Titus- 3 Years Old

Titus, little man, you are so full of LIFE!! Your personality is intense, and your character strong. I wish everyone could spend a day with you and experience all that makes you Titus Elliot Reasland. But, since that's hard to do, living thousands of miles away from everyone we know, I will do my best to describe all that makes you, YOU, at three years old.   

  You are a boy who knows what he wants, and when he wants it! Whether it's first thing in the morning, or something you want in the middle of the night, there's not much we can do to persuade you differently. We like to say you are persistent! When putting you to bed at night, we read the bible, say our prayers and snuggle you. I will be laying next to you, and the next thing I know, you are pushing me away, saying, "That's enough, you can go." Talk about being blunt, and knowing what you want. On other occasions it's harder to teach you that things in life don't always happen when, or how you want them to. It's a hard lesson for all of us actually. 

  You definitely have a love for food, and it's always on your mind! The first thing out of your mouth most mornings is, "I want to eat breakfast right now!" or, "I'm hungry!" There's no making you wait, or you will find your way into the pantry to get a handful of raisins or figs. You're always asking what's for lunch or dinner, and not afraid to give your opinion of what I should make. You love sitting on the counter and watching me cook.
You're our more adventurous eater; willing to try most anything. You prefer sweets, but will never pass up an olive!! When we returned from the States, you would wake up in the middle of the night, and ask for Ice Cream! Where you got the idea that we eat Ice Cream in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning, I have no idea!
 You knew for a few months, that you wanted donuts for your birthday breakfast. So, I attempted my first homemade baked donuts, and according to you, I succeeded! Because of your love for food, and wanting to eat any time of day, I thought the "Hungry Caterpillar," would be the perfect theme for your 3rd birthday party!!
 Some of your favorite snacks are: Peanut butter and pretzels, dried figs, prunes or dried blueberries, almonds or peanuts, and apples and peanut butter. If asked what your favorite food is, you say sweets!

  Although you may always be up for eating, you are never up for sleeping! You frequently ask why you always have to take naps and sleep. There are nights that you cry and cry, saying, "I don't want to go to nap time." When we ask you why, it's usually because you want to play, or you just think it's plain "boring." One night I asked, "Do you know why we sleep?" Your response was, "Yes, because we make dreams." Not at all what I was expecting you to say, but oh so cute.
  Although you don't prefer sleeping, the odd thing is, you would wear your pajamas all day long if we let you. You hate wearing covers at night, and instead twirl them in a ball at the end of your bed. You say they are a tunnel for your cars.
  You wake up with the best bed-head in the mornings. Sometimes I wonder what dreams you make at night!!

  Your personality is intense. We're never quite sure what mood you're going to be in, but one thing is for sure, when you're happy; you. are. HAPPY. When you're grumpy; you. are. GRUMPY. There doesn't seem to be an in-between with you. Sometimes it's hard to get you out of your grumpy moods, but your dad has a special way of teasing you out of them.
 At times, you seem to have only one volume: LOUD. We always have to remind you to use your inside voice. Sometimes you are just so passionate about what you are talking about!

 I often times describe you as intense in EVERY way. You have an intense sweet side that often comes when we least expect it. Those times that you come up to me and give me a huge hug and the sweetest kiss on the cheek. Those days after a meal that you ask, "How can I help you mom?" Those times in the chaotic moments of having three young boys, when you grab a toy for your brother so he'll stop screaming. Those moments when you say, "Mom, you're beautiful," and it's exactly what I needed to hear. The way you pray for your brother without being prompted. Or those times you grab a blanket and say, "Mom, will you snuggle me?" When you pick a flower just for me because you know I love flowers! These are times I don't ever want to forget, and the times I'm thankful for how God created you so intense in every way.
 Some might call it bossy, while others might say you are a little Mother Hen, but you have this way of caring for the people around you. When a friend your same age is over, and walks to a different room, you follow him and invite him (or lead him) back into the room to play with you. When your younger brother Nile, is playing with his toys, you come and put all of them away, except one, saying, "You only need one toy out at at time." You make sure he isn't playing with anything dangerous. You love babies, and are always right there with them, making sure they aren't touching or doing anything that babies shouldn't do.

   You love life sweet one. Sometimes you have me thinking you fit the characteristics of a firstborn, or many times of a middle child. More often you surprise me, and I see the sweet little gifts that make you uniquely, YOU. Although you are full of energy, you take the time to stop and smell the roses. You're not afraid to venture off the path to explore what beauty is hidden among the brush. Your boldness and bravery have you jumping from objects and heights that may be considered unsafe. You've earned the name Zip-Zip (Jump-Jump in English) because you're always jumping from whatever is around you. You're quick to try new things. You sit for hours observing out the window, every car and person that goes by. You're full of bravery yet have a sense of when to slow down and take in your surroundings.

 
  It may be your long eyelashes or your dimpled cheeks, but man are you CUTE! Everyone here always calls you handsome, and they just can't keep their hands from pinching those cheeks! Unfortunately, you don't really like it, so you've learned to run away or hide behind us. You make the cutest facial expressions that make us smile. The things you say, and the way you say them, always gives us a good laugh, and just at the time we need it. You have a way of lightening the mood in any room.  

Things I don't want to forget about you at this age: 

- Your little grin of a smile that says, "I know something you don't!"

- How when music starts playing, you jump to your feet, and dance a little ditty no matter where you are. 

- How you are quick to pray for your brother, Easton, to have a good day at school or to be healed of something

- Your deep belly laugh

- How you answer a question with such sophisticated words like, "Actually," "Maybe," or "Definitely"

- How you walk with swagger and confidence when you play football with your Dad

- Those cute cheeks and adorable facial expressions you make every day
- How you have a thing for your scooter going 60 MPH

 Titus, you make me laugh. You make me smile. You make me stop and smell the roses. You make me more dependent on God. You help me see the beauty in the hard days. I'm thankful that God put you in our family. I love all of the things that make you, YOU. 

Traveling to the States

In May, after 19 months of living overseas, we traveled back to Iowa for the first time!! There was so much anticipation in our family leading up to this exciting day. 

We would see some family that we hadn't seen in almost two years! We would meet two new nephews and a niece that were born while we were gone. We would eat food we hadn't tasted in what seemed like forever. We would reacquaint ourselves to driving again! We would gather around tables and converse with friends and old co-workers face-to-face! We would vacation with family. Easton would play T-Ball. We would spend summer evenings around campfires roasting marshmallows and catching fireflies. We would take hundreds of pictures and make endless memories. There was so much we were looking forward to. 

Traveling Internationally with three kids can seem daunting and stressful. 

For me, preparation starts about a week beforehand with packing and gathering ideas in an effort to make sure the kids have plenty to do on the plane. Each big kid has a backpack filled with a few of their favorite things, as well as a few new things to keep their attention on the long journey. Keep in mind their ability to carry their own backpack while trekking through the airports!! Mom and Dad can't carry everything :) 

I feel it's important to have at least one familiar thing especially when going to an unfamiliar place, or in our case, multiple unfamiliar places! This may be a special blanket, a book you read every night before bed or a special stuffed animal. For my boys, it's their stuffed puppies and a Children's Bible that we read before bed every night.  Routines are important and give children a sense of stability and predictability.  

After packing a backpack for each boy, loading new games on the iPad and making sure I have PLENTY of snacks, it's on to the adults. A rule of thumb I have when packing carry-ons; have as many free hands as possible! I usually take a backpack or a bag that I can easily carry on my shoulder and don't necessarily have to use my hands for. We all know with three littles in tow, there are plenty of hands to hold!! 

Another way I love to travel with littles, is with my ERGO. It not only frees up my hands, but my babes usually fall asleep soon after being snuggled in, as long as I don't have to take them off to walk through security:) 

There are times we travel with our stroller, but usually check it with our baggage so that we don't have to deal with it at the plane gate. 

When we arrived home, everyone wanted to know how the kids did on the flight. 

Here's how our journey went:

-10 minute taxi ride from our apartment to the Train Station

-Hour and a half train ride to the nearest airport

-45 minute taxi ride from the Train Station to the Airport

-First flight: one hour

-Second flight: 6 hours

-Third flight: 8 hours

-Fourth flight: 1 and a half hours

So, as you can see, it takes awhile to get home! Despite all of the various forms of transportation and the connecting flights, not to mention the 8 hour time zone difference, our kids did great!!! 

We were blessed with the Bulkhead on both flights to and from the States. It was something we didn't ask for, but happened to be seated there. It was huge to be able to put Nile in the bassinet to sleep and not have to hold him the whole time. So thankful. 

One great, or not so great, thing about International flights are the movie options. Usually each passanger has their own TV screen in front of them. While movies helped pass the time, it also kept them awake. We shut their screens off after a time, but they just looked at the next screen over!! For that reason, our oldest didn't sleep at all on the flight to the States. The return flight was different thankfully. The above picture was the one moment that all three were sleeping at the same time on our return flight!! Victory! 

This was the result of 24 hours of no sleep:( 

When meeting our family at the Airport, he ran to hug his Nana and somehow missed. He hit his head on the cement floor and had a huge bump instantly. On our short drive to our hometown, he wasn't tracking with us. It very well could have been because this poor boy didn't sleep for 24 hours, but we took him to the ER anyway to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Thankfully it was the one and only time we had any hospital visits over the summer! 

Overall, our trek back to the States was great, and filled with lots of excitement and anticipation!!

Nile | 2 Months |

These  last two months have been crazy with adjusting to three little ones, apartment searching, packing all of our worldly possessions, moving, unpacking in our new apartment and packing again for the summer in the States. Needless to say, time has flown by!!!

Adding a third child to our family has had it's challenges, but overall, Nile has been a joy and blessing to our now, family of five! 

Nile is definitely loved by his brothers! They are always asking to hold him and still call him "Baby." I like to remind him that he has a name!! 

To be expected, Titus probably had the hardest adjustment adding another little one to our family. We had potty accidents and anger outbursts of kicking and hitting anything in site, but by week two, he was  warming up to his new brother, thankfully. He started asking daily to hold Nile, and would kiss, hug and rub his soft little cheek. It was so precious to watch. 

Here are each of the boys at One Month. It always amazes me, from the first moment I see them, how similar they all have looked. Not only can you tell they are brothers, but as babies, they have almost identical feeding/sleeping patterns and similar mannerisms. It is almost scary, they are so similar.

One Month
10lbs 11oz...  22 inches...  0-3 month clothes...  size 1 diapers...  sleepy baby...  loves to be cuddled...  carried in the ERGO...   swaddled sleeper...  chubby cheeks...  grunter...  bright blue eyes...  nursing every 2-3 hours... sleeping 4-6 hour stretches at night...  loved by older brothers...  can't get enough of you!

Two Months
13lbs...  23 inches...  3 month clothes...  size 2 diapers...  leg rolls...  smiling...  grunts turning to cooing...  kicking legs...  loves to be held...  travels in the ERGO...  nursing every 2-3 hours...  sleeping 8 hours at night... swaddled sleeper...  loves to be moving... prefers noise... we love you more and more every day!

He's Here!!

Nile Emerson Reasland

Born March 15, 2014 @ 9:50 am

8lbs. 14oz

Welcomed by Easton and Titus. 

 Our Family of 5!

One Week Old

Gender Reveal

In the past we have chosen NOT to find out the gender of our children. Although I'm not huge on surprises, I liked not knowing the gender until the day of delivery. For me, it added to the excitement!

My third pregnancy was a little different. 

For a year, Easton had been asking for a baby sister. I remember a conversation one of the first nights after moving overseas. We had all woken up at 4 a.m. in the morning still trying to adjust to the time difference. As we sat there, Easton asked if he could put Titus back and have a sister!! I chuckled inside; maybe even out loud, and said, "Sorry buddy, but there's no putting Titus back!" I told him that we didn't have any control over whether a baby is a boy or girl, but that I knew who was. I reminded him that he could pray and ask God, the giver of life, for a baby sister. So, for the next year, he prayed that he would have a baby sister. 

We were so excited to be able to tell him that God had answered part of his prayer, and that he would be a big brother again. He was so excited, and continued to pray for a sister. 

We want our children to know the importance and the power of prayer. More importantly, we want our children to know that we serve a God who is good no matter how He answers our prayers. He remains the same yesterday, today and forever. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to teach them these principles, so we decided we would find out the gender of this baby.

My Dad and sister came to visit in October, so we thought it would be the perfect time to throw a "Gender Reveal Party!" 

In order to include family and friends living oceans away, we asked them to submit a photo that revealed their guess; Boy or Girl???

Upon arrival, our guests were asked to choose a Mustache for boy or Pink Lips for a girl. Everyone posed for a picture to document their guesses. 

Pink Lips came in with the most votes. 

After a taco dinner, we started the reveal! 

Each guest was given a cupcake with either a pink or blue center. One by one each person took a bite to reveal the center color as we kept count. It came down to Easton who had the last cupcake.....

 His cupcake center was BLUE!!! 

Easton is excited, but he still tells me that next time I need to make his cupcake pink!!

 My most recent pregnancy picture, but I am currently 39 weeks. 

Any day now, we will be welcoming Baby Boy #3 into our family! 

Titus- 2 Years

 2 Years Old!!! 

When you think of a two year old, you usually think "terrible two's!" 

Although we do have moments of rebellion, hear the word "no" many times a day, and scream and cry when we don't like something; we have plenty of laughter, hugs, kisses and sweet moments from this little boy. 

This boy hasn't celebrated a birthday in the same country yet!! He was born in the States; celebrated his First Birthday in Turkey and turned two in Austria! I hope we aren't setting ourselves up for yearly birthday expectations. 

It's always hard to know when to celebrate his birthday since he was born on Christmas day. I'm sure each year will be different, but this year we decided to celebrate on his actual birthday. We kept it simple with a Pumpkin Cake!

I wish I was a talented writer and could describe this boy's personality in a way that would encompass all that he is. 

This boy has some spunk and intensity! He knows what he wants, but doesn't always know how to communicate that with calm, gentle words. Even when he says, "I love you," he likes to scream it, and with authority!

He's got a determination that shows his strength and strong will, and that we pray will be directed in a positive way. I think we will have our hands full with this little guy, but are thankful for how he has been created. 

 In the last 3 months, we've learned that this boy is NOT a rule follower.
He doesn't take the safe or easy route, but prefers to take the road less traveled, and ventures off the beaten path. He's got his dad's adventurous characteristics I guess.
He's the boy that jumps off of anything and everything. He will try new things without hesitation, and has energy that doesn't seem to fade.

Don't get me wrong, he's got an intense SWEET side as well.
His adorable, heart-melting smiles, long eyelashes, sweet "I love you's," and snuggles bring joy to my heart. Those moments when his little arms wrap around my neck, and his soft little lips kiss my cheeks are priceless.
I just can't believe how fast time goes. It is so much fun to see my boys' personalities come through; to see their minds grow and learn; to hear their little voices speak new words, and to see them play and work together as brothers. If only time would slow down.

Titus is a big boy in other ways too!!
Just before turning two, we moved him to a big-boy bed. He's done great, and loves sharing a room with his brother.
This past weekend we started potty-training! It went well; he caught on fast, and by the third day, he had NO accidents. We are beyond thankful that the process went well, and that we will be without diapers in the house; for a few weeks at least!
In a few short weeks, he'll be a BIG brother too! He has a soft spot in his personality for baby dolls, so we'll see how he loves on his little brother.
We are thankful for Titus and what blessings he adds to our family.

Christmas in Europe

It was in December of 2006, 7 years ago, that we first spent Christmas in Europe. 

This was us, newly married and no kids; enjoying the views from the top of the Alps!

Since making the decision to move overseas, Aaron's family has been dreaming up and planning another Christmas in Europe! A fun way for all of us to meet in a neutral location, but also having some familiarity. 

So, with lots of planning on Aaron's parents part, we spent this Christmas in Germany and Austria. 

Warning: this post has LOTS of pictures!

Seven years later with two kids and one on the way! Oh how things change.

Our first two nights we spent in Munich, Germany walking the streets of the Marienplatz where the architecture is ancient and beautiful, the spirit of Christmas is in the air, food fresh and delicious, handmade goods for sale, shop windows filled with animated toy winter wonderlands, and people, young and old, are hustling and bustling about. There's something amazing about the atmosphere. 

We enjoyed the cultural food and hot drinks of Germany while walking the Chriskindel Markets that were set up for Christmas. 

One of my favorite things about Germany this time of year, is that everyone, from babies to grandparents, are out and about walking and enjoying the season. The cold weather doesn't keep them inside, but everyone is bundled up and babies are in their strollers that are fitted with custom sleeping bags. 

Our next 6 nights were spent in Seefeld, Austria. We stayed in an Olympic Village which was created for the 1976 Winter Olympics.

Our first outdoor activity was sledding.

 The boys, especially Easton, enjoyed playing in the snow. The last time Easton played in snow, he was one and a half. It was Titus' first experience. It felt like home for me, and made it feel a little more like Christmas! 

I'm so thankful that my boys got to enjoy the beauty and fun of the snow. 

On December 23, we drove to a little town called Igls. 

We took the cable car up to the top of the Alps, and enjoyed the views, watching the downhill skiers and a cup of hot chocolate. 

That evening we watched a Christmas parade retelling the story of the birth of Jesus. All the characters are represented; Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, angels, wise-men and more. They even include live animals; shepherds carrying lambs over their shoulders and goats and chickens. It truly is a parade like you've never seen before. 

Christmas Eve, Easton tried Ice Skating for the first time. 

Christmas Eve we celebrated Jesus' birthday with an Antipasta dinner, cake and sparklers!

Christmas morning we went for a walk in the woods to see the reindeer. Easton and Nana built a snowman on the way! 

Christmas evening we celebrated Titus' 2nd Birthday; another post to come!

After watching the downhill skiers, all Easton wanted to do was ski, so the day after Christmas, Aaron and Easton tried out the Cross Country Ski course. 

Easton started out with Papa holding onto him on the course, but by the end, he was doing it himself!

One of our last days in Seefeld, it snowed the most beautiful snow. The boys were excited, and loved sticking their tongues out to try and catch it! 

Our next two nights were spent on a Homestead in Unterpinswang, Austria. After the fresh snowfall, our drive was beautiful. 

Here, we toured Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles and did LOTS of walking. 

Our next two nights were spent in a ancient walled city; Rothenburg, Germany.  Such a charming old city. 

We spent our last night back in Munich on New Year's Eve before heading home. 

It was an amazing and memorable trip for our family. We are so thankful for the generous Christmas gift that Aaron's parents blessed us with. Thanks Ray and Nancy.