The First Few Days

Life is pretty crazy as we are learning and adjusting to being a family of five instead of four.  Thankfully, we've had lots of great support from family over the past couple of weeks to help us through the transition.  But, Lincoln is such a joy to have.  He is already very busy asserting himself into the family and carving out his role in our lives.  His brother and sister have done an amazing job of adjusting to the new arrival.  They are both protective and concerned for the new baby, and each seek him out a couple of times a day just to check in and make sure that all is well.  Here are a few pics of the family and the kids over the last 10 days:

This was taken right after arriving home from the hospital

Such a good and careful big brother

Right after his first bath.  Lincoln does not enjoy the bath at this stage in his life.

 

Trying out some tummy time.  He tolerates it in small doses.

Such a proud big brother and sister!

 

Such a cute pic.  Not sure why it refuses to upload correctly :(

Lincoln is Here!

After 4 days of nonproductive contractions and only about one hour of productive labor, baby Lincoln made his appearance last night at about 9:57 pm! He was 7 lb 11 oz and 20 inches long. He appears to be completely healthy, and of course we think he's totally adorable :). I can't wait for him to meet his big brother and sister today!

Visit to the Central Library

On Saturday, we decided to head into the "big city" to visit some our favorite haunts, including our favorite donut store for breakfast, then a trip to the downtown library, followed up by a picnic at the Botanic Gardens. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Both of my kids love to read, but somehow books at the library are never the main attraction. They are much more interested in any of the following:

--fish tank
--drinking fountain
--costumes
--Cody the enormous teddy bear
--the big wooden train

And, last but not least, the computers. Guess I can't blame them. The earphones are pretty rockin :)

The Big 3-0

After months of wearing me down, Bryan finally convinced me to let him throw a 30th birthday party for me, as long as it was only family. The big event followed an amazing weekend of fellowship with friends and family, including Robby's first tee-ball game, a trip to the zoo, a neighborhood birthday party for a boy on our street, and lots of great food (both at home and out).

But, the culmination of the weekend was definitely the big party. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family who kept things lively and fun for the whole day:

 Sweet Baby Henry--Newest Addition to the Family (. . . so far)

 Abby is our youngest niece.  She was a trooper to come despite an earache!

 Collier the baller.  Nuff said.

Lucy and Robby have been close playmates since they could walk. 

Robby and Grandpa playing baseball.  Robby got about five different pitchers in on the action before all was said and done.



 Juliet loved borrowing SueSue's pretty earrings

Juliet also loved talking Pahpah into "sharing" the majority of his food with her

 Layla and Justin made their first trip to our house

 Jenna came despite still rehabilitating from her latest knee surgery

Michael and Ali spent the whole weekend with us.  Their birthday present to me was to let me win several games over the weekend :)

The whole Harris clan

The Sloan clan that were able to come.  We were sad to have three siblings and their families who were unable to attend, two because they were out of the country and one out of state.

Thanks again to everyone for coming out amd making it such a special day for me!

Nine Months

Here is me 10 days to due date. My mom says that I don't look all that far along. My brother (pictured) says that I look as wide as I am tall.

You decide.

New Neighbors, New Friends

The best part of our new home may just be our new friends. I don't have pics of them all, but here are just a few of the sweet memories we've already made.

So Big!!

I can't wait to mark and chart the kids' growth from this point as we are brand new in our house to when the time comes from them to leave the house, whether because we move as a family or (hopefully) because the time has come for them to go to college.