March so far (and a new house!!)

First, some random pictures from the first half of March:

It has been so snowy/rainy the past month or so off and on.  The boys of course think all the mud is fabulous and one day I made them all strip down before they could come back inside.  I had to get a picture of them watching cartoons in their undies/diapers.  It will be great blackmail material for when they're older....

Everyday the babies get better and better about playing with each other/entertaining themselves.  Plus it's finally been warm enough to play outside so we're all happier :)  They are true boys and love digging in the dirt and rocks.  

Tiernan was so proud that he did this puzzle all by himself.  He made me take a picture of his hard work!

Jaxson was having a hard time sleeping the other night, and I snagged this hilarious picture of him and Daddy.  Yes, I am completely obsessed with babies sleeping.  I think I may need an intervention because it's probably a little creepy.

In other news, about mid-January we FINALLY broke ground on our new house!  Back in October we purchased a few acres and it took that long just to get the permits (and other red tape gov't nonsense) pushed through.  Then the build was delayed a few times due to nasty cold weather...overall it's just been an exercise in patience/frustration.  We will be SO incredibly overwhelmed with thankfulness once it is finally complete at the end of April.  And not a minute too soon, since this baby will probably make his appearance the end of May.  So, to re-cap....the to-dos in the next three months are....finish building the house, pack and move being 9 months pregnant (with four small children in tow!), and have a baby.  Not too much, right?  This is all good stuff, but I'm trying not to be overwhelmed by the seemingly endless list of things to get done.  On the plus side, I'm nesting at the same time as we're moving, so I'm sure we'll be getting rid of alot of unnecessary things before we pack up!  A girl can dream!  Anywho, here are some pictures of the boys "helping" with the build.  They can't wait to have all kinds of space to run around and dig in the dirt.  Neither can the adults.....

Cameron and Tiernan got to help Daddy in the mini excavator when Ethan was digging to put in the septic system.

Ethan tried to have me use the laser level to help him out so he didn't have to keep jumping in and out of the excavator.  I'm thankful he is the most patient person I know because that was an exercise in futility.  I kept moving the wand thing around (does this give any indication how much help I was??) and mostly Ethan still had to jump in and out to recheck everything I did.    

The twins loved running around in the holes that Ethan dug.

The boys were helping Daddy fill in the dirt above the propane line. PS I've having to learn all these new things about living in the country.  Propane line??  Where is the gas line?  And what the heck is a septic system?  Okay, I did know about that, since we did have one growing up-but haven't ever experienced putting one in.  What an operation!

The boys loved running around in the trenches.  Which I found out later is actually really dangerous due to dirt collapsing on people.  OOOOOPPPSSS

The boys also loved running around the foundation.  They called it "the maze."  It was so cute!

We can't wait to move!  It is so peaceful and quiet.....which will promptly change when we move out there.  Sorry, new neighbors!

Cameron's Birthday and February

My middle boy is now a big four year old!  His birthday totally snuck up on me this year, so we just did a little family party at home.  Not that we would've had a big party if I was on top of things....but who am I kidding?  I'll never be on top of things.

He was so excited because he got to pick out some delicious fun-fetti cupcakes for his big day.  I can't believe there were four candles!

They were all so cute when Cameron was unwrapping presents.  That is a fun thing about having boys-they all love playing with each other's gifts and were so happy for him.  

How awesome is that face?

What is it with my boots that make them so exciting?

Look at these two sweet boys asleep in their beds!  I know I say this all the time, but is there anything cuter than babies sleeping?

I was trying to keep the twins entertained as we were waiting to pick up Tiernan from school one day.  They thought my sunglasses were awesome-thankfully I happened to have two pairs in there.  What cool dudes!

The twins learned how to climb down the stairs in February.  It has revolutionized my life!  Not only could I take down the baby gate, but I don't have to carry two sets of kids up and down the stairs 8000 times per day.  

Baby Cozzens is a....BOY! Shocking, I know.

Yes, we've known for a few months now, but baby Cozzens is a BOY!  I know you all are about to faint from shock and awe, but please try to contain yourselves!  The top question I get asked from every random stranger is, oh, is it at least a girl this time?  Which irrationally really makes me mad.  Like having five healthy boys is the worst thing in the world that could ever happen to someone.  The second most annoying asked question/comment I get is, well, are you (finally!) done?  Like having a big family is terrible.  I could go on and on....

Anyways, I wasn't in any way expecting or anticipating a girl.  This pregnancy was a surprise, and I feel like I already mourned not ever having a girl with the twins.  So this time around, I just knew from the beginning it was a boy, and honestly it was a little bit of a relief.  I already know all about boys, and already have everything I need for a boy.  I am an expert on all things farm/construction equipment and am a master Legos builder.  Just don't ask me to do pigtails or put on tights.  I might break into cold sweats.  

My new favorite maternity shirt from my good friend Mary.  Hilarious!  I hope that I don't have to save it for another baby :)  

On a side note, the other day we'd had a long day out at the property where we're building our house.  The boys were COVERED head to toe in mud.  The babies were just in their shirts and diapers because they were too wet and the big boys were just plain filthy.  We were on our way home and decided to just pop into a fast food restaurant to eat a late dinner.  Ethan and I were joking about how ghetto we looked with all our scraggly kids and they we both looked down and I was wearing this shirt! Maybe you had to be there, but I wish we had a picture of us in all our glory.  I'm sure everyone at the restaurant was thinking, Thank GOD, it's that lady's last kid!

The money shot....

Everything looked healthy and he was perfect.  Seriously, who could complain about that?  I joked with my mom that I could handle another wiener in my house, but I couldn't handle bad news.  So, we're praying like crazy that he does indeed end up healthy and I have an uneventful rest of the pregnancy.  Now, to think of a name for this kid....

We've got some catching up to do! Hang on....

How pathetic that I never uploaded pictures from Christmas?  How much more pathetic that I only took like three pictures?  

Here is our sad Charlie Brown tree.  I was so excited to put up a tree this year since we couldn't last year with our craziness of moving....until my mom burst my bubble that there is not way in H-E-double hockey sticks that I'd ever be able to find my Christmas lights/decor.  GRRRRR!  So, we bought a sad little tiny tree and cheapo lights/ornaments to put up.  The plus side is that the boys thought we bought it especially that size for them, and so they were absolutely thrilled with our tiny tree.  Oh, the innocence of kids!

Can you see outside the van window?  When we drove over the mountains to see my parents, there was the worst blizzard ever!  We were trapped in the car and had to get pulled out at one point by a kind CDOT worker.  Thankfully we had a DVD player and boys were so content watching hours and hours of movies while Ethan and I stressed that we'd never make it over the hill.

Grandma got the big boys matching jammies.  They still wear their Temple Run jammies and say they run faster when they're in them.  

Zane is my little ham bone kid.  He was so proud to be wearing his big brother's dinosaur slippers.

Um, seriously how do you fall asleep in the midst of the chaos which is my house??

This time, wearing Mommy's boots!

My sweet Jaxson

Mom, take my picture!

Cameron was so proud one day to have some special alone time with Daddy.  They went to the John Deere dealership and sat on all the equipment.