Smiles!

I mentioned that Second Son was starting to smile at us a lot. I finally grabbed the camera in time to take a picture or two last Thursday and he just smiled and smiled and smiled. I can't even decide which one I like best! He's 6 weeks 6 days old in these pictures.

Great Grandmother

My grandmother, Second Son's great grandmother, has been visiting with my parents. She had thirteen children of her own and is amazing at snuggling and calming a newborn. She loves to hold Second Son and probably would all day long if he didn't need to eat now and then. I will always treasure pictures of them together.

Perfect Timing!

Second Son was born today!

He emerged not only on his due date, but at the same time as we would have been at the doctor's office for our previously scheduled appointment (though we were at the birthing center).

The details:
2:02 pm
10 pounds, 1 ounce
21 inches

The older kids already adore him. They each had multiple turns holding him, even Second Daughter. She yelled "I do! I do!" anytime anyone said "Do you want to hold him?" No matter who they were addressing.

We're doing well. He's sleeping and I will be soon. Pictures to come after we go home tomorrow or Sunday.

Growing Up

Birth:


First birthday:


Second birthday:


Third birthday:


Fourth birthday:

Birthday Pictures

First Son has his first real birthday party yesterday. We hosted it at a local church and they provided a bouncer for the kids. First Son and First Daughter tested it out for a good fifteen minutes before anyone else even arrived.



First Son let us light some candles for the first time. (He's been anti-candle until just recently.) He placed the candles and blew them all out. I can't tell you his wish, though!


Second Daughter had a good time, too. She barely fussed, even when she was very sleepy.


First Son asked all day today if he could have his friends over for another birthday party. I think he missed them. We didn't do much today for the actual birthday. We had noodles with sauce and cheese for dinner and some more chocolate coins and he smiled every time we called him the "Birthday Boy." He also read through the first three of his Bob Books, which was very exciting for all of us! He also spent the day trying out his new Jonah game and all the puzzles he received as gifts. He was even excited to wear some of his new clothes.

I cannot believe my little baby boy is five years old. I very much remember his birth day and his first few weeks. Life has a funny way of happening when we're busy doing "stuff," doesn't it?

Happy Birthday First Son! I miss the chubby baby you were, but I'm so excited to get to know the boy you're becoming.

Party Party Party!

We had a birthday party for First Son today (who turns five tomorrow!) and it was wonderful. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures to share, but right now I have to tackle dishes and laundry and finding all the pieces of my cupcake stand.

My Favorite Christmas Gifts

The kids and I have been having some Christmas fun. We've decorated the tree (Monday), baked Christmas cookies (today) and finished our family ornaments (except for gluing on the ribbons, which I'll do myself...maybe even tonight!). The Jesse Tree is languishing, but the Advent Wreath and two Advent calendars are getting some use, which is the most fun for the kids. Now I'm contemplating just doing the Jesse Tree readings by myself as I think it might be good Advent preparation for me.

Anyway, I will probably post some pictures of our toddler-decorated tree (pretty much all the ornaments are on one of five branches at the bottom) and the cookie decorating they did today (actually quite good, though how can you go wrong with M&Ms on sugar cookies with homemade icing?), but I'm feeling a little too lazy to swap chairs with Kansas Dad and turn on the other computer (where all the pictures live) so instead I'll write about something that's been on my mind...the best Christmas gifts ever.

Here are my top three Christmas gifts (in no particular order):

1. My keyboard. I haven't played it in years (though the kids like it), but of all my childhood gifts, it was my most cherished. I was in junior high. A keyboard was all I wanted and I was devastated on Christmas morning when there was no big rectangular box with my name on it. I've always thought of myself as an intelligent gal, but I was concentrating so hard on not crying I didn't even think to ask myself why I was opening gifts like a monster pack of size D batteries or some weird electrical plug. Yeah, you guessed it, the keyboard was in another room. I loved it. There's a good chance I'll never get rid of that keyboard, just for the memory of that Christmas. (It's good for my ego, too, to remember how I completely failed to realize what my parent's had done.)

2. My most beloved Christmas CD. For me, the Christmas season didn't really begin until Anne Murray's Christmas Wishes graced our stereo. At some point, I bought the CD for my parents to replace their tape (or was it a record?...oh my). Well, after I got married and had a home of my own, I tried to find the CD and found to my shock and dismay, Anne Murray had a new Christmas CD out and I couldn't buy the old one. The new one just wouldn't do; it wasn't Anne Murray I wanted, it was the Christmas music of my childhood. A couple of years ago, I received it as a gift from my parents. They'd wrapped up and given me their own copy, just because it meant so much to me. I still love it. I've been listening to it all day.

3. A waffle iron. Kansas Dad loves a hot breakfast. He bought this waffle iron for me because I like waffles more than pancakes, but that's not what puts it on this list (though it was thoughtful of him). No, what puts it on this list is that we ate waffles about once a week for at least a year after I opened this gift one Christmas...and I never ever made them myself. In fact, years and years later, I still have never used this waffle iron. This, gentlemen, is the only kind of kitchen appliance gift allowed for your wives (other than something expressly requested).

I've gotten plenty of good gifts in my day, but these are my three favorites. (Unless we count First Son, who was born exactly two weeks before Christmas five years ago.)

One Year on the Range

Today, we're celebrating. Our Home on the Range has been online for one year! So we're taking a look back...

A few milestones:

• Kansas Dad finished his dissertation and then successfully defended his dissertation.
• First Son graduated from diapers and pull-ups.
• Kansas Dad had minor surgery and then, as soon as he was feeling better, dislocated his ankle (and was in a cast), just three weeks before my due date.
• Second Daughter was born.
• We bought a house.
• Kansas Dad started his first official tenure-track full faculty position.
• Kansas Mom switched from full-time to part-time.
• First Son started his reading lessons, making us an official "formal" homeschooling family.
• This blog has been visited more than 3900 times, which is more than my previous two blogs combined (from May 2004 through October 2007).

I think we managed to hit all the most stressful good milestones! We have indeed been stressed, but we have also been blessed. Our children are healthy, our land is fruitful (and it's ours!), our pantry is full and our hopes for the coming year are expansive.

Some things we learned:

• Christmas Eve is not always fun.
• How to build a square foot garden, dissasemble a washing machine, repair a computer, install a dishwasher and (coming soon) rebuild a water softener. (Kansas Dad did, at least.)
• I love Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education.
• Our favorite way to prepare pattypan squash (whole wheat chocolate cake; seriously, it's fantastic).
• You can trade books you don't want for books you do want, just for the cost of postage. (I've received 41 books so far!)
• It is difficult, but not impossible, to care for a preschooler, a toddler and a newborn while packing everything you own and then unpack it while caring for a preschooler, a toddler and an infant.
• Some people (we won't name names) do not take very good care of their houses.
• Some babies really are good sleepers. Some toddlers are not.
• Our new parish is delightful.
• The mice will always be with us.

Last, but not least, I leave you with my favorite post.

Working Hard

Last night, I slipped into the kids' room to check on them as we do each night. I pulled the covers back over First Son. He shifted and woke. He mumbled something I couldn't understand so I leaned in to ask him to repeat himself.

"I worked so hard today, Mama."

You did work hard today, Little Man.

You and First Daughter learned about chimpanzee nests.


You learned to pant hoot.

Second Daughter learned to suck her thumb.



(And just be cute.)

First Daughter learned how to use her feet to push against an outer wall to climb. (I admit I showed her this trick...and immediately regretted it. I have no doubt she'll quickly transfer this skill to some piece of furniture at home and disaster is sure to ensue, for us if not for First Daughter.)



It was indeed a very busy day of learning and playing, and we've already learned that playing is the work of childhood.

I hope, too, you were able to bask in your Mama and Grammy's love today, learning how much we love you with your heart, if not your head.

On Our Own

Today was the first day I was alone with all three kids all day. I was a little nervous, but everything went very well. When Kansas Dad arrived back home, everyone was reasonably well-fed (given that dinner-time was approaching), reasonably clean and had even napped. I had made a loaf of bread (in the bread machine, of course), done most of the dishes and even ran a load of laundry (gathering wrinkles in the dryer, but at least they were clean).

I can definitely see that I need some sort of schedule with them. I also wasn't quite brave enough to tackle a trip anywhere with all three of them, but I know getting out to the park would be particularly good for the older two.

The highlight of the day: At lunch, we spotted a hummingbird enjoying our front garden!

Sharing Sea Animals

First Son showed Second Daughter all his sea animals. It was so sweet of him to share, though I do think it was a little easier than sharing with First Daughter because Second Daughter doesn't try to grab everything and run away with it...yet.



I think this is the picture I'm going to tweak for our announcements. I have to warn you, though, if you read the blog you probably won't get an announcement. We're only going to send them to close family members and a few people who don't ever go online. It was almost $100 just for postage on First Daughter's announcements, and that's a hundred dollars we probably need for a tractor or something.

Second Daughter's Birthday!

Third baby arrived surprisingly quickly in the wee hours of the morning. Here are the details:

A girl!
12:07 am
8 pounds, 10 ounces (my smallest yet)
19 inches

I'll post later with more pictures and details, but wanted you all to know the news. I'm sure I'll be slow on the blog for a while as we all catch our breath a bit.

A Reminder

I ran out to the kitchen for a refill on my water after the kids and Grammy had headed out for the morning and found this scene -- just a little reminder of the love in our house.


Just so you know, this is not a mess. This is the scene of fun and learning.

The Smell of Spring

My two little ones just got home from a walk with Grammy (in their new wagon, of course) and the living room smells of summer - sunblock!

All Is Well

First Daughter had her 18 month well child visit today. She hates the doctor's office, of course, and kept asking to leave before they even called us back. By the end she seemed to realize the doctor wasn't really hurting her when she listened to her heart and looked in her ears...and that's when she got the shots. Poor girl! She's well and healthy, though, so we're happy.

The stats:
24 pounds, 1 ounce (just under 50% for her age)
33.5" (just under 95% for her age)

First Daughter seems to be getting better about going to sleep once she's in her crib. We still have to stand by her side and occasionally rub her back, but we're pretty happy when she goes to sleep after we put her down.

Kansas Dad and I watched a movie together tonight. We don't do that very often. (He's usually working at night and we tend toward TV on DVD from Netflix which require less time at once.) It was nice. Kansas Dad even got to feel baby move again. (The first time was while we were in Boston.) Baby's getting stronger. We could watch the belly for kicks!

Happy Easter!

We had a pretty quiet Easter Sunday. We went to mass this morning with my parents and then all headed to Grammy and Paw Paw's house for Easter lunch and fun. (We would have prefered the Vigil, but they all started at 8 pm...exactly bed time! Maybe next year we'll brave it with the kids.)

First Daughter before church. Yes, that's a Cheerio in her mouth...Kansas Dad made a huge warm breakfast, of which she ate her share, but you'd never know it from how she asked for Cheerios five minutes later.


First Daughter enjoying her Easter cupcake. (Mostly she crumbled it to bits and smeared the frosting all over her hands.)


A better picture of First Daughter's Easter dress. It's one of the few new things we have for spring (thanks, Grammy!) which we found at Burlington Coat Factory at a very good price.


First Son refused to participate in the Easter egg hunt once he found his present (a new Veggie puzzle). He insisted on putting it together immediately. Like last year, we had to run around and pick up most of the eggs we'd put out.

First Daughter did enjoy the hunt, at least for a while. I have a little video of her you can see if you know us. Just email me and I'll send a link.


By the way, First Son had also been dressed in Easter finery, but had to change after a pre-lunch walk outside. These are the only clothes we had for him at Grammy's house, so his Easter is immortalized by a Michigan shirt and jeans with a patch. Next year I'll have to remember to take a picture before we leave the house for Easter mass!

Home Again, Home Again

Kansas Dad and I arrived home tonight after four wonderful days with friends and loved ones in Boston and New England. Many thanks to those who were so generous with good company, good food and their homes while we were visiting. We loved some time to reconnect! Maybe next time we can bring the kids.

First Son and First Daughter seemed to do just fine with Grammy and Paw Paw, though First Daughter did not want to leave my lap for the whole first hour we were home (when they both should already have been in bed). They got to bed late, but I'm glad they were awake to see us.

My parents are here for Holy Week, so posts for the next few days will probably magically appear after Easter. We hope you have a blessed week!

Birthday Video

Birthday Party!

After mass, we met Grammy, Paw Paw and Uncle at the restaurant First Son requested. It wasn't the food that had him hooked (he hardly eats anything while we're there); it was the play area. He spent pretty much the whole hour and a half climbing and yelling down at us. But it was his birthday party, so we're glad he had fun.

We opened presents before nap time. This was the first year First Son was excited about his birthday and presents, so he dug right in!


He happily trekked off to quiet time, too, which I hadn't expected. But he had a new book on CD and was very happy to listen to it and rest.

Kansas Dad very sweetly offered to make an ice cream cake to celebrate. (Neither of our kids are big cake fans, though they think they are until it's on the plate in front of them.) First Son was delighted, especially when we let him put M&M's (his favorite) and sprinkles on it. Nothing like putting them to work at a young age.



What a handsome guy!

Birthday Boy at Breakfast

It's not really his birthday for two more days, but I'm off on a business trip (when did I become the kind of mother who misses birthdays for business?) so we're celebrating today. Luckily, though he knows he's four, he hasn't quite got the idea of days of the month, so it's all the same to him. He just knows he's in for a great day!