He was my first born, my only baby. I look back and can't help but laugh at how "easy" it was. He never had to cry hard because with a simple squawk we were at his side and I could spend as much time as I wanted snuggling with him. He was the perfect baby and made us think we were rockstar parents doing everything right. I got a shower every day and going grocery shopping was still a breeze. The two years we spent as a family of three hold some of my fondest memories. But then... 
# 2 arrived and life got a little more interesting. I still had a hand for each child to hold and when all together we could still go one on one. She quickly humbled us in regards to our parenting ability and taught us what it was like to have a real baby. Finding a good time to shower was trickier, but still happened most of the time. Getting out of the house was an ordeal and we were rarely on time. And now...
There are 3 and we have moved to zone defense where we are always outnumbered. The baby has to cry a lot louder to be heard and everyone has to wait their turn for mommy's attention...including dad. Sometimes the only snuggling time I get with my baby is when I'm up in the night with him. Showering is a rare luxury now and I don't even dare to attempt grocery shopping with the kids in tow. It takes me until noon to get us all ready for the day and being on time seems impossible. The days fly by so fast I often wonder why Scott's home early only to look at the clock and realize it's 5:30. As crazy as it seems right now, I know we'll find our groove. For now I'm more than happy to have my cup of life so full of wonderful things it's overflowing.
On Sunday we were finally able to bless Miles. We are so grateful to all of our family members that were able to be there for his big day and apologize to those, including my Grandma and Grandpa, who wanted so badly to be there but had conflicts with the day we chose.
Mason has been asking when Miles was going to blessed pretty much since December. It was so sweet how excited he was for this special day. Mason was especially excited that Miles wore the same blessing outfit 
Mason and Brynn wanted to look their very best for Miles' blessing day so we broke out their new Easter clothes a month early. I love how each of our children have their own look. They are all absolutely beautiful to me. 
We were so glad Scott's sisters Jennifer and Becky could be here. 
Grandpa Mike, Grandma Linda, Scott, Miles, Jennifer, and Becky. 
A less than perfect picture of the Utah Hale cousins. 
who was born February 10 at 8:15 pm. She weighed a perfect 7 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long. Isn't she beautiful!!
Whether I like it or not my oldest child is growing up before my eyes. This has brought with it some good things and some challenging things, but isn't that true of all phases our children go through? The last two months I have relied heavily on Mason's help. When I'm tied down feeding Miles and Brynn needs something, Mason will usually step up and get her a drink of water or get down the toy she wants, or just help entertain her while I'm busy. Through all of this, he has become very independent. Unfortunately, with this increased independence he sometimes takes the liberty to do things that I would rather he not. He has a hard time understanding that just because he is capable of doing something on his own doesn't mean he no longer needs permission to do it. This has created quite a few power struggles between us. 
Mason is an amazing older brother. He is so good to Brynn and includes her in everything he does. She truly is his little sidekick. I'm not sure who loves it more, Brynn or Mason. The other day Mason was mad at me and decided he was going to go live at his friend, Tanner's, house. He disappeared into his room for a while then emerged with not just his backpack, but Brynn's backpack all packed for her because he was taking her with him. I thought it was pretty sweet that he couldn't leave her behind. In case you were wondering he didn't even make it upstairs before he was in my arms telling me he wanted to stay in our family. Phew. 
Mason is interested in many different things right now, but his reoccuring favorites are crocodiles, star wars legos, octonauts, Cars 2, and Hot Wheels. He seems to wake up each morning thinking about one of these things and his whole day's activities and projects are centered around it. His favorite activity is to print out coloring pictures off the computer of whatever he's focused on that day and color them. 
He is a coloring maniac. He is very meticulous in his coloring and likes to color things the "right way." We gave him a trapper keeper for Christmas to keep all his pictures in, because he wants to keep them all. We're talking over a hundred pictures, easy. When his trapper keeper is full we help him thin them out, which is a hard and emotional process for our little hoarder. He forms such strong attachments with things. I'm a little bit worried that these tendencies are going to land us on Hoarders, but we're working on it with him.
Friends have become a very big part of Mason's life. He has some good friends at preschool and in our neighborhood. When these 4-5 year old boys get together their silliness is often more annoying than cute, but I think we better get used to it because Mason loves to be a silly boy. It's hard for me to no longer have complete control over what Mason is exposed to as he spends more and more time surrounded by peers. He has learned, and I'm sure taught, both good and not so good things from these peers. But he's a good boy and I know that he is capable of making good choices. One thing he has been introduced to is video games. I personally hate video games, but have had to find a small place for them in our life. In my dream world Mason would rather read books than play video games, but right now that is not the case. He is still doing great with his reading and is currently reading on a first grade reading level so I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it. Once again I guess this is all just part of him growing up and gaining independence. 
Mason's coordination and interest in sports has tripled since playing soccer last fall. We have had Mason in a couple sessions of swim lessons this winter. It has been so good for Mason to have something that gets him out of the house and lets him expend some energy. I think Mason may have found his nitch with swimming. Not only does he love it, but he's pretty good at it too. He has learned how to do the basic front crawl with side breathing and back stroke along with several tricks like doing back flips under the water. He is already asking when he can be on the swim team. Unfortunately he's not quite old enough yet, but I'm excited for that to be a part of his life in the near future.
We think Mason is a pretty neat kid and are glad he's a part of our family.
I was originally going to title this post "My Little Girl" but I immediately heard Brynn's little voice correcting me by saying firmly, "No, I a BIG girl!" as she often does. The last 2 months I feel like I really have watched Brynn go from my little girl to my big girl. In all honesty, she has handled the transition to 3 kids better than any other person in our family. She has taken all the changes in stride and it has brought out the best in her. Since this post is a spotlight on Brynn I'm going to gush about her a bit, okay, a lot.
Brynn is such a smart girl. She has already mastered all her upper and lower case letter recognition along with all their sounds. She knows all of her numbers and I don't even know how high she can count. She is always mirroring Mason and pretends like she knows how to read and write. In actuality she is well on her way to writing her name, doing a great B and r, and also can write several other letters. After listening to a book once or twice she wants to read it to you and will recite it back amazingly well. I have realized the secret behind her intelligence is A: she has an incredible memory. She hears something once and it sticks. B: she wants to be just like Mason and he likes teaching her things. I got her registered for preschool next year and she asks me daily if she gets to go yet. 
Brynn has never been obsessive about things like Mason is, but I would say the thing she likes the most right now is animals. She fills her bed up each night with so many stuffed animals there is hardly enough room for her to squeeze in with them. Her favorite animals are kitties, tigers, doggies, and piggies. She loves going to the Bean Museum and so I can't wait to see her at the zoo with live animals, but she'll have to wait for it to warm up a little.
Which brings me to her relationship with Mason. She completely idolizes Mason. She is his little shadow and is always two steps behind him. The best part of my day is watching those two play together. But she's not just a great little sister anymore, she has really grown into her role as a big sister, too. When Miles was first born she didn't mind him, but didn't really give him a whole lot of attention either. The last few weeks she has become much more engaged with Miles. It's like she realized he's here to stay so she better get to know him. She is so sweet with him and gets so excited when he smiles at her or touches her with his flailing arms. Basically what I'm trying to say with all of this is Brynn has turned into the sweetest little girl in the world. There are no terrible twos happening here. One of my biggest concerns right now is making sure Brynn gets enough special attention. I try so hard to take advantage of when Mason is at preschool and Miles is sleeping. Even though it often means giving up my shower that day, I know the time I spend building a snowman with only Brynn is way more worth it. 
I'll leave you with Brynn's typical goodbye saying, "I love you later, I love you the most!"
I am so in love with this little boy that most days I feel like I'm going to burst as my senses take in all the sweetness that is Miles. Seeing his deep blue eyes starring up at me. Hearing the little sqeaks and grunts he makes. Feeling his tiny body curled up asleep on my chest. Smelling that perfect heavenly baby smell. Kissing those chubby cheeks of his. Watching a big grin spread across his face in response to my voice. It makes all the sacrafices motherhood requires completely worth it. 
A few things about Miles at 7 weeks.