We survived a month with three

At one month old Louis likes the boob, does not have a regular poop cycle set up, is a solid sleeper (will go from 9-230 or 3 most nights!!), doesn't spit up, grunts and snorts like none other, has ticklish feet, loves hot baths and hates his car seat. 

 I had to keep the tradition alive and get the monthly photos!!  This go around we will be using a sheep blanket for size comparison :)

 My coworker Alisha had this adorable Packer outfit made for him

 Louie is not super sure of his Nana.  Maybe he is freaked out by the mask?  She was sick so I appreciate the mask. 

 My coworker is not into babies.

 Ben LOVES to hold his brother and throws a gigantic fit if we don't let him.

 He has his Nana's frown. That is for sure.

 Here is a comparison of all three at one month old.  Ben on upper left, Jimmy upper right and Louie on the bottom row.

Welcome Louis Starbuck

After years of discussion and back and forths we decided to go ahead and add to the family.  It worked and I was due Octobe 16th with #3.  Louis Starbuck was born on October 8, 2017 at 12:18pm weighing in at 9 lbs 1 oz.
I found out I was pregnant in February and a week later found out my coworker was due the day after me.  Uh oh to work.  We did give them 9 months to prepare though as Nitrous Oxide was on my no go for pregnancy list. 
Things went along pretty well, no real problems at all during this one but let me tell you that I was uncomfortable.  I gained a total of 19 lbs only this time but it felt like 89.  I couldn't bend, breathe, I had heartburn, sleep was tough because my hips hurt, my kids were scared of me due to my ever changing mood.
Skip to the end:  I woke up at 3 am on October 8 with what felt like water breaking.  I walked to the bathroom and before I set foot on tile knew what had happened.  It was movie style, like a new body of water was forming in our basement.  I called the hospital to let them know I was coming in, called my mom to get her over her to watch the kids and called my neighbor to see if she would be willing to watch them until my mom got here.  All was a go.  After a shower and a snack we set off for the hospital with towels shoved in my pants because there was nothing smaller to contain it.  I started to have contractions on the drive to the hospital but it was completely tolerable. 

 When we walked in to admitting the nurses looked at each other and said "this one is for real" they checked me and I was at a 5!  (Skip back and I had no progression at any appointment up until this day)  I was excited and thought it was going to go fast.  I got moved upstairs and was given the biggest diaper I had ever seen to wear.  They decided to get me the epidural sooner rather than later because it could go quick.  I agreed as I never want to relive the birth of Ben in my life. 

 So by 5 am or so we set up and waited.  By 10 I was still at a 5 and my water hadn't broken completely (which is terrifying because I left a trail behind me everywhere I walked, what the heck is a full water break like?!?) so they decided to give me a little bit of pitocin and break my water.  The Dr. came in and did that around 1130.  At noon the nurse came to check on me to see how I was tolerating the pitocin and asked if I wanted a check - I agreed.  She immediately said "don't push at all" and paged the Dr.  It was go time. 
Martin fixed my hair. 

 Once the doctor was there it took three contractions of me pushing and out he came with blondish/redish hair. 

 Because of his size they wanted to check his glucose levels for 24 hours so we went to the recovery room and sat.  Shockingly in MN in October there are no visitor restrictions so the kids were allowed to come and visit on his birthday. 

 Both were pretty excited to see what mommy "pooped out"

 Little guy got his first bath the next day and we were all doing well so of home we went. 

 It is always amazing how small they look in newborn clothes in the carseat. 

 We made it home and settled into the reality of being outnumbered by children and I had yet one more male in the house.  Thank goodness I am a bit of a tomboy because this would be a tough life otherwise.

Catch up

So here is an insanely sparse summary of 2017 thus far:

 

 The orange beast was elected and it drew me from my sedentary life out to one of a rebel rouser and I went on my first Women's March.

 Guttormson and I went to Yankee Dental conference and got to meet up wiht some of the old dental crew which was very fun!!

 Daycare got tired of changing Jimmy's diapers so they took initiative to begin potty training (I wanted it to be done but wasn't ready to redo my carpets quite yet. . . )

 We went to Madison to see Saaron's place before they moved to their next one. . .

 One march is never enough so on we went to the Science March.

 The family went to a Twin's game.

 We went to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend AKA MY BIRTHDAY weekend and had a blast.  The Museum of Science and Industry had a Jurassic Park display which the kids LOVED and we did all the other usual touristy things. 

 The boys played soccer - one more than the other - ahem Jimmy.

 We played in the back yard.

 We went to Duluth for Auntie Ali's wedding. 

 We played some more in the yard. 

 We went to Madison to check out the new abode of Saaron and sweated in places that I did know I had but hadn't been acquainted with for a while.  They don't have AC. 

 Nana and Doodoo took the boys for a week to give Martin and I a week of break and relaxation and they got to go sailing.  They loved it and there was no blueberry morning aboard so no vomiting. 

 Caitlin and Bennett came to visit during the Minnesota State Fair so of course we partook.  Also who can resist the Rainforest Cafe??

 Ben and Martin took a trip to Disney World and Ben got to do the Jedi Training.  This trip was officially called a Kindermoon.  Yes that does exist in the world of Disney and yes Martin was thrilled. 

 Ben started Kindergarten!!  His teacher is Mrs. Stevens and after a few trips to the principals office the first couple weeks and a few naughty notes sent home we have settled into a good routine.

 If the Rainforest Cafe picture didn't tell, I got knocked up. 

 The kids maintained their cuteness (no bias at all here) although Ben is trying this new open mouth smile that I don't love. 

 Ben started Karate and got his gold stripe within the first month. He gets pieces of tape as achievements towards his next belt quite regularly so it appeals to his hoarder nature and we are hoping that it will instill some discipline in him. 

 Ben turned 6 and got the dirt cake he wanted!!

 We took our annual trip to Pinehaven Farms.

 We had fun Trick or Treating in the coldest Halloween for 10 years.  Ben was Optimus Prime and Jimmy was a ninja.

 We had a joint birthday party for the boys at Pump it Up with 12 of Ben's friends and 1 of Jimmy's. 

Jimmy turned 4 and got a chocolate dinsoaur cake with "eggs" that were far more reminiscent of poop than eggs!!