Let's Rodeo!

umm... BIKE RODEO!!!
Last month the elementary school had a bike rodeo where the kids can exhibit their bike riding skills on a "course" in the school parking lot. Many of you may know that Cael started riding his bike without training wheels at 2 1/2 years old and this rodeo was made for him. He did really well and it was so fun to watch him do a figure eight, ride as slow as he could, go on a straight line, and weave around cones.
Later that day Cael got off the bus and said he had something in his backpack. We sat down in the living room and he pulled out a little blue participation ribbon for the bike rodeo. "That is pretty cute"... I thought. Then he pulled out a camelback insulated water bottle. "Wow, that is nice for just a bike rodeo." Last, but not least, he had one more thing to show us. With a big smile on his face he lifted up this gold trophy! On the bottom it said "Kindergarten 1st place boys". I had quite the look on my face I'm sure. I was excited for my boy and had a huge smile, but then I was laughing because I thought how funny it was that they had trophies for the BIKE RODEO! What a way to end the day!Also during this time Cael had his last soccer games and end of the year party. The STORM was sure a fun team to play on with 4 little boys from our church ward and Coach Payne and his son from the Deerfield ward. Watching them all run around the field provided hours of entertainment this season and we loved watching our Cael try his very best. During the last game at a kick-off, Cael was hit with a ball in the gut that took him by surprise. He reached down to his belly and stood there for a moment, then he fell down to the grass like a tree that had just been cut down. He recovered after a few minutes on the sidelines and was back on the field before we knew it.

At the team party Coach gave everyone a trophy (again with the trophies :) and he had nicknames for all the players. Cael's nickname was MR. SPEEDY because of how fast he can run down the field. The next day he asked me if I would sign him up for soccer, oh course.

These pictures are from when my mom was able to come down and help with our family for 10 days when Connor was just over a week old. We sure loved having her here and she did so much to help take care of me and the boys. I would have loved her to stay longer and I wasn't going to take her to the airport.... but all good things must come to an end. Here are some of the fun things that we did:
Playing at the park and having grandma push the boys on the tire swing.

Eating lunch with Cael at School. YUM YUM!

This was funny. I convinced my mom to take the two older boys to church without me. I was still in recovery mode and feel that it is important for the boys to attend primary class and have a regular routine when it comes to the Sabbath. We had everyone all dressed up and ready to go and started to load everyone into the truck. My mom still wasn't quite sure about the whole idea and gave me a concerned look as she hopped into the drivers seat and turned the key. Well... nothing happened. The truck was dead! So we got everyone out and took a picture to remember this moment. We had a quiet Sunday at home together... it's the thought that counts, right?
After a few batches of cookies and cupcakes, soccer games and parties, and a bike rodeo (which I will be posting about) my mommy had to catch her ride home. How was I supposed to do this without her help? It was a transition, that is for sure, but we are all still alive and doing well. THANKS AGAIN MOM! You helped me more than you will know :)

Now Brecon is just in love with his new little brother. He wants to hold him and he kisses him all the time; it is just so sweet! I really thought that he would have the most trouble with the new baby, but he is just so loving to little Connor.. sometimes rough, but it is all out of love :) He also thinks that the baby swing should work for him too! He let me turn the thing on and he sat there for quite a while letting the swing do all the work.

Connor is just a sweet, tiny little thing. We recently went to the hospital for a weight check-up because at his last appointment he was on the lower range for proper weight gain. Here are the stats:

He was born 5 lbs 15 oz

4 days old 5 lbs 5 oz (3% in weight- ouch!)

3 weeks 6 lbs 1 oz (2% in weight- not quite enough)

6 weeks 8 lbs 1 oz (13 % in weight- WOO HOO!!)

This little man is on his way... still on the small end, but at least he is growing. He is also doing so wonderful at night, which helps me to function during the day and makes everyone happy :) I laugh to myself when I think about how I am the mother of 3 BOYs... and they are BOYs in every sense of the word. We are having a great time with all of them and enjoying these special days together.

Hey!

I like to suck my thumb, alright? -Connor

Yesterday was Connor's Due date. It is so funny that he has already been with us for 3 weeks now. He is such a sweet little guy and we absolutely adore him. He is a great eater, sleeper, and easy to hold because of his "compact" size. He is a small baby, but we love him!

Here is what we have been up to:

Being held. By his brothers, his daddy, grandma Hoopes, and me of course

Eating like a mad man. He's got some weight to gain.....

Relaxing and enjoying the lovely and cooler weather.

I had to put these pictures of Cael and Brecon up. I was dropping them off at my buddies house before one of my dr. appointments. They really are sweet boys and I love them to pieces. Look at that cheesy smile, now there is a boy not afraid to strike a pose :)

And of course here is my Zorro and pirate on Halloween. I really wanted to be there with them, but for obvious reasons I was still at the hospital with a newborn :)

One more reason to love Halloween

Introducing our sweet baby Connor

born 10/31/09

8:18 a.m.

5 lbs 15 oz 20 inches long

We are so thankful to have our sweet baby here. He is just as tiny and cute as can be!

Having a new brother makes us all tired, but it is all worth it!

news update for baby

We are going to hospital this Friday for our induction....

That is in 4 days.

I have a lot of cleaning to do :)

SIX FLAGS trip

Here was a fun trip we took to SIX FLAGS FIESTA TEXAS. They had pulled out all the Halloween Decor and it was a fun time just walking around the park. Of course the boys had fun on the rides too!

Cael is giving Ben the thumbs up before he is launched up into the air.

What was so funny is Ben really wanted to take Brecon on a 'big' ride because He and Cael had been having so much fun together. He had Brecon stand up next to the measuring stick that tells you if you are able to go on the ride or not and he said "stand on your tip-toes". He barely touched the line this way, and so they thought they would be allowed to ride. I kept saying "he's too small, they'll never let him on".... well, I stand corrected. I was able to snap a few shots of all 3 of them on the ride I would describe as the "SCRAMBLER" before the camera died. DON'T THEY ALL LOOK SUPER EXCITED?

*So I may have mentioned that our new little guy is due around the 18th of November. However, with some recent checkups for baby boy #3, it was discovered that he is a bit smaller than he should be and the term is intrauterine growth restriciton or IUGR. I now have been going to the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests and meeting with the maternal-fetal specialist to see how this little guy is doing. So far so good, however, with this type of complication they like to deliver the baby sooner rather than later and setting an induction date would put us having this little guy in just 2 weeks!!!! This Friday they will be doing another measurement to see if he has changed since the last time, and then we will talk to them about going in for a delivery. With information like this I have gone through quite the range of emotions, but I feel like I am leveling out until this baby is here. THEN... I'll have a whole new set of hormonal induced emotions to deal with. We will have more info after Friday, but for now we are just going wait and pray... and start getting down the baby boy stuff!

And now we will be busy...

FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!!

Cael is now in all day KINDERGARTEN, and our lives will never be the same. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for my little man learning and growing in the educational environment that school provides, but this has changed my daily routine significantly. Gone are the days of waking up when you are good and ready and sleeping in because you stayed up late last night. Now you must set the alarm in order to wake up, put breakfast into his tummy, and make sure he has clothes on before the bus arrives! It has changed our lives forever and making this new adjustment has been something we've struggled with a wee-bit. Here are a few of the things we have learned since school has started:

Note to self #1: Tired boys need more sleep. They can't sleep in longer so they need to go to bed earlier. Why is this so difficult? We are a family who enjoys our evenings, especially when Daddy has been gone all day and we all want to spend time together. My friend put it so well when she said "We are night owls forced to be up in the morning and it is slowly killing us." AMEN!

Note to self #2: Getting the kids to bed early requires dinner to be ready before 8:00 at night (when they are now supposed to be in bed) Why is this so difficult for us? The main reason here is that Momma is pooped right around the "new" dinner time... looks like it is cold cereal again!

Note to self #3: Having 2 or more kiddos running around the house is actually easier than just one. Crazy, I know but very true. One child is in constant need of entertainment (or so it seems) and having another "friend" around helps provide that kiddy-companionship they are used to. Brecon is starting to get used to Cael being gone all day, but when I had them both at home it was actually easier for me to get things done. We have been inviting buddies over for Brecon and it has helped significantly. I also have been enjoying my Brecon time and he is a pretty good little shopping buddy, sometimes. He is such a silly boy and is loving when we ready stories together.

Note to self #4: When you put your kiddos to bed after a bath and they have a mohawk, they are going to wake up with a dry version of how they went to bed. (see photo). This was seriously amazing to see Cael in the morning. There was a lot of spray bottle and hair gel involved to calm this beast and I sent him on the bus victorious!

Well, that's all the notes I have for myself at the moment, but I'm sure I will come up with some more soon.

We are doing wonderful well and getting ready for the new little man who will be joining us in 9 more weeks (give or take)... I'm so glad I registered for the FLEX semester and will be done with 6 more credits a month before the baby comes. I just cannot get behind or there will be serious trouble for me.

Raise your hands if you are having fun.... ALRIGHT!!! and recently Cael has been saying: THAT'S GOOD!!!

Our Summer Vacation

And we're back... from Wyoming that is. It was so nice up there to spend time with family and enjoy the cooler weather (almost too cool some nights). The drive up was long and the drive back seemed even longer, although the boys did quite well considering. I am so grateful my Daddy flew down to help with the drive (yes, that is over 3000 miles round trip. AHHH!!!). I don't think I would have been able to do it alone with the two boys. One of them always needed a toy or a snack or something... THANKS AGAIN DAD!

The highlights of the trip include:

FAMILY weekends (on both sides) I wish I had taken a group picture :( But kissin' cousins are good enough.

CAMPING in the Uintahs (let me tell you about how cold it was....)



COUSINS playing with sticks in the woods

SALT LAKE TEMPLE SQUARE walking around with the boys and trying to guess where all the Sister Missionaries were from. The country where they are from is located just below their name tags. We saw ladies from Paraguay, Guatemala, Korea, and Australia just to name a few

HORSES and horse rides around the pasture. Cael even rode Ol' Peppy all by himself!
and Brecon rode Hunter all by himself :)

BEAR LAKE sand and sunshine (or is it Bare Lake?) you decide.
SMILES and LAUGHS

and on the way home: SIGHTSEEING at ROSWELL, NM and CARLSBAD CAVERNS... yes we saw aliens and then we hiked a mile underground. There were steep switchbacks all the way down, my calves were killin' me by the end!

And now we are home again home again... jiggedy-jig! The boys are getting back to a routine and Cael starts Kindergarten on Monday! AHH!! What will Brecon and I do all day? I'm sure we'll figure something out.
Also exciting news for our family.... I'm really going to be outnumbered! We are having a baby boy in November! For those who wish to know that makes me around 27 weeks along. I thought I better share the news before this baby arrives, you know? We just had to keep up the the other Platt brothers who have 3 boys as well. We are looking forward to the adventure that these boys will bring, can you just imagine the trouble we're in for? Wish us luck, we're going to need it.

JU JUNE and JU JULY

GREETINGS.... I COME IN PEACE!!!

Now that swim team for Cael is officially over (hence the brotherly kiss) and we still have 4 more months of HOT weather, our vacation time has finally arrived. In 2 short days we will be making the journey up to the promised land to spend some quality time with our family(s) and play catch up for the past year. And we will be enjoying the much cooler weather!!

In the meantime, we've been enjoying taking trips up to the Guadalupe River and swimming around. I know Brecon looks pretty cool eating watermelon and lying in a river, but it was still a very HOT day!

Ben "sort of" made me a cake this year. It was still cooling off and he shaped it and frosted it. Really, it tasted delicious! But we all know what happens when you try to put frosting on a cake that is still warm... the frosting turns to a glaze and pieces of cake start falling off. I still had my piece and a tall glass of milk :) It was a good way to end the day.

We had a fun 4th of July that all started with the last ward activity that I was in charge of. The food was delicious and we had a huge turnout! The best part was watching the kids beat the "uncle sam" and "american star" pinata. When Cael came up to take his turn, Ben shouted "keep that away from him".... Cael nailed it so hard the pinata broke off of the string!! A friend took a picture right after the pinata was on the ground, Cael had the most intense look on his face and the kids in the background had their mouths wide open, whether that was in amazement or anger because now they wouldn't get their turn. Ben figured out a way to strap "uncle sam" back up for all the other children to have a turn, but it was still a funny moment in 4th of July history :) After cleaning up the party, we went to a buddies house who would be moving (and now have moved) and they needed some help eating the rest of the groceries in their house so they hosted a pool party BBQ. The boys swam and swam until around 4:30 when we put them in the car. Before we had even pulled out of the neighborhood Brecon was OUT! At 5 o'clock Cael went to his bed. We didn't see them until the 7 the next morning, bright-eyed and bushy tailed!!! Now that is what I call a fun day :)