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.

Family Pictures

Our very talented friend Josh Drovdal took some family photos for us at Christmas time.  I think they turned out pretty cute!  I was impressed that he was able to get a few where most kids where looking at the camera.  Here they are, for your viewing pleasure:

Yikes. Oh, yikes.

At the beginning of October we discovered we were expecting another baby, due June 4th.  ANOTHER baby, you say? That's insanity, you say?  Yes, indeed it is. Here are the (snarky, but honest) answers to all the questions that you are hopefully too scared to ask the hormonal pregnant lady.  Good decision.

Were you "trying"?
Are you nuts?  Who would willfully add another child to the chaos which is my life?  Which begs the next obvious question....

Don't you know what causes that by now?
No, can you please explain that to me?

Were you trying for a girl?
Refer to the first question, but no.  I'm fully expecting this baby to be a boy.  I don't think the odds are in our favor!  Plus, I think I'd get lost in the "pink aisle" at the store.  Of course, a girl would be a welcome surprise.  But I kinda like my boys, and adding a girl adds a whole different family dynamic.
On a side note, I've had a few people ask me if we "tried" for twins.  What does that even mean? 

Are you worried it's twins again?
Absolutely!  So far we've only seen one baby in there, but we were surprised at our second ultrasound with the twins (they only saw one baby at our first early ultrasound), so anything can happen.  And God has a funny sense of humor, obviously, so I could totally see that happening.  At least I'm a professional by now, right?

Won't you be moving right when you're oh-so-pregnant?
Yes, can you please come help out?  Bring your pick-up and strong muscles, 'cause we have a lot of crap ;)
Once again proving God has a sense of humor, we literally found out the day after we signed closing papers on the property we're going to build our house on.  

Anything else?
Admittedly my first thought when I saw those two pink lines, was, OH. MY. GOSH.  What the heck am I gonna do with FIVE kids, much less five under six!  Do we need to get a bigger vehicle?  Where will this person sleep? And, so much for my nice, even numbered family.  The logistics are a bit much for me to wrap my mind around.
But then, thankful Tara kicked in.  I reminded myself of those many nights I spent crying in my pillow begging God for just ONE baby, and now I'll have FIVE!  How dare I complain/whine/doubt that!
Right now I'm trying to look at this as a HUGE blessing from the Lord. He must think I can handle this, and that I'll do a good job.  Phew! At least someone believes in me!  Plus, one baby'll be a piece o' cake after twins, right?  In the meantime, I'd appreciate your prayers for a healthy pregnancy, and for this lady to not feel too overwhelmed in the meantime.  I can't wait to meet you, newest Baby Cozzens!

This is Tiernan's version of me and my boys.  Notice the baby in my tummy...

This is what everyone will see when they ask how I feel about another baby....

And this is what I feel like inside...

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone, nine days late!  Here are some pictures of my least favorite holiday.  It was a little more fun this year because Tiernan was totally into it. I just have a hard time shelling out bucks for a costume they wear for a few hours, to celebrate what?  Satan?  I need to research Halloween because I am kind of a grinch about it.   

We had been telling the boys since like June about going to the pumpkin patch.  Finally we set a date and they asked EVERY. SINGLE. DAY until then about going.  Of course that day it decided to be a torrential downpour so the patch was a muddy mucky mess.  Tiernan insisted upon pulling a wagon and we could barely walk.  It was actually pretty impressive!  I was impressed that nobody including me did a face plant and we would have to immediately go home for a bath.  

Poor babies are always trapped because we can't handle them running in two directions 

(especially in the mud!) 

Both big boys sat in the race car, but Cameron was not into getting his picture taken

 The babies were excited to get out of the wagon and sit on the rocking horse.  It was so cold though, and we could only stay a few minutes.

 Here is the obligatory picture of the kids in their costumes.  Notice how happy Zane is about his costume...

In the spirit of being real, here is the first picture we got-both babies were screaming, Cameron was trying to hide, and I think Tiernan was frustrated with his mask.  You notice in the above picture he had it off.

They are getting so big!  Pay no attention to the blinds that have been completely destroyed by them playing when they're supposed to be sleeping.

How did he fall asleep like this?