Update on 4 of the 5 boys

Well it is going to become harder and harder to get a picture with all five of the boys but we did manage to get four of the five this time. It is so crazy watching them all grow up. Levi is two months younger and already weighs more than Dane. And call me crazy but I think that Tucker is already playing favorites and him and Asher have a secret alliance going on. Don't tell them but I think Dane is on to them already.

Swaddle free zone

Oh my goodness I thought it would never happen but we are no longer swaddle dependent. It has been a week now and Dane is sleeping better than ever before. This was a tough decision and rough couple nights but boy has it paid off. The pediatrician said that babies normally decide on their own around 4 months that they do not want to be swaddled anymore but oh no not my little guy. It took him a few more months but last Thursday NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING would make him happy so I finally just unswaddled him, put him in his crib, and let him cry it out until he fell asleep which was more than an hour later but he finally did. The next morning I was so ready to run into his room and cuddle with him. He slept good the rest of the night so I decided that we would keep moving forward and never swaddle again. It is the most amazing thing ever but now he loves his crib so much more and naps are an absolute breeze. We are able to just go lay him down and he either talk for a few minutes or passes right out. There is no crying, fussing, getting unswaddled, having to be rocked or anything. I can't express how much of a relief this is. Swaddles you no longer have control over us!!! :)

6 month check up

We have reached the 6 month mark and Dane is doing something new all the time.

• he can hold his bottle by himself most of the time - when he sees it he screams, reaches for it, and shoves it in his mouth

• sticks his finger up his nose

• likes carrots

• can pretty much sit up by himself but will wobble around and tip over after a while

• reaches out for us

• gets scared

• reaches and grabs everything in site

AND BEST OF ALL.........

• he is learning to sleep without a swaddle (yes it is a painful process)

I am sure there is more but of course I can't think of it when I want to.

At his 6 month check up he weighed 19 lbs and was 30 inches long.

Dane with his favorite toy and his new shades

Dane with his new cool shades


This is Danes favorite toy. Of course you can never have too many videos of him laughing. This time dad made him choke on his food he was laughing so hard.

First food is............sweet potatoes!

Well Dane will be 6 months old next week so we started vegetables today. I was going to wait until we went to his 6 month check up but he is so ready according to all the stuff I am reading. I decided to do sweet potatoes for his first meal. I made them my self and I think they tasted terrible. I have read several books that say to do veggies first and hold off to do fruits because they wont eat the veggies once they eat fruit. Well HELLO they taste terrible that is why. Adults wouldn't eat veggies either if they had to eat them without any seasonings at all. Dane seemed to like them more than his rice or oatmeal cereal.

Easter and 5 month photos

Dane with his Aunt Beth





Dane celebrated his first Easter in Nebraska. Unfortunately Jacob was not able to go but Dane and I drove up along with his mom, brother, and sister. We had a real enjoyable trip. Dane was so good while we were there. He fussed a little on the way there but on the way home he stayed awake all three hours and didn't fuss at all until he became hungry. Once I fed him he was back to being happy.

5 months old

I can't believe that my baby is already 5 months old. He is the most precious gift I have ever been given. I am eating my words now for all the times I said I didn't want to be a mom. I can't imagine missing out on this experience. I hope it is not too early to start celebrating but this last week Dane has been getting up only one time during the night instead of the 4 to 5 times. I am so very thankful for this and I am sure Jacob is too since I am a much happier wife. Also this week he is recovering from the RSV and Bronchialitis. He is feeling much more like himself. I tell you what it is so hard to sit around and be so helpless when your baby is so sick. Until you are a parent yourself you do not understand how much love you have for your children. During this time when he was so sick we would just pray for his health. We know that no matter what that God is in control and no matter how much we worry we can not heal him. This has really been an eye opening experience for Jacob and I. The more we thought about what we would do if God decided to take him from us the more we realized what it really meant that God sent his only son as a sacrifice for us. It really gives you a great appreciation and a deeper understanding of how much God truly loves us and what he did for us. I know this is one of the many lessons I will learn.