The Beast

"The Beast" is a nickname we seem to attach to our babies.

It started with Spencer, who was an angel baby and therefore anything but a beast. Thus the hilarity. (Haha! Our baby is perfect, so let's call him something he's so obviously not!)

Then there was Josh, who was a devil baby and therefore "The Beast" was a little too close to the truth. (Haha! This baby won't sleep and wants to eat non-stop. I'm gonna die...) ((Humor was the only way any of us survived him for the first six months.))

And now there's Cole, who so far is indifferent to everything except sleep. (Which, by the way, he excels at.) So we call him The Beast, but he just doesn't care. (Hey Beast - wake up! It's time to eat. Wake up, Beast!)

Anywho, The Current Beast is finally starting to eat as a proper beast should. He gained 12 ounces between today and last Wednesday.

Good job, Beast. Good job.

The Definition of Unfair

Last night I woke up with the flu. I just wanted to die.

But I still had to feed the baby. Every three hours.

If that's not the very definition of unfair I don't know what is.

Blech.

Cole's Birth Announcement

Our Little Calvin

Cole had crazy hair after his bath today. (The photo doesn't really do it justice since it's such a light blond.) Then he got this crazy look in his eyes. The combination of the two made me laugh out loud and reminded me of a certain little boy I grew up with.


Heaven help us all if little Cole turns out to be a little Calvin!

Issues with Food

Cole has food issues. He's not interested in eating.

This is unheard of in our family. Our babies have always had healthy appetites. (In the case of Josh, VERY healthy appetites!)

I've mentioned before that he is the sleepingest baby ever. This is okay in some ways, but not for eating. For the first week of his life it was a constant battle just to get him to nurse. His birth weight was 8 lbs 14 oz, but when he left the hospital he was down to 8 lbs 2 oz, which made his pediatrician nervous. (I noticed the other day that he is way chubbier in his birth pictures than in any photos we've taken since then. Bizarro.)

In fact, because he was such a sleepy eater my milk was never really well established and started to dry up. So now I not only feed him every three hours but also pump an hour after each feeding as well. So I nurse him for at least 10 minutes on each side (he refuses to do longer!) and then force at least another 2 oz down him with a bottle. Top this off with the fact that I am still trying to get him to latch on correctly (he's lazy and stubborn - the teen years are gonna be great!) and that makes for a grouchy, sore momma. Very sore. Man, how I hate nursing for the first few weeks...

So far in his 13 days of life Cole has had to go to the doctor three times just to have his weight monitored. As of today he was only 8 lbs 3 oz. It's baffling to his doctor and myself, because I literally spend 1/3 of my day feeding this baby. So now we're having to add high calorie preemie formula to the milk I'm pumping. She also prescribed me Fenugreek, which is an herb that is supposed to help stimulate milk production.

I'm not too worried about Cole at this point. I don't think he'll waste away or anything. In fact, my little brother, Kevin, was the same way as a baby and after a month or so he discovered the joys of eating and porked right up! (Although now he's like 6'5" and 100 pounds or something... but that's neither here nor there.)

I just wish my poor, scrawny baby would get over his food issues. Because this sore momma needs a break!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Lance's birthday. I usually try to make a big deal out of birthdays, but I just didn't have it in me today. (I'm pretty sure Lance understands.) But I didn't completely forget or ignore Lance's 31st.

First, I made a birthday sign for him:


I know - you're so impressed. I think the boys were more excited about it than Lance was, but that's okay.

Second, since I knew I'd be in no mood to make a cake I ordered a surprise ice cream birthday cake from Dairy Queen. (The wonderful Gigi picked it up for me and delivered it to our house, since I still can't drive. Thank you, Gigi!)


It's a raspberry chocolate truffle cake - yum. (Although who chose Smurf blue for the writing? Weird.)

Third, we did have one small gift. Why only one? Lance decided to spend all of his birthday and Father's Day money on a new computer a couple of months ago. But what's a birthday without at least one gift?


The boys and I bought him a gift book for Mike's Express Car Wash. (No more excuses for a dirty car, hon!) In fact, that was the real reason I was at Mike's Express on that fateful day not too long ago... (See? It was all really Lance's fault!)

And unlike years past, I actually remembered to take a picture of Lance on his birthday.


Happy 31st birthday, Lance! We love you!

A Great Big Thank You!

Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie flew out from Utah to help us with the new baby. Actually, I did most of the baby work - they had the harder job of entertaining Spencer and Josh. And entertain them they did!

They put sand in the sand and water table. (Something I had been promising to do for a while.)

They fulfilled Josh's dream of going 'real' bowling. (As opposed to playing on the Wii.) I love this picture - Grandpa caught Josh mid-jump. Too cute.

They loaded them up with sugar. (Our fruit bowl turned into the cookie/candy bowl overnight. The boys and Lance were never so thrilled.)

They checked out the new Monkey Joe's in town. It met the hearty approval of both boys.

They appeased them with even more sugar. (I think the kids are in withdrawal...)

They even planted a few things for me, since I was too pregnant to do it myself this season. Grandpa (a true suburban farmer) planted some tomato, pepper, and basil plants, and even some sunflower seeds I had bought for the boys.

Grandpa and Grandma had to go home on Saturday. (I'm sure they needed a rest!) We were able to get a few pictures before they left for the airport.

Grandpa ElRay with his grandsons. (Will he ever have Roper grandchildren? For some odd reason mine all keep coming out Madsens... Just wonderin', Kyle and Kevin.)

Our wonderful grandpa and grandma!

My three sons. (Insert theme song here to get trapped in your head for the rest of the day. Do do do doooooo, do do do doooo, do do do do, do dooo doo doooo!)

Our first family picture. I think we all look kinda goofy, but I guess that's more true to life!

We already miss you lots. Spencer has mentioned you several times in his bedtime prayers. Josh asks where you are and when you're coming back. And our cookie and candy supply is running low. (That's because Josh is quite cunning when it comes to cookie thievery.)

A great big thank you to Grandpa and Grandma - you'll never know how much we appreciated your help!