My Four Boys & Me

Bubbles or paint?!

2012-01-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're now to July 18th and at that time were lucky enough to have Mark's mom (Mary) come to stay with us for a while right after my mom left. One afternoon we were looking for an activity for the boys and we sent them out to use their colored bubbles. I had read on one review that even though they are washable that some colors are difficult to get out of some fabrics, so we stripped the boys down to their skivvies and let them loose in the backyard.

It was only a few minutes until they already looked like this...

...and not much longer until the activity changed from colored bubbles to colored body paint (much more fun of course).

Lincoln always takes things to another level...

...although you can actually see here that he wasn't enjoying being that dirty (like I thought he would) like his brother Noah was:

Bath-time.

These pictures make me laugh out loud. I'm still trying to decide what he looks like...

...and I should have gotten a picture of what the bath water looked like after we were done!

Max's first REAL bath

2012-01-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...we already documented his first bath at home (in the sink), but this is his first time taking a real bath in the bathtub (July 16th). It seems necessary to document, so here you go!

Mark seems to love to squish our boys new-baby cheeks (as above). Here is a picture that I found of him doing it to Lincoln when he was just a few days old too...

Noah's first time feeding Max

2012-01-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Noah had been anxiously awaiting his turn to feed baby Max a bottle. When Max was almost 3 weeks old Noah got his first chance to feed his new baby brother:

Oh how both of your big brothers love you, Max.

Cookies, anyone?

2012-01-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

After a good swim my mom made cookies with the boys. This was on their to-do-with-grandma-list and she was leaving early the next morning. Luckily they fit it in!

All on his own, Noah decided that he wanted to set up a "store" and sell the cookies to us ("just for pretend" he assured us). This cracked me up, because I used to sell things when I was his age...lemonade, snow cones, but also random things that I could make a sales pitch about. My mom likes to tell about the time I actually sold rocks to some neighbor kids, demonstrating that you could scratch them on the sidewalk and write with them. The kids mom marched over to my parents house that evening demanding her kid's money back saying I was a "rip-off". C'mon...there was no false advertising. Encourage a little bit of entrepreneurial spirit, lady (or teach your kid better spending habits)! Anyway, I was happy to encourage a bit of pretend play with Noah - it was really cute. Here he is set up to sell cookies:

And here he is patiently enduring Lincoln's smothering kisses while I capture the moment...
Woah, buddy.

Lincoln enjoying some of the cookies that he "bought" with his daddy.

Max's first stroller ride

2012-01-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am (very slowly) plugging away at catching up this blog. July 12th was Max's first stroller ride (albeit a short one). I loaded our little guy into the stroller and walked next door to the pool where my mom was swimming with the older two boys. I love those little "froggy legs" that they have all pulled up when they're little like this (especially when you pick them up)...

My mom with Noah & Linc...

And Lincoln jumping into the pool...I miss that pool.

Tin. Bending, but not breaking.

2011-12-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

July 11th marked 10 years that Mark & I have been married. A decade! Pretty amazing.

Now, our family knows that back when Mark and I were graduating from undergrad together that we had a big 3 week trip all planned and booked to Italy. We were planning on deferring Mark's medical school acceptance for a year and spending that time taking a little break from schooling, traveling, saving some money, and we were hoping to have a baby sometime that year too. Fortunately (for many reasons) Mark felt strongly that we shouldn't take that year off after all, and we ended up moving to Iowa after graduation (for his schooling) and we didn't take that trip.

We'd been married for 2 years when we finished undergrad. Knowing that we had 4 years of med school followed by 3 years of residency ahead of us (followed by being the new guy at his first job) we figured that the soonest we could take that trip to Italy would be for our 10th anniversary. So, we always planned that we'd do a shorter version of that trip for our 10th anniversary. Well, bigger things were in store for us and we ended up being blessed with our 3rd little boy not long before celebrating our milestone anniversary. No complaints here - we're beyond grateful for our little Max and will happily take him over a vacation any day...however I'm still determined to get to Italy with my husband someday!

So as for how we did celebrate our big day...I was 18 days post c-section and doing a lot better than I was at that point after Lincoln's birth (section after 20 hours labor). Things were a lot better with it being a scheduled c-section. So! After Mark got home from work my mom watched Noah & Lincoln, and I got out of the house for the first time (doctor visits don't count) since Max was born. We went out to dinner! Before we left my mom had arranged a surprise for us from the boys. Here is a picture my mom took of the boys and their gift to us.

Lincoln was beyond excited to give it to us, and wasn't understanding the concept of letting us open it (or being careful not to drop it), but it was still so dang cute that my mom had gone out and let them help pick a gift for us. It was a beautiful, engraved gift and I will have to get a close up picture of it (when we finally unpack our home decorations)...and I'll include it in this post at that time.

Here is a picture of Mark and I on our way out the door for our date!

One more shot of us with baby Max (since he came too).
For documentation's sake, I want to tell (in detail) about a conversation that we had over dinner. We had agreed not to spend money on gifts for each other since we just had a baby and were also starting to save up to buy a home (we didn't know at that time that the home we would end up buying would be in Utah instead of Arizona!)...but Mark did have the rhodium plating on my wedding ring redone to make the white gold look perfect again. (Side-note: I hadn't been able to wear my ring for the last few weeks and went to put it on for our big date and panicked when I couldn't find it. Luckily it was just because Mark had it)

However - I digress! We weren't supposed to buy gifts for each other, but Mark had looked up the traditional gift for a 10th anniversary. The modern (U.S.) gift is diamond (out of the question), but the traditional gift is something made of tin. He began to think about things made of tin, which led him to think about the properties of tin. He realized that tin can be molded or made flexible...it can bend without breaking. He realized that our relationship could be represented by such an element as tin...we have had many times when we have been bent without breaking.

So, we discussed many of those over dinner. Being a person whose "love language" is quality time...he knew I'd appreciate a good conversation more than most any gift that he could have given to me anyway. We went through our relationship and talked about times that "bent" our relationship, but didn't break us. Starting from the drama of our on again/off again and long-distance relationship before marriage, to things like:

The hectic schedule we both had after getting married during undergrad...him working 2 part-time, crazy-hours hospital jobs while finishing his pre-med requirements and taking the MCAT, and me taking between 20-22 credit hours in school for 3 semesters (so I could graduate when he did) while working full-time to carry our health insurance benefits.
Moving to Iowa for medical school.
Infertility. And lots of procedures (that didn't work).
Injuries - like my grease-fire burn (any wonder I don't like cooking?) or his ACL replacement.
Having our apartment robbed, and later having it burn down (that fire wasn't my fault).
Adoption roller coaster - including one that fell through.
Fourth year of med school - spending weeks apart at a time, then visiting him (with baby Noah) in a different state each month where he was rotating...ironically I look back at that time fondly when I was able to travel and spend time with just my one baby (and Mark), but it was stressful at the time while I was a new mom.
Anxiety of where we would match for residency.
Moving while pregnant.
Two kids under 2.
Car getting stolen.
Getting through residency itself.
Where Mark would get a job...then us not being happy to move & leave family in Utah.
Happy for in-vitro to work again, but the hardest 9 months of our marriage (we both agree) was that pregnancy...I was so, so sick (while also having a 3 & 4 year old to care for) and we'd moved away from family/friends.

We went through and talked about these and other trials that we've had over the 17 years that we've known each other, and during 10 years of marriage. We talked (and in some cases laughed or teared up) about how we got through those times...about how, like tin, we bent (sometimes a lot), but didn't break.

I look back on this conversation already with a bit of a smirk, since while having that conversation we had no idea that within two weeks from that time Mark would unexpectedly be offered (and accept) a job that would require him to leave a job/co-workers that he loved, but allow us to move back near family. We would do this with a colicky 5 week old (and me still a bit sore from my c-section), and buying our first home under time-pressure.

We would later joke that we'd endured 3 of the top 5 most stressful events in life - all compressed into one time period: birth of a child, change of a job, and moving (2 of which were totally unplanned/unexpected)...only leaving death or divorce from the top 5 list, and then the weekend we moved into our new home my grandpa passed away unexpectedly.

It was a very high stress couple of months, but we had a LOT of help from family (especially my brother's family who allowed us to live in their basement for 2 months) that we are so grateful for. We don't anticipate that life's trials will stop at any point, nor do we think that we've had more than our share of them...we are simply grateful to have each other to get through them together, and that our relationship (like tin) has bent and not broken during those times.

I'll never say that our relationship is perfect...and I'll openly admit that most of the avoidable problems in our relationship are usually my fault, but I'm so gratful for *us* and that when it comes down to it we stand by each other, and balance each other out. I'm grateful to be married to Mark, and look forward to celebrating the anniversaries of crystal, china, silver and gold together...and I'm still hoping to someday get to take that trip to Italy together ;)

Thank you for the thoughtful conversation (over a yummy dinner), Mark...and to my mom for making it possible for us to go!

I love you, Mark.

Arizona Museum of Natural History

2011-12-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

One of the things our boys were looking forward to doing while my mom was in town was going to the "Dinosaur Museum" (Arizona Museum of Natural History). So, Mark and my mom took them on July 9th (I stayed home with new baby Max). Here are a bunch of pictures (mostly that my mom took) from the adventure:

(Noah is fascinated with scorpions)...

Noah has such an amazing imagination! I love watching him get lost in his pretend world...well, usually I love it - just look at how cute he is here:

This is so Lincoln:

The first thing Noah wanted to tell me when they got home was that there was something Star Wars at the museum!!

4th of July

2011-12-11T19:50:00.024-07:00

Baby Max celebrated his first holiday (Independence Day) at just 11 days old. He looks pretty happy about it here in his "little firecracker" shirt that my mom gave him (that's her holding him):

Max and big brother Lincoln in their patriotic gear...

Our all American baby...

All 3 of our boys:

I joined the family for my first excursion out of the house (a walk around the block) since coming home from the hospital. Here is a photo of all FIVE of us!

I remembered being a kid and decorating my bike for the 4th of July (I loved it), so we did the same thing for the boys and let the parade themselves around the neighborhood.

Gotta love the cans tied to the back of Lincoln's ride...

Noah is still nervous about being on his big-boy bike, so Daddy stayed nearby...

Tired ol' me with my sweet little peanut...

They are only that little size for such a short time. So sweet.

At night the boys were excited to break out the sparklers.

So nice to be able to spend the 4th with my boys & mom!

Max's first bath at home

2011-12-11T18:25:00.002-07:00

Not much commentary needed here.
July 3rd (10 days old):

For documentation purposes...was had been in for his checkup 2 days prior (at 8 days old) and his stats were: 9 pounds 10 oz (85th %), 21.75 inches (93rd %), head 14.67 " (66th %).
Not bad to be back up to (and past) birth-weight at 8 days...I guess nursing all day (and night) paid off :)

Splash pad

2011-12-11T17:30:00.017-07:00

Mark and my mom took the older two boys to our favorite splash pad to have a good time while I had some recovery/snuggle/feed/sleep time with baby Max that first week home. We were blissfully ignorant that this would be our last time at an Arizona splash pad since we made a whirlwind, unplanned move only 3 weeks later. I'm sad that I missed this last excursion to the splash pad, but am glad they got to go...and that I got pictures to share in their fun!

Newborn pictures (6 days old)

2011-10-26T06:03:00.000-06:00

Our amazing photographer Barb (who also did my maternity pictures, and photographed Max's birth) did Max's newborn pictures in her studio. She was amazing with him and we are so grateful to have these beautiful images. Here's a slideshow of some of the images, and I'll post them individually below as well. Oh, and votes on which photos to enlarge are welcome...I can't decide!

Maxwell Grant... 6 beautiful days old on PhotoPeach

Bringing Max Home

2011-10-25T06:48:00.000-06:00

On June 27th we got to bring our new little bundle home. He was 4 days old. Here are a couple of quick pictures before the mandatory wheelchair ride out to the curb prior to discharge. It was a hot summer day in Arizona, so Mark went out early and got the car and a/c started, and before long the three of us were headed home where my mom and the two older boys were awaiting our arrival!

Here is Max all strapped into the car-seat for his first car ride...he looks suspicious of all this fuss...

At home my mom and the boys decorated the house and were excited to welcome their new brother home.
I especially loved the big stork balloon!

Here we are upon arriving home...our first picture as a family of 5 before heading into the house!

Me with my boys near some of the decorations they were so excited to show me (thanks, Mom!)...

Time to take turns holding the new baby. First another shot of all of us...

My four boys...

(Proud) big brother Noah holding Max.

(Happy) big brother Lincoln holding Max.

Daddy and Max.

Our new sweet baby boy.

Baby Max's Arrival!

2011-10-22T22:37:00.002-06:00

This post has been 4 months in the making. I've worked on it off & on (which makes sense when you see how long it is)...but it's complete now and here it is! For those that want to see pictures without all the text - scroll to a slideshow at the very end of this post.

Our third sweet baby boy was born June 23rd. We named him Maxwell Grant (middle name the same as my maternal grandfather). I had really been hoping to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), but it was looking like he'd be another big guy, and we didn't want a repeat of how things went with Lincoln. So, we scheduled a repeat section for a few days before his due date. I didn't go into labor on my own, so we went in on the morning of the scheduled c-section. For documentation sake (and the 1 or 2 of you that want all the details)...here are all the details on how the things went with the birth:

The 23rd was a Thursday. I got up promptly at 5:00 am to shower and get ready (minus breakfast, of course). We kissed the boys goodbye, snapped a couple quick belly shots and then scooted out of the house with just enough time to get to the hospital on time at 7:30 (thanks to landing a parking spot right in front of the entrance)!

Here are the belly shots that we got before heading to the hospital:

A shot of the hospital as we were walking in:

Me walking in with our suitcase (and my cord blood collection kit)...you can tell that I got significantly more nervous once we actually arrived at the hospital:

Since we had previously attended a tour of the maternal/fetal area of the hospital, we knew right where to go upon arrival. When we got up to the area to check in we were told to take a seat and that they'd be right with us. There was a girl there checking in who, although she was in labor, was cool as a cucumber (at least she appeared calm). She told the women that she was placing the child for adoption and she gave the adoptive parents first names. At this point all my nervousness and pregnancy-hormones spilled over and tears began streaming down my face. I'm sure anyone that saw me (and my large belly) figured that my tears were either due to my own pain or fear of what I was about to endure. At that point all I was feeling was immense gratitude for Nicole (Noah's birthmom) and all that she had gone through to bring our sweet son into the world. Nothing that she went through was for herself. In the end of this difficult pregnancy, and recovery from the c-section, I would be blessed to have another beautiful baby...she endured her challenges knowing that she would be placing her precious bundle into someone else's arms. Every now and then a flood of these emotions (for Nicole) comes over me, and it was just a unique time for me to feel them as I sat there in the hospital ready to bring a child into our family...and was watching this birthmother. I just wanted to run out onto the floor and plead with the staff to take extra good care of this sweet girl.

After not too long we were taken back to my room where I was prepped (and where I would recover post-surgery also).

While getting prepped I had two nice women asking me questions, giving me papers to sign, making me comfortable, and then digging around in my arm to get an IV in. It wasn't the smoothest IV that I've ever received...ok it was pretty bad, but what can you do?

While in that room (room number pictured left) they also drew blood for labs the hospital needed as well as to send with my cord blood donation. I got really nauseous at one point, but luckily I didn't throw up (until I was back in the room post-surgery that is). Eventually, Dr. Francois came in and checked on me, and then my anesthesiologist (Dr. Pace) came to introduce himself and answer any questions. Ironically one of the main questions that we had for him was if our he would ok our photographer being in the OR. He said no, and started explaining hospital policy of 1 support person being allowed in the OR. I tried to stay calm. We asked if it made any difference that my husband is a surgeon (is familiar with OR protocols and sterile field, etc)...and that our photographer is a professional and is happy to stay back out of the way to shoot the pictures. We mentioned that Dr. Francois had given her ok, but that we respectfully recognized that he needed to be comfortable with it also to make an exception (which is what happened with our last c-section also, we explained). He (thankfully!) relented and gave permission for her to come in to the operating room! Wahoo! I was so grateful. (Which reminds me, I need to remember to send him a thank you card...)

After that we were notified that we might get bumped to the next time slot due to someone in labor that unexpectedly needed to go in for a section (which I can totally understand). However, I was all ramped up by this point and just wanted to get that show on the road. About the time that I resigned myself to waiting a while - they came to take me back to the OR (I wasn't bumped after all). At this point I got super nervous and everything began just going so fast. Here are some pictures of me waiting outside the OR suite (getting progressively more nervous as the minutes ticked slowly by):

Before I knew it I was taken into the OR (without Mark, which I really didn't like) to get my spinal block. Here he is peeking through the OR window while I get my spinal:
It went pretty smoothly, but really...who doesn't get a bit nervous about something like that?
They transferred me to the OR table, gave me oxygen, and began doing all sorts of final preparations for surgery. I was really relieved when Mark was able to come in and be next to me. I didn't mind at all that he wanted to stand and watch more of the surgery this time than he did last time, it was just good to have him next to me. Before I knew it Mark informed me that they'd already started the surgery, which is always good to hear when you haven't felt anything.
After not too long I started feeling an extreme amount of pressure though (more than normal), and I began experiencing some really uncomfortable referred pain in my right shoulder. It got more and more painful and the sensation was moving across my chest. (In the picture below Dr. Francois is reaching inside my belly for the baby) I didn't want to have to get anything for the pain because I knew that it would make things foggy for me, but it got to the point that I really needed something, so Dr. Pace gave me something which helped fairly quickly...but it made me feel so sleepy and heavy. And so I was more grateful than ever to have a photographer there to help me capture those moments for later...besides I would never have been able to see these things over the sheet as he was born:

Max was posterior (facing up) so you can see his hand reaching up as they are pulling him out...
Clamping off the cord as they lift him out...watching as air fills his lungs for his first lusty cry...suctioning out his mouth...
Before I knew it, Max was lifted up into the world and he immediately began to cry (which was so good to hear):I was overcome with emotion and began to cry. And cry. It wasn't the loud, ugly kind of cry...but it was the kind of cry so deep that it made me shake. Relief. Gratitude. And overwhelming love for this little person on the other side of the blue sheet that I had yet to even lay eyes on.

After Dr. Francois handed off our baby directly to this nurse, she walked him over and showed him to me/us... Soon after that I was so sleepy that it took everything in me not to just close my eyes and go to sleep. They were cleaning Max up, weighing him, etc and Mark held back the sheet and had to remind me to look over and watch at one point. I am so glad that our photographer was there to capture these memories so much more vividly that my foggy memory would have allowed me to (I'll share plenty more of those pictures in a moment). I do remember Mark holding Max up near my face for me to see him. I remember being happy and oh so tired. I remember wanting to hold Max, but knowing that I couldn't (were my arms tied down on the other side of that blue sheet or did the medication just make that feel too heavy and impossible?)...I remember wanting to kiss Max's sweet face, but I had an oxygen mask on my face. Mark could tell how sad that made me, so he held Max's soft little face up to rest on my forehead. I loved that. And I loved that Mark realized in that moment (without me being able to articulate it) that doing that would mean a lot to me. It did.

Other than that I just remember feeling like things were ok. People weren't rushing around super-focused like they were with my emergengy c-section (when Linc was born and wouldn't breathe for a while). Nurses cleaning Max up wore their yellow gowns & blue gloves and were efficient, but not rushed. Max was born at 9:23 am, weighed in at 9 pounds, 8.9 ounces and measured 21 & 3/4 inches long. Head circumference was 15 inches. He came out wanting to suck, and made tons of sucking motions with his tongue and lips...I heard more than one person comment on that while they were cleaning him up. Also - Mark had plenty of time to hold Max while they finished up things with my surgery, which was so different from Lincoln's birth when they only had time to stop for 2-3 seconds to hold him up for Mark & I to see him before rushing him away.

So, here are several more photos that I cherish from the rest of our time in the OR. Thank you again so much, Barb for capturing them...
I love his sweet little toes...and notice in the following series of pictures his sucking face, relaxed for a moment, and then pulling his hands up to his face and turning onto his left side (his favorite position)...Mark bringing Max over for me to see him...
I'm so glad that we have some of these first moments of Max & his daddy together captured...

So, even though things weren't ideal with my referred pain and needing medication that made me drowsy...it was such a better experience than last time. In fact, we even got to bring our new, precious bundle with us to my recovery room. I only remember a few things from recovery. I remember that I got nauseous and threw up...and that I was so tired that I didn't even care that our photographer was there while I puked (nice of her not to take pictures of that part). I remember the cute, yellow hat Max was wearing. I remember them monitoring Max's blood sugar levels. And I remember a nurse putting Max up to me to nurse and him latching on immediately. Even with how tired I was I remember how shocked that I (and everyone else) was with how easily he took to nursing. That was nice...and it was so nice that it didn't hurt (like last time). Here are a few shots from the recovery room:

It was only about 90 minutes or so before they moved us to my room where I would stay for the next 4 days. Once settled there Mark gave my mom a call to come and bring Noah and Lincoln over, so that the three of them could meet Max!
We admired baby Max for a bit while he slept, and then we both rested until our entourage arrived...

I was so glad to see them all when they got there. It was so cute how the boys burst into the room, each with a balloon in hand, with gigantic smiles on their faces. They were so excited to see this long awaited new baby.

Grandma getting a chance to meet Max:

After they each had an opportunity to greet the baby, Lincoln caught us off guard with something that he did. He asked me where my belly was. I told him that it was gone (well, mostly it was anyway)! He got a bit of a skeptical/concerned expression on his face and asked to see. I held the sheets down against my abdomen, but he protested saying he wanted to SEE my belly. So, we showed him under my sheets and gown that my big belly was gone......and then he burst into tears. He began to absolutely sob the saddest little cry ever. We were all caught off guard, and tried to start explaining that it was baby Max that made the bump in my belly and that he was out now, but he no longer wanted to talk about Max...he was grieving the loss of my bump. Finally it clicked to us that he had actually bonded with his reality of this baby during my pregnancy...my belly. He kissed it, sang to it, and talked to it every day. Half way through my pregnancy he decided that he too had a baby in his belly, so that shared camaraderie (although make-believe) was something sad for him to mourn the loss of too. We hadn't ever really thought of preparing him that the belly would go away when the baby was born. Mark held Lincoln while he sobbed and cried that he wanted my belly back - it was cute, but really sad. Luckily kids are really resilient and Linc got over things quickly, but it was just an unexpected little response that we got from him. Since that moment our main struggle from Linc in regards to his brother is to keep him from kissing and hugging on him too much.

From the minute that Noah saw Max he has been in love with him. Simply smitten. He was so excited to hold him (although he was a bit nervous about hurting him), and he was also excited to see his hair. That first day and several times since then he's said, "I just love him so much." Here are some photos of his first time holding his new baby brother:

One thing that Noah was looking forward to doing after Max was born was to touch his umbilical cord. Noah had asked me lots of questions about the cord blood donation I would be doing (after he'd seen the donation kit I had packed to bring to the hospital with us)...so after talking a lot about that, he'd asked if he could touch the umbilical cord when he saw Max. He remembered about that and so Mark helped him touch it. With it only being a couple hours old it was still rubbery and strange feeling, so Noah jerked his hand back after touching it. He wasn't anticipating that since I'd explained that it just dries up and falls off eventually. I think he expected that it would've already been dry by the time he could feel it.

The rest of that first day I continued feeling pretty crummy...nauseous, itchy, and tired. Not as bad as last time though. That was basically my mantra after the surgery..."It hasn't been as bad as last time."

The timeline of the 4 days I spent in the hospital is a bit blurry as to what happened when, but there are still several things I want to write about. I'm just not sure as to the chronology. First - visitors. Last time (when Lincoln was born) we had lots of visitors come to the hospital...lots of friends and family. This time, other than my mom coming to visit with the boys (which I loved), the only visitor that we had was a lady from church named Emily. I had worked with her in the primary presidency at church and she works at the hospital (one floor down from where I was). She came by to visit after her shift ended on two different days, and that was really nice. It was fun to have someone to chat with while Mark stepped out, and I enjoyed being able to show off Max too!

Here are a few pictures of Noah and Max on one of my mom's visits with the boys:

Another thing that was different this time was that this hospital doesn't have a baby nursery (other than a NICU for the babies that need it). The baby rooms in with you the whole time. I didn't know what I would think about that, but I really enjoyed it. I liked having him right there next to me, and even though I didn't get much sleep during my stay at the hospital, I feel like I had a better feel for what our little guy would need when we got home. Of course it did help a lot that Mark stayed with me the whole 4 days that I was in the hospital - it would have been a lot more challenging to do without him there.

Here are a few shots of Max from my view (the side of his bassinet)...

A couple shots of Max (2 days old) and daddy...

And a couple more random shots of Max. This first one cracks me up...it's not posed. Mark took it joking that it's a genetic propensity to sleep like that because I often do and Mark gets an elbow in the chin...
The nurses at Scottsdale Shea were great. Helpful and nice. I never felt like I was bothering them or anything. Plus, you usually do like the people that bring you pain relief (meds). The hospital was also nice. Mark actually had a decent place to sleep. All their rooms are private rooms with large bathrooms. The view out my window was a grassy area with a large tree. We had a tv with lots of stations and movie choices, and a dvd player. Also, I loved that patients order their meals from a menu to be delivered to their room whenever they want. I really enjoyed being able to choose what to eat and when to eat it.

The physician who was on-call from our peds group while we were at the hospital was Dr. Jennifer Caplan. She was nice and knowledgeable and we liked her. She did his circumcision using the Gomco clamp and she did a great job. I didn't go with Mark to watch, but I think that the whole thing was still more traumatic for me than it actually was for Max. I was glad to hear that he was fine during the procedure.

As for my pain, incision, etc...As mentioned, I could definitely tell that things were better this go around. I'm sure that part of that is a result of knowing what to expect, but I also think that not laboring for 20 hours before major surgery helped with the recovery. Plus, I was not recovering in two places this time. I had also done some reading about quicker recovery rates for sections when people are up and mobile sooner after surgery. So, I was sure to be at least up moving the day of surgery and out walking the halls the next day (that was not the case for me last time). Don't get me wrong, things still hurt - but when I stayed up on my pain meds and ibuprofen then it was tolerable. Nursing has even better better (meaning less painful) this time around. The first 2-3 days it didn't even hurt at all. Things got sore after that, but then I was careful of making sure that he got a good latch and it's prevented some of the terrible pain that I had last time...which is good because this kid nurses a LOT.

Other random things that I want to mention: Mark brought me a bouquet of yellow flowers, including sunflowers. That was fun because when Lincoln was born my mom helped Noah bring me a bouquet of sunflowers while I was in the hospital. I also loved that Mark thought to get a card and some chocolates to leave for the nurses as a thank you. I love that I have a husband that not only thinks of doing thoughtful things like that, but that he actually does them.

The last pictures that I have to share on this post are of me in my hospital room...showing off our new little guy:

Lastly...things that I noticed (and jotted down) about Max during those first few days: His perfect, pouty lips! Soft baby skin. Long fingers & toes. From day one he rolled onto his left side to sleep. Cute little dimple in his left cheek. He's got a serious set of lungs...when he cries, he really hollers! He loves to cuddle. He wouldn't take a binky at all (until recently...and now only if you hold it in for him). We've wondered if those are curls that we see in those soft, brown locks (that have lightened up a lot over the last few months). And if I'd let him nurse 24/7 - he would!

When Max was born we had no idea that just 5 weeks later (while I was still finishing recovering from the c-section) that Mark would be taking a new job out of state, we'd make an out of state move, and that we would be buying and moving into our first home...all while trying to figure out how to juggle sleep deprivation and the colic that Max had the first few months (along with a 3 & 5 year old). Things have been a whirlwind, and there's been a lot of change to adapt to...but it's been good change. All good changes. And I feel so blessed.

June 23, 2011 Scottsdale, Arizona on PhotoPeach

May Wrap Up

2011-06-12T14:22:00.000-06:00

Just a few pictures and one video clip for this wrap up...and then I'm all caught up! Wahoo!

May 7th we attended a get together at a park with a bunch of people from church. The kids were so cute enjoying themselves playing in the little splash pad there:

Audrey H., Noah, Lincoln.

May 13th ultrasound (33 weeks)! Isn't he so cute? He is almost 6 pounds here with 7 weeks left to go...no wonder the chubby cheeks. In addition to his size (continuing to measure 3 weeks ahead for his size) the ultrasound tech showed us his beautiful long eyelashes. Amazing that we can check that stuff out in utero, right? These pictures aren't the best quality since I just snapped pictures of my printed out copies, but I want to share them anyway:

Caught a smile here:

I'm just throwing these in to document this puzzle stage that Linc is enjoying right now. I pulled these puzzles off the shelf one day and Lincoln threw them together and loved it!
Then he took them apart and did them over and over again! So, we've been giving him puzzles with more pieces since then (no pictures of that yet)...he loves it. And, unlike his mother, he doesn't get frustrated or mind just doing it all by himself. Awesome!

The last thing for this post is a clip of me trying to wake Lincoln up. He crashed on the recliner just before it was time to go pick Noah up from school one day. He was so-o tired that I had trouble waking him up. It cracked me up, so I grabbed my camera:

Finishing up with the Phillies

2011-06-11T17:57:00.000-06:00

We got our share of giggles watching Noah do funny things out on the field this first season of tee ball. For example: Getting passed on more than one occasion by the runner behind him while running to the next base. Taking his sweet time with just about everything (it didn't matter if both teams were waiting on him to make his way up to bat). Watching a hummingbird instead of the ball. Acting out scenes from movies while playing the field (for example, the baseball scene from Hook). You get the idea.

Anyway, that being said...our little guy really did make progress over the season! The most apparent (and easily measured) improvement was batting. Noah went from struggling to just hit a ball off the tee, to being able to hit a ball with an underhanded pitch! I have a few clips that I'll include from his game on May 13th. The first one is just a quick clip that shows him drawing a line in the sand to stand behind. I just thought that was too cute:

And a couple of batting clips:

Oh, how I wish that we had videos from his next game (which was their second to last game). It was as if things just finally clicked for him. He had strong hits every time he was up to bat (once it went past 2nd base), and 3 of the times he was up he hit the ball on the first pitch! It was so cute to see how proud he was of himself...and we made a big fuss after the game and went out for burgers and ice cream. That was serious improvement from 2 months prior (if you click here, you can scroll down to a previous post and watch a clip from that first game).

Their last game was rained out only a few minutes after starting when a downpour hit. Our team party was set up to be held after the game too, so we waited out the rain under some trees and then went ahead with things anyway (and just tried to ignore the rain as it showered us a couple more times during the party). The first thing they did was have Coach Craig (who was fantastic, I must add...just the right amount of encouraging and patient) hand out medals, trophies, and team pictures. Here is Noah getting his:

Doesn't he look proud of himself?

Lincoln congratulating Noah (melt my heart):

Hagan's parents weren't able to stay for the game/party and his mom was sad to miss it. I told her that I'd snap a couple of pictures of him, so here's Hagan after getting his awards:

Shane must have seen me take Noah's picture and then Hagan's picture after getting their awards, so after getting his he walked over to me and stood there posing with this cute smile...so I went ahead and took a picture of him too. Pretty cute, huh?

One last picture. Hagan & Noah (I should mention that they're friends from preschool too):
And aren't those little baseball uniforms so cute?!

Maternity session

2011-06-10T16:14:00.000-06:00

When I was 7 months pregnant, Barb of Simply Fabulous Photography not only created these beautiful images for our family, but she helped us create some memories too. Really. We had such an enjoyable, relaxed session together (thanks also to lots of help from my friend Allison with the boys). We shot at 3 different locations and there wasn't even one meltdown (from me or the boys)!

I'm going to post our photos here in a slideshow - as well as individually:

Mother's Day

2011-06-10T07:53:00.003-06:00

Later in this post I'd like to include a couple of pictures and video clips that I want to document to remember from this year's Mother's Day sweetness. First though, I wanted to shake out a few thoughts that I have in my head on the topic. Not that my thoughts are particularly new or original, but they are in my head nonetheless. I don't know if other people have one static emotion that is elicited when they hear the words "Mother's Day", but I don't. It is one of those things that without my permission seems to draw up so many deep and seemingly contradictory feelings.

Obviously some of those emotions have steeped and developed over the years, and some newer (but no less potent) emotions have been added to the concoction as time has gone on. Sometimes I find it a little bit confusing, if not distracting, to try and figure out how to process all of the feelings at once. If I had to summarize this mish-mash of feelings into a short sentence it would go something like this, "Around Mother's Day I feel appreciation, gratitude, sorrow, empathy, and wonder." And, since I'm a list person...let me try to tease those things out a bit in list form (with lots of elaboration of course):

Appreciation. Appreciation for the women in my life that have mothered me. Grandmothers & Great-Grandmothers, teachers, friends' parents, my mother in law...but most of all MY MOM! There is an element of appreciation that I think naturally grows with time and maturity, but I do agree that this level of appreciation seems to mature much more completely (at least for me) once becoming a mom one's self. I now have a greater appreciation for what my mom went through to bring me into the world. Even though I was old enough to remember my mom being terribly sick during her pregnancies with younger siblings, experiencing it now myself makes me so grateful that she did it for me (and 3 times over again so I could have my 3 awesome brothers). The appreciation for this stage is surely heightened for me currently since I'm sick and pregnant myself right now. However, the appreciation obviously extends beyond that stage to all the various selfless things that my mom has done for me over the last 33 years. All the things she's taught me. Encouragement she gave me. Time she spent with me. Things she went without so I could have things that I wanted. Right down to how she loves my children! She is an awesome grandma too! I love my mom, and I appreciate so much all that she has done, and still does, for me.
Gratitude. While this emotion is of course intertwined with the things listed in #1...I mean gratitude more specifically for my own situation as a mother. I am grateful to be a mother! I am grateful for a wonderful birthmother that not only chose us to parent her child, but that she loved him (Noah) so much that she went through with this heart-wrenching decision even though it was so hard for her after he was born. Because of her I became a mother. Furthermore, I have been blessed twice more due to modern medicine (in vitro)! While every child, however they come into the world, is a beautiful gift...most couples don't rely on someone else to make the possibility of bringing a child into their family a reality. I am so grateful for Noah's birthmother. I'm grateful for the people who developed (and continue to refine) current assisted reproductive technologies. And I'm grateful for the physicians, embryologist, and nurses who gained the knowledge and training necessary to give me such a high quality of care which has been able to bless us with two more wonderful miracles!
Sorrow. This word choice may sound melodramatic, but it is truly the appropriate word for the emotion that I'm trying to express. Just because I am now a mother doesn't mean that I magically forgot all the heartache and heartbreak that it took to get there. Over all the years of waiting and yearning to become a mother, each successive Mother's Day seemed to become more painful to me than the previous one. While I still had my own mother to be grateful for on this day each year, the looming sorrow to become a mother myself became more and more encompassing each year until Mother's Day itself became something that I dreaded. One expensive, painful procedure or surgery after another failed. Feeling like I was a failure myself. The roller coaster of adoption. Hopes up, down, up, down...more waiting, failed adoption - and then Noah's adoption almost not going through either. While I am absolutely aware that there are people with much more severe things that they deal with...this trial of infertility and adoption is my reality, and the deep rooted feelings of sorrow are no less real to me. And, because of how acutely I attached these feelings of sorrow to the dreaded celebration of Mother's Day...I wonder if I will ever completely shake that association. Maybe I don't completely want to forget the sorrows that I trespassed to "earn" my cherished title as a mother...as long as I don't let it overshadow the aforementioned feelings of appreciation and gratitude.
Empathy. The feelings that I have with this emotion are very similar to #3, but they have a separate meaning to me. Because of how intensely emotional my journey to motherhood was, I feel a keen awareness at Mother's Day of the many women who yearn to be mothers, but are not. Everyone's situation is different, and every woman waiting to become a mother experiences things differently - so I don't mean to say that I know exactly what they've been through or how they feel, but I do know that I can relate to the yearning. While it's not "feeling sorry" for these women (I hated that), it is (for me) a feeling of sorrowing with them...even if I wasn't invited to. And often times it is these women that dominate my thoughts at Mother's Day.
Wonder. I didn't know how else to categorize this seemingly large emotion into one word, but that's as close as I can come. When I really take the time to think about my children, and my role as their mother (which one tends to do on Mother's Day)...I have such a feeling of wonder. Amazement and wonder at: how wonderful they are...how much they rely on me right now...how much that I love them...how much trust has been put in me to raise them well...how much I treasure their little quirks and personalities...how much potential they have...that if I love my children like this, that my mom must have felt/feel that way about me. It seems strange to write that last one, but when I feel that all-encompassing love for my child & it feels so large that it almost hurts and I can hardly compute those feelings...it's hard to wrap my mind around someone loving little ol' me that much. Not because I don't feel that I've been shown that love...that's just a lot of love to imagine being felt toward me, and then I'm led back to emotion number one. Appreciation.

(My mom & me 2 years ago)

Well, I don't know if anyone will actually ever read through all of that, but it actually was a little bit therapeutic for me to type it out. Most of my blog posts consist more of me journaling through lots of pictures or video clips, with information just documenting what was happening. I suppose that now and then it is good to take the time for myself to expound on how I am feeling. I just chose an emotionally charged, difficult-to-put-words-around-these-emotions type of topic for me! However, I am now out of words (believe it or not). So, I would like to include a couple of pictures and videos in this post.

Noah's preschool had 2 different teachers/classes - a M/W/F and a Tues/Thurs. Each one did a little something for the kids' moms for Mother's Day. Here is his M/W/F class singing a few songs while holding flowers that they made for their moms...

A quick clip of them singing:

Noah with his flower that he made for me. How sweet is that smile?

And Noah gave me this present that he made too. A picture he drew of himself and me in a frame that he painted.

Here is a clip of Noah with his Tues/Thurs class reciting a poem together for the mommies:

And we were able to enjoy brownies with our little sweeties. Noah & me:

Carrie & Noah S. (note the cute vase & "flowers" each kid made for the moms):

Since this was Noah's first year doing preschool, this year was a fun first for me to be able to attend these little Mother's Day celebrations. I loved watching the proud, but wistful way that Noah looked at me during their little "program", and how excited he was to present me with the treasures that he'd made for me. He was so excited to have me come to his school, and I couldn't help but think about how short this stage in his life will be...I'm so glad I get to be part of it.

Lastly, I have to say that the best part of this Mother's Day were all the extra hugs and kisses from all three of my boys. I don't have any pictures of Lincoln or Mark to post, but they did their best to spoil me too. I'm a lucky mama.

April Wrap Up

2011-06-09T13:29:00.000-06:00

The first thing I have to put in this post is a video clip of our big milestone that happened in April. Saying goodbye to "bink"! Lincoln was still using his binky to go to sleep at night and we seemed to have missed the window to take it away...this boy was as attached to that thing as he could be to anything. We'd tried several different methods several times to lose the binky at night, but nothing worked. One day while at the store he saw a toy he really wanted and I told him that I'd buy it for him if he said goodbye to his bink and put it in the garbage. He agreed! (This was the zillionth time that I'd tried this same method, so the timing must have just been right) Anyway, while I knew that the battle wouldn't be over come bedtime (and oh, the heartbreaking tears that were to come)...here is a clip of Lincoln actually going through with saying his final goodbye to bink!:

Catching Linc doing stuff like this showed us that perhaps it was past time to take down the baby gate. He could climb over that thing in 2 seconds flat.

Lincoln feeling pretty proud of his super-hero skills.

And, since we're on the topic of super-heros...here's a clip of the boys being villans. While Noah is particularly fond of always playing the part of the villan, Lincoln seems to like to switch back and forth between being a good guy and a bad guy. In any case, they can be quite entertaining. Oh, and I get a kick out of the accents that Noah attempts to associate with characters!:

Ultrasound picture of our little guy on April 15th (29 weeks). I love how he has his little fist up by his face:

Mark and I got tickets through his work to attend a benefit together. I figured that we ought to document us going out on a date night without the kiddos (thanks to our awesome babysitter Sabrina)!

A quick shot of Allison and me as we left on of the locations from our photo session. Allison was so much fun (I know, shocking for those of you that know her) playing with the boys when they weren't being photographed. She ran around exploring with them, and helped them have lots of fun. Thanks, Al!

The boys enjoying blowing some bubbles that my mom sent them...

Here are a couple of clips of the an activity that the boys came up with in the backyard. I'm glad that I had my camera handy (and I'm glad that they thought to put a helmet on Lincoln)...

Noah taking a spin:

April 26th. After school play-date at the Railroad Park with some friends from school. Tie dye shirt: Noah S., Orange shirt: Nicolas, Black shirt: Brody...and Lincoln and Noah in front.

Lincoln & Noah in front of one of the cool trains.

Thumbs up for a fun trip to the park.

Every now and then we enjoy going out for Thai food as a family and the boys love it. I took this quick clip of Lincoln eating noodles and it cracked me up how he kept glancing at himself in the nearby mirror as he ate:

April 30th. Caitlyn (from Noah's class) had a swim birthday party. Here she is blowing out her candles!

I debated whether or not to include this video clip that Mark recorded. First of all, I'd like to document that my wonderful husband dared his 5 year old child to do this. (*sigh*) Secondly, I'd like to document that I did protest. Unfortunately, I suppose that I'm also required to add that some part of me was amused by it all...I'm not sure if it was the act itself that was amusing, or simply the fact that Noah did something so out of character for himself and actually took on the dare to run over and spray the group of teenage girls that were sunning themselves:

Lincoln & Noah leaving Caitlyn's party with their bug catching nets (party favor) over their shoulders.

I'll finish this post with a video from one random morning in April. Lincoln was singing a dutch song about the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. Mark has been singing it to each of the boys since they were new babies, but likes to substitute their names into the song for fun. It's fun to hear how much of the song they actually remember in dutch:

Easter Sunday

2011-06-07T07:32:00.000-06:00

A quick shot of the family before heading into church on Easter Sunday:

Don't our boys look so handsome?!

After our church services were over we drove around and admired some of the beautiful blossoms that were everywhere...on trees, cacti, bushes, etc. Springtime really is beautiful here in the desert. Here's a common cactus with it's beautiful yellow blossoms...

And we took a few pictures of Noah by some flowers too. Not only did he look sharp in his new Easter outfit, but he knew it. He said that he loved wearing something "fancy".

I know that someday I'll look back and say how little that Noah looks here, but right now I just can't believe how grown up he is looking!

Later that afternoon the Easter Bunny visited our house and left baskets and Easter eggs. Thank goodness since the boys didn't have enough candy or chances to hung for eggs, right? (sarcasm) It was still so much fun to watch them though. Here's a clip of them finding their baskets. I love that it quickly captures the little thing Noah does with his thumb & forefinger on his chin when he's thinking (while figuring out where Linc's basket is). They're both such cute boys. Having them young and excited about this stuff is so much fun...

Here are 3 more short clips of the boys looking for eggs. We found it funny that Lincoln kept saying, "Are you kidding?"...and also that both boys kept dropping the plastic eggs. Over & over. It really was uncanny. Every minute or two they either dropped one out of their hand or their basket.

One last picture after we were all done outside and the boys were headed in with their baskets and eggs. Right as I snapped this picture Lincoln dropped and broke open several more eggs on the ground. The boys just stood there for a second and gawked like, "really?"...and I think that was what we were all thinking at that point. It was pretty funny.

What I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of was the lovely Easter dinner that Mark made for us. I was feeling pretty yucky that afternoon - I thought that maybe I was just sleep deprived (Allison & I talked until really late) and also warn out from all the activity and sun the day before (2 egg hunts & afternoon at the lake). However, that was just the first day of me starting to feel really crummy again - instead of "ignorably nauseous" as I'd been calling it the previous several weeks. That was 6 weeks ago and, although I'm not as sick as I was the first half of my pregnancy, things have been pretty rough in the nauseous department. Anyhow, I digress! Mark made the boys, Allison and I a delicious dinner of Braciole (your best yet, babe!) and even had the table looking beautiful.

That night we had to drop Allison back off at the airport *sniff, sniff* but we were so glad to have had her for such a fun, whirlwind weekend. And I have to thank Mark for everything he did all weekend to make things nice for everyone...including cooking, cleaning, packing coolers for our adventures, and happily taking care of the boys so Allison and I could go get pedicures! Thanks, babe! You're the best.

The Lake

2011-06-06T08:01:00.001-06:00

We had everything loaded in our minivan to leave straight from Easter egg hunts to enjoy the rest of the day at the lake! Mark's aunt MarJan & cousin Camille invited us to join them for their annual Easter festivities at Camille's in-law's lakeside home. So, we made a nice little mini road-trip to their place and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon out on the water. The boys were in heaven. It didn't take any coaxing to get them into the water...

Noah delved right into his make-believe-land and became a crocodile...

And Lincoln immediately began chasing & splashing cute girls. Luckily this one knew how to defend herself:

And then Linc moved on to splashing this older boy. Nice:

Lincoln didn't have any reservations with wandering off down the beach by himself or out into deep water, so we had to keep a very constant eye on him (as we always do around water though anyway)...

Allison happily took her turn rotating being "on-duty" with watching a designated boy too, so that was awesome.

I have to say that besides the awesome fringe benefit of having an extra set of eyes and hands for the boys (yes, we had them out-numbered)...I really loved having Allison around for those 3 quick days! We have been friends for 20 years now (exactly). We've been friends since the beginning of Jr. High School! We played soccer together, shared clothes and ran the neighbor's dogs together, fought and made up as teenage girls do, and cried over stupid boys together. We went through various hair-colors, piercings, and progressive genres of music together. She was there when I came home from Taiwan and from my mission in Germany. She was one of my bridesmaids when I got married, and her son Isaac & our Noah are little buddies (less than 4 months apart). And, she is one of only a few of my close friends that I can honestly say really know my husband (and all the details of our pre-marriage "courtship"). She pretty much feels like she's always been part of my life, I guess. Although the craziness of life can keep us from talking as often as we would like, it's never awkward to pick up where we left off when we do catch up...although, if given the chance, we'll probably talk all night (which we practically did while she was here). So here's to old friendships!...and to having Allison all to ourselves for a weekend!

Noah and Lincoln weren't bored for one minute. They played together, with other kids, and even by themselves - and had lots of fun the whole time.

Here's an example to contrast the differences in their types of play though. Linc was all about splashing in the water and playing in the mud...

Noah was especially interested in make-believe, especially if there were props...like this "pirate boat" (Noah & Jocelyn):

Lincoln enjoyed being around some older kids that could put up with (and dish back out) his active, playful side...and I think Noah enjoyed being around some younger kids that he could kind of hand out roles to act out what he wanted to play ("You are ___ and I'll be ___"). Somehow everyone managed to have fun together though! Here the kids are enjoying just pulling each other around in this inflatable raft:

Noah docking his pirate ship....er, raft.

We all brought boiled eggs to color, which was fun. I thought doing it outside, and where the kids would also be jumping back into the lake, was ingenious. No stress about mess/spills.

Lincoln's face in this one cracks me up (pun recognized)...

And then it was time for the boys to take their first ride in a real boat! Here's Linc after just climbing into the boat off the dock...

Mark & Lincoln.

Noah, Mark, Lincoln.

I was surprised that neither of the boys chickened out on the tube ride at the last minute - they can each be unpredictable that way, but they were really excited!

And we were off! They were a little unsure about things at first, but soon realized that it was safe and FUN!

Behind the tube here is Camille's in-law's home in the background, and the beach area that we were playing on...

They started things out pretty mellow (as seen in this short clip), and then got a bit more adventurous with bouncing around on some wakes.

After a while Lincoln said he was done and got back into the boat with me. So just Noah & Daddy went out on the tube...and we sped things up a bit:

Later Mark was able to take Noah out on a jet ski. Here's a short clip of them slowing down to wave "hi to Mom"!:

This quick clip is of Noah after riding the jet ski (really fast) with Mark. He's trying to verbalize that at first he was scared, but then realized that it was fun:

I have to add that when Noah saw the previous video clip he was particularly embarrassed that he was wearing a Barbie life jacket. Sorry, buddy, that's just what was available. I just find it amusing that he's getting old enough to recognize and care about stuff like that.

And I had to end this post with this cute little picture of the boys enjoying some cold sodas. Noah's expression cracks me up every time I look at this photo. All on his own he turned the can so I could see the name of the soda, and actually held that pose...
What a fun, fun day!

Easter Egg Hunts

2011-06-05T16:04:00.000-06:00

The day before Easter (April 23rd) we were able to take the boys to attend a couple of fun Easter egg hunts! The first one was put on by our church early that morning. Plus we were lucky enough to have my good friend Allison staying with us for the weekend, so she came too! Here are the boys ready and waiting for the hunt to start (I love how Linc comes up and holds Noah's hand):

I love these boys. And I don't think there is anything that I love more than when they are sweet/kind with each other...

And the hunt begins! Here is Noah finding an egg...

We were able to get Lincoln to glance at the camera for a quick shot mid-hunt...

A clip of Lincoln finding an egg:

Noah has always been more laid back about just finding an egg or two and then calling it quits to enjoy his goodies (he does the same thing with piñatas). Although he still wasn't at all frantic about collecting as many eggs as possible, he seemed to be more "into it" this year. No problem getting him to stop for a picture though:

This clip is of Allison and me with the boys after we were all done with the egg hunt. It's nothing spectacular, but I realized that I think it's the only video clip at all that we have of me with my pregnant belly (30 weeks here)...so I'm throwing it in for documentation's sake:

Noah assessing his treasures...

After the egg hunt we enjoyed a yummy breakfast with everyone. Here is Noah with an orange peel in his mouth:

Next (right after our church's egg hunt actually) we headed to Noah's school. They have preschool-8th graders there, and hold a big Easter Egg hunt. They divided the kids into groups by age and had them hunt in different areas. Here is Noah stopping to show me how many eggs that he had...

Lincoln can be a bit more competitive, and got into a zone about collecting as many eggs as possible. He would even shake the eggs to see if they were full of lots of candy, and not bother collecting those that felt like they didn't have much inside. At one point he even ditched his basket while collecting...

My boys after finishing the egg hunts.
We had a lot of fun at both egg hunts! I have to also share a comment of Noah's - which I know was reinforced both at church and school (he attended preschool at a Lutheran school). Right in the middle of all the excitement of egg hunting and candy eating Noah declares to me, "You know, Mom...this isn't really what Easter is all about." He then proceeded to tell me about how Jesus died and was resurrected as if I'd never heard of these events myself before. It was precious. I know that as a 5 year old he is reciting things that he's been taught, but it was so sweet that he took the time to share that amidst all of the commercial excitement of the holiday. And, since these are things that I dear to me, I do hope that when he is older that he chooses to let them take root in his heart as well...and that he'll share those convictions with others with the same pure sincerity that I saw that day.