Bottle Feeding!!

Katelynn and Justin have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for mommy to pump so they could feed baby brother.  When I finally pumped, they still ended up having to wait until the next day to feed him.  Katelynn loved it and fed him an entire bottle.  Justin lasted longer than I expected, but he gave up and let Katelynn finish when it was his turn.  Ryan seemed to do just fine taking a bottle instead of eating from mommy for a change.  As long as it was food, he was good!

July Baby Playdate

When I was pregnant, I went out with 15 other pregnant woman to dinner one night.  It was when I was probably halfway through my pregnancy.  Somehow out of those 15 woman, four of us connected and have been chatting ever since.  We all live in Charlotte (but the other three live in south charlotte and I live in north charlotte) and we all have older children around the same ages.  Oddly enough, three of the four of us ended up having our babies the exact same day on July 1st and the other baby was born just four days later on July 5th!  Today was our first meeting since having the babies.  One of us was unable to attend, but three of the July babies got to meet.  Justin and Katelynn thought it was pretty funny that we were going to play with Ryan's friends!

The BIG kids having snack (All 4 or 2 year olds!)

Several shots of the July Babies:  Lucas, Lauren, and Ryan

Lady in Red

Just another dress-up day ......

A Dress Up Kind of Day

We have been hanging out around home a lot more lately, but the kids still have tons of fun playing and entertaining themselves.  I have been getting ready to drop off items at the consignment sale and it got the kids into trying on the old winter hats and such I had pulled out that I was going through. 

We thought Justin resembled Dopey from Snow White and couldn't stop laughing... (and I have no idea what made him decide to take off his shirt but he went most of the day without it.)

Witch Hats!  (with winter hats underneath of course and winter mittens too!)

Big, Big, Little

I made the kids Big Sister/Big Brother/Little Brother shirts before Ryan was born.  I had the perfect picture in mind for these shirts, but as usual, I didn't have the perfect participants for my picture. The best background shot is my first one; then the kids wrinkled and moved off my background.. and not one where everyone is smiling perfectly but we will try again one day! 

Such sweet first smiles!

There is almost nothing better than getting to see those first wide-eyed smiles from your new little baby.  While Ryan is not doing them on command when we talk to him, he is now smiling some when he is awake.  I have been trying for days to capture the perfect smile and these are as close as I have come to getting the perfect smile shot.

Katelynn Cooks at the Bakery!

A friend from one of our playgroups set up a FREE bakery tour for our 4-5 year olds today.  What a neat experience it was!  I was so impressed with the business.  They let the kids tour the bakery, showed them how everything was made, and then let them make their own cinnamon bread and gave them a huge cookie.. all for free!  Katelynn had a blast!

Apron on?  Check!  "Baker's Hat" on?  Check!  Let's Bake!!

Getting the dough all ready!

Adding the cinnamon chips!

Bread ready to bake (and K's name handwritten by herself in front of her bread so she doesn't get the wrong loaf!)

Coloring and eating giant, yummy cookies while the bread bakes!

Time to check the bread in the giant oven and head home with our freshly baked loaf!  It was yummy by the way!

2 week Well Visit for Ryan

Ryan had his well visit today and is doing great.  He weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long.  The doctor had no worries about the mild jaundice he has had that is slowly going away and said he was doing great. 

During the visit, I learned that Justin just might be more social than Katelynn is (which makes me laugh because he has always seemed like the one who was more shy for a while there).  He wouldn't stop talking to the pediatrician.  Poor Dr. Fiscnec was trying to leave the exam room and Justin wouldn't stop talking!  He made sure to inform him as soon as he walked in that "Baby Brother's belly button fell off" (LOL) and then proceeded to go into detail about each tool that the doctor used "last night" when he checked Justin out (which was his 2 year visit way back in February rather than last night).  Too funny!

Off With the Cord= Fun Bath!

One of the things I look forward to after bringing a newborn home is when the pesty cord falls of their belly button.  Finally Sunday morning Ryan woke up with his having fallen off at some point during the night.  This means he can be submerged in water instead of having a sponge bath so we went ahead and did a bath today and he didn't scream when he was soaking in some warm water (and I didn't even fill his tub very full either!).  We may not have gotten a smile but this was better than the screaming we have been getting!

Busted Playing Daddy!

Haha... This just made me laugh.  Justin was playing trucks and the next thing I knew, he was using the baby wipes to clean the baby's bum.   When I looked over, he was working at wiping the baby's bum with such determination but when I said how cute he was being, he got a bit embarrassed!

Our Only Princess

A picture just because <3

Playtime!

Today Ryan turned two weeks old, and we decided it was time to bring out some fun toys for him.  He is starting to stay awake longer during the day and watching everything around him.  We pulled out the playmat, and of course the big kids were just as interested (if not moreso) in playing on it.

I'm not sure yet if it's a bonus for Ryan or a downside to being the third child, but he defintely does not have to worry about being alone.  Space he may have to worry about getting and there's a whole lot of sharing your toys as a third child, but he can count on at least one of his siblings being right by his side at all times! 

My Three Loves

Everyone keeps asking how it is having three kids.  I personally LOVE it!  I know it sounds completely corny (and I swear I never believed people when I heard them say these things before) but even though I was truly blessed with having Katelynn and Justin and could have been happy with life as a family of four, I didn't feel like we were complete yet as a family.  Since Ryan has arrived, we really feel complete as a family of five.  I have no doubts this is MY perfect family!  If only I could freeze time now.  Each one of my kids is at such a fun and cute age.. I don't want them to all grow up on me!  Having a preschooler, toddler, and newborn rocks!  Yes, it's a lot of work and some days I may not say life is easy with the three of them, but for the most part, I am loving life with my three little ones!

Fun Visit to Lazy 5 Ranch

One of the most common places we take all our out-of-town guests is the drive-thru zoo about 40 minutes from our house.   They have zebras, deer, pigs, lamas, long-horn cattle, giraffes, rhinos, emus, ostriches, and probably plenty more animals I'm missing that are all roaming free (well, with exception to the giraffes) and come up to your vehicle to feed.  We have such a fun time each visit. 

Finding things to do with a newborn and things I could do with a healing incision while Daniel was visiting were a little tough.  The boys ended up going four wheeling and to the white water center for rafting, kayaking, and zip line fun without us because I just couldn't do any of those things.  We finally realized we had never taken Daniel to Lazy 5 and it would be the perfect outing that everyone could enjoy.  We took two vehicles through and were able to keep Ryan in the air conditioned car while the rest of the gang was in the back of the truck to feed.

They also have a variety of animals that you can feed/pet after you drive thru.  Daniel made friends with the camel.

Justin was way more hesitant and afraid of feeding the animals.  He preferred to just watch from a distance.

The Whole Gang!

Meet "SuperStar" Minnie!

Katelynn decided today that she wasn't just going to dress up as Minnie Mouse but that she was going to be SUPERSTAR Minnie!  I guess it was the sunglasses that made her the superstar?? 

Super Stubborn Napper

You all know that my children love to sleep, right?  Ha, Ha -- Wouldn't that be the day if they actually did!  Justin went through a phase of not napping, but I found that without a nap, he would wake up several times a night versus only one or two at the most.  With a newborn waking constantly, I just can't afford to also wake up with Justin all night long.  I occassionally let him skip, but we can't skip naps consecutive days or it gets rough on me (waking with both of them each night is bad enough without it being multiple wakings for both of them).  Today, of course, he just had no interest in napping and was having a fit over it.   I finally just left him in his room because he wouldn't give in and went back in to find him asleep in this position.  He was so determined he wasn't tired that he refused to even lay down!

My Attempts at Newborn Photography

Do you ever browse photography sites and see those super cute sleeping infant photos they get?  I keep thinking I actually have some photography skills to be able to do those pictures myself (since I'm too frugal to spend the money and have them done -- haha), but after two days of trying to get those pictures of Ryan, I am pretty sure I need to hit the books (or the internet) A LOT more before I can call myself anywhere near a decent photographer.  (And all jokes aside, I would LOVE to learn more about my camera and photography but where do I find the time with three kids under 5 years of age?)

So, these are the best of my "outtakes" aside from the photo I picked for his birth announcement, which I'm not sharing until I figure out who I am mailing announcments to.  What is the normal these days for announcements anyway?  I only ordered 40, which is less than my Christmas card list because I am not sure who to mail them to.  I don't want people to think I am announcing it for a gift, but I love doing announcements.  So, anyway, we will see what I figure out for mailing the ones I have and then I will share it on my blog.