Family Pics

Nana got the kids these great shirts that say, "Property of the Sturm family".  I've been meaning to take some pictures with the kids in them, so we did it on Sunday.  It's a lot of work trying to get three kids to face the same direction, much less get them to smile.  Nana and Grampapa were making strange noises and saying as many funny things as they could...even bringing out toys to get their attention...so after what seemed like millions, but probably only 50 or so shots, we got a couple good ones...here they are.  

Cute Things

So, I was at our last MOPS meeting of the year last night and I was sharing some cute things about Calvin and the ladies at my table told me I should write them down...of which, I promptly thought...yes, I need to write this down, why haven't I blogged about it yet?!

I absolutely hate letting our babies cry it out, so there has been a lot of sacrifice on Brad's part and grandparent's to go along with my parenting ideas at nighttime.  I've always nursed and rocked our babies to sleep and then when they no longer nursed, we lie beside them until they fall asleep...at around 2 1/2, they finally get it and are able to fall asleep on their own.

So, Calvin has finally reached that milestone, with a bit of pushing from us, but he now happily goes to sleep on his own, which is amazing.  Well, for awhile, I would tuck him in and he wouldn't let me leave, he kept saying, "one more hug, one more mama..." and of course, I just couldn't resist, but it was getting worse and worse that Brad finally stepped in and said, "tonight mama is going to give you two hugs and then leave and then you'll go to sleep."  Well, he didn't like it, but that's what we did...the next day at naptime I asked him, do you want 3 or 4 hugs, thinking if you give them a choice they will pick one and be happy because they got a choice.  Well, he promptly said, I want 12 hugs.  Why, you ask?  Well, 12 is the highest number he can count to.  So, it is now tradition, that we give 12 hugs and then he makes the "I love you" sign and promptly tells me, "ok, go mom, bye."  So sweet!  I love this boy!

Going Green

I've wanted a vitamix for sometime now, but I kept waffling between whether or not I'd use it enough to make it worthwhile.  Well, I finally went for it and it arrived on Monday.  It is awesome.  It's so hard for me to get any veggies in Calvin and I thought this would be a perfect way to make some green smoothies...and boy have they been a hit.  The first one was a little heavy on the kale, but he still gobbled it up and asked for more.  This morning it was the perfect amount of green.  As he watched me put everything in the blender...he says, "lettuce?" when I got to the kale...hehehehe.  I told him that is what makes it have the nice green color.  And he couldn't get enough of it. 

3 Months!

I can't believe it's been 3 months since Asher was born!  It's going so quickly.  Asher is doing great, he weighed in at 14 pounds today.  He is such an easy going baby, God has been so gracious with this little guy.  His feeding in the night have stretched to only once or twice, I think it took Calvin until somewhere between 6 and 9 months to do that.  That has been such a blessing.  Asher loves to smile and boy does he talk...so much cooing, it is adorable.  Lately he's been gnawing on his hand/fingers (he tends to suck his middle fingers and does not like the pacifier) with lots of drooling, I imagine teeth are on the horizon for us.  Here is the adorable guy.

More Milestones

So, Asher can now roll from his tummy to his back.  I put him down on a blanket for some tummy time and came back to find him on his back.  I thought, hmm...was that a fluke?  So we tried it again and the kid can roll...he still can't hold his head up on his own, but he can roll from his tummy to his back.  :)  He is 11 weeks today, this is going really quick, so I'm trying to really enjoy this baby stage.  He is now 13 1/2 pounds...but I notice him stretching before my very eyes, the kid is long.  We are growing out of clothes fast...not because he's chubby (because he's rather thin, actually), but because he's so long.  That's how our babies tend to be. 

Mia and Calvin are doing great, some days they play like angels and some days it is sibling rivalry to the max.  Whatever he or she has the other immediately wants.  I love how Calvin thinks that if he just says "please", that he should immediately be able to have the item of desire.  We are learning patience these days.