Shots

Colton had his six month well check today....which meant SHOTS! Poor guy was so sad. Check out this face.

Recent Pics

It is so amazing to watch these boys grow! And how fast! Braddock has turned 18 months and is officially in nursery! Oh how I've been waiting for this day. :) And my little Colton is crawling! Yes, he just turned six months and this kid is moving! Colton is so sweet and has a great disposition, content to hang out and watch his older brother. He started eating solids a couple of months ago and is loving them. He is super interested in food, not necessarily quantity, but wanting to grab it and put it in his mouth. Braddock is a little more demanding of my time and attention, but he is a great older brother always wanting to kiss Colton and recently wanting to pick him up and hold him (makes me a little nervous). He is really starting to talk a ton. He is a pretty funny little boy.

Colton at about 5 1/2 months


Dave and Braddock Easter Sunday


Mom and her Boys


Braddock lovin' on Colton


Braddock and his cousin Cole


We went to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago with my mom, my brother Ryan and his wife and kids, and my sister Molly and her husband and kids.

We lost the swim trunks somewhere along the way....


Braddock really wanted to play frisbee with his cousin Tyler


Colton hanging out in the pack-n-play

Help!

I have a biter on my hands and I don't know what to do! I've done everything short of biting him back. I've tried time outs, I've flicked his hand or his mouth, I've been very patient and nice and explained that it hurts, I've gotten mad and yelled, I've taken the child that he bit and left him by himself (Dr. Jones' original advice) but nothing seems to work. I'm wondering if any of you have had biters and how you have dealt with it. We go to see Dr. Jones in a couple of weeks and this biting thing will be at the top of my list for discussion, but until then....I need your advice.

Tongue Tied

Our sweet Braddock had surgery this past Tuesday. It wasn't anything major, but the fact that he had to go under general anesthesia is what made me so nervous. The skin that anchors your tongue to the bottom of your mouth was too tight, so they had to go in and clip that. And, the skin that anchors your lip and your gums was causing a gap between his two front teeth, so they removed that. He has four stitches up top and two under his tongue. Braddock did really well, with the exception of waking up from the anesthesia. I don't know if you've ever been put under, but I think the worst part about it is waking up and coming out of it. He DID NOT like the way he felt. He was a real trooper though.


Before Surgery


After Surgery

His snack cup was what ultimately helped him calm down- even though he wasn't really supposed to be eating solid foods yet. Braddock and his food..... :)

Catch-up

So obviously I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing-my last post as you can see was over two months ago. That's life I guess. Let's see if I can give a brief run-down of what we have been up to.

Dave sold his Pathfinder. We loved that car, he's had it since he got home from his mission, but a two driver family doesn't need three cars.




We finally poured some concrete! We poured in both the front and back yards. We feel like it has been a long time coming, and we finally did it.






Thanksgiving was nice. We ate at my mom's house. We were fortunate enough to have Dave's parents, Bob and Jolayne, in town as well. We had a great time and ate lots of yummy food.





We blessed Colton in church on November 30th. Dave gave him a really nice blessing. We loved that some of our family was able to be there and wish that those that weren't there could have been.





The Fire Department Credit Union puts on "Breakfast with Santa" every year. So I took the boys to meet Santa and have pancakes with him. It was a lot of fun. Braddock wasn't too sure about Santa though. He didn't mind being near him as long as I was holding him. There was no way he was going to sit on his lap.

























My sister Molly had her baby, Brody, on the 16th of December. Colton and Brody are only 6 1/2 weeks apart. That means we have 4 boys under the age of 2 1/2. I can't wait for them to grow up together and play together and be buddies.

My mom, Meema, with grandbabies 12 and 13. (Colton and Brody)

He's Here!!!

He's here! Colton Smith Castle was born October 30th at 7:22 am, weighing in at 6 lbs 15 ozs and measuring 19 3/4 inches long. He is healthy and doing great!

LABOR
Well labor was a little different this time around. I went in for a regular appointment on Wednesday afternoon and my doctor tells me that he has me scheduled for induction the next morning. I was a little surprised, and not so sure that I wanted to be induced. I was really feeling like I wanted to go on my own. I left the office but turned around and wanted to talk to the doctor again and talk about other options. I decided to keep the appointment for induction and go home and talk to Dave about it. We decided to go ahead and keep the appointment.

The hospital was expecting us at 5:30 am. At 5:10 I get a phone call from the hospital telling me that they are going to need to put off my induction because they were so busy. Well, I had been having contractions since about 3:00 am. So I told that I was coming in anyway.

When we got to the hospital they wanted to check me and see where I was. The nurse checked and I was already at a 6! Right then my water broke. So, they admitted me and got me in a room. Shortly after I was settled the nurse came and checked me again and I was at a 7. Ready or not, this baby was coming. She left to get the rest of the paperwork for me to sign. I was worried that I was progressing too fast to get an epidural so I had Dave go ask. They said the problem wasn't that I was progressing too fast but that anesthesia was too backed up and that I probably wouldn't an epidural. What?! Don't tell me that! Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about that news.

At this point my contractions were getting super intense. Unfortunately my nurse didn't seem to be aware of how fast I was progressing, so the when my doctor came in and she hadn't checked me, he had to check me himself. When he uncovered me, to his surprise the baby was already crowning! Let the chaos begin! No one was ready for the baby to come, except me of course. The doctor hadn't done any prepping that he wanted to-no episiotomy, no stirrups, the bed wasn't broken yet, etc. He was telling me not to push while he is trying to get everything he needed, but at this point that is all my body was wanting to do...push! That's what it is supposed to do, right? I tried real hard not to push, but about 10 seconds later (and a whole lot of screaming later....no epidural remember) he hands me a baby. I said, "That's it? I'm all done?" I couldn't believe it how hast everything happened.

So, Colton is here and we are enjoying every minute of having a new baby in the house. Its amazing how Braddock doesn't seem so little anymore. We weren't sure how he was going to react to having another baby in the house, but upon meeting Colton he waved at him and gave him a kiss. Pretty cute.






Colton came home on Halloween, so we thought it would be fun for him to go home looking festive. :)



Big Brother



Proud Parents