9 1/2 months old and has 2 teeth on bottom and 4 on top. He looks like a crooked jack o lantern cuz of his teeth! On the top the corner and one of the center came in and so makes him look lopsided! =) It's cute with his little grin. He has figured out how to
grind his teeth and loves to do it then laugh when I tell him not to! He stands all the time holding onto things. He likes to hold on to the tricycle outside and push it around like a walker. He just has the biggest grin. He is starting to take a step or two every day but not sturdy enough to walk alone without falling. He is very clingy with me right now and it is a little frustrating but thankfully seems to be fine when I am gone. I always hate to leave bad kids with the sitter. =) He has just started climbing stairs so now we have to block them. He wants to follow the big boys everywhere. If he hears them he wants to be with them and try to do what they are doing. He crawls and has been since he was 5 months old! He is really fast! He just learned in the last week to clap his hands! We laugh at him and clap our hands too so he does it more and more. He likes
to be center of attention and make everyone laugh. Unfortunately his brothers laugh when he is bad too so he gets the wrong idea!

We have been in the pool a few times this year. Wilmer made a homemade solar system to heat it so it is slightly warmer than other pools around. It has been nice and refreshing but I wish we could use it more. Aaron loves to swim and I wanted him to learn to swim without floaties but we
haven't been able to be in it often enough. Aaron will "swim" alone with just his "muscles" or arm floaties on. He does pretty good with that. Tyler likes the water also but is not comfortable enough to "swim" without one of us holding him.

Tyler got to ride his first horse this summer. At Wilmer's aunt's house, Wilmer and Aaron go out in back to ride on the track with dirt bikes so I took Tyler and saddled a horse and rode with him. He loved it and wants to do it every time we go there now.

We were leasing our truck and the lease was up this year so we ended up getting a minivan. Yes we have entered that stage. We miss the truck and being able to carry anything in it so when we are able we will probably switch the car for a truck but I think the minivan is here to stay for a
while. It is nice because we just take out the seats we don't need and it is quite roomy.

We also got bunk beds for the boys. Aaron has been dying to have some ever since he saw a movie where some boys had them. I found a really good deal on craigslist so we got them and Wilmer set them up while I took the boys out. They came home and it was time for bed. So they went up and saw them and were SO excited! It took a really long time for them to get to sleep
and of course they both wanted to sleep on top! But now they switch sleeping up there and don't even fight about it. We don't say anything just let them decide who sleeps where each night. There is a railing across the top so it is safe for both of them. Although if either of them was to fall it would be Aaron because he cannot lay still at night!! Tyler has rarely fallen out bed ever.

In July I took the boys and went down to Heather's new house to visit. It was fun and we took a walk to the reservoir. On the way there were wild blackberries and the boys had a lot of fun picking and eating them. They have never had them before. Then there was a little creek that we played in for awhile as it was quite hot that day.

Wilmer was able to do a few races this year but they were a little different. They are called GP races and include motocross track plus woods riding. It is a little different with the variety but it is more worth the money it costs to go ride. It is a 2 hour race. We weren't able to watch the first one he rode in which was Palmyra NY because we were in PA. He got 4th place because he was stuck for about half hour in a very sticky muddy bog and couldn't get out. He said it was stuck all the way up to the back fender and he was so covered in mud from that race! The 2nd one he raced was in Batavia so we went to that one to watch. He was doing really good in 1st place and then with only 1/2 hr left the bike seized up and quit. So he was unable to finish. That was a bummer but it was still fun to watch. Now he is in the process of fixing the bike (which actually is turning out easier than he thought ..well cheaper than he thought) so he can race in October at another race near Buffalo NY. Aaron also had the chance to ride on the mini track there but he was scared so he just rode the perimeter of it! =)

I take the kids to the library sometimes for storytime and one day they had the butterfly staff from the zoo come and release the Monarch butterflies that they had raised throughout the summer. So they let each of the kids feel the butterfly "dance" on their hand and then chose a few volunteers to be the launchpads. So Aaron was chosen and he really liked that. The girl put the butterfly on his hand then let it go and it flew away.

So we have had a crazy but funfilled summer and now are looking forward to the things that autumn will bring. For those of you who have been praying for our house in PA to sell... we may have a buyer. Please continue to pray and I will update you when it is sold..hopefully within a couple months.

New "Addition"

Bike Riding 2009

We do have a new "addition" to the family. Aaron has his first dirt bike. Yes it has a motor and everything. It is a 50cc yamaha. It does come with training wheels. Yup motorized bikes have training wheels too, they just go across the middle of the bike instead of the rear wheel. You can see it in the picture. He loves to ride it and does very well now with no training wheels. Daddy takes him out to a little track he made at his cousin's house and Aaron will ride there for hours! He still rides his bicycle as well and can do that completely on his own. I can't believe how big he has gotten this summer!

Tyler likes to sit on the dirt bike but until just recently he would not come near it if the motor was on. Now at the end of the summer he is starting to want to ride it some himself... well with Daddy on it but he has the controls. He has a tricycle that he does well on but he really wants to ride a big bicycle like Aaron now. He has gotten very big as well and extremely independent. I can't believe he is only 2 still!

Birthdays

Aaron's 4th Bday

Tyler's 2nd Bday

I uploaded some pictures of Tyler's and Aaron's birthdays. For Tyler we stayed home and just had a few people over. I made him a train cake which he loved. It took a long time to make and eat also but it was worth it. It was fun! 

For Aaron we went to PA to my parents house to celebrate with my family and his cousins. Daddy dressed up in a Clifford costume since Aaron loves that show. Aaron was so happy and thought it was the coolest thing that his Daddy dressed up. Tyler wasn't too sure about it at first but he warmed up to him. 

Now birthdays are done for awhile..well Wilmer's is in May but I don't have to do a party..do I? =)

Spring 2009 Family Update

April 2009 -J

Wow! I can't believe it has been 5 months since I have posted anything here. That is so bad and sorry to those who keep checking! Soooo...a lot to say but can't remember it all! Kids really do fry your brain cells! =) 

Aaron is 4 now and loves to tell everyone that soon he will be 5 and ride the school bus. Almost every day he asks if his birthday is "tomorrow so I can be 5." Time already flies and he wants it to go faster! Warm weather is starting to stick around a little more so he gets to ride his bike a lot more now. Yes he remembered how to ride with NO training wheels (he learned in the fall and only rode a couple times before snow came). He loves to take a ride with just him and Daddy. Last fall we bought a practically brand new bike trailer (from craigslist..great website!) and so now we can all go out. Jordan has been in it once and seemed to like it with Tyler sitting in there beside him. Aaron is learning more about words and reading and now loves to read books. He has his favorite book (from a box of Cheerios) called Wiggles and has memorized it and so now HE reads it every night. We have to sit with him and let him read to us..we are not allowed to read it to him. But he does recognize some of the words so at least that is helping him to sound words out a little. He has moved up to the next age Sunday school class and loves it. He is with his friend, Brandon, again, and I am sure that is a handful for the teacher! He is learning the Bible verses and remembering them much better now and it is so encouraging to see. He loves to share about the stories he learns as we drive home. I am going to teach preschool at home instead of sending him to one, so that should be interesting. He is very excited about it though and wants to start now. He know his alphabet very well and many of the sounds of the letters also. He can recognize capital and lower case letters in any order. He is learning to write some of them pretty recognizably. He knows how to spell, write and sign his name! He also learned how to spell Tyler, Daddy, and Mommy and knows Jordan starts with a J! He has a calendar and so is learning about the concept of time and dates. We write things on there and he learns the days/weeks/months. He crosses off the days as we go and is very excited to say the next day and date. He is learning about numbers over 20 because of the calendar. Wow, just reading back over this, I realize how much he has absorbed and learned in the past 5 months. He also understands and speaks so much better now. It's scary how old he sounds sometimes! He also has a memory like a trap so don't ever tell him something unless you really mean it!! Some of his favorite indoor games are hide and seek and the board game 'Sorry'. The little stinker usually wins that game every time and Mommy doesn't give him any breaks either. We play by the rules but he is a lucky kid!

Tyler is 2 1/2 now. He is halfway potty trained..by that I mean he only pees in his pullups. He almost always will go poopy in the toilet. So at least that means I don't have very many dirty diapers to clean up after right now. He knows the alphabet song now and can get almost all the letters. He doesn't recognize the letters specifically very well yet but every time he sees a word or group of letters he says "ABC's" and starts to sing! He is very much a chatterbox and extremely independent. He wants to do everything Aaron does and gets very frustrated when he can't. He has learned his colors and loves to color and paint. He loves car and motorcycles like his brother but he also likes to play with just about anything. But one of their favorite things to do is ride their motorcycles around the house. This game consists of putting their hands up like holding onto the handlebars and revving their motors (very loudly with their mouths) and "driving" all over thru the house. They will play this game for quite a while but it drives Mommy crazy!! Usually they get along quite well and can play together fairly nicely. That is, until I am talking on the phone or am rushing around trying to finish something quickly...then they are not so cooperative. How is it that kids always know when it is most annoying for them to fight? Tyler is very friendly and not as shy as Aaron. He also knows how to use his cuteness to try to get away with something. His other favorite game to play is duck duck goose. He learned how to ride his tricycle and likes to. But he gets so frustrated because he can't peddle fast enough to keep up with Daddy and Aaron. He would love to ride a big bike with training wheels but his legs are just not long enough yet. He would rather ride a bike than ride in a trailer but he has to grow a little more. Poor guy, he gets so frustrated hearing that all the time "You are too little" or "You have to grow a little more". He will turn it around on Jordan and tell him "I am bigger so I can do this but you are too little". =) So funny! He loves to do puzzles! We have a huge floor puzzle that is a zoo and he loves to do it. Grandma has regular puzzles for children that have interlocking pieces and he can do them all! He takes after Mommy because I love to do puzzles also.

Jordan is 5 1/2 months. He is such a good little guy! He definitely his own person. He is not a mover like Tyler was but not as quiet as Aaron was. He is very vocal and is always "talking". He is quite laid back and loves to just watch his big brothers. He is very fascinated by them. Aaron will sit with him and make him laugh so hard! When he hears Aaron's voice, he will look all around until he finds him. Tyler is pretty good with him but he just forgets how to be gentle. When we ride in the car, Jordan is in the middle and Aaron and Tyler each hold one of his hands, usually. It is so cute! Hopefully they will all still be best friends when they get older. Right now, they like to share their toys with Jordan but we'll see how it is in a few months when he can grab them himself! I started giving Jordan some cereal about 2 weeks ago and he really likes it. He sleeps pretty good at night and 3 nights in a row, I got at least 7-8 hours of sleep straight! He rolls over both ways but really likes to roll onto his belly. He is now learning to sit. We practice a few times each day and he is learning to balance. No teeth yet (thankfully =) for me) but he chews hard so I think they are not too long in coming.