Kyle Stats and Update

We took Kyle to the doctor today for his 4 month check up and shots.  He weighs 15lbs 5oz and is 26.75 inches long.  That puts him in the 30 percentile for weight and the 90 percentile for height.  The doctor said to let him eat as much and as often as he wants so that he can catch up to his height-not that he is worried or anything.  He is hitting all his milestones and I cautiously say even hitting them early.  I have been watching him alot because I worry because of Cayden and Connor.  Our doctor said that there is an automatic 18 month screening that they do for autism so that is good.  Connor was a very very hard baby and was unable to self soothe.  He was very very fussy and a very very poor sleeper.  Kyle is not doing any of that thank goodness.  The back of his head is a bit flat and so we have to watch that for a few months but the little stink hates being on his tummy even though he automatically rolls onto his tummy as soon as we put him down.  He was a very sad baby today and really really sad tonight because he had to get 4 shots.  He has cried and cried alot tonight and we are trying to be so careful with his legs where the shots were. Darn things are a neccesary evil but they make babies so sad.  He is in his swing right now and asleep and I hesitate to go to sleep myself because it seems that the second that I fall asleep he wakes up no matter what time it is.  He is such a happy baby and just look at that crooked grin like grandpa!  He is getting very loud when he is making noise, laughing or crying.  He makes a lot of noise which is good because Cayden was a very quiet baby-which was a precursor to his delays.  Kyle loves to have his neck zerberted and squeals and laughs.  His hands are in his mouth aaaallll the time it seems although there are no teeth poking through just yet.  His hair is getting lighter it seems but not a ton.  His eyes are still blue and so pretty with his long eyelashes.  He has quite a dry scalp that I can't get to stop being so rough.  He has started to grab at his head when he is mad or hungry or tired-almost scratching it.  I clipped his nails twice this week partly so that he would not draw blood on his head but also because he gets pinchy too and with sharp nails it huts.  He cried the other day because he was either hurt or scared and there were actual tears (1-28-12).  Cayden was in the room with him and I was in the kitchen and I did not get the whole story so I am not sure what happened but whatever it was Kyle was very very upset.  He is getting into a bad habit again of wanting me to hold him as he falls asleep. He has had a bit of a cold the last week or so and I think with him not feeling that good is what started him needing more comfort from me to go to sleep.  We  have to get that stopped though because that is a bad habit to continue every day.  Most people say that he looks alot like Caleb but EVERYONE says how beautiful he is-yeah we KNOW that!  He is ready to move to his crib but I am not ready to move him clear across the house.  We put the treadmill back into his room after moving the bed out from all  our company coming.  We need to get the cradle back up to Aunt Suey for the arrival of Baby Girl Pitts so we will have to get Kyle into his crib here soon but it will more than likely go into our room.  It's a good thing I decided to type this blog instead of going to sleep because I just saw some eyes pop open.

Weight Watchers

I started Weight Watchers last week.  I have not lost the baby weight yet and since spring and summer are coming I really want to fit back into my clothes and not have to wear stretchy pants all year long-although they really are comfortable.  Weight Watchers seems doable because counting calories seems so restrictive and depressing but with this you can almost feel like you are not starving to death.  Fruits and vegatables are free and you can have as much of those as you want.  The sugar and fats thing is what is going to kill me.  I have 26 points a day to use and a bag of Reese's Pieces is 6 points-that is way too many to waste on junk that will make me hungry much sooner.  I have found that I am trying to be frugal with my points at the beginning of the week so that I can almost binge on the weekend since the weeks points start over on Monday.  If I don't use my points I lose them so I totally ate almost what I wanted yesterday (Sunday).  Keeping track of everything I eat really shows how terrible I have eaten in the past and how much junk I consume.  It really takes alot of work to eat healthy though and takes alot of preplanning and thinking about what I am eating and when.  I can't let myself get too hungry or it's all over.  Plus with the baby it is hard too because it is so much easier to eat junk when I am tired or he is fussy.  I have gotten Bountiful Baskets the last 2 weeks and also went to Walmart for produce.  We have so much produce now in the house that we could open a store.  I have been eating celery like crazy and adding bananas to my slim fast shakes.  I love cheese and peanut butter and those have lots of points so it is really hard to not eat those things.  I bought out the Weight Watcher's items at Walmart and Smith's because
A. They have the point values already on them and
B.  They have lower points than their regular counterparts.
Plus I bought fat free sourcream, fat free mayo, fatfree cool ship 
I have spent a lot of time imputting recipes and looking up point values on the computer so that I know what I can eat.  The first day I thought I was going to starve to death and went over my points and into my extras by 7.  There have been a few more times I have been quite hungry especially at night.  If I could go to bed at 9 that would be one thing but Kyle doesn't go down for the night until around 11:30 or 12. With this diet you have to be prepared and really plan what you are going to eat.  Saturday was hard because Don and Caleb we gone all day and Kyle was quite fussy.  I had to call Dena-my "sponsor" and have her talk me off a ledge because I was heading for the In and Out drivethrough.   I was super hungry and nothing that I could make sounded good.  I ended up going to Dle Taco and got a kids fry and a taco and only used 10 points.  This week is going to be hard though because we have to go to Vegas tomorrow for Kyle's shots and there is so much fast food to choose from.  Then on Friday I have a Girls Night Out at the movies where I will have to sneak in my own Diet Coke with Lime and Smart pop popcorn and forego the Junior Mints or Butterfinger and then on Saturday we are taking Cayden to dinner for his birthday.  He says that he wants Texas Roadhouse and that will absolutely kill my points if I got what I usually do.  Plus Sunday is the Superbowl which means there will be football food to eat.  UGHHH!  This week is going to be hard.  I can get extra points by exercising so I have to do that too to save myself.   

Caydenisms

On the morning that we were getting ready to leave for Provo for our delayed Christmas celebration and Cody's birthday I went to wake up Cayden.  This is how he responded.  "Cayden is unvailable right now.  Please leave a message. Beeep".

Later that day I was telling Don that I had seen on TV that Betty White was turning 90 and I was surprised that she was that old.  Cayden's repsonse-"So is she gonna die soon?"

I find random decorating things done around the house periodically compliments of Cayden.  This is what I found today on the mantle. 

Cayden has OCD moments where he has to just clean or straighten things.  He has washed dishes and used half a bottle of dishsoap, emptied the dirty dishes from the dishwasher, emptied the empty trashcans and other OCD cleaning things.  He will put away shoes, straighten the pillows on the couches, put away dishes, and basically go like the energizer bunny until we tell him to stop or he can't find anything else to do.  I wish he would do those things when I ask him to and not just randomly!

Cody's Birthday

While we were in Utah for our Late Christmas we celebrated Cody's birthday.  I took him to the distribution center for some new scriptures and a case and a CTR ring.  We got the scriptures but he could not find a case that he liked and we decided to wait and get his CTR ring after he gets his call so that we can have the date of his mission engraved on it.  He did find one that he really liked so we just have get a date.  Don and I took him to Happy Sumo in Riverwoods for dinner on Saturday night and then to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Sweet Tooth Fairy.  Grandma Penny kept the boys for us while we did that.  I made him his traditional Snow Tunnel cake on Sunday when we had everyone over for dinner.  His candles add up to 19 if you noticed.  We love you so much Cody Michael and your momma can't believe you are 19!

Late Christmas

We did not go to Provo over Christmas Break this year because it was just too hard to get there before Christmas and Grandma and Granddaddy went to Texas and Oklahoma after Christmas.  We went up over MLK weekend when the kids had a few days off.  We drove up on Friday afternoon and when we got there we were able to open our presents from the Gessel/Humphreys side.  Everyone got afghans from Mawmaw and giftcards and other presents from everyone else.  Grandma and Granddaddy gave us some much appreciated food storage and 4 cans of formula for Kyle.  Connor got a cool bendable flashlight that Owie fell in love with.  Connor very sweetly gave Owie his flashlight because we needed to get him the rest of his birthday present and we told Connor that we would buy him a new flashlight.  It was so sweet of Connor to do that.  Uncle Chris and Aunt Anne had to work on Saturday so they did not stay too long but Uncle Ryan and Aunt Suey stayed as late as they ever have while the kids played and we all just sat around and chatted.  On Saturday Mawmaw invited all the girls to lunch so we went out to Applebee's in AF and met up with the Farmer bunch.  Don kept the boys except for Cayden.  After lunch we got frozen yogurt and went to Big Lots to look for Connor's replacement flashlight.  After we dropped Mawmaw and Grandma Penny back at their homes I took the boys out to Target and to the Distribution Center to get Cody's birthday presents.  We also picked up some Honey Baked Ham and Turkey with some giftcards Don had gotten.  later that night Don and I took Cody out to dinner for his birthday.  We played our annual Christmas Jeopardy on Sunday night.  I was in charge this year and it was quite a challenge to get the game together.  Last year Calley had it all computerized on Powerpoint but I am technologically challenged and did not have the time to figure out how to do that.  Connor answered a few questions that I did not think he could answer but he knew them-there was a question about the largest Christmas tree in the US and where it was located.  Part of the question had the words King's County forest or something and Connor guessed that the state was California because of the Sacramento Kings.  We were quite impressed.  Uncle Chris and Aunt Anne were able to reclaim Gnomeholio for their mantel this year.  We stayed home on Sunday to help with Cameron and Lexie because Chris and Anne had to work.  We had a delicious feast of ham and turkey, potatoes, stuffing, rolls and all the Christmas trimmings.  I made Cody a Snow Tunnel Cake for his birthday and we had a delightful carrot cake from the Honey baked store.  We never go hungry when we are here or ever for that matter.  We stayed through Monday with the plan to go home that day but the weather was showing some snow on the way home and Connor was quite the mess with the thought that we were going to drive home in bad weather.  We would have been fine as far as the weather was concerned but the ride home with Connor would have been horrendous on everyone.  Monday was Cody's birthday so we it was just as well that we stayed.

Week in Review 1-9/1-15 2012

Monday-Don and I took Connor to St. George to celebrate his birthday.   Kyle and Cayden stayed with Grandma. After we got back from St. George we to grandpa's house for birthday cake. 

Tuesday-Kyle had a bad night.  He was ake at 9:30, 12,  2 and 5.  Don left for San Antonio early.  I cleaned, made Owie's rice cozy for his birthday present on my new sewing machine, made corn chowder and chocolate chip cookies,.  I found out Michelle, my neighbor had been in the hospital over the weekend so I took her the corn chowder.  Kyle and I walked around the block a few times.  Caleb stayed late and had Dylan come over.  Dylan did not stay very long because Caleb was feeling sick.  Caleb went to take a bath and did not make it to the toilet in time and puked all over the tub.  The little stink left it until I told him it was too darn bad and I was not cleaning that up.  I must be a terrible mom to make my sick son clean up his own puke but I totally would have puked myself if I would have done it.  I worked on our Christmas Jeopardy game and this blog.


Wednesday-Cayden was up at 5am because he was low. He ate cereal and toast and came back to my room.  Kyle woke up at 5 as well and got to eat too.  Caleb was still sick so he missed another day of school.  Since Cayden's blood sugar was a little wonky and he had bee up so early he stayed home from school too.  Grandpa made pasta for lunch for Connor's birthday.  Cayden and I went over for that.  Laura came too.  I took a baby gift to my vt partner and had flowers delivered to Michelle my neighbor who had been in the hospital.  Jim Davis brought Connor a present for his birthday because they have the same birthday.  Connor wasn't home because he was sweeping at a basketball game.  Cayden was starving and ate a whole box of Special K.  His blood sugar was horrible-472.

Thursday-Caleb was still sick and stayed home.  Cayden was late-10:30.  Connor came home at 10 because his blood sugar was over 300 which is when they send him home even if he feels ok or wants to stay.  I walked 4 laps around the block at 12 while Kyle was asleep.  Caleb listened for him.  Don got home at 4.  Kyle rolled to the middle of the floor in our room.  I transferred all my Itunes music that Cody put on my computer onto my new phone.  Connor made tacos for dinner and I packed and did laundry to get ready for Utah.

Friday-Kyle was up at 2, 4:30 and 7:30.  Caleb got up at 6:30 because he said he was going to school but he got dressed and crawled back into bed.  I got up around 9 and finished packing.  Connor was a bit stir crazy and vacuumed out the car, emptied the garbages and tried to stay busy.  Don had some phone calls to make.  We got out of here around 12 and had to run to Overton.  We stopped at Wendy's in St. George  and then stopped in Fillmore for a potty break.  We made it to the Yuba exit where we pulled over so I could change Kyle and then I put him back in his seat and fed him.  We stopped again at the last Nephi exit to burp him.  We got to grandma's house where she had white chili for dinner.  We opened our Gessel family Christmas presents and sat around and talked until 10:15.  Chris and Anne had to leave though because they had to work the next day.  Cayden watched his new Mr. Popper's Penguins movie.  We had a Wendy's craving and Cody and Calley went for food at midnight.

Saturday-Kyle slept in the crib from 12:00-7:30 which was great.  We got up around 9:30.  The girls and Cayden went to lunch out in AF at Applebee's with Mawmaw and the family girls.  Then we went to the new U-swirl and Big Lots.  After lunch we went back home and me and the boys-except Kyle and Don who stayed and watched football-went to Deseret Book for Cody's birthday present, The Honey Baked Ham Store, Old Navy for pants for Caleb, Target and Taco bell for dinner for the boys.  Don and I took Cody to Happy Sumo for his birthday dinner and to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Sweet Tooth Fairy and Deseret Book to pick up Cody's scriptures that they put his name on. 

Sunday-We stayed home from church to help with Lexi and Cam.  I made cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and 2 Snow Tunnel cakes for Cody.  The family came over for dinner-we had the honey baked ham and turkey and grandma made frozen rolls.  Dinner was at 5 and Chris and Anne got back from work around 7 and we played our Christmas Jeopardy finally.  Chris and Anne won Gnomeholio back. 

Connor's Birthday

Connor's birthday was on a Wednesday this year and Don had to go out of town so we celebrated on Monday.  Connor wanted Texas Roadhouse and he needed some new clothes.  Don and I have decided that it is much better and easier to take the kids one on one for their birthdays and also to let them pick out their presents because we don't know what to get them half the time anyway.  They are much happier to pick out what they want anyway.  It is also a lot less stressful to take them one at a time and also it saves money since we aren't taking the whole family out to dinner.  With Aspberger's Syndrome it is hard for Connor to understand and not get super overexcited which leads to a meltdown and also the jealousy factor of attention not all being focused on him causes him problems too.  This way we get one on one time with each of the kids and avoid the potential problems that birthdays, holidays and any other days out of the ordinary cause.  We took Kyle to grandma's house and Cayden went there after school.  We got to Texas Roadhouse right when they opened so we were able to get in really quickly.  After dinner we went to Kohl's for some new clothes for Connor.  He needed some new pants and church pants.  Then we went to Sportsmen's Warehouse where he picked out a camoflauge BYU hat, a new long sleeve camo shirt and some targets to shoot at with his BB gun.  He also wants a new rope to practice his roping with but I have to order that online.  After our shopping we headed home so that we could have cake and ice cream at Grandpa's.  Grandpa made Connor his favorite cake-Skor cake.  We sang to Connor and he got his present from grandma and grandpa. Grandpa gave him an old gun that he has had for years.  It was Grandpa's brother's, named Mike, who died 40 years ago.  It was broken and needed to be fixed but that was part of the deal.  Grandpa had Aunt Amy's dad order the part and took it down to him.  They also gave him a new tennis racket and some tennis balls.  On Wednesday, Connor's actual birthday Grandpa and Grandma made pasta and bread for Connor at lunch. Cayden and Kyle and I went over and Laura came over too.  Connor got money and giftcards from his aunts and uncles and Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Larry.

Kyle Brandt is 4 Months Old

Our sweet baby boy is 4 months old today!!! I can hardly believe it! Being pregnant for 9 months seems like an eternity but it goes so fast once the baby is here.
Weight 15 lbs 2 oz
Height 25 inches
Eats 5 ounces about every 3 hours.
We still mix the Similac Sensitive orange can and green can.
Sleeps between 6-8 hours a night depending on what time he goes to bed. Sleeps mostly in the cradle at night in our room. We are debating what to do about putting him in his crib and where to put it.
Takes 3-4 naps a day still. Usually 45 minutes to an hour in the morning then again in the early afternoon. Usually in the late afternoon he will take a 1.5-2 hour nap and then another 45 minute nap in the evening.
He stays awake 1.5-2 hours at a time.
Kyle can roll over both ways.
He does not like tummy time and just in the last week he has immediately rolled over as soon as we put him on his belly.
Kyle is laughing out loud and is getting very ticklish right up under his neck, and along his ribs in the back. He is very drooly-no teeth coming through yet though.
He sucks on his hands alot.
He is starting put lots of things in his mouth-his blankets and burprags.
He reaches for his toys that hang from his carseat, bouncer and playmat.
He can see pretty far away and turns his head when people walk by.
He knows who his family is and loves to smile at his brothers.
He is wearing mostly 6 month clothes and has grown out of lots of the 3-6 month stuff.
He is wearing size 2 diapers.
He puts his hands together.
He tries holding his bottle.
It seems like he knows what his binky is because he turns his head to try and get it and almost tries to put it back in his mouth when it falls out.
He is getting much more interested in playing while he is eating-much to mommy's chagrin.
He started to smile and play more in his bath now.
His little nails get really sharp and he can pinch and scratch if mom does not keep them trimmed.
He has made it through all of church 3 times now.
We had to pull the baby set-in thing out of his car seat because he was too big for it.
He arches his back when he is mad and does not want to be in his carseat or swing.  
Mommy let him taste a teeny tiny bit of ice cream on Christmas day.
Everyone that sees him says he looks like Caleb.
Mommy is teaching him sign language a little like mommy, daddy, kiss, eat, happy and sleep.
Grandma and Grandpa are the only ones who have been allowed to babysit him for a long time.  
Mom usually is content to stay home and not go anywhere all day long because it is such a challenge with a baby.
Kyle has gone to dinner with mom and dad 3 times now.  PF Changs, Brio and Outback.
His eyes are still blue and his hair is still dark brown.  It seems to be not as dark as Connor's was though and may possibly be turning auburn or lighter.

Week In Review 1-2/1-8 2012

Monday- Don took down the outside lights and Cayden and I took down the inside decorations.  I also dusted and cleaned the floors.  We had potato cheese soup for dinner. Our neighbor Molly came over and got to witness the boys fighting.  It was lovely.  Around 3am Caleb came in to say that Cayden had puked on himself.  We got him cleaned up and moved to our room.  I could not sleep that night anyway so it was not fun when I had just fallen asleep at 2 and he woke up at 3.  I went ahead and fed Kyle at 3:30 when he started to wake up just to save myself a little stress when he fully woke up and I had fallen back asleep. Cayden puked about 5 times in about 2 hours time.

Tuesday-Cayden was stopped puking around 10am but did not feel super good for another few days.  He was awake for a while so he watched TV in our room.  Don got the other boys up and to school while Cayden and me and Kyle slept.  I made chicken casserole for dinner.  Caleb stayed late at school, had Dylan over and Connor swept the floor at a basketball game. 

Wednesday-Cayden did not go to school again because he was still not feeling well enough.  Connor was late because he was high and did not want to get out of bed.  I did laundry.  Cayden listened to his book on CD for his book report and we videoed the report and made his poster.  We had the plumber over to look at the water softener and he did a plumbing check around the house.  I made Zuppa Toscana, rolls and orange rolls.  Molly came over and well as Dylan.  Don played basketball with the boys, Molly and Dylan.  Caleb and Dylan went to mutual where they made waffles. Cayden was quite stir crazy after being sick for 2 days and started his OCD cleaning routine.  He emptied the trashes, cleaned the family room and even eptied the dishwasher of the dirty dishes. 

Thursday-I took the boys to school and went to the store and the bank early.  I brought home McDonald's for Cayden since he loves their pancakes.  I did not have plans to get crazy in the office but once I got started it just kept going.  I cleaned out my craft closet and went through all my scrapbook stuff and through a bunch of it away just because I have been digi-scrapping as of late and some of the stuff was easily 10-12 years old.  I also paid the bills, and did laundry. Caleb went to Dylan's house after school.  Connor went toe Mesquite to clean windows and Cayden went to grandma's after school and had chicken potpie.  Molly came over after school.  After Mesquite Grandpa came over to visit and Kyle promptly puked all over him.  I got Kyle to laugh alot by kissing his neck and rolling him back and forth.  Cayden rode his bike for about 10 minutes with dad's help.  I contacted Joan about tutoring Cayden for math. 

Friday-I could not sleep for some reason so I got up at 4:30 and started working on our taxed and changing out our files for the new year.  Caleb cleaned the house after much stalling and pouting  on his bed because he owed us $60 for his phone bill.  He did baseboards and windowsills, bathrooms, floors and swept the porches.  He also vacuumed out our cars.

Saturday-Don got up and took the boys to clean the church and set up for Stake Conference.  Then he took them to McDonald's for breakfast. I did not feel good-maybe had a touch of what Cayden had.  I still made sliders and finally chocolate chip cookies that I had been craving for days and days.  The boys had  fire out back and roasted marshmellows.  I finally watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Sunday-No one made it to church that day-partly because it was Stake Conference and it was at 10am and partly because I did not feel well still.  Don and Caleb went to John Rockenbach's Eagle Court of Honor.  Connor had spent the night at grandma's and he went to stake conference and grandpa took him to the court of Honor.  I made roast and potatoes and then we watched the last Harry Potter.

New Year's Day

New Year's Day was on a Sunday this year just like Christmas was.  Our ward switched to 11am which was quite a change for us from 1pm.  We were sure rushing to get out the door on time. We got the boys up at 10 but it was not early enough because they did not actually get out of bed until 10:15.  We decided that if they wanted breakfast they would have to be up before 10 or they would not eat on Sunday mornings.  Kyle and I came home after Sunday School.  We had black eyed peas and cornbread to welcome in the new year and guarantee us good luck-haha.  We took naps and watched football.  There was also a Star Wars marathon on all day.  Laura and Taylor came over around 7 and played another rousing game of Phase 10 and we finished eating our New Year's Eve snacks.  We sure hope 2012 is a good one!

NewYear's Eve 2011

We had a busy New Year's Eve at our house this year.We did not go to Provo at all for Christmas this year because Grandma and Granddaddy were out of town.  It was quite a relaxing 2 weeks but it is almost over and it seems like it has gone too fast.  We started the day with a walk around the block a few times with me pushing Kyle in the stroller and Don helping Cayden ride his new bike.  Cayden only rode the bike around 1 time and it was with Don holding him up the whole time but it was a definite improvement from before when he would not even get on a bike at all.  It took us a while to do our exercise but we did it. After our walk we cancelled it out by making sliders and fries for lunch.  The diets will start on Tuesday!  After lunch I cleaned out the fridge and Caleb had a friend come over.  They played video games a while and I went and took a nap with Kyle.  Don watched football and Cayden played in his room.  After I got up I went to the store for a few items and Don made spinach artichoke dip. 

We made hot dogs for dinner and homemade salsa and I made the devil cake-Texas Sheet Cake and Caleb made vanilla ice cream.  Caleb and Dylan went outside with Don and he taught them how to make a fire with flint and steel.  They roasted a few marshmellows too. 

Cayden kept playing with Legos.  This one is where the townspeople hung a bad guy for saying there were aliens coming.  A little dark I know but atleast imaginative. 

Laura and Taylor came by around 6 or so because they had no plans for the night. They played with Kyle and the other boys and were espcially good at entertaining them all.  We ate our snackies and then played Phase 10 and then In a Pickle. 

Taylor ran home to get some party hats and stuff for the "party".

After the games they enteretained each other by dancing with Cayden in his room and rough housing a bit. 

Tackling Cayden on the ground.

This was the do-si-do move.

This was the traditional blowing of horns and banging pots and pans on the front porch at midnight.  We also had some of those popper things too.  We woke the neighbors I am sure because 3 of our 4 close neighbors are older but nothing beat the cannon that was being shot off all evening long not by us but somewhere else close by.  Connor stayed over at Grandma's playing games with her and Aunt Dawna and Grandpa.  Even Aunt Dena came over there for a few rounds.  Connor called us at midnight and said that there was a fire across the way and from what we could see it was pretty big so me and the 5 kids piled into Taylor's jeep and drove to where it was.  It looked pretty big but was just in an arena and was not threatening any structures. After our midnight drive we went back home where Don was making fries for the girls and keeping Kyle while he was asleep.  The girls went home around 1ish and we got Caleb's friend home soon after.  Cayden and Caleb still had to shower though so bedtime did not happen until around 1:30.  They were a little harder to get up this morning for 11:00 church.

Even Kyle partied with us a bit until I was able to get him down for bed around 11:30.  I went back out to the front room just in time for the count down and to hear the spectacle that was my front porch.  Caleb and Dylan sounded like dying geese honking and Cayden screamed a very high note while banging his pans.  It was quite an entertaining evening.