A fishy funeral and the words I never wanted to hear

Chip the fish died. I don't know what happend to him. It could have had something to do with the popcorn and kernels that we also found in his bowl. Although, he didn't look all that healthy when we bought him. So I don't know. But, Chip is now buried in our backyard. We told Kaden we could go to the pet store and get a new fish and even name it Chip if he wanted to. Kaden's response: "How about we go to the pet store and get a snake named Chip." Uh - No! I won't tell him this but I am absolutely terrified of snakes and will not have one living in my house. I told him we will stick with a fish and maybe Santa will bring him a different animal like a frog.

Jack Turns 2!

You know I have to do the comparitive pictures! It is the only way I can really believe that 2 years have gone by.

Newborn

1 Year

2 Years

We celebrated Jack's birthday about a month early this year. I didn't want Jack's Birthday to get lost in the mix of having a new baby. So here are a few pics from Jack's backyard water party.

Playing on the water toy.

Cake - My attempt at a sand castle cake. It's not perfect but Jack loved it and I love making my kids cakes.

It's my party and I will eat out of the ice cream bucket if I want to!

Presents

"It really bites that it is my brothers birthday. I can't wait to steal his new toys."

On Jack's actual birthday.

We got Jack a wooden train set with Thomas (Momis - as Jack says it) trains and gave it to him on his actual birthday.

I Love Thursdays!

My new favorite day of the week, well other then the weekends when Tim is home. This is the day both Kaden & Jack are in school from 9 -3. Kyler and I have had a really relaxing & quiet day. Even though we had to run errands and Kyler screamed through part of our trip to the grocery store. It was so much easier then taking Kaden & Jack. If only I would have realized how easy life was when we just had Kaden! Oh well, I am sure looking back at every part of life I will say "if only I would have realized how easy it was..."

Kyler's Homecoming

I know this is going back but here is some pictures of the day we brought Kyler home and a few things from the first week.

Ready to go home in his going home outfit. Even though we have a ton of boy clothes. I have bought each boy a new outfit to go home in.

My babies have been born in three different hospitals and all have been great experiences. But there were two things that stood out about this hospital. 1) The food was really good. Tim even shared some it with me. 2) I got a 20 min. full body massage and Kyler got a 10 min. massage by a massage therapist before we left. What a great service that was. I almost didn't want to go home with all the pampering I was getting at the hospital.

First time in the car seat.

Many have told me 3rd babies are car seat babies. Meaning you are so busy taking the older two kids places the 3rd spends a lot of time in their car seat.

The welcoming committee!

Not long after we got home we had a minor fight over the baby. Kyler was laying on Kaden's lap and Jack was pulling on his head and Kaden was pulling on his feet. Kyler was screaming his head off as were both Kaden & Jack. I would have taken a picture if Kyler's life hadn't been in danger.

What does a 2 year old do while his mom is busy nursing?

(That is lipstick and the picture didn't show the mess he made. He was covered and there were other lipstick finger paintings throughout the bathroom.)

Since we have been home Kaden cannot leave the baby alone. He has been a good helper getting diapers and stuff for me. But he constantly wants to be with the baby and me. He sometimes gets too rough pulling on his arms or legs. Jack wants little to do with the baby. He will ask to hold him occasionally but for the most part just ignores him. He has had one major melt down though. I think it had a lot to do with exhaustion and all the attention I have to give to the baby.

We have had to have a lot of rest time this first week. And EVERYONE wants to cuddle with mommy.

How am I supposed to sleep with all this noise?

Our first outing with 3 kiddos

Today is Jack's birthday (tomorrow I will post the normal birthday posts) so we decided to take the kids to eat and to the park. We were going to let Jack decide where we ate but like a normal two year old he really didn't care. Kaden did though he wanted Jimmy John's. So that is where we went. Jack clapped and cheered when we pulled in so I guess that is where he wanted to go too. We went in and ordered - and may I mention got our food really fast. Which is always really nice when you have kids. Anyway, while Tim got drinks Kaden threw up everywhere. Tim came back with drinks and as soon as the mess was cleaned up. Jack spilled his Sprite everywhere. So back out came the mop. Tim and I just looked at each other and for a second I wasn't sure if we were going to both start laughing or crying. We both started laughing and couldn't stop. Wow, has life changed in the last few years. At least we went to a restaurant they couldn't kick us out of!

Some of you might be thinking their 3rd child didn't even play a role in that story and he didn't really except. The sprite probably wouldn't have gotten spilled but instead of worrying about my two year old and the drinks that were just set down I was worried about making sure Kyler didn't get knocked off the table. It was almost a circus.

Pictures of Kyler

Just born! He had some bruising around his mouth because he was born with this hand by his face. I think we will have another finger/thumb sucker.
Kaden & Jack watching Kyler's bath.

First Bath
Proud Big Brothers who are so excited to see their brother - I am not sure Kyler feels the same way.

Party of 5

This was taken yesterday right after Kyler was born. I should have more pictures later. Kaden & Jack are very proud of their new little brother.

Our Baby Boy is Here!

Indroducing:

Kyler Clark

September 17

11:38 am

8 lbs. 2 oz.

22 in.

I was scheduled to come in for an induction this morning at 7:30 am. We got a call from the hospital this morning just before 6 that said they got really busy and to wait. They called back and asked if we could be here at 8. Which of course we could - what else had we planned to do today. So we got here, signed paperwork, got my IV, etc. About 8:30 they started the pitocin. Although prior to them starting the pit. I had a couple of pretty uncomfortable contractions so I don't think I needed much help. In fact they started the pit at a low level and I don't think they ever increased it. At 9:15 I got an epidural. Tim and I just hung out and waited. The dr. broke my water about 10:00. I couldn't feel anything - it was great. About 11:30 she came and checked me and said everything was set to go. Three pushes later and Kyler was born. He has blue eyes and light brown/blond hair. He looks a lot like his brothers.

This was by far the easiest and most pain free delivery I have had. I don't know what I was thinking on the first two. Getting an epidural at check in was definately the way to go. And Kyler is a MUCH bigger baby then my previous two (Kaden 5 lbs. 1 oz, Jack 6 lbs. 14 oz). Now I know why I felt so much more uncomfortable while I was pregnant. We even had several nurses come check out our 22 in. baby. I guess that is pretty long. They said they don't see it very often.

We are so thankful for a quick easy birth and a healthy little guy.

I am sorry some of you haven't gotten calls. I couldn't find my phone before we left (shocker). So if your number is in my phone and not Tim's we don't have it. Pictures to come soon.

What Happend to customer service?

If a pregnant women with two small children can't get help in a store then there is something seriously wrong. Today I went to Dillards to get a gift for someone. I am trying to get everything done before this baby comes. I go to the housewares department and can't find anyone to help me. When I finally found someone she printed off the registry I needed and then disappeared. No problem. So I start looking for what I need. Which was somewhat difficult given there isn't any room in between displays. I had to be careful not to hit anything with my stroller and then make sure my belly didn't hit anything when I turned around. I then had to go find the lady to ask a question about the registry. I couldn't find something that I knew was on there. When I found her - her explanation was someone probably already bought it. Not likely - given the wedding is still months away. And she leaves again. Well, I did find what I was looking for and went to check out. Again No one. We went to 3 different check out places before we found someone to check us out. There was actually someone getting checked out ahead of us so we wait and wait while there is a price check and then some other problem. Then someone comes and gets in line behind me. They stand there like 30 seconds and someone comes and asks them if they would like to be checked out right away at a different place. Of course they say yes. I look at the lady like could you not have helped me first. After all I have been waiting her for quite a while. I am just about to turn both boys loose to play hide and seek in the glassware department when it is finally my turn. I pay without problems. And the lady told me to take my receipt to customer service and they will wrap it for free. Great. So I go to customer service and basically they can't wrap it in anything but wedding paper. Everything else costs $4.50. So we left with an unwrapped package.

Now let me brag on a store with absolutely fantastic customer Service. A store very similar to Dillards - although it doesn't have as big as a housewares dept. or a bridal registry. VON MAUR. It really is too bad we just moved away from that store. I basically could go on and on about all the ways they will go out of there way for you, but here are a couple of examples. They will wrap and ship anything you buy there for FREE. So when I have to send a gift to someone that is the place I try to buy from. It saves so much time. I don't have to go buy a gift, take it home wrap it, then drag my kids & the gift to the post office. I just buy it and I am done. Once I even had bought part of a gift at Baby Gap and then some things at Von Maur. I asked if they could wrap it together and ship it together. I offered to pay for the wrapping & shipping of the Gap item. They said no problem. It isn't very heavy. They took care of the whole thing and didn't charge me a penny. Another example: One year I was going to buy Kaden a coat and really liked their Columbia ones. The lady told me they would be going on sale the next week from $80 to $50 so I decided to wait. Of course in the next week I got busy and knew I wouldn't be able to get back to Wichita and the forecast was predicting snow. So I called and they had the coat in the size and color I wanted and it was on sale. So I paid over the phone and they said they could ship it to me -free. I placed the order that afternoon and it arrived on my doorstep the next morning with a handwritten note thanking me for my business. That is service. Now I have heard some think that is too expensive of a store. Well it can be. They do have some rather expensive brands but they run GREAT sales. One time I bought a Nike outfit (pants & Shirt) for Kaden for $8! That is the same price as an outfit at Wal-Mart - but much better quality. And they do sell Carter's - which I think is a reasonably priced brand for kids.

My point is we need to demand more service from the places we spend money. They can and would provide it if we demanded it. After all we are the ones spending our hard earned cash in their store. They should have to earn our business.

Colorado

I didn't really ever blog about our trip to Colorado. We went in August on an RV trip with Tim's brother, Brendon and his two kids. We had a great time. We spent 4 days in Breckenridge enjoying the more natural part of Colorado and then spent 2 days in Golden doing some tourist type attractions. I will have to say Breckenridge was the best part. We probably would have stayed there the whole time but the Alpine slide was closed so we went to Golden to go down theirs.

Throwing rocks in the river. It is so easy to entertain small children.

A favorite time of day for Tim and I. The kids got up and we cooked breakfast outside. The kids sat around and waited in their P.J.s
Tim did all the outside cooking.

Evidence that it was both vacation and daddy was in charge of breakfast.

The boys playing catch.

Although, there wasn't a lot of "real" hiking. We did do some light hiking. I usually didn't go - being 34 weeks pregnant. I didn't want to push my luck. But on the last day I did join them for a short hike. It was so much fun. I can't wait to be able to hike with my family the next time we go.

An absolute favorite for the kids was building the campfire and making S'mores.
Jack became the "Marshmallow Man"
Later I traded him for graham crackers. I thought it seemed more healthy.


Kaden showing us his dance.


Since Breckenridge's gondola was closed this summer and we knew that would be a hit with the kids we set out to find a working gondola. First we went to Keystone becuase the lady in Breckenridge told us they had one working this summer. They didn't. Then we called Vail. They had one up and running for the summer. So we drove over there and when we got there it had just started to rain so they had closed the gondola until the rain stopped. So the kids got ice cream while we waited. Fortunately by the time the ice cream was gone the gondola was open again. The kids did really like going to the top of the mountain.

White Water Rafting - Jack and I couldn't go. You have to look close to see Kaden & Drew's little blond heads.

In Golden (Denver) we took the kids to eat at Casa Bonita's. Wow that place hasn't changed. We really wanted to take the kids because that is a place both Tim and I went with our parents when we were younger. We also went to a park that had an alpine slide. The boys had to take turns riding with Tim. They couldn't go by themselves and I couldn't take them.

Jack's hair would be standing straight up at the end of the ride.

There are some other pics I might share later. Thank you to Pat and Ann for letting us take their "bus". It is a great way to travel with kids.

Rainy Day

As my friend Diane has put it. You can move into a nice neighborhood, and buy a nice house but sometimes your red neck still shows. Yes, our kids were playing in the driveway, in the rain, in their underwear & diaper. May I add they were having a blast.

Tonights the full moon...

I am hoping for another full moon baby. Kaden was one. So I will set up my beach chair in the backyard and do a little moon bathing tonight.

The bad news is Jack has a fever today of 99.9. He is fussy and miserable. So it really wouldn't be great timing. I will keep you all posted.

39 weeks

Well here I am - 1 week from my due date. It is such a relief to be this pregnant. After Kaden was born early I really worried that all our kids would be early. Which wouldn't be terrible but not great either. Having your tiny baby have to stay in the hospital a week and be poked and prodded all day long is not fun. I know the odds of our baby being able to come home from the hospital with us after just a day or two are pretty good at this point.
But after saying all that - we have now reached the point where I am pretty much done. My clothes don't fit. My belly hangs out the bottom of even my biggest maternity shirts. Which is really attractive. Even my feet are too fat for my tennis shoes. Okay I can still wear them but they are tight. And this is the first time my wedding ring is too uncomfortable to wear. Yesterday, we went to the state fair to try to walk the baby out. It didn't work. This morning I tried to bend forward and pick up my cell phone off the floor and could barely do it. I have lost all motivation of picking up the boys toys. It is just too hard and hurts too much. There is just one too many people in this body. As of Monday I will be the most pregnant I ever have been 39 weeks 2 days. So the question begins: Do we serve the baby with an eviction notice? I haven't decided yet. In the next couple days I am going to eat some spicy food, walk a lot, clean the house, pray, and maybe try castor oil. Okay I probably won't really try castor oil (gross) but I do have some in my cabinet that tries to jump out at me everytime I open the door. One thing is for certain - it can't stay in there forever.

Maternity Pictures

About a week ago we went to Brad's to have some maternity pictures taken. He did a great job, even though the kids weren't very cooperative. Here are a couple of them.

To see more of Brad's work go here.

And to think we will attempt a family picture in a few weeks with a newborn!

I am now 38 1/2 weeks and getting pretty uncomfortable. I have turned into an insomniac so that is fun. I am starting to get to the point where I think it will be easier to have the baby out. Which is a definite change in attitude. I don't know when this baby will be born but one thing is for sure it won't be long now. Stay Tuned...