Hey Batter, Batter

It was about 50 degrees out the other day, so Ken and the kids went out to play.

Kailyn at bat

Jordan at bat

Kailyn helping Caden

Caden at bat.

Fly Away

The kids find the silliest things to play. Here they all are riding on a broom.

Kids

So it is almost 6am and I have been up since 5am, I thought I would make use of this time by making a post. (I have gotten really good at typing one handed)

Sleep-
Everyone keeps asking how Chase is sleeping. In short, better but still not very good. Here is a run down of our night every night. About 9:30pm Chase settles down for the night, 10pm I am ready for bed (it takes me a little bit to get ready for bed after Chase falls asleep), 1am Chase wakes up to be fed (this takes about 30-45 minutes between feeding, burping and trying to settle him down), 3am he wakes again to be fed (same thing as the 1 am feeding), 5am he wakes to be fed and is up for the day. I hope he soon realizes that 5am is really not a reasonable time to be waking up.

In good news, he is doing SO much better fussiness wise. After my post about him turning a corner he had a horrible week but then started doing better again.
Random-
Here are some funny/cute things the kids have done lately.
Jordan: I was trying to get the house cleaned up and Kailyn was helping (she was trying to earn some money so she could eat pizza at school). Jordan went up to her room and told me not to peek until she told me to. Awhile later she comes down and tells me she wants to show me something. She takes me to her room where she proudly shows me what she had done. She had made her bed perfectly, picked up all the books and toys that had been on the floor, and taken all of her clothes out of her drawer and folded them nicely and put them back. The look of pride and excitement on her face as she showed me what she had done was priceless.

Also, awhile back, when we took our trip to D.C., we were eating at subway one day. Kailyn was not behaving very well and Ken told her she needed to shape up or go to time-out-"there was corner with her name on it if she didn't start behaving properly." Ken then notices Jordan looking up at the ceiling. Ken asks her what she is doing. Jordan's reply, "Where is a corner with Kailyn's name on it?"

Caden-We were walking to school one day. I started kissing his checks and said. "I love kissing your checks. I love Caden!" Caden then turns to me in a very tender moment and says, "I love...ogurt (aka yogurt)."

I gave Caden some yogurt and crackers and then went into the living room to feed Chase. Caden decided to put yogurt on top of his crackers, what a mess.

Also, as you may remember when Caden tried to blow out his birthday candles last November he ended up drooling all over the cake. Well, for Ken's birthday he tried to help, unfortunately, he ended up drooling all over the pie-the kid is a drool factory.

Chase- A few weeks ago Chase had been up crying and wouldn't stop. I tried feeding, burping and rocking...nothing was working. So, I thought I would try changing his diaper. I get his dirty diaper off and turn around to grab a clean one. For the first time there is silence. I turn around and yes he is still breathing but then I notice he seems a bit stunned-he had peed all over his face. So that is how your get a colicky baby to stop crying.

Chase had been fussy so Ken took him and started playing the piano. Apparently, Chase liked it.

Happy Birthday Ken

Ken turned 31 today. It has been a very long week for both of us. In just the last week I have had one shopping visit end with both Jordan and Caden crying on the floor and Chase crying in my arms as the cashier tried to figure out what she did wrong and me thinking I never want to go shopping ever, ever, ever again (it took 40 minutes just to check out, if I didn't need that milk so bad I would have told her to just forge it) and the other shopping visit end with Chase crying, Jordan dancing as she says she has to go potty, and me realizing I had left my wallet at home in a bag I had used when we went to the zoo.
Ken had no clue it was even close to his birthday until a couple of days ago when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday 'cake.' We had a pretty low key birthday with Ken coming off a 14 hour shift and starting a 30 hour shift tomorrow at 5am and me dealing with crying, tantruming kids all day...we had no desire to do much.
On Ken's request we ate a Mongolian Grill type dinner (that is what he requested, the actual dinner was good but not quite Mongolian Grill) and Key Lime Pie. Not the most exciting or fun birthday but the best we could do with what we were working with.

Jordan (4 yrs), Kailyn (5 1/2yrs), Chase (7 1/2 weeks), The Birthday Boy (31 yrs), Caden (2 1/2 yrs)

The Key Lime Pie. The first time I ever made it, and I think it turned out really good.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So we don't really have any traditions for St. Patrick's Day, although we did have green food all day. For breakfast we had green waffles and green milk; lunch was green yogurt, green grapes, green marshmallows and green water; dinner was green broccoli, green stuffing and green mashed potatoes. Not that appealing looking, especially in a picture, but the kids thought it was a lot of fun.
We also enjoyed a wonderful day outside today. It was almost 70 degrees out. Oh, how I loved being out in the sunshine. Unfortunately, I didn't take the camera with me so I didn't get any pictures. I did get this picture of Chase today while he was sleeping. I don't know if you can tell from this picture but his hands are just hovering in the air. How can he sleep like that? If his hands are in the air is he really relaxed enough to be sleeping?

What We're Up To

Chase asleep right after his bath.
More sleeping.

Jordan trying to get Chase to smile.

It was a gorgeous day last week so we went out to ride bikes and play. After only being out for about half an hour it started raining like crazy. Kailyn and Caden loved playing in the rain (Jordan is not such a fan of getting wet).

Last week we had a church Luau. It was a lot of fun. With food, dancing, limbo, crafts, hula dancing, and a hula hoop contest.
Ken and Caden ready to party in their lays.

The kids didn't really get how to limbo but still loved it! By the end they were all crawling under the bar.
Jordan doing the limbo.

Caden doing the limbo. He thought this was the greatest game.

Here is me doing the limbo. I didn't do so good. The only time I have ever played limbo was when I went roller skating in elementary (in skating you bend forward instead of backwards, totally different strategy).

Jordan learning to hula dance. I want you to notice her shirt. I have been trying all winter to get her to wear long sleeves and then on the warmest day since last fall and when we're at a 'summer' event she wants to wear long sleeve. What a nut.

Last week we had a beautiful day, so we decided to take advantage and go to the park with some friends.

Macie Slater, Caden, Jack Slater, Sam Dockter, Jordan, Hailey Ericksen, Zeb Miller

Sam Dockter and Caden

A Corner Turned?

I think Chase may have turned a corner. Friday night was the worst night that he has had but then Sunday and Monday night he did so much better. He was still up every 2 hours, and one time after an hour, but he went to sleep quickly after being fed.
Today Chase was SO good compared to normal too. I went to work out at the church with some friends and he was awake. I thought I wouldn't get any workout in because if he is awake he is normally fussy and wants to be held. He laid on his blanket without crying for 20 minutes! I couldn't believe it! Then he started fussying a little so I picked him up and he quickly went to sleep with very little work. He did so good today, I really hope it is the 'new' Chase.

Updates

I haven't been able to post much lately cause Ken has been taking the computer to work the last month and when the computer is around for me to use I am normally holding a crying Chase. I thought I would do an update on all of the kids.

Kailyn

Kailyn has been learning to play the piano. Ken teaches her when he gets a chance and I help her otherwise. She just finished her first book. She also continues to improve on her reading. I am amazed at how well she reads. Her teacher too has been very impressed and asked me just the other day if we read a lot at home because Kailyn is doing so well.

Jordan

With a new baby and sick kids we have been in the house a lot, way more then I like to be. Jordan has not liked it very much either and starts being a pickle when she is cooped up too long. She starts finding ways to annoy her brother and sister by taking things from them and running away with them. I can't wait for spring. I think Jordan can't wait either.

Other things about Jordan. She is in a really laughing mood lately. She loves telling me silly things and then laughing in her silly, fake laugh. I love it. She has really gotten into books and loves to look at them. She always picks out a ton of books every time we go to the library.

Jordan has a good imagination and loves to pretend. The other day she came in and showed me this carrot and told me it was ants on a log, but just for pretend. She wanted me to take a picture so that she could show her dad.

Caden

Jordan was sick earlier. She kept me up all night (along with Chase). I was so exhausted getting out of bed and going to her room to help her that I finally moved her into our room on the floor. The next day Caden thought that looked pretty fun and brought all of his blankets in too. He loves his sisters. Jordan and him are constantly chasing each other and wrestling each other, laughing the whole time.

He is a pretty good kid and is constantly making me laugh with his cuteness.

Chase

Chase has not been sleeping very well. Friday night was a particularly bad night. He was up every hour to half hour and was up crying for the day at 5. The last few days he hasn't been sleeping very well during the day either. Sleeping no more than 15 minutes at a time. He loves to be held but it makes it impossible for me to get anything done. Thank goodness he slept a little better last night. I was really to the point of not functioning and getting major sleep deprivation headaches. I'm just so thankful I am a person that doesn't need a lot of sleep, I'm barely surviving as it is.

The first time he hasn't hollered for his bath. I think he liked listening to the water fall from the faucet.

I love when babies discover their hands. Its hard to see in this picture but he was focusing so hard on trying to hold his hand still.

Good news! Chase finally smiled today. He smiled at Ken...how fair is that? I really think he should be smiling for me, after all I am the one up all night with him, I hold him all day and I am the one that feeds him. I tried to get a picture of it but was only able to get a slight grin.
Chase has quite the facial expressions, they are so cute. Unfortunately, it is impossible to capture them. It is a good thing he is so cute with all of that fussing and crying.



Here are some pictures of him getting some tummy time.

Well Child Check

Thursday Chase had his 1 month check-up. He is doing great. Here are his stats
weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
length: 22 inches
head 13 inches

Chase continues to be a fussy baby. I think it is due to his gassiness. I also think he might have some relfex. He spits up a lot. He spits up at least 2 tablespoons worth of milk after eating, which is a lot when he is only drinking about 4 oz to begin with. He continues to make life at night rough. He likes to wake up a lot and after he eats he just can't settle down and go back to sleep. He also thinks that 5 o'clock is a great time to wake for the day which often wakes up Caden who comes into my room and says, "Mom, I want to eat. I want some oatmeal." Too bad he doesn't understand its the middle of the night and not morning (even though Chase and Mom are awake).

Some days I just don't know how I function. As I calculate the number of hours of sleep I get I am often surprised that I am not more tired. I think I am truly blessed to be able to survive. Ken unfortunately is not fairing so well. Having to work 90 hours a week with two 30 hour shifts in a week and then being woken up by a crying baby all night is doing him in. He moved into the spare bedroom to get some sleep so he can function. Hopefully Chase will turn a corner here soon.

Chase loves to be swaddled, held and have a pacifer. Not so practical when you have three other kids to care for. Renae Marks let me borrow this baby sling. It has been a life saver! I now have my hands free to help the other three kids and Chase seems to like it.

Wish I was getting more of this.