Mother'sFireBirthStation (Cole's Title)

This past Sunday was a big day for us...of course it was Mother's Day, but it was also Cole's birthday! The kids must have felt the excitement in the air because they gave us the extra special gift of being up and ready to go super early. Zoe woke up first around 4:30 with a stuffy nose and was having a difficult time sleeping. After saline and suction, we did something we almost never do which is pulled her into bed with us to try to help her sleep. She was very happy to snuggle with daddy and eventually went back to sleep. However, the wild men then woke up sometime before 7:00 and came running over to our room to wish daddy "happy birthday" and mommy "happy mothers day." Of course they decided to join the three of us in bed for some morning snuggles rather than go back to their lonely beds.

It was hard to be irritated with them while they were being so sweet and snuggly. 

Once we decided to get out of bed, the boys said they wanted to get some special pastries for the special day and some flowers for me! Cameron and Harrison both picked out flowers for me at the flower market and also gave me gifts that they made at school for Mother's Day.

After enjoying our breakfast, we went to the open house at the Gent Fire Station with some new friends. 

Waiting for the tram!

The boys had so much fun looking at all the fire trucks, playing in the bounce houses, taking a ride in a fire truck, and playing on the playground. It was a beautiful and fun day!

Riding in the fire truck...don't mind Zoe's crazy eyes!

After a busy and stressful week, it was just the kind of day we needed. I felt special and loved by my family and, even though we did pretty much nothing for Cole's birthday (oops!!), I think he enjoyed the day as well. I feel very thankful for the wonderful children and husband God has given me!

2 Months!

Zoe turned two months old a couple days ago. She continues to be such an easy-going, quiet, and calm baby. Other than letting us know when she wet, hungry, or tired, she still barely makes any noise at all.

Although Zoe is an extremely quiet baby, she is quickly learning how to make herself heard. She has upped her crying game over the last month. She has also developed her little own attitude in a way. When she is hungry, she will start crying. But if I don't get to her in a reasonable amount of time (according to her), she goes from crying to short little "eh, eh" grunt/yelling noises. To me, it sounds like she is saying "hey, hey" while she's thinking "get over here and feed me!!" She likes to eat every three to four hours throughout the day.  

Since my last update, Zoe has started smiling and interacting with us. It's so much fun to go get her in the morning or from a nap and see a big smile on her face. She loves when we talk and sing to her and she also likes being around us and part of the action. 

With her big smiles, we can now see that she will have at least one cute dimple like her brothers and also beautiful bright blue eyes like her brothers. Her hair has grown a teeny tiny bit over the last month, but I think she is destined to be a little baldy like her brothers were for most of their first years. 

She also has the cutest little eyelashes now!

Zoe has grown a lot, is much stronger, and now has chubby little cheeks and a round belly. She is doing great lifting and holding her head up and is starting to try to roll herself from side to side. She is also quite wiggly. It's not uncommon for us to go get her in the morning to find that she has wiggled her diaper partially off. She now weighs 10.6 lbs, (4.820kg, 41 %) and is 21.9 inches (55.5kg, 33.7%) long. I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm not used to having an average size baby as both the boys were in the 90th + percentile for both height and weight not long after they were born. 

There is a free service here in Belgium for preventive care and vaccinations called Kind and Gezin. Although it is not what I'm used to for these types of services, it's nice that its provided for free. Zoe has been there several times for check-ups and started her vaccinations a week ago.

She can sleep pretty much anywhere and through anything, but Zoe does love to be swaddled tightly. A couple weeks ago, she dropped her 3:00 am feeding and now sleeps through the night. I usually feed her in the evening between 7:30 and 8:00, then she goes to bed and usually sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00.

Zoe is much more expressive these days. Along with smiling, she makes lots of other fun faces. She has definitely perfected the furrowed brow, quivering lip and frown. 

Zoe's favorite place to be is still in our arms. She loves to snuggle and cuddle and I am more than happy to oblige! 

The boys continue to enjoy Zoe as well. They still love to give her hugs and kisses and often argue about who gets to hold her or who she will sit by at dinner (in her bassinet). They like to try to calm her down if she's upset and are the kings of the bink (or dummy as I've heard it called here). Zoe loves her soothie bink and the boys rush to give it to here whenever she makes a peep.

  

They did this on their own!

I have been looking back through pictures of the boys when they were little and have been reminded of a couple things. First, time goes so fast! I got a little teary-eyes looking at pictures of the boys as babies. They are getting so big and seem even bigger now that Zoe is here. Also, they look nothing alike!

Cameron, top left, Harrison, bottom left, Zoe, right

One other thing that we did this past month was get Zoe a passport. It was very interesting trying to get an infant to take a proper passport photo with all the crazy regulations...look at the camera, keep your eyes open, head straight to the camera, nothing else in the picture (we obviously had to hold her head up), no expression whatsoever! We ended up getting an acceptable picture and we now have a passport for this little lady!

Below are some more pictures from the last month.

Trying to get a picture with Zoe...not so easy! 

First pair of jeans

Chubby cheeks and little lashes, nose and mouth