Gingersnaps

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2014/11/gingersnaps/

I like my ginger snaps soft and chewy. This is the perfect recipe. 

They crackled so perfectly I ate a dozen. 

Sawyer snuck a cookie and ate it hiding in a kitchen cupboard. He did it while I was out watering the garden and then he came and told me. I told him to help himself to another haha. This was the batch I baked too long yesterday and they were hard, but they're actually softer today. Maybe humidity is good for something after all?

Cole 2 months

(I better hurry and post this before he's 3-months old in a couple days!)

Cole always has lots of smiles for me every morning. It's a great way to start the day, even if I don't get a lot of shut eye these days (mostly because of Jack, not Cole!) He'll usually eat two times a night still. He's a content baby boy and very patient with his parents and brothers. He takes a pacifier some of the time. He's not a fan of tummy time. If I want him to stay asleep longer he needs to be swaddled. He doesn't like to bend in half (like sitting in an L position) and will push back against you to straighten out. I love having this baby boy to rock and snuggle. He's not a little baby anymore (was he ever??)...

2-month Stats:

16 lbs. 9 oz. - 100%

25.5" tall - 99%

41 cm head circ - 73%

And some pictures, because that's what everyone really wants to see anyway!

That cute face!

Testing out his exersaucer for the first time. It was a little overwhelming with all the help from his big brothers.

Love those smiles :)

Sawyer and Jack love to keep him company.

Hahaha!

Ewwww he licked my nose!

October weather in FL is transitioning out of the rainy season, but every day that week on our walks we got caught in a rain storm. I love the ergobaby carrier because it's so comfortable and kept Cole dry.

Cole's first time swimming! He wasn't a fan, and lasted 5 mins. The second time he went was much better and he fell asleep in the pool.

The Bates Boys!

He likes his tongue.

The smile of relief...that is poo coming up around both sides of his onesie. Good thing he was on a blanket for easy clean up!

I love having a sleeping baby in my bed. Our little gushy bear.

Aunt Abbie and Uncle Christ sent us a package, thank you! Cole was a happy and willing model of the crocheted frisbee. He loves the helicopter mobile too...he lays beneath it and kick, kick, kicks. Thank you for taking the time to send us a package in the midst of moving!

Oh so cute.

Sawyer singing to his baby brother. These two get along very well :)

Smiles!

The big brothers keeping Cole company on the floor. I had them line up so we could compare heights. Cole almost has them!

Cole's fan club :) I'm so happy his brothers love him so much!

Poison Control

We had an exciting afternoon around here yesterday. I was inside nursing Cole while the big brothers played in our fenced-in backyard. They were being particularly quiet, so I offered a prayer somewhat along the lines of 'please protect the boys'. After I finished, I went outside to find Sawyer hopping off the chicken coop roof, saying, "We ate these berries mom!" Ohhhhh really?! I took a picture of the plant and sent it off to George and my mom so I could get help identifying it as quickly as possible. Meanwhile I tried to look it up as well while burping Cole and keeping an eye on Sawyer and Jack for any symptoms. Sawyer told me they each ate five berries and that they were 'good and sweet, not too sour!' Glad you enjoyed them, ha!

It was taking a while to identify exactly what the plant was, so I decided to make them throw up just in case. I didn't have ipecac on hand, so I traumatized them both by sticking my fingers in the back of their throats. It turns out Jack has an iron gag reflex. I could barely get a cough out of him! Sawyer on the other hand was crying and gagging and rather upset about the intrusion. Hopefully it was memorable enough to drive home the lesson to not forage without the help of a knowledgeable adult. 

Turns out there were two different vines intertwined. Virginia Creeper and Corky Stemmed Passion Flower. Thankfully neither of them are poisonous, although the Creeper contains oxalates that can cause minor cuts in their throats. The poison control center recommended they eat popsicles to help with that. 

So grateful for everyone's help (Mom, George, Extension Center, and Poison Control Center)! I'm also thankful for answered prayers - very important lesson learned without major consequences for their innocent foraging. 

Oh yes and even with all this excitement we managed to go vote too :)

Happy 4th Birthday Sawyer!

Happy Birthday to our happy boy!

Sawyer 4-year-old Stats:

3'7" tall - 97%

43 lbs. - 92%

Sawyer's 4th Birthday Interview:

What is your full name? 'Sawyer Lewis Bates'
Where do you live? 'In Florida'
How old are you? '4'
When is your birthday? 'October 25th'
What do you want to be when you grow up? 'Helicopter Pilot'
Who is in your family? 'Cole baby, Mama, Papa, Jack, and Sawyer'
What do you like to eat? 'Bananas and waffles'
What do you like to do outside? 'Play' Play what? 'Mom you're talking really a lot." Hahaha I was trying to do the interview as he was falling asleep in the car.

So we continued the next day while he was launching foam rockets in the front yard:
What do you like to do outside? 'To shoot rockets' (stomp rocket toy)
What do you like to do inside? 'To play motorcycles. We have two. They're not big or little, just VERY small.'
Favorite
Color: 'Green'
Song: 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'
Toy: 'Motorcycle'
Food: 'Bananas, oatmeal, and crepes'
Cereal: 'Oatmeal'
Show: 'Curious George'
Animal: 'Deer'
Book: 'Scriptures and Dinosaurs'
Food: 'Mac & Cheese' (whoops asked it three times, haha - you can tell it's very important to me!)
Dessert: 'Strawberries and chocolate ice cream'
Favorite thing to do with papa: 'Play hop scotch'
Favorite thing to do with mom: 'Drive the car'
Favorite thing to do with Jack: 'Ride in a car that is just a toy, like the pedal coupe.'
Favorite thing to do with Cole: 'Look at him and smooch him.'
What do you want for Christmas? 'Chocolate chips and a knife and a fork and a spoon.'
Where does papa work? 'At his airport.'
What does papa do for work? 'He makes some money by doing stuff people want him to do.' And what do people want him to do? 'Fly helicopters' Haha, he got that pretty much right ;)
What does mama do for work? 'She helps her boys listen and eat and helps their babies eat.'
Who do you love? 'Papa and mama'
Anything else you'd like to say? 'I would like to say I like Grandma and Gramps and I want them to come for Halloween.'


In Florida on his actual birthday he wanted crepes for breakfast, and since we weren't doing another cake, he got candles in his crepes :)

We also went out for hamburgers and ice cream cones. As it worked out one of his friends was having a birthday party on his birthday, so he got in all the friend partying as well.

Sawyer is a joy to have in our family. He's a bright boy that amazes us and adds so much joy to our lives. Happy Birthday Saw, we love you!

Florida Celebration:

Balloons and presents first thing in the morning.

Curious George tin tea cup set.

Will Twister encourage more wrestling? We shall see.

Birthday crepes

Mom & Sawyer out for ice cream on his birthday!

Family outing for hamburgers and ice cream cones.

Sawyer had been talking about this extravagant birthday party he wanted all year. I was excited to find out we'd be in Colorado in October, because we could still have a fun party he'd love with family out there, and avoid being in charge of a group of wild kids, haha.

We had a cookout with tin foil dinners. He loves fire. (I'm in trouble.) I also made my first 'fancy' birthday cake. It was actually easy and fun, and Sawyer LOVED it. Hard to go wrong with a construction cake where it's part of the plan to crumble up the cake.

Colorado Celebration:

Fire!

Happy Sawyer getting ready for his cookout.

Cute Cousins (and Aunt)

Baba & Cole snuggles

Dido, Baba, & Cole enjoying the fall weather.

Excuse me Sawyer? I guess we need to go into more detail when it is (or isn't) ok to relieve yourself outside.  

Flying high with papa. Jack loves his cowboy boots and it's his choice of footwear.

Dido on hot dog roasting duty.

Grandma got all the supplies I needed for the cake so my job was easy. Thanks Grandma!

Sawyer had three requirements for his cake: equipment, brown, and green. Check, check, check. Thanks for taking it easy on mom ;)

He was extremely pleased with his cake!

Tea Party with the cousins.

So much fun when it's legal to play with your food!

Cleaning up the equipment in shaving cream.

So many people love you Sawyer! 

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Cole's Birth

Fresh from Heaven

Cole was born in Cocoa Beach, FL. Since the hospital is about a 45 min to 1 hour drive (depending on traffic) I was slightly paranoid about not making it in time, since Jack came just 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital in Cedar City (only a 10 min drive). Lucky for us, we made it. It was another fast and furious birth and Cole arrived 30 minutes after we got to the hospital. George and I were both very thankful not to have a car birth!

At my 39 week (Aug 21) OB check-up I told Dr. Caplan that I wasn't sure I even wanted to be checked because I didn't want to 'stir anything up' since my mom wasn't going to be in town until the 26th. We decided to check and see if I was dilated (I was at 3 cm) and then while she was checking me she stripped my membranes...WHAT?! I was irritated with her because I had just told her I didn't want to start anything by getting checked in hopes my mom would be around. But whatever. She normally listened (I thought) so I'm not sure what happened there. Anyway.

On August 23rd I started timing contractions in the afternoon. They weren't hurting or anything, but seemed to be fairly regular and we wanted to err on the early side of getting to the hospital so I was being more diligent paying attention. My contractions stayed about 6-10 mins apart lasting around a minute, but not painful. After we put the boys to bed, we decided to head to the hospital just to be on the safe side. We stopped and got a milkshake on the way. When we got checked in to our 'suite' I was at 3.5 cm. They kept us for a few hours to monitor me, but I wasn't progressing so we headed home in the wee hours of the 24th. We were both tired and a little disappointed, but decided it was a good practice run. Even though we had a long night we went to church that morning. I was still having contractions every 10 minutes but nothing painful. Around 5 that night I started thinking maybe I was progressing. But the contractions still weren't that painful, and we were all tired from being at the hospital earlier that morning and didn't want to wear ourselves out with another 'practice run' so I decided to wait and see what happened. By 7:00 p.m. there started to be some painful contractions so we decided to put the boys to bed, and line up our friends to come watch the boys so we could head to the hospital again. We got out the door by 9 and my contraction were consistently 4 minutes apart. They continued to be painful for the drive to the hospital, but I was calm and not moving so was able to keep collected. I got scared/nervous driving to the hospital thinking that George and I would now be outnumbered, yikes. What were we thinking...three kids?! No turning back at that point though ;)

When we arrived at the hospital and walked in (through the ER because it was after hours) I could barely walk anymore and things were getting extremely painful. We had done all the paperwork junk the night before so it was supposed to be a breeze for us to go right up to labor and delivery, but of course it wasn't. So they made George stay there to fill out the same paperwork we'd already done the night before and someone took me up to L&D in a wheelchair. They recognized me from the night before and were pretty casual when they saw it was me again. When I tried to walk into the room to put on a gown and dropped down to the floor in pain the nurse realized it was going to be fast. I tried to get on my gown (never totally did) while she rushed around calling the doctor and getting things ready. I was dilated to 7 cm. George showed up shortly after I had gotten on the bed. I just remember dreading each contraction and feeling so, SO hot. He blew on my face which felt really good. The nurse insisted on jamming a needle in my arm for an IV even though I didn't want her to. That was annoying and it felt like she was hitting the bone on my wrist. She poked me a few times until she finally got it (and I was being very still).  I couldn't even tell when my water broke (it was just a few minutes before Cole was born) and it turned out there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. I dreaded the contractions each time and when it came time to push I didn't want to. The doctor and nurses made me anyway, haha.

But alas at 10:28 p.m., just 30 minutes after arriving to the hospital, our big guy made his entrance. He did one short little cry to clear his lungs and then was very quiet and content after that. His cheeks were enormous and he had an adorable double chin! I couldn't get over the chubs, he was SO cute! He was definitely a 'bruiser' already ready to play with his big brothers. I still can't believe his stats... 10 lbs. 5 oz and 20.5" long! He latched on right away and has been a great eater ever since :) I tore in one spot, but overall felt great just not being pregnant anymore. They had to check Cole's blood sugar levels every 3 hours since he was so big. The first two were fine (in the 60's) and continued to rise. Turns out he's just a big guy, not anything to do with diabetes. They were going to make us stay 48 hours at the hospital, but we talked them into letting us walk free after 36 hours. We were ready to be home as a family of FIVE! Welcome to the family Cole, we love you!

Admiring and breathing in his perfection.

It's amazing how instantaneously I feel better the moment I'm not pregnant :) I love those first moments snuggling with your precious baby.

I think he got the double chin from me!

My two sleeping babies :)

He opened his eyes!

Cute little tootsies

So handsome! 

Gushi Bear

That is a big boy!

Papa and his third born :)