Zwahlen Trio

We spent half the week in recovery mode and the other half making up for it. :)  Sam was sick so we all stayed home watching movies, reading books, doing art, and waiting for him to get better.  It was a long few days. :)  A big chunk of our mornings were spent in pajamas...

...but luckily we had the additional excuse to stay in pjs to cuddle a baby who is starting to come into her own with a nice schedule and great sleep habits.  She plays with her tongue (love it!) and is so patient with her loud, loving siblings.

I have a picture of Abby wearing this same onesie...love to remember Abby (below) as a baby when I dress Lydia in the same clothes!

 I remember seeing pictures of my grandpa holding a baby while they were asleep (it was probably a grandbaby, but I'm not sure) and I think of that snapshot every time I see Roy holding one of our little ones.  And I just can't help but take a picture!

I braved church today.  As we were leaving the parking lot, I wanted to shout, "I DID IT!" just like Sam yells when he accomplishes just about anything.  Going to church is not a big deal, but being the solo parent at church with three is (Roy is out of town and I'm hoping for a gigantic load of chocolate to come home with him along with a big, long nap).  I had help from several people so that was my saving grace.  But I had to take a picture of my trio all dressed up.  If you look closely, you'll see that the older two are shoving Whoppers in their mouths.  Bribery is becoming more a part of our lives. :)

And here are my girls!

2 Week Recap

Lydia has made a very smooth transition into our family.  It's like we've never been without her because it's so natural to have her around.  She doesn't really seem to mind the extra noise and attention of her siblings and has done great sleeping at night.  We love this little lady!

My last pregnant picture, taken 2 days before Lydia was born.

Lydia and I were able to come home after almost 2 days at the hospital, which happened to be my birthday. I got birthday wishes from all sorts of hospital staff who were coming in doing discharge things and asked the typical questions of name and birthday to verify they had my information.  It threw several of them off for me to say that day's date. :)

We were very ready to get home to these fun kids, who have done a great job transitioning to a new baby in the house and Sam in the role as big brother.  This was taken about 5 minutes after walking in the door from the hospital.  The proximity of Abby and Sam to Lydia in the picture is pretty typical of every minute, every day.

My mom (aka Mor Mor, aka Poopsie, aka Generic Mama) flew out on the day Lydia was born and was here almost 2 weeks.  She did fun activities with Abby and Sam, did laundry, held Lydia, cleaned and cooked, worked on sewing projects, and let me take naps.  It was so nice to have her here and for the help!

Roy loves sitting like this with his three musketeers.  

We feel very blessed that Lydia is such a delightful baby and that Abby and Sam have done so well adjusting to her.

Kid Pictures

Our talented friend, Song, took these pictures of our three angels yesterday.  Aren't they cute?

For more pictures, visit Song's blog: http://songbirdportraits.blogspot.com/2012/04/lydia-jane.html

Lydia Jane

Our beautiful Lydia Jane was born Wednesday, March 21 at 1:59 pm.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz and is 22" long.  She is an angel and has a calm, sweet disposition.  We are all so very happy to have her here to cuddle and love!

Hidden Pond Park

In an effort to enjoy every possible moment of life, we stayed very busy this week doing fun things!  And in between the fun activities, the whole house got cleaned too, so we're all pretty worn out.  Lydia, we're ready for you!  We spent one morning at one of our favorite parks/nature centers, Hidden Pond Park.  Sam was thrilled to see turtles in the nature center and out in the middle of the pond.  Abby was happy to have her new friend Liam around for 4-year-old fun.  They raced, explored various trails, and experimented with how different sticks and rocks looked as they were thrown into the water.  And the two little brothers (Sam and Liam's brother) were thoroughly entertained by the games and joined in as best they could with everything.  It was a gorgeous morning!

Sam has recently fallen in love with doing art.  He prefers markers and is well-trained to only do them at the kitchen table (after about a zillion reminders and nearly as many fights).  He'll travel the house with crayons and paper and request Abby, Roy, or I do draw turtles and monster trucks.  If you look carefully at the drawing below, you will see that Sam has learned how to draw his own turtles.  On the bottom right corner, you'll see a turtle shell and a head (that's the turtle not in the water).  And in the bottom left corner, you will see a turtle shell, head, leg, and tail (the turtle is in the water).  He drew the picture and then got really excited to tell Roy and I about his turtles.  I am super impressed that at age 2 he can draw a pretty good rendering of a turtle!

I'm hoping our next post is one announcing that baby Lydia is healthy, happy, and here.  No matter what, she'll be here by March 26 because I have an induction scheduled, but we are thinking happy thoughts that she will join us earlier than that.  She has 2 anxious siblings and 2 equally-anxious parents counting the minutes until we can hold her!

Cardboard Boxes

We got several boxes in the mail this week, only a few of which made it out to be recycled.  The rest are used as temporary toy holders ("It's my special place for                   , Mom!"), 3-D canvas for art projects, and children's entertainment.  Thank goodness for cardboard boxes!

Dinosaur Day

A few weeks ago in preschool, Abby learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Imagine my delight when we drove downtown on Monday to pick up Roy from work and Abby shrieked, "That's the Washington Monument!"  Of course we had to snap the traditional picture.

 Our future paleontologist(s) wanted to go see some dinosaurs so since we live so close to so many great, free museums, we made a morning of it.  We were only downtown for about 2 hours, but had the greatest time!  Sam literally ran from exhibit to exhibit in this cute bounce-run.  He was wowing and enthusiastic and we just couldn't help laughing as we enjoyed him taking it all in.  Abby was very intrigued with videos, buttons, and soaking in as much information as she could through the whole Natural History Museum.  She picked up on lots of fun facts and fell even more in love with dinosaurs and animals.

Sam and Roy with Sam's favorite dinosaur, Triceratops.

 Sam, Roy, and Abby with Abby's favorite dinosaur, T-Rex.

A fuzzy and different shot of Abby with the T-Rex.  Seeing the T-Rex was the best part of her day.

Last night at dinner, Abby was picking through her mixed vegetables and very carefully picked up a lima bean.  "What's this?", she asked with a look of pure horror.  "A lima bean."  "Oh," she said and then paused before continuing, "That's disgusting!"  Roy and I were dying to keep the laughter in.  I love hearing the kids as they learn how to appropriately use new words.  It's a recipe for laughter.

We were taking the kids to the neighborhood park yesterday and they were running ahead of us.  Roy saw the puddle at the same time that Sam did.  Roy took off, calling for Sam to stop.  Sam of course either didn't hear or decided not to hear (the second is more likely) and ran even faster, not stopping as he plowed through the 6-foot mud puddle.  Another time where I had to stop everything and double over to laugh.  Man, our kids are hilarious!  I can only imagine how many stories we will be collecting in the future.