Photos from our newborn session with Heather Graves of Sugar Creek Photography.  Love, love, love all of them!

 

We had a great low-key Christmas this year.  We were scheduled to make the trip to Canada but had to cancel that with having a baby so close to Christmas.  We’re looking forward to spending time in Canada this summer and again next Christmas.  So we decided with a new baby, the flu running rampant, and the busyness that the holiday season usually brings we needed to be as low-key as possible this year.  We went to Uncle Mike’s house Christmas Eve as per tradition and had a great time.  In the above picture Chris was getting smothered by Aiden and Reed who were sharing the iPad.

Evan got lots of love from everyone including Reece.

Owen, Aiden, and Reed tearing open gifts from Nan.

We came home from Mike’s and the boys had cookies and milk while Chris read them the Christmas story from the bible and then they opened their matching Christmas pjs.

Once the big boys were tucked in bed, Mr. Evan came to life and ended up staying up until midnight while Santa worked.

Owen’s stocking stuffers, books, etc.

Evan’s gifts from Santa and his stocking.  Santa brought him a crib mirror, teething toy, and football. In his stocking he had several teething rings and a toy to attach to his carseat.

Aiden’s stocking stuffers, books, and Thomas the Train toy from Santa.

Owen’s haul from Santa.  He got the Imaginext Batman cave, Jenga, Legos, a song machine, and lots of art supplies.  He also got books, socks, underwear, and an army costume that Santa got on clearance after Halloween.

Aiden’s haul from Santa.  He got a basketball, an indoor basketball goal set, legos, Thomas the Train, and a playmat.  He also got books, socks, and underwear, and a fireman costume that Santa got on clearance after Halloween.  Their big gift this year was a basketball goal.  Unfortunately the weather was yucky on Christmas Day and pretty much every day since then so they haven’t gotten to play with it much.

 

I was worried that they would get up and go see what Santa had brought before we could get up and go with them so they slept in our room with me and Chris slept on the bunkbeds in their room.  This is the picture of their excitement right before we let them go look. 

They were too funny. Owen ran and immediately tore into everything he could get his hands on.  Aiden grabbed the basketball and that was good enough for him.  We had to encourage him to look at his other things.  Chris had to help Aiden open his gifts and encourage him to keep going.  He was overwhelmed.  Owen had no trouble opening everything and was so proud that he could read who each gift was from by himself.

Since Evan was so awake Christmas Eve and was passed around so much by family he was just exhausted Christmas Day and literally slept until 8:00 that night except for when he would wake up to eat.

Evan’s haul from family, mom and dad, and Santa.  In addition to the things he got from Santa he got two stuffed animals for his crib that play music, womb sounds, etc. as well as books, a music toy, and several teething rings.

Even Chris got in on the DJ action!

On Christmas Day afternoon we headed to my parent’s house for Christmas with them. Mom let the kids decorate her tree this year and Owen had added the white sign that said “get presents here”.

 

While we were there it started to sleet and then very quickly turned to snow. We quickly finished up opening gifts and hit the road to get back home before the roads got slick.

 

The boys played outside in the snow for a little bit when we got home.  Naturally the next day it was gone. I’m hoping it snows again in January or February so Owen won’t  be disappointed.  He wants so badly to play in the snow and build a snowman.

We ended the day relaxing together watching Madagascar 3 and having popcorn by the fire.  Perfect end to a great day!

 

 

Owen is at such a fun age.  He’s learning so much and is so sweet and loving.  He loves kindergarten and it’s fun to watch him grow and change.  Here’s a couple of pictures from his class Christmas party.  I’m a room mother along with my great friend Kimmy.  We have too much fun planning the parties for these kiddos.  Instead of the usual treat bag with candy and junk we got all of the kids a book.  They were a big hit.

Owen has a fantastic imagination and is always coming up with crazy things.  This is a cardboard dinosaur that my mom got that you’re supposed to color and mount for 3D art.  Owen decided it made a good costume.

I asked him to put all of the toilet paper and paper towels that we had gotten at the store in the cabinets where we store extra things like that.  He spent several minutes devising a way to haul it all in one trip using a blanket.  Always scheming and planning!

After he put everything away he asked me if he could cut up the sacks.  Before long he had crafted this concoction which he said was a chicken costume and the bags were his feathers.  He even got a marker and drew chicken feet on the top of his feet.

 

He loves to write and draw and especially does so now that he can read and write more words.  He brought me this note the other day and I just had to take a picture of it to remember what a sweet boy he is.  I’m hoping I can look back on this when he’s a moody teenager and remember why I love him so much.

 

Evan is very tolerant of his brothers and all the stickers they put on him and toys they wave in his face.  He definitely responds to them and it’s so cute to see him smile and react to their silliness.  Love these boys of mine!

 

 

 

 

 

On December 7th I went in for my scheduled c-section at 5:00 that morning.  The surgery didn’t actually start until closer to 8 and at 8:25 am we welcomed Evan James into the world weighing 8 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long.

[I’m documenting this next part just for my own memory]. Everything went fairly well.  I’m notorious for being difficult to put an IV in so of course it took many tries and many nurses to get one in and even then it had to be replaced later that day.  My wrists are still so sore to the touch from that trauma.  The anesthesiologist had difficulty getting the spinal in and it took her 5 tries to do it successfully.  I was at the end of my rope by that point.  She had already given me a large dose of Phenergren since the spinal always makes me so sick.  I was so drugged up that I couldn’t even open my eyes and I was already shaking (another unfortunate thing that happens when I’m given major drugs).  She finally got it in and I still got sick which is incredibly unpleasant when you’re strapped to a table and can’t move.  She pushed another drug and that subsided and we were ready to go.  Apparently, I had some pretty significant scar tissue from having 2 previous c-sections so it took awhile to get going good.  Because of his size the nurse basically put her entire body weight on my stomach to help push him out.  I was much more sore afterward that I remember being with Aiden from all of that trauma but  not nearly as sore as I was after having Owen so it was manageable.  Poor Chris thought I was having a seizure when they let him in the room because I was shaking so violently.  He tried to hold my arm still but it was a lost cause.  They did let him stand up and watch them take him out which thrilled his soul.  Everyone in the room immediately started commenting on his large size. When Chris held him up for me to see I could tell he was mucho grande but had to wait until I was in the recovery room to find out just how large he was.  We found out later the doctor and nurses all placed guesses at his weight and no one guessed that high.  Once Chris left with Evan to go to the nursery the anesthesiologist gave me a very magical drug that immediately caused me to fall into a very deep sleep.  I have no recollection of being wheeled to the recovery room or even the first 53 minutes of my time there because I was so sound asleep.  I also don’t remember being wheeled from recovery to my room. It was fantastic.  One of the unfortunate things of having a c-section is having to lie flat for so many hours afterward so I didn’t get to see the little man until later in the day.

We had lots of fun visitors and Evan had his first visit from his future wife, Neely Kate. As you can see they enjoyed their time together.

The big brothers were very excited but a little unsure of seeing mom in a hospital bed with an IV.

We did our required 48 hours and then were happy to get to go home.  Here’s Evan in his coming home outfit.

Here’s how we spent the next week.  It was fantastic.  I was so sore and he wasn’t quite ready to be in the world yet so we just snuggled and enjoyed every minute of it.

First bath: this was before the screaming began.  He does not like to have his diaper changed or take a bath.  He generally screams until you get his feet snapped into a footed sleeper again.

Evan makes the funniest faces.  He constantly cracks us up!

This is how he spends most evenings. He loves his daddy and if Chris leaves the room he will keep his eyes on the hallway waiting for him to come back.

 

When you have 2 big brothers you  have to tolerate a lot of things.  Owen thought it was great to share the snowman with Evan.  As you can see, Evan was thrilled about it.

 

My all-time favorite funny face!

Evan cried for several days and only seemed to relax at night.  We finally realized he didn’t want to be unswaddled and was happiest when he was completely covered up.  Once we realized that’s what he wanted he has been happy ever since.  Fortunately, after a few days he was more adjusted and less fussy.

 

The next series of pictures are just to document some of his cute outfits and how he has grown.

When he was 8 days old, Heather Graves of SugarCreek Photography, came and did a newborn photoshoot.  It was so overcast that day that the only room of the house that had good lighting was Owen and Aiden’s room.  It was a tight squeeze with all of their junk everywhere but she made it work.  It’s crazy to me looking at the finished product that all of the pictures were taken in their bedroom because you can’t tell that from looking at them.  That was a stressful day because she had strict instructions on setting up the environment and what to do to prepare him for such a long photoshoot. He was fussy off and on the whole time and I had to keep feeding him to try to get him to settle down.  He peed on her and on me at different times and at the end of the 3 1/2 hour photoshoot he had a projectile poop that got all over the props, her camera, her camera bag,…..everything!  We just laid on the floor and laughed and laughed.  It was the only thing we could do in that moment.  Fortunately, Heather has 4 boys of her own so nothing really fazes her.  We got some great pictures that I will be sharing in a future post.

Owen was addicted to the pacifier, Aiden is addicted (still) to his banksie, and Evan appears to be my thumb sucker. We have tried to get him to take a pacifier unsuccessfully and given the opportunity this is what he does.

Brotherly love!

A sneak peek of the beautiful photos taken by Heather.

First date with Miss Neely Kate!

This generally lasts less than 3 minutes before he’s ready to give him back.

When we found out we were having another boy we decided to change up the room decor and bedding since we had used the same thing with the first two and it was dated and worn. I had in my mind what I wanted but couldn’t find anything on the market in a reasonable price range that matched what I had in mind.  Thanks to the generosity of a childhood friend’s mother I was able to pick out fabric and design exactly what I wanted and she made my vision become a reality.  I’m so happy with the finished product and his room is such a bright and happy place!

He is growing way to fast and weighed 9 lbs 1.5 oz at his 2 week checkup.  His hair is fairly light and is lighter than both the other boys was at this stage.  His eyebrows and eyelashes are blonde so I’m curious to see if his hair will stay lighter than the big boys.  We’re hoping his eyes stay blue like Owen’s.  Of course, he has the butt chin like Owen did too.

 

We cracked up one night when we looked over and saw he had his hand raised up in the air in his sleep.  He kept it this way a long time and has done it several times since.  Too funny!

 

 

He has grown so much already!  It’s fun to look back on the pictures from his first few days and see how much he’s changed.  It took Owen and Aiden some time to adjust to our new family dynamic but I’m happy to say we have all adjusted well now and it’s hard to imagine our lives without Evan.  The true test will be next week when I have to go back to work and school starts back and we have to get back into our routine.  We’ve enjoyed these past few weeks of sleeping late and being lazy.  It’s going to be hard to get back to the real world!