I cannot believe it has been a month since I last blogged! Yikes! November has been insanely busy. Tim was gone to Wisconsin to visit his great grandfather and to hunt on the family farm for about 9 days! The boys and I managed to survive the first 5 days and then Tim's parents came down to help out the last 4 days! Thank goodness. Everything went fine but we were glad for daddy to get home.

The next weekend I spent working in Fort Smith on a project that I am working on for the city and my sweet mom came with me and kept Ben in the hotel while I did work. Couldn't have done it without her! Zac also had his tubes replaced in his ears, hopefully this pair will work longer than 6 months. He pulled through like a champ!

Then we celebrated my 34th birthday followed by a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and then Tim's family. The boys had a great time being the center of attention and playing with their cousins.

Ben is now 11 weeks old and weighs around 11 lbs. He is getting so big. He smiles and coos and loves to be cuddled. Nate and Zac are getting very excited about Christmas as we've already put up our decorations in anticipation of the Sunday School Christmas party I so crazily volunteered to host! It will be fun but I have a lot of cleaning to do before then!

I'm sure this month will pass just as quickly as the last. But I love Christmas, those of you who know me well, know it is my favorite holiday! Below are some pics. from the Christmas tree farm, one of our favorite Christmas traditions! Hugs and Christmas Cheer to you all!

The boys are very excited about this week. Tonight was Nate's "fall festival" at school, for which the boys dressed in their very cute costumes. I'll post some pics. below. Tomorrow we will trick-or-treat at a few houses and then the boys will go to AWANA at church for "trunk-or-treat." We are all doing well. Below are some cute pics of the boys. We are all healthy and happy this week which is FABULOUS!

First off let me say that Zac is 5 weeks on today and I cannot believe how fast time is passing. It is such a joy and privilege, tinged with sadness, to watch him grow.

O.K. now to the not so "joyful stuff". My 3 big boys (Tim, Zac & Nate) have been sick with a nasty stomach virus since a week ago Sat. It is the craziest virus, N & Z, have had it pretty bad; the "crazy" part of it is that you have it for a day or two and then it "goes away for 24 to 48 hours" only to return, which for the boys generally tends to be in the middle of the night. This virus has increased my laundry 10-fold! For any of you who truly know me, I am terrible at keeping up with laundry in the first place. Let me recount last Tuesday afternoon (as told to a friend of mine) as it is worth a good laugh in hindsight!

Nate and Zac are running around playing and Ben is crying rather loud because he is hungry. No one is at this little park so I decide to nurse Ben (I never do this in public when anyone is around). A little bit later, Nate and Zac come over to where I'm sitting and Zac looks at me and Nate and then Zac throws up EVERYWHERE, he is rather stunned because he has never done this when awake, it gets on Nate who begins to throw a major crying fit, while Zac is standing their amazed at what is transpiring. I am trying to calm the two boys down while detaching Ben (he is not to happy because he is hungry). I get the boys to the van and strip everyone down to their undies/diapers for the ride home. The van smells like throw-up and we have to stop twice for Zac to "throw-up" which really just consists of spitting along the highway. About 10 minutes from home I hear him coughing and I look up and Zac is throwing up in the car. I pull over get it all cleaned up with wipies and we finally make it home.

Well that "event" took place one week ago. Luckily Nate appears to be over the virus as his last "episode" was Friday night. However, my precious Zac still has it... luckily the virus strikes randomly, some days there are not symptoms other days I'm doing laundry constantly! On a positive Note, Ben has managed to stay well. Today, the hour leading up to getting Nate to school by 8 was almost as eventful as last Tues. since it was a rainy morning. Oh yeah, I took all three boys to the pediatrician today and that was real circus! As we were walking out of the office, one mom looked at me and said, "your doing a good job honey" and I said "I know it looks like I've lost control, and I think I probably have, mud puddles bring out the monster in these two kiddos!"

O.K. very exciting news, my sis is most likely in labor. If she doesn't have the baby by Wed. morning they will induce and we will get to see what precious baby Molly looks like. Keep Jen in your thoughts and prayers and pray hard for an effective epidural!

Well I will close for now. New pics. soon! Hugs, KMO

We are "rock'in" right along. It is so amazing how after only 3 weeks I cannot even remember what life was like before 3 little boys (and one big boy)! Everyone is adjusting fabulously. Don't get me wrong, everyone has their moments but overall the transition has gone smoothly. I will post some pics and write more soon.

Nate & Zac are dressed for a night at the Rodeo!


N & Z thought the Pike County Fair was the best thing ever!


At one week of age, Ben was the subject of show and tell in Nate's class!


Precious Ben at 2.5 weeks!


Big Brother Zac "watching over" Ben!

Well, it was two weeks ago today that little Ben joined our family. It has been a busy, sleepless at times, wonderful two weeks. We've been so fortunate to have help from both Tim's mom & dad (grandma & grandpa) and my parents (nanna & papa doc). They helped take care of all of us by cooking, folding laundry, playing with big boys, & cuddling little guy!

Nate & Zac have "adjusted" really well. I think they both really enjoy playing the role of big brother. Nate loves to kiss and get right in Zac's face and tell him how much he loves him. Whereas, Zac is totally fascinated with Ben's head and constantly wants to touch it despite my efforts to get him to touch Ben's feet, hiney, or some other less fragile area! Most of the time Nate & Zac are just absorbed in their own little world and tend to forget Ben. The other big event in Nate & Zac's life this week was the Pike County Fair & Rodeo! The boys went twice and thought it was the greatest thing ever!

Ben is so precious. He truly is a joy and I can't imagine life without him. He completes our family. To date, he is a really good baby who eats frequently during the day but goes long stretches at night between feedings. He has the most precious little "sleep smiles" and is keeping his eyes open a little more every day. He changes everyday and it saddens me to think how fast these "newborn days" pass. I think he looks like a combination of both Nate & Zac.

Tim continues to be a fabulous dad and it is fun to imagine what their "daddy days" will be like in a couple of years! Hope this catches everyone up. I'll try to post pics soon. Hugs, KMO

Baby O will arrive on Monday morning! My fabulous doctor has agreed that it would be fine to induce on Monday, September 10th! What a relief! I now feel certain my baby will be born in a hospital and not some where on the road between Glenwood and Arkadelphia! I will arrive at 5 a.m. and they will get things started around 6 a.m.! I'll post pictures as soon as I can! Hugs, KMO

Quick update:

Nate is still enjoying school and says his favorite thing about school is lunch... go figure!

I had my doctor's appointment today and everything looks good, so far I'm dialated to almost a 2 (8 more to go). Because I felt like the baby's movements had slowed down over the past few days, I took a stress test today at the hospital where they monitored the baby's heartbeat for about an hour just to make sure everything was as it should be... and thankfully it was. It was 45 minutes of quiet so it was actually enjoyable once I knew the little one was A-O.K.! Unless something changes, like we decide to do it earlier or baby decides to appear earlier, we will most likely induce on Friday, Sept. 14, which is the day before the baby is due. However, I'm not sure this little one will stay put that long, we shall see.

I hope this finds you all doing well. Hugs to all, KMO

Nate is back in school and loving it. Before starting school he had decided that he only wanted his K-3 teacher. I explained that once he got to know his new teacher, Mrs. Mitchell, I thought he'd really like her. When I picked him up on the first day of school his first words were "I really like my new teacher"! Thank goodness! He LOVES lunch time best of all and isn't so crazy about nap time (imagine that), but always takes one! He has 2 new friends ... Brody and "new friend" (has yet to learn the name). And I think he has a crush on a younger woman named Emily (from our church) and his best buddies are still Tracy and Caroline. All in all, it was a fabulous first week!

Zac has decided he is not happy about a new baby and tells me "new baby go away"! Great, it is not even here yet! Some days he says "Zachy love new baby" other times its "Zachy squish new baby"! Should be interesting. He is not too thrilled that new baby will be in his old room (which is pretty bare but still pretty boyish until we know what this little one is going to be). He also decided last week that he did not want in the baby bed any more and "kicked Nate out" of his big boy bed and made him sleep on the trundle . This happened after Zac tried sleeping on the trundle one night.... for 3 hours he rocked in the glider, read books, walked around, set off the alarm clock, unplugged the nightlight etc. (amazingly, Nate slept through most of this)!

So, I ordered bunk beds and we set up them up for the boys on Saturday night and they have done great EXCEPT for the fact that Zac who is not even 2.5 yet decides he doesn't like the bottom bunk but wants the top bunk (of course he wants to do EVERYTHING Nate does and usually can). Last night we put Zac to bed about 30 min. before we put Nate to sleep. We went in to tuck Nate in bed and guess who had silently climbed to the top bunk in the dark and fallen asleep! Yep, Zac! I had even had the monitor on and I didn't hear a peep! Little Monkey! He cried when we moved him to the bottom bunk but he went back to sleep! So far so good.

We are all doing great. Anxious about all of the changes that lie ahead but so excited about meeting this little one that is making me look like a swallowed a couple of watermelons! I'll post pics of the boys in their new beds soon.
Hugs, KMO

It's been a busy couple of weeks! We've been trying to cram in last minute trips, swims, canoe trips, etc. before Nate started K-4 (preschool)! Last year we went from Jan-May, 3 mornings a week. This year we are going 4 days a week! There were times this summer when I thought this day might not get here fast enough but we had such a good summer and it went so fast! Zac and I already miss our "bubba"! I was really sad but excited for Nate when I left school this morning. However, Zac keeps me busy and it is nice to have some mommy & Zac time. Nate was excited about school this morning and looked like such a big boy carrying his backpack complete with nap mat and lunch box! Zac kept saying "Zachy wants to go to school"! I'll blog later on how his first day went. Fabulous I'm sure!

First of all, our daddy came home! The boys were so excited to see their daddy. He made it home late, late, late on Monday night; so it was actually Tuesday morning before they got to see him. Luckily he got to take Tuesday off so he could spent the day with the boys. Of course, a portion of Tuesday was spent on the Caddo River! Tim had a great time out West (Utah & Idaho) working 16 hour days fighting wild fires. Only Tim would consider that a "paid vacation" complete with smoke inhalation, long hours, using a drip torch, and swinging a Pulaski! Seriously, despite the hard work he had a good time.



Second, the boys began sharing a room this week. I have agonized and dreaded this for months. I have tried to imagine every terrible scenario possible and tried to come up with any solution possible to keep them from having to share a room (adding on to the house was not an option)! If you've heard me talk about my precious boys' very different sleep habits you know why I have put this off as long as possible. Well, actually they have done GREAT! The first night had some rough spots. Zac banged his head and yelped like a fire engine (this is normal) for nearly an hour and a half and Nate called me in the room several times for various requests during which, every time I entered Zac would pop up and say, "What you doing mama?" ... even at 2 in the morning! However, nights 2 and 3 have gone great. If Nate needs me, he whispers quietly and I hear him on the monitor and go in and remedy the problem and Zac usually sleeps through it all or rolls back over and goes to sleep after 15 minutes of siren noises, during which Nate sleeps or lays quietly. Soooooo ... so far, the experience has gone relatively smooth. Hopefully it will continue to go good. We are still napping in separate rooms after trying joint naps which was a total bust! That's O.K., because Nate will be napping at preschool 4 days a week beginning one week from Monday.

Baby is doing great! Only 5 more weeks to go. In some ways it seems so long but in so many other ways I need every minute of those 5 weeks to complete multiple projects! We are getting so excited about meeting our "baby boy" or "baby girl"!

Hugs to you all. KMO

Again, it has been awhile since I've posted. Last weekend Tim left on Saturday for a 14-day leave fighting wild fires out west. It's with mixed emotion that we said goodbye... it is something that is so fascinating to him and gets him outside where he truly shines and it was hard for him to leave his family too. Glad to report that he is doing good... 16 hour work days, camping in a tent, fighting fires first in Utah and now Idaho, and the boy is still happy and going strong.

Last weekend we also spent the day on Saturday in Arkadelphia where my high school friend Abby brought her precious kiddos to Arkansas for their first visit. We were so excited to meet Cati and Gus (adopted from Guatemala this spring) and to see many of my other high school friends like Crystal and Jenny and her beautiful twins.

Last week Tim's parents came to town and stayed 3 days helping out with the boys which included daily trips to Arkadelphia for a second round of swimming lessons! The boys had a great time and enjoyed their creek time with Grandpa and story time with Grandma.

This past weekend we spent time in Dallas with my mom, dad, sister and her husband and precious little guy Matthew! We had fun shopping and watching the boys play. Nate and Zac adore cousin Matthew! It was fun to spend time with Jenny who is expecting a girl in October!

Well there is a lot of work to do while the boys are sleeping! One day I'll post photos again but Tim has my camera right now! Hugs, KMO

Tim is home from Antigua! Thank goodness. We missed him TONS!

Today I had an ultrasound and everything looks great! Just as it should. The baby probably weighs around 3 lbs. (Heaven only knows I've gained waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than 3 lbs.) and is positioned properly at this point. 10 more weeks to go. Well there is one person on this earth who knows for sure what we are having... my doctor... Dr. John! However, I choose not to indulge myself with the information! So you too will have to wait! Hugs to all, KMO

To my friends Jenny and Abby... you guys are incredible and wonderful for always updating your blogs weekly (Jenny with twins, Ab with 2 newly adopted kiddos)! I however, am not so diligent (no excuse seems worth listing)!
During the last two weeks of June, the boys took swimming lessons in Arkadelphia at the Aquatic Park. They absolutely LOVED it! Zac is fearless when it comes to the water. He will jump, dive, and sink! He loves going underwater and if he could ever figure out how to get his legs kicking and his arms moving, he would actually be swimming! Nate can now swim underwater for as long as he can hold his breath! I think he thinks he's ready for the Olympics but he still has some work to do!