I know everyones already knows we had a baby but this is the birth announcement that we sent out to far away family and friends. My sister made these up for me and I sent them to Walmart to be printed. It was kind of flatering because they questioned me about whether I had the copyright for the picture.
Anyhow thanks Andrea for always coming to my annoucement/invite rescue. Someday I will learn to do it on my own, but until then...Thanks.

Baby Burrito

So when I think of baby items I could not live without, this would definetly be near the top. It's called SwaddleMe by Kiddopotamus, you can get them at Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. It may look like a baby-sized straight jacket but I really think it helps baby sleep. When babies are in the hospital they "swaddle" them real nice and tight. This is the same idea, but velcro helps keep the blanket in place. So if you are getting ready to have a baby, I would definetly recommend this.
Also check out the super cute rag quilt Sydney is lying on. My friend Lorraine made it for her, this is also another baby item I could not live without, okay maybe I could, but I sure do love it.

Spring Break

So last week the kids had Spring Break, unfortunatly it snowed so it didn't feel quite like Spring. If my kids are cooped up inside all day, they start to misbehave, so we had to think of some things for them to do. On Wednesday we went to lunch at Wendys with a bunch of friends and then to Jumpin Jacks. My kids could play here forever, it was fun for them and they got lots of energy out. On Thursday we didn't do much. My kids really like to visit their dad at work and he recently graduated from cubicle to an office, so we wanted to check out the new set up. So we brought lunch to the office and called it a day. On Friday the weather was a bit nicer, so we decided to head to the Zoo. Kevin took a half day at work, so I didn't have to go on my own. It was still a little chilly (not to bad) which was nice, it was not at all crowded. The kids had a great time, we all did. Noah really enjoyed himself, he was only 1 last time we went, so this time he was so into the animals.

Here is Sydney at 3 weeks. I just wanted to post this picture to prove that I actually dress her in other colors then just pink.

Bunny Days

This year, although life is crazy with a new baby, we still tried to keep with our Easter traditions. On Friday evening we dyed eggs. The kids really enjoyed this and wished that they had more then 3 eggs to decorate. Please do not look to closely at the picture of Isaac, my kitchen is a disaster.

On Saturday we started the day with breakfast and an egg hunt at the church. Because of rain, we had to do this indoors, which wasn't ideal but it worked out. There were lots of eggs and individual pieces of candy scattered all over. Noah was funny, so not interested in the eggs, was all about the candy. I don't think he really understood that there was candy in the eggs.

Later that day we had dinner and an egg hunt at Kevin's parents. Yummy food and lots of candy for the kids, what more could we ask for.

This morning we got the kids all dressed up for church. They sure do clean up nice.

After church we came home and the kids got to search for their Easter baskets. Of course this is the most excting part for the kids.

The Easter bunny also brought mom and dad the Wii Fit. After desperatly trying to squeeze into my pre-pregnancy pants (with no success), I'm in major need of something to help get me motivated.

These were not Easter pictures, but just some recent pictures of Sydney.

So have I mentioned how much fun it is to have a girl. It is like having my own little doll to dress up and snuggle.

One Week

It has officially been one week since Sydney was born. Just wanted to document how life is going for all of us.
Sydney: So far she is a great little baby. She is not a big crier, typically only when she is hungry or getting a bath. Speaking of baths, she absolutely does not like those. We just had the first major diaper blow out, which of course led to a bath. She screamed through the whole experience, which makes me feel like a horrible momma, but it had to be done. She is doing pretty good at nights, it seems like every night gets better and better. Last night I only had to get up once in the middle of the night, it was glorious. I'm guessing this will not continue to be the case, but we will take what we can get.
Noah: He just loves his little baby, it took him a few days to warm up to her, but now he wants to hold her all the time, which means I can never leave them alone in the same room for even a second because he will try to pick her up. Although he seems to be handling things pretty well, you can tell he is need of extra love and attention. Everytime someone comes to the house he runs up and hugs them (even if he does not know them, I'm sure he would hug the UPS guy when he comes). But overall he is doing well.
Isaac: He seems to be handling things with the baby the best. He just loves her and wants to hold her and touch her all the time. It really is sweet. His behavior has not changed either, sometimes he is a challenge because he is not the best listener. I'd like to say this is because of the baby, but this is usual behavior.
Tanner: He is funny, because when Noah was born he just loved him and when I was pregnant he always wanted to feel the baby move and was the most excited for her to come. Now that she is here he could care less. He absolutly does not like it when the baby cries and he will cry and cover his ears. He occasionally will want to hold her or give her kisses, but not like I expected.
Audrey: I mentioned before that the baby had been doing better at nights, so of course I am getting a bit more sleep. I am still tired all the time, because there is just no time to nap during the days ( I still have a very active 2 year old in the house). The weather here is very cold, so we have no desire to leave the house, but I am getting a bit stir crazy. I just wish it would feel like spring so I could take the kids out for a walk, but instead it SNOWS. Yesterday I had to take Tanner to piano lessons and it was a major chore just to get all 4 kids in the car (3 of the 4 were crying). Then while he was at his lesson, I thought it would be fun to go to the store to pick up a few necessities. It took like 10 minutes just to get the kids out of the car and into a shopping cart, fun stuff. Anyway, I can't really complain, for being on my own during the days I feel like I'm doing alright. Yesterday I was just sitting on the couch looking at my sweet baby and thinking how lucky I am, and I really can't believe I finally have a pretty little girl.
Kevin: He has been great through this all. He helps out as much as he can at nights, unfortunatly he is not able to feed her, but he gets her if she wakes for other reasons. He also wakes up early each day so he has time to get himself and all 3 boys fed and dressed every morn, I don't know what I would do with out him. I guess I will find out at the end of the month when he has to go to Pennsylvania for work. Hopefully in the next 3 weeks we can get into a good routine, so that it won't be to much of a challenge.
Well this is our life now and although at times it is a challenge, I love it.