Christmas cookies!

Every year we get together with one of my very best girlfriends from college to bake cookies.  This tradition was started way back in 1995 at JMU when four roommates would bake cookies just before going home for Christmas break.  Kara and I continued the tradition after college.  FIVE kids and 17 years later, we haven't missed one year.  Our baking marathons have changed in size and shape... meaning we used to bake multiple types and last all day (sometimes well into the night) and now with the attention span and neediness of our children, we are lucky to get through the sugar cookies.  Kara and I are so happy that our little offspring enjoy this tradition as much as we do! 

Celia was queen of the sprinkles!!

Ella was the most dedicated ... decorating and cutting well after the older two ran upstairs to play!

Mason decorating his special gluten-free cookies! 

Owen's masterpiece!

All five kiddos ... Amelia will be old enough to decorate next year!

Merry Christmas! (Ho Ho Ho)

Last year Mason didn't really "get" Santa.  This year he does.  And he loves everything "miss-miss."  Ever since we took out all of our Christmas stuff, he walks around saying "Happy miss-miss" to everyone.  It is so adorable and has gotten us all into the Christmas spirit! 

I love this time of year and love decorating the house for Christmas.  I'd leave it up all year if I could.  I just love our full fireplace ...  with FIVE stockings this year!

And then there are my two "babies" listing to Santa singing Jingle Bells in the bumbo...

Hope you all enjoy this Advent season!   

Bathing Beauty

Here is a cute little video of Amelia in the tub.  She just LOVES to kick her little legs in the water. I think she also likes the echo and therefore is a little chatty Cathy in there too!  (nevermind her brother Mason singing in the background... there is never a quiet moment in the Lochhead abode!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Owen's kindergarten class had a little Thanksgiving play today.  They were a little shy, but so very cute!   (Owen is the 2nd Pilgrim from the left!)

Here is the video:

Happy Halloween

Halloween 2011 has come and gone.  Halloween fell on a Monday this year, but it was still full of multiple festivities.  Sunday morning we carved our pumpkin... Owen designed the face and for the first time didn't mind scooping out the goop from inside the pumpkin! 

We then moved on to the neighborhood "spook-out" on the afternoon of the 30th.  The kids were excited to put on their costumes, but Mason refused to wear the hat and glasses that came with his (DJ Lance Rock sans hat and glasses made Mason look like a candy corn!)  Nevertheless, I was able to get my one and only picture of the three kids in their costumes. 

The next day was Halloween and Owen and Mason's classes at Great Falls Elementary school were both holding costume parades and Owen's class also had a small party.   It was fun to see all of the kids in their school environment and all the kid's costumes. 



Here is Mason with his alter ego, DJ Lance Rock ...

And here is Owen practicing his ninja moves and another with his Kindergarten class...

And finally a picture of our little kitty cat, Amelia.

We finished the day with some trick or treating at the Great Falls Village Center and then back at home in the neighborhood.  When the day was done, the kids were full of candy, exhausted and ready for bed! (and so were we!)

3 months?? (a catch up post)

Wow ... it's been well over 3 months since I last posted!!  Guess we've been a little busy since welcoming our newest little Lochhead, Amelia Josephine, on August 5, 2011.  After 2 months on bed rest and a relatively easy labor, we were all so happy to finally meet her!

Our first family picture of FIVE

From day one, the boys have been nothing short of miraculous with their baby sister.  They love her, dote on her, comfort her... I  keep waiting for the honeymoon to end, but so far so good!

Big brothers visiting little sister in the hospital

Such loving brothers

Giggling siblings

Enjoying a beautiful fall day

In the time since my last post, we also enjoyed a nice long visit from my sister Tracey and her daughter Alexa as well as a visit from Brian's dad and step-mom from Las Vegas.  It was so great to spend quality time with family and reminded us how much we wish they both lived closer!!

The big kid cousins

Amelia with Aunt Tracey and Cousin Alexa

All four Brooks cousins

Grandpa, Nana and the Grandkids

Grandpa, Nana and their newest grandbaby

And that brings us up to November 2011.  My November resolution is to try to be a little more often with my blog posts!

The big FIVE

Owen turned 5 on Saturday.  Five.  Wow.  Five years since I first became a mama.  Five years since we were blessed with our first baby boy.  We had no idea of the adventures we had waiting for us.  Looking back the years have flown by, but I still remember those first sleepless nights, the temper tantrums and the "phases" I thought would never end.  But out the other side came my sweet Owen.  He is sensitive, caring and thoughtful, constantly bringing me flowers when he sees them in the yard.   Even at 5, Owen is a mama's boy who still loves to snuggle.  He is a big brother in the truest sense of those words.  Owen loves Mason unconditionally -  he encourages him in his struggles and praises his successes.  And to be perfectly honest, I don't know why Owen doesn't get more upset with Mason when he takes his toys and bosses him around.  Truly one of a kind.  And that is why I love celebrating Owen's birthday.  Not only is it a celebration of the day I became a mother, but also a celebration of the kid that Owen is becoming each day.  We must be doing something right ... I just don't know what it is! 

Here are some pictures of Owen' birthday weekend - a celebration fit for a king!

Getting ready to open some presents (still in pajamas!)

Trying out his new skateboard

At Sport Bounce for Owen's birthday party

The birthday party crowd!

Star Wars cake!

the family

Family celebration the next day - our King and his brother, the Prince!

Graduation Day!

I remember when Owen was a baby and I went on tours of daycare centers.  They always talked about "graduation" once they are ready to go onto Kindergarten.  And I rolled my eyes to myself, thinking, really?  A pre-school graduation?  Fast forward 5 years and my first born, Owen, is graduating from pre-Kindergarten ... and I couldn't be more proud.  Sure, it's not quite like working towards a high school or college graduation, but my baby is growing up!  And it's to be celebrated.  I cheated on my bed rest and had my mom accompany me to Owen's pre-school graduation.  As I saw all of the kids lined up in their red cap and gowns, looking all cool with their matching red shades, the tears started rolling.  Pomp and Circumstance played and as Owen and his friends walked by, I thought how fast the past 5 years have flown by and my mind fast-forwarded to a high school graduation 13 short years away.  And I wanted to cherish every moment.  Well, I wanted to stop time, but I knew that wasn't possible.  We are so proud of all that Owen has learned and accomplished in the past 5 years and we know that he is ready for Kindergarten this Fall.  He has grown in to a thoughtful, caring, smart (especially with math!) and patient (most of the time!) little boy!

Below is a video of the best of the best parts of the graduation and a little photo montage at the end.  Enjoy!

(sorry, Tracey, I used a copyrighted song so it's not available in Germany. Only Germany.  Not sure why??  I'll do a different version for you without Leann Womack so you can view!)

Birthdays and Bed Rest

Yesterday, June 8, 2011 was Mason's 3rd birthday.  3 years ago yesterday we celebrated the end of my bed rest, the birth of our much anticipated second child and the beginning of a beautiful journey.  Yesterday, I was placed on bed rest for the duration of our pregnancy with our third child.  Ironic?  Life is just one big circle it seems.

First, let's focus on the positives.  Mason is three!!  We are so proud of all our little boy has accomplished in his 3 years.  He is thriving at home and at school.  A little defiant and stubborn at times, but he's my kid so what do you expect?  At three, Mason loves most of all to play with his older brother.  They play Star Wars, Superheroes, wrestling, and more.  We can even get them to agree on what TV show or movie to watch every once in a while!  We had a small party over the weekend, but Mason didn't seem like enjoy the invasion of other children on his home turf and was not too keen on the birthday celebration.  But, we did a small family birthday last night with a simple piece of cake and three candles and he loved it.  Happy happy birthday to our beautiful big boy ... as I've said before, I never dreamed three years ago that our little boy would teach ME so much about living life to its fullest, persevering through things that come difficult, and accepting what God has given you and making the most of it each day.  We are truly blessed.   

Now onto the not so fun stuff. Basically I've been put on bed rest due to contractions and results of certain predictive tests that increase my "odds" of giving birth in the next 2 weeks up to 40% coupled with my prior pre term labor experience with Mason. The baby has been given steroid shots to speed up lung development and I am on medication to try and calm the contractions. I am 30 1/2 weeks and really need to get to 34 - 36 weeks to be in any kind of "safe" zone.  Brian is being a trooper and picking up all slack when it comes to the kids.  I know this is as hard on him as it is for me to lay on the couch and not lift a finger.  But together we will get through this.  Because that's what we do.  And this is what we have to look forward to:

Isn't our little girl adorable?   As excited as we are for her to join our family out here, please pray that she stays put for a few more weeks!  

Sight Words

With Kindergarten approaching for Owen, we started to work on some site words.  Thanks to the recommendation from my mom, we found this great video called "Meet the Site Words" that both boys have responded to.   It focuses on a visual approach to recognizing site words, an approach we know all about since kids with Down syndrome also respond much better to visual prompts.  It is amazing to watch as both boys learn the beginning site words.  I attached a video below of Owen reading the longest sentence we could come up with for the beginning site words he knows.  And if you listen when Owen gets to the word "you,"  Mason shouts it out before Owen.   We also found that if we put two or three cards out for Mason and ask him which word says, "X,"  he will get it right about 75% of the time.  At 2 years old.  With Down syndrome.  It's truly amazing.  Both of my boys are.

Dapper Diaper Dude

I don't have much to write today ... because I think these pictures say it all.  Last night Mason was in an especially goofy mood as we were getting ready for bed.  For once, the camera was handy and I grabbed it to snap a few of my diaper dude hamming and dancing it up!  As I look at these pics, I can't believe how fast my little baby boy is growing up ... gonna be 3 in a couple of months ... and a big brother in a couple more.  How can we make time slow down???

Oh, and one more ... It started out as a Robin costume, add about 2-3 more capes and the Iron Man mask on top.  Whose scared of this multi-caped masked crusader??

Opening Day!

It's become a Lochhead family tradition.  The first home Nationals baseball game of the season.  We are so there!  It signifies the first "event"of Spring - Baseball season!  This year, it was cold and rainy so we made the difficult decision to leave Mason, who was just starting to get a cold, at school.  I felt so guilty about this ... until I sat there shivering with my toes going numb.  I knew it was the right decision.  Nonetheless, the three Lochheads braved the elements and had a great time.

 
We even got a personal visit from Screech in our section! 

Go Nats ... the Four of us will be back ... when it's a little warmer :)   

It's a GIRL!

We are thrilled and excited to be welcoming a baby girl into our family this August!  We took Owen with  us to the gender ultrasound and I wish I could say that he was enthralled with the photos of his sibling, but I couldn't get that kid to take his eyes off of "Angry Birds" on my iPhone.  HA!  But, he did say, "I knew it was going to be a sister because we already have two boys and we need another girl."  How thoughtful!  We really would have been excited either way but this mama is pretty happy to have a little girl to spoil.  Brian, on the other hand, is a little shell-shocked.  And while he says he likes the "idea" of a girl, after two boys I think he's a little unsure of how girls "work" (or maybe a little nervous about having a mini-Kristin in the house!)    

Yep, you read that right!

We are so very excited (and a little bit nervous) to announce that we are adding another little munchkin to our already crazy household.  This new addition should be arriving in August.  The doctors say mid-August, but we'll let this little one decide.  I hear you all now ... could it possibly be a girl... another boy?   We won't find that out until late March, but will happily welcome either sort :)

For inquiring minds, we did have the same first trimester screening that we did with Mason.  We, again, wanted to know if we were going to be blessed with another chromosomally enhanced child.  We knew that our odds of having another child with Down syndrome were increased to 1:100, compared to typical odds of 1:400 for someone my {cough} age.  We prayed that this baby would have only 46 chromosomes, but knew that it was out of our hands.  And we have already learned that our family would be okay.  Either way.  At the screening, we were told that the nuchal fold measurement for the new baby was 1.2 (compared to Mason's whopping 5.1) and that measurement, coupled with some blood tests, decreased our risk of Down syndrome to 1:1500.  We feel pretty good about that.  But, odds are what they are .... odds.  Life is what counts.

We will keep you posted on this blog of the adventures of this pregnancy, although we are hoping for no adventures and instead a very boring, very uneventful pregnancy!  Owen is very excited about the baby, volunteering for him/her to sleep in his room... but assuring me that he would come and get me if the baby cried.  We also asked Owen if he wanted a boy or girl baby, to which he, of course, responded, "A boy.  Because I like playing with boys better."  Typical 4 year old boy!   Mason doesn't really understand but knowing how sweet Mason is with his cousin Alexa and having super big brother Owen as a role model, I just know he will adjust to big-brother-dom just fine!

SNOW!!

Wow, has it really been almost 2 months since my last post?  I can't believe I totally flew past Christmas... and the new year without ever writing a blog post.  I wish I had a really good excuse, but I guess I've just been lazy.  Or not had much to say.  I have a ton of Christmas pictures ... maybe I'll do a Christmas in July post?   My peace offering are some snow pictures from the snowfall last week.  Despite the disaster it caused to rush-hour traffic (It was coming down at 2-3 inches an hour during peak afternoon rush), the snow was perfect.  Just enough for good snow balls, sledding and snow forts.  And it was a thick wet snow which made it easy for packing.   The boys had a blast sledding ...

 And though I wasn't sure about the safety of this endeavor, "the three boys on a sled" trick actually went over quite well...

Even though it resulted in a little snow bath for Mason!! 

Owen enjoyed trying new "tricks" ... I'm gonna be in trouble when this one gets older.  

And even the photographer got into one picture! 

Mason tried to eat the snow with every chance he got.  It's amazing we were able to get a picture of the little boys holding still. 

Owen and Brian made a snow fort in the backyard which has even been made more elaborate since these pictures were taken. 

And of course there's the obligatory snowball flight.  Watch out!!!

I'd like to promise that it won't be so long until my next post ... Okay.  I promise it won't be so long until my next post!