2-Month Check-up

Annaliese had her 2 month check up this week and she weighed in at a whooping 11 pounds and is 22.5 inches. She is right at the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference...so to sum it up...she is doing AWESOME!!!! I am so happy to know that she is doing well and hopefully avoid all the stress I had w/the twins. We are definitely headed in the right direction. Needless to say nursing one baby is a ton easier than nursing two :-)

On a side note, poor Evan has pneumonia :-( thankfully he is doing much better now but he had a rough early part of the week and so did I as I had a sick little boy who wanted to cuddle 24/7...not that I mind the cuddling, just hard to do constantly w/a newborn to take care of as well...but we made it through and everyone seems to be doing well. Just praying that Annaliese doesn't come down w/whatever caused Evan to have pneumonia

House Progress

Here you can see they have poured/built the basement up. We are so excited to have a walk-out, plenty of natural sunlight for us to hang out and have fun in :-)

Catching Up

No matter my intentions I can't seem to keep up w/this thing, I have thought about just letting it go but then I think it's nice to have when I do have time to update it, to look back and have these memory joggers because you know I haven't started one of the kids scrap books yet, sigh!!!!!

A quick synopsis on our happenings and then I will get to the good stuff, (you know pictures) :-).

Kids are all doing well, Evan and Taryn have adjusted to their new sister well. Annaliese is an amazing baby and such a sweet addition to our family. She is sleeping great, doing about 7-10 hours at night and then back down for 4-6 more so we are getting there :-). Still working on establishing her day time sleep, it is still all over the place but that is to be expected at this age. She is happy and content and growing like a weed :-).

Big changes are about to happen for the twins. I really wanted to get them into preschool in Septemeber but I missed registration so I just figured we would have to wait until next fall. I called a particular preschool that I was interested in for the twins last week to ask about resgistraion for this coming fall (Sep 12) and was told that they had two spot available for the twins in their 2 y/o program for this year and the twins could start right away. I was so excited so Chad and I took the twins last Friday to check it out and we just LOVED it and so did the kids. If you asked Evan he would tell you the best part is they have a train table in his class room :-). Not expecting them to start preschool this year we had planned a spur of the moment trip to San Antonio to get out of this tiny condo and let the kids have some fun playing on mema and papas 5 acres in warm San Antonio, so they will start when we get back in March. Chad and I were a little misty-eyed at the thought of them starting 'school' but we are so happy for them and really think they will enjoy it and gain a lot from their experiences and social interactions. they will be going 2 days a week (wed and fri) for 2.5 hours and since it is down where our new home will be (about 1 hour drive from here) Annaliese and I will have to hang out in Starbucks to kill the time but it is worth it for the twins to get this opportunity. Once we move into the new house it will only be a 15 min drive, which is much more manageable for long-term.

Speaking of the 'new house' they have begun construction and gave us an approximate closing date of April 20th, so we have started our search for renters for the condo and are so looking forward to moving into a house and being settled once and for all (well at least for the next 7 years or so :-) )

The 'New House'

Annaliese 2 Months...

already???? Can you believe it

Annaliese 1 Month

Christmas 2011

North Pole Express

We took the kids on a train ride to the "North Pole" this year, it was a great time. We drove about 2.5 hours to Cumberland Maryland, hoped onto a steam train that went about 20MPH and 1 hour later voila we were in the North Pole, where the we were greeted by Santa and Mrs. Clause and served hot cocoa and cookies. The kids had an awesome time and keep asking to go back to the North Pole and Evan get real excited every time he sees Santa on the TV commercials. Cant wait to take them again next year. Annaliese was an angel and slept in the moby wrap the entire time, next year I am sure she will get more out of it than just free snuggle time w/mommy.

Our First 2 Weeks

This is what the first 2 weeks have been like for us :-) Annaliese is a very relaxed/sleepy baby, almost to a fault, I worry that she isn't eating enough, she often falls asleep on the breast after just 5-10 minuets of nursing. I find myself feeding her a lot because she doesn't seem to do a full feeding all at once. We seemed to have a bit of day/night confusion at first, she would sleep all day long and then be bright eyed and bushy tailed between 11-2 a.m. but we think we may be past that now. She is doing really good at night and giving us at least 1-4 hour stretch between feedings, and if we let her go a little longer sometimes she gives us 5 hours, but since we are still trying to make sure she gains adequate weight and establish a good milk supply we usually end up waking her to eat. I wonder what she is going to be like when she finally 'wakes up' :-)

How is it going??? AWESOME!!!! The second time around is so much easier and then adding the fact that there is one newborn instead of two, even easier. Annaliese has been such a blessing to us, she is sweet and calm and loving, and she sleeps all the time so really I have nothing to complain about, YET!!!! This experience though has shown me how incredibly overwhelmed I truly was with the twins when they were brand new. I just remember being on edge all the time, I would get very stressed every time Chad left me alone w/them, I cried A LOT...and I think a part of me expected to feel very much the same way in the early days this time around as well. But, I can say w/a ton of gratitude it hasn't been anything like that. When I am left alone w/Annaliese I barely notice no one is there to help lighten the load, its not as overwhelming and I don't feel the same anxiety. Of course Chad has been such a huge help in keeping the twins entertained and allowing me to concentrate on Annaliese, which has been wonderful. I have done one full day by myself w/all 3 kids and it went about how I expected it to...it will be a lot, day in and day out because the twins still require a lot of care too and I imagine Annaliese is just days away from becoming more demanding herself but it will be manageable. I think the twins are just self sufficient enough that we can make it work and keep everyone mostly happy during the day. My hair may turn grey in the process but it's a small price to pay, right, and thats what hair dye is for :-)

How are the twins adjusting???? Fabulously, but they have had Daddy home with them almost everyday since Annaliese's arrival. I know they enjoy hanging with him and he has picked up a lot of the slack for me. They love their new baby sister and ask to hold her every chance they get. They are constantly coming up to her and kissing her. We are practicing being 'gentle'. They love to bring me all of her things and are interested in her care. They love to get her clean diapers and throw the dirty ones away. Taryn calls her 'baby Annaliese' as she emphasizes the 'liese' and Evan calls here 'baby Anna'. They are both a great Big Brother and Big Sister to Annaliese and she is a very lucky little lady.

How are Mom and Dad adjusting??? Just fine. Annaliese has been so easy so far, I'm almost scared for whats to come LOL. I have been taking time to enjoy tons of cuddle time w/Annaliese, that is one thing that I really missed out on with the twins and am really relishing this time. Chad and I just feel so blessed, we love our little crew!!! We of course have to get used to broken sleep at night once again but we know that this too shall pass :-). We have been given the best early Christmas gift ever and just relish in the joy of the season upon us and are overjoyed with the fact that we get to celebrate this year with our 3 children...what an amazing Christmas it will be this year!!!!

1 Week Old

Our precious baby girl is 1 week old today...that has to be the fastest week of my life. She is such an angle...didn't realize I could fall so much in love all over again!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Our GREATEST BLESSINGS....

THANKSGIVING 2011

MEETING BABY SISTER

HEADING HOME!!!!

MEETING BABY SISTER