Owen

Owen, Owen, Owen...where do I start with that little bundle of joy. He has had a rough start at life. A week after he was born and spent one night in his new bed he was evicted and sent back to his grandmother's house away from his Daddy, and 2 big brothers. Then he had to deal with RSV on his own. In addition he has had to figure out how to cope with not only mommy and daddy trying to help him out but 2 big brothers too. Man the life of a 1 month old. Owen honestly has been an amazing baby. He sleeps through everything. Screaming, yelling, playing, vacuuming, barking, you name it I guarantee he can sleep through it. Owen loves to spend time in his bouncer, swing, bassinet, mommy's arms, daddy's arms and in the arms of anyone else who is willing to hold him. The place he is least fond of is his bathtub. Although I must admit he is getting better :)

This is a picture of Owen and Ethan at Dr. Cartwright's office. The nurses there were awesome! I had plenty of help and they went out of there way to accommodate us. You cannot see Owen in this picture but he is behind Ethan in the car carrier. A picture of him in the car carrier is below.

Not the best picture, but I did not have time to take another one. He was a real champ! He weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. Owen has gained weight and grow so much since he was born. He goes again for a 2 month check up. At that point I should have some percentiles and new numbers. I look forward to seeing how much he has grown and changed in just that short period of time.

Owen's bragging points:

1. He usually only gets up once in the night time. If we feed him between 10:30 and 11:00 then he is good until 2:30 - 3:30 in the morning. Then he will sleep again until 6:00 when everyone else gets up.

2. Up to 6 oz. every 3 to 5 hours. Granted sometimes he falls asleep during the feeding but not for too long.

3. Owen has had his first play date with Colin. I will post pictures of the 2 of them soon. Colin is my best friend Jessica's little man. He was born the day before Owen. They are going to have many, many, many more play dates together in the future.

Ethan

Ethan's main goal here lately is giving me as many heart attacks as possible. Since the day that he could crawl he has been a climber. Now that he is a little taller and older the things that he can climb have gotten bigger and in his opinion better. Here is a picture of him after he climbed up Aydan's furniture. He pulled out the drawers to get higher. I had to stop taking pictures of all the things that he was climbing because I do not want to give him the impression that it is cute. But here is a list of things that he has climbed up recently. The top of our dining room table (which he was able to hang literally from the chandelier on), his dresser, the oven, the dishwasher, desks, coffee tables, you name it and he will find a way to climb it. We have already been to the Emergency Room with him this year for a gash above his eye. I have no clue how to stop him from climbing the only thing that I have found is "time out" in his pack n' play. That way I know he cannot go anywhere. Although he is mischievous and keeps me on my toes, literally, I cannot help but love him every time I bust him. Look at what I was greeted with when I came into the laundry room to swap the clothes out. How can you be mad at a face like that. He is darling and he knows it too! Man I pray for all the ladies that he encounters when he gets older. Ethan is going to be a heart breaker or he is going to give them a heart attack.

Ethan had his 15 month check up this month. I had him and Owen in Dr. Cartwright's office at the same time. Aydan fell asleep in the car so I had mom sit with him while we ran in for a quick check up. At his 15 month check up he weighed 29 lbs (95 percentile), was 33 inches tall (95 percentile) and I do not remember his head circumference but it was in the 97th percentile. I cannot believe that my baby boy is now a big brother and he quickly approaching the toddler stage of his life. Completely breaks my heart!

Ethan did have Dr. Cartwright laughing hysterically in the office though. Ethan took Dr. Cartwright's stethoscope and put it on himself. Then he looked through the piece you place on your heart and stared at Dr. Carwright through it. Dr. Cartwright said he had the stethoscope for years and had never thought to look through the end, nor has any other child taken off of him and put it on themselves. LOL I guess it is fair to say that Ethan is not shy!

To say that Ethan is nonchalant would be an understatement. After getting put in "time out" several other times this day he still climbed up and grabbed the DVD from his brother's tv. As you can see he is very phased by me and is truly worried about disappointing me and getting in trouble.

Ethan also has enjoyed playing at the park with family and friends. He does not understand that he is not as big as the kids that he wants to hang out with. Sometimes that does not stop him from trying though. That is why Clint had to put him in this swing. He saw some big kids climbing up the slides and jumping off the swing set. Well this of course caught his eye and he wanted to try. Although he did not get to try it there he did try it off of our smaller play things at home. Amazingly enough he was able to climb the slide and jump off the side.

Other bragging points/accomplishments with Ethan:

1. Drinking from a straw. He is watching the things that Aydan is doing and wanting to try them out too. He is able to drink apple juice or caprisuns from a straw without any help and believe it or not he does not squeeze it or let any make a mess. '

2. Talking some. He is saying small things like "bye bye baby", "hi baby", juice, sorry, uh-oh, oops, he is always talking but sometimes you cannot make out what he is saying. I look forward to figuring out more of his words over the next few months.

3. Playing and sharing with other kids. Ethan has always been a social butterfly but here lately is wanting to be around large groups of kids. He has become very good at playing and sharing with others. No matter what the age Ethan always seems to make friends with everyone. When we are sitting at home he will bring us toys so that we can play too. He is so sweet and thoughtful. Owen has gotten several presents from Ethan as well.

4. ALMOST off the bottle and pacifier. Yes I realize he should be off of them by now, but it is so hard to do when you have another one at home that is still getting a bottle and a pacifier. If we don't give it to him then he takes Owen's when we are not looking. So better to control it then to let him steal it. We are down to a bottle at bedtime and a pacifier only when we are tired and fussy (like nap and bed).

Aydan

Aydan enjoyed going to the park to play with friends and family. It is amazing to me how quickly 2 year olds can make and become best friends with people they just met. One day when we went to the park Aydan must have made and played with 10 different kids all with in 30 minutes. They had such a good time copying each other, running around, and talking. As you can tell from the picture Aydan enjoyed playing with his Daddy the most. He wanted to reward him for being such a big boy and going back to work without crying, so he decided to push him on the swing.

Aydan also has enjoyed being a big brother to 2 boys now. He always is finding good things to do to be a good role model. I would like to say that the climbing in the dryer was his idea but it was not...it was ETHAN's! I have noticed since being home that Aydan and Ethan are becoming awesome friends, and playmates. They are starting to team up against me...lucky for them I am use to 25 - 28 kids teaming up on me so 2 or 3 is not a problem. :) W

Whenever Ethan gets in trouble Aydan stands up for him and tells Clint and I "no...no". Then he will go and comfort Ethan until everything is back to normal. Aydan honestly has been a big helper. He will get juice and snacks for Ethan and himself, diapers, etc. Aydan also enjoys helping mom keep up with her daily chores. Dusting, sweeping, bathrooms and picking up toys are his favorite. I hope that he continues to like those things and is willing to help me in the future with them.

This is Aydan at Chuck E. Cheese! For the first time he was able to climb to the top of the ball thing by himself with no one helping him or guiding him through it. He was so proud and played in it the entire time. Also a good thing because we got to use to tokens :)

Other bragging points on Aydan:

1. Expanded vocabulary. I am very impressed with some of the words that he is using. He will not use a word unless he knows what it means.

2. Potty training. Some days are better than others. He is very good about going when you take him, but still has not mastered the telling you when he has to go. Any pointers on that would be greatly appreciated.

3. Counting, colors, sorting. A huge accomplishment because he is often more interested in toys and other things instead of school. :)

So it has been AWHILE!

Please forgive me! I know that it has been a long time since I last blogged. I will do my best to update you as quickly as possible on the events of our lives over the last few weeks. I will also promise to blog more often, as long as I get comments put on my blog. I was hurt when I found out that there are several people (family, co-workers, friends, etc...you know who you are :)that are checking our family blog but do not leave comments. All of you out there that blog and do facebook know that you do it in part for yourself, but you are also interested in what everyone is thinking. Therefore, I am promising to blog more often and leave comments on everyones page that I view. Anywhoo...the last few weeks have been CRAZY in the Vandiver household. One of the last posts that I did talked about Owen and I being evicted. Well eventhough we left Owen still ended up getting RSV. So we were in and out of the doctor's office and the hospital dealing with that. Poor little guy broke my heart. It is hard as a parent to watch your little one be sick and not be able to do anything about it. In addition Clint went back to work last week. Luckily, I have only had the 3 boys on my own for a few hours a day. Mom has been coming over to help me out and hangout. Thank goodness too because it has allowed us to get out of the house and get some fresh air. Some of the places that we have ventured are The Mall, Wal-Mart, Old Time Pottery, Dollar Tree, Chuck E. Cheese, Doctor's office, Hospital etc. It has been AWESOME! It really has given me something to look forward to this summer. On top of the craziness we have had to keep up with 3 little ones all on their own schedules, all thinking that they are kings of the world. I would not trade it for the world though! I have adored every single second that I have gotten to spend with them. We have had our ups and downs but I would say there have been a lot more ups than downs. I am going to do a quick blog on each of the boys as well...just to try and catch you up on things. Then you can look forward to hearing from as often as I hear from you. :) If you want comments, pictures, stories, etc. let us know and we will do our best at it.

Just some pictures for Laughs :)

Ethan is definitely our class clown child. He never has a dull moment in his life. He is our adventure child, no fear, flies by the seat of his pants. Ethan always has our household rolling on the floor laughing. This picture is a perfect example. At 15 months old he knows when and how to make people laugh. The picture is not the best, but he has Aydan's Cars pull up on his head. I love that little rascal :)



Aydan is my compassionate child. He is a true Taurus, hard headed and sweet at the same time. When we got home from the hospital he was amazed with Owen. Wanted to hold him, feed him, change him, etc. The next morning he wanted to hold his baby, feed his baby, and change his baby. If you look closely at the picture you can see who his baby is...not Owen, but Ethan :).

Steak Lunch, Conversation, and Silence :)

Tuesday afternoon was not a typical day in our household. Normally we can get all 3 boys to sleep throughout the day, but usually we can only get 2 out of the 3 asleep at the same time. Well Tuesday was a special day. Aydan, Ethan and Owen all slept at the same exact time.

(The picture of Ethan sleeping would not cooperate with me so...but please know I did take one)

Well Clint and I jumped at the opportunity to spend some quality us time together. So we enjoyed steaks and mashed potatoes for lunch. Good conversation, laughs, etc. It was great to just catch up and watch our boys sleep and enjoy our family. Never in a million years would I have imagined that by the time I hit 30 I would have an amazing husband and father of my children, 3 beautiful healthy boys, and 2 puppies. It is moments like this that make you thankful for everything that you have.

Owen and I have been Evicted!

Owen and I have been evicted from our house.
Monday I took Ethan to the doctor because he had a runny nose, cough and was tugging at his ears. We got an appointment with Dr. Cartwright at 9:30 on Monday. Ethan and I waited very patiently in the waiting room careful not to touch anything because we did not want to catch something and bring it home to baby Owen. Dr. Cartwright got to see Ethan and told me that it was just an ear infection and that we had nothing to worry about with Owen. :) Thank goodness because while we were at the hospital all we heard about was RSV and make it through the month of March and we would be closer to in the clear. Ethan was put on some medicine which broke my heart because this was the first time that he had been sick since he was born. Even though he was sick that did not slow him down.

Well Tuesday came and gone, see another post about it. But Tuesday night Aydan started to have the same symptoms as Ethan. Runny nose, cough, and tugging of the ears. So we kept an eye on him all night and Wednesday morning decided to call and get him in to the doctor too. This time we would see Dr. Johnson at 10:40. Aydan and I went to the office and again we were careful not to touch anything so that we did not bring home anything to baby Owen. Dr. Johnson got to see Aydan and told me that it was not an ear infection or his sinuses, so he wanted to run a RSV test to make sure he was not positive for Owen's sake. Well low and behold if he was POSITIVE for RSV. He informed me that it would be best for Owen to leave the house for the weekend.

So here we are at my mom and dad's house hanging out because we do not want Owen to get RSV. Clint is at home with the boys (who are sick)...while I took the dogs and Owen to my parents. Clint has been awesome with the boys. He knows how much it tears me up not being with them when they are sick, but I know that this is what is best. Today I did get to go to the house to take care of them for a few hours while Clint got out and did some errands and went grocery shopping. As soon as I got back to my parents I took my clothes off, threw them in the washer and jumped in the shower.

Hopefully, if all goes well Owen, Nemo, Eva and I will be reunited with the rest of the family Sunday evening. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. We had finally gotten adjusted to having a new baby at home and getting back on a routine and then we were thrown this curve ball. We are making it and hanging in there but we are ready for things to slow down and get back to OUR NORMAL. LOL which for many of your would be complete and utter chaos.

CHAOS vs. solitude

CHAOS VS. solitude...Can you tell which is which?

Solitude was the name of the painting hanging above the bed as Owen entered the world. We have put a lot of thought into that word. It has been very quiet here at the hospital. Quiet is one thing that is usually in short supply in our lives. It has been great to have a short break here and focus on only one child, but we also cant wait to get back to reality and one of our other favorite words....CHAOS! We really miss Aydan and Ethan and it has been hard staying here at night without them. We are really blessed to have family that has kept them safe and sound while we are here. Clint went home for a little while yesterday and played with the boys. They went to the park and watched TOY STORY 3. The boys didn't get to come up yesterday because they did not take their naps and we wanted to be respectful of our neighbors and not bring our chaos into their lives. Enough about chaos lets chat a while about the solitude. New parents at Huntsville Hospital are given a celebrations dinner. Julie ordered it for 7:00 but it showed up at 6:30. Clint didn't make it back until 7:30 so we had a luke-warm celebration dinner. There was little conversation because we are not used to having time to eat and talk. We were also starving! Julie was really excited about our baby pictures and couldn't wait for me to see them. I was blown away at how great they turned out. Julie, Dan, and Phyllis had a hard time deciding on pictures so they just ordered the whole CD. Thanks Pepaw and Memaw especially since we spent all our cash on our co-pay. For our first two children it was $100 each. Owen cost us $250. Talk about inflation! I know some of you are saying that is cheap but doubling plus an additional 50 % in 14 months kinda stung. We are headed home in a few and can't wait to get back to our normal chaos. We decided to share some of our pictures with you. We hope you like them! PS I am disappointed in the blogstalkers for not commenting. Kim Linley wins the prize as the only comment of the day. She gets to change Owen's diaper anytime she wants.

Three Under 3

What a DAY! What a WEEK! What a YEAR! Things in the Vandiver house have been crazy for a while now. Aydan and Ethan have really been enjoying each other and getting into all kinds of mischief together. On the other end of the spectrum Clint and Julie have been on pins and needles anxiously awaiting the arrival of Owen Tucker Vandiver. We have been praying for a healthy baby and an epidural that actually works. Well GOD delivered both today. We have been battling swelling and blood pressure issues this pregnancy. So our doctor decided to induce Julie last Wednesday. Well my mom had the stomach virus and Julie's dad was at a meeting in D.C. so we asked could we wait a day or two. The doctor said to come back on Friday and he would check us and we would go from there. We thought we were having this baby Friday. By the time the Dr. checked us and called the hospital there were no rooms left. We even had him check Crestwood hospital. We had a really hard time on Friday after being so ready and being shot down again. GOD was working in mysterious ways here. Well fast forward to Saturday we get a call that Jessica (Julie's best friend) was going into labor. Jessica had her baby on Sunday and we had our baby on Monday so we are doors down from great friends. We rescheduled for Monday at 5:45 a.m. We got here early and checked into the same room that Ethan had been delivered in 14 months earlier. Conicidence? Well we got a great nurse and a great Dr. and an angel that delivered an epidural. After seeing Julie have such a hard time with Aydan and Ethan I was really dreading this delivery. However, there was not a single moment of pain or anguish this time. Everything was smooth and calm. It was almost surreal to see GOD's hand at work here. Owen Tucker Vandiver was born at 2:38 p.m. He was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19.5 pounds. We had a lot of company and he even shares a birthday with a good friend our family Jerry Rooks. We are truly blessed to have Three strong healthy boys under 3 years old.