one year older, and now he's two!

Happy birthday to our wonderful big boy Joseph! We are so blessed to have such a fun, sweet, silly, energetic, active, giggly, and happy child. Last weekend we threw a birthday party for him while we had so much family in town. Such a blast! The party had a theme from the book "For Just One Day." It talks about being different animals for just one day, and that's what each of the menu items are based from. And of course the main focus was the lion. Our little lion loves to go "ROAR!" I didn't get many pictures of the actual party because I was just enjoying it, but here are some pictures of the food.

We had "alligator swamp spinach dip and chips," "whale tale crescent sandwiches," "butterfly pasta salad," "porcupine cheese ball," "chimpanzee treats," "bear paw cupcakes," "lion mane truffles," "rainbow snakes," "bunny snacks," and "bumble bee nectar." It was fun coming up with each of the different menu items!

This was probably my favorite to make. Such a cute little lion!

And I had to do a close up of the cute little porcupine cheese ball.

Here's our little birthday boy sporting his alligator mask he colored. We had several animal masks for the children to color so they could be different animals for just one day.

And this video is the most precious reaction you could ever have from a birthday boy. We love you Joseph! Happy birthday!

family time

It sure is nice to live close to family. Mike was gone for a week, so I took the opportunity to go and stay with my sister and her family and also get to see my brother who is her backyard neighbor! Joseph loved it! He joined right in with the activities, and insisted on being independent. Sometimes when I would come near him he would shoo me away or say "no", seeing the other kids be independent and him wanting to join along. Funny how now that we're home he has become my shadow once again. :) My sister's four year old was constantly asking to hold Andrew. He sure loved holding him! It was a blast visiting them, and nice having help juggling two children when trying to take care of a baby. Although Andrew isn't such a small baby! I weighed him the other day and he was 16 pounds! Whew!

Joseph enjoying a smoothy with his cousin Stephen. He loved sitting and eating with the other kids at the bar.
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Andrew with his biggest fan, Mark! This is one of many holding sessions.

Last Sunday we blessed our sweet baby Andrew.  We were very lucky to have so much family come in town for the occasion. It was also fun to be able to do some fun activities such as a party and going to Centennial Beach. Thanks for coming everyone! We'll have to do it again!

With my sister Mary Ann, her husband Brent and their children.
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With my dad, brother Nathan, his wife Laurie and their children.
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With Mike's family. His dad and mom, his sister Lindsay and her children, his sister Elizabeth, his brother David and his wife Eliza and their children (they have a baby one week older than Andrew! Awesome of them to come!), his cousin Brigham, his cousin Blair and his wife Julie and their children, and his Uncle Tim. My dad is also in the picture, and there were other cousins and family that are not in the picture. 

 Little Andrew Daryl smiling with his Grandpa Daryl. He must know they share a name :) 

Andrew with his Wilson Grandparents 

Family photo! Imagine that, neither of our children are looking at the camera. Just the beginning of having a hard time getting everyone to look at the camera!

 Thank you everyone for your support! We loved having you all here! We are so fortunate to have such amazing family.

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!