Fun with babies

My sister-in-law, Beth, made Kaitlyn a whole bunch of baby diapers, bibs, burp cloths, and a blanket for her baby dolls. She loves them... so does Talon! They walk around like a little daddy and mommy, burping and changing their babies, and telling them, "It's okay, baby, it's okay! I'm right here. I'm right here.". It's so cute! I know I'm gonna have to keep an eye on Sissy... she's into throwing things in the garbage, and she knows that dirty diapers go in the garbage!
Talon's really gotten into this baby thing, and he takes his job as 'Big Brother' very seriously. He's very gentle with the baby and talks to it in a high, squeaky voice. Of course, when they're done playing, the babies get discarded onto the floor for everyone to trip over.

Talon burping the baby and trying to 'calm her'.

Such a proud little mommy showing off her baby!

Talon started getting a little embarrassed that I was taking pictures of him playing, and started acting silly.

Tub time

Nolan got his first tub bath today. He did so good... he loved the warm water. He has loved getting his hair washed since day one. He completely relaxes and settles back to enjoy it. His least favorite part (and he lets everyone know it), is getting out and being briefly exposed to the cold air. Once he's dried and dressed, he is happy as can be!

Getting loves and snuggles from Mommy.
Love that clean baby smell!

Katie Quip

The kids always want eggs and cheese for breakfast. I don't even know why I ask. I always get the same answer. It's usually initiated by Talon, then echoed by Kaitlyn...

Me: "What do you guys want for breakfast?"

The kids: "Eggs and cheese, Mom, I want eggs and cheese!".

I thought I was asking a rhetorical question this morning, but I happened to ask Kaitlyn before Talon.

Me: "Sissy, do you want eggs and cheese for breakfast?"

Kaitlyn: (Shakes head vigorously) "No."

Me: "Do you want cereal?"

Kaitlyn: (Shakes head) "No."

Me: "What do you want to eat?"

Kaitlyn: "Ummm...(rolls eyes up) I want cancakes and hot gog!"

I love this girl. She cracks me up!!

First week in town

Nolan is such a good little baby. His only gripes... being hungry and cold. Other than that, he doesn't really fuss at all. He eats every 3-4 hours during the day, every 4 hours at night, and loves to be bundled, snuggled, and just sleep. At his 3-day doctor appointment, he was already back up to 7lbs. 3oz... just an ounce away from his birth weight.
Bubby and Sissy are just smitten with their baby brother. (Actually, we all are!)
So blessed to have this new little member added to our family!
Here are just a few (of the many) pictures from his first week.

Heading home from the hospital.
He snuggles right in and seems to like his car seat.

The very excited "Big Brother" and "Big Sister"!

Our first stop after leaving the hospital...
Starbucks!!

Our little monkey

The kids love holding their baby brother.

A very happy grandma!

Having a little more awake time.
Here we're having a 'chat' with Daddy.

Oh, how he loves his swing!

A little smile for the camera.
Good boy... such a fast learner! ;o)
How I love his hair!

He's here!!!

Nolan James Starr

Born: Sunday, October 17, 2010

at 2:35am

Weight: 7 lbs. 4 oz. & 20 inches long

First impression of my new surroundings...

Ahhh... that's more like it!

Checking out the people sent to spoil me rotten...

Getting my first spa treatment. Not too bad. Not too bad!

I'm just gonna lay here and relax while you massage my head for a while! See my full head of black hair?

My big brother and big sister think I'm great. They couldn't wait to hold me!

When Bubby came in, I heard him say, "I want to hold my baby brother!". As soon as Mommy handed me to him, he asked, "Where's Sissy's baby brother?". Mommy said they had to share me. Phew! I got a little worried there for a minute. I thought competition might be on the way. No worries though... I get to be in the spotlight by myself for a while!

This is my Daddy. He's pretty excited about me, too. We've had some great snuggle time already!

See how cute I am?!?!

(I'm still a little puffy in this picture. It takes a while to get rid of all that extra fluid, you know!)

Aunt Kayla with Bubby and Sissy (playing in Mommy's room before I arrived on the scene). Well, that's it for now. Mommy's getting me ready to leave the hospital. They just did a whole bunch of horrible stuff to me...

They took me into a back room and did some procedure that supposedly only boys get. Doesn't seem fair, but they gave me a numbing fluid and some really sweet stuff on my pacifier so I wouldn't cry so much. I tolerated it really well, but I sure don't ever want it to happen again!

Then... they jabbed a sharp object in my leg and inserted something they call a "Hep B shot"; and if that wasn't enough... they poked my foot and squeezed the life out of it, then started painting a piece of paper with the fluid they got out of my foot (they called that a "Pee- Kay- You". Whatever!). So now I'm getting dressed and getting out of this place!

Don't worry though... I hear that Mommy likes to take lots and lots of pictures. So in the future, you'll be seeing me pretty frequently on this 'blog' thing.

Bye for now!

The countdown begins...

I had my 39 week doctor appointment today. She said she was a little surprised to see me and thought I would have had this baby by now (that makes two of us!). My blood pressure was a little higher and I've been having more issues with water retention. She asked if I was finally done with work. I told her I was going to work until this little guy came, and her eyes got really big. (Apparently, she doesn't think the whole 3-in-a-row, 12 hr shifts is a good idea right now... I do have to agree with her!)
She thinks it's very possible little mister could come this weekend, but if not, she wants to induce me on Monday (the 18th). Fine by me!! There's only so much room in his current living space (and he makes quite sure he gets the space he needs), so I'm more than ready for him to vacate and come out and meet us!
So... I came home, walked 2 miles, made a few trips up and down our stairs, did laundry, took a nap, made dinner, baked a large batch of molasses cookies, took a hot bath, hauled my kids around...
I guess that's probably enough effort on my part for a day. Almost considered mowing the lawn, but decided I'm not quite that desperate yet. We have such a crummy lawn mower, and our ground is so bad, it shuts off on its own and you have to bend over and restart it about every 10 feet. Don't really need to be wracking out every muscle in my body before I go in and have a baby. Sorry, Honey, you're stuck with the lawn!

The Pumpkin Patch

We made a last minute decision this afternoon, and took the kids to Sauvie Island to the Pumpkin Patch. I love this place! We didn't do the Corn Maize- it was really muddy and soggy. I'm hoping we'll make it back before it closes for the season... I look forward to going through the Maize every year.
We did have a lot of fun with the pumpkins and going into the shops. We got some fun fall decorations and goodies. The weather turned out to be about 80* (which we really weren't expecting). We all came home pretty exhausted, but we had a lot of fun!

The kids playing on the pumpkins and hay bales. Kaitlyn got a little pumpkin and wanted to carry it everywhere.

The kids loved the big tractor.

One of the many pumpkin fields

Kiki and Kallie

These two are all about comfort. They love pushing the couch pillows over and laying on them. This is a very common sight in the evening as it gets close to bed time... cuddling up together on the couch and snoozing. So cute!

Nice hair!

Yes, this is my daughter, and yes, I did let her go out of the house looking like this... but only into the back yard!! I put her hair up in a quick ponytail to get it out of her face so she could go play outside, but she insisted she needed her hat on. So, the ponytail got pushed forward leaving this...

No, I couldn't resist the pictures!

Ahhhh, brotherly love!
In case you're wondering, the reason he is holding the spray nozzle to the hose...
my parents came over and the kids and grandpa were playing with guns outside. Grandpa had Talon convinced that the spray nozzle was a bazooka. He's thought it was just the greatest thing since then, and when he can get his sister to play guns with him outside, he gets the bazooka!

And yet another picture of my daughter with her hair in shambles! This day she was eating lunch and I really didn't want ranch dressing in her hair.
My poor daughter got my hair... you can't really just let it go and not do something with it, and quick fixes don't work very well. It ends up looking like this!

38 weeks... and counting!!

Wow, I feel like I've reached a major milestone this week... made it to 38 weeks so far with this pregnancy! I had a doctor appointment today, and everything is going great. She emphasized, "You could have this baby at ANY time... or it still could be a couple of weeks yet!". Oh, fabulous! That did nothing to set my mind at ease... especially since she tagged on at the end... "but I think when he does come it will probably happen pretty fast!".
I just hope I'm not working, or at a really awkward place when he does decide to make an appearance! While I'm someone that usually doesn't mind surprises, this is one event I would like to be able to plan a little better! Oh well, I guess we'll see!

(We've talked about when we're gonna be able to take our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maize. It's always so much fun and I think the kids would really enjoy it this year. I just don't know if I want to spend all day walking and chance going into labor, only to then get stuck inside a huge Corn Maize clear out on Sauvie Island where the traffic can get backed up for miles! Yeah, we may hold off on that one for a bit!)

Wordless Wednesday

Trip to the Zoo

We took the kids to the Oregon Zoo today. The weather was really hot (almost 90*), but we had a good time! The kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals. We didn't get to ride "Thomas" (the zoo train) this time, but the kids did wave and say "hi" to him a couple of times as he passed by. That is on our 'to-do' list for next time. We all were a bit wilted by the end of the day, and the kids fell asleep as soon as we got in the van to leave.

They both started out in the stroller, then Talon decided he wanted to run around. Kaitlyn was very content to stay in the stroller. We tried to get her out a couple of times, but she preferred to ride and see the sights. Smart girl. Wish I had that option!! :)

What a neat log tunnel... and short cut down the long path!

Very intrigued by all the different fish.

The otters were a blast to watch. They were showing off and doing flips for us. Kaitlyn was really scared of them at first, but the more she watched them play, the more excited she got. She soon wanted out of the stroller and started putting her hands on the glass to entice them to come visit.

Playing on the wood horses.

Kaitlyn got pretty excited about the big Polar Bears.

And then there was the monkey exhibit...
The kids love monkeys! I have to admit, we were a little disappointed because there weren't very many of them, but they swung from branch to branch and ran along the ground. The kids thought they were great!

What a great, fun-filled family day!