Christmas Card 2014

I'm linking up with the lovely Faith of Walk With Me By Faith for her annual Christmas Card Carousel. I love linking up each year and looking through everyone's cards!

*spoiler alert* sooo these haven't even gone out yet! I got them back from shutterfly the day before we left for new york and haven't had a chance to address them. I LOVE to hand address envelopes but don't know if I'll have the time this year :( Hoping the twins will nap today so I can work on it!

I am so happy with the pictures our fabulous photographer (Volree Wade Photography) captured. A few weeks ago she sent me a text with this hilarious photo of sassy picking her nose, shep crying, and holdie sticking his tongue out. I knew immediately that this would be the perfect Christmas card photo.

This season of our lives is crazy but fun. Things are never peaceful and always chaotic but I love this crazy and wouldn't trade it for the world. I felt that this photo totally captured our life this year! It's messy, whiny, full of tears, but also full of smiles, laughter, and big hugs and it's beautiful!

Have a Very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

 The picture of the three kids is the front of the card. The three pictures on the side are printed on the inside of the card.

 This is the inside right of the card

This is the inside left of the card. I had to put a picture of Sheppie since we didn't send out birth announcements... whoops

My family has always done a Christmas newsletter as part of our Christmas Card each year. I've kept that tradition with a little write up of our family. I know that so many keep up with us on facebook and instagram but a lot of our older relatives appreciate hearing about our little ones from our card :) 

Oh Christmas Tree

Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, this year has been really different as far as holidays. In the years past, we've driven to the mountains on Black Friday or the Saturday after Thanksgiving to get our tree. We normally go as a family. We found this AWESOME tree farm but it's around 2.5 hours away, just outside of Asheville. Because my parents were in London this year, we postponed getting our tree until this weekend. Unfortunately, my Dad is in New Jersey this week (he lives and works up there and flies home to Charlotte on the weekends) and my sister is obviously still in London. The weather was gross on Saturday so we switched it up and went today and Jay's mom wasn't able to make the trip either.

We headed up after church to a new tree farm. It was a lot closer and had a pretty good looking website... Well. It just wasn't the same as our beloved Boyd's. It was FREEZING and the poor kiddos were shaking like leaves. My mom found her tree right away and soon after Allie & Brett found theirs. Jay and I finally agreed on one, snapped a comical family photo and they guys there cut it down. At Boyd's you scream, "I found the perfect tree" and a lumberjack (is that what you call them?) comes dashing over and happily takes a million pictures of your family in front of the tree with a smile on his face and then cuts it down and hauls it off. You go pay for your tree and sit on santa's lap and drink hot cocoa while they tie your tree to the top of your car and off you go! This place was sort of like a tree lot with the trees still attached to the ground :P. 

Regardless, I'm still thankful for the fun family memories of going to get our tree! The kids liked watching the trees fall and seeing the tractor haul them off.

We got home and set up our tree. It is the ugliest thing ever! Seriously there are like some major holes. And the thing is HUGE like wayyyy bigger than our space. We had to remove part of our sectional to get it to fit in our family room. I've tried trimming it and it just looks awful. It also isn't very steady on its base. We put the baby gate around it and hopefully the kids won't tip it over!

I'm excited to decorate this week! 

Thanksgiving

This was the first Thanksgiving I havent celebrated with my immediate family! In the past we've celebrated on a different day if we had to but this year we just didn't celebrate it at all. 

My mom and dad decided to go to London to spend the holiday with my youngest sister who moved there in September. We were soooo excited for them! My mom took tons of pics and the three of them had the BEST time! Of course we missed them but we're thankful they could spend thanksgiving with my sister! My middle and newly married (geeez I need to blog about her amazing wedding!) spent the weekend with her inlaws and we snapped, texted, and  FaceTimed all weekend. Love technology!

We started out with our an us turkey trot. We've been doing this since 2008 only missing 2011 because I was only 5 weeks pregnant with the twins! We've downgraded to the 5k because pushing a stroller and running 5 miles is hard work! Jay and I had a blast dodging the walkers and trying to compete with each other! 

We came home in time for the Macy's parade and the kids sat in front of the tv and watched all the cool floats while I cooked a bunch of sides to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. Since my mom wasn't cooking I had to bring along my favorite sausage stuffing, green bean casserole and sausage dip!

It took at least 2 hours to pack to head to Asheboro for 2 nights. With me in nursing school, Jay and I have been splitting household duties and things are definite not as organized as if just one person was doing it. We each have our own methods :) and picking out 3 days of coordinating outfits plus back ups was quite the task! I ended up buying lots of white collared shirts for under longalls when we returned home because those always seem to be in the stain stick/to be soaked pile!

We hit the road around 2 and had a lovely time playing at Jays moms house until it was time to head to Jays grandmothers house for dinner! We are until we were stuffed and the kids played and played. We got to meet jays cousin's new precious baby girl and got a pic of grandma and all her great grandbabies! We had a great time celebrating with jays side of the family!

Friday was a little tough for me because I missed our family's Black Friday shopping tradition. There weren't a ton of doorbusters to be had in Asheboro. Can't wait until Emma Cate is ready to hit the stores with her mom, aunts, and Gigi! We ended up hitting up the local wine bar with Jays cousin and his wife. Fun to get away for a bit!

I hit the road after dinner to meet up with my college besties! Everyone was in tow and this was the first time in years that almost all of us were together! We went out for drinks and I didn't get home

Until 2... Super late for this old lady!

Saturday morning I attended an engagement brunch for one of my she besties, Nikki. The brunch features lox and bagels and was right up my half- Jewish alley! Jay and the kids came back Saturday afternoon and we did a little decorating! We always get a tree on thanksgiving weekend but with my parents and siblings out of town, we held off this year. We did pull out our fake tree (our formal tree) and set it up in the living room. The kids are obssessed with the tree and I can't wait to start decorating!

We did loads of laundry, decorated more on Sunday, and made a crazy trip to donate blood (so that I could exempt my anatomy final- more about that another time)! Such a great weekend! I hated to see Monday roll around but am getting sooooo excited for Christmas this year!

I'm blogging on my phone and just deleted all my pics to get more space so follow on insta if you want to see all these fun adventures! akscarroll

I can't even think of a good one!

So recently I was as contacted about my blog being featured on a company's social media outlet and I thought "oh that would be fun!" Then I thought: well, I never blog anymore so maybe that would be dumb or maybe I could start blogging again because I MISS it and this would be the little bit of motivation that I need!

I hate that I even need motivation because this something I truly enjoy doing for me. I love looking back on posts about my family and reading about our adventures! I'm hoping it's something my kids will treasure when they are old enough to understand. I've thought a lot about filtering- especially with some of the emotional IVF posts- but then I thought no, that's really a part of my whole story. And even though I can now very casually say my babies were all IVF babies when the inevitable "do twins run in. Your family question" comes up, I never want to forget that raw, emotional struggle it took to get to that point.

This Christmas season, I am extra extra thankful for IVF. I get to do elf on a shelf! I got to participate in a family advent ornament exchange with my Sunday school, I get to play nativity and read about Baby Jesus with my family. I get to visit Santa multiple times a week and discuss the naughty list with the twins. I have gotten to shop for adorable Christmas outfits. I get to plan a Christmas time baptism. I am so thankful each day for my babies. Even though this is a hard and extremely busy season of our life, I try to never take my children for granted. I always have a thankful heart for the true miracles God has blessed us with.

Whew! I don't know how this post made it all the way to sappy and reflectional (is that a word?) but like I said before, this is my space and I'm thankful for this little outlet to write about our family, thoughts, and adventures! Here's to posting more!

Shep 7 Months

Baby Shep 7 Months

So I'm majorly behind on your 7th month but I still wanted to document it! I miss spending time at the computer where I'm not working on school work. I would really like to blog more because I love looking back on our life.

What our life is like:
I am wishing things would slow down. We are always on the go and always busy busy. You've been on a weird nap schedule and we've actually ended up having afternoons together when the twins are asleep. We play and laugh! You are just the happiest happiest baby! Always smiling! As far a milk goes, I had a rough month due to a hospital stay and surgery because of a kidney stone. I had to pump and dump for a week. I was already not pumping enough and now our frozen supply is almost gone. I wanted to get you through to a year just on breastmilk but it looks like we'll be supplementing with formula. I know its not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I'm a little bummed that we're not going to make it to a year. I'm in the process of research the best formulas. I'm still planning to breastfeed/pump and hopefully 75% of your milk will come from me :) 

We started solids this month and you are in love. You are an eating machine. I'm not as great at diversifying your meals as I was with the twins but we're doing the best we can. You've had apples, plums, bananas, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, cheerios, goldfish, and oyster crackers. Applesauce is your favorite but you will put down a 4oz pouch and not think twice about it. I am getting ready to make a bunch of baby foods this weekend! I took a different approach and bought tons of organic pouches for you to try new foods and then I plan on making the stuff you really like. You are great with your pincher grip and almost immediately were able to eat cheerios off your tray. You also took to baby food so well! You can do the pouch without a spoon! You can chew well and I don't even really mash your bananas anymore. It's so much more fun the second time around. I'm more comfortable feeding you and you love the independence of eating big kid food. 

When we are able to be home for you, you're awesome at being on  schedule. Recently, we've had lots of dr appointments for mommy and we've sort of messed up all your nap times. On a normal day we wake you up between 7-7:30 and you have a 6oz bottle. You play and hang out until 9:30 and head to sleep until 10:30. You take another bottle between 10:30-11. You play until 12 then go down for a nap until 1:30-2. You wake up, drink another 6oz and play until 3:30. You nap from 3:30-5 and then you are up until your last bottle at 7pm. We finally cut the cord with your 5am feedings. It took a solid week of crying it out for almost two hours (I would wake up and stare at your monitor for hours until you went back to sleep- so painful for me!) but you got it and now are sleeping soundly for 12 hours and seem to love it!

You are hitting milestones like crazy! You started crawling and then about two weeks later you were pulling up. You pull up on everything! Right at your 7 month birthday you started cruising and now you're moving around furniture like a pro. You are also great at getting back down after you stand up. You still don't like to sit. You can for a few minutes but you always transition to crawling and are off!! You have had a few falls from a standing position but you cry for a second and then want to try again. You are a very determined baby. You laugh out loud and it is the best sound. You have an amazing smile and are always go generous with it. You seriously are so happy and soooo cute. You've gained some weight and have the sweetest little thigh rolls and the biggest chipmunk cheeks. Sometimes I check for cheerios in them because I just don't think they can be that big on their own!

Emma Cate takes you in very small doses. You love to smile at her and she'll smile back but that is about the extend of your relationship. Holden just adores you and you adore him. He stands by your carseat when I get it out of the car and always asks about you. Today I found him playing peek a boo with you in your crib. You were laughing like I've never heard you laugh before! The bond between you too is so adorable. Both Emma Cate and Holden love to sing to you when you're crying. Their favorite is ABCD.

Shepherd:
Nicknames: Pherd (as in she-pherd... everyone makes fun of me when I call you that!) Shep, Sheppie, Shep Shep, Sheppie Beppie, keeks, (like that progression there....!) 
Weight: ?
Height: ?
Hair:  dark blonde. It's grown in a little! Probably the most even of all your siblings
Eyes: very dark blue
Clothes: all 6 months and you've grown out of a lot of those! Mostly 9-12 months now
Diapers: We are in bum genius 4.0 all the time. You are on the tiniest rise in the BGs and we leave three columns of snaps showing. We switched to pampers at night because you were soaking through everything.
Eating: A 5-6oz bottle every 4 hours 
Likes: Smiling (you are such a happy baby!), crawling, standing up, climbing in the book baskets, cruising around the coffee table, getting into everything, pulling mommy's hair, starting to have separation anxiety when mommy leaves the room,sophie toy, climbing on the fireplace, exersaucer, sleeping on your belly with your tush in the air, playing with your brother, following his siblings around the house (we leave you in a room and you power crawl after us, pulling the dog's fur,
Dislikes: nothing really!
Development: You're way ahead with your gross motor.You can crawl with the best of them, sit pretty well (we have to put you in sitting position), can go from sitting to crawling, you are start to pull up on things (ahhh!), you are becoming babbly and I can't wait for your first words!
Words: not yet!
Teeth: not yet but man has that drooling increased!

Extra:

Baby Shep 6 Months

Well I didn't get your 5 month post up but am determined to do your 6th month. I've been praying for things to slow down but each day moves faster and faster and I can't believe you have been in our family for 6 whole months! Just the other day I was sort of shocked to realize that you need to start eating baby food! Ahhh you're growing up way to fast!

What our life is like:
Things have been pretty crazy. You lost 2 pounds between your 4th and 5th month and we had to stop nursing and switch to pumping and bottle feeding. I'm sad our nursing days are pretty much over but still thankful I can provide for you. I'm currently not producing enough to meet your daily needs but luckily we've got lots in the freezer from the first two months. 

We changed up the schedule a bit and had to add in some extra feedings to get your weight back up. We wake you up between 7-7:30 and you have a 6oz bottle. You play and hang out until 9:30 and head to sleep until 10:30. You take another bottle between 10:30-11. You play until 12 then go down for a nap until 1:30-2. You wake up, drink another 6oz and play until 3:30. You nap from 3:30-5 and then you are up until your last bottle at 8pm. You have been a little better at sleeping through the night but are still waking around 5am for another bottle. Mommy and Daddy are TIRED! I think we've only slept through the night 3 or 4 times since you arrive 6 months ago! Thank GOODNESS you are a wonderful baby during the day!

You are so go with the flow and independent. You are a champ at holding your bottle and prefer to hold it instead of me giving it to you. I still try to cuddle you when you take it so that I still feel like you're my tiny little baby.

You've had a big two months. Some highlights include: attending cheerleading camp, baby boehm's shower, nursery during church, ditching your swaddle, first trip to Baden lake, aunt allie's wedding, learning to scoot backwards, surgery on your hydrocele, learning to sit up (still working on it!),a visit to Gran's house, crawling (seriously at 5 months!), bidding Bo farewell as she moved to London, going apple picking, festival in the park, family reunion, swung on your new swing set, road the light rail uptown, walked in the Race for the Cure, went to family day at Daddy's job, attend the fall picnic in our neighborhood, and ate your first bite of applesauce!

Recently, you have loved to be on your own and independent. You crawl all over the family room and come find us whenever we are out of sight. We got a new kitchen table and your high char is at the head and you love sitting with everyone while we eat (which prompted your first taste of baby food). You still love your exersaucer. We are working on sitting up but its hard because you like to be on the go! You can transition from a seated to crawling position. Your favorite toy is your curiosity cube. You are a great napper!

Holden has really taken to you this month. I find you both on your bellies playing trains and airplanes. So sweet to watch you and your brother. He loves you so much and showers you with kisses. Emma Cate is mommy's helper and puts your paci in when you're crying and tries to feed you your bottle but gets frustrated when you prefer to hold it yourself. She's also great at wiping your face and putting your dirty bottles in the sink.


Shepherd:
Nicknames: Pherd (as in she-pherd... everyone makes fun of me when I call you that!) Shep, Sheppie, Shep Shep, Sheppie Beppie, Mon-kiki, kiki, keeks, (like that progression there....!) Emma Cate calls you sheppie sheppie sheppie sheppie
Weight: 15lbs 1oz
Height: 26 inches
Hair:  dark blonde. It's grown in a little! Probably the most even of all your siblings
Eyes: very dark blue
Clothes: all 6 months and you've grown out of a lot of those! Mostly 9-12 months now
Diapers: We are in bum genius 4.0 all the time. You are on the tiniest rise in the BGs and we leave three columns of snaps showing. We switched to pampers at night because you were soaking through everything.
Eating: A 5-6oz bottle every 4 hours and normally one night time feeding (which our doctor has told us that we need to drop!)
Likes: Smiling (you are such a happy baby!), crawling, getting into everything, pulling mommy's hair, starting to have separation anxiety when mommy leaves the room, toy football, climbing on the fireplace, exersaucer, sleeping on your belly, playing airplanes with his brother, following his siblings around the house, pulling the dog's fur, your curiosity cube. 
Dislikes: crying it out, sleeping through the night
Development: You're way ahead with your gross motor.You can crawl with the best of them, sit pretty well (we have to put you in sitting position), can go from sitting to crawling, you are start to pull up on things (ahhh!), you are becoming babbly and I can't wait for your first words!
Words: not yet!
Teeth: not yet but man has that drooling increased!

Extra:

Baby Shep 4 Months Old

This post is a little behind because things have gotten crazy since you turned 4 months but I'm thinking back to what you were like at 4 months because I am going to make sure I get your 5 month post up on time!

What our life is like:
We finally got on a schedule! You wake up around 7am and nurse and then sleep from 9-11 and nurse again and then play from 11-1, nurse and then nap from 1-3 and nurse and then play until your catnap at 6 and then you eat for the night at 7 and are off to bed. You still don't sleep through the night consistently. You are normally up once for a paci and usually a feeding sometime between 4 and 5. Mommy and Daddy are just a little on the sleepy side!

You are a pretty good and efficient nurser and I don't even know the last time I've pumped (well I guess at the beginning of the month for aunt allie's bachelorette party!)

We've been on the go plenty this month. You visited your Daddy at work for the first time and slept through the entire visit! We'll have to bring you back soon so everyone can hold you. We also left you alone overnight with your Gran while Mommy and Daddy went on bachelor/bachelorette weekends with Aunt Allie and Uncle Brett. You went to the pool and got to stick your feet in the water! You thought this was pretty fun! You've been to the Y a LOT! You are so happy in the baby room. I used to take you with me to the stroller class but you seem to much prefer playing in the baby room to hanging out in your stroller. We went on two playdates and you got to meet some cute little ladies! You are incredibly smiley! We went to the park and you got in the swing for the first time. We didn't push you but you just loved hanging out.

You are finding your place in our family. You LOVE to be in the exersaucer and right in the middle of the action when your brother and sister are running around like crazy people. Emma Cate does not like it when you cry (no cry sheppie- no cry!) and will bring you a paci and shake her finger at you to stop crying. Holden is warming up to you big time. He gives you random hugs and I have to watch out because he likes to squeeze pretty tight!

Now for some milestones.. you continue to impress us with you strenght! You are rolling from belly to back and back to belly. You giggle when we tickle your neck and it is soooo precious! We went to see a specialist for your acid reflux because it got to the point where you were crying ALL THE TIME... (in retrospect- I've learned this month it was because you weren't eating enough) but we switched up your meds and things called down a lot. You started napping with your arms out of your swaddle. We went back and forth with this all month. You really LOVE to be swaddled but we found you on your belly at one point and knew you couldn't stay wrapped up forever! We also went back to the kidney doctor and you are ALL IN THE CLEAR. We are soooo thankful for all the prayers and that there are absolutely no issues with your kidneys at this time. You do have a hyrdocele like your brother and we'll go in for surgery this month. You also rolled off the couch and onto the floor and sent me into a fit of tears on the nurses hotline. You stopped crying immediately after I picked you up but man was it scary to see you fall... won't be putting you up there anymore! You are holding your head/body up like a champ and enjoying playing on your tummy time mat.


Shepherd:
Nicknames: Pherd (as in she-pherd... everyone makes fun of me when I call you that!) Shep, Sheppie, Shep Shep, Sheppie Beppie, Beppie, Monkey, Mon-kiki, kiki, keeks, (like that progression there....!) Emma Cate calls you sheppie sheppie sheppie sheppie
Weight: not sure
Height: not sure
Hair:  dark blonde. It's grown in a little! Probably the most even of all your siblings
Eyes: very dark blue
Clothes: mostly 6 months but seeming like your 3 months aren't super tight, just a little short.
Diapers: We are in bum genius 4.0 all the time. You are on the tiniest rise in the BGs and we leave two columns of snaps showing. We switched to pampers at night because you were soaking through everything.
Eating: Nursing every 3-4 hours and longer at night.
Likes: being held/sitting upright, being swaddled (sorry we have to take this one away), being tickled, you are loving tummy time and stay there for a while. You also LOVE your exersaucer and the time you spend one on one with mommy and daddy talking baby talk. We get the biggest smiles, coos, and giggles. You love to pull mommy's hair. You love watching Emma Cate and Holden and cry if you are not where the action is. 
Dislikes: not too much... sleeping through the night maybe? 
Development: You are just really strong and really ahead of the curve regarding development. You are a rolling machine. You smile and laugh, you grab at objects and love the toys dangling from the playmat. You love your curiosity cube and looking in the mirror. You like to stand holding our hands. 
Words: not yet!
Teeth: not yet but man has that drooling increased!

Extra:
You are still my little tv watcher. I try to not have it on but some days it is so needed to keep the twins happy. You are a super easy going baby (once we figured out your meds) and so go with the flow. You are very observant of the world around you and I'm guessing you're going to be a smart one after watching you take everything in. 

Your brother and sister are so sweet with you. Emma Cate freaks out when you cry and starts to cry herself and says "no cry sheppie", "mama sheppie no cry... mama!". They also think that your drool is spit and I hear "Sheppie pit" a million times a day! They are always concerned for you. They are obsessed with you in the exersaucer. They play games with you and sing to you while you're in there. Holden can't wait for you to grow up and be rough and tough with him. He is still using your little head as a road for his cars when I'm not looking. Both he and Emma Cate love to give you kisses and hugs and always ask about their "baby shep". When I get them out of their cribs in the morning I always have you with me and they say "hey baby shep!" with such excitement. I wonder how long you'll be called "baby shep".

I also want to add in how much you are loving your aunt bo right now. We have been lucky to have her around this summer as she is about to move to london for two years. I think you've bonded over being the third child and Boey is always looking out for you. You love when she holds you and light up when she talks to you. Aunt Allie loves on you plenty but you've got this third child things going on with Bo and you'll be so sad when she moves! 

You really are the sweetest baby and so alert. You hang in there but we both get so excited when everyone else is sleeping and we get some one on one time. We play and cuddle and laugh! I'm always covered in shedding rug because we are always on the ground playing. I love that you are so patient with me and always have a smile waiting for me when its your turn to be played with. I love you so much Sheppie Beppie! 

And for some pictures

a little facetime with aunt bo

emma cate was reading to you about all the animals in the zoo

first dip in the pool

unfortunately, all of our pictures together are pretty much selfies. I don't get the big camera out nearly as much as I used to but I always try to take a few of us together :) 

snuggling in aunt bo's baby blanket after your 3 month pictures

Baby Shep 3 Months Old

What our life is like:
Yea so how about that schedule... We are pretty much doing the eat play sleep thing. You have been very consistant about waking up at 6:00am no matter what time you go to bed so we just started putting you to bed at 7:30/8 to see how it works. 6:00am is early but you also head back to sleep until 9 so I can't complain! You're a good overnight sleeper and consistently give us 8 hours.

I stopped pumping pretty much all together. I think I'm going to start adding in a night time pump just to keep my supply up and give us some frozen just in case we need to be apart! You are almost exclusively nursed and it makes it really really easy. I have to learn to let you control how much you eat... if I force you to eat more it just ends up back on me. You always do a good burp when you're done. If you take a bottle, it's around 5oz.

You have had a BUSY 2nd month. You visited the beach and Michigan and survived a 13.5 hour car ride. That has really made scheduling difficult. You were waking up once a night around 3:30/4 but I put an end to that when you slept in my room in Michigan. You're Dad didn't arrive until 4 days in and this mama was tired! After a little cry it out you've been good to go! All this traveling also wreaks havoc on your routine. Right now you eat at 6, sleep until 9, eat, and then we head to workout and you sleep the entire time. I feed you again at 12 and you seem to take a natural nap from 2-4. You eat again at 4 and then again at 7:30/8. It's bath time at 7:30 and then off to bed! You have been lucky in that you've got mama and daddy all to yourself at that hour. We put you to bed a little drowsy but not completely out. The minute you cry we run to your rescue... not any more! We started doing a 5 minute cry it out, then checked on you/gave you a paci and you went right to sleep.

You are SUCH a strong baby. Everyone comments and your head control. I have been really nervous that you'll get a flat spot on your head because you hang out in your carseat a lot. I ordered a new head thing for you to put in your carseat (it's made by boppy) and you seem to love it! We also started you in the exersaucer and I know it is SUPER early but you LOVE it and your brother and sister LOVE interacting with you while you're in there. It's fun for me to watch the three of you play together. 

Shepherd:
Nicknames: Pherd (as in she-pherd... everyone makes fun of me when I call you that!) Shep, Sheppie, Shep Shep, Sheppie Beppie, Beppie, Chunky Monkey, Monkey, Mon-kiki, kiki, keeks, (like that progression there....!) Emma Cate calls you sheppie sheppie sheppie sheppie
Weight: not sure
Height: not sure
Hair:  dark blonde. It's grown in a little! Probably the most even of all your siblings
Eyes: very dark blue
Clothes: your sweet 3 month smocked/kelly's kids/shrimp and grits are all to small to wear with your cloth diapers. We had to put you in disposables for you to wear that stuff. About 1/4 of your closet contains clothes that are too small... slow down buddy!
Diapers: We are in bum genius 4.0 or kawaii newborns all the time. You are on the tiniest rise in the BGs and we leave two columns of snaps showing.
Eating: Nursing every 3-4 hours and longer at night.
Likes: being held/sitting upright, the boba carrier (you nap in there a lot), being swaddled ( YOU LOVE being swaddled.. I try naps without it but you fuss until I swaddle you), being naked, laying on your playmat on the couch (not as much of a fan on the floor), being sung to, being tickled, you do like about 15 minutes of tummy time and then you are DONE. You also LOVE your exersaucer and the time you spend one on one with mommy and daddy talking baby talk. We get the biggest smiles, coos, and giggles. You love to pull mommy's hair. 
Dislikes: falling asleep without the swaddle, gas (oh man, I started eating really healthy with lots of greens and this did not agree with your tummy... we are working on it but gas drops are your friends!)
Development: You are a champ at holding your head up and lifting your upper body. You can also roll from belly to back. You are VERY strong. You are alert and bright eyed. You can follow me around the room and turn your head to hear my voice. You are smiling like a champ and give mommy the BEST smiles! You started laughing this month in these cute little baby giggles. I talk like an idiot just to hear you!
Words: not yet!
Teeth: not yet but man has that drooling increased!

Extra:
You are on the go! We put you on your tummy on your mat and you are off of it in seconds. You like to scoot mostly but sometimes rolls from tummy to back to get where you need to be. You are already a TV watcher like your brother. I tried not to let the twins watch tv at this point but with you being the 3rd I don't think that's possibly. You may suffer from ADHD when you're older but at least I'm helping you out in the strength department because you love to lift yourself up to see the TV.

You are easy going and I love it! We went to eat with some first-time mommies and their babies and you were just so chill (probably because I am way more chill this time around). You eat, smile, play, and go back to sleep really easily when we're out. I'm loving your personality... chill with lots of smiles and laughs. 

Your brother and sister are so sweet with you. Emma Cate freaks out when you cry and starts to cry herself and says "no cry sheppie", "mama sheppie no cry... mama!". They also think that your drool is spit and I hear "Sheppie pit" a million times a day! They are always concerned for you. They are obsessed with you in the exersaucer. They play games with you and sing to you while you're in there. Holden can't wait for you to grow up and be rough and tough with him. He is still using your little head as a road for his cars when I'm not looking. Both he and Emma Cate love to give you kisses and hugs and always ask about their "baby shep". When I get them out of their cribs in the morning I always have you with me and they say "hey baby shep!" with such excitement. I wonder how long you'll be called "baby shep".

You are just still the sweetest little guy. You are long with just the right amount of baby rolls. You are almost always in a good mood (unless it's been awhile since you went to the bathroom or need your medicine). You are still on Axid every 8 hours and it is a miracle medicine! I love the few hours we get to spend together everyday while your siblings are asleep. It is such a wonderful time for me! Sheppie Beppie, we are all so happy you came into our lives. You make our family slow down a bit and hang out together. We love you so much buddy! 

Sorry for the abundance of pictures but I think you're pretty cute beppie! 

hanging out after our friend Libby's birthday party

loving the rolling part of the saucer

loves to sit up! We turned your boppy around because I found you face in the couch a few times!

this swaddle from pottery barn kids is your favorite (of course only my child wouldn't like the normal ones from target)

Emma Cate holding you. I think she's only got 9 lbs on you!

hanging out with pop po at the lake house in michigan

I've got lots of selfies with you because everyone else is always off chasing your siblings! Thank goodness for the carrier and selfies!

visiting sleeping bear dunes in michigan

cousin erin held you almost the entire time we were in michigan... cousin Erin, can you move to nc?

loving the cool weather in MI! perfect for outdoor naps!

first time at the lake!

your GAB

Arthur Shepherd meeting Arthur Lewis. This is your great grandfather. He was sooo excited to meet you!

baby's first fourth with daddy

sheppie and your 3rd cousin (my cousin matt's baby) Walt. he's two weeks younger than you but totally killing in in the hair department!

these are the smiles I love so much (especially after 6 straight hours of sleep!)

wine tasting with great aunt barbara (GAB) and aunt boey

vino and baby

on of our favorite Charleston restaurants, fleet landing

hanging out at Bohikit marina while your siblings participated in the fishing tournament

check out these guns

oh the rolls... how I am loving a chunky monkey (aka totally normal sized baby)

this is how you spent most of your time on your first trip to Seabrook

it is too freaking hot in here mama!

you and gigi at bohikit

I have to remember to put you in these pics with your siblings! hopefully i'll be able to trust them holding you one of these days. This was out to eat at Bad Daddys.

I took you all three to run errands for the first time. That's your little head on top!

oh i just love you to pieces buddy!