Springtime, FINALLY!

This weekend we officially welcomed in Spring. It is in the 80's today and I even had to put sun screen on Natalie yesterday when we went to the park. I really hope that this is not just a teaser, but I don't think that it is. I am very excited to start wearing flip flops again.

After church today, we took the kids (I have to start getting used to the plural version of that word!) outside to take some pictures. The trees/bushes/flowers are starting to bloom here, and it makes for a very pretty backdrop. I was able to get several pictures of Natalie that look nice (without her infamous "fake" smile).

Other than taking pictures, nothing too exciting happened today, so I will leave you with a few of Natalie's comments to us this past week:

1. "Mommy, you shouldn't spank my bottom, because bottoms are private."
2. "Dad, the bible says that parents should be nice to the children."
3. "Dad, the handles on the side of my potty seat are for leverage."

Here is is a link to all the pictures we took today: Pictures.

Landon

Easter

This is our second Easter in Pennsylvania, and once again, it wasn't warm. Kristin's mom, Terri, was still in town helping with Owen, so she was able to enjoy the day with us.

Natalie was very excited for the Easter Bunny to come and visit her house. The night before she wanted to stay up so that she could see the Easter Bunny, but we had to explain to her that the Easter Bunny wouldn't come if she didn't sleep. She went to bed without a problem, much to my surprise.

In the morning, she was very excited to come downstairs and see what the Easter Bunny left her. Thankfully, the Easter Bunny was able to get up just in time to hide a few eggs around the house.

The funniest part of the whole day was not when Natalie found all the eggs, it was how she tried to hide candy for the rest of the day. Like a little squirrel getting ready for the winter, Natalie too jelly beans out of her plastic eggs and proceeded to hide them throughout the house. We would catch her walking off to some obscure part of the house to eat the candy that she had hidden. I guess I can't blame her, I probably would have done the same thing to sneak in a little more candy.

Owen celebrated Easter in style by sleeping the day away...Exhibit A:



It is hard to believe that it has been a year since last Easter...Natalie has grown so much. Check out the blog from 1 year ago!

Here is a comparison of Natalie in 2008:



Here is a similar picture from 2009:




We took numerous other pictures throughout the day, which can be viewed here: Link to other Easter pictures.

Landon

Don't Mess With My Toys!

When Natalie came to the basement today while I was working, she was wearing my sunglasses. I took a few pictures just playing around, but this one was too funny not to share.

Word to the wise, don't mess with Natalie's toys! She might take you downtown and book you.

Dancing with the Stars

Natalie LOVES the TV show Dancing with the Stars. I guess I can blame my parents for introducing the show to her, but she really likes to watch it. Although, watching it is almost a workout, because she wants to dance every time anyone is dancing on tv.

Since she likes it so much, I decided to make our own version of Dancing with the Stars...enjoy!

Link to the movie

Photobook for Owen

I made a photobook for Owen's first week and converted it to a slideshow. Here is a link to the slideshow: Slideshow

Landon

Little Brother, Big Sister

Natalie still asks to hold Owen every chance she gets. We received a few matching shirts as gifts for them to wear, or as Natalie says, "Me and Owen are matchy-matchy." She can still be a little too rough with him, but overall, very loving.

Here is a picture of the both of them. Owen looks to be pouting a little bit:



Owen says he is #1:

Natalie and Owen

One fear that Kristin and I had when we talked about having a second child was how Natalie would deal with a brother and sister, and how she would treat him/her. Throughout the pregnancy we tried to teach Natalie how she could help us and help her brother. She has always been interested in listening how she can be a helper. As we got closer to Owen being born, we still didn't know if all of our work was going to pay off, or if she would not like her little brother.

I am proud to report that Natalie has been the best Big Sister to Owen! She is constantly asking to hold him, or sing to him, or kiss on him. She can be a little rough at times, but I just don't think she understands how fragile a 1 week old can be.

That's not to say that Natalie has not been trying to get our attention by acting out, but we were expecting that, and it hasn't been bad at all. The best story I can share about Natalie adjusting to Owen coming home was two nights ago...

Natalie had a bad dream and came to our bed. She quickly climbed up and fell asleep between us. In short order, Owen was up and screaming in our room. At first, Natalie covered her eyes with one hand, and pet Owen's hair with her other to try and calm him down. She then progressed to covering up both of her ears because the screaming got a little too loud for her. She never complained, never asked him to stop crying, she just controlled what she could and tried to stay asleep.

Here are a few recent pictures of Natalie with her brother:

Coming Home

Owen and mom came home today from the hospital. Owen is still either eating, sleeping, or pooping. Mom is now trying to rest back up, since she has had a few long days. Our hospital "encourages" the parents to keep their baby in the room with them all the time. And by "encourage" we mean refusing to take the baby at 2 in the morning in the nursery, even for 30 minutes. Oh well, I guess too many people have abused the system.

The other big highlight of the day was getting a parking ticket for parking in the fire lane in front of the hospital. The fire lane that is beyond the 15 minute parking (which was full with overnight guests), and is no where near the building. If they had to use this lane to fight a fire, they may need to bring a golf cart to escort the firemen to the building. I REALLY want to show up to court next week and dispute my ticket, because the hospital does not provide enough parking to pick up patients. The fine is $15, which is low enough to not waste my time with going to the courthouse, but high enough to get a steady revenue from the ferocious and highly dangerous hospital patients trying to leave.....okay, enough about that...

Here is a few pictures we took when we got home. G-Ma makes the blog again!

More Video

I added a video from Day 3. Here is the link.

It is now Day 4 and we should be coming home. Owen and Kristin are getting checked out by the doctors one last time before they let us go home. Hopefully I can add some pictures tomorrow from our house!

Day 3

We have made it to Day 3 and Owen and mom are still doing great. Natalie is having fun with G-Ma and is looking forward to coming to seeing Owen again this afternoon. We should be coming home tomorrow, but may stay until Saturday. Here are a few more pictures:

First off, Owen would like to send a shout-out to his peeps, WAZZAAP!!

 

A few of you have asked about Owen's hands and feet. They are long and skinny.

 

 

Owen still sleeps almost all day, so this is probably what he looks like as you are reading the blog:

 

Natalie Sees Owen for the First Time

Here is a video that I captured while G-Ma held Natalie as they saw Owen for the first time. To view the video you must have a username and password. Give me a call or send me an email and I will give you the info.

Link to Video

Owen, Day 2

Mom and Owen are still doing great. We got a few hours of sleep, which we are thankful for. Owen has not fussed much, only when he wants to eat, or needs to burp, or has a dirty diaper. We are waiting for Natalie and G-Ma to come and visit.

Check out all this hair!!

 

 

Link to all pictures