2 weeks old

I can not believe my baby is 2 weeks old!! She's growing well and is sleeping like a champ. She can sleep about for about 3 hour stretches and at night usually wakes up long enough to eat and then goes right back to sleep. Wish I could go back to sleep that easily. But I really can't complain. She's very alert and only cries when she's hungry or poopy. She has truly been a joyful addition to our family and I have 3 helpers willing to do almost anything to help me out with her.

this is not a happy child...

and then just fine in the next minute.

up close....whoa!!

Christmas Day 2010

We had a good Christmas despite being short one member of the family. The kids must have gotten the memo to sleep in because everyone (except Seth) was asleep until almost 8. That's what I call a perfect Christmas morning!! Seth was up at 6am. So he watched cartoons until the majority of people were awake. Then Dan was able to skype in and he had Keegan wake up Paige and then get mema and papa. Luckily they were already awake and waiting on us. Bronwyn slept most of the day so there are very few pictures of her. But that's ok, she needed her sleep. Dan was able to be on skype the entire time the kids opened their presents and he got to talk to them. It was the next best thing to actually having him here. Which I'm truly grateful for. We certainly felt his absence and I spent a good portion of the morning in tears but the kids were happy and joyful and that made up for my sorrow. We started the morning out by reading the Christmas story found in Luke and talked about the real reason we celebrate. We pondered that for a few minutes and then let the festivities commence. Santa had left specific instructions on a couple of the presents he left to be opened last. So luckily the kids didn't complain when we waited on those. I think in the end they were happy about that. They got everything on their wish lists (well most of it anyway) and all seemed thrilled with their loot. We also opened Bronwyn's goodies once she was awake and like most 1 week olds could have cared less about the clothes and teddy bears and dolls she received. Some day she'll be happy with them i'm sure. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! May you all be blessed!!

The dates on the pictures all say the 24th but they really were taken on Christmas day!

early morning snooze before all the hooplah begins

skyping with dad

stocking-wahoo!

pillow pets

an mp3 player-Santa guessed that he needed his own so he could stop bugging me about listening to mine!

Santa left specific instructions for the ds's to be opened last. since Paige is a bit young for a ds, santa brought her a leapster

aunt donna provided our yummy christmas dinner!
THANK YOU!!! WISH YOU WERE HERE TO ENJOY IT WITH US!!! LOVE YOU!!!
she didn't want us to worry about cooking. i did make some pastry to go with it though,it's not Christmas dinner without some pastry!

after dinner and after spending time with their other toys, the kids spent the rest of the evening playing with their ds's and leapster. papa and I had a star wars marathon while mom read a book and bronwyn slept.

Christmas Eve 2010

We had a pretty good Christmas Eve. The weather was nice so we headed to the park. Not really supposed to have Bronwyn around people, but we all needed to get out of the house and see some sunshine. It was a nice crisp day and I think we all enjoyed it. Afterwards we got milkshakes and picked up pizza for dinner. Then came home and relaxed while watching various Christmas movies and tracking Santa on NORAD's website. The kids wanted to make sure he made it to Iraq and sure enough he did. Now we wait for him to come to our house! The boys went to bed at a decent hour, but Paige fought it with everything she had. I finally had to show her where Santa was and tell her that his next stop was our town and if she didn't go to bed he would bypass our house. Sure enough that worked and she went to bed. Didn't take her long to fall asleep either. Now we sit and wait for Santa. And of course I told them that anyone that got up before 7am would have all presents returned to Santa. We'll see how that works!!

one present on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve jammies!!!

Keegan drew pictures and wrote up a card for Santa.
Paige drew a picture and taped it to her door, notice her signature hair loopy's!

all sound asleep and ready for all of tomorrow's festivities!!

1 week old

We've hit our first milestone. She's 1 week old! I cant' believe that!! Where has this past week gone? Really? A week????? Oh dear, I hope that's not a sign of things to come!! She can't grow up too fast before Dan gets a chance to hold her and see her!! She still needs to be small and tiny!! She's not allowed to get bigger. As she is our last one, she has to stay a baby for a long time!!!!!

Random first week pictures

This first week of Bronwyn's life has been uneventful in the fact that we haven't really gone anywhere or done much of anything. She's had her first doctor's appointment and is not allowed to be around people for the first month. So there goes any ideas of eating out, going to the mall, or anywhere else for that matter. I feel really sorry for the kids, they are feeling the brunt of it. She also got sassied up for a trip to see Dr. Kacenga. I had to go for an incision check and everything looked great. I really like him and so happy that I went with their office from the beginning. His partner in the office did my surgery last year and I was really pleased with him as well. Otherwise she's done a lot of sleeping, puking and peeing. Mostly sleeping though. Wish I was that lucky. Oh well. She's not eating a whole lot, only 1-2 ounces at a time. But she seems to be doing ok. At her appointment she's was down to 7lbs 9oz. I knew that babies lost weight but I was surprised that she'd lost so much. The doctor didn't seem worried and said that she should start to put weight on. She's really a tiny baby even though she was my biggest and my shortest. And did I mention that I LOVE that she has a head of brown hair? It gives her something to share with Keegan as up till now he was odd man out with his brown hair and green eyes.
It's been a fun week and we are looking forward to all the weeks to come. Dan has even been able to see her and hear her cry. When he gets home, he gets all the diapers. It's only fair I think! :) I can't wait for him to hold her and see her for real and not through a computer. It makes me sad that he is not here to spend time with her and the others. They miss their daddy so much!!

Paige has been so helpful. She's always wanting to hold her and give her kisses!

hard to believe I have an almost 9 year old and a newborn. I still think of Seth as my baby!!

wearing her my first Christmas onesie and her hospital hat!

sound asleep in her bed under her nice warm blanket. she sleeps so well on her side. none of my babies were back sleepers. doesn't look like she will be either.

all dressed up to visit mommy's doctor.

Dr. Kacenga

i caught this random moment in keegan's room, Paige is reading a story to Mickey Mouse.
Her artwork is still on the wall.

Christmas Duds

As usual, the kids got new Christmas church clothes. We went with a different color scheme for the holidays this year. I think they look so sassy!! We even tried to curl Paige's hair with curlers that she slept in. Of course by the time they got home from church all the curl was out of her hair, even with all the product that was in it. Bummer...oh well, it was cute for a while. Just glad I got it captured in a picture. Bronwyn and I stayed home and slept the entire time they were gone. Oops!! I had every intention of making lunch and having it ready and well, it didn't happen. Oh well. The nap was an awesome thing!

Coming Home 12-18-10

For a few hours it was touch and go as to whether our newest would be able to come home or not! She was in the room with me but was still waiting on the results of blood work and all that jazz to see if she had any infections that needed to be remedied. If they came back positive it would be a 10-14 day stay in the hospital for her. I would just have died had that been the case. I was already a wreck as it was!! But fortunately that would not be the case. I have zero doubt that the blessing she got is the reason that she gets to come home with us. So while we waited on our ride and for the test results to come back, I had some fun. I was also able to get her all dressed up for hospital photos. By the time all that was done we had our results that she was good to go and my parents and the kids came by to bring us home. So happy!!! I am more than ready to sleep in my own bed and to be in my own house and to sit in Dan's chair. Just ready to bring our little Christmas miracle home!

so alert!! One of the nurses that works in the nursery made these bows for all the girl babies. So cute!!! We'll get lots of use out of it i'm sure!

A local church makes all the hats for the new babies and for Christmas they knitted Santa hats! I can't wait to get her name put on it just like I have for all the other hospital hats.

all dressed and ready to go home. The dress came from Aunt Donna when Paige was born. I have a picture of Paige in it right at Christmas. I couldn't resist getting a picture of our Christmas baby in it. This is also the dress she wore for hospital pictures. I think the bow fits perfectly with the dress!

a very helpful and loving big sister!
even helps mema with feeding Bronwyn.

me and all my babies, i can't believe my first baby will be 9 in a couple of weeks!!

this swing has been sitting empty for a couple of months now and it's weird to actually see something other than a baby doll in it. but i think she fits nicely in it.

Bronwyn and her papa.