Meet Mr. Crosby!

Well of course I wasn't planning on having a baby Friday, but that is how God works with me...teaching me things when I least expect it! So crazy story, as usual, but I went to my appt. having contractions as usual, but I had progressed enough that my doctor knew I would have him this weekend and she wasn't going to be in town. She told me she didn't want to miss it and if I wanted to have him Friday, we could! So of course I said yes!!!

But then came the tricky part...I had Cole with me, and didn't think I should go up to L&D with a 2 year old :) Cory wasn't picking up his phone (he was in a business mtg out of town), Carter had to be picked up from school, Caden and Lizzy had to be picked up before my mom could get here, and my bag wasn't packed!!! So after calling Cory several times with no answer, I called my mom and got her headed this way, then called in reinforcements...thank you to Mandy, Becky, and Tisha for being at my beck and call! Also thanks to Devin for letting me call and explain the chaos to someone who would truly understand!!! Love you girls and thank you so much for BEING THERE for me!

So after taking Cole to Fargo to meet Tisha and heading back to Shattuck I went up to be admitted. The nurses had put out APB on me. They were calling me as I walked back into the hospital wondering where I was! So funny. Things progressed slowly at first but once they upped the pitocin we were on a roll. He came so quickly that his poor little face was bruised really bad! So there are no close ups yet :) But enough chatting here are the pics you are waiting for...

Momma and Daddy with their 4th little blessing!

Cole is totally in love with his brother! So proud!
My 4 little men

All 5 of my guys! I am one blessed lady!

Family Portrait

This is our latest family portrait, drawn by Caden. I thought everyone would love to see it!

I am sure you can pick out a few, but here we are from L to R...Mom, with Crosby in the belly :), Dad, Caden, Carter, Cole, and Lizzy. He labeled us all by name but it is hard to read. He worked very diligently!

This part cracked me up. Here is a close up of my giant belly, he even labeled Crosby and drew him in my belly!

So proud of his work!
I wanted to proudly display this on the fridge or something, but no...it was for Daddy to take to his office and display there. So if you go by SPC you can see it in person!

Big Kids' 1st Day of School

We had another successful 1st day! We even got ready in time to take more pictures!

I am so proud of my guy...he jumped right out of the car and barely even said "bye". He was ready to go!

Pretty Lizzy in her 1st day of school dress and pink bag!

My two big kids :)

Cole got really mad yesterday that he didn't get to stand on the fireplace and say "cheese" so we let him today! He just marched right up there and kept yelling "cheese" until I snapped a pic!

Again we are so thankful that my Mom was here this week to help us manage the chaos...so here is our best family shot. Carter was a bit ticked that he didn't get to go to school today, so pardon the attitude!

Hopefully tomorrow goes as smoothly. There were lots of issues with drop off today at their new school, but that is to be expected. Just have to have lots of patience and kindness! I pray that I can get the two big kids dropped off and Carter to his school on time! My mom is leaving tonight, so I am at it alone...here goes nothing :)

Carter's 1st Day of School

Carter was so excited today to start his first day of school! Gigi was here so, of course, he got donuts for breakfast and chocolate milk. We didn't have to go early so we had lots of time for pictures.

Trying to get him to smile with his eyes open is always a challenge...

Carter and Momma. I finally got a pic with the boy, so thankful Gigi is here.
He also wanted a picture with Caden! He loves his big brother!

We headed next door to Mimi's to pick up Ben to take him with us to school. Not sure which boy was more excited :)

They were so giddy and totally cracking me up.

Carter got to pose by the bear on his "beary" first day! I love that they alternate years of lessons at Free Spirit, so since Caden and Carter are two years apart they get to do much of the same stuff at school. Caden posed with this bear his first day too...I LOVE IT!

Carter had fun playing in the truck station with all the cars and trucks.

He also had a great time making a craft with his buddy Ben! These two spent most of the morning together, so cute...just like their brothers in 2008, Caden and Sam

Carter also loved to play with play-doh. He was his usual self...quiet, kept to himself some, just played in his own world. So cute!

I love Carter and how different he is from Caden! So cute to watch him grow and learn. He is getting to be such a big boy and more and more like his Daddy...so precious! He had a great first day, which is a relief!

Crosby - 8 months update

Here is your much anticipated Crosby update :) If you want to compare, here is Cole's. As with Cole I have been having some contractions, but these are a little more painful. So when I went to the doctor Friday, I was hooked up to the monitors and watched. This happened several times with Cole but there was never enough concern, so I was just sent home and told to rest. But these, as I suspected were more intense.

So my doctor sent me upstairs to L/D and they gave me two bags of IV fluids and two shots of terbutaline. This didn't really help but they went ahead and let me come home because of course I had a birthday party to host :) The nurse told me to take it easy and rest as much as possible. If you know me well that is hard, espcially around here! I am trying though. I have another appointment this week on Thursday so we will keep you posted!

I am 35 weeks as of Saturday, and I will be almost 36 weeks when I go back to the doctor, so who knows what they will do. Here is the lovely 8 month photo!

Early Birthday Party

I was trying to be ahead of the game this year. Well that doesn't always go as planned now does it. If you recall I was also pregnant on Caden's 4th birthday and I didn't want him to get the short end of the stick again. So I thought I was being smart and planned a party for him and his friends a couple of weeks early. I didn't plan a ton of stuff because I knew I would be too big to do too much. Little did I know, I would spend the day in the hospital (see Crosby's 8 month post) and have to rely on Cory to get the cupcakes ready, friends to bring the pizza, and not really even decorate much.

But Caden being the trooper he is, didn't really know any better and had a great time! He thinks he is official 6 years old now and that is all that matters! We hope to have a small family party for both he and Cole on their actual birthday, but again nothing big.

Here are a few pics of his evening...

He always gets bashful when the singing starts

I apparently didn't have the plate of cupcakes close enough so he had to stand up to blow the candle out.
Here is Caden with his good buddy Sam and his Buzz Light Year lego set! This kid loves his legos!

After dinner, cupcakes, and presents we loaded up all the boys and took them to the water park for a couple of hours of splash time! They had a blast!

The next morning as soon as breakfast was finished we had to begin putting together Buzz Light Year. As soon as we finished that, we started on his second Lego gift, some kind of bucket truck...I slept through most of this one :)

Carter of course tried to get in on the action, but in typical Carter fashion he just took the head of Buzz Light Year and an alien and had his own conversation with his characters :) Wish I had a tape recorder so you could hear his voice, but this is how it went...

alien: "I am going to get you Buzz"

Buzz: "you can get me alien, I am bigger than you"

alien: "no you are not, you only have a head!"

Buzz: "but when I get my body, I will put you down!"

Not really sure where Carter comes up with this stuff! He is so funny and imaginative! A fun time was had by all!!!

Watermelon

We love watermelon around here. I am not sure who likes it more because they all beg for more each time we eat it. My mom brought a good ol' Rush Springs melon the last time she was here and the kids went nuts...this little guy especially!

It is so good Momma :)

Chowing down...he will eat 3 or 4 pieces if you let him!
This is what happens when you tell him it is all gone...

Also notice the shirt...this is an after dinner snack, before bath. He goes from the table to the tub and his clothes get washed/soaked that night :) Glad the kids love their fruit!!!

Cole's Name

I didn't have Cole's name finished when I posted pics of his new room, but they are finally done...here they are :) Once Daddy hangs them above his bed, his room will be COMPLETE!