Damon's First Day of 1st Grade!

Last night we packed his lunch, picked out his outfit, had a little pep talk, and were in bed by 8:00. Damon was so excited for school, which as a mom always makes it easier. We woke up at 7:30 this morning and he pulled me in close for tight hug and said, "I'm gonna miss you!" It was the sweetest thing because Damon isn't real affectionate and doesn't really say that kind of stuff anymore. So the fact that he said that without any prompting, or me saying it first made me feel so happy. I told him I was going to miss him too but that he was going to have the best day!

We got dressed and ate breakfast. We took a few pictures then Dan walked him to school. Once they got to the gate he gave Dan a hug and took off.

Our day at home was much more quiet than usual. We sure missed having him around. He's my big helper so I missed that for sure. Rafe was having a hard time and just wanted lots of cuddles and attention. So that was nice. Before we knew it, it was time to go and pick up Damon.

He told us he had the best day ever! That he loves school and made lots of new friends. He got 2 recesses! He learned how to dribble a basketball and climb the monkey bars. He had a good time. I was so glad! This elementary has kindergarten through 6th grade so I was worried he would get overwhelmed, but he's a pretty go with the flow kid so it was great!

It's weird to think he'll be going back tomorrow! I think as the days go on I'll miss him more and more. I've been excited for school to start, I won't lie. He can be super needy and has to have all my attention all day every day. And that gets exhausting. He loves for me to entertain him, which I love playing games with them and spending time with them, but he can sure put me on a guilt trip if I don't give him attention all the time. So I've been like, yes! School! He has just been content to hang out since he got home. I can tell he's a little tired and just wants to relax and I'm totally fine with that!

Rafe starts pre-school in about a week and I think that will help him feel like he has his own new friends and stuff to do and he's not just hanging out with mom all day every day!

Damon turns 6!

Damon had his birthday on May 6th. I can't believe he's 6 years old already. Sometimes when I'm cuddling with Jag, I feel like I'm going back in time and snuggling Damon. It's the craziest feeling. 

Damon has grown so much this year. He LOVES school and has done so well in Kindergarten. I think it's made him feel like a big kid since he goes to school and rides the bus and has homework. He's definitely matured and he catches me off guard all the time. He takes on some responsibilities I didn't think about giving him for a few years. Like he takes out the garbages, then takes the bins to the road and brings them in when he gets home from school. He asked to do it one day and just kept at it. Lately he's been trying really hard to help with chores and get himself ready for school. The boy loves to be independent. I love it. He's such a great kid. 

6 things I LOVE about Damon

1. He always eats what I make for dinner and loves my cooking.

2. He is such a good and protective older brother. 

3. He is nice to everyone.

4. He is a little genius and tries so hard at school. I hope he never stops loving to learn!

5. He is my right hand. I very rarely have to ask him twice to do something. He's always quick to help me out.

6. He is becoming quite the little artist! He loves to draw and paint. He surprises me with some of the stuff he can draw! 

I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, kinder boy to set the example for his brothers. He is one of a kind! 

Happy birthday Damon! We love you!!

Summer catch up part 2

I love dressing my boys for church. All the moving around we have been doing really makes it hard to settle into a ward. So the boys are loving their church classes and all their new friends. But it seems like every week when I go to get them dressed they have outgrown their clothes! I still have tags on some so I'm gonna have to go exchange them! They need new shoes and pants and another church shirt. And Jag is just as bad! I'll pull something out for him and he has to squeeze into it just so he can wear it once to justify me keeping ALL my boys clothes. Dan hates that we've been toting them around all these years. It's saved us tons of money re using them but we have had them all in different seasons so it's been hard matching them up. But I love putting Jag in things both his other brothers have worn. 

Damon and Rafe spend all day every day together. They are best buddies and I know Rafe is going to have a hard time when Damon goes back to school in a few weeks. I feel like they are so bored with me all day every day. I try to do at least one fun thing with them every day. Playing a game or playdoe or the park or whatever else they really want to do. Damon is my child of "what's next. What else" and nothing is ever good enough. He always wants more. Rafe is more go with the flow but can still be needy. Damon loves to be right where I am and doing whatever I'm doing. So I feelu Kurt sometimes because I constantly feel like I am pushing Damon off. Telling him to go outside or downstairs. He can't entertain himself and it's exhausting feeling like I always have to do it. Especially while trying to keep up with the baby and house and laundry and all that. Soooo I'm kinda excited for school to start. He had too much energy and I know school will zap that haha.

I have been feeling a little burned out and run down the last little bit so my sweet hubs scheduled a couples massage. It's been years since we've done that. It was SO nice, just 2 hours short haha:) but I seriously appreciate this man and how hard he works for us. He recently got a promotion at work and he never wants me to give him a shout out and let the world know how awesome he is, He gets embarrassed but he has been working so hard. And lots of nights I don't even see him until 7/7:30. But he just accepted a job as the CEO at Netmark and I am so dang proud of him. 

This little baby is 9 months old. He just got his fourth tooth and is a crawling machine. He loves to pull himself up on everything, loves real food, is growing out of his dairy allergy, and is starting to sleep well, finally! He had a bad regression so he's only slept through the night a handful of times. But he's getting better!! The separation anxiety has been REAL though. My goodness this kid is sooooo sweet but is wearing me down. He's a full time job by himself. 

Damon lost his 3 tooth yesterday. He gets pretty nervous about this stuff and hated when I try to wiggle his loose teeth so I was nervous for this moment. But he just came to Dan and was like "Dad my tooth is loose will you pull it?" We were shocked. He pulled his other two himself, so we were surprised he asked for someone else to do it. He was so brave. 

It's crazy sometimes that these three are mine. When I see them out playing or just out in public it's weird to stop and think that they are mine, I'm their mom and responsible for them. I still feel like they should be babies. But seeing them grow up and learn new things and become independent is nice! 

Summer catch up! Part 1

Oh my goodness. I just looked at my last post 🙄😁 I can't believe it's been that long since I've blogged. A lot has been going on this summer. 

Damon finished kindergarten! He was so sad that he wouldn't be able to go to school all summer. At his end of the year program he announced that he would like to be a semi driver when he grows up. He also received the kindest cowboy award which made me one proud momma! He really is such a kind hearted little boy. His principal said something that I loved when she handed out the awards, she said, it's good to be smart but it's even better to be kind. Dan and I talked about how true that was. Kindness is an underrated quality these days. People are so cold and harsh. It makes me feel so good when I see someone being kind. So my mommy heart was over flowing when they gave him that award. 

We bought a house here in Idaho falls! When we moved here we found a subdivision we really loved but they didn't have any rentals in here so we told ourselves when we were ready to buy that we should look here first. We looked into building but after having Jag I just have been  struggling to keep up with these crazy boys and the thought of building a house on top of that sounded like a nightmare. So we found a speck home that we loved that they had just finished in the neighborhood and bought that. We are so glad to be in our own home again. It's been 3 years since we've owned a home and when you go from owning to renting it's not fun! I hated moving every year! So we are loving making this place our own and making it all cozy for our family. 

Those are the only pics I have on my phone but we love this house. We still need to put in our yard but will probably do that next summer. There's 6 bedrooms so we have been hosting lots and had lots of visitors which we love. It's a little overwhelming but we love having friends and family here. 

Dans family came to visit. His mom and dad, Beth and David, and Joe and Thea and Maya. We liked catching up with everyone and having our house full of people we love! We went to the splash pad, and the park, and just enjoyed playing games and watching movies and each others company. 

Papa tom and Rafe going to get sno cones at Damon's t ball game. 

Playing at the park with Grammy Val and Papa Tom

The cousins eating lunch together!

I didn't take many pictures, but we had a fun time together. 

Damon played T ball this summer. It was fun to watch him play but it was also hot and difficult to keep the other two occupied for an hour. But Damon has a good little throw and really had the batting down at the last few games. 

We spent the Fourth of July in Melba. I love being home for the fourth. It's usually when my Heiner family has our family reunion and it's great to see all my cousins and all the new babies and catch up with everyone. There's so many of us it's hard to talk to everyone, especially when you're chasing kids. But we had a fun time! The boys loved the fireworks and the parade! Papa also bought some four wheelers and the boys couldn't get enough of those! 

Grandma took us to see the secret life of pets. The boys loved it and the baby slept the whole time. It was perfect!!

The boys also had a blast swimming in grandmas pool. She sent it home with me and I still haven't blown it up so they can enjoy it again! Haha I can't find my pump anywhere!

This summer is flying by! The weather is starting to cool down already it seems like. Damon starts first grade in a few weeks and Rafe is going to preschool 3 days a week. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself haha. It will be so nice. But I will miss them. Especially Damon being gone all day every day! 

Jag

So I just realized that I haven't shared Jag's birth story. It's over on my Mom blog if you want to read it.
www.mommybrigade.blogspot.com
I think I'll do a post about the recovery and all that a little later. I always like going back and re reading those. It's crazy how much you forget. I know I've already forgot so much in the last 5 months.
5 MONTHS!
Where is the time going? My baby is already getting so big! He's rolling around and jumping all day in his jumper. I just gave him bananas for the first time last night. He devoured them! He loved them and just kept going and going! I couldn't believe it. He reminds me so much of Damon. He has so many similar mannerisms and just little things that take me back almost 6 years ago when I had Damon (That's a whole post in itself ;( Why is Damon getting so old!). Jag is so sweet. He has a little milk allergy so Momma is trying her hardest to stay away from pizza, ice cream, and milk related and it's been a little hard. But I have been surprisingly good about it. In the beginning I would eat something thinking I was safe, then he would be miserable, and so I try to be really good so he's not in any pain. It breaks my heart and makes me feel so bad when he's sick because of something I ate.
He started rolling about 4 1/2 months. I was starting to panic a little thinking oh crap, he's never going to learn how to crawl or move unless I put him down! So I tried to be good about him getting tummy time and before I knew it he was rolling. Which is bitter sweet. I really love re living all these moments and hitting these milestones. But then when I look at how big my other boys are, it makes  me sad to think how fast it all goes! So I am soaking it all in and loving every stage.
He's sleeping so much better the last few weeks. He wakes up and i'll give him his binky and he usually goes right back to sleep. Some nights he only wakes up once. If I'm feeling a little too full, i'll nurse him in the middle of the night. But I really love it when he just sleeps and sleeps! It is amazing how much better I feel with uninterrupted sleep! haha imagine that! He really was the worst sleeper for the first.....maybe 3 months. He would stay up until about 2  then be up every 2 hours after that. It's slowly gotten better and I'm so glad!
3 kids has been kicking my butt! Seriously it's been so hard..... if we're going to talk about this, let's just dive right in.
I don't think I've ever really had Postpartum depression. But I definitely have cases of extreme mommy guilt. I never feel like I am doing enough. Or days when I'm on top of things with the house, I feel like i'm neglecting the kids. The kids only seem happy if I take them wherever they want, or give them whatever they want. it's never enough. Everrrrrrrrrr. and somedays I'm so overwhelmed and just feel like i'm such a crappy mom. Dan's great at talking me through it and reassuring me the kids are fine and I'm not royally screwing them up. hahaha but seriously I have no idea how to be a parent, and what I think is good parenting most of the time comes back and blows up in my face.
Like that time I told Rafe that whenever he was mean to Damon, Damon got to do it back to him.
So if Rafe punches Damon in the face, Damon gets to punch him in the face back. (extreme example that's actually never happened but you get the idea)..........
yeah
horrible idea.
don't do that.
Rafe was just becoming such a bully but now all I hear is I get to do it to you now!!!
stupid.
The boys for the most part play great together and are just little buddies. But when they are mad at each other it gets crazy fast.
I'm dreading when they are older and their fights get really crazy. My brothers were seriously insane and if my boys act like my brothers did.....they might find themselves at some type of a boot camp.
Anyways, back to Jag.
I'm not really the mom with the set schedule or strict routines. When he's tired, he sleeps. When he's hungry he eats. it's the best thing for our lifestyle. I know most people swear by having a schedule. But whenever I try, it just never turns out as well as I'd like. And he's so happy that I don't think I really need to restrict anything with him. He's a pretty happy baby and is just content to hang out and let his brothers maul him. He's been sick a little bit. Just a cold with a nasty cough which I HATE! But it's finally clearing up. Hopefully for good. I hate worrying about his little tiny body and those dang coughs. I swear EVERY time we go to church we come home sick. Then we all get it and are out for like 2 weeks while it just takes turns going through each of us. We have been so sick this winter. I swear our house is cursed. Whenever someone comes to visit, they leave sick.
But spring is finally here....hopefully! The weather has been so nice and I am loving letting the boys out to play! However all the neighbor kids that have been over are driving me a little batty. that's for another post.

Rafey baby is 4!

Looking back over all the pictures of my sweet Rafe, I can't help but get emotional. I hate how big my boys are getting sometimes! When I see all these pictures about how tiny and innocent they were I just wish they could stay tiny and innocent for just a while longer. 

I remember the day Rafe was born like yesterday. My water broke two weeks early and I was SO excited to be meeting my baby. I was nervous about the delivery since I was trying to VBAC. It ended up being a stressful and scary delivery but I will never forget that moment when they laid him on my chest. That moment was so special and precious to me. He was the only one of my boys that I actually got to hold right away. After my delivery with Damon I would cry to have that moment. I would watch shows and bawl every time the mom got to hold her new baby like that. I finally got that moment with Rafe and it is something I will never forget. All you moms know how special that moment is, and all my c section mommas know how much you crave that.

Rafe was such a good baby. He was so relaxed and hardly ever cried even if Damon was smothering him with kisses. 

He was just the sweetest! As he got older the stronger her personality got. We've called him our sour patch kid since he was about 1 1/2. He is either so sweet or just a little stinker! Most the times he's sweet though;)

No one makes Damon laugh like Rafe can. They have always been best buddies and I am so thankful for that. Some of my favorite things about Rafe are how funny he is, how sassy he can be, how protective he is, and how his sweet little voice saying "I love you mom" after he does something naughty can just wipe away all my anger.

I can't believe it's been four years with this sweet boy. He has brought such a fun sweet side to our family! He can never keep a straight face, even when he is super mad. If you tell him not to smile he will always crack up and forget what he was angry about. If he gets in trouble he will get really mad then come around 5 minutes later with an I love you. 

He doesn't warm up to people very easily and some get offended by that, but if you play with him or talk to him about cars he will be your best buddy! I am so glad he's mine!! 

Happy Birthday Mr. Chubby!!!

Some of Rafes Favorite Things:

Color- red

Show- Paw Patrol

Best friend- Damon

Food- spaghetti or waffles

Truck- a back Dodge Ram (he wants one when he grows up) 

Construction truck- excavator with stabilizer legs..... Haha he's very specific;)

When he grows your wants to be a truck driver!

Oh and his name in Spanish is chewbacca hahahaha just ask him!