Halloween 2011

Halloween night - spiders

Church Trunk or Treat - pirates

I had different costumes for the kids, but M always wanted to be what E was, thus the haphazard nature of his attire in both photos. The last photo is of M wearing Mr N's sombrero. Mr N wore it to an adults-only Halloween party. Baby C didn't trick or treat. She went to the trunk or treat dressed as Santa's little helper (sorry no photo).

We've Got Smiles!

Baby C's 2-month stats:
Weight: 12lbs 6oz
Length: 22.5 inches

Baby C's Blessing

Baby C was blessed at our church on September 25. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend, as well as Mr N's brother J and his beautiful family. Here's everyone:

Here's a picture of the cousins:

Mr N did a lovely job blessing the baby. She had the hiccups the entire time; it was hard not to laugh! She wore the blessing dress my mother made after Miss E was born. It was a beautiful, happy day!

Grandparents' Visit

My mom has been here for the month of September. She actually leaves tomorrow (boo!). My dad was able to come out too, for a long weekend when Baby C was blessed. Here are a few pictures of the festivities (pictures of Baby C's blessing day in another post).

Grandma doesn't like to be photographed.

Mr N harvested his pumpkins. He got a very impressive crop this year. The children were very excited.

Look at M's face! So cute.

Miss E quickly figured out that Grandpa is a big teaser. She had great fun bossing all her grandparents around!

Our New Arrival

Most of you already know this, but Baby Girl arrived last Sunday, August 7!

This photo was taken by Mr N moments before we left for the hospital. The kids were SO excited. They went to some friends' of ours, who took them to church. This photo was taken around 7am. I didn't realize I wasn't turned enough for the full effect of the belly to be appreciated. I was alllllll belly.

Baby C was born at 5:45 pm, weighed 8lbs2oz, and was 20 inches long. She was born 12 days before her due date, for which I am eternally grateful. She was posterior for a while, which stalled labor for about 6 hours (also grateful for epidurals!), but once we got that resolved and I was fully dilated, she arrived in less than 10 minutes! Very fast, just 7-8 pushes. It took about an hour for my brain to catch up to the fact that it was all over!

We came home on Tuesday. The babysitter snapped this photo, the first of all of us. We are a family of five!

She is a sweet baby, great at nursing, and beloved by all of us. Miss E loves to sing to her, and pick out her outfits. The kids love to put "hanitizer" (hand sanitizer) on so they can touch her. They are both great at being gentle. They are also being helpful, getting burp cloths or new blankets for swaddling.

The other day Miss E said Baby C was cute. "No!" shouted M. "She not cute!"
"What is she, M?" Mr N & I asked.
"She's pretty!" he answered.
Awww.

She likes to have one hour-and-a-half fussy period each night. She likes to mix it up so we never know when it will strike. Fun. But other than that, she is doing so well. Her weight got a little low post birth. At four days old, she was down to 7lbs5oz, so we had to go back to the doctor the next day for another weigh-in. Fortunately she was up an ounce, so no supplementing is necessary. Her favorite place to sleep is in her parents' arms (of course)!

Mr N is off work for paternity leave which is marvelous. He is home through the rest of the month. We have mostly been splitting the labor as I take care of the baby, he takes care of the older two. However, now that it's been a week I'm feeling more able. Plus we can tell the kids want to spend more time with me than they have lately. But it is really nice that Mr N can take the kids out and about, so they don't get stir crazy. I am a bit hermit-y after a new baby arrives. I think I barely left the house for three weeks after Miss E was born. Though we have already been out as a family a couple of times this week. My hips are still recovering from pregnancy so I still can't stand or walk too much at one time or I get very sore & stiff.

We are in serious baby love here at the N house!

Pregnancy Update

I am having a bit of a rough time with this pregnancy. On Friday I fainted at the craft store. Fortunately there were many other people around so I never made it to the ground. We went to the hospital so I could be checked out, and everything was fine. They said I need to be sure to eat & drink enough. So I've been doing that, but I am still having periodic lightheadedness. Mr N strongly urged me to not go anywhere by myself, and I had to see the wisdom of his counsel. If I fainted somewhere out and about with the kids, that could go very badly. So I am sticking to home more, and mostly limiting my outings to places where I can sit basically the entire time (library, McD0nald's). Yesterday my friend went with me to the grocery store. If you could keep me & Baby Girl in your prayers, that would be very appreciated! I have a little over 5 weeks to go and am hoping to avoid giving myself a concussion. Ha ha

Some friends of ours gave us their old swingset, so the kids have been having a blast playing on it. We've had a couple of cool days and some rain (boo). Before that though we were having classic Oregon summer weather, so the kids have been having fun playing in the kiddie pool in the backyard. I sit in a camping chair and knit while they play, it works out very nicely for everyone.

Baby Girl is healthy, active, and head-down. Tomorrow I get an ultrasound to see how big she is. I requested this ultrasound because I am worried about having a baby even bigger than M (he was 9lbs6oz). I don't think I'm quite as big with this one so I don't think she will be bigger, but we'll see.

Finally

Guess who finally decided using the potty was not only doable, but awesome? M decided a couple days ago to stay dry all day (!) and use the toilet multiple times (!) and wear underwear all day!! So very happy about this. He tried things out two weeks ago, but apparently got discouraged after a couple of accidents. Two days ago he decided he was ready to try again and he is doing a great job. I am so happy and proud of him.

The pediatrician had recommended that we not even try anything this summer because he would probably regress after the baby arrives. I won't even care if that happens. He is guiding this and he seems pretty motivated to stay dry. I just ask him occasionally if he needs to go, but he seems to be quite aware of when he needs to use the toilet. He did wait until he was in his nighttime diaper to go #2, but eh, I don't care about that either!

With Miss E, she was probably ready 3-6 months before I was. With M, I was probably ready 6 months before he was! Ha ha I guess it's true that you just have to wait until they're ready, because this is really pain free so far.

6 Months Down, 3 To Go!

Miss E is on antibiotics for the first time in her life. She has an infected eyelash follicle which had swelled up quite dramatically. However, after just one day of eye ointment and oral antibiotics it's already improving. She HATES getting the ointment in her eye (understandable, especially since it blurs her vision for a good ten minutes afterward), so we are totally bribing her. Or using the reward system, whichever you prefer. I'm comfortable with the term "bribing." She will get this doll once the medicine is done and her "bump" (as we all call it) is gone.

Her last day of preschool was today, we had a little party. As in, everyone brought food and the kids played the whole time. It was a preschool co-op, twice a week, and I taught one week a month. It was great for Miss E, I think it helped with her socialization skills and increased her interest in learning the alphabet, but I don't think I'll ever do it again. Teaching preschool is not my thing. M can't go to preschool this fall since he's not pottytrained yet, so I'm thinking I'll just save some money from next year's tax refund so I can put him in an official preschool in Fall 2012.

M has reached the defiant threes. My mom always said age three was worse than age two, and after two children hitting those ages & stages, I agree. M is figuring out the boundaries and whether I really mean it when I say, "Go to your room NOW!" (Hint: I do.) He also gave up naps completely though it means we now have to be really prompt about putting him to bed on time. Otherwise he has a meltdown at bedtime.

Baby #3 is so active we call her Ninja Baby. The kids like to talk to her but they don't seem interested in feeling her kick around. M was going through a phase where he wanted to be a baby and was baby talking a lot, but that's faded away. Now he insists that he is a little boy and he wants to sleep in the bunk bed with Miss E. (We've tried it a couple of times but it hasn't worked yet. They just giggle and play for an hour and then start fighting and we put them back in their own beds.) We're not looking forward to the exhaustion, but I'm getting really excited to meet Baby #3!

Tulips for a Clean Room

Mr N made a deal with Miss E that if she cleaned her room she could have tulips. It took a very long time (she must have inherited her procrastinating skills from both of us!) but eventually she got those tulips!

Playing Daddy

I especially like the pointing finger. She really knows how to act like Daddy! Ha ha

23 Weeks Pregnant

Motorcycle

Shopping cart as motocycle, basket as helmet. Love it!

Easter Finery

M is not much of one for posing nicely for pictures.

Easter Candy!

The actual Easter egg hunt is on the video camera...so that's not going up tonight. Ha ha

M's Third Birthday

Recognize the cake? M wanted the same cake he had last year - a basketball. This year though he asked for chocolate cake with sprinkles on top.

For M's birthday, we went, per his request, to Chuck E Cheese, where both kids had a blast. (It wasn't as bad as Mr N or I expected, probably because we went on a weekday at 4:30.)

Then we came home for cake and presents. M got a booster set of big lego blocks and a hammer set. He loved them both. We are so happy to have M in our family! He is a sweet boy who loves to give hugs & kisses.

M's Obesession

M is obsessed with boats. Due to his father, he knows a fair amount about them. He often builds me boats out of big lego blocks, complete with kicker motors and trailers. It's awesome. Here is a picture of how he rigged together the bike & trike to be his truck and boat on a trailer. I love his happy, proud face!

When Children Feed Themselves

They make butter & Goldfish cracker sandwiches. Yum!

Sorry for the Dearth of Posts

You may have noticed a peculiar lack of posting going on over here. There is, in fact, a simple explanation for this. A few months ago, I got my own laptop and the old laptop became Mr N's. Though admittedly it is also a little bit Miss E's, because I let her play games on the Nick Jr website during M's naptime/quiet time. I have not uploaded the needed software for downloading from our camera to my laptop. Honestly I have no idea where said software is. Nor have I even bothered to look for it online. So there you have it. However, as you know April is a busy month for the N clan, so there are some important pictures to share with all y'all! So I actually got on my husband's laptop (risking his eternal wrath - I'm so brave) and am uploading all the new pictures as I type!

Briefest of brief updates:

• M turned 3. I will no longer be typing out Bonesteele because 1) it takes a lot longer than typing M, and 2) Spellcheck doesn't recognize the word Bonesteele and seeing those angry red lines under my son's pseudonym is rather irritating. Ha ha
• Mr N celebrated a birthday with root beer floats and spaghetti & meatballs (his request).
• Mr N & I celebrated 9 beautiful years of marriage. heehee
• Today is my birthday; I have reached the dubious milestone of 30. I'm fine with it - 30 sounds nicer than 29.
• As of tomorrow, I am 24 weeks pregnant with baby #3, which is a GIRL!
  

Gender?

In two days we find out if this baby is a boy or a girl! Any guesses? E wants a girl, M wants a boy. Big surprise, eh? Stay tuned!

Most People Who Read This Already Know, But...