Yikes!

I guess I am not keeping up very well with posting.

August was a very busy month! We gained a nephew/cousin in the process, which always makes for a good month! (We will also be gaining another one in December!)

We also bought a house!!! We are doing a 30 day close, so things are a little crazy right now as we work to get everything together in only about 3 weeks.

Here is a slideshow I put together tonight to see the 3 kids at similar ages...Notice any resemblance!?!? Lately, we have been seeing a lot of me in Henry--it is probably his laid back, go with the flow, always happy personality mostly that reminds people of me! I have been seeing a lot of Jonah in Logan--his hair, his eyes, his way of living in his own little world and loving it!

Enjoy!

Video

Here is Henry in all his greatness! Make sure your speakers are on! (Filmed last night right before bed!)

Enjoy!

So Long!

I can't believe it has been about 3 weeks since I last posted. Between being in Florida and continuing our searching and exploring up here, the time is FLYING!

Florida was great. It occurred to me that within about 2.5 weeks Henry had his first swim in a lake, in a pool, and in the ocean! Quite the lucky boy. He was very excited and accepting of all 3. Belli and Logan, as usual, LOVED being in Florida. Logan was a little swimming machine. Thankfully, I snuck his lifejacket into the big bag that carried one of the three carseats on the plane---he swam all over by himself. He also had no fear of the ocean, which was fun. Luckily, Daddy has no fear of the ocean either, so they were getting plowed over by waves and laughing hysterically.

Henry was the perfect little traveler. Belli and I sat with him on the plane. He stayed awake almost the whole plane ride down, but spent him time cooing and smiling! Belli was great as a big sister, helping whenever possible. Mema also had gotten re-routed and ended up being on the plane with us on the way down, so she was nice enough to hold Henry during potty breaks, etc. She was sitting next to another set of grandparents who were just about ready to eat Henry--he is so cute that other grandparents even like him! :)

Since we have been back home, we have been hanging out. Last weekend we visited Fort Snelling (or as Logan calls it Snort Telling). It was very cool to see how the soldiers used to live--and hear the cannon shot off!

Enjoy a few pictures! We are heading to Des Moines on Sunday for a few days to have some time with the cousins! And then heading to Illinois on the 18th to see the Beazleys before they head back home to Rome, and then to play the waiting game on the newest member of the family....I wonder if that little nephew of mine got the message that he can't come out until I am there?!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Henry has been cracking up laughing lately, so my goal is to get him in action on video---as soon as I do, I will post it! He has a tendency to get rather serious as soon as the camera is in his face!

4th of July, 2011

4th of July was TONS of fun! It was so great to have family up here staying with us! We really appreciated having the company--I appreciated cooking for everyone! And we really appreciated them bringing boats, so we got to check out the St Croix River and White Bear Lake. The house had 12 people, 6 dogs and a cat for 5 days and everyone survived and left smiling!

I attached a video slideshow of some of the pictures I took over the weekend. You will see it starts off with photos of Jonah and Carl running the half marathon thru Minneapolis the morning of the 4th. We were all really proud of them! The morning was beautiful, and the boys worked hard to make the run happen. They finished by running across the Stone Arch bridge which is where Stephanie, Henry, and I were waiting and taking pictures. The skyline is really nice from right there too, so I had fun playing with my camera lense!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th as well. We are off to Florida on Wednesday for a little vacation!

Where does the time go?

Sorry I haven't been so good about updating lately. We have actually been having lots of fun staying busy and exploring all there is to do around us!

There really is SOOO much to do and see up here. Tons that is family oriented and everything is very accessible. Charles Schulz (Peanuts & Charlie Brown) was born in St. Paul, so there is a park downtown with all the Peanuts characters. Woodstock was the kids favorite at Rice Park. We visited Des Moines for Barry's wedding, so Mema came into town to watch the big kids and dogs. Henry finally got to meet his Mimi and great-grandma Ellen. Such a happy day!! This last weekend, Jonah and I took the kids into Stillwater to have lunch and visit Teddy Bear Park...such a cute little park--Logan and Belli could have climbed all day long! Today the kids and I went and picked strawberries up in White Bear Lake. Such a fun time. I was really proud of the kids. They did a great job and picked for about an hour!

Enjoy the pics!!

We have more busy times coming up! We are having our first full house of visitors next week over the 4th---I can't wait to cook for a crowd!!

HENRY UPDATE!!! Henry is about 11 pounds or so now! Growing fast and furiously! He can't wait to catch up to Belli and Logan in more ways than 1. He is smiling a lot now. Really all you have to do is talk to him and he smiles, which is FUN FUN FUN!!! He got his tongue clipped about a week ago, so he can finally stick his tongue out, which Belli and Logan think is great. Henry copies them when they do it, so it can provide at least 10 minutes of entertainment! I also am now eating dairy-free to help alleviate some of Henry's gas issues, tummy pains, baby ache, cradle cap, etc...He was pointing many signs towards dairy allergy, and eliminating it from my diet seemed to have helped almost overnight. It is NOT fun for me, but hopefully in a couple months, he will be able to handle it! Hmmm...hard to remember what else?! He is doing great, still fitting in with the rest of the clan just fine. Belli is adamant that we keep him....she is also requesting another baby. She keeps telling everyone that 4 would be the perfect number...Mommy thinks that maybe 3 is plenty hard to do fun things with!

Hope everyone is well and not sweating too bad. The weather up here is PERFECT! We see about 80 during the day and usually upper 50s at night---so beautiful!

We spend a lot of time staring...

From the pictures, it looks like Henry sleeps a lot...He doesn't. That is just the only time he lets us set him down! He also wanted to show off his double chin. He was very jealous when his cousin Lukas visited...Lukas' girth was something to be envied, and Henry is working diligently at matching him! As of last night, pre bath, Henry was almost 10 pounds...Not to shabby for 3 weeks old. I am going to have to look back and check out Logan's stats. I am sure they will look similar!

The "older kids" as they are now referred to, have become very comfortable with "baby." Every morning they come in and first thing have to check on him!

We have made 2 trips to the zoo...I will post those pictures later. One with just the kids and I, and the other time, Jonah came with!

Can't wait to head back to Illinois on Thursday and let all the Illinoisians meet Henry!

More later!

Completeness

So, last Sunday, Henry was freed from his bili-blanket. He ended up having a combination of physiological jaundice along with breastmilk jaundice, and while breastmilk jaundice is not dangerous, it would not allow his bilirubin count to come down, so the doctors would not allow him to come off "treatment." We ended up supplementing every other feeding with formula for 48 hours and his levels plummeted! So thankfully, life has returned to our "unchained" normalness.

We have taken full advantage of being free this week. On Tuesday, we all went hiking at Wirth Park in Minneapolis. They have a Quaking Bog and a wildflower sanctuary that we all had fun exploring...and the weather was gorgeous. Today, we hung out at home and walked to the park and then played in the sprinkler this afternoon. The kids were excited to get the sprinkler out for the first time this year!

(I had to add some photos of the kids drinking from the water fountain at Wirth for Jill...We did not allow the kids to actually lick the metal part, but they did try to come close!)

I would say the picture of Henry sleeping and smiling pretty much sums up how we are all feeling these days. There is a great sense of being complete in our house now. Not that we were missing something before, but we definitely feel like a whole now. As crazy as our house is MOST of the time, and as crazy as we all drive each other, I think that if any one of us (or the animals) were missing, we just wouldn't function the same. It makes me happy numerous times each day that for the rest of my life, my little family will all have the same memories. We will all be included in making them happen. Henry has for lack of a better way of putting it completed us! (So Jerry McGuire)

There is also something amazing this time around. Maybe it is because the "big" kids are a little bigger than Belli was when Logan came along. All the fears of how a day would look, or if we would make it through, or if everyone would get what they need, don't exist this time. Everyone has fallen seamlessly into place. We never even missed a beat. This week has been our first week "alone" (visitors are gone, Jonah is back at work) and we have done just fine. It really has been great. (Henry has also been sleeping 6 hour stretches at night, so that doesn't hurt!)

Hope all is well with everyone in Illinois. We miss you all a lot. Then I went to the DMV today to get my Minnesota drivers license and everyone holds doors for me and asks about the baby and tells me how perfect he is and lets me rush through lines because I have him....And I think Minnesota isn't really all that bad.

The Incredible Shrinking, Glowing Baby!

Ok, so Henry's stats at birth since I never posted them were:

Born May 5th, 2011 at 3:35 pm. 7 pounds, 12 ounces. 22 inches.

Now, 8 days later, he has returned to his birth weight as of this morning (he was down to 7 pounds 5.5 ounces)--and surprisingly enough, he shrank. When we took him for one of his first check ups, he was 20 3/4 inches. We are attributing this to his enormous cone head at birth. His cone head was accompanied by a huge bruise on the top of his head--technically called a cephalohematoma.

As I think I mentioned in the last post, Henry is jaundiced. This bruise on his head definitely did not help things. He has been under the bili-blanket since last Saturday. His levels peaked at about 20.9, which the doctor said had I been a first time mom, she would have hospitalized. He now is at a 19.1. Coming down slowly, but they are now questioning if he has a combination of regular jaundice with breastmilk jaundice (which lasts a long time...). The doctor does not feel comfortable taking him off the bili-blanket until his level is back down to about 15. While he is not showing any signs that this is at all bothersome to him, I think continuing treatment has more to do with the doctors protecting themselves...So Jonah and I are trying to figure out the best method to resolve the issue ASAP so Henry can be "unleashed" and taken out into the world. To add to things, we have had an abnormally cloudy week up here, so he can't even sit in a sunny window!

Overall though, we are all doing great, and without a doubt, Henry will get his numbers down and be fine.

Enjoy the pics from this week, and I will keep you updated!!

(As you can see from the picture, when Henry met his cousin, Lukas (11 weeks old), he decided to just eat him instead of play!)

Oh What A Wait...

I figured I would start with some pictures, because let's be honest, that is what most of you are looking for. :)

As you can see from the first picture, Belli and Logan are pretty proud of themselves! They are on their way to being quite possibly the best big sister and big brother ever! Belli took to Henry immediately. Logan kept his distance for a while, but now is pretty sure he always knows best, as usual. I have a feeling that within the next year, I will begin dreading the bond the 2 boys already have. Logan will in fact be a great teacher to Henry, whether it is things I want him to know or not.

Long story short--it was a quick delivery! Basically at about 2:25pm, I was still smiling and laughing--talking to my sister on the phone, facebooking on the IPad. At 3:00, I felt like I was not going to make it. They told me I was 6 cm--I was thinking to myself that there was no way I could make it thru another couple hours of labor. After what seemed like a LONG time, my baby was out and laying on my chest. He was born at 3:35pm after 6 minutes of pushing. Needless to say, after fear of everything that happened at Logan's birth (meconium, shoulder dystocia, & the cord wrapped around his neck) in combination with really not wanting any pain medication and horror story after horror story of how much worse labor is with pitocin, I was thrilled to pieces that I had done it---My goal in this birth, going into it with a basic understanding that it will be my last, I really wanted to be present in every moment. I feel like I accomplished that. I feel like I proved to myself what my body is actually capable of. And on top of it all, I walked away with a happy, healthy baby.

Henry and I left the hospital the next day. He has a huge bruise on the top of his head...I am sure it was a little traumatic to him to be floating peacefully and forced down a birth canal a half hour later. He is currently jaundice (just to follow suit with his brother and sister) so he is glowing away here at home in his biliblanket. He is a great eater, overall very laid back baby. We have his first official baby check up on Monday.

At the hospital, he did not pass his hearing screen. The nurses and doctors did not seem too concerned by this. They said that ordinarily he would have just been retested, but since we were leaving the hospital so quickly, he just has to have it retested by his physician. I think they will retest in a couple weeks.

I feel so lucky and happy and so in love. There is a lot this time around that is easier being the third. I also feel like there is a lot more anxiety---I know how much I get from my kids each day and the fear of anything happening to them gets scarier and scarier. It was much easier to worry before I loved them so much. :)

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and kind thoughts and words. It was successfully my longest pregnancy, and I think both Jonah and I are happy that part is over. We are all feeling very complete here at home.

Long time...

Sorry for not updating more recently. We had a great visit to Illinois the 2nd week in April, and then returned home to get final nesting done! ;)

The kids, the 3 dogs, the cat, and I drove down to Illinois on Monday, April 11th. Nothing quite like a car full when you are 37 weeks pregnant with 2 toddlers that like to alternate when they go to the bathroom and 3 dogs that do the same! Needless to say, my goal for the trip down was to take our time and just get there in one piece. And we did! No one cried, except the cat. Jonah flew down on Tuesday night to join us, and we sure did miss him for those 36 hours we were apart....We are all still trying to figure out how we made it through January, February, and March!

We had a super busy week in Illinois and were so glad that we got to see everyone. One of the highlights of our trip was Grandma and Grandpa Sanye being nice enough to let their Easter bunny hide some eggs for us a week early!!

Belli was very concerned about making sure that there were "baskets" to put the eggs in, and thankfully Grandma came thru and was well stocked!

Belli also learned the secrets to hunting very early on. She may have even remembered from last year. Secret One: Stick close to Grandpa--he gives hints. Secret Two: Always keep your eyes open!

Logan had his own egg hunting secret. Secret: Hunting on foot is for schmucks. Get the tractor and throw your basket in the back.

Grandpa was nice enough to "grill" for us after the hunt. The kids had requested hot dogs about 4 days in advance, so he knew what his job was. As you can see from the picture, sometime in between putting them on the grill and taking them off, Grandpa got distracted...(This was my fault, however, I am only taking part of the blame!) Thankfully, Grandma had some backup hot dogs in the fridge and some pasta too!!

Overall the trip down was amazing. We had so much fun seeing everyone. Isabella even got to return to school for a final week. Her class made her a pillowcase that each child signed and drew a picture on. It is so cute, and now she sleeps with it every night!

Back in Minnesota, we got all the laundry done, cleaning done, baby stuff bought and organized...Now we are just WAITING!

We were blessed with a great snowfall on April 20th.

It was very exciting, but only lasted about 2 hours. It was green and sunny by the afternoon!!

On the 21st, the kids and I were getting a little stir crazy, so the 3 of us went to the movie theater and saw Rio! It was very cute, and bright, and fun music! Belli really liked Blu--Logan is still talking about how the white bird isn't really mean, he just had a bad movie. Logan is always seeing the bright side of things! As we were walking out, Logan said, "I really love you so much. That was a great story." It was cute...

We are down to 2 to-do's on the list. Dinner plans on the 30th and have the baby.

Sarcastically, a friend from college emailed me today to ask if we were considering the name Thor for the baby...It was a little embarassing to email him back and write that (X-Men) the Wolverine will soon be joined by his brother, the Beast. Yes, the Beast from X-Men is named Henry. Jonah and I both had to confess to each other that we had both independently looked into this as part of the name approval process. I was keeping it in my back pocket as a go-to in case the name was rejected...Jonah just kept it as a "win" in his book!

So--as we move into another week, we look forward to meeting "The Beast" more commonly referred to as "The Tank" in the next 10 or so days!!

Belli's Haircut & Jonah and Logan hiking!!

Ok...

Where to start? Last weekend the weather was beautiful, and we ate it up---We also took Belli to get a haircut and we LOVE the new place we go for kids haircuts. Logan did feel a little cheated after seeing where Belli went, so next time he needs a trim, he will be upgraded to Wild Child Hair!

I found an OB practice. I met with them 3 times this week to catch up on things. All is well, and although I am dilating, the baby is still high, and I was told to head back to Chicago! So we will be leaving on Sunday afternoon and staying until the following Sunday or Monday.

We spent the week mostly outside...Not really doing anything eventful--Just hanging in the backyard and around the neighborhood. The kids have taken to going to the park with Daddy after dinner while I clean up. And Jonah and Noah have taken up almost daily rollerblading on the trails that go ALL over the place. There are trails EVERYWHERE up here and they all connect somewhere.

Today, we decided to get up and go explore...After coming up with about a hundred places we wanted to see, we decided to head to Minnehaha Falls. It is one of the largest parks in Minneapolis, and one of the most visited...Also, as a perk for me, they have an amazing seafood restaurant on the premises!!! The falls is the original location that the Minnehaha creek used to lead into the Mississippi river. The glaciers are amazing, as the water level has drastically changed over years and years, and has left behind a 53 foot waterfall. It is especially fun to see this time of year because the water levels are so high--and as you can see from the pictures, there is still snow back by the water.

After hiking for about an hour and a half...Up and down the waterfall--YES, I was TIRED, and having contractions is NOT fun while climbing a ton of stairs up a waterfall--we did indulge in a great outdoor lunch at Sea Salt. The food was amazing!! Fresh oysters, steamed shrimp tacos, and crab cakes!!

Enjoy the pictures--