Christmas Kids

Just playing around with photoshop...

First Bath

Evan wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of a bath. Such a boy...

He didn't seem to mind getting his hair washed. Stayed very calm for that part. Good practice for baptism.

He seemed pleased by the results though.

The Siblings

The hospital called at 4:30am to say they were full and to push back our arrival time. So the kids were confused to find us still there when they got up for school. Aidan thought it was hilarious that there were "too many ladies having babies". They got to say good morning to the 'new baby' one last time. Aidan was fairly religious about having to kiss and hug my stomach every morning and every evening and say "Good morning/Good night, new baby".

Brennan on the other hand, was pretty oblivious to the whole thing. If you asked him where new baby was, he'd point to my stomach 75% of the time and say, "No baby!!" The other times, he'd point to himself. Brennan still had a cold and low fever (due to ear infection) on Tuesday morning, so he was even more oblivious than usual.

I called the hospital back at 9:30am to get a guess as to if we were going to do this today, but really to make sure that I hadn't fallen off the radar when the shift change occurred. They said to come in, so we were finally off!

The hospital didn't allow anyone under the age of 16 into the maternity ward in order to prevent the spread of the flu. So the kids had to meet Evan quickly in the hallway and then through the glass in the nursery until he came home on Thursday.

It's a Boy!

Evan Joseph arrived on December 15, 2009 at 9:12pm. He weighed 8lb 12 oz and was 19 and 1/2 inches long.

On Schedule

We are scheduled to induce next Tuesday the 15th--yay! At 5am--ugh! I'll try to get photos up here from the last few weeks before then. I know I haven't even put up Halloween pics yet...

Winter Wonderland

Houston got snow! Not a lot, but enough to turn everything white for a while.

Making snowballs

Brennan was happy to stay inside. He REALLY doesn't like precipitation. But once it stopped falling, he had fun running around in the leftovers, despite being forced into a coat.

The kids even managed to make a few snowmen.

An Aidan-ism

I know he's not the first to say this, but Aidan cracked us up a little while ago by very seriously explaining the difference between certain animals.
"Durnal animals hunt for their food during the day, and NOT durnal animals do NOT--they only hunt at night. They have eye-shine." You try explaining to him that the word is 'nocturnal.' He actually does learn a lot from Dinosaur Train.

He's also very into wearing his pajamas all day long, if he can get away with it. This morning Brennan somehow got Aidan's pj's a little wet, so I told him it was time to go ahead and put clothes on. He went upstairs by himself (which is a miracle in itself) and came back down with new pajamas on.

Number 4 in 4-D

I'm a little disappointed with how the OB's office is handling things this time around. Lost my first ultrasound pictures and took a month to decide to let me redo, no seasonal flu shots, no swine flu shots, no reminder to register at hospital or take classes (not that I was going to take classes this time), and no reminder to see if I wanted to do the 4-D ultrasound. Luckily these things are occuring to me to ask, ableit late!! Just b/c I've done this before doesn't mean I know what and when things are supposed to be happening. Hopefully this means that we'll make up for it with a fantastic birth experience.

So, I'm a month past when you were supposed to do 4-D ultrasounds, so the baby is already head-down and facing back which is good for birth, but bad for picture-taking. Here's what we could get:

The umbilical cord is the thing squished up against the face, but you get the basic idea.

The tech kept saying I could come back and try to redo it another time, but I really don't want the baby to move out of this position, thank you very much! These pics are just fine!

The Big 1-0

In her words, "Now I'm a pre-teen." So I guess we have a lot more of this to look forward to. She has also informed us that since she got an iPod for her birthday (my old one), that now she's saving her money for a cell phone.

Making a wish

Her party was at a pottery painting place. The girls all had creative ideas of what their piece should look like. It will be interesting to see how they turn out!



One more wish!

He's the Piano Man

Brennan likes to watch, and join in, when Marian practices piano. One day he decided to give it a try himself:



There's always something interesting in the bench...



Big smile:





Here's a picture from a couple of months ago that I liked--Brennan surveying his new family room and trying to decide what to do with it.

Sold!

After a scant 32 days from listing, we closed on our old house on Friday. We are thrilled that it sold so quickly (2 bids in the first 7 days!), but it is bittersweet to let go of our first house.

Stuck

I kept hearing frustrated noises, and finally a "help" and "stuck". Brennan had buckled himself into the stroller and couldn't get out!

Future Olympian??

After losing the pictures that they took a month ago, the sonogram people finally had me come back in for a redo. Baby #4 is still measuring about 2 weeks ahead of schedule and currently weighing approx 2lb 7 oz

(determined by measuring the tummy, apparently).

At the first appt on Aug 11, he/she was measuring 2 weeks ahead and weighed approx 1 pound.

chubby cheeks

a foot

profile

waving hello

heartbeat measuring at 147--good!

doing some stretches--the hand is holding the foot above the head!The tech was laughing about the little gymnast and how fast the foot moved when it kicked!

I'm thinking gymnastics and/or tae-kwan-do is in our future.

Maybe even Olympics 2028?? :)

Bus Riders

I keep forgetting to bring the camera in the mornings, so got this one on my phone really quick this morning. The big yellow reason they get out of bed in the mornings.

No matter where Aidan starts in the group, he always hangs back so that he's the last to get on. And one of the other girls always manages to be first and then she has to stop at the top of the stairs to tell the bus driver something every morning. It's quite funny to watch their routine.

I *Heart* Ice cream

These are from about a month ago on my phone, so a little fuzzy.

The boy enjoys his ice cream.

Inside the House

We did some cleaning/organizing/decorating this weekend, so I felt the house was somewhat picture-worthy. Some rooms more so than others! Here's what I got:

Views from front door.

Aidan says we live in the woods, and he's not too thrilled with it.

We have had run-ins with some wildlife:

a coyote down the road and multiple harrassments by raccoons.

Office
Dining room
Formal living aka piano room

Foyer

Master bedroom

Living room, Breakfast room, Sun room

Kitchen

Utility room -- not a closet anymore!!

Gameroom Marian's room--hers has the view of the lake

Storage and my craft area

New baby's room--eventually

Toy room

Brennan's room

Aidan's room

Obviously, haven't touched the upstairs yet. One of my many projects to do while kids are at school is to get their rooms organized and get things on the walls!