Remington is 2 and a Half Years Old

Today is our little man's half birthday.

He gets older everyday but today seems especially significant because Remi is no longer just two, he's two and a half and to me that's kind of a big deal.

Our two and a half year old is an energetic, busy little guy who never stops talking. He's loud and crazy, always moving and so so funny.

Remi is always ready to lend a hand when his dad is working on a project and he's disappointed when there's no more work left to do. 

A fun fact about Remi is that he loves beverages of any kind. A phrase we often hear is: "Can I try some dat?" You can't fix yourself a cup of coffee or enjoy a soda without him asking for some. And if he is lucky enough to actually get to try something, chances are he's going to like it.



After using his sister's tea cups for a few days, he and his dad decided he needed a "man cup." Now, Remi has afternoon tea in his man cup frequently. Doesn't matter if it's hot or cold, the kids loves him some liquid goodness.

He loves to play with his cousins and friends but is sometimes more content to help his momma in the kitchen. (The stove was NOT on in the photo above)

We hadn't planned on potty training until he was closer to three, but a bad case of diarrhea sped our plans up a little bit and Remi has been a rockstar thanks in part to some new Paw Patrol "unders."

"I call them 'unders' cause we got them at the store."

Makes sense.

When he is in unders, I've restricted him to the tile and he's done a great job of following the rules, even though that means he has to watch Paw Patrol from the dinning room. Did I mention that he is a big Paw Patrol fan?

I got to take Remi on a special Christmas Shopping date the other day. He had an idea of what he wanted to get his siblings and his dad and he wasn't to be swayed. He also insisted on carrying the basket the entire time. "I hold it, I strong." He did a great job of keeping his gifts a secret until today at lunch. I started to tell him something when he cut me off….

"I want to tell Addy something."

Ok

"Addy, you can find out on Christmas."

Find out what Remi? Find out what you got me?!?

"I got you a Barbie!"

Yes!

Another thing about Remington, that I've recently learned, is that he's pretty handy with glue. We made snow flake ornaments the other day and to my surprise, he set at the table for a decent amount of time gluing buttons onto his snowflake with little help from me. 

I'll end this half birthday update with a funny conversation between Remi and his dad:

Remi, whats your favorite color?

"Boo!"

What's your favorite super hero?

"Spider-man!"

And what do you want to be when you grow up?

"Batman!"

This is a photo from our newborn session with Britton and I think Remi looks especially handsome.

Happy Half Birthday to handsome fella!

Britton is 3 Months Old

Baby Brudder Britton is three months old! 

You can tell that Britton is a third child by the lack of blog posts about him. Don't tell him this but I find it really hard to do his monthly posts since he doest do a whole lot at this point. But I would feel like a slacker if I just completely gave up on them, so this is my attempt to play catch up.

Life was pretty chaotic around his one month birthday, but we did manage to snap a photo with the nice camera though and before that we had newborn pictures taken which I absolutely love. 

Lisa Burke did a great job, didn't she?

At two months, Britton had another trip to the doctor where he got several shots. Of course he cried but I think it might have hurt his older siblings a little more than it did him. They were very sweet to him though and held his hand the whole time. 

Addy helped out with his two month photos. 

"Want to take a selfie?"

And now at 3 months old, Baby Britton is sleeping up to 7 hours at night (hallelujah!!), smiling and cooing and making us fall more in love with him everyday.

Everyone comments on how laid back he is and for the most part it's true. Perhaps it's his personality or he's just easily entertained by the chaos around him. Either way, I'm pretty thankful for him and can't wait to watch him grow.

Changes

Over the past four and a half years of mommy hood, I have gotten used to changes and transitions. The first year of having a baby is full of transitions; transition from three naps to two, up all night to (hopefully) sleeping through the night. They begin on a diet of breast milk or formula and then you introduce solid food and your routine is totally different. Once you get used to doing something one way, their needs change. Things are constantly changing and I'd like to think that I've done a pretty good job of rolling with it over the years. 

We have a pretty big change on the horizon and to me it's bigger and harder to process than adding another kiddo to the mix. My sweet little Addy Grace will be going to Kindgarten in the fall. She is thrilled but her momma is an emotional mess about it and thinking that maybe I'm really not that great with change. 

I've known it was coming for four years now and I've actually been excited about it. I mean, can't you just picture her in her "1st Day of Kindergarten" photo? She's going to be the cutest little student. She's so excited and I'm excited for her. But I'm also a little sad and I can't really tell you why.

Perhaps those silly hormones are still to blame (I gave birth less than three months ago after all) or maybe its events that have taken place over the past couple of months. Whatever it is, this momma is having a hard time. 

The most stressful part about Addy going to Kindergarten is that Matt and I have to make a decision about where she will go. Praise the Lord that we have several really great choices. Whether we choose classical, a family school, a private or public school, I am sure she will do just fine. But making that decision is really really hard! It's probably our biggest decision to make as parents yet and I kind of wish we had another four years to just put it off.

But alas, all children must grow up sometime and Addy must go to school. And eventually she will be followed by Remi and then Britton and my heart might just break a little each time. Thankfully these changes come in phases and not all at once.

Praise the Lord that He is sovereign and He is trustworthy with the lives of my children. And I will continue to learn to trust Him more and more. 

Bringing Home Baby Britton

I set down to write this post when our little guy was only a week old. Two weeks later, Im finally getting around to finishing. I guess that's a good example of what life is like with 3 and you're running on little sleep. I usually opt for a nap when I do get some free time. Posting photos isn't on the top of my priority list these days. But, since this blog has always served as way of preserving memories for me, I'll pour another cup of coffee and skip the nap today. 

Britton has been home for a week   almost 3 weeks and we are so thankful we got to spend his first week at home. It was a precious time for all of us and the weeks since then seem to have flown by. Here's a little glimpse of what these early weeks as a family of 5 have been like:

Welcome home baby brudder! 

They both asked to hold him as soon as we got home from the hospital.

Always the little momma, Addy is adjusting well and finding ways to be helpful. When she's not holding Britton or helping her Mom, she's imitating me with her own baby.

Bringing a baby home to a 4 year old is a lot different than coming home to a 2 year old. There are a lot more questions! Most of them I am happy answer and for some I'm thankful when her Dad answers: "isn't it cool that God made it that way? And that's all you need to know for now."

Remi is equally excited about Britton, who he sometimes refers to as "that baby" or "my baby sister." He asks to hold him frequently but needs to be under constant supervision when he does.

He will be thrilled someday when they can finally rough house together. Until then, he's learning how to give the baby gentle love pats.

Being the third kid, Britton has no problem letting us know when he's upset.

Meeting sweet cousin Carter.

This was a typical scene that first week. Britton was usually being held or read to, or both.

Man talks with Dad

I found these while cleaning out my phone. The kids love to take pictures of the baby and other things.

Sweet Gran spent two weeks with us which was such a blessing! But between momma always having to feed him and his siblings fighting over him, she would often have to wait till late in the evening to get to hold Britton. 

Goodness, when did Remi get so big??

Oh my heart.

I can't wait to see how Britton continues to change and grow and how our family adapts along with him.

Britton Knox Danner

He's here! Our baby BOY is finally here. 

Britton Knox was born on a beautiful fall day, September 20th, 2015 at 12:34 pm. He weighed 9 lbs, 4 oz and was 21 inches long.

The night before Britton was born, Matt, the kids and I had dinner with my parents who were in town for a pickle ball tournament. I was two days over due. We talked about how we didn't think this baby would ever come and how praying for patience is never a good idea. My parents headed back up to Colorado that night not knowing that they would be headed back down the next morning. 

Feeling a little bit discouraged that I still didn't have a baby in my arms and not wanting to face another round of "no baby yet?" and "praying we don't see you next Sunday"s, (all from very loving people who were just as anxious for me to have a baby as I was), we opted to skip church the next morning. We planned on having a relaxing Sunday where we would gear up for another week. 

Around 6 O'Clock Sunday morning, I woke up to go to the bathroom. When I laid back down my back started to hurt. And then it stopped. And then it started again. And then it stopped. And then it started again….You get the idea, labor had begun! 

I started timing the contractions, woke Matt up and got dressed. The contractions were starting to get more painful and a little more consistent. We woke up the kids, dropped them off at their aunt's house and headed down town to the hospital. Strangely, the freeway was closed at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. We managed to get there anyway and when we arrived at Triage the nurse said: "What brings you in today?"

I was 3 cm when they checked me. The nurse and the midwife kept saying things like: "If this is labor…." I was pretty sure it was but I guess the baby wasn't responding to the contractions like they wanted him too, something about an old placenta. (?) The plan was to get the baby to respond and then send me for a walk. Well by the time they wanted me to walk, I could barely move and the contractions were killing me. I guess I was screaming pretty loud because every nurse in triage found their way to my room to see what was going on. When they checked me again, I was 6 cm. Things were moving fast and I was beginning to panic because it hurt and I wanted the drugs. 

The nurses (there were like 5 in the room at this point) began poking me for an IV so I could get the epidural as soon as they moved me into labor and delivery. Apparently, I have bad veins because they tried in 4 different places before calling the anesthesiologist, in to get the job done. (I'm pretty sure I was freaking out at this point). When that was finally over with, they raced me into another room at Labor and Delivery. I had my eyes closed the whole time but it seemed like we were flying down the hall. 

Once we got to our room, everyone got hats and masks for the epidural and Matt got a special chair directly in front of me. (Have I mentioned how great Matt was? He deserved that special chair) I was 8 cm at this point and they didn't think it would work. Thankfully it did. In fact, it worked so well that at one point I couldn't feel my chest and had a hard time breathing. And then I started to freak out again. They put me on oxygen and lowered the dosage. 

At this point, things slowed down. I couldn't feel the contractions anymore, I was still on oxygen but able to relax. Matt and I both closed our eyes for a little while and some where in there my parents finally checked their phone and started to head back down to Albuquerque. 

Somewhere around 11 O'Clock or so, as they began to lower the dosage of the epidural, I felt the need to push, like really felt it. I didn't remember this feeling with my other two deliveries and I started to panic. Again. Thankfully, Matt was a great coach and talked me out of panic mode for what must have been the third time that day. 

I didn't have to push for very long before we had a baby. According to Matt, he came out "spread eagle" so announcing the sex was much easier this time. It was a boy! We were thrilled and so so surprised. Another little boy.

They placed him on my chest right away without even cutting the cord. I held him for an hour after he was born. A whole hour before they even touched him! I'm tearing up as I type this. I had never gotten to do that with my other babies and I was so thankful. The midwife said right away that he wouldn't have to go the NICU and Matt and I were both praising the Lord for answering our prayers. He had given us a healthy baby boy. 

When they did finally take him from me to measure and weigh him, Matt looked out the window and said "Its a beautiful fall day to have a baby." And it was. 

Turns out, Britton was another big boy, like his brother. He weighed in at 9 lbs and 4 oz, after having just pooped and peed.

My sweet parents arrived probably about 5 minutes after Britton was born and they were so patient, hanging out in the waiting room until they could come in and see him. 

Addy and Remi got to meet Britton that night. We were a little worried about Addy since she wanted a sister so bad but she was in love at first sight. 

Sweet Remi might have been a little confused but he was excited to sit in my lap and hold the baby. He also learned his name right away. 

Holy cow, we have 3 kids!

All my babies together at last.

Matt and I spent the night in the hospital with Britton, our first time having a baby in the room with us and it felt so much more normal. The next day, a little over 24 hours later we were able to go home. It felt a little surreal but we were so thankful. 

What a blessing it has been to be recovering at home with all of our kids under one roof. 

We give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.