Ethan: 3 weeks

Not much to say. Ethan's three weeks old and his personality is showing more and more. For the most part he is still a great baby. The only disclaimer is that he hates to be swaddled, but that is the only way he'll sleep. I'm looking forward to that being resolved so I can sleep more than 2 hours at a time. The kids desparately want to play with him, but both have colds so for now they can't touch him too much.

Time to Slow Things Down

In the last 3 weeks we have:

• Had a baby (and all the upheaval that comes with that)
• Tawny dislocated her knee
• Brayden started kindergarten
• Greg had his appendix removed
• we sold our car
• Brayden lost his first tooth
• Greg was called as Young Men's president

And those are just the big items. I think it's safe to say that we're ready for everything to slow down!

First Day of School

Brayden's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. Here's how the day went in Brayden's own words:

"I was first scared but then when I came home from school I was happy and I liked school. I loved when we ate lunch and my friend is going to sit by me today. In class I colored and glued beads on my name and then we had lots of recess. I made new friends. That's all."

I think that pretty much sums it up. He seemed like he had a really good day. He has a great teacher and I know the parents of the majority of the kids in his class. I think it will be a great year. I'm not sure he will learn much academically, but it's only kindergarten. The only concern I have is that they have full day kindergarten here. He's at school from 8:30 in the morning to 3:20 in the afternoon. It seems a bit long to me, but I think he'll do fine. A certain mommy really misses having him at home though!

Week in Review

This week has obviously been all about the new baby. I knew Brayden would handle the adjustment pretty well. He's the kind of kid that just rolls with the punches. Plus he was very excited about having a little brother. Tawny, on the other hand, I was a little more concerned about. She seemed excited about having a little brother, but was very insistent that she was still "mommy's little baby". You can imagine my relief when she became completely enamored with Ethan the second we brought him home. She loves helping me with anything and everything that has to do with Ethan. In the morning when I wake up I know exactly where I can find Brayden and Tawny: sitting by Ethan's crib, watching him sleep and waiting for him to wake up.

Yesterday at the store Tawny told a cashier that we have the "most beautiful baby in the whole world with the most beautiful eyes and the most beautiful little toes and the most beautiful belly button and...." I love seeing how much she really loves her little brother.

Minus the late night feedings and the mastitis that I currently have (which is seriously unpleasant by the way) this has been an incredibly peaceful and perfect week. Ethan is such a great baby (for now). He cries very little and is easily soothed when he does. It has been really great to slow down and just spend the week with my kids, just enjoying one another's company. Lots of play......even more sleep...

...and a lot of enjoying our little angel.

He's Here!

Ethan Rex, born Sunday at 4:37am; 7lbs, 14oz and 19.5". He's such a great baby and we already love him so much! Even at 2 days old he is so different than our other two. We're so excited to have him home, that the delivery went well and that he is healthy. We're not quite sure who he looks like. I guess just himself!




The kids are so excited to have Ethan home. All they want to do is hold him and play with him. They're pretty sad that he sleeps so much!

So Done

7 more days. I'm so done with being pregnant.

Update on Greg's Dad

I've had quite a few people ask recently about how Greg's dad is doing. They are doing well, but still in Seattle. Elaine (Greg's mom) does a great job keeping us updated on her blog so I thought I'd include a link for anyone wanting more info. Click here to see how he is doing.