December

P at 1 month...as you can see.

I told the kids to give P a kiss...fortunately, no babies were harmed in the making of this photo...this time.
P in the pack n play, for her own protection!

up close

S and P, ready for church

Christmas Sunday best--thank you Grammie!

Holiday festivities

Littlest Sheldon starting to show some funny facial expressions.



S's school Christmas party. There is a vast difference in the way S and R eat their cupcakes. One eats with a sense of urgency, the other with all the proper dignity of a British royal.

I'm drinking in the rain

While most kids get to enjoy eating snow in the winter, poor California kids have to settle for drinking rain.
Further proof that R does everything his big sister does.

Baby P makes 3

11-27

11-28

12-06

So it's been awhile since I've been on here...P will be 1 month old by the time most of you read this...I can't believe it! Here are a few pics...guess I'll have to take pictures of her looking cute while I still can--in the days since these were taken, S has knocked a storage tub off a cabinet onto P's head and this afternoon R swiped a toddler fork off the dining room table and was trying to stick it into P's head. Not to mention S trying to sit on her and R wanting to push her while she's in the baby swing...

S on the big slide

How R gets his kicks

Here's some more

Drum roll please!

Piper Hadleigh is here!

I was scheduled to be induced b/c I was finally 2 weeks past my due date—when we arrived at the hospital I was only 1 ½ -2 cm dilated, so at 9am they started me with a dose of Cytotech, which was supposed to help me dilate. By 2 pm I was only 3 cm dilated, but was having contractions too often (about every 2-3 minutes, although they were generally short and not very strong ) to be given another dose of Cytotech. So they gave me the option of breaking my water, which might kick the contractions into high gear, or starting Pitosin which would increase the contractions but could be more intense…we opted for breaking the water—by the time they did that at 3:15 pm, I had dilated to 4 centimeters, and contractions were already a bit stronger. Within about a minute of breaking the water, the contractions were coming FAST and HARD, and baby girl arrived just over an hour later, at 4:24pm. Like R, she had the cord wrapped around her neck twice and was blue, but fortunately she wasn’t nearly as big or broad-shouldered as he was, and she only needed a little bit of help to get started breathing on her own. Stats were: 9 lbs, 21 ½ long. Each labor and delivery experience has been so very different from the others, and I must say that 3 experiences seem like enough for me right now!!! So we’ve finally decided on the name Piper Hadleigh, not for any particular reasons other than that we just like it. Welcome little Peanut, I’m so glad you’re finally OUT.

New Baby

Somebody thinks he's still the center of attention.

Papa showing S and R their new housemate.

Weighing in. Check out those thighs!

Fresh out of the hopper.

She's got some long feet. Continuing our legacy of children with blue eyes and big feet.

I am not happy. I want to go home.

Trick or Treat

Every year the businesses in downtown Dixon have an afternoon of trick or treating for kids--it is a lot of fun and our church sets up a booth to pass out candy and Bibles . S was Cinderella (not because she cared but because I had bought the costume at a garage sale for 50 cents when she was only 3 months old...) Surprisingly she liked twirling around in the dress and wore the crown the whole time!

R was a firefighter--please note the soot from our outdoor firepit on his face...he liked that part the best.

And here's one for you Uncle Nate!

Last Friday S had her first preschool field trip to a local pumpkin patch--and they had a lot of pumpkins!

Here she is so excited to be on a hayride with her teacher, Miss Michael.

They had a gigantic "corn kernel bath" which the kids LOVED--S is laying down in it (she's wearing black shirt) and R is trying to crawl through it.

Here she is jumping into the corn!

R taking a roll in the corn

Almost Due...or not.

I had a Dr. appointment yesterday, and by ultrasound baby girl is measuring at 8 1/2 pounds...or 7 1/2 or 9 1/2 or anywhere in between. Apparently ultrasound meaurements at this stage are not a definative predictor of baby's birth weight. And she hasn't descended at all either, so looks like I'm in for another "overdue" baby--S was 4 days "late" when they induced me, and R was 10 days "late." (This one is due 10/27.) By the way, check out my new hair--S stopped and looked at me for a long time when I returned from the salon, then said, "Mommy has brown hair!"

(9 days before due date here, taken on my birthday--32 this year!)

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head

Apple Hill & Aunt Stacy's Challenge

We returned again this year to Apple Hill to eat apple doughnuts (and apple fritters and apple pie and apple cider...SO good!) and enjoy pony rides and pumpkins with the kids. Here's one of the miniature horses enjoyed by our kids (all 3 of them as you can see.)

R's first pony ride--he didn't say much but seemed to enjoy it.
S loved her first pony ride last year, and this year was no different!

Picking out a good one.

Here's a photo of Kissy Lips I forgot to post last time...

And now a message from R to Aunt Stacy, who challenged him to a race after they both got new shoes..."Check these babies out Aunt Stacy, Dad says they are superfast shoes...

You don't really think you stand a chance in beating me now, do you??

I didn't think so. (Especially since I'm apparently in Lifeguard Training too.) Love, R.

It'a a NO-NO!

R likes to climb up the couch and pull the rod off the window blinds--which makes it a big No-No...

Letting out the animals

My trademark dance

Brother & Sister

S and R are good for each other in so many ways--R is built-in forced socialization therapy, but S thinks he is a lot of fun too. Here's a sweet hug between the two--rare, but not unheard of for them. :)

Bath Boy
My first baby girl
We can't get enough of these blue eyes.

I took R to JC Penney for 18 month photos, but he seemed scared/crying for some reason and in half an hour we didn't get a single good shot. So Paul thought he would try some creative portrait photography--here's my favorite I think.

Usually we can't hardly get S to look at the camera, but she was all smiles that day for some reason

By the way, it's still 100 degrees here. yeesh.