Nana and Papa Time

What a gift to have had almost 3 weeks with Nana and Papa here. It was so helpful to have the help, especially with Jack and Hannah. I am here to tell you that they are opportunists and look for trouble as soon as I turn my attention to Caleb. While they were here Jack and Hannah got to do some fun things with Nana and Papa. They went for bus rides, trips to the park, grocery store outings, explored down town, visited the ice cream store, and went for a real train ride. This is of course in addition to all the attention they got just at the house...they loved every minute!

Mark and I are so thankful to have had them come and so appreciative of the help. They helped us paint, watched the kids so Mark and I could get out together for small group, and I even got to have some one on one time with each of the kids - I loved that!

Thanks and We miss you Nana and Papa!

Happy 1 Month

5.21.11 - 6.21.11

Our sweet little Caleb is one month. It is amazing to me the depth of love I feel for him. It was immediate strong love for this little one. Over the course of the last month, our love for Caleb has done nothing but grow. He is strong and a fighter...our little warrior made it out of the NICU after only 9 days. Since we have been home with him he continues to grow and gain strength every day. He is now nursing full-time and surprised us with how quickly he transitioned from all bottles to nursing.

At 3 and a half weeks he weighed in at 5 lbs. 11 0z...he's growing! We have turned the oxygen down twice since coming home and are now down to 1/32. His little eyes are starting to be open a little more and are drawn towards the light. I have seen him almost kind of try and look like he is focusing on me a couple of times, so I know it won't be long. Caleb is still sleeping quite a bit and is sleeping one long stretch every night (somewhere between 4-6 hours). We feed him a bottle before bed and then I get up with him just once in the middle of the night. The next time he eats is early morning. He seems to like his little baby hammock and is comforted by the swaying back and forth. During the day he sleeps downstairs and should win an award for the way he can sleep through the loud shenanigans of the older two.

Keep growing little warrior...we love you! Happy 1 month!

Super Dad

Super Dad Fathers day cake for Mark and his Dad.

We celebrated with homemade pizza and an ice cream cake (chocolate cake with mint moose tracks ice cream and chocolate buttercream icing.)

Happy Fathers Day also to my Dad! I love you and am thankful for you and the ways you continue to love me. And also to Mark's Dad! We are so thankful and blessed to have great fathers!

To Mark who truly is a super dad...I love you and am so proud of how you love our children. I love how you interact with each of our children.

Super Dad reading Green eggs and Ham with all 3 munchkins.

My Stealthy Child

stealthy - adj \ˈstel-thē\
Definition of STEALTHY

1: slow, deliberate, and secret in action or character

2 : intended to escape observation : furtive

This word is a good description of Hannah. The child is an opportunist. She is smart, sneaky, and stealthy. I have seen her patiently wait until she thinks no one is looking and then do whatever it is she intends on doing.

Earlier this week she snuck away and her Papa found her upstairs in my room eating M&M's out of my nightstand drawer. We had a big talk about how she is not allowed in my drawer and she is not allowed upstairs without asking permission.

Today I set up H with a snack and a drink and went to change Jack's diaper. I came back and realized she was gone. I immediately went to the stairs and hollered up for her to "come down now!" She came down with her mouth stuffed very full. I asked her where she had been and what she had been doing and her response was "Mommy's drawer, eating M&M's...NOOOOO!" So we had a time-out, again!

Although it took everything in me not to laugh, I was actually quite proud of my candy-loving daughter. Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE candy! While pregnant with Jack I ate gobs of gummy worms, I ate gummy bears with Caleb. Since I have been home from having Caleb I have eaten 2 Huge bags (32 oz. bags) of Hot tamales. I think I might have a problem! I am also pretty sure that when we met Hannah's birth mother I saw her pull out a bag of candy, eat a couple of pieces and then put it back in her pocket.

I will now be closing the gate at the top of the stairs --all the time!

Golfing on the Green

Jack got these cute little clubs and balls for his birthday. Now that all the snow is gone, we can actually enjoy them. They both have their own clubs (H is green, J is red), and wildly swing them at the balls all about the green.

These two are sure to make their Grandpa who is an avid golfer very proud!

Our little twins

H loves to help out with Caleb. So when she is being too aggressive we encourage her to go get her baby. Apparently she did the other day because next time I looked at Caleb this is what I saw...

Wordless Wednesday

My Safe Haven

I am happy. I love having all of us together. I love watching Mark be a dad to our 3 kiddos. I love watching Jack and Hannah figure out who this new little guy is that all of a sudden lives with us. Again, I am happy.

Through all my happiness I acknowledge that having a newborn in the house is a definite adjustment. Less sleep, less time, and less attention to the older two and my husband. Everyone handles stress and change differently. I choose to be in the kitchen - one of my all-time favorite places to be. It is my safe haven...don't mess with me while I am in my happy place.

While in the hospital I spent those early mornings searching for recipes and menu planning. It was calming. Last week there were 3 nights in a row where I made and baked cookies; they all went into the freezer to save for later. I have also tried a new cake recipe which is fabulous (I will post on this later) and a new frozen dessert recipe...

This dessert was great. It is a Betty Crocker recipe.
Chocolate Cookie, yogurt & raspberries, more cookie, whipped cream, hot fudge, and berries on top.

Someone recently asked me where I like to look for recipes. I look at lots of different blogs and websites. Here are a few of the ones that I frequent the most.
Picky Palate
The Pioneer Woman
Smitten Kitchen
A Cozy Kitchen
A Year of Slow Cooking

My place is the kitchen. What do you like to do to de-stress and find your calm?

Welcome Nana and Papa

Mark's parents arrived on Sunday afternoon and will be here for the next 3 weeks! We are so excited they are here, we are appreciative of the help, and ecstatic for J&H to get some Nana and Papa time. We recently asked our renter in the studio above our garage to move out in anticipation of Caleb's arrival. So now that it is empty (for the summer) we have the perfect place for family and friends to stay when they visit. Nana and Papa are the first official visitors in our new place.

Already having lots of fun with them!

Return of the Giraffe

The giraffe is back to help us document the first year of Caleb's life. We didn't have the giraffe at the hospital therefore couldn't take a picture quite as early as we did with Jack. However, after a recent bath we got a pic of C at 13 days old.

And this was Jack at 3 days old...



And here is Caleb sporting his new Super Mario blanket. He already wants to be like his brother and sister who are obsessed with Mario. They love to play with Mario Kart with their Dad.

Family of Five

First Family Picture as a Family of Five.

Late last Friday and Saturday Caleb turned a corner. The light came on and he started taking all his feedings out of a bottle on his own. We were cautiously optimistic as we had been told that babies this young can tire really easy, overdo it, and then regress a bit. On Sunday afternoon Caleb's Dr. came by and said if he continued to do well he could probably go home on Monday. Then Sunday afternoon I returned to a room in Labor and Delivery and Caleb got to spend the night with us. Hooray! Then we were officially discharged on Monday.

C in his going home outfit, ready for a road trip home.

We drove home and went straight to the doctor to have his oxygen adjusted for our 9600 ft. altitude and then hurried home to see everyone. There was a great big "Welcome Home Caleb" sign hanging in our kitchen and Jack and Hannah were pretty excited to see all of us. Both kids seem to be doing well with our new family member. Jack is just his normal happy self and always seems excited to see Caleb. Hannah is very curious and we find ourselves looking for constructive ways to let us have her help us.

The kids helping out their babies,
just like Mommy.

I am thankful we got to come home before my parents left town. They were a huge help watching the kids while we were down in Louisville, I only wish I had gotten more time with them.

Caleb is doing great! He sleeps a lot, then he eats, then he sleeps. Night time is going well - the last 3 nights he has eaten every 4 hours, which is as long as we are supposed to let him go given how much he is eating. We are having to wake him up to eat, so hopefully this a good sign of what is to come --maybe he will be a good little sleeper for us once he can take more food.