Priceless

Brady cracked us up at the dinner table tonight. We were eating turkey and that prompted the following conversation:

Jeremy: Do you know where turkey comes from?
Brady: Nope.
Jeremy: From turkeys! Do you know where chicken comes from?
Brady: Nope.
Jeremy: From chickens! Do you know where hamburgers come from?
Brady: Nope.
Jeremy: From cows!
Brady: No. From Wendy's.

(The boys had just eaten at Wendy's last weekend, for the first time - I think - so this was what came to Brady's mind when he heard the word hamburgers!)

The boys!

We like to dress in maroon and orange for VT games, and the boys put on their new Hokie shirts for last weekend's basketball game against UNC (too bad it didn't help us win). Brady was quick to notice that I had on a VT shirt that day ("Mommy, your Hokie shirt can fit you now!"), since my Hokie clothes stopped fitting me about halfway through football season and I had to explain to the boys why I wasn't wearing team colors on a few game days!

Ian loves to be tickled! He has the most infectious laugh you'll ever hear.

A few nights ago, Ian and Brady pulled their little chairs up to the coffee table, brought over two big piles of books, and read to Leah.

They were sure to show her the pictures, too!

Leah really enjoyed the attention!

The boys love to push their new dump truck and digger around the house, and sometimes they take turns pushing each other in the dump truck.

Bath Time!

Like most newborns, Leah does not like her bath! This is her first sponge bath at home:

After she calmed down, I took her picture while her hair was still a little damp (below). Little did we know that after her hair dried completely, it stood completely on end! When Ian saw Leah, he laughed and said, "Her hair is sticking up!"

I took this picture a few days later, after her hair had been washed and dried. She has a funny look on her face! My parents actually have some pictures of me as a newborn that look almost identical to this one.

Visitors

Things have been pretty quiet around our house (as quiet as they can get with two almost 3-year-old boys!) but we have had a few visitors come by to meet Leah. Great-Uncle Herbert came by with some flowers and brought the boys some balloons, which they always enjoy. They tied them to their dump truck and digger.

Lots of pretty pink flowers!

Our friend Kathryn and her boyfriend Bob came to visit when Leah was 5 days old, and I unfortunately didn't get any pictures. We have a picture of Kathryn with the boys when they were a few days old, and I really should have thought to get out the camera this time!

Pop, Granny, and Great-Aunt Wanda came to visit on Wednesday.


The proud great-grandpa with Leah:
Even after being passed around between everyone, she slept pretty soundly!

Leah's 10-day checkup

We took Leah to the pediatrician yesterday afternoon for her 10-day checkup. She was already back up to her birth weight, which made us very happy! She had grown 1/2 inch already so she's now up to 20.5 inches. It looks like she's going to be tall and slim, just like her brothers.

Leah has been such a wonderful baby! She loves to be cuddled (and we certainly don't mind doing that), and she only fusses if she's hungry or having her diaper or her clothes changed. She is sleeping very well at night - so well that I'm having to set my alarm to wake her up to eat, just so we can make sure she's eating every 3 hours. The doctor said that I should continue doing this until she's a month old. In the time we've been home from the hospital, Leah has only woken up before the alarm once - hard to believe! We go back for her 1-month checkup in 3 weeks.

The proud big brothers

Brady and Ian really love their baby sister. They are always concerned when she cries, and they can't go to sleep at night without kissing her goodnight.

Ian is especially fond of Leah. He asks to hold her very often, and he will get up in a chair or on the sofa and hold out his arms like this:

Ian loves to nuzzle Leah and rub noses with her.


The transition has been much easier on the boys than I thought it would be. We expected that the boys would act out in order to get attention but that really hasn't happened. They have been great!

Coming Home

We brought Leah home on Wednesday 1/6. This is one of the last pictures we took in the hospital.

Strapped into the car seat, ready to go.

We have two very special blankets to keep Leah warm in the car. They were used to bring me home from the hospital when I was born. This one is the afghan my Aunt Shelby made for me.

This quilt was made by my Great-Grandma Simpkins. I love that Leah gets to use the blankets made by her Great-Aunt and her Great-Great-Grandma.

Before going home, we stopped to pick up Brady and Ian, who stayed at my parents' house while we were in the hospital with Leah. The boys were finishing up their lunch and they were so excited to see us and to meet their baby sister.


Here's a video that shows some of their excitement. They wanted to get down from their high chairs and meet Leah!



Holding Leah for the first time:

A video of the boys holding Leah:



Our first picture as a family of five:

Both boys wanted to read to Leah.

Waiting for Baby

After Christmas, we were busy making last-minute preparations for Leah's birth and enjoying our last few days as a family of four. Leah's furniture arrived a week before she was born (just in time!) and it came in a few large boxes. The boys had a great time playing in the boxes. They used their crayons to draw windows and trees in their little "house".

Every night after bathtime, the boys sit in their rocking chair with me and read books before they go to sleep. As my belly grew larger and larger, it became more and more difficult for all of us to fit in the chair! All three kids got squished, and Ian would often say, "The baby is kicking me!" (She was!) Once, Ian actually slid out of my lap and landed in the floor. I'm proud to say that we made it all the way to the end of the pregnancy in the rocking chair. This is a picture of us reading in the chair the night before Leah was born.

Last night was the first night since my surgery that I've been able to hold both boys in the rocking chair again. We've had to read in other places for the last few days, and it hasn't been the same. It was so nice to hold my sweet boys on my lap again!

Better late than never!

Here's a video of the boys on Christmas day.

Introducing...

Leah Caroline
1/4/10
11:05 AM
7 lbs, 1.8 oz
20 inches

This morning we met our beautiful baby girl! She has chubby cheeks and a head full of dark hair. All of us are doing well. Brady and Ian can't wait to meet their little sister, but we have to wait until we go home on Wednesday due to hospital regulations (flu season). We got to chat with the boys on Skype this afternoon and they were so excited to see Leah.

Leah looks quite a bit like Brady looked at birth, but her eyes look more like Ian's. She is very cuddly and has been such a sleepyhead today!

Here are a couple pictures from this morning, when we were ready to head to the hospital.

Reflections

As I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I'm still marveling at how (relatively) easy things have been this time compared to three years ago. We've heard the phrase "What a difference a day makes." I say, "What a difference a baby makes!"

Last time, I had morning sickness from 3 weeks (too early for the pregnancy test to even turn out positive!) until about 20 weeks, then again from about 36 weeks until the boys were born at 38 weeks. (The term "morning sickness" is a joke for me, though - it hit at all times of the day and night.) This time I was sick from 5 weeks until 14 weeks. No fun, but not nearly as bad as the first time.

With the boys, by the time I was over the nausea, I was already pretty large and had no energy. I needed naps every day and had to stop working around 36 weeks because it just wore me out. This time, I've had so much more energy and really just started slowing down around 38 weeks. My last day of work was Wednesday. I certainly needed the extra energy to keep up with two very active boys!

During the first pregnancy, I literally had almost every symptom in the book. Nausea, heartburn, lower back pain, exhaustion, swollen feet at the very end, even a horrible rash all over my belly that kept me awake because it itched so bad. This time around, everything has been milder. The biggest problem has been insomnia. I haven't slept well since April. I guess that's just preparing me to wake up every 3 hours with a hungry newborn!

With the boys, after I got my appetite back, I craved sweet things like cake and ice cream. This time, I've had cravings for salty foods like potato chips and pickles, but I've eaten more than my fair share of cookies too!

This time around, I have gained exactly (to the pound) half the weight I gained with the boys. That's probably a big reason why I have so much more energy!

At the time, I thought the boys moved around a lot in the womb, but I had no idea! Baby Girl has been so active that it now seems like the boys didn't move at all! Jeremy asked me to describe how it feels... the only thing I've been able to come up with is that it feels like I swallowed a live fish that is flopping around in my belly. Some of her kicks literally take my breath away. I think she can't wait to be out of there, stretch her legs, and see the world! It won't be long!

Christmas at Nana and Granddad's house

After opening presents at our house, we got dressed and headed to Nana and Granddad's house for a late breakfast. Brady and Ian were excited to find a new table and chairs, just their size!

They got some nice new cars from Nana's trip to Thailand.
They were very happy to get some new building blocks.
Ian said he was going to build a city.
The boys also got a mini air hockey table. They are still trying to figure this one out! They think you're supposed to hit the puck into your own goal.
They played together with their blocks for quite a while.
After opening their stockings, Ian and Brady wanted to break in their new crayons and coloring books.
That evening, Great-Aunt Teresa stopped by and brought some presents for the boys. They got slide whistles...
...Virginia Tech t-shirts (anything maroon and orange is a hit with the boys)...
...and little guitars that are the perfect size for their little hands.

We had a very Merry Christmas! Now it's time to concentrate on getting ready for Baby Girl and the boys' 3rd birthday! Hard to believe!