Completely Kissable

I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck, you bet your dirty neck I do!!

Mmmwwwwaaaahhh!

My Three Sons

Trying to get pictures of the three of them for the baby announcement has been fun. I am so thankful for my new camera with the super fast shutter speed. I caught a few cute ones.

Smiling

Those first smiles are so hard to capture, but I caught a few.

Colton started smiling at 6 weeks old.

The Bay House

Nearly every weekend since the baby was born has been spent at our new house on Tiki Island. What do we do there you ask? We swim, swim, and then swim some more. Then we take a ride on Daddy's boat, do some fishin' and then check the crab traps. It's the best place to be, and we absolutely love it!

Baby toys?!?!

One morning I decided to get out the play mat for Colton, then I went to his room to get him. When I got back, here is what I found. I seriously think the older boys are having so much fun with the baby toys, I should have pulled them out sooner.

One Month Old

I know I am posting this when Colton is nearly 2 months old, but the pictures are from when he was one month old. Things around here are crazy, but in a good way. Colton is a fantastic sleeper despite all the noise and chaos.

Anytime the boys can, they are kissing their baby brother. They love him so much!




Sweet baby boy, we love you so much! To the moon and back and all around the stars!

Colton Andrew

It was love at first sight from the moment we met!

It is pretty obvious he is in love with Daddy.

Both boys had the proudest, sweetest smiles when they met Colton.

Sweet boy, you are such a blessing from God. You sleep good, you eat good, and you are the sweetest little baby there ever was! We love you so much!

Colton Andrew

8 lbs. 14 oz.

20 in.

Strange Day

Today feels so strange to me. I spent the morning with the boys just playing and laughing with them. It's weird because they are going to my mom's this evening, and early tomorrow morning I will go to the hospital to have their little brother as planned. I never made it all the way to the end with Austin or Braeden, so this ability to plan and pack and do the laundry feels too easy.

Don't get me wrong, it's not physically easy anymore. Along with my belly being as huge as it can possibly get, the baby resting on my bladder, and painful but not regular contractions, I have now developed some sort of really itchy rash on my hands and ankles. I had the same rash with the boys, but it was just on my belly. The hands is a horrible place to have a rash.

So obviously I am physically ready for this little one. I can't wait to meet him. But along with that I have the anxiety of being away from my boys while I am in the hospital. I have the anxiety of how difficult it will be to be outnumbered by kids now in our house. I have the anxiety of what the boys will think of having a new brother and a mom who really can't do much as I recover from surgery. Today just feels weird.....that's all. I am thrilled and excited, but nervous and anxious. Talk about butterflies in the belly!

Dancing boys

Danny and Wyatt came to the new house to help us get some work done (I guess I need to get some pics of the new bay house on here). Boy do we owe Danny BIG! Besides helping paint, he even mowed and edged the yard (along with tons of other help)! Thank you Danny! While he was helping Daddy, the boys and I hung out with Wyatt. What an absolutely happy baby, and soooo cute! They were all so excited to be together, and I caught them on camera dancing. So cute!

Sibling Class

We took the boys to sibling class at the hospital where I will have the baby. It was cute. Austin was kind of sleepy and not really into learning about taking care of the baby, but he listened carefully. Braeden wanted to try everything they taught on his baby.

Here he is practicing the swaddle.

Austin changing the diaper (hmmm, maybe I will really be able to use this new skill?)

Braeden changing a diaper.

When the boys learned all the things they needed to know about caring for a newborn, they got big brother t-shirts and certificates. Then we went on a tour of where Mommy will be when they come see me, and we got to see the nursery. All of the babies in the nursery were sleeping, and Braeden asked if they were real. It was really cute, and I feel like Braeden is as excited as Austin is now. I was a little worried for a while there, and still am a little worried about Braeden's jealousy, but his excitement really makes me feel better.

Baby boy #3

After my 33 week ultrasound, I was looking at the profile pictures of baby boy #3, and I kept saying he looks just like Braeden.

I know that we can't tell from these shots, but the lips, chin, and nose look just like Braeden's 32 week profile shot. The other thing this baby does that Braeden did is put his arms up next to his face. This makes taking pictures with the 3D hard. I am so excited to see if this little guy looks and acts like Braeden or Austin, or if he just is completely different from either of them.

Here is Braeden's profile shot.....do YOU see what I mean?!?!

No matter if he is similar or different, we can't wait to meet the newest Giffhorn. If he is like his brothers he will be here in the next couple of weeks. I'm having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, and am about 60% effaced (for those of you who know what that means), but I am not dilated yet. I am just thrilled to know that this little bundle will be in my arms soon! Isn't he sweet?

Braeden turns 3!

It is hard to believe that my baby (well, my smallest for now) is officially THREE! Where did time go? I find it amazing how as soon as they hit a birthday, or a half birthday, kids always hit such milestones and really suddenly grow up so much. We started the day with our three shaped pancakes of course.

We had Braeden's birthday party at Kids in Action, and it was an absolute blast. There was a roller coaster. After Braeden fell back like this going down the hill, he didn't ride it any more.

Wyatt made it to the party. He is so big now, and he had a blast doing all the activities just like all the other little ones.

Even Hope enjoyed herself.

Braeden's favorite part was the parachute. We spun him around like he was going down a drain, and he thought it was the best.

Singing Happy Birthday

Catching bubbles

Blowing out the candle

And playing party blowers with Hardt and Austin. The party was a huge success!

Happy birthday my little sweet pea. I am so proud to be your mommy, and I love you more and more each day.

Pop goes the weasel!

Mother's Day

My little sweethearts made me the nicest things at school for Mother's Day. Braeden made this flower card with his hand prints.

The best part of the card is what he said inside! Too cute! They do love taco night at our house.

Austin made a sweet book that included things that he thought were my favorite things (restaurant, color, etc. - all of which were his favorite things), but my favorite part was that he loves me because I hug and kiss him. Sooooo sweet.


Austin also made these little critters out of his fingerprints. You know the butterfly is my favorite!

And at Sunday school, Austin made this hand print card. I can't bear to throw out anything that has their hand prints, fingerprints, footprints, or words that they say.

The Zoo

The boys and I made a trip to the zoo before it got unbearably hot, and despite the thousands of kids there for a field trip, we had a blast! Lots of animals were out since the weather was just right, and the boys let me take lots of pictures of them.

I'm pretty sure somewhere there is a picture of me with this same elephant.
Ok, so the only animal I want to share a picture of is this grizzly. I think he drank a little too much honey last night before passing out. What do you think?

Swim lessons

We did swim lessons with Ms. Glendy again this year. It was Braeden's first time, and he cried just like Austin did last year which can be hard to watch (especially pregnant and hormonal), but knowing that if he fell into the water, he could flip over and float until someone could get to him is a skill that is worth any amount of tears. He is just getting so big, and is starting to lose that toddler belly and getting longer/taller instead.

It's pretty obvious that Glendy loves these kids, and she truly has a gift from God to be able to teach such young ones how to survive in the water.

Austin is getting so big too! He quickly remembered all the skills that Braeden learned from last year even though this was his first time in the pool this year. So he was able to move on to practicing swimming on his belly with his face under water.

He is still gaining confidence as you can see in the videos. He starts with his face in the water, and then uses the skills he knows about how to get air on his back between swims.

Braeden cried, but that is normal. It's scary to learn a new skill. Glendy is right there with him, but she doesn't help him get up on the step all by himself. This is after only 3 days of practice!


Most importantly, she practiced dropping him in head first to make sure he could pop back up. This simulates a real situation if he were to fall in the water. He must have told her a hundred times each day, "I don't wanna go under" but he never really put up a fight. I just have such peace of mind knowing that he can come back up. Especially now that we own a new house on the bay in Galveston where it is on the water.

Our little cowboy

Austin's buddy Noah had a birthday party at Cowboy City, and this was right up Austin's alley. Here he is waiting to ride horses. I'd say he is excited, wouldn't you?

The smile never went off his face, and he wasn't nervous at all. He even got to hold the reigns and ride by himself for a lap. It brought back lots of memories from all the horse riding I used to do as a kid. Maybe he'll compete too?

Pure joy!