Declan is four months old!

Declan turned 4 months old today!

Declan has recently discovered his feet and is rolling from back to belly with ease. He is also a drool machine! We have his 4 month appointment scheduled on the 13th. I'm looking forward to seeing his growth stats. If I had to guess, I would say he is roughly 13 pounds. 

Declan is also going through the dreaded four month sleep regression, which is very unfortunate. I was still at home full time when Silas went through it. I'm not sure how I will survive since winter break is over and I'm back in the throw of things on Monday

Although he looks very similar to his brother, Declan is definitely looking more like his own person. I was just telling Josh how much smaller he seems than Silas. Declan is just now starting to fill out his three month clothing and fitting in 3-6 months. Silas was well into 6 month clothing at this point. 

We had a lot of fun this month. We went to zoo lights twice, Glendale Glitters, the tree lighting at Westgate and spent Christmas at a cabin in Greer. Declan's first holiday season was a whirlwind of excitement for sure.

Christmas at the Cabin

We were very fortunate this year to spend Christmas in Greer, AZ with Bubby and Huny (Josh's dad and step mom). They rented a cabin for a week and we spent the entire week with them.

We drove up in the morning on the 21st. There was a large snow storm the day before and it was still snowing as we drove up. It took us considerably longer than the projected four hours. Josh pulled over along the way to help a woman who spun out on the ice and we stopped for lunch and coffee along the way.

It was starting to get dark when we pulled into Greer and had found out that we need four wheel drive to get up to our cabin, which none of us had. We were real fortunate and were able to get a ride by the lodge staff. Silas was so excited by the snow on the ground, but it was too late to play.

Josh's step brother Kevin came up on Sunday with his quad and we relied on that all week to get us up and down the hill we were staying up on. He just dropped off some things and had to go back to Phoenix until Christmas Eve. We never did get our cars up, although when Kevin came back up he was able to pull in at the bottom of the long driveway.

Josh's other step brother, BJ, his fiance Desiree and our nephew William came up with Kevin mid afternoon on Christmas Eve. Silas was happy to have William to play with, even though he is 15 years older than he is.

Most of our trip was spent playing scrabble, reading or playing out in the snow. Bubby, Silas and I made a gingerbread train one afternoon and Josh and I took Silas sledding another. Josh and I rode the quad down a few time to try out some of the local dinning.

Christmas day the boys opened up their Christmas gifts and Silas was pretty much inseparable from his Lego cars and Pop the Pig game. Declan seemed to enjoy his teething toys too. Huny and I made ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and drop biscuits for dinner and it was like having a little piece of home.

The entire week was very relaxed and laid back. We had such a great time away and were really sad to leave at the end of the week, but it was nice to be back home too.

A sample of our cabin life...

Christmas pictures

Back at work

I've been at work for a week now. I have to say that it's not horrible, but I miss my boys so much.

I'm so thankful that I was able to spend three full months at home to take care of Declan and spend time with Silas. We are even more thankful to the grandparents, who are taking care of both boys while we work. It would be so much harder if we had to do this and have the boys with strangers or at the very least with people that we didn't know as well.

The boys seem to be fine with the new arrangements. The first day was by far the hardest, but it makes me appreciate the time we have together when I'm not at work. The snuggles and cuddles are even more special, dinner and reading books with Silas more fun, the multiple wake up times are still hard, but valuable minutes with Declan that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I wish I could be at home with them, but even though I can't be I know they are loved and being well cared for.

I only have to get through this next week and then we'll be spending two wonderful weeks together while on Christmas break. We are really looking forward to it and hoping there will be snow while we are up in Greer. Even though Declan won't be able to appreciate his first snow, I'm sure Silas will enjoy it for them both.

Declan is 3 months old!

Declan is 3 months old! How can my little baby be so big already!! 

He is very interested in everything now. He is grasping and grabbing at things with purpose and intent.

He is also drooling like crazy. I don't ever recall Silas being as drooly as Declan is. 

Now that Declan is a little bigger I can see some distinct differences in my two boys. They share some features, but I think Declan will be a little smaller and a bit darker in the hair, which is is still hanging on to! I'm amazed at the amount of hair he still has.

Zoo Lights

We went to Zoo Lights with Huny and Bubby! 

Declan was actually wide awake for most of the evening.

I think he really enjoyed all of the bright lights and the hustle and bustle. It wasn't too busy being a week night and day before Thanksgiving.

Silas enjoyed some popcorn with his Buddy, Bubby.

I'm pretty sure Bubby enjoyed the popcorn too. 

The boys had their pictures taken with Santa Clause. Declan was pretty chilled out about it, but we'll see how he reacts next year!
We saw lots of cool lights. Silas keeps asking to go back, so I'm sure we'll make another trip soon enough.

Visiting the cousins

We went to visit my sister Andi in California! My sister, brother-in-law, and their triplets moved to China Lake in Ridgecrest, CA back in October. John is in the Navy and his orders moved them to the middle of the Californian desert.

My mom went with me to help me with my boys and to visit my sister and her boys. Josh couldn't come with us because he had a work trip to Minnesota.

Silas did really well on the long car ride. We made several stops so he could use the potty and get out and stretch his legs. 

Declan slept almost the entire way. We woke him up to eat at lunch and then he got fussy about a few hours outside of Ridgecrest. 

Aunt Andi was so happy to see her nephews. She took us to dinner at the local pizza place before taking us on base. 

Can you tell that Silas missed his cousins? He was so happy to see them again. He still can't call them by the right names, but for now "the cousins" seems to work alright. 

Declan could't get enough of Uncle John. He gave him all the smiles.

We had an early Thanksgiving with my sister while we were there. We made a quick run to the local k-mart and the commissary to get the essentials, but it poured almost the entire time we were visiting so we spent a lot of time just playing with the babies and watching movies together. 

It got super cold while we were there too, so all the babies got bundled up in warm sleep sacks.

It's been a long time since I held all three of them together. They are so much bigger than they were in the NICU.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with Aunt Andi and Uncle John. We drove back home and both boys slept until we reached Palm Springs, which is about half way home and then again until we stopped in Blythe. Unfortunately the very last leg was when Declan decided he was unhappy in the car and screamed the last 20 minutes home. 

Even after spending most of the week with us, Mema offered to watch the boys for a few hours while Josh took me to see Catching Fire. It was nice to see my husband after not seeing him for most of the week. 

Brothers

Are these two not the cutest brothers, ever?

Tomorrow I embark on a roadtrip with the boys and my mom! Lucky Josh gets to stay behind and work. I hope to have lots of pictures of the boys with their cousins. I wonder how much they have changed since we were last all together. The cuteness will over flow I'm sure!

Two Months Old

Declan is two months old!

 We had Declan's two month appointment today as well. He weighs 10 lbs 10 oz (13th percentile), 23 inches long (51st percentile) and has a 16 inch noggin (95th percentile). 

I compared it to Silas' two month appointment and he was over 12 pounds and 25 inches long. Declan is a little smaller than his older brother was, but I'm sure he'll catch up soon! 

Speaking of comparisons, Silas is on the left and Declan is on the right. Declan totally has more hair than Silas did at this age. He also isn't a huge fan of the pacifier. 

A few pictures of Declan from the last month. I feel like he's been far more alert this month than he was last month. I love how his little personality is showing. He is so interested in the world around him! I can't wait to see him grow this next month. I'm going to soak it up as much as I can since I go back to work right after he turns 3 months. I'm already a little bummed by the thought of it. I love being at home with my little guys! 

Declan gets baptized!

Today we baptized Declan! 

We had a lot of family come and celebrate with us a church. 

Father Poulson was able to baptize Declan, which is special because he also baptized Silas.

Declan screamed throughout the entire ceremony, and finally calmed down once we were back in the pews and had a full belly.

Rusty and my friend Mary Beth were God Parents (so are my cousins Heather and Luke, but they were out of town).

We are so happy to have both the boys baptized in our church. We couldn't feel more proud! 

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Silas and Declan both dressed up as super heros this year.

Declan was Superman

He was pretty tired of my picture taking! 

Silas went as Captain America

He picked out his costume all by himself.

We went trick or treating with our friends the Frauenthal's. Evan was a dragon. 

Silas gave up on holding his bucket about half way through the night. We spent about a hour trick or treating. I was surprised by the lack of houses that participated in our neighborhood. We still managed to go through nearly 5 bags of candy though. 

When we got home Silas helped Josh pass out candy. He enjoyed giving as much as he did receiving.