Recap of the 'Haps' Since Last Time

We've been up to a lot lately!

Sydney had a 'photo shoot' a couple of weekends ago - so we could get her newborn pics done and try to get a pic of the four of us together! And her birth announcements are in the works!

Last Saturday, we had our first trip out as a fam of four - we went over to Gran's house for an early Easter Dinner. The kiddos both did great!

On Easter morning, Owen got a fun Easter basket which he had to go 'hunting' for - with some clues around the house.

Here he is finding a clue in an egg with papa


and jackpot, his last clue told him to look where the kitty sleeps - and he found his basket there...


the favorite item in his basket was his Mickey underwear!


oh, and the toosie rolls were a crowd pleaser too- "mama OPEN"



Here is Sydney in her 'Easter Best' :)





and i must admit - although I DID do an Easter basket for Sydney - complete with a couple board books, some cute little shoes and bunny ears - I actually left it in the closet and forgot about it until this week! ha!

Later in the afternoon we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for an Easter Egg hunt and dinner. We also celebrated Dylan, Grandpa, and my birthdays!





and Sydney got to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa Kole



The weather can not really seem to make up its mind, we've had 80 degree days and snow in the past few weeks! Last week, we even had a crazy hail storm - it got dark dark dark and just came pelting down one morning, it was crazy! We just got pebble sized hail...

but Scott's parents got golf ball sized hail at their house and had some damage because of it - and they only live about 6 or 7 miles away from us!

When it was nicer out one day, we went out and blew some bubbles with Owen - he thought it was so fun! Although, when he tried to blow the bubbles, he thought he needed to put his mouth on the wand and taste them!





We also have been on a few quick walks around the block (which is about as much as I've been able to walk yet, but it feels so good to get out!) Owen LOVES his wagon rides! Here he is after one of of them...Mickey book and Mickey juice in hand (oh and Mickey and Goofy also had to go along for the ride)



Alyson's baby shower was this weekend. Tiffany (Alyson's sister-in-law) and I coordinated it, and the theme was two peas in a pod...everything turned out really cute and she got a lot of things that she needed to prepare for those little babes!

Sydney joined me at the shower and papa and Owen hung out at home - they went down to the pond and did some fishing - Owen had so much fun! Scott brought a blanket down there for them to sit on, and Owen wouldn't go sit on it at first - and Scott told him that he had to sit on the blanket to catch some fish (instead he just stood about 10 feet away) Owen said 'no, O-ey watchin' - then about 3 fish that were caught later - he couldn't take it any longer and had to go sit down by papa and catch one on his own! So cute, he is quite the little observer before he will jump in and participate! :)





Owen it amazingly, 21 months old now and he has been changing so much!! Here's what he's been up to lately...



he loves his baby sister, she is officially part of the family - mama, papa, sydney is what he says now when he wants us to do something with him...

Here he is playing with his sister





he is such a helper too - always wants to help get things for the baby and help mama and papa - he likes to help 'baby changin' (changing her diaper) and with bath time!



He is learning opposites, lately its been hot and cold and up and down. He loves to practice up and down and you could be walking with him and all of a sudden he'll fall down and shout out "DOWN" then he'll get up and shout "UP" pretty cute!!

He is still talking SO MUCH and pretty much repeats everything you say to him and then he remembers the words later - such a smarty pants!

He wears size 4 diapers
He is wearing size 24 mo or 2T clothes and even some 3T
Loves being outside and loves to play 'soccer' he can actually dribble the ball around the yard!
Counts to 10 - by 2s (we start and say 1 and go back and forth with him - so cute)
Knows Yellow, Blue, and Green
He associates crying with being sad (the other day we were watching Mickey and Goofy was crying - Owen said "Goofy cry....sad" and he'll say Sydney is sad when she crys too)
drinks from a big boy cup and insists on using a big fork and spoon when eating
is saying Yes instead of his Norweigan (or Yooper) 'yah'

Well that's all for now! Stay tuned for Sydney's ONE MONTH post coming soon! :)

All Boy...

Owen has officially earned one of many 'being a boy badges' - his first black eye ...poor kiddo!

Yesterday, Gran took Owen on a visit to Vicki's 'farm' to see the horses and chickens - he was freaked out for some reason by the horses and chickens, but got to meet the kitties - 'Bitch' (Butch) and 'Lellow Cat' (Sundance).

Vicki had gotten him a big Mickey stuffed animal, which he insisted on carrying outside ('O-ey do-doot' - translation: Owen do it) and he tripped over him and fell and hit his cheeker on the dining table - I guess he cried, but not much and then it was business as usual. He just had the mark on his cheek until this morning, when he woke up with the black eye (at least it's not a terrible one!) - poor guy, but he doesn't seem phased by it at all!

He wouldn't let us take a pic of him today, so we snuck a couple in while he was playing with the mail...

Scrapbooking!

I can't be a blog slacker! I really am going to try to be good at updating, really - I am!

Actually, I've come to the realization that this blog IS my scrapbook! I had been into scrapbooking prior to having kids and had every intention of getting my act together and getting all the pictures into books from our wedding onward...however - I have not done any of that and our wedding was six years ago, so this is the next best thing. A fun thing I discovered is that you can actually have your blog turned into a book, so bonus, even better!

So what has our little family been up to?!

Well, Sunday was my birthday, and as a treat, my mom came over and scott and I were able to get out to run some quick errands for about an hour together - without the kids! It felt so good just to get out - I felt like a human again, after being pretty much cooped up for the past week and a half!

For my birthday, Scott got me some 'country living' boots - for walking around out on the property in Hamilton. Owen took a liking to them and had to try them on! :)



Here is my little fam just relaxing on Sunday afternoon - so cute!



On a random note, Scott and I have this little habit of sneaking into Owen's room and spying on him at night. And pretty much every time we go in, we find him in a different position, most nights we have to snap a pic - we have quite the collection!! Lately, we've been marveling at how big he's getting. Last night, though, he just looked gigantic - maybe that's because he was laying sideways?! Anyway, like always, we took a pic and it was too cute and funny not to share! :)



In Sydney news...she is getting bigger and more alert every day!

She slept in her crib all night last night! No - not the entire night through, just went back down in her crib each time after she got up - and didn't have to sleep in bed with mama!

Her little umbilical cord fell off last night, so today, she got her first bath. She wasn't a fan. But as soon as I wrapped her up in her towel, she was a happy camper!

She is such a sweet little girl - she barely cries and is just so content!

Baby Haze...

First, I must preface this post by saying if you are about to embark upon reading it, I hope you have some time - it is LONG!

It's amazing to me that Sydney is one week old! We've been home since Sunday afternoon, and it feels so good to be home, yet it was so nice to have everything taken care of while at the hospital!

Here is Sydney still in my belly just hours before she was born, this is in the hospital lobby on the way to Boven Birth Center...After we arrived at the hospital early last Thursday morning, I was hooked to monitors for both me and Sydney, the Dr and anesthesiologist both came in to say hi and make sure I knew what was going to go on and then we just kind of sat around and waited until 9:00, when I walked down to the OR.

This time around, it was much more relaxed and slower paced than my delivery with Owen, where everything just happened so fast! That put me so much more at ease! Plus my nurse was awesome and made me feel really comfortable. I got up on the table and they started my spinal, that was probably one of the most uncomfortable parts; trying to curl forward and stay that way while they completed everything, all the while having contractions and being curled over a huge baby! :) Once the spinal was done, my legs started kinda feeling warm and started to lose feeling pretty quickly so they had me swing my legs up on the bed and lay down. Once I did, the anesthesiologist gave me some oxygen and my nurse prepped my belly with iodine. The anesthesiologist soon came and tested the feeling that I had. It was so weird, I could feel some 'prickling' up above my belly button, but then felt NOTHING below that point. Crazy! Soon Scott came in and the Doctors started working to get little Sydney out. We decided last minute to bring the video camera in with us and are so glad that we did! It seemed like it took a lot longer to get Sydney out than it did with Owen, but I think thats because I was pretty much panicking with Owen and with Sydney I was more relaxed.


I could feel some pressure and some weird sensations in my upper belly while Scott and I and the anesthesiologist talked. Scott was recording everything. Soon, they were about to start pulling her out and they let Scott stand up and record Sydney being born! Her head was so big Dr P couldn't fit her hand in without making my incision larger so they ended up doing suction to get her out. And I heard her cry right away. It was so awesome that we got it all on tape (I had to watch it a day or so after she was born). They held her up for me to see right after she was born and then took her away to the other side of the room to do her APGAR tests (she scored 9 on both!) and clean her up.

Scott was able to go with her and recorded everything there too! Then they wrapped her up and brought her over for me to snuggle and kiss!

Then they took her off to the nursery and Scott went along, as they finished up my surgery. They wheeled me back to my room shortly and Scott and Sydney came in soon thereafter (probably around 9:40 or so). Its amazing how quick everything happened!


I was able to start nursing her right away (I didn't have any of the shaking that I did with Owen after coming off of the anesthesia). She latched right on and has been a pro ever since!

Sydney is such a beautiful little girl, she looks a lot like her brother! Yet her features are more dainty and girly. She has quite a bit of dark fuzzy hair...

and long fingers...


cute little piggy toes...


so sweet...


she even found her thumb a few times...

She is quite a bit smaller than Owen was too, even though they were only 11 oz different in weight. Owen was NEVER able to fit into newborn size diapers, where on Sydney, newborn diapers are big! She is very laid back like Owen too, doesn't cry much, in fact, the second day in the hospital, we had only heard her cry when she was born and just a couple VERY short instances when she was hungry or cold. Hoping she stays as laid back as her big bro!

We feel so blessed to be a happy and healthy family of FOUR! (we have yet to capture a pic of all four of us together though!) All of my fears about not being able to love another little one as much as Owen are completely gone, she just fits right into my heart perfectly! I was also worried how Owen would react, but he has really done pretty well, he has adjusted really well. At first though, he wasn't too interested in Sydney...Here he is at their first meeting (this is after the trauma of being in a hospital, which freaked him out because I think he thought it was time for his shots or something, and after riding in the elevator, which he did NOT care for at ALL)...

Notice the blurry picture up top? He wouldn't really stay still long enough to let us get a pic and yeah, below that, the first attempts at a family photo, which he was not interested in...

However, he warmed up a little the second time visiting, he even sat on papas lap with Sydney (though he was more interested in his Mickey phone from Grandpa & Grandma). But he was willing to go close to her on his own and give her a big hug and kiss! :)


We didn't have many visitors other than family at the hospital this time around and it was nice just to take the time to relax!

Here Sydney is with Gran...
And Grandpa & Grandma...

and here is mama playing dressup and putting her in her camo booties...

Before we knew it it was time to go home! Scott got Sydney ready in her carseat...she looked so tiny in there!



She loved her car ride home, she fell right asleep as soon as the car started moving (definitely a lot like her brother on that one!)

When we pulled in the driveway, there were balloons and welcome signs waiting for us (courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa - thank you!)

Owen came and greeted us at the door and knelt down to check Sydney out...(click image to enlarge) and he even sat down and cuddled with mom and Sydney!

Owen is also not jealous when Scott or I hold Sydney, which is a relief, but he gets upset when she cries, he says 'baby cry' in a concerned tone. He is definitely warming up now that she has been home! Monday when Scott was leaving to take him to daycare Owen even asked where baby was and Tuesday night he had to go peek in on her in her crib to say good night! so cute and i can't wait to see how their little relationship grows! He's gonna be such a good big brother!

Yesterday, he decided he wanted her to sit on his lap ('A seat' is what he said)...it was so precious (again, you can click on any of these collages or pictures to enlarge them)

When he was done, he said ok and tried to pick her up - but then about five minutes later, he wanted her back...he sat there and contemplated her, then imitated her with her tongue sticking out, it was adorable!

He even let Gran sit with her and play blocks yesterday!

Once at home, things went good sleep-wise too. Night one, Sydney spent most of the night in bed with me, she didn't want to sleep alone! But she would sleep for three hour stretches, which was great.

Night two - we decided to buy an infant positioner to keep her more secure and that seemed to do the trick, that and putting her down semi asleep, she slept from 10-midnight and then from 3-6 and 630-8 in her crib! She was up and down from midnight - 3, but I'd say we had a pretty successful night!

She is eating great and is doing great otherwise as well, at the hospital she went down to 7 lbs 8 oz and then the day before we left, she had gained 2 oz, the nurses said they rarely ever see babies gain anything back before they leave the hospital so that was great news! She had her first dr appt on Tuesday and is up to 7 lbs 12 oz! grow baby grow! :)

She loves cuddling with papa!

She is still generally a very content baby, doesn't fuss much at all and even when she's hungry she really doesn't cry a whole lot!

She loves to pull faces

She got to meet her friend Megan this week, who came to visit from Wisconsin!(yes, us mommies have the same outfits on, no we had no idea that we each had these clothes, let alone that we would wear them on the same day! :)

She also met her Great Grandma VI this week! Great Grandma's first name is Charlotte, and is who we named Sydney Charlotte after! :)

Sydney has been up to so much this first week at home, she had her first bath at home on 3/15.

She wasn't so sure what she was in for....

and once she found out, she was not too happy!!

She even got dressed up for St Patrick's day in honor of her Irish roots....here she is sportin her shamrock outfit!

I can't neglect my little boy, so here is a quick update: Owen is getting so big and changing so much! I am not sure if he is really changing that much or if it is because I am so used to little Sydney? I think its a little of both! He is continuing to develop such a little personality! He is talking non stop and repeats practically everything we say! His newest thing saying 'uh uh' or 'uh huh' instead of yes or no. Another cute thing he says is when he's talking about the horns on his bull he says "horn"...."s" - the s is really delayed its so cute! He is so sweet and caring too!He is gonna be quite the good helper to mama with Sydney! He is gonna be quite the good helper to mama with Sydney! And he is a great big brother! Tonight he had to lean over Sydney's bouncy seat and kiss her like five times! It seems like I was away from him forever, between getting some extra help the last week or so of my pregnancy to being away at the hospital and in somewhat of a baby haze since I've been home - I missed that little boy!

Here he is standing on the footstool (which he carried all the way from Sydney's room and which weighs EIGHT lbs, crazy boy!)...

and here he is with Sydney's paci...

Owen also got to read a book with Great Grandma and Baby Bear...

All in all its been a great first week with miss Sydney! We can't believe she's here, yet it we can't imagine life without her, she has just fit so well into our lives! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who have made the transition so easy for us, between watching Owen, to bringing meals, to bringing special little gifts for both Sydney and Owen (to make him feel important), it has just been so nice, thank you to everyone!!

And for one (actually two) last photo, here Sydney is with Owen's Froggy Buddy, we couldn't resist doing a one week shot of her for size comparison....

and this was just too cute not to post! check out the little bows on her socks! :) so girly and I love it!!