Tucker's Third Birthday Party

I must admit that this year's birthday snuck up on me a little bit! Having two other kids really does mean you downsize somethings. Sorry Tuck! Partially because of this, but also because he is finally old enough to have friends we decided to start the kid parties. We had a family one with my family a week before Tucker's actual big day and then had three kids over to play for a couple hours. My mom's rule was we got to invite as many kids as we were years old and I think that's a great rule of thumb. It was a SUPER fun day! No stress. Lots of play time and a huge mess on our back porch! We did lots of jumping on Tucker's new trampoline and some sensory play (which lasted minutes until the kids mixed everything together. My OCD went a little crazy, but fun was had by all!)

We went with a CARS theme due to Tucker's request!

When asked what he wanted for his birthday, every time Tucker said, "Strawberry cake!" He's a man of simple taste.

Water beads were a HUGE hit!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tucker Gordon! 

Baby Genius!

One day while trying to pacify Bennett while I was feeding Casen he surprised me with this. He's getting so big so fast!

Bennett's First Word

 Sweet sounds from a super sweet boy!

Tucker's Three Year Letter

To My First Born,
  Baby Boy Momma is riding the struggle bus through this milestone. I have not been able to keep the tears from my eyes as we have celebrated you this past week. As you blew your candle out two weeks ago at your family party I was overwhelmed by the moment. You are so big. You are not a baby at all anymore. You talk all the time. You are so smart. You are potty trained. You have opinions (this is both good and bad). You are independent and brave. I cannot believe the baby boy who made me a Momma is much more a big kid then the baby I brought home. It just doesn't seem possible. I don't know why this has made me so sad, but as I marvel at who you have become and all you have accomplished in the past three years I know you have changed me for the better and I'm so thankful for you.

   You are and always have been a big boy. You weighed in this morning at your three year check up at 41 pounds and 3 ounces. You are 39 inches tall. You are wearing mostly 3T clothes, except for Old Navy clothes which you wear a 4 in. Your shoes are size 9 and your undies are also size 4's. (Big Booty Judy!)

 
 You favorites things are still cars. You love race cars and know lots about them, including that their tires are made of rubber and create friction so the cars don't slide off the track. You play with your hot wheels everyday and usually carry one around with us everywhere we go. Trains are a close second to your favorite toys. Thomas the Train and all his buddies have made a home in your toy box this year and you really like them too. You also really like to wear socks all the time and are super paranoid about me cutting your toe nails. Weirdo! You like to eat chicken, grilled cheeses, pasta, bread of any sort, cereal, strawberries, apples (any fruit really) and candy. You love your family and thank Jesus for Bennett, Casen, Momma and Daddy every night. Your favorite shows are Bubble Guppies and anything on PBS Kids. Your favorite movies vary quite a bit. You still really like Cars 1 & 2 but you also like Robots, Finding Nemo, and Wreck it Ralph. Your favorite songs are "I Love Rock and Roll," "What Makes Your Beautiful" by One Direction, and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. You also still love Justin Beiber and know most of his tunes. It's crazy how many songs you can sing along with these days! You love to play games on our phones or the iPad. These make you VERY smart so you get to play a little every day. Your best friends are Emrie Hays, Michael & Carsten Copeland and Karriona Lakey. You look forward to Sunday school every week because you get to see Mikey. Pretty cute friends. You still love to cuddle and Momma's sleeve, which I love that you still love more then you realize. Your imagination is expanding every day and your play reflects that. You love to play outside and jump on your new trampoline.

   You don't like getting spankings and usually just the threat of one straightens up your behavior. You don't like to share Momma and Daddy with your brothers when you first wake up. You don't like staying buckled up in the car. You graduated to a booster seat when your brothers came along and you got moved to the back row of the van. You much prefer your freedom back there and you're very sneaky about getting out of your lap belt. You also don't love going to sleep by yourself sometimes and have gotten really good at playing quietly and in the dark so you being awake goes unnoticed. Smart I tell ya!

 
 For the most part you are really a good kid. You mind and behave well for the most part. People notice your behavior when we're out in public and love to visit with you. You are very friendly and people are always amazed you are only three by how well you talk and all the words/things you know. You have such an outgoing personality and you draw people in with your sweet smile and funny comments. You are all boy and have lots of energy. You love to wrestle and play rough with bigger kids. It is so fun to watch you interact with others and discover your role in social situations. I hope you always keep your enthusiasm and adventurous spirit. You are not scared of trying new things or meeting new people. We pray that this love for people will always remain and develop into compassion for others. You are also very tender hearted and don't like for others to get in trouble or your brothers to hurt. You cried with Bennett today when he got his shots and said you didn't like that game because hewas hurting. Sweet big brother!

  We have thrown a lot of change at you this year and you have handled it so well. Better then expected or even we hoped. We have added two new little brothers to your world! You went from being the star of the show at our house to getting less then your third of our time and attention. We worried you wouldn't like your brothers or you'd be rough with them but you haven't been that way at all. You don't want to hold them much, but you do wonder where they are and like to check on them. You also do not think it's funny when people joke about taking them home with them. You have not figured out sarcasm and it makes you really upset. It's been a crazy six months for our whole family, but you have transitioned beautifully and you're turning into a wonderful big brother. We pray that the three of you will always be good friends and share a special bond because of how close in age you are.

 
This year you also learned to use the bathroom instead of a diaper. In August you just decided you wanted to wear undies and pee in the potty. I didn't think it would last but you did it. The poop thing took you a long time to figure out and we tried a variety of things to get you to do that. The things that worked were a candy reward if you pooped in the potty and a spanking if you didn't. After about ten days of consistent reward or punishment you FINALLY got it! You've been going consistently potty trained for about a month. Way to go Buddy!

    Your little brain has also grown a lot this year. You know all of your letters, their sounds, numbers through 20, colors, shapes, and lots of songs. You quote movies all the time! You talk in paragraphs and use big words. You know the difference between boy/girl, left/right, up/down, in front of/behind, over/under. I think you will be reading soon. You can tell us what each letter sounds like and if we say the sound you can usually identify which letter makes it.

   Every day you amaze me with the things you can do, how you play, what you retain and your sweet heart. I am so crazy about you and I'm convinced I have the greatest boys in the whole world. You made me a Momma for the first time and no one else will ever be able to do that again. I am beyond proud of you and can't wait to watch you continue to grow and learn and change. You make us laugh and warm our hearts on a daily basis. The last three years have been the best of our lives and I know the next three will be even more of an adventure. We love you so much Tucker William Gordon! 

I love you more,

Momma

Bennett's 5 Month Letter

My Sweet Bennett Boy,
I love you so! You are the essence of sweetness and the perfect middle child for our family! I couldn't have chosen a better boy to fill your role in our family. You smile so easily and are such a charmer. Everyone who gets to be around you for even a few minutes just falls madly in love with your sweet spirit. You are wonderful and you have the sweetest disposition!

Your six month appointment is the 16th so we'll find out soon how big you're getting. I'm anxious to see how much you've grown. You are wearing 6-12 & 9 month clothes and size two diapers. You are working on two bottom teeth, but neither are all the through your gums yet. You are slobbering and chewing away trying to get them to make their appearance. 

You love your Momma and Tucker more then almost anything else. You've become my little shadow lately and don't like me to be out of your site. You LOVE to watch Tucker and if he's near you you squeal with delight. This means bath time is on the top of your list because Tuck is confined close to you. You reach out for him. Tucker doesn't always love this, but your so sweet about how much you love that big brother. You also like Casen and look at him as though he should sing to you like a toy. You are grabbing and picking up toys with ease and bringing them to your sore gums to chew on. You love to bang them around and throw them. You've got a pretty good arm! 

You are still really laid back and there are very few things you don't like. Not being able to see me these days is one of your major reasons to fuss. Really when you cry you are needing something to eat or to sleep. You just don't complain much and around our house these days that is a MAJOR blessing! 

You got your first hair cut this month. Your baby hair was thinning out and looking straggly so Aunt Sassie gave you a little trim. You were really good and sat and watched Emrie the whole time. 

You are sitting up like a champ. You can sit straight up and stay for a long time. You like to play this way and be able to look around at the world. I think once you figure out you can move without assistance Tucker will be in BIG trouble! I bet you'll be crawling soon. You're so strong and eager to be apart of life going on around you.

We celebrated your first Easter at the end of March. We went to the Alumni Parade and you slept through the whole thing on Mimi Terri. We ate lunch at the Lakey's house and Aunt Chelsie came and spent the whole weekend with us. You love her and think she's very funny! You love when she throws you up in the air. I think you're going to be my dare devil child! You love to be wrestled and thrown around! You laugh so loud and as long as the thrower avoids the drool it's fun for everyone. 

You started cereal this month and you LOVE it! From the very first bite you were hooked. You eat a large bowl of oatmeal every night before bath time and I can barely shovel it in fast enough. I was so surprised how much you liked it. You've already eaten a whole box of rice cereal and are almost done with a box of oatmeal. We're going to start baby food soon! (As soon as I go to the store!) If you like the bland cereal this much I think I better buy plenty. 

Baby Boy you are just such a joy! You smile and laugh so sweet and so easily. You are precious and we are all crazy about you. You've stolen all of our hearts and we are so thankful God put you into our crazy bunch. Everybody needs a Ben in their family! 

I love you more,

Momma

Casen's 2 Month Letter

My dear sweet Casen Cole,
Sorry I'm late writing this letter, but you and your big brothers fill up my days and my brain so there is little room left to think of blog posts and such things... I'll try to be better!
Adding you into our family has been quite the adventure! Your little personality is all or nothing. You are either really happy or really unhappy. We have had a hard time figuring out what all you need and how to soothe you because you have struggled constantly with colic and reflux. It's heart breaking and the worst part of parenting I've ever experienced. But on the other side of the coin, you just smile and chat so sweetly. Your face is super expressive and you're so funny to watch while you talk and tell us all kinds of stories.

At your two month check up you weighed 11 pounds and 14.5 ounces and you're 21.5 inches long. You are a little heavier then you are long, but that is much like your big brother was as a baby. Who knows you may have a huge length growth spurt soon. We are still working with your doctor to figure out how to treat your reflux. You aren't screaming as much as you were, but you are spitting up a LOT more. Poor baby! You are wearing 0-3 month clothes and size one diapers.
You are sleeping at night really well! You usually sleep from about 11 p.m. until sometime between 4-6 a.m. and then you sleep until 8:30-9 a.m. Not bad my dear! You take three naps during the day - morning, afternoon and evening.

You love your brothers! You smile so sweetly and talk to them lots. You like to watch Tucker run back and forth. I think both you and Bennett will move early because you both want to get that big so much. Whenever you and Bennett are laying beside each other or I'm holding both of you Bennett always reaches for your hand and you guys hold hands. It's precious! I hope you are always good buddies! You also really like both Momma, Daddy, Granna, Nana and Aunt Chelsie. You also like bath time, your bottle and to be held. You are very cuddly but at the same time you like to cock your head back and look around when you're upright on our chests. You are very aware of what's going on around you most of the time.

You don't like the car seat all that much, but you don't hate it as much as Tucker did. You don't really like to lay down if you're awake and you also don't like to be cold. Other then that you are pretty sweet as long as you aren't hurting. Mornings are definitely your best time of day!

You've had lots of time with your Nana, Granna and Aunt Chelsie lately because your Daddy had hernia surgery last month and you spent two weeks in Purcell while Daddy was recovering. We all came and spent one of those weeks with you. We couldn't have handled it without their help with you.

We are still trying to figure out exactly how to do life with you and your brothers. It's getting better. We are getting more and more used to how to handle day to day things. I think as the months go by it will continue to get easier. Be patient with us sweet baby! We know you were chosen to be our third baby boy and we wouldn't trade you for anything in the whole world. The joy you bring and role you play in our little tribe is exactly as it should be. We love you so much Casen Cole and we can't wait to see how your little personality plays into this crazy bunch of brothers. Your gonna have to hold your own around here, but I think you're up to the challenge.



I love you more,
Momma

Happy Easter!

 We had a wonderful Easter weekend. All five of us were home and (mostly) healthy. Chris is back in action for the most part and we're super happy to have him back! And by we, I mostly mean me.
In Sayre America Easter weekend is also Alumni Weekend. Former Sayre grads from around the country come home and meet with their classes, old friends and family. There's a parade and an Easter egg hunt Saturday for the kids. And for once the weather was beautiful! It's almost always cold and rainy.

Tuck did not like the loud sirens of the police and fire trucks so he needed his mom. 

We have wonderful friends who love our boys so well! As soon as we got to parade both littles were scooped up and loved on until it was time to go home. 

Our big boy loved being outside and gathering candy at the parade with some of his favorite girls.

Tucker actually hunted eggs for the first time this year, but as soon as he figured out candy was inside the eggs he stopped with each find to check out what candy he had found. Not very effective way of hunting if the goal is to get as many as possible. 

We had a great Easter and even managed to get a picture of all five of us looking at the camera! This is monumental with three boys under three, or toddlers/babies in general!