First Few Days in MN

We made it to Minnesota! We left Bossier at 12:45 on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Andover at 7:45 Sunday morning! The drive went really well! The kids did great! I'm pretty sure their new dvd players showing Mickey helped! Here's a quick list of what's happened in our few days here:
*the big kids got to try out the gator Grandpa and Grandma got for them (so cute!)
*we got to meet Thomas-cousin Tiffany's boyfriend from Norway and she got to meet Liam
*Anderson and Callie helped Grandma bring in produce from her garden and ate quite a few tomatoes while doing so
*Liam meet my best friend Melissa
*we walked to the park, Liam had his first swing
*Aunt Brenda and Uncle Josh got to meet Liam
*we spent a morning at the Children's Museum
*getting lots and lots of hugs and kisses from everyone

And the Little One Said Rollover, Rollover!

Liam is officially a roller!  Back on Sept. 3rd he rolled from his back to his front in his crib and on Sept. 5 he rolled from his back to his front on his play gym but David and I don't count it as official until it's done on the ground.  Well, yesterday Liam rolled from his front to his back and from his back to his front twice on the floor!  Yay!  Way to go Liam!  Notice the drum stick he's holding from his brother!  Are you proud Uncle Benjamin!?!

Today's Weights

Anderson-29lbs
Callie-22.4lbs
Liam-16.4lbs

Saturday we started giving Liam a bottle for his last feeding to see if it would help him sleep through the night.  Both nights were much better than the previous!  I admit I cried while David gave him that first bottle of formula but he's a boy who likes to eat and eat a lot (the bottles have been 10oz, 9oz and 8 1/2oz)!  I am still nursing at the other feedings and pumping for when we have sitters and church nursery.  The extra sleep has been nice-here's to another good night tonight!

Knob-less Dressers

So I've been denying the fact that the twins are into exploring/climbing/investigating - I can no longer ignore this! On Saturday David found Callie on top of the dressers and Anderson in the top drawer during nap time-well, I guess it really wasn't nap time seeing as no naps occured!  After quite a bit of brainstorming the best idea we (actually David) came up with was to take off all of the knobs.  He made a little "key" for us to use to open the drawers to get the kids dressed.  Although it's only a matter of time until they figure out a way to do this themselves.  We've already caught Anderson poking things into the drawers to try and open them!  Not to mention David found Anderson trying to climb up the dressers using the space between them to shimmy up and Callie had all their bed item (pillows, blankets, stuffed animals) piled next to the dressers and was on top of the pile trying to climb higher!  Please ignore Anderson's nose-he allergies are terrible!

Liam's at the Table & Rub-a-dub-dub 3 Scotts in a Tub

Liam doesn't like to be left out of anything or treated his age. Seeing as he's only 3 months we may be in for some trouble! In the past he would sit in his little chair on the floor while we ate. He has decided he doesn't like that. After a week of David holding him while eating he suggested we get the highchair down and try putting him in it. So we put him in, stuffed blankets around him and he was happy. Can you see his smirk! And as to not be left behind in the bathing area he joined in the tub fun too!

Liam's Nose Job

When Liam was born the doctor was kind enough to slice my little guys perfect face.  He had a scar on his right cheek which has disappeared, a scar under his left side nose which has also disappeared and one on the part between your nostrils (no idea what the technical term is) which hadn't gone away until yesterday.  We went to the dermatologist who looked at it and said he could take care of it right away, if mom was ok with a little crying.  Of course I don't want to see my little guy cry but hey we were there without the big kids, had the time and it had to be done sooner or later so sooner it was!  He was given a shot to numb the area and then the doctor cut it off!  Now it should heal with a little Neosporin and maybe a little Vitamin E to make sure there is no scar.  Here are some before and after's of our brave little guy!

Liam is 3 Months

1/4 of a year! Wow! Our little boy is growing up so fast! He has found his hands and loves sucking on them! Rolling over has began but is not official (He will get an entire post for that!) and he likes to sit at the table on one of our laps and be a part of dinner. He also loves Anderson and Callie! The other night the 4 of us were reading on the couch and everything was fine until the twins went to get new books and he just started bawling. The crying stopped as soon as they came back with their new books, such love! It really is incredible to see the way he looks at them and how they look at him!  Note the outfit change:We had a little bit of spit up at afternoon feeding.  This is also how long it took me to notice my shirt was on backwards!

Anderson Deer Corn

Today on our mother-son trip to the grocery store Anderson and I found a fun surprise!  What a smartie-he can even point to his name (with a little help from mom!).

A Three Hour Nap and A Husband at Home

It's amazing the things that can be accomplished in 3 hours with 3 sleeping kids and a helpful husband! Ever since our fertility issues became known I've become more and more concerned about the things that we are putting in our bodies. Add two beautiful gifts from God and I became more concerned especially for them and the effects our/their diets can have on their health (fertility being one area mentioned a lot with artificial colors, processed foods, GMOs...). Now add a third gift from God and I'm diving in even more. Over the past 5 years our diet has become better and better but I (we) still have our downfalls. Meals are an easier area. We've learned to make smarter choices, sneaking in vegetables (cauliflower in mac and cheese and banana bread, squash in sloppy joes, spinach on pizza, making our own popsicles, using whole grains...), eating more "real" food, and watching our portions. The most challenging area for me is snack/junk food. So lately that has been my quest-find "healthy" snack/junk food.  I searched the internet for real food snack recipes and came up with quite a few.  So today we made some of them.   I've been making the muffins since the twins started eating solids but the cookies and crackers are new additions and we are quite pleased with them.  So in picture order we have chocolate chip cookies with chick peas, oatmeal raisin cookies with banana and zucchini, carrot and cheese muffins, corn and cheese muffins, me trying out my awesome new food processor, cheese crackers and the kids trying one of each for snack!  We still have a long way to go but we're making improvements and slowly but surely the processed food is making it's way out of our house!  Our goal is 5-7 ingredients or less and/or organic if it's processed.  Now I wonder if I will ever be able to part with my oreos...everything in moderation, right;)  Tomorrow's recipes: homemade lara bars, vegetable lasagna and three bean soup!  Oh and a fun side note-we freeze meals and now these snacks so meal time is less stressful for mom!  I just head to the freezer, pull out a homemade meal, defrost it and warm it!