Baby Firsts

 First bath.  Because of his aversion to being naked, we didn't think this was going to go well, but once he was in the water, he was really calm.

It's always nice when they like the water--makes it a little easier to keep them clean :)

And he seems to like the bottle, too.  I'm hoping we can keep this up--Bugaboo was okay for the first 3 months and then absolutely REFUSED to take one after that, which meant I could never go very far away.  Not that I really had anywhere to go without him, but its nice to have the option.

'Tis The Season

 Summer is here!  Opening day at the pool.

 There was a big party--food, games, and of course, the pool.

 These kids were having fun launching water balloons.

So was the big kid.

Peanut and I came down for a little while to see everyone--there's a lot of people in our neighborhood that we pretty much only see at the pool.  Which meant they were surprised to see the new addition to our family. We didn't know I was pregnant until the pool closed for the season, and then I hibernated most of the pregnancy, so surprise!  New baby to bring to the pool this summer.  Although we didn't last long--being bundled in the mei tai carrier was a little too hot for both of us.  Maybe later in the summer when we can actually get in the water.

Where Did That Come From?

 I finally pulled up some old pictures of the kids so I could compare Peanut's full head of dark hair to the other two.

 Bald. . .

and Not Quite So Bald.  They've each gotten more hair than the last, but Peanut wins by far!

And in case anyone was wondering who he looks like. . . it's pretty easy to see when he's mad!

Peanut:

Bean:

They've got the same mouth for sure.  And a good set of lungs, although if I am remembering right, no one can quite compare to Bean.

Last Week of Preschool

It's hard to believe that the year is over!  T and R have been great teachers--and once Bug got over the idea that he didn't want to go to school, he's had a lot of fun with them.  This week has been especially fun.

 Monday, they had water day.  Always a big hit, especially when the temps are getting in the 90's.

 We didn't get there in time to catch most of the action, but it sounds like they had fun with a couple pools, sprinklers, and buckets of water.

 A little art time in the 4's classs, where all these guys will be moving to next year.

 Playing in the kitchen . . .

 Tuesday, Daddy-o did woodworking with the class and then we had the family picnic.  I've told Daddy-o that he really needed to experience the noise that comes with woodworking at the preschool, and field trips with the elementary school.  He ended up lucking out with Bean's class because he never did a FT with her old school, and just got the fun of going with her new one to the retirement home where they sing songs and do art projects each month, which sounded a lot nicer than the library trips I did with her old school.  But he did get the full preschool experience--the kids have fun.

I'm so glad they moved the picnic from the playground to the shady side yard.  It is summer here, for sure!

And we presented a little thank you to each of the teachers and the director for everything they've done this year.  I was the class parent rep, which meant Daddy-o got to collect all the money and get the cards signed and buy the gifts cards and plants for the teachers.  He's really been able to do a lot with the kids and their schools the last couple weeks, which has been fun for them, and hopefully for him, too :)

And now Bug is ready for summer vacation!

Funny Bug

"My good brain killed my bad brain."  (The bad brain is what tells him to do things he shouldn't do.  He used to tell us, "My bad brain made me do it!")

While Peanut was eating:  "He sounds like a piggy when he drinks."  (He's right--the little Peanut can do some pretty impressive snorting.  And burps.  He's got all the sound effects down.)

 Bug started making food and utensils from his Legos the other day.  Above?  A chicken leg--"It's for a first communion!"  Guess the chicken they served last weekend at the party for our neighbor's first communion really stood out to him.

And finally, as Daddy-o and Bug were leaving to run some errands today:  "Daddy, do you remember when you used to go to work?"  Bugaboo is LOVING having so much time with his daddy each day.

And finally, just because he's so cute--

(And speaking of sleeping--he's still doing quite a bit of it, although he isn't going down for naps quite so easily, but last night, he actually did two 3 hour stretches in his bed!  I could get used to this!)

Generosity

We have been the recipients of so much generosity these last couple weeks, its a little overwhelming.  I think Daddy-o has only had to make 2 dinners since Peanut was born.  We've had so many friends offering to bring us meals.

A couple months ago, when I was first approached about having meals brought to us, my first thought was that we really didn't need that.  Daddy-o would be home and I figured we could handle it, but the friend pushed back a little and I figured, ok, maybe a couple meals would be nice. 

Well, I'm sure Daddy-o could handle making something for dinner each night--he's actually a great cook--but since he's been handling most everything else, too, this has been really nice for him to not have to worry about that one aspect of our day.  And I think even more valuable than the actual food is how loved and supported we have felt by all of this.

We don't have any family nearby, but we have so many friends who act as our surrogate family out here and take care of us like our families would if they could.  We've had dinners, offers of childcare, and errand running as well as just the phone calls and emails checking in on us to make sure we're doing okay and don't need anything.  There's been baskets of goodies for the whole family from the preschool and baby clothes and blankets from neighbors and friends.

 It just really feels nice to know that we have such a great support system and so many people thinking about us and celebrating with us right now.

Paternity Leave

 One of the side benefits to having the Peanut join us is that Daddy-o gets to stay home with us for a big chunk of the summer.  He's been making plans for everything he's going to get done--all the cooking, taking care of the house and kids, household projects. . .  The list is quite extensive and I've been curious to see how much he can get done beyond the every day stuff--after this first week, he's commented on how much time it takes to do the school runs, get everyone ready, make breakfasts and lunches (he's lucked out on dinners so far), run errands, and keep everyone happy.  But he has gotten out in the yard to take care of a couple small projects and has been gathering supplies for a few bigger ones.

He was also willing to take the kids strawberry picking this week--something I've done with them the past two years that we always look forward to, but last week, with my huge belly, I wasn't wanting to do all the bending and crouching.  And now, with the new baby, we're just not up for that type of adventure quite yet.

From all accounts, they had a pretty good time and Bean even managed to pick an entire gallon of strawberries on her own. Bug got distracted pretty early on, but they came home with more strawberries than we know what to do with.  Fresh, sweet, juicy strawberries for our lunches,  pancakes, on ice cream, with whip cream, and there's still a ton left.

Which has meant that Daddy-o has also made several batches of freezer jam.  Good thing, since our stash from last year is gone.  I'm glad he's taken over all my spring traditions so we don't have to miss out! 

One Week

 This little peanut is one week old today.  It's his due date, but we are sure glad that he's been with us this last week, instead of still incubating.

He is by far our sleepiest baby--in fact, sometimes its pretty hard to get him to wake up.  But he's eating pretty well, sleeping in his own bed for naps a couple times a day, and doing the little sleep grins that are so sweet (and I know they say its all from gas, but I can't see how gas would make you smile--he may not know what smiling means, yet, but they sure look like smiles, not grimaces.)

We love having this little guy in our family!

Happy Mother's Day!

I got the best Mother's Day present this year--not sure that this one can be topped :)  Our little guy (who still needs a blog nickname) was born at 10:58 a.m.  7 pounds, 13 oz, 21.5 inches long, and a full head of dark hair--something new for our family!

It was another pretty fast labor, although not quite as fast as Bug's, and we left for the birth center a little earlier on to avoid the crazy car ride this time around, so I actually spent 3.5 hours at the center before he was born.  I woke up just after 3 a.m. with some contractions, let Daddy-o sleep until 5:30 when I finally decided this might be it, and then felt really guilty that I couldn't wait more than another hour before I thought it was time to get the kids up and start waking up our friends and midwife on their Mother's Day, but I really wanted to get down to the birth center, so we were on our way by 7:00 and there a half hour later. 

The first couple hours there, I kept saying I really hoped it wasn't going to end up being a false alarm.  For once, I wanted to not get sent home, but my midwife never questioned it and just let Daddy-o and I rest and work through the contractions when they came.  And then, after a couple hours, I decided I was ready for her to fill up the birth pool because it did feel like things were getting more intense.

I've used the Hypnobabies program for my last two births, and while I can't say I have the painfree experience that some do, I do think that it's helped me relax enough that my labors are fast, and really, its only the last hour or so, when I'm in transition, that gets pretty uncomfortable and intense.  I was in the water at that point this time around and even though I had this nagging fear that I wasn't that close and this was going to go on for longer than I could handle,  Daddy-o totally called it and said at 10 a.m. that he thought I'd have the baby within the hour.  He recognized all the signs from the last time around.  The water took the edge off the back pain between contractions, and maybe some during--I coudn't really tell, but it did feel nice and gave me breaks between. 

And then, it was only 3 minutes of pushing till we got to meet our little boy.  The way I was holding him, I couldn't see at first if he really was a little boy and since Daddy-o and I had this little nagging fear that all our struggles over boy names would end up being an even bigger struggle to come up with a girl name at the last minute, I had to ask, but sure enough, the ultrasound was right, and we were back to trying to decide which of the names on our list fit this little guy.

The experience at the birth center and with the midwives there was seriously the best I can imagine.  It was so peaceful, being there on a Sunday morning, no one else in the building, and it was all about our little family.  The two midwives who were attending quietly cleaned up while we snuggled on the bed and then did the newborn check, made sure we were both okay and eating and knew what was coming up in the next couple days, and then, we got to go home, just 3 hours after he was born.  I guess with a first baby, that would have made me nervous, but third time around, it was just awesome to get home to nap in my own bed, and then spend the rest of the day with my other two kids as well.

And speaking of the siblings:

 Bug was really excited to meet his new baby.  The first thing he'd said to me after Daddy-o woke him up in the morning was a very ecstatic, "I'm going to be a big brother today!"

 And he is loving his "adorable" baby.

And Bean is pretty happy to have another little brother--she hasn't even mentioned wishing he was a sister since she met him.

The Newest Nesting Accomplishment

I know if I don't post for awhile, everyone starts thinking, "Baby", so I thought I should put something up this weekend.  No baby, no real signs of baby coming, except for my need for nesting.  I'm willing to admit I've been a little OCD in my need to keep everything clean this last week and have been purging things like crazy.

Today, our big project was the kids' room.

 And while this picture definitely shows the mess its been lately, I wanted to point out that this is actually a well organized habitat.  Bean's class is studying the rainforest right now and she came home the other day and laid out this scene--the forest is up on her bed, the blue parts are a waterfall and an ocean, the grassland is between the beds, and Bug's bed is the rainforest.  It was actually pretty amazing.

But she was willing to give it up for this:

We spent the morning putting together their new bunk beds.  Bugaboo's mattress is finally up off the floor and they are beyond happy with the new beds.  In fact, they have been so loud and crazy today, its been pretty obnoxious.  But as Bean pointed out, they've got new beds, the baby could come any day now, its Mother's Day this weekend, we got to watch a movie together last night, AND we just got cable TV (we've been TV free for 6 months, and will be going back to that as soon as the NBA playoffs are over, but the kids are pretty excited for the time being when they can watch some of their favorite shows again that aren't on Netflix.)  I guess its been sensory overload.  We'll just hope they can actually sleep in the beds tonight.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This past weekend was jam packed with fun.  First off was the Father/Son campout with the church that Daddy-o took Bugaboo on.  It was their first one together and from all reports, Bug had a GREAT time.

 They got to sleep in a tent, watch a movie outdoors, cook breakfast on the camp stove,

 and play tons of games, like soccer, tug-of-war, water balloon toss, and have a 3-legged race.   Sounds like this will be something they'll want to do each year.  I asked Daddy-o how he feels about taking an almost 1 year old next year :)  Don't think that's going to happen!

While the boys were busy doing their thing, Bean and I had our own fun to go to.

Friday night, we had a dinner and auction for her school, where we picked up this little bit of art.  One of the parents did these Andy Warhol inspired pictures of each of the kids after their unit on artists.  I think its pretty fun and may have to go get the other kids done as well.  Bean had a blast playing with her friends from school, and getting to stay up too late and then have a slumber party in my room.  I'm not sure how many of these we'll be having--she is a wiggle worm and took up more room in the bed than her dad does, but she loved it.

 The next morning, we hosted a baby shower for a friend from church who is due a month after me.  I just mildly panicked when I realized that I'd committed to do this and would be almost 38 weeks pregnant, but a couple friends helped out with all the food and I think the nesting instinct kicked in this last week because I even cleaned and organized things I didn't have to.  It also really helped that the last few days I have been way less nauseous and have been able to keep the heartburn under control, so I've been feeling better than normal.

Bean was pretty excited to be going to her first baby shower and we had a fun morning.  At one point at the shower, we realized that half the women there were pregnant, which is pretty funny.  There are a lot of baby boys coming--we feel bad for whoever is going to be running the church nursery in a couple years!

And then, that night, I got to leave behind the tired (and totally whiny by this point) kids and go out to dinner with several of my book group ladies.  We had good southern food and a great time talking and laughing.  I love getting to enjoy both my dinner and conversation without any interruptions from the little people.  It will probably be awhile before I'll have that privledge again, so I'm glad we were able to work out a time to do this.

Sunday was all about tying up loose ends with the work I do at church with the women's organization.  I'm pretty much counting on having a baby before our May 12th activity, so I've been trying to work out the details and make sure I'm covered for the next couple months before I go on my "maternity leave" from church.  I had a friend telling me today about some of the things she did that she thought helped speed up her recovery post baby and how she was able to get back to church a week later, but honestly, I'm just not in that big of a hurry.  We don't like taking our babies to church that young, anyway, and I'm so distracted by the baby those first few weeks--they are really all I can think about--that I can't imagine I'd get much out of being there. 

We're at just under 2 weeks!  Even though I've been counting down for months, and have hoped for this little guy to come as soon as possible, now that it could be REALLY soon, I'm not quite so anxious.  It just doesn't feel quite real.  But we made it through this really busy week, and now, I am just working on my list of last minute things to take care of and projects that aren't necessary, but will be nice to have out of the way.  The longer I'm pregnant, the more random cupboards and closets I'll get cleaned up.