Fall Happenings

Well, since September and October flew by without me posting along the way, I'll just post pictures of what we were up to so far this fall.

Grandpa took Matthew on his first ever gator ride at my uncle's farm.  

Pushing the button to dump Grandpa from the Gator. ;)  Matty thought it was pretty awesome!

Went to Des Moines to celebrate Allie's 6th Birthday.  Miss Allie wanted a Frozen party.

And while we were in the DSM area we stopped and saw my our friend Casey who just had her second daughter, Savannah, 8 days after Caroline was born.  These two cuties are going to be great friends!

Yay for babies!

This picture makes me laugh.  Looks like these two bff's must have had their first fight and Savannah's giving C a little punch!  Lol!

Caroline was super smiley during the baby photo shoot.

We tried to get a picture of all of the kids, but the twins were not wanting any part of it.  So Casey's two daughters, Elaina and Savannah, posed with Caroline.

My dad and I took the twins to the Arboretum in Waterloo to their Fall Festival.  Grandma was helping as a volunteer.  The festival had fun crafts for kids, a toy train to watch, real owls found in Iowa to see up close, fire trucks to sit in, a car show (my uncle Garry showed his old car), sandbox, and fun scarecrows made by all ages that they auctioned off.

Making their owl craft

Watching the train go around the tracks.

Sitting in the big firetruck and meeting the firemen.

Grandma made a scarecrow named Charlene.  We saw lots of cool scarecrows of all different themes.

The twins liked the Minon (from the Despicable Me movie) scarecrow made by a kid.

Goofballs - they wanted to sleep out in the livingroom together.

Baby Caroline looks very cute!

Kevin and I took Caroline and made a trip back up to the Twin Cities for a coworker of Kevin's who got married.  We stayed at our friends, the Kopps, and were able to get together with some friends while we were there.  Really enjoyed our time back in Minnesota.  Felt just like home again.  Made me miss the city and our friends.

Kelly, our gracious hostess, got to meet baby C for the first time!

The old PwC wife gang.  Kelly's still hanging on. 

All dressed up for the wedding.  We can clean up (and get out of yoga pants) pretty good once in awhile. 

We took a trip to Heartland Farms with Grandma and Grandpa Willms.  It was a very warm fall day.  Great weather, but those pesky, little black bugs were out and loving us!

We got to see animals and watch them set off watermelons and a pumpkin from the pumpkin gun.

and even got a taste of the fresh watermelon

2 bouncy houses...huge hit!

How Tall This Fall at Heartland Pumpkin Farms 2014

Hay bales and slides ='s the best fun for two 3 year olds!

king of the hill

Count Grandpa Willms

Lil' Ghost Matty

Frankin-matt

Love so many things about this picture.  Reading a pumpkin book from Grandma and Grandpa.  Legs crossed.  Can still hear his little voice pretending to read the book.

Caroline's been grabbing for toys and enjoying playtime on the floor.

Taking a picture with little sister.  Or looks like she's smothering her face.  But I think she's helping Caroline by giving her her pacifier. 

super smiley little baby girl!

Big brother helping lil' sister by holding up her play gym while playing his Nabi.  3-year old multi-tasking at its finest! 

A lot of train tracks have been built in my kitchen.  The whole kitchen!  Under the table even!  We frequently hear Matthew's request to daddy, "Daddy, can you help me build an awesome train track?"  (Love that he asks for an 'awesome' train track)  Matthew also has built some pretty impressive tracks himself.  Big ones.  With lots of bridges!  Little engineer in him!

Tummy time!  Caroline has been getting so strong working on holder up her head.

Big brother taking a picture of Caroline...."Say cheese, baby Caroline!"  (Wonder who he gets that from?!)

Great-Grandma came to visit!

Kate and Matthew's first school pictures. 

St. John's Preschool 

Playing with toys

had to post the ruffle bottom.  adorable!

{sisters}

This is how Daddy and his mini feel asleep.  Just like each other.

Grandpa Dufel took Kate on a gator ride on my uncle Garry's farm.

Katers LOVED the gator.  She repeatedly asked to Go Fast and loved helping grandpa drive.  

"Me not tired" said the little boy who crashed 5 minutes after saying that!

Got out for a walk with the warm October days we had.  Caroline loves the stroller.  The stroller and the cool breeze usually puts her to sleep.  The twins rode their trikes on the walk.

The twins got to visit the fire department on a field trip for Preschool.

Cousin Allie loves to hold Caroline.

Working hard on learning their baseball and softball skills.

Kate seems to be our little lefty hitter.  She can really crush it!

Mommy and Liner

Enjoying sometime outside riding trikes and doing sidewalk chalk.

This fall back in Iowa has been a fun one.  Super busy.  But fun to have family around to enjoy our time with.

Caroline Joy 3 Months

Miss Caroline Joy turned 3 months already on October 7th.  It seems like the months have gone by so quickly.  Maybe it's the fast pace of now taking care of three kids!  But if you could not grow up so fast, this mama would appreciate it! :)

Caroline Joy

3 Months

At THREE MONTHS you and are wearing size one diapers.  We will be switching you to size two once we finish all of the size one's.  You are wearing 3 month clothes expect for 3-6 month sleepers.

At THREE MONTHS you have been an amazing sleeper!  You have been sleeping on average 11 and sometimes 12 hours straight at night.  Sometimes we wake up in the morning and hadn't heard a peep from you all night.  At night you fall asleep anywhere from 8/8:30 and then will sleep until the next morning until 7:30/8ish.  Some mornings I have to wake you up in order to get the twins off to preschool in time.

 

At THREE MONTHS you came down with your first cold.  We feel so bad for you, Liner!  You have been so stuffed up making it hard for you to sleep well at night.  You have been spending some nights with us sleeping propped up to help you breath better.  You also want to snuggle with us more, spending more time in our arms instead of wanting to be laid down.

At THREE MONTHS you are still sleeping in our room in the rock n' play.  This will probably be the last month in the rock n' play because you're out growing it length-wise.  When you sleep you still like to sleep with your head turned to your right side.  We have been trying to work on your neck movement turning to your left side so your head isn't on the one side all day and night.  You also love to be swaddled while you sleep and will sleep longer stretches if your arms are tucked in the swaddle.  If aren't swaddled, then you like to have your arms up.

At THREE MONTHS you aren't consistent with your nap schedules during the day.  Sometimes you may sleep just for 15 minutes and sometimes you will take a longer nap that lasts 3 hours (sometimes even 4 hours) long.  If I can get you to fall asleep in the bouncy seat or swing on your own you are more likely to sleep for a longer stretch.  You still love to be held when you sleep but that makes it very hard for mommy to get anything done during the day and help your brother and sister.

At THREE MONTHS you eat on average 5 times a day 5 ounces at a time.  A lot of mornings you will eat 6 ounces from sleeping all night.  Right now you are using the level 1 nipple but I'm thinking of switching to level 2.  You still do spit-up a lot during and after your feedings.  We still need to change your clothes throughout the day because of it.

At THREE MONTHS you are usually awake for an hour to two hours in between feedings.  After your first feeding in the morning, around 8ish, you will stay awake for an hour and then you crash for your first nap of the day.  After your second feeding of the day, you will stay up longer closer to 2 hours.  Then your after noon nap around 1/2:00 will be your longest nap of the day.  Then we will feed you your last bottle of the night around 7/8:oo and you'll soon fall asleep after your finish eating and will be asleep for the night (most nights).

At THREE MONTHS you have really be grabbing for toys that are hanging in front of you.  You like to hold the toy in your hand and put it to your mouth.  You also have been putting your hands (more your right hand) to your mouth and sucking on it/them.  A lot of times I can hear your sucking away on your hand while your playing on the floor, in the bouncy seat, or in the swing.

At THREE MONTHS you love, LOVE to have a blanket up by your face or in your hands while you sleep.  If you are fussy and I know you're tired I know all I need to do is put the Aden and Anais muslin blankets up around your head and cheeks.  You instantly close your eyes and calm down.  You also like to take the muslin blankets and hold them in your hands and snuggle right into it.

At THREE MONTHS you have been talking/cooing with us a lot!  You are the most talkative right after you eat.  You love to look at us and try and mimic the same noises we make at you.  The best if when you give us your big, wide mouth smile or try and buzz your lips like us.  If we smile you give us a big Caroline smile right back.  So happy!!!  You are ticklish and the twins love to try and tickle you, too.

At THREE MONTHS the nicknames you have are: Caroliners, Liners, Linney, Baby C, C, Freightliner (Grandpa Dufel's nickname for you), lil' sis

At THREE MONTHS you continue to be a very happy baby who loves to watch what's going on - especially your brother and sister.  You love to fall asleep in the car when it's in motion.  You love to hang onto our fingers while you eat and when you are starting to fall asleep.  You still love to be walked around in our arms when you are having a fussy time.

Happy 3 Months, Liner!

Caroline's 2 Months

Wow!  What a quick two months it has been, Miss Caroline! (Finally get this posted as you are almost 3 months now!!) 

Caroline Joy

2 Months 

Weight: 12 lbs - 71st %tile

Length: 23 inches - 78th %tile

Head: 15 inches - 50th %tile

At TWO MONTHS you are wearing 0-3 month clothing and in size 1 diapers. You are still my lil' long and skinny peanut!

You still have a lot of your hair - most of it being on the back of your head.  It still shows signs of a strawberry blonde coloring.  Your hair likes to stick straight up at the top of your head.  You have a red spotted birth marking at the base of your hair line at your neck.  Your sister and brother had the same thing as babies!

At TWO MONTHS you are very strong!  You are very good at working on holding up your head.  Your favorite position is sitting up (with some assistance) so you can look out at all of the action.

At TWO MONTHS you are eating on average 4 ounces at each feeding at every 2.5 to 3 hours.  At night you will eat your last bottle around 7:30/8ish and you'll sleep and wake up to eat somewhere in the 4 or 5 o'clock hour.  After eating you will go right back to sleep until 8:00ish to eat again.  

At night we have been swaddling you in the Woombie blanket in the rock n' play in our bedroom.  It has been a miracle in helping you become a better sleeper for longer stretches.  You need to have your arms swaddled so you don't startle yourself awake when your arms flay about!  

At 6/7 weeks I stopped nursing and put you on 100% formula.  Ever since then, you've seemed to be a much happier, content baby!  You stopped your fussy time in the evening and were much happier in between feeding times.  I don't know if the formula had everything to do with it for you, but it for sure helped relieve some stress for me and made me a happier mommy for you. :)

At TWO months you've started to sleep more during the day.  You still like to have an occasional 'cat nap' but I know you'll sleep one longer nap in the afternoon around 1/2:00ish lasting 2-3 hours.  I put you a lot in the swing during the day to sleep.  You like to rock and it helps to put you to sleep and stay asleep when you start to stir. 

At TWO months you typically will sleep in between each feeding.  You are awake for an hour or so after eating and then you are ready to crash.

At TWO months you still love to be held when you're sleeping.  You love to be warm and cozy snuggled right up against us in the nursing position.  About 80% of the time you'll wake up when we try and lay you down after you've fallen asleep....no matter how asleep you may be!

At TWO months you've started smiling and cooing A LOT!  We love your little smiles!  You are definitely more alert throughout the day and love to watch everything - like your two crazy siblings!  It's fun watching you learn new things like finding your hands in your mouth, tracking toys, kicking your legs in the bouncy seat, watching us and cooing back as we talk to you!

At TWO MONTHS you definitely like to have your head turned to your right side when you're playing in the bouncy seat, swinging, and sleeping.  Because of that your head has gotten slightly flat on that side.  The doctor has recommended to us to work on having your move your neck side to side and purposely making you play, as much as we can, looking to your left, and doing tummy time. 

At TWO MONTHS you have become a pretty good car rider.  You still like it best when the car is in motion, and it often puts you right to sleep.  We've had a few times where you've been very worked up because you were woken up and it was feeding time.

AT TWO months you have started to spit up even more!  It doesn't matter how much we burp you throughout the feeding, keep you upright afterwards, or which bottle or formula you have.  You still will spit up during, right after, and in between feedings.  I feel so bad for you but you don't seem in pain when you do spit up.  We have to change your outfits a lot during the day because your shirt will quickly become very wet! (and ours, too!)

At TWO MONTHS the nicknames we've started calling you are: Baby C, C, and Caroliner.

A few of my favorite pictures from the past month:

love those baby blues!

all snug wrapped in the Woombie and sleeping in the rock n' play

catching a smile on camera

of course big brother loves to push you in your stroller

This past month big sister Kate has really loved talking to you and giving you lots of kisses.  Miss Katers does love to be right up in your face and talk baby talk to you.  You don't seem to mind!  She proudly announces, "That's my baby sister!"

Out cold!

lookin' pretty!

love you in your pink flamingo onsie!

You love to take stroller walks and will usually fall asleep from the motion of the walk, the wind, and fresh air.

Your proud big brother who asked to hold you and have your picture taken together!

We love you very much Baby C!