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? 

Slacker Mom

Okay, it's been, what, almost two months since I last posted? I've been such a slacker about taking pictures of the kiddos.  What has happened since I last wrote?  At the ripe ol' age of 17 months my two sweet twinkies started walking!  I could really tell their personality differences with this.  Jaxson has been practicing forever.  He was very timid and needed lots of encouragement and practice back and forth between Ethan and me.  That's how the older boys were too.  Zane, on the other hand, who had been slower at picking up the large motor stuff with his legs, just decided a week or two after Jaxson started walking that he wanted to do it too, and just did.  I don't think he walked one time between Ethan and me to practice.  So weird! Now they toddle after each other around the house, and it's pretty cute!  BUT it makes it a bit more challenging to go out in public anymore because of course they are not content to just sit in the stroller and want to run in two different directions away from me.  Yikes.

Here's some randomness from this fall....
     

The babies love wearing my sunglasses.  What a stud!

 The big boys love making beards and hair with soap bubbles in the bath.

 One day they were re-paving the road in front of our house.  The boys were captivated.  I wasn't fast enough to catch Cameron in this shot.  But they were all so cute with their faces plastered to the window watching all the busy-ness outside.

The babies love wearing these little plastic hard hats, which I think is funny because the big boys have never been interested in putting them on at all.  Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

Yikes!  It's the attack of the black bean boy!

We visited the dairy during one of the last warm days of fall (without my sister and her kids, which is shocking!)  The babies loved playing on the tractor and thought the animals were hilarious.  

Their profiles are so similar, don't you think?

When we visited my parents I got one blurry shot of the cousins.  Not too bad with six moving targets!

My big Kindergartner!

I can't believe my sweet boy started Kindergarten this last week!  We were so worried about him since preschool was kind of a nightmare.  He would cling to me everyday I dropped him off, so I was expecting a repeat of that.  In the days leading up to the first day of "big kid" school, he kept saying how excited he was.  We were encouraged!  Here he is at our house....

 Cheesy grin-showing me his teeth

In front of the school-you can see that smile wavering a little.  BUUUUT he may have just been sick of us taking pictures.  We are so happy because he has Mrs. Benson for his teacher.  She is Ethan's best friend's mom, so Tiernan already knows her and feels comfy around her.  He is so proud to have Carter's grandma for his teacher!

Seems so excited to be giving me a hug.  I was so thankful that I was wearing sunglasses because I was bawling like a little baby.

Right when he was standing in line to go inside his little chin started quivering.  I about died inside.  I felt like the worst mom ever.  But I know he has to learn how to be away from me.  All I can do now is pray and pray like crazy that he meets some good friends and shines the light of Jesus to everyone!

August so far....

My last update for the month of August so far:

Bathtime!

Sweet Jaxson

Ummm have I mentioned how much I love the bubble machine?  Oh, I DID?  

The babies love swinging!

I'm too sexy for this swing, too sexy for this swing

We had this wicked crazy hailstorm/tornado the other day.  The boys were super excited to play in all the hail.  I was just trying not to suffer a nervous breakdown....

Grandma Cozzens took us to Plumb Farm this past week.  

The boys had so much fun looking at/petting the baby animals.

They each had a turn on the "horse."  Once again, the babies were relegated to the stroller.

The big boys did not know what to think about the hobby horses.  What are we supposed to do with these?

The cutest animals there were the baby pigs.  Oh my gosh, they were little show-offs: spinning around in circles and digging their little snouts in the dirt.  The babies thought they were hilarious and so did I.  If only they could stay little and cute (the pigs, not the babies)