Zoom in on Zayne- 3months

Well Little One,
You were 3 months old Feb 13th, 2012. Yah, almost 2 months ago, but I haven't forgotten your "Firsts" for that month, so here's what you were up to:

You are such a chatter bug. You coo and talk so much. You talk to me, your sister and brother, your Dad, your Grandparents and strangers. Any and everyone! And its just so fun to hear! Theres a very fun tone to your talking. I know that sounds kinda crazy, but you really do. You are so joyous and your coos fit your personality. Its like I have an idea of what you're telling me. We "chat" about your day and from what I can tell your days are pretty dang fun :)

You started Laughing!! Full out belly laughs. You're ticklish, so thats one way to get you to laugh, but I can also pretend to sneeze or make fun sounds and you'll laugh out loud. I can also get you to laugh when I kiss you a bunch. You think its hilarious when I kiss your chin and cheeks and snuggle up to your neck. Its probably a little bit hilarious and a little bit ticklish, but you love it and its so fun.

You are the HAPPIEST Baby on the Block. Seriously! You smile All. The. Time. I spend so much time just smiling at you and soaking in your smiles back. I know I've probably said it alot already, and get use to it, cause I'm going to continue, but you are an absolute joy. You are just this sweet little angel! You smile with your whole body. Your eyes, your hands, your feet, everything smiles. Its sooooo cute. And because I know how fricken fast these months go, I do whatever I can to be in the moment with you. You remind me a lot of how Raya was as a baby. Just smiley and giggly and easy!

You LOVE your sister and brother. Right now you and Raya have a very sweet connection. She can always make you smile and laugh. She's such a great helper. She holds you and helps me burp you and if you're getting fussy she'll entertain you until I can help you out. She also has been a huge help when you're crying in the carseat. She can get her arms out enough to reach your pacifier and put it back in your mouth. She loves this job. And lately she'll help you before I even ask which is a bit of a problem cause its not safe! She sometimes insists that she hold the pacifier in your mouth so I'm trying to explain to her that the best option is for her to be buckled up correctly and then at a red light she can help you :) Your Big Brother is obsessed with you. He always has to be touching your head or your face. Omg. It doesn't seem to bug you, but I feel smothered for you. Haha! He loves to pat and rub your head. He also loves to hold you. He's a really sweet big brother and you seem to love his attention.

3 month stats, I'm guessing you were 13-14lbs. You were wearing 3month and some 6month clothes. Size 2 diapers. Size 2 shoes. You sleep like a baby ;) hehe. And nurse like a champ. You wake up 1 to 3 times a night to eat, but you sleep with me, so neither one of us really wake up. Even though you wake up I still get a full nights sleep, so its all good! I'm so pro co-sleeping and nursing. I've done it with all 3 babies and have always been well rested. Its what works for this family! You are still a big tummy sleeper. I have slightly less anxiety about that because you can move your head so well. But you do sleep incredibly well on your tummy. I feel like you're still asleep more than you're awake. You'll be up for an hour and then take a 2 hour nap, up for another hour or so and then another 2 or 3 hour nap.

We got the jumper out for you. You're only semi impressed by it. You'll stand in it for a little bit and look around, but it doesn't seem to float your boat. You actually spend the whole time watching us or whatever is going on in the living room and pay very little attention to the toys. You like your floor gym. You can grab some of the toys and you attempt to pull them down. You talk alot when you're in the floor gym. Lots of grunts and yells. Its fun to watch you. And you also like your swing. Gentry can get you to fall asleep in it. I don't have the patience. But you'll rock when you're awake, so its nice to have that option.

Baby Boy, you're the best. I always look at you and think, "You aren't suppose to be here! And my life without you wouldn't have been as bright as it is now that you're here." You are truly a bundle of joy! i love you so very much Zayne Kyle.
xoxo, Mom

We're Back!!!

WOW. What a crazy and AMAZING 2 weeks :) I've literally been counting down to the past 2 weeks for months. I can't believe its all over. Uhhh, I hate that part! Our trip to Arkansas was just perfect! Thanks to everyone that sent Good Traveling Vibes our way. Both the flights were easy. The kids slept the majority of the almost 3 hour flights. We also had to drive 5 hours to Fayetteville from Dallas and the drives were surprisingly great too. They actually went pretty fast. I did spend most of the drive in the back seat with Kallen (Raya was back there too) He really doesn't like the carseat. Luckily, the only time it was terrible was the last 2 hours of our drive there. So all in all I'd consider it a huge success! It was sooooo great to see my good friends. Fayetteville was just like I remembered it. It was really great to be back. And I knew when I went back I'd either miss it terribly and want to move back, or be ok that I didn't live there...and I decided that it was great to visit and I didn't need to move back. It was the PERFECT place for College. And I love the town dearly, but I don't miss getting starred out everywhere we go. Lol. I forget how Not Mixed the South is. It's getting better, slowly but surely, but its got work to do. I will say about 80percent of the time we were treated great and strangers were very warm to us...but there were still those people that couldn't handle our family. I'm sure they hate the fact that my kids are so dang cute :) Hehe. And I will say that its not just like that in Fayetteville, that's just where I was this weekend and compared to where we live now I was reminded of what its like living in a more conservative town. And to be honest, it was like that when we lived there and despite that I still Loved living there. Send good thoughts that way because they are experiencing severe weather! Horrible flooding and tornado warnings and craziness. I hope everyone stays as dry and safe as possible!!!

But anyways, back to the trip. It was a much needed vacation and I wish we could've stayed longer. I really don't think I've gone out like that since I had babies. So needless to say I am still recovering. I really miss my best friend Jen, and it was so freakin good to spend the weekend with her. Me, her and Jodie had FUN. Lol. I was so sad to leave. I hate that its so expensive to fly to Fayetteville because we'd do that a couple times a year for sure. But either way, we pinky swore we'd go to the Black Alumni Reunion/Weekend every time it was being held (which is every other year) I can't wait until April 2013!

After you graduate from The University of Arkansas your name is etched into "Senior Walk." I was SO EXCITED to see my name :) That's one of the coolest things ever. Ever! 

I have a bunch more pictures...these were just some of my favorite. The rest are in my facebook album: Arkansas Weekend

I have so much to blog about! Raya's 2nd BIRTHDAY!!! Easter. Kallen's newest accomplishments. Life. I gotta get on it! It's been a hectic 2 weeks. So sad they're over. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things...can't wait to get all blogged up! (That's code for caught up on my blog ;)

The Simple Things

Found Simple as that through one of my blog friends: Sweet 'n' Sassy. On Sunday she has a weekly photo challenge: capture an image each week of the simple things in life that make you smile...the little things and little moments that make you happy... Thought it was a very sweet idea, especially because I just so happen to get one of the sweetest pictures yet of the kids-holding hand!  It was gloomy all morning but in the afternoon the sun came out and we took a walk along the beach. Right after we got them all strapped in Raya reached over for Kallen's hand. I didn't think my camera was on, but clearly it was :) And I gotta good one! 
Perfect weather, perfect walk, perfect company :) Such a simple afternoon that made me so happy!

Raya's such a sweet big sister :)

Keeping Up With Kallen---3 Months Old!!!

Kallen,
I can't believe you've been here for 3 months already! I use to joke about wanting my baby to come out at 3 months because that's when they're super cute. Well that was before I had a kid and of course that changed when I actually had my own baby. The newborn phase is the absolute sweetest. However, 3 months is the start of the Super Cute Phase :) I seriously can't put my camera down. I just stare at your face and want to eat you up. You are sooooo cuuuuuttteee!!!! I kiss your checks All Day Long. Oh man kiddo, you have me wrapped around your cute, chubby, tan little finger.

Well you're really good at holding your head up. I can sit you in your bumbo for a little bit. It's not your favorite thing to do quite yet. I think its because you're a little chunky and your back isn't quite strong enough to sit you up AND hold your head. Lol. You prefer to be in the rocker or bouncer. You let me sit you in either of those for a good 20minutes, sometimes more. This has been great!!! I think you've worked out the uncomfortableness you were going through your first few weeks of life. You're not at all gassy like you were and really don't cry that much anymore. Which means you don't freak out when I put you down or lay you down to nap. Thanks!

You still have all of your hair. I'm pretty sure none of it is going to fall out. It's still pretty straight. It has the slightest wave to it. It's brown, but in the sun it has an auburnish/golden tint to it. It's a very pretty color. Your eyes are still very dark. I'm guessing they're going to be a chocolate brown. Your skin is absolutely perfect. Baby acne is all gone. You still have your stork bites on your eyelids, but the one on your forehead has almost completely faded.

You sleep great. For that past couple weeks you were sleeping long nights, only waking up once in the night to eat. The last 48 hours you've been eating like a beast. I'm guessing its the 3 month growth spurt. You still nap most of the day. I'd say you're up for an hour, sleep for an hour then eat for about 15minutes and start the process over.

I'm loving getting to know your personality. You definitely know how to communicate :) Its pretty easy to guess what you want by the way you act. When you're hungry you use your mouth and "kiss" me or your Dad in a way that's clear you're looking for food. We were just talking about that at dinner tonight. We were joking about how, even though you can't remotely talk, we CLEARLY know you're ready to eat. You are dealing with some thrush. Its only painful for me. Awesome ;) Some babies don't eat because the thrush bothers them, but it doesn't bother you at all. It's almost completely cleared up, so I'm hoping by the end of this week we'll both be good! You also seem to get over stimulated and need a good amount of down time. You like quite time and you like it to be dark when you're sleeping. You could sit and rock with me and look around for hours. And that's fine with me! I just wish I could do it more.

I'm not sure what your Stats are, but I know you are at least 15lbs and I measured you with a tape measure and got 24.5inches. We'll see how accurate I am next month at your check up. You are wearing mostly 6month clothes and some 9month clothes and a size 2 diaper.

You are very alert and enjoy your surroundings. I can tell you can see all kinds of things now and you pay attention to whats around you and study it and take it all in. I'd say your all time favorite thing to do is eat, followed by sleeping and then watching the world around you.

You smile a lot, but no giggles yet. I've tried everything!!! Raya first laughed at 10weeks, so I know you're ready. You giggle in your sleep. I spend tons of time during the day doing any and everything I can think of that might be funny to you, but you're not amused. Lol. That's not true. I get lots of smiles and half chuckles, or the very first octave of a laugh, but not the real thing. I can't wait until you finally do!

I am so obsessed with you kid. I worried a lot that we wouldn't be like Raya and I were, and we're not, but it's just as amazing. It's a different kind of love. You're my sweet boy. My Little Big Guy. The way you smile at me when you first wake up or see me for the first time MELTS my heart. You're my baby and I'm never going to stop smothering you with kisses. Hehe. Even when you're 15 and have your friends over I'm going to be ridiculously embarrassing. That's how much I love you :) And I'm such a good Mom that I'm giving you a 14 year and 9 month warning!