It just keeps getting better...

I say this sarcastically!
Today I had to take Lachlan back to the pediatrician. He's still coughing a lot, and we felt like he wasn't improving. Troy was at work, so it was me and the 3 boys again. We actually made it out of the house early (I thought I needed gas but Troy had filled it up for me! So thankful!) and braved the nasty weather. Lachlan was happily asleep in his car seat when he proceeded to cough so hard that he threw up all over himself and the car seat. Great! After cleaning up that mess, we were taken to a room.
Then Reef had to potty. I left Jonas in the room and gave the baby to the nurse while I took Reef. Of course, there was some kind of incident on the big potty that led to Reef's pants being peed on, and not just a little bit! Being without a spare pair of pants for him, led to Reef looking like this for the rest of the morning...

Now that you've stopped laughing and I've won the Mom of the Year Award from everyone who saw me today (it's freezing outside, by the way), I can give you the news about Lachlan. Dr. Gulde said he was still wheezing a ton and working to breathe (not good) and also still had the double ear infection (also not good). So, he sent us for a chest x-ray.

I could tell everyone at the xray place was wondering 2 things: why Reef had no pants and why I had to do this alone! All 3 boys did great. The nurse called me right away and said the xray showed a viral process, no pneumonia. Finally some good news! So, the plan is antibiotic #3 for the ears, nebulizer at least 4 times a day with an added steroid, plus an oral steroid. Wish us luck!

Christmas!

Christmas was a lot of fun this year at the Gibbins house. After much stress about presents and what I thought the boys should get, I realized that I was "over-Christmas-ing". I remembered that last year, there were so many presents, that the boys got tired of opening them!
We went for a less is more approach this year, only doing 1 Santa gift for each boy plus stockings, and then they had some gifts from friends, grandparents, and Aunts also. This plan worked great and I was much less stressed!
Lachlan gave mommy exactly what she wanted for Christmas-a good night's sleep after a week of sleepless nights! YES!
Reef got up first this morning and quickly checked to see if had eaten his snack. Then then checked under the tree to see the large sack of "prezzies" that Santa had left. He then waited patiently for Jonas to get up so he could show him all the findings. We have it all on video and will post that as soon as I figure the new camera out.
After breakfast, it was time to bust into the Santa sack. Reef quickly untied and started throwing out wrapped boxes, looking for "my truck!" He realized that Santa had wrapped the presents and quickly figured out his must be the blue box. Jonas was also excited to see his "red present" that he'd been talking about!
Here's Reef displaying that truck he's been talking about for ages...


Lachlan's favorite gift this year was his stocking!

The boys were also blessed with several presents from Oma, Opa, Aunt Paula, and Jude. Thanks guys!
After opening presents, there was plenty of time to play with their new stuff before we all enjoyed a nice lunch with Erin, Chris, and Liam from next door and the Gibsons from church. It was a very relaxing day!
Not many pictures this year; we haven't mastered using the video camera and regular camera at the same event yet!

Christmas Eve

All 3 Gibbins boys are sick this Christmas Eve, but the older two are still happily anticipating a visit from the man in the red suit. This morning we discussed how he would come down the chimney. Reef is excited about leaving lamingons out for Santa and eating one for himself, too, while Jonas is more concerned with leaving food out for the reindeer
We zipped out to Target this morning (not a good plan, the place was a zoo) for a few last minute things, and Jonas thought we were buying his presents. He doesn't quite understand the Santa concept yet.

Reef has given Santa a very detailed description of the truck he's expecting tomorrow, but Jonas just wants a "red present". Luckily, we've got both of those covered!

Tonight we'll go to the Christmas eve service at church before tucking the boys in and wrapping the presents. The thing mommy wants most this Christmas-SLEEP! They weren't selling that at Target though...

What a weekend!

We spent last weekend in Conroe for my mom and Mr. Don's wedding. It was our first roadtrip as a family of 5, and it went really well. Lachlan spent almost the whole trip down there napping (he was pooped from playing with his 3 favorite babysitters that morning), and we only had to make 1 short stop in Nav to feed him and use the potty.
We spent this trip at Grandma and Grandpa's new house since Mom's house couldn't all our mess this time. We had a great time spending some extra time with the great grandparents. The big boys especially enjoyed sharing a room upstairs, although it did make for 2 early mornings and a short nap!
On Thursday night, we exchanged gifts with Gigi, Mr. Don, Gma and Gpa, and Aunt Taylor and Jacob. The boys were in love with their fireman boots, puzzles, and stacking toys! Mommy and Daddy were also blessed with gift cards and money towards our new stroller (I think this one's the keeper finally!).
On our first morning, after he'd already eaten, Reef asked Grandma to make blueberry muffins. Now, I would've said he could have them tomorrow, but Grandma whipped them up right away. Here he is enjoying one at the bar with both great grandparents. I love it!

After a week of rain, the sun finally came out and the boys took an opportunity to play in a pile of leaves Grandpa hadn't packed up. They had a great time!

Check out those fireman boots, a gift from Gigi. Reef didn't want to take his off all weekend and they now have a special home in our kitchen, just in case of a fire.

Lachlan was a little cold outside but still enjoying it all.

We spent afternoon and evening celebrating Christmas with my dad. It was great to see him and he showered us all with very generous gifts. The boys LOVE their new legos! We enjoyed a nice dinner out with him while Lachlan stayed home with Gma and Gpa.

Saturday was the big event, Mom's wedding to Mr. Don. Of course, the trip couldn't go perfectly and we realized that Troy's nice clothes were still hanging in the bathroom at our house! After a quick load of laundry, we were ready to go. Reef and Jonas looked fabulous in their wedding rain boots and were very good for the ceremony and reception. Reef was wondering where all of his toys were at Gigi's house, though. I didn't get any pics of the wedding but there are some on facebook. Unfortunately, Jacob was sick, so he and Aunt Taylor couldn't be there to celebrate with us.

We left right after the wedding to take advantage of some car-napping and made pretty good time home. Lachlan wasn't as thrilled to be in the car this time but still did better than his big brothers did on their first road trip.

We wrapped up the weekend at home with 2 (and eventually all 3) sick boys. Reef and Troy spent 2 hours Saturday night in the ER with his usual croup symptoms. He did great this time; I think he knows by now that he needs to go to the hospital when he gets the "barking coughs", as he calls them. They sent him home with a lollipop and gatorade, so he was pretty spoiled while he was there too! Lachlan started coughing and being congested Friday and by Sunday sounded pretty bad. I kept him out of the nursery Sunday at church and braved the pediatrician's office Monday morning with all 3 boys. After a 2 hour wait, it turned out that Lachlan had a double ear infection (probably because he refused all of his antibiotics last week!) and RSV (a virus that causes wheezing and lung problems in babies but regular colds in most kids/adults). Poor baby! We left with new antibiotics (cherry flavored and better tasting apparently) and meds for the nebulizer 4 times a day. On top of all that, Reef and Jonas got their H1N1 vaccine. Jonas handled it pretty well but Reef screamed like we had chopped his leg off. A very stressful morning overall. I'm thinking no one in the waiting room was envying me as I left with 3 screaming kiddos! We did manage to make everything better with an outing for ice cream though...

4 months

I'm definitely 2 weeks behind on Lachlan's 4 month update. Things have just felt crazy around here, and I've been really tired. He is doing great, though! At his 4 month appointment, Lachlan weighed in at 16 lbs 8oz (90th %ile) and measured 26 3/8 inches (97th %ile). I can't believe we've made another tall baby! He's rapidly growing out of his 3-6 month clothes, especially in length! We found out at our appointment that Lachlan has his first ear infection. That explains some of the sleepless nights and the ear pulling! Jonas was also diagnosed with sinus infection #3 and is now on a 20 day course of drugs. Hopefully the antibiotics will clear up both my boys!
Things I want to remember about this month:
-You rolled over once about 3 weeks ago. Must not have thought it was very cool, though, because it hasn't happened again.
-You're favorite activity is still laying on your playmat and grabbing at the toys.
-We've tried out the jumperoo. You're still a little too short for it, so you're not loving it yet.
-You are by far the happiest baby we've had so far. I'm not saying Reef and Jonas were bad, you just never cry!
-You are definitely not a fan of medicine! I think you only got about 1/2 of each dose we gave you. Hopefully it's enough to kill the ear infection! This is so different from Reef and Jonas, who come running for the "pink medicine"!
-You are still not a fan of tummy time, and Mommy is still not great of making you do it. I am thankful you're not getting the flat head from laying on your back so much!
-At 4 months old, you are the baby who's been in the room with us the longest! We finally moved to our own room, although there are some nights when it's just easier for me to sleep in your room.
-Speaking of sleep...This has not been your strongpoint this month! You go to bed around 7:30 and don't eat again until 2-3ish but you manage to wake up looking for your paci 3-4 times in between there. We need to work on this...
-Another thing we need to work on...taking a bottle! I'm hoping to go on Ladies Retreat at the end of January, but you are boycotting the bottle right now. I've tried 5 types of bottles and still haven't found one that you'll take more than an ounce from!
-Just so I remember...your current schedule looks like this: eat at 7am, nap at 8:30/9ish for 30-45 minutes, eat at 10am, nap at 11ish for 30-45 minutes, eat at 1, nap at 1:30 for 2-3 hours, eat at 4, nap at 5:30 for 2o minutes, and then eat at 7:30 and go to bed. I'm thrilled that you're napping at the same time as your brothers!
-We've been pretty successful at getting you to nap in your bed when we're at home instead of the swing. I'm excited about this since we had such issues with Jonas!

I'm excited to see what next month brings! Here are some pics of the last month and a half:

Brief tummy time. We're working up to 5 minutes at a time. Works much better with a blanket or pillow as a prop. Without out it, Lachlan puts his arms behind him instead of using them as a support. Definitely harder to hold up that head that way!

Trying out the jumperoo.

I love babies in hats! He tolerates them pretty well too!
These next pictures are supposed to be the 4 month photo shoot with the bear but the brothers butted in! They're still cute though!



This last one is from 3 months, for comparison.

November

Okay, friends, I'm going to try to re-enter the world of blogging. November was quite a whirlwind month with 2 birthdays and 3 weeks of visitors, so this will be mostly an update in pictures.

We had a great but busy time with Auntie Tanya, Uncle Bernie and cousins Etienne and Philippe. I am so thankful the cold weather didn't come until after they left because we all would have been stir crazy stuck inside with the current weather! The boys did a lot of bike riding and playing in the backyard. Our days were also filled with trips to the zoo, the park, the zoo train, and the botanical gardens. Overall, our guys did great with such a crowded house, but Reef did have a few moments when he had "too much family in my family" and needed some alone time. Jonas was a little crankier than usual, and I feared that the terrible two's were upon us. He's back to his old self now, so I'll chalk that crankiness up to being a little overwhelmed by all the fun he was having. The end of the visit came much too fast, as we knew it would, and we were all sad to say goodbye at the airport. Reef is already planning his plane trip to Australia to go to the beach with Etienne and Philippe!

Here are a few of our favorite shots from the month:

Best group shot of the zoo day.

A more realistic shot of what our day was like....Chasing 4 boys and never having them all listen at the same time!

Our 1 dinner out all together. Great food but a little too much chaos for me. We ate at home or ordered in the rest of the month.

My big bike rider. He always wears those gloves, by the way. He really got a lot stronger chasing his cousins on their 2 wheelers and didn't get nearly as frustrated as he was before.

The 4 bike riders. This picture kind of reminds me of the movie "Wild Hogs". They just each have their own personality going on, just like in the movie.

The next several pics are from our day at the Botanical Gardens. I'd never been there before, and it was really nice. They're doing that "Big Bugs" exhibit right now, which was pretty cool.

Tanya and I took Jonas, Lachlan, Etienne, and Philippe to ride the zoo train while Reef was at preschool. The conductor even let them ring the bell! Don't worry, we went again the next week with Reef, so he didn't miss out.

At Sea World. This was a really fun day for all of us. We fed the dolphins, checked out the aquarium, played at Shamu's Happy Harbor, and saw the Shamu show. We did learn that my boys are NOT a fan of the splash zone! They were both close to tears after the show and kept talking about how Shamu splashed them! Reef was also finally tall enough to ride the Shamu Express roller coaster. We snuck (is that how you spell that? looks very weird!) to ride it while Jonas played on the slides with Dad. I expected a major freak out when the bar came down and the ride started, but Reef LOVED it, so much that we had to ride it again right away!

There are so many other things I wanted to write about our visit but can't remember them all! Stay tuned for Lachlan's 4 month update.

2 years

Jonas is 2 years old! We celebrated his birthday twice-once at playgroup with friends and once on his actual birthday with family.
He didn't feel that great at playgroup (battling a sinus infection that didn't get treated until Monday, poor guy!), so no smiles about this pink dinosaur cake. I am aware that pink is a girl color but it's his favorite right now and we wanted the cake to represent him.
Didn't Troy do a great job!


The whole group.

On Sunday, we celebrated with pumpkin cake and caramel sauce. He was in a slightly better mood at this party.

It's kind of hard for me to believe he's already 2 years old. I kept forgetting it was his birthday on Sunday. For the most part, the terrible 2's haven't set in yet, but I'm afraid they may be coming. In addition to his usual happy, sweet self, he's been acting out a lot more.

We visited Dr. Gulde on Monday for shots and a check up. Jonas weighed 28.4 lbs (60th %ile) and was 36 3/4 inches tall (97th %ile). His head also in the 95th percentile. Dr. Gulde was impressed that Jonas is already speaking in 4+ word sentences. We spent the rest of the morning at the xray place getting a sinus xray. It turned out Jonas has been battling an ugly sinus infection, so hopefully after 10 days on antibiotics, his sweet self will return!

3 months

Lachlan turned 3 months on Thursday. He's growing soooo fast!

Things to remember about this month:

-You started sleeping longer consistently this month. You're usually in bed by 7:45 and wake between 2 and 3 to eat. Then back to bed until 7. I'm happy with that!

-You still HATE tummy time, and Mommy really needs to get better at making you do it.

-You are our easiest baby yet! Your so happy just laying on your playmat, "talking" to the dangling animals.

-You love your daddy. When he comes in the room, you follow him with your eyes and always smile when he talks to you.

-You've really started "talking" a lot more this month.

-You still take pretty much all your naps in the swing, but I'm hoping to work on that before 4 months.

-Still not rolling over yet, but hopefully soon!

-You got your first cold this month and handled it great! You put up with the cough and congestion and only had 1 really bad night.

-Your crossed eye really improved this month and I even got a smile in your monthly picture!

Trick or Treating

I'm finishing off our many Halloween posts with Trunk or Treat at the church and our first door-to-door trick or treating. I'm too lazy to rearrange the pics, so they're backwards.

Gigi reading to Reef and Jonas after trick or treating. I really wanted a picture of Gigi with all 4 grandsons, but it just didn't happen this time.

The whole group. Yes, I know Lachlan is not in this. He was tired and stayed home with Gigi.

Reef and Jonas made themselves at home at this house. They probably would have gotten comfortable at other houses too if they'd been let inside. Jonas tried to go inside several. He didn't understand that he was supposed to stay outside!

Knocking on the door. These neighbors were actually not home.

Hurry! We have to get to the next house!

Erin, Chris, and Liam joined us.

The first house.

Jacob trooping along. It was a long walk for him!

Friday night, we Trunk or Treated at the church. The boys were not very into it this year. They were most interested in the playground and jumping castles.

They did really enjoy these orange cupcakes though!

Pumpkin carving

After picking the perfect pumpkin, Troy and the boys carved it on Friday. They were into it for about 5 minutes.
Look at this face!

The best shot we could get of the 2 of them. The pumpkin looks good, though.

Pumpkin Patch

Last week, we visited the pumpkin patch. It's one of my favorite fall activities, and we got such cute photos the first year we took Reef. We didn't have as much luck time, but the boys loved it so much that we actually went twice!
Jonas and Reef LOVED this hay maze, especially with our neighbor Chris!



Lachlan spent the first trip sleeping in the Ergo and was being so good in the carseat the 2nd time that I didn't want to take him out.

For once, Reef was more cooperative with photos than Jonas.