Birthday Festivities

We had a great party this past Saturday for Cort. Here is the Star Wars Cake! This was the first time I have ordered a birthday cake and my kids actually were able to eat it! Normally I make a special cake for them without eggs and milk. But since Cort has outgrown his food allergies, he ate his Star Wars cake and Chocolate Ice Cream. Keaton ate a Ding Dong (which is a new thing we tried and he did okay with) and Soy Ice Cream at the Party, but in the safety of our home we let Keaton eat a leftover piece of birthday cake and he did fine. Even the second and third piece went down with no problem. (I made him wait 10 minutes before eating the second piece)




We had the party at Monkey Bizness this year. It is an inflatable jump zone and the kids had a blast. Even parents climbed the rock wall and the 'Christmas Tree', as Cort called it. But I think their favorite is always the big slide.

Jackson, Cort and Peyton
Cort's buddies from school

It has become a tradition in our family that on their actual birthday day, the four of us go to Chuck E Cheese. So Wednesday night (yes we skipped out on AWANA) we headed to Chuck E Cheese. We enjoy the family time to celebrate his birthday and the kids had a great time. Keaton is getting really good at skeeball!

My mom called to wish Cort a happy birthday before we went to Chuck E Cheese. She asked Cort how old he was and he said he was still 3. He proceeded to tell her he would not turn four until after he went to Chuck E Cheese. So as we were walking out of the door at Chuck E Cheese he said, 'I am four now!'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUGAR!

I AM SO GLAD YOU WERE BORN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

1-2-3-4 CORT!

Here is a stroll down memory lane to celebrate Cort turning 4!

YEAR ONE

MY GERBER BABY!

FAMILY OF FOUR

BROTHERS

YEAR TWO

HANGING POOLSIDE WITH MOM

TOO CUTE!

We are ready to rumble!

YEAR THREE

Our trip to Disneyworld

He is such a HAM!

But also knows how to strut his stuff!

Fishing at THE CREEK with DAD

He was cold after swimming and had my shirt on, but look at those lashes!

I can't help it that I'm so CUTE!

Hiking with the family

YEAR FOUR

I'm a BIG KID NOW

A Picnic at the Beach is always a good time

Cowboy Cort is turning 4!

Countdown to Cort

Cort will be 4! I can't believe how fast it has gone by. Four years ago, I was on bedrest, pregnant with Cort. I was diagnosed early in the pregnancy with Placenta Previa.

I have heard other people talk about how miserable they were on bedrest, but honestly I enjoyed it. Maybe I was just making the best of the situation or maybe my body really needed the rest. I watched TV, slept, scrapbooked, and read.....Oh to be able to read a book again. Already having a young child, I knew finding time to sit and read was impossible. So while on bedrest, I read as many books as I could. I started the Left Behind Series and was able to read about 6 of the books during the 4 weeks I was on bedrest. (I currently am reading the 12th book in the series. I say currently, but I have been reading this one probably over a year now.)Anyway, I enjoyed the time on bedrest to catch up on some reading.

The hard part of being on bedrest was not being able to play with or care for Keaton. He was only 19 months old at the time and didn't want to sit and play with Mommy on the bed but just a few minutes at a time. I was home alone during the day because Mark took Keaton to daycare. There was no way I could have taken care of him at home. The hard part for Mark...working a full time job, taking care of Keaton, taking care of a bed ridden wife, and worrying about his unborn child.

During these 4 weeks, I was admitted to the hospital 4 times. My doctor gave me a choice the third time to go home or stay in the hospital until the baby was born. I wanted to go home because I knew it would be even harder on Mark to bring Keaton by the hospital every day to see me. But after my fourth episode and admittance to the hospital, I knew I was there to stay. I still had 6 weeks to go (my due date was March 6), but the next day the baby's heart blipped on the monitor and I was scheduled for a c-section that afternoon.

Cort was born January 28, 2005 at 6:03 PM. He was 6 weeks premature and weighed 5 lbs 9 oz.

I had already had the steroid shots to help his little lungs develop, but he screamed so loud when he was born that he blew a hole in his lung, he had a Pneumothorax. They had to put in a chest tube in addition to every other thing he was hooked up to.

2 1/2 hours after he was born

I finally got to hold him when he was two days old, but it was only for a few minutes.

Mark's first time to hold him was cut short. All the monitors started beeping.

This is a picture of him still on oxygen and the feeding tube in his mouth.

What a tan! Okay so he was a little Jaundice.

This is the day we took him home. He was 2 weeks old. I ended up back in the hospital two days later with a kidney stone that had to be removed.

Cort 20 days old, holding Mark's wedding ring

Boy's first haircut!

That's right, we took the boys for their very first haircut. Okay, technically it was not the first time their hair had been cut. I started cutting Keaton's hair when he was just a few weeks old. I just couldn't stand that baby mullet he was growing. Anyway, I have been cutting their hair myself ever since. I enjoy cutting their hair, but felt it was time a professional have a go at it.
We took them to Cool Cuts and it was very easy. We lucked out on the timing and walked in with no wait. They picked out their entertainment of choice--Keaton played a Star Wars video game and Cort watched a TMNT movie. They sat perfectly still and never complained. I am pleased with the outcome. They both look great. It definitely took less time than it would have for me to have done it, BUT the price was not so nice. I expected 8.99 each or something in that range....try doubling it. 15.99 each plus tip! Whoa! I will have to consider the pros and cons next time or maybe just shop around. But at least our first experience was a good one. Enjoy the pics. Yes I was that mom with the camera! :)