Mabel Turner

 

 8 lbs, 19.5 inches

I have a feeling I'll be blogging a lot less these days, but while I have a minute I wanted to record Mabel's birth story- or at least a few things to remember about it. 

Although she was 12 days late, she came just as fast as Winston. At 8:20am on July 16 the doctor give me a single drip of Pitocin and told me to sit back and relax because it would be a while before it started to work and things got going. But, ten minutes later the first contraction hit! Contractions were consistent every 2 1/2 to 5 minutes for the next hour. After that the doctor came in and broke my water (9:30am) because they wanted to see if the fluid was clear since she was so overdue. The fluid was clear and the contractions started to be much more painful after that, so we called in the anesthesiologist and got the epidural going at 9:50am. The epidural was taking a little bit to set in so they gave me a booster, which meant that I lost all feeling in my legs and literally could not move them. For the rest of the time I was in labor all I could think about was how frustrating it was to not be able to move my legs! I kept asking Tyler to re-position them so I could be more comfortable before I realized that I was only uncomfortable because I wanted to move them myself. With W delivery I had an epidural, but I was able to move my legs and feel pressure, so I didn't like being completely numb. 

Anyway, at some point I thought I felt some pressure, but it was literally no more than Tyler touching my arm, so I wasn't sure about it. I went back and forth with Tyler for a few minutes debating on whether or not to get a nurse/if I was even feeling anything at all. Eventually, he just got a nurse which was good because I was at a ten and Mabel was crowning.

The doctor came in pretty quick and asked me to do a small practice push on the next contraction (which they had to tell me about, because I literally couldn't feel anything!), but when I started to push they quickly told me to stop and then told me I was having a baby on the next contraction. Next one started and I pushed once for the head and once for the shoulders and she was out! She gave two good screams and then they immediately put her on my chest. While we snuggled I was overwhelmed by the realization that I had another baby- in a good way. I think I had been so focused on labor (because she was so late) and on making things easy for W, that I kind of forgot we would be coming home with a sweet baby girl at the end of it! The nurses cut the umbilical cord while she laid on my chest and, just like with W, I never pushed for the placenta and never saw it so hopefully it's not still in there :)

Bonding with my baby girl

Shnuggling with Daddy

She was born at 12:32pm, so like it said, it went quick. The doctor told me she was eight pounds even at birth, and six of those pounds were in her cheeks :) She and W have the best baby cheeks ever! I also think she has W's big, blue eyes, but she's more sleepy than W was so we don't see them as often. Her hair is also just like W's was, but her chin is what we think makes her look different from W. She has my chin, which is apparently very pointy... and no one ever told me this until Mabel was born. Or I guess just more pointy than Tyler and Winston's :)

Postpartum nap...

She has chunked up pretty quickly and is already about nine and a half pounds at three weeks. She's a pretty good sleeper and on most nights I only get up once to nurse. Oh, and she grunts like a beast for like 45 minutes as she wakes up :) She is a great eater and figured it out much quicker than W did. I was surprised, actually, with how much easier breastfeeding and recovery were this time around. I knew I had it easy with W, but this time I really felt like 100% by the time I left the hospital. 

W absolutely adores her! He likes to see her first thing in the morning, says hi to her constantly, wants her to watch all his tricks, wants to wear matching diapers all the time, loves holding her, and likes to do bath time and tummy time with her. He is struggling a little bit with not having my immediate attention every time he wants it, but he's slowly getting better. He now understands that she can only have mama's milk and will tell me she's hungry whenever she starts her grunting :)

 First time seeing her...

...and first time holding her :)

 

 I think he likes her!

I still feel like some days are really hard and I can't get anything done or that W is going to drive me crazy, but other days are great and then I feel like I'm a super mom! But I also keep forgetting that it's barely been three weeks and everything will fall into place soon enough.

The "family of four hospital bed" picture

A few other things that I wanted to remember: 

1. In the hospital I kept referring to her as him! It was weird to think I had a girl, and since most of her newborn clothes are W's hand me downs I still sometimes forget! On Sundays when we put a dress on her I kind of get giddy because she really is a little girl :) 

2. Again, the most painful part was having the epidural tape ripped from my back- it seriously kills. 

3. I craved only cranberry juice after she was born, which is what I craved after W too. I think next time I'll have Tyler bring a giant jug of it to the hospital.

We are absolutely in love with Mabel and she definitely belongs in our family!!

Hospital outfit

My Man

We celebrated Tyler's 29th birthday over the weekend and kept it really low-key even though I feel he deserves a giant party on a yacht in the Mediterranean Sea complete with fireworks every year! Maybe when he turns 50- I'll keep you posted. But anyway, this man really is the best husband and dad possible. I remember being overwhelmed with love for him when Winston was born and the gush of adoration for him is no different with this new baby. I really can't imagine my life without him and I know W would instantly fall to pieces too (every morning he tells me, "I want dadda come home.").

On the 4th of July We had no real morning plans so I thought we would just take it easy as a family and hang out. Tyler thought it would be a good chance to mow the lawn, clear some weeds, rake, blow out the garage, clean off the sprinkler heads, etc. I kept telling him he didn't need to worry about doing yard work on a holiday, but after he basically begged me to do it three or four times, I finally just let him go. Who else can say their husband is begging to get chores done on a holiday?! I know he wants us to have a nice yard so W and I can enjoy it during the day and I am so appreciative of all the hard work he does around here. Like I said, he is the best husband and dad ever!!

I snuck a few pictures of him working in the yard on the 4th as proof :)

 

So, I just wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday again, and make sure he knows how much we love and need him. I can't wait to see what the next several years have in store for him and our family!

Two!

28 1/2 lbs., 35 1/4 inches

Winston turned two over the weekend and he couldn't be more thrilled about it. I still don't think he really has any idea what a birthday is, but if you ask him how old he is or say Happy Birthday he replies with an enthusiastic, "Two!" (often while holding up four fingers, but we're working on it :). We spent the day doing all the things he loves: waking up with balloons to play with, spending an hour at the indoor play gym, going to the pet store to pick out a fish (who he aptly named Blue Fish), going to the airport to pick up Papa, stopping by Daddy's work for a treat, going to the pool, playing on the playground, eating pizza and cupcakes, and playing with some new toys. It felt like we were running all day, but it was totally worth it to see this boy so happy and he slept great that night :)

I just did a post all about W's cuteness so I'm not going to say a whole lot more here, other than he really is the cutest little boy in the world! He is talking like a five-year-old and he is incredibly athletic. We can't wait to see what he'll do this next year!

 

 

Playing with his new baseballs!

I made the cupcakes in the morning and he was waiting all day to finally eat one, but he did not like that we gave him one with fire on it :)

We told him to blow out the candles and as soon as he did he wanted those things out of there!

And on to the good stuff :)

Siblings

We have exactly one month left before Baby Girl's due date and we're all pretty excited over here. This pregnancy has definitely been different from the first (for example, this little girl likes to hide behind my ribs and I don't think W ever even came up high enough to touch them), but I think one of the most surprising things to me has been how much W understands about what is happening. He knows that there is a baby in my tummy and he knows that she moves and kicks him when he puts his hand there. He also knows her name and calls her by name. He knows that one day she is going to come out of my tummy and come home with us, and he'll frequently ask, "Baby* home?" wondering when exactly that is going to happen. He knows, and reminds us often, that the nursery is the baby's room, the crib is her bed, and the "tiny" diapers are for her too. He knows that babies like to sleep and drink milk, so he often offers my tummy a swaddle and milk.

One day last week he was sitting on my lap eating some chips and sharing with me, when suddenly he put one on my tummy and said, "Baby* chip!" He gave her three or four more chips while we sat there and it was the cutest thing in the world to see him already sharing with his sister.

Not too long ago, I read an article by a mother who has an only child and she mentions how after her daughter was born her and her husband made a conscious decision to only have one, feeling that their girl was an independent spirit and finding how much they enjoyed being a family of three. The article was actually about an entirely different subject, but up until I read the article I don't think I had really ever considered the idea of having only one child. This is mostly because I'm a Mormon, and as such believe that we have been commanded to "multiply and replenish the earth," and for me personally, I feel that means I will be bringing more than one child into this world. However, as I thought about the article, I agreed that I loved the dynamic Tyler and I have had with just W and I've really enjoyed our time as a family of three.

The author also mentioned that her and her husband had the best of both worlds (child-rearing, plus freedom to travel, take new classes, or whatever) with only one child. Again, I could see how much simpler life would be if you were to shorten the stressful years of diaper changing, nursing, toddler tantrums, etc. by only having one. But, as it is obviously too late for that to be an option in our family, I then started thinking about having only two. Those early child-rearing years would still be shortened, and yes, we would have both a boy and a girl to round things out. However, though I've liked the family of three dynamic, and I'm sure I'll love the family of four dynamic, I realized that I could not possibly see myself having only two kids. It somehow seems to me like a cliff-hanger; as if there is more to our family story that I would be leaving out. I feel like being a mother has, for the most part, brought out the best in me and I don't think having the freedom to travel and do as I please would be worth the value I find in motherhood. BTW, this post is not meant to be preachy, but rather it is my personal thoughts about my own, immediate family; things I had not previously put that much thought into, to be honest.

Anyway, last night I started thinking about the way W has treated his baby sister thus far and I was so grateful that he gets to be a brother. I have six siblings and as a teenager in a large family I was acutely aware of all the things I was "missing out" on- big, fancy vacations, more one-on-one time with my parents, lots of new clothes or other items, and being recognized as my own person and not as so-and-so's sister. But as I've gotten older, I've become even more aware of how much I gained from having all of my siblings to love and support me through everything in my life. I seriously love all of them and I can honestly say that my life would be so miserable without them then and now. Today I share everything with my siblings and love that they seem to do the same with me. I wish I lived closer to them and I think about them all the time. They have always been my allies and my best friends and as I look back I really, truly don't feel like I missed out on anything. In contrast, I generally tend to think I had a better childhood than most everyone I know :) I think about all the mischief we got into together, all the pillow talks we had together, all the traditions we share, and all the fights that broke out between us and I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope that W, Baby girl, and any other siblings that come along get to have all those same experiences. The good, the bad, and the ugly, because that's what siblings are all about :)

I have no doubt of how much W already loves his sister and each night when we put him to bed and he lists all the people who love him/he loves, he always includes her by name right after mama and dadda. And sometimes after Koa :) I think he will just smother her with love and I'm sure his constant query, "Baby* happy?" will not end with the pregnancy.

Sooooo, here's to siblings! And to my parents for being awesome and raising seven awesome kids, awesomely :)

*W always uses her name with his questions, but we're not quite ready to disclose that yet.

P.S. This started as a short post about W and Baby Girl, and somehow turned into a long post about me and I'm totally crying... Sorry I'm not sorry for my pregnant musings :)

This Little Boy of Ours...

Winston is at such a wonderful stage of life right now. He is so curious and observant and I'm amazed everyday by the new words he's using or the new goal he's tackled. His personality is really coming through and every night when Tyler and I are laying in bed one of us says, "We have the cutest little boy ever!" And I mean every. single. night. In light of this, I wanted to jot down some of our favorite things he does right now so I don't forget.

Warning: This is a long post because... "We have the cutest little boy ever!"

1. He really, really does not like wind. Every time we are outside and a gust of wind springs up he grabs a hold of whatever he can and/or holds his hands out to the wind and says, "No, no no!" in a worried voice. I always have to remind him that I'll make sure nothing blows away and that the wind feels nice (we are in hot, muggy Texas). Still, if he's in my arms he'll grab me tight to try and keep my hair from blowing around :)

2. He has a set of magnetic letters on the fridge and he'll often go grab a few letters off and play with them or re-arrange them, etc. The thing is, he only ever grabs the same four letters no matter how hard I try to mix them up or how high I place them. It is always Y, X, K, and V. They look similar, but each of them is also a different color: red, yellow, blue, and green. I suspect this has something to do with his choosing them.

3. We absolutely love watching him think hard about what he wants to say and then put two, three, or four words together. He'll start by saying one of the words and then he'll stop and think, mumble a little, say another word a few times and then suddenly spit out a phrase like, "Mama shoot too!" (when we're playing basketball). Once he recognizes he has a phrase I understand he'll say it over and over again throughout the day as if he's trying to memorize it for next time. It's just so fun to watch that little brain work.

4. He really detests all things "yucky". If his hands are ever sticky or dirty, and often mid-meal he'll suddenly say "towel!" and he will not stop saying it until he is able to wipe his hands off. He also notices EVERY little mess around the house and not only tell me that it is yucky and needs to be cleaned up, but he'll usually assign the blame for the mess to someone. Koa takes the fall quite often :)

5. He is really becoming a daddy's boy. I think we have about one melt down a day simply because daddy is not home. It's probably because when daddy does come home he gets to do cool things like airplane rides, play "better" basketball, have tickle/tackle/wrestling matches, and get thrown "high" in the sky. Mama is lame because she has weak arms and is pregnant :(

6. He cannot get enough reading done in one day. He reads by himself, with mama, and with daddy several times a day and will also ask for more. If I ever want him to sit still for a minute, I just pull out a book. He is particularly interested in reading his Elmo book, choo-choo book (Thomas the Train), Nemo book, Jesus book, and pink book (Pinkalicious), though there are several others he loves too.

7. Koa left for training on Sunday and since he's been gone Winston's new best bud is Ariel. Tyler's sister gave us a stuffed Ariel doll for the new babe a little while back and she's been sitting in the baby's room for a week or two. Until Koa left she was just something sitting there, but now she is his buddy. He wants her to come to the market with us, eat dinner with us, etc. But he also gives her rides in the dump truck, reads to her, and teaches her how to shoot a basketball. True story. She sometimes ends up being used as the basketball too. He used to loved having Koa follow him everywhere, and it's cute watching him play with her now. I think we might get him a Buzz Lightyear or something a little more manly though. I'm excited to see how this buddy system translates to the new baby too :)

8. His favorite activity, hands-down, is scootering. He rides a scooter with three wheels, so it's more stable, but he can ride with the best of them. He loves to just go up and around the cul-de-sac and back for hours. And he is getting more daring and has starting sneaking half-way up the driveway and flying down even though I've told him it's not safe. He has yet to have a major crash though and every time he does it he gives me this mischievous/proud smile at the bottom. So, naturally, I let him get away with it :)

9. He has seen a bits and pieces of some basketball games lately because it's the NBA playoffs and dad doesn't count basketball as TV (though it's on TV... ). Anyway, as a result his basketball playing has changed. Instead of standing close to the basket and dunking the ball, he now only shoots from a distance and often while kind of jogging in place. He'll also come running in from another room and chuck the ball up like he's doing a lay-up, which he is pretty good at. And he has starting trying to dribble while he plays which just makes me laugh because it involves him throwing the ball down and slapping it a couple of times, and then picking it up and shooting it.

10. He is very into singing hymns in church and participating in prayers. He folds his arms and closes his eyes (or at least squints) for the prayers and his "Amen!" is always very enthusiastic. For the hymns he likes to sit on Tyler's lap with the book open and sing loud and high. No real words ever (except when we sing fun primary songs at home), and he starts and ends with the music, not waiting for the prelude. A couple of weeks ago I caught one of the Young Men not-so-secretly filming Winston as he sang the closing him. I guess it's that cute.

11. Another fun activity he does a million times a day is fake crashing. Sometimes on his scooter and sometimes just while running down the hall. Every time he lays down on the floor and says, "Mama, sha." He also whispers it as if the crash has knocked the wind out of him or something. He also likes me to help him up from these amazing crashes and will just lie there, hands up in the air saying, "Mama, sha." over and over again until I do. Occasionally, he prefaces a major crash with an, "Oh mama, oh wow!" I guess this is a boy thing?!

12. He is very into doing things on his own as much as possible. One thing in particular is climbing into the car and into his seat on his own. If I try to help him he holds up his index finger and looks at me very seriously and says, "No, please, no."

 

13. He often prances/skips around the house rather than walking or running. If I ask him to bring me something he'll skip across the room and back. He also does this silly little side-skip thing all over the place while singing, "Lai, lai, lai." over and over again in a super high-pitched voice. We seriously have no idea where this came from, but when he gets going he'll do it for a good 10-15 minutes at a time, throughout the whole house. I like that he can entertain himself like that, but I really would like to know what it is too.

14. When Winston sets his mind on learning to do something, he practices endlessly until he has mastered it. A couple of these things have been scootering, climbing the "big kid" ladders at the park, and punting a ball. He saw an older neighbor punt the ball once and literally worked on it for months. He's had it down for a while now, but we're still pretty amazed at his punting accuracy and how high he kicks it too.

15. I love when I put him in bed at night and sing him a couple of songs and after every song he puts his arm around me and tries to hold me close so I won't leave. When I do finally get up and leave he says, "No mama, no.", but once I close the door he is absolutely silent. When he wakes up in the morning he often just starts talking and waits for us to come find him. Lately I've heard him talking to Ariel about hiding in the blankets, but once he woke up and just starting listing all of Nemo's friends over and over again (Gill, Jacques, Bubbles, Peach, Flo, Bloat, etc.).

16. Also, he still thinks he can't get off his bed (a twin mattress on the floor) unless I'm in the room and will sometimes sit on the very edge staring at a book or toy and when I open the door he flies off and grabs it as if he's been waiting for hours to get it. Haha, poor guy. There has been just a couple of times where I hear a weird clanking or something on the monitor instead of him saying "mama" and I've gone in to find that he has gotten up and brought a toy back into bed with him. Both times he had tucked the blankets around him and would give me this innocent smile as if to say, "This was here all along." We have never told him he can't get off his bed so it's pretty funny that he thinks he's breaking a rule. I know we probably won't be so lucky with our other kids :(

16. Before Koa left, Winston loved to have Koa do everything with him, and often refused to let Koa nap as a result. He also blamed Koa for just about every mess and every bruise :) I haven't loved having Koa so much yet, but I did love hearing Winston call for him and talking to him all the time. He was also good at keeping Koa in check so that I didn't have to, and usually when I heard him say, "No Koa, no!", a few seconds later he would come to let me know he had stopped Koa from digging, or chewing on a ball, or from bringing sticks into the house. I actually find his OCD rather helpful most of the time :)

 

Honestly, I could go on and on, but I think this gives a good glimpse of his personality right now. He is cute, sweet, determined, independent, and so awesome! And we love him soooo much!

** I tried to do a little impromptu photo shoot with him this morning while he was playing on my bed. Most of the photos are a little blurry because he just does not stop moving when he's awake! But that's who he is and I'll take it :)

Easter & Such

We've had an electrician re-arranging outlets and internet connections in our house all last week so I'm finally getting around to posting a few pics from Easter. We had a pretty laid back weekend with a church egg hunt, a little egg hunt in our living room, some new bath toys, and a simple Easter dinner as a family. We read the Easter story from the bible over breakfast Easter morning and I definitely want to make that a tradition as well. We didn't take any family photos on Easter Sunday, but we didn't wear anything special for Easter Sunday (we re-used Tyler and W's matching ties from last year and I'm prego, so...), the late picture counts :)

 

W at the church egg hunt- enjoying his tiny cupcake & happy after collecting eggs.

 

 

 Finding eggs the sneaky Easter bunny hid in our living room

 Some bunny loves you!

 Family photo #1 (Tyler & I look better)

 

Family photo #2 (W is trying to smile...)

 

As I mentioned above, Tyler's mom and also his grandma (Mimi) came to visit this past weekend. We visited the state capitol, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential library, a few good restaurants, drove around the neighborhoods, and spent lots of time hanging out chatting and being entertained by W. Of course, I have no photos from the weekend, but good memories anyways. W was very cute and kept asking for Mimi, wanting to share with her and sit next to her, etc. They will be missed :)

 

Bonus Photo- 30 weeks

Boston Love

A couple of weekends ago Tyler, Winston and I flew up to Boston for a few days to visit with friends and check out the city. Tyler and I have been to Boston once before and I completely fell in love with the city and New England in general. This time was no different, despite the cold weather, and I've decided that we absolutely have to live there someday. Since the last time Tyler and I went we did most of the high profile tourist attractions, we kept our visit a little more low key and spent lots of time just hanging out with our friends the Marshes and the Jewkes from L.A.

On our first day out Winston and I went with our friends and visited the Boston Children's Museum, which Winston loved, and walked around Copley Square, Newbury Street & the Public Garden. Our last stop was Georgetown Cupcakes, which were absolutely delicious. I had promised Winston we would have a treat after our long day and he fell asleep in the stroller about 60 seconds before we walked into the shop. I was deciding whether or not to wake him up when he suddenly sat up, opened his eyes and said, "Treat?", very sleepily. Haha, he was holding out for that little cupcake and loved every bite :)

The only scenic picture I took this trip! A beautiful church on Newbury Street.

My sleepy boy :)

The next day Tyler joined us and we headed out on a Duck Tour. Winston liked riding the "bus" and "boat" and the tour was entertaining, though I wish their was a little more history to it. I did learn that Boston is a city of firsts and has claim to the first public park, the first public school, the first chocolate factory, the first college, and a few other firsts in America, which is cool. That night all the adults headed out to dinner at the best Italian restaurant ever, Giacomos.

Saturday we took it easy and just hung around the Marshes beautiful home for a bit. Winston LOVED playing with the Marsh kids and liked to have little Sammie follow him around everywhere. He even made sure she constantly had a swaddle to hold and by the end of our stay Sammie was carrying the swaddle around with part of it in her mouth :) Winston likes to pass on his bad habits!

Eventually we headed out to a little farm to take the kids horseback riding. Aside from the disorganization at the farm, the kids had fun, though Winston clearly isn't too much of a horse fan just yet.

 

 Riding with my lady...

 

 ...well, not so much.

Afterwards we went out for lunch and then enjoyed another relaxing afternoon. Tyler and I took a quick drive over to the temple and for the second time had the temple grounds completely to ourselves since it was closed (like the first time we went). It was still gorgeous and it put me in the perfect mood to head out to the General Women's Conference with all the girls (including 8-year old Ava!) that evening. I'm pretty sure Tyler and Tony spent the evening playing video games (which they might have done all weekend if we had let them).

Sunday we had a nice, relaxing morning and then headed to church with the Marshes. Afterwards Tyler, Winston, and I drove over to Wellesley College to check out the campus. I'm kicking myself for not even taking my camera on this little drive because the campus is absolutely gorgeous. It's huge, especially for such a small student body, and the buildings are so old and just stunning. We drove around and looked at some of the houses in the area too and I seriously had a hard time coming back to Austin Monday morning. Not only did we love spending time with our friends there, but the city is just so gorgeous! And the surrounding New England areas are so "New England" and I can't get enough! Seriously, I have to live there one day!

 

 One of the many hugs these two shared completely voluntarily. I can't even begin to tell you how cute they were together.

And they shared a bath :) Winston & Sammie forever?!?

21 mos

 Winston and Tyler jet-skiing over the weekend. He couldn't get enough of the 'boat'

It's time for another Winston post because he has grown up sooo much in the past few months and Tyler and I seriously cannot get over what a cute little boy he is. There is no way I can possibly post everything he is up to, but hopefully I'll catch all the highlights.

 Winston with his green muffin and gold coins on St. Patrick's Day. He looks so old to me in this photo :(

• He loves wearing baseball caps like Daddy.
• Whenever you say you're going to do something or go somewhere he says "too!" because he wants to come along.
• His favorite song at bedtime is "I Love to See the Temple", and if you start singing any other song he looks you in the eye and says, "No, no. Do." (like 'dough', which means temple).
• He LOVES to ride his scooter and is really good at it. He has pretty amazing balance for his age.
• We moved him to a twin bed a couple of weeks ago and the transition could not have been smoother. He stays put at night and for naps and doesn't get off until I come to get him. When he's awake his favorite game is to run down the hall, into the bedroom, and then belly flop on the bed :)
• He loves to wrestle with Koa, even if Koa doesn't always...
• He is climbing everything these days.
• I can't possibly count all the words he is saying now, but he does often put two words together, the most often being "up high" when he's climbing or standing on top of the centimeters-high dirt mound in the backyard. Some of our favorite words are pizza- tipitipi, yep- yeppa, yellow- lellow, basketball hoop- shoot, swaddle- schau, and airplane- brrrmmm.
• He loves to read by himself now and I'll find him in his room flipping through books reading aloud. It's all jibber-jabber until he sees something he knows and then he says that word excitedly.
• He calls all animals by the sound they make (i.e. a duck is a 'quack, quack').
• He favorite fun songs are "Popcorn" or 'pop,pop' and "Wheels on the Bus" or 'beep,beep'. He does all the actions for both songs and sings most of "Popcorn", but he only sings the "all through the town" part of "Wheels on the Bus".
• He knows the colors red, blue, yellow and green, but he is definitely obsessed with blue.
• He has about 20 variations to his yes and no. His voice fluctuation is spot on and you always know how he's feeling by the way he says the word.
• When he takes a drink he does "Bottoms up!", aka he wants everyone to be drinking while he is drinking.
• We had a couple of super cold weeks combined with either a sick mama or a sick baby, so we ended up watching a least part of a movie everyday and it had to be AristoCats. He would ask for it by meowing and he still talks about it all the time even if we haven't watched for a couple of weeks. He called Thomas O'Malley 'Bear' and loved when the cats would sing :)
• When we put him in bed at night we tell him mama and daddy love him and then he asks if the baby loves him, and if Jesus loves him, and if Koa loves him. On occasion he also wants to know if Pa, Granna, Jenny and Ben love him too :)
• He loves pointing out pictures of Jesus at church and at home.
• He wants Koa to come with him where ever he goes and calls to him saying, "Ko, Ko!" really loud.
• He is still a ball man. He loves to throw them high, punt them, and shoot hoops.
• He likes to run at top speed to us and get picked up and squeezed :)
• He likes to help buckle himself into his carseat and highchair now.
• Whenever he thinks he's hurt you or you're upset he looks very closely into your face and says, "Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?" as if to say, "We good?"
• The things he asks to see a million times a day are the moon, airplanes, blue anything, and Elliot (his buddy from church/neighborhood/L.A.).
• Before his nap and before bed he blows to kisses to the pictures of Jesus and the baby (himself) on the wall in his room.
• When he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to and you catch him he avoids looking you in the eye.
• His favorite foods are probably milk, cheerios, berries, yogurt, and pasta.
• He likes to put one arm around dadda and one arm around mama for big family hugs all the time.
• He is super ticklish and will say, "no, no!" if you start to tickle him, but when you stop he usually asks for more :)
• If you ask him where the baby is he'll point to my tummy and sometimes give it a kiss.
• He is still very OCD and picks up trash everywhere, asks for a towel to clean things, likes his toys/books put away in the right spots, etc.

I feel like there is soooo much more about him that I want to remember right now, but I just can't think of it all. I'll probably add stuff to this post for the next couple of days just for my own record keeping. But really he is just the best and so sweet and we know he's going to love being a big brother!

Instagram

After succumbing to the pressure of friends, I joined Instagram a few weeks ago. I'm totally technologically challenged and I'm still figuring out how to use it most of the time, but as a result I've taken a few more photos on my phone than usual. It's kind of fun because the photos show a little more daily life than I would normally record with a camera. I thought I'd post a bunch of the photos I've taken recently for those of you who don't have Instagram.

*Disclaimer: this is a major photo dump because there were just too many cute pictures, though I definitely did not post all of these to Instagram.

Tuckered boy; the first fire in our first fireplace; W insisted on putting a sticker on his cheek & then forgot all about it :)

 

 

Winston & I surprised Daddy at work with some pink 'It's a girl!' balloons the morning we got the news. [We've been working on it, & I think W can finally smile without closing his eyes]

 

Bundled up for another 20 degree day; partying with no pants cause it's 70 degrees & the day after the first photo was taken

The day we brought Koa home

Winston had a cold that turned into pneumonia & he had to use a nebulizer 3 times a day for 5 days. Luckily, AristoCats and some post-nebulizing Hershey kisses got us through.

 

Watching for 'brrrms' (airplanes); 'found one! '; 'where did they all go?'

The best crafts are the kind you eat :)

Kisses!

24 week selfie

Awesome bedhead; just reading some books (which is soooo cute to see)

 

Clearly Dad and W were paying attention while I was reading scriptures... 

 

My cute boy enjoying some fine weather and a chocolate chip cookie

W spends most of his days speeding around on his scooter right now

 This photo might be my favorite right now- Winston was making sure Koa ate his dinner & a second after I took this picture W turned around & proudly showed me that he was eating dogfood too! I couldn't help but smile and tell him how awesome he is :)