Happy one month Reiter

I cant believe you have been here a whole month little man! I feel like I was just begging you to COME OUT and here you have been out and in our arms for a whole month! It seems that with each baby the days go faster and faster so I am trying hard to enjoy your sweet newborn stage, holding, rocking and cuddling you and focusing less on wanting you to grow up a little so we can sleep more!
You are the most content baby,you eat every 3 hours throughout the day, you sleep from about 930-10 until 8am and usually get up twice in that stretch to nurse, you are pretty good about going right back to sleep after you are fed though so it isn't too bad and to be honest I enjoy having you all to myself during those night time feeds. You love your paci and have it in your mouth almost all the time! You have begun to wake up more and more and we are enjoying chatting with you as you have started to coo at us. We are still awaiting a "real" smile from you, you have given us several content grins in your sleep which is just precious!
Your sisters adore you and constantly want to touch and hold you. Sofie especially likes to give you back your paci. Averi runs into our room every morning and finds you immediately and greets you with a loud "GOOD MORNING BABY REITER" she loves when you are awake! Your dad and you have spent a lot of time dozing off in the rocking chair together the few rough nights you have had when you haven't wanted to go back to sleep, your daddy is crazy about you and so excited to take you fishing and hunting as you get older! You are the perfect addition to our family and we already can not envision life without you in it! We love ya REI MAN!

Letter to a wonderful wife and mother:

Dear Rachel,
On your birthday (sorry this is a day or two late :)…as you know I have not really had a chance the past two days to get this loaded) I wanted to surprise you with a post to let you know how much you mean to me. You are a wonderful wife and mother. I am so surprised every time I wake up and realize our life. We have three amazing kids. We have an amazing church. And we have an amazing God.

Our life has had some very crazy moments, but I have to remind you that you knew what you were signing up for with me :). I love you Rach. I am so very blessed to have you as my wife. I could not imagine raising these three precious kids with someone else. Even with as little sleep as we get (sometimes self-induced on my part, but still).

Happy birthday!!

-Kevin

Preschool

Averi started preschool last week and is loving it! After the 1st day she informed me of 3 things 1. we talked about bugs 2. we drew A and Bs and 3. me an my new friend Ashlynn use the girl potty, Ashlynn went poo poo I just went pee.
Sounds like a successful first day to me!

friends

The last 6 months we lived in Louisville we lived in the same apartment complex as my dear friend Ashley. Since moving we have both added another baby to our crews and life has become busier and busier, but we still have a special place in our hearts for all the Barretts! We got to spend 2 mornings playing and catching up while we were visiting, it was so wonderful to spend that precious time with my dear friend!

shower weekend

My very best friend Lindsay is getting married Labor Day Weekend and I am honored to be her maid of honor! This past weekend was spent celebrating Lindsay with a lingerie shower and bridal shower! Thank goodness I had lots of help pulling of both showers and everything turned out beautifully, less then 2 weeks and Lindsay becomes Mrs. James Bodden!!!!!

Have a sip sister

Like mother like daughter... who can resist a route 44 Diet Cherry Limeaide from Sonic, NOT ME!

Reiters new friend Piper

my friend Kim had her little girl 3 weeks before Reiter was born, we are so excited to watch them grow side by side!

sweet baby

I fall in love with this little boy a little more every time I breath in his sweet baby smell, cuddle his tiny body and kiss his little chubby cheeks!

lately...

Adjusting to 3 kiddos 3 and under has not been as bad as I expected. The girls are learning to be gentle and kind to their brother and since the first week home many of the signs of jealousy have seemed to diminish. Kev and I are both working hard to get in some quality one on one with the girls so they do not feel left out. Kev is especially spending extra time playing with them, bathing, feeding,cleaning and as so much of my time is spent nursing...He is a GREAT dad and a huge help and support to me, I could not do this without him! We have even started venturing out... I took all 3 to hobby lobby yesterday and today we spent 2 glorious hours outside at the park, with the weather so nice I could just live outside right now! Rei is a sweet little guy and is starting to spend a lot more time awake, he is a happy fella as long as he has his paci and is eating every 3 hours during the day and sleeps between 3 and 5 hours at night I am adoring those night hours spent nursing him uninterrupted, it is a sweet time!

Averi writes her own name!

Averi and I have been working on a little preschool stuff the last year, she can count to 20, recognize numbers 1-10, knows all her shapes and colors, knows a few bible verses, and has begun to write several letters and numbers... I was not feeling like I had a ton of success until a few days ago when...


AVERI WROTE HER OWN NAME!!!! She starts preschool tomorrow and I am so excited for what she will learn, I know she will have fun and do well!

happy one week little man...

I can not believe Rei has been here a week! So far He has been the sweetest little guy, he is still in the sleepy cuddly newborn stage and I am eating it up! When he is awake he is so chilled out and just looks around and only seems to cry when he is hungry! He loves his paci which makes me so happy because neither of the girls were paci takers! He lost 12% of his weight (they dont like babies to lose more then 10%) and battled a little jaundice but between his check up tuesday and wednesday he gained 4 oz and his bili level had gone down so the pediatrician felt he was in the clear and he doesnt have to go back to the doctor until his 2 week visit!
Averi and Sofie are doing pretty well. Averi is more hyper then normal but I think that is just her way of getting our attention, she asks all the time if she can hold "baby Reiter" and is gentle and kind to him. Sofie is also doing pretty well she has had some serious melt downs but we knew since she is so attatched to me the adjustment may be a bit difficult for her, she is also very interested in her brother and learning to be gentle with him! Kevins mom has been here helping this week which has been AWESOME I don't think the transition would be going so smooth without her extra hands! This first week has been a joy, we are so blessed.