paternity leave

Mike's paternity leave has finally kicked in, and I'm pretty sure all four of us are loving life! Mike has never enjoyed work more, it is nice for me to have help, Joseph is able to get out of the house and do fun activities more often, and Andrew gets more attention because there are more people to hold him and more parents to share. Love it! We may consider having a baby every year so we can get this extra paternity leave added to Mike's time off! So far Mike and Joseph have gone swimming about everyday- which Joseph absolutely loves, they have gone to story time at the Library, the Children's Museum, walks to the pond, Home Depot's children's workshop, Monkey Buziness, indoor playground at the mall and the Merry Go Round, Red Mango way too many times without me, the park, and Oberweis for ice cream. Joseph and I were able to go to two birthday parties, and run some errands. Life is a little more fun with dad than mom! Here are some picture updates!

Andrew at 8 weeks! Yeah, looking the other way! But that's because I turned him around, he is still looking out the window. Cute little guy!

Joseph likes to set up and pose for his own photo shoots now that I've started doing them with Andrew.

Precious little guy.

Ready to go to church.

Boys, boys, boys! 

Andrew showing off his strong muscles.

 

Andrew closely studying Joseph. Learning the ways from his big brother.

Here are pictures from Joseph/Daddy time.

On the merry-go-round

Going on walks and looking at ducks

Rocking out at the park

Playing with the water and ducks at the Children's Museum

Showing off his project he made with dad.

We love having Dad home and are so excited to have him home for two more weeks! We sure are being spoiled right now. We love it!

Life is Good!

Part of the day is a bit chaotic around here, with a baby crying and then an almost 2 year old crying because he wants to be held like the crying baby, of course when the baby isn't being held he could care less. But there is also much love and fun times to be had. It is amazing how fast time has gone by with Andrew.

Here is my little guy at 6 weeks! Wow! Notice how he is always looking to the right? Must be because he's looking out the sliding glass window.

And of course Joseph wants to get in on the fun of taking a picture with a bear. He went and gathered them up to pose for this cute picture!

How precious! It is very apparent just how much Joseph loves his little brother. I know they will be best of buds. Just get bigger quick Andrew so you two can start chasing each other around! (Maybe I will regret having said that later down the road)

Me and my little guy. 5 pounds to go to be at my pre-pregnancy weight! Then I can start working on leftovers from Joseph. Argh!

Joseph is such a delight. I don't know where he comes up with these crazy fun ideas, but I like them. If only I could do them with him! Actually, I'd probably be too chicken to. I am glad he is more adventurous! When I showed the first video to Joseph he couldn't stop laughing. It was quite adorable. Hope they give you a little chuckle too! :)

Andrew is providing the sound effects on this one!

nap time!

It is a miracle! Both boys have been asleep for 2 hours at the same time! I imagine now that I wrote that one will wake up very soon. So here is a very short update. I love my boys so much, and my man too! Last week Andrew turned 4 weeks and Joseph 22 months on the same day! Fun times! So here is a picture of both together showing how big they are!

Joseph 22 months, Andrew 4 weeks
Andrew is not especially happy here. Joseph isn't either, but at least his cry had turned into a laugh at this point. When one cries so does the other. Oh joy! Am I right parents!?

Andrew at 4 weeks

Mike took Joseph on an Easter egg hunt. Joseph loved picking up the eggs and was very possessive of his basket and contents after. He found them, picked them up, therefore they completely belonged to him! Cute guy!




Joseph has become very good at doing his own activities while I am taking care of Andrew. It is incredible to see the way his brain works and the things he does! Here he lined up all his little cups and put a bead in each. He seems to be lining things up a lot around here!

Well, I just heard a child hearken! That is all for now. Have a great weekend!

a long tale of our newborn

It all started with the laundry. I bought some padding for our baby's bed that ended up having a very strong odor. Not wanting my newborn to be sleeping on such a strong smelling bed, I took the padding off and threw all of the sheets and blankets in the wash that now smelt like the potent padding. As I closed the lid I thought my water broke. I was scheduled to be induced the next day. For some odd reason I keep going into labor when I'm supposed to be induced- awesome! We called the doctor, they said it sounded like my water had broke and to go to the hospital. We quickly packed all our bags, got our sleeping little Joseph out of his bed, headed to Mike's cousin's to drop Joseph off (it is now about 11PM) and went to the hospital. The drive seemed to take forever! The whole night I had contractions and didn't get much sleep. They didn't want to start me on platosin until the morning so I could get some rest. At least Mike got some rest! Finally at 5:19PM we had adorable Andrew! I seriously felt like giving up several times during the birthing process, and once they announced his stats I felt a little more justified. He weighed 10 pounds 7.6 ounces, and was 23 1/2 inches long! They almost ran out of measuring tape. This long little guy definitely did not get my height for genes!

Welcome newest addition!

Joseph holding his new little brother

Andrew was born Wednesday, and we intended on bringing him home Friday. Thursday night our nurse kept checking Andrew's breathing, and as it seemed faster than it should, she called the doctor. He wanted an x-ray of his chest, a blood sample and a blood culture to be taken to determine if he had an infection. His x-ray showed his lungs to be a little hazy which could have indicated baby pneumonia, or could have been nothing at all. His white blood count was high, which was an indication of an infection. And just like that, they whisked my baby off to the NICU to start him on antibiotics as precaution to him having an infection. Initially they told us they had to have him there for at least 48 hours to give the blood culture time to grow anything if there was an infection. After 24 hours nothing had grown which was a very good sign. 48 hours still nothing had grown. I just wanted to take my baby home! Talking with different doctors they would give me different answers or tell me different information. After a day or two at the NICU we were told Andrew would have to be there for 7-10 days! He needed to be on the antibiotics for an infection that wasn't appearing to exist! I was very frustrated. Mike needed to go back to work and had been running back and forth between the hospital and home with Joseph. Fortunately my mom was coming in town to help out. She was coming to help with the baby, but ended up being Joseph's best friend. My mom would drive back and forth between the hospital and home, which was not a quick drive. It allowed me to spend time with my precious baby in the NICU, and still play a little bit of the roll of a mommy to my toddler. In the end, we were discharged a day early (YEAH!) because nothing ever grew in the blood culture. We were blessed in may ways during our stay at the hospital: The hospital let me stay there for FREE while Andrew was in the NICU. The nurses were so great and kind to work with. Talking to the right doctor makes a HUGE difference in how they convey the situation and make you feel about things. Andrew's breathing slowed down, his white blood count went down, and he was able to get treatment for his bilirubin he ended up developing while in the NICU. We received many dinners from members of my church which was incredibly helpful while I was still staying at the hospital. We received many prayers that Andrew would be alright, and that I would be alright as well. We are so blessed for all the help we received, and for the beautiful healthy baby we were able to bring home.

Pictures at the hospital. Lately I've been getting a lot of this when I say,
"Joseph, smile for the camera!"

my little champ during a difficult time

Andrew's quarters in the NICU. They gave him this special crib because he was too large for the others and his arms and legs would kick the sides.

Andrew with his little monitors on. This is what I look like living in the hospital for a week.

Joseph enjoying some chocolate cake with Grandma and Mommy in the hospital cafeteria while waiting for Andrew to be discharged

Yeah! Andrew is finally discharged and in his car seat ready to go home! First touch of sunlight!

Joseph with his best friend Grandma. Anytime she left the room he would call her name and ask "Where's Gama?"

Identifying the parts on Andrew's face for him

2 Week Old Picture!

Andrew with Grandma Wilson. So blessed to have both Grandma's help! And time for Joseph to get to know them both better.

Adorable Birthday cake my mother-in-law got to celebrate Andrew's birth. Joseph loved blowing out the candle. We've been practicing for his birthday.

And lastly a picture of two of my handsomes after they went to the St. Patrick's Day parade. Love them!

Moooooo!

Here is a video of our cute little guy, soon to be big brother!

the holidays make me happy!

it's been awhile, so here are many pictures and few words to explain.
back in the beginning of November we were lucky to have the wonderful and beautiful Elizabeth come and visit us from BYU. it was a great excuse for us to head down and see more of the city which we had been meaning to do. unfortunately it happened to be the same day as some race so traffic was crazy and we weren't able to do as many activities as we hoped. we did however make it to Navy Pier and were able to get a little taste of Chicago and experience why it is called "the windy city."

Elizabeth, Mike, Lindsay and cute little Everette in carrier

family photo!

our little guy with his cousins he loves living by

first time on a carousel. he didn't do much to show any joy while we were on it, but once we got off he kept walking back to it for another ride.

for thanksgiving this year we were very lucky to go to Disney World with Mike's family. we didn't pull out the camera very much, so there aren't too many pictures, but here is a few. thanks so much for a great time Brad and Mari-Lynn!

Joseph in the sand pit loving to help other children fill their buckets. such a helpful little man

on another carousel with Daddy! he is loving these

strutting his mouse ears

here we are at the happiest place on earth! (but if you ask my opinion California is better because you don't have to deal with the humidity. that's just me putting in a plug for California :) )

Christmas time! we found a great and cheap place to go for the "Polar Express" experience. it was perfect for Joseph. he met Santa, got a little Christmas bell, rode on a little train, and got hot chocolate. we also met up with the Starks which always makes activities even more fun.

Joseph loving playing by the lights on display

all bundled up!

happy, happy, happy! such a happy boy

but not so happy with Santa. he kept saying "no" and was reaching for me to take him

we headed to Minnesota for Christmas this year and had a great time. Joseph got very little sleep with all the excitement of having so many cousins around to play with. he did not want to miss out on the party!

cute by the tree

playing with one of his new puzzles

we went on a "sleigh" ride, which ended up being a "hay" ride due to the lack of snow. i was not complaining! it was a lot of fun. Joseph kept saying "neigh" when he saw the horses. he loved it! i was also glad how well Joseph did with all the traveling. I have such a wonderful family!