Well Checks

Asher and Maverick just had well check appointments. Here are their stats!

Asher Briggs

Weight: 42.8 lb (59th percentile)

Height: 43 3/4 inches (59th percentile)

Maverick Glen

Weight: 14 pounds 11 ounces (3rd percentile)

Height: 25 3/4 inches (6th percentile)

Head Circumference: 42 cm (16th percentile)

They are both healthy and happy and are growing strong!

Maverick is still the happiest baby in all the land. He is constantly laughing, smiling, talking, jumping in his bouncer, and stealing the hearts of all those around him. He absolutely loves being held and he lets anyone hold him (no stranger danger yet!). He is sleeping decently well... from about 10pm - 3am. I nurse him at 3am, 5am, and 7am and he wakes up around 9am for the day. Then naps again around 11! It's pretty awesome. He loves being in his carseat and moving around, which usually makes him fall asleep. He doesn't hate tummy time. He doesn't like his brothers in his face, but he does love when they play with him. His favorite thing in all the world is, after his brothers are all in bed, the time that Mom and Dad spend with him alone. Dad loves throwing him up in the air and engaging him and Maverick will laugh and smile and engage us for a couple hours. He knows that this is his special time, and he milks it for all he's worth! We can't get enough of him and just wish he'd stay this little and adorable forever! He's still in 3-6 month clothing, and is just now starting to get into some of the smaller 6 month stuff.

It's interesting to me how with my first child, I was so anxious for each milestone; the first time Brayden smiled, rolled over, ate food, sat up, crawled, cut a tooth, etc etc etc. With Maverick, I want it to all slow down. I can't believe he's already 6.5 months old. I really just refuse to believe it. I want him to stay small, and adorable and I'm totally fine if it takes him awhile to get to the sitting up and crawling, and I pray he doesn't get a tooth anytime soon! He really is the apple of my eye as of late, and I just want to eat him up, I love him so much. Ha.

Maverick doesn't spit up as much as he used to, but he still does at least once daily. He shows no signs of any teeth coming in, but he does absolutely love having his hand in his mouth. He is good at communicating, and telling us when he wants to cuddle and when he wants to be held facing out. He is reaching for things and definitely showing interest in his surroundings. He loves seeing pictures and looking in the mirror, and he loves music.

It's incredible how quickly and how completely he has stolen the hearts of me, Sean, and his brothers. He is such a joy, and his cry is still a rare sound around here!

An Attempt at Catching Up

I have a lot of updating to do. I've been slacking on the blog front. And not for lack of material! With the Holiday season upon us, time has been spent finishing Maverick's stocking,

making Pajama pants for Christmas Eve,



attending Brayden's Winter Performance, where he sang "Santa Claus Llego a la Ciudad"

went to Alpenrose Dairyville (which was awesome!)

You can't see his face, but that's Everett and his friend Anderson inside the store, buying milk :)

These trains are awesome!

playing Christmas Chimes,



visiting Santa,



making popcorn cake,



going rock climbing,





butchering and stewing a chicken, (they have all completely stopped laying!)



teaching Mavi about the important things in life,



introducing to Maverick to foods (nice photo bomb, Brayden!)

and watching Brayden become an ambassador for his school.

Being an ambassador at Brayden's school means that you are consistently on task, even when not being watched. Brayden consistently follows the rules, is a great example, is always kind to others, and is attentive and obedient. Some teachers awarded 7 students from their classroom, and some only selected 2 to become ambassadors. Brayden was one of three in his classroom. Being an ambassador means you get monthy meetings with the principal where you get to eat yummy food, play games like fooseball, and allow the principal to hear your voice regarding certain aspects of school. It is pretty exciting, and an honor that he was chosen!

Quick tangent: Thanksgiving this year was spent in WA. Everyone was there except for Stephen, who was in Africa on a business trip, and Will and Keith, who are on missions! We had a Thanksgiving morning family exercise around Deep Lake (some biked to Deep Lake and back through the Green River gorge. Thanksgiving was full of fun, family, movies, games, and food! It was fantastic!

Mom was here, but she was still running around the lake (for her 3rd time) when we took this picture!

We LOVE bedtime stories around here, and just tonight actually, finished the 1st Harry Potter book. It took us about 3 weeks and the boys loved every minute of it!


Asher made this toy stack and I had to get a picture. I loved it too much.

More updates: Asher doesn't suck on his hand anymore! He was slowly tapering down all on his own, and for the past, I don't know... 4-6 months, he hasnt' done it at all! I'm glad that it's something he stopped doing on his own, and that we didn't have to work with him to get him to stop. And honestly, I'd be fine if he still did it. I thought it was so adorable! Just another sign that my Crasher is growing up. I'm a little bit sad about this!

I was going to update on Maverick but I want to do that on the next post, so, to be continued...

Everett Lingo and Potty Training!

Everett speaks so incredibly well for being 2.5. He can tell you full stories while using perfect English. His ability to build sentences blows me away on a daily basis. He says things like "Actually Mom, I already have my pajamas on. Would you like to see?" and "Oh, nevermind. I figured it out on my own." But then string several sentences together and it's just so fun and etertaining to be a part of. 

Despite his advanced English skills, there are still a couple words that he says improperly that make me smile outside and giggle like a school-girl inside. Bombega (Bom-BAY-guh) being my favorite :)

Hair-plane = Airplane

Bombega = Computer

Pinano= Piano

Everett is OBSESSED with motorcycles, and all things sports. Football is his game of choice right now. He even sleeps with his football as his comfort item. He tells me daily "When I'm bigger, I'm going to put on a helmet and play football with Riley!" (Riley is his cousin that we got to watch play a couple football games this Fall.) As for motorcycles... The guy right across the street from us has a motorcycle. Every.Single.Time he comes home or leaves, Everett can hear it from anywhere. He races to the window and yells "Motorcycle! Motorcycle!!" If we happen to be getting into or out of the van, he waves frantically and jumps up and down. The guy just smiles and waves back, before taking off. If we are driving down the road and E sees a motorcycle, it's the same. Yelling, waving...the most excitement coming from a 2.5 year old imagineable. 

On a different note, Everett has been asking us to buy underwear for him for probably 2 months. We never really got around to it, but 2 weeks ago we were at Costco and they happened to have 1 package left in his size. Of Marvel Superheroes. It was love at first sight. The next morning he woke up and said "I want to wear my underwear!" and hasn't looked back. He's had a total of 4 accidents, not including night time. But at night, he's only wet the bed 4 times. Which, considering how the other boys did, this is amazing! He is highly motivated by the chocolate chip he gets every time he pees :) We do wake him up right before we go to bed tand take him potty and this seems to eliminate the accidents. I just hope we don't have to still wake him up when he's 15 ;)

It is really really exciting having another potty trained child. What makes it even more exciting is the fact that I didn't really have to do anything. He did it all on his own. And...he did it 6 months before either of his older brothers did! And, Yay for saving money by only having to buy diapers for 1 child! I am one happy Mama! Thanks for making that one easy on us Everett!

Maverick's 4 month check up

Maverick had his 4 month check up this morning. He did great! He did plenty of smiling and giggling and was completely relaxed during all of the meausuring/weighing/checking-ness that goes on in those appointments. He has had a pretty rattling cough for about 6 or 7 weeks now. You can hear it when he sleeps, breathes, coughs, etc. There have never been any other symptoms or signs of sickness, so that's good. The doc told me that he thinks it's related to how gaggy/reflexy he is. (Like all of my proper medical
terminology?) He is a happy baby. Nothing seems to distress or discourage him. We are very blessed, and his smile is absolutely infectious. I love my little warrior!

Maverick Glen

Weight: 12 pounds 13 ounces (2nd percentile)

Height: 24 1/4 inches (6th percentile)

Head Circumference: 40.5 cm (10th percentile)

and yes...he still sleeps a lot :)

1st Grade Picture

Remember THIS gem? Me too. I still pull it up and look at it probably once a week. It makes me laugh (in the best way possible) every.single.time. This year's picture, although it doesn't invoke the same reaction is definitely a keeper! He loves the camera and isn't afraid to smile. I sure do love this not-so-little munchkin. 

Brayden is excelling in school and I've actually heard him say that he wishes his teacher would speak in Spanish even more, since he doesn't feel he is being challenged enough. Ha. Love him! 

Cool Stuff

I've been meaning to blog about Saturday, September 21, for awhile but haven't found the time. Now, 2 weeks later, I'm finally doing it :)

There was an all day CERT field exercise out at the TVF&R Training Center in Sherwood. I really wanted to go but didn't want to leave Maverick all day. I emailed the guy heading it up and he said "Bring your baby along! He'd be there in real life and we're practicing for real life!" So...I did :)  Maverick and I had so much fun! He was doted on and ended up being dubbed the "youngest CERT member". We both worked hard that day! Me on my radio, and him sleeping away in the Ergo front pack. While we were debriefing at the end of the day (which was fun and successful!) I had Maverick laying on the chair next to me and was tickling his sides. He laughed!! He had a big smile on his face and sound came out and it was beautiful. I'm so grateful for the novelty that never wears off when your baby does something for the first time. First smile. First laugh. First time he rolls over. It is such an amazing experience. Maverick is an amazingly good baby. He's happy and content and he sleeps decently well and eats like a champ. He's growing and is healthy. I have no complaints about him whatsoever. But that giggle still just melted me. He has laughed several times since that, and each time I just die. (in a good way.) He is so precious!!

While Mack and I were gone, Sean took the older 3 boys on the 4T trail. It's Trail, Trolly, Tram, Train. They were gone for 6 hours, hiked 3 miles, and took lots of pictures. They had a blast and the occasional rainfall only added to their fun adventure. He sure does know how to have fun with them!

On the Tuesday, the 24th, I was able to successfully run my first post-baby mile! I did it in 11:22. It was hard. But it was soooo liberating! I had the biggest high afterwards. I maybe shed a tear or two. This run was so symbolic of so many things. The steroids and withdrawals no longer had the ability to hold me back. I have the strength and mind power to start on this journey of health and being fit. I have been really struggling these past couple months with my self-esteem. I feel like I'm in a fat suit. I usually can jump out of my post baby body pretty quickly, but this time I only gained weight after he was born. I didn't have the joint strength or stamina to get out and exercise, and the steroids still messed up my sleep, appetite, and blood sugar levels. 2 days later I ran the exact same mile but I did it in 11 minutes flat. Such a blessing to be able to get back into running! I feel like a new chapter in my life is unfolding.

Asher's 21 Questions

In a tempt at making a tradition actually a tradition, I asked Asher these questions to see how much he's changed since the last time we did this!

1. What is your favorite color? dark blue
2. What is your favorite toy? My capes and my mask, and my vampire teeth. And my laser fingers.
3. What is your favorite fruit? canteloupe
4. What is your favorite TV show? Superman
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? the white macaroni
6. What is your favorite outfit? my capes and my mask
7. What is your favorite game? *shakes his head* I don't know! That game where you disappear to jail (Monopoly.)
8. What is your favorite snack? graham crackers
9. What is your favorite animal? snakes
10. What is your favorite song? "I don't want to answer that one."
11. What is your favorite book? The Biggest Bear, when Dad uses his Toby voice.
12. Who is your best friend? Baron and Tommy
13. What is your favorite cereal? Frosted mini wheats
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with friends and ride my bike
15. What is your favorite drink? Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My teddy bear.
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Aebelskiver
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? White Macaroni and Cheese
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a cowboy and a snowboarder
21. What is your favorite thing to do inside? Play Monopoly! (He's never even played Monopoly so I have no idea where this is coming from!)

We love you Asher Briggs!