Halloween

For Halloween, Aiden and Ty were pirates!  They loved their costumes and were really excited about trick-or-treating.  They practiced saying "trick-or-treat" and "arrrrrrrr" before we left the house!  Our first stop was church for the Trunk or Treat.  The boys played games at each car and got candy.  We saw Sadie and Clara and had to take a pic with the girls!

 

Since Jeff was working, Gram and Chief came over to help me go trick-or-treating with the boys.  Gram drove the "bus" as the boys called it and Chief walked with the boys to each house.  They hopped in and out of the back of the yukon and thought that was really fun!  Chief made sure they said "Thank You" at every house.  Aiden was shy at first and would say it very quietly, but by the end of the night he got the hang of it.  Ty on the other hand would yell "Dank You" to everyone!

 

 

After we were done, the boys each picked out one piece of candy from the pile.  Ty picked a huge sucker that had gum in the middle.  I couldn't wait for him to finish it because it was way past bed time- we had to save it for another day. :-)

 

Mark was worn out from all the festivities!  He had fun riding along in the car.

Mark- 2 weeks

 

 

 

 

Doc Update

Mark went in for his 2 week check up today.
Here are his stats:

Weight: 9 lbs 3 oz
Length: 21 in
Head Circ: 14 1/2 in

The doc checked Mark out from head to toe and said he looks good.  He was looking to make sure Mark was back to his birth weight- and he beat that by over a pound!  He is growing fast and I am predicting that he will be bigger than both his brothers, because he'll need to defend himself against the two of them. :-)

Go Dawgs!

Our family cheered on the dawgs today and they pulled out a big win against Flordia!

 

Aiden- field trip

Today, Aiden's class went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and Jeff got to go with him.  Their class learned a lot about farm life and recycling.  Aiden's favorite part was the hay ride around the farm.  It was good one-on-one time for Dad and his boy! 

 

A Family Day

Today baby Mark met his Aunt, Uncle and 3 cousins!  My brother and his family came for a visit and we celebrated Gram's 50th birthday!  It was an eventful day full of activities for the kids.

 

Kylie loved holding Mark and was very natural with him.

 

We carved pumpkins in the driveway.  Kylie loved getting her hands dirty pulling all the seeds out, but Payton and Aiden didn't want to because it was too messy.  Marley and Ty played in the wash bucket, getting bubbles all over themselves.  Payton carved an S for Schubert.

 

Chief made a huge pile of leaves in the back yard for the kids to play in.  First we had to get a picture.  Everyone sunk into the leaves.  They had a blast jumping in the leaves and they got dirty- leaves and dirt all over themselves.

The whole group running to jump in!

Uncle Marcus threw the little ones into the leaves!  Ty loved it!

(notice the dirty face and leaves in her hair)

Aunt Shelley with baby Mark.

A game of croquet before dinner.  Ty chose orange and hit his ball all over the yard- it was too difficult waiting his turn during the game. 

A bath to get clean after such a fun day!

A day at the park

On Friday we decided to enjoy the weather and take the boys to the park.  Jeff had the day off and the boys love going to the park with him.  They both loved the tunnel slide and must have went down twenty times or more.  Mark slept the whole time in his car seat.  Afterwords we went out for ice cream- the boys love gummy bears and m-n-m's in their ice cream!  We took a bath and called it a day- all 3 boys in their pajamas- they call them "jumpsuits".  Aiden asked me, "Why does Mark get to wear his jumpsuit all day?"  He would probably prefer to wear his all day too. :-) 

 

Photo Shoot

Our sweet baby Mark had his newborn pictures taken by Kelsey today.  As always, they turned out great!

 

 

 

Mark's first week

The newest member of our family fits in just perfectly.  His first week has been great.  The boys were very excited (and a little wild) on Friday night when we brought Mark home.  They both wanted to hold him and love on him.  We've explained that they have to be gentle and they are getting the hang of it.  Both of them have adjusted really well to Mark.  They are helpful and neither of them seem jealous, which I am so thankful for. 

We had a relaxing weekend with a few visitors and lots of good food.  We spent time outside- the weather was perfect and we enjoyed our new family of 5! 

Gram took some time off work to help me out with the three boys during the week and she has been wonderful to have around.  My house stayed clean and all the laundry got done!  Mark had a doctors appointment and Aiden went back to school.  We started back into our routine and it's going well.   

 

 

 

 

 

Mark had his first bath at home and he didn't like being cold, but we got him washed up and back in to some warm clothes.  Aiden was a great help and was very interested in how we gave him a bath.  Aiden has even helped changed diapers. 

We received more dinners from our wonderful church family during the week.  Food has been such a great blessing during this time.  I am so thankful for all the people who have brought meals. 

Jeff likes to let Mark lay on his chest at night, and he'll fall right to sleep.  I am in love with this new little person God has given us and I'm so honored to be his mom.  I feel so blessed!

Mark is Here!

We welcomed our third baby boy into the world on October 11, 2012 at 3:40pm.  His name is Mark Levi Baxter and we are so happy he is here!  The labor and delivery went well and he is a healthy boy.  He was 8 lbs and 20 inches long (almost the exact same size as his brother Ty)

 

 

 

 

The labor was much longer than I expected, but I had an epidural so I felt very little pain.  Jeff and I played scrabble on my iPad while we waited.  It was so quiet in our room, and we talked about how our lives were about to change, how we thought the boys would react, and how anxious we were to see what Mark looked like.  The hospital was very busy and my nurses were rushing in and out of my room.  I was so relieved when he finally arrived and I was so excited to hold him.  We spent some time with him before they took him to clean him up.  The older boys arrived later that night and brought me flowers and a plant.  Aiden was so excited to ride the elevator at the hospital and when he saw the buttons on my hospital bed, he was amazed and that held his interest almost the whole time.  We finally got Mark back and Ty was anxious to hold him, but Aiden was more interested in the bed.  The boys were excited and explored everything in my room.  Everyone was able to hold Mark and visit before heading home.
We are so happy to have this new addition to our family and we can't wait to see what he becomes!