Family Night

We like to have picnics in our living room because we're cool like that. 

After dinner we made what were supposed to be rice krispy treats, but they turned into 3 blobs and one awesome monster:

Guess who made which one. Alright I'll tell you LtoR (Makai, James, Me, Ezra) James likes to  show off when it comes to creativity. All I see is a train because that's what the box tells me, but James looks at it and sees something way cooler! 

And this exact bite is how Ezra got a little candy shoved up his nostril. Thankfully we got it out with no real problem.

And Dekles just enjoyed the fun :)

Going Private

Due to James' new career as a Federal Law Enforcement Agent, he has been encouraged to delete his facebook account and has asked me to do the same. I am sad, but I understand his reasons and the safety of my family is definitely the most important. Therefore I am also making our family blog private. If you would like to continue reading our craziness please send me your e-mail address either via comments or in a private e-mail at joh05011@byui.edu. I am happy to invite any who want to read :)

Hi Y'All

Or should I say Hola?

We're moving to Texas. South Texas. Like, US Border Texas. James got a job with the Border Patrol. He is so excited. He leaves for the Academy this weekend and will be gone for 3 months (we can't join him at the Academy). Then we will join him out there when he's through with training. We will miss him soooo much. But we/I am so excited for him. This is the line of work that he has always wanted and he's good at it.

We had a choice between this job or a County Police job. We applied for BP in August 2011 and have been going through the process since. He applied for the County Police August 2012. He wanted BP, but we didn't want to count on it alone and the County Police was a good second option. We were unsure what we would do if the Police offered him the job first (which was more likely since Federal Government takes forever). Well, he was offered the BP job first. A week after accepting this offer the County Police called to offer him a job. He turned it down.

BP gave him 2 1/2 weeks to get ready to report, so things are moving fast. Everything seems to have worked out to let us know this is right.

It's scary, but we're looking forward to this new adventure for James and our family. Wish us luck!!

Dekle Bug

I have come to hate the term "good baby". I never thought twice about it before Deklan, but now I hate when people ask, "Is he a good baby?" How am I supposed to answer that? How could a baby be a "bad baby"? I always say "yes".

Truth is.. He is not an easy baby. That's why I've come to hate that term. He cries. a lot. But it's okay. I'd cry a lot too if I was new here and couldn't do anything for myself. He likes to be held. A lot. He sleeps up to 4 hours straight at night if he is swaddled, which really is great! But he wakes up for the day at 6:30 most mornings. I'm working on a better schedule, but he's a little difficult. We also currently have thrush. His is a minor case and seemed to get much better with the medicine, but mine is only getting worse the more medicine I use. Not cool. I really do have a love/hate relationship with nursing because no matter what people say, it is not painless (for me at least). I finally gave up after 10 months of pain with Ezra. I nursed Makai for 14 months because it didn't hurt long with him. Hopefully I can get through this time around.

Things I've learned about this sweet baby:
He loves to be swaddled and won't sleep more than 5-10 minutes if he isn't swaddled.
He smiles biggest for daddy and Ezra.

He loves when mommy sings.
He is happy to be snuggled.
If he's tired he won't eat.
He loves baths.

He has eczema.
If he doesn't burp, prepare to be drenched.
He doesn't like to be put down or be left in a room alone for even long enough for mommy to use the restroom.
He still has curly hair (though by the end of the day it isn't so curly any more because I can't get people to stop rubbing it).

He's got very faint dimples.
He has blue eyes and doctor confirmed they will most likely stay that way (this is a "duh" for me since James and I both have blue eyes).
He has a very loud scream that breaks my heart.
He is adorable and doesn't mind me kissing him all day long.

Things are louder here, crazier here and messier here, but heaven is closer here too all because we have baby Dek-o. There is nothing like snuggling a newborn and breathing in their purity. Ahh, I love babies.

Roller Skating

A couple weeks ago we joined a group of friends at a roller skating rink and the boys had a blast! Even Makai got in on the action. Ezra has been once before in Idaho and loved it, but this time was scarier for him. They were able to tighten the wheels at the one in Idaho, but they said they don't do that here, so Ezra had a really hard time not letting his feet roll away from him. Thankfully they do offer little walker things to help the kids.

Such a big boy! 

Why was my camera going so fuzzy? Bummer. Ezra loved having mommy or daddy go with him and push him around. We had friends there so we were able to leave the kids and James and I even took a couple strolls around holding hands like the teenagers do :)

We had a great time! I had no idea my hubby could skate so well. Turns out he was on a roller hockey team when he was younger. That explains it. I felt dumb next to him, but at least he kept me from falling!

They have a tot stroll where they let the littles take their trikes and such and mommy's can push strollers around. I want to try that one next. Though it does a number on your feet blister wise, so make sure to take breaks if you plan on going.

Spider-Kai

This little Makie Doodle is OBSESSED with Spider-Man. He wears this costume all the time. Even if he's not wearing it he likes to run up to random people and shoot "spider-webs" at them. He's hilarious.

He fell asleep in the car and I tried my best not to wake him when I put him in the shopping cart. I was shocked he stayed asleep for about half an hour.

I could eat this little bundle of trouble.

He threw a fit one night when I asked him to take it off to take a bath. He finally took the costume off, but refused to take off the mask, so I chose my battles and this wasn't one of them. He let me take the mask off long enough to wash his hair, but then he insisted I put it right back on him.

He's a crazy kid. I'm telling you, he has such a silly personality, and while it drives my looney, I adore him and really wouldn't trade his silliness for a more mellow personality any day.

Binky Bear

We are going to be getting the boys bunk beds in a month or two and my goal has been to get rid of the binky before each of our kids goes into a "big boy bed". So it was time to get rid of Makai's (especially because he's got adorable (but not dentist approved) little buck teeth). With Ezra I cut the tip and he threw them away because they were "broken". It worked okay, but Ezra was a lot younger. I didn't want Makai to think we were throwing away something that was so important to him, so we stuffed it into a bear instead. We made it a special night and went to Build-a-Bear.

He's listening to the recording that Mommy, Daddy and Ezra made for him to go inside his bear.

He looks like he's not too sure about putting that binky in the bear.  Poor kid.

And there it goes. "Buh bye binky"

Then he and Ezra gave his bear a bath and headed over to pick out some clothes for him.

This is what they picked. They are both in love with Spider-Man, so it is very fitting.

The first night made me wonder if it was really such a great idea. He was sad and I seriously thought he might rip open that bear to get his binky out. He finally fell asleep after maybe 30 minutes of trying to get his binky and then woke up only once for a quick binky-less snuggle. He only asked for it maybe 2 or 3 times after that and now he is just fine without it. Now he just loves his Spider-Bear.

Deklan's Baby Blessing

On February 17th our newest lovie was blessed in church by his daddy :) It was a beautiful blessing.

He looked adorable all in white. He was really only in the outfit for less than an hour since white and babies don't go too well together.

These are the best shots I got:

He's my little love even if he doesn't let me do anything but hold and feed him :)

Trouble Trouble

I'm thinking of changing his name... 

Makai is sooo much trouble ALL the time!

The thing I love the most about Makai is his personality.

The thing that drives me crazy about Makai is his personality.

He is so different than Ezra was. The other day I realized that Ezra tricked us into thinking we were great parents... then Makai showed us the truth: we don't know anything.
I feel helpless when it comes to discipling and teaching this child. He laughs at me when I'm upset, yells at me when I'm calm, slaps me when I'm trying to be patient and he gets into everything even if I'm standing right there watching him.

For example: In the past couple of weeks I have had orange juice spilled all over the floor, wall and couch (on different occasions), rocks thrown in the toilet, strawberries smooshed into the carpet, crackers thrown and crunched into the carpet, daddy's deodorant smeared all over his face, toothpaste eaten and hiden, lotion rubbed into my bed, baby's bed, the carpet and Makai, and everyday there is a new spill and mess ALL day long!

He loves to pour his water into his cereal and then spread it on the table. He thinks it's fun to climb counters to see what mommy might have forgotten to hide. He touches hot stoves after many warnings because he doesn't trust me that it really is hot. He thinks it's funny to fight me when I change his diaper. Water does not belong in the bathtub, but rather all over the bathroom floor and mommy. Deklan's binky's are fun to hide. He never sits to eat his meals. When I try reading him a book he steals it and reads it by himself. He fights nap time and usually falls asleep on the floor in his room. He refuses to hold my hand and runs away from me when we're in a parking lot. He pulls my hair when he's really mad at me (I have a seriously sensitive head, so that is the main thing you can do to make me mad). He likes to tell me to go outside and often points at me demanding that I cry. He finds other people's toothbrushes more interesting than his own. He fights me all day long about almost everything. He's the cutest little stinker, but I am at a complete loss as to how to handle him.

This is the face he'll flash at me if I catch him doing something he shouldn't; like hiding behind the chair in his room sucking on toothpaste that he climbed two shelves to get to.

I'm hoping it's a stage and maybe he's just reacting to Deklan being born, but right now I am going crazy and praying that we all survive another day. I take a deep breath before I go find him after he's been quite for awhile and I try my best to find the right words to help him understand and I try my best to understand him. He's trouble. It's a good thing he's cute, but I gotta say, the older he gets, the more trouble he gets and it's getting less and less cute everyday. 

I just hope our neighbors don't think we're beating our child. Though I'm sure they aren't super excited that we have moved in next to them. This does make me wonder if I should ever risk having another baby because what if it's ANOTHER boy?! And worse... What if he's just like Makai?! Let's just hope I stay out of the looney bin and don't go bald before Makai is 3.

Deklan's Birth Story

Birthdate: December 29^th, 2012 at 7:40am

Two weeks before my due date I was at the midwives and asked if they would check me to see how much I was dilated. I was only a 1 and he was still pretty high. The following week I was told I was at a 2. I was getting a little concerned since we were moving on the 22^nd and with Christmas coming up. And my insurance changed on December 31^st. That meant that if I didn’t have him by the end of 2012 that my birthing plan needed to change (meaning I’d have to go to the hospital and maybe have a different doctor) and I wouldn’t have nearly as good of coverage. So I was praying for this little guy to arrive ASAP.

I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday December 28^th (my due date) and was told then that I was only a 1. I guess they were wrong the week before. I started to cry. I was also sick and hadn’t been sleeping the past few days. My midwife wouldn’t strip my membranes because I guess they only do that if you are a 3 or a 4. But she gave me the option of going into the hospital to get a prostaglandin gel insert. I declined, went home and researched, cried a little more, and then called the midwives to see if it was too late for the gel. They told me to come right in. I went into the hospital after 3pm, left around 5pm and started having contractions on the drive home. They were off and on for the rest of the night. I was up most of the night, but by about 4:45am I woke James and told him that this was the real thing and we had better get moving. (That is when the midwife said we would record labor starting for real). James showered, then I took a bath and then showered. The boys woke up then too (sorry mom). We called the midwife at about 5:45am and she asked when I wanted to come in, I told her we better come right away because my last kid came fast.

We met her at the birthing center at 6:15am.  She checked me. James and I think she said I was at a 5. She then asked what I wanted to do and I asked if she would start filling the tub. (It is my preferred location to labor). I climbed in, moaned a lot, James cried a little, and things got moving. I snacked a little and drank lots of water, but mostly I just rolled my head from side to side and moaned. It was only the 3 of us in the entire birthing center, so it was really quiet (or peaceful as James put it. Somehow I don’t think we were having the same experience at that time.)

My midwife was fantastic. Her name was Shaina. She let me take charge of the entire experience and that was great. She let me tell her when it was time to push and tell her what I needed from her. She was ready to step in at any point, but I love that I was in control. It was a little too quiet, so I asked her to turn on the jets to muffle my own screams. (Yes, I was still in the tub. I did not necessarily intend to have a water birth, but I was not about to move, so a water birth was happening.) Then right after she turned on the jets I started pushing and broke my own water (never done that before). Then I had what felt like a 3 minute break in between contractions. It was weird, but appreciated. Then I screamed a lot more and baby boy was here. 7:40am.

The midwife who was acting as assistant got there right as he was being set on my chest. When it was time to get out of the tub to do all that lovely after-birth business, they handed the baby to James. He says that was cool because they usually take the baby away to do all that baby stuff and then we see him when he’s clean. We got lots of snuggles with a gooey baby. A little later they did weigh him and do all that baby stuff. He was 9lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. My biggest baby so far.

Then I nursed him and he nursed like a champ from the get-go. We were given a little time to snuggle him and relax and then they asked for his name. Umm……. We could not decide. Finally we were told we could leave and just call them on Monday to let them know. We stayed another hour trying to pick one and then gave up and decided to go see our boys. We left at 11am to go home.

My mom made a “Welcome Home” Sign that made it all seem so real that we had JUST had a baby and we were bringing him home. First thing Ezra said to me was, “Your belly is still big.” So sweet. Thanks Ez. Makai was very interested in the baby. Ezra didn’t really like him.

The next few days were spent full of tantrums and confusion. Ezra didn’t understand why I was always holding the baby and Makai only wanted daddy and nothing to do with mommy. Though Makai did love to hold the baby. It took a few days to get Ezra to even hold him. By Tuesday, January 1^st, we officially named him Deklan Steele Tressler. Deklan was just a name we both didn’t hate and many people recommended and Steele is a family name on James’ side.

All in all things went well. I didn’t have to deal with my insurance changing, we got all moved in before he came and I had my best birthing experience so far. The recovery has been good and the adjustment to 3 kids has been easier on me then adjusting to 2. Not to say it’s all fun and games. Last night I had all 3 kids screaming at the same time and I felt like I was going crazy, but emotionally I am doing okay.

Deklan is a sweet baby. If he’s not being held or sleeping, he’s crying, so it’s hard to get things done, but we’re surviving and he’s cute, so it’s okay.

Can’t believe we have 3 crazy boys now!

Welcome to our wild family Dek-O. We love you!

Meeting Deklan for the first time. (Don't mind my "dandruff" It was snowing :)

Our first family picture about 6 hours after he was born. I don't have the pic from the camera we were actually looking at lol.

Loved his curls right from the start :)