Sock Monkey

Sofie received a very special sock monkey as a gift this year from her Great Grannie Gracie. In fact, Evander received one too since Grannie Gracie has been a very busy elf this year and made one by hand for each of her seven Great Grandchildren. As you can see, Sofie lost no time fixing up her monkey, girly girl that she is. Monkey has become a dignified lady complete with sweater, hairbow, and earrings (yes earrings!) And is it just me or does her monkey mouth suddenly look like it's got a fresh coat of red lipstick? Silly girl!

Merry Christmas!

We must have a couple of very nice children because Santa sure did leave us a lot of fun things to play with this year! We woke up to presents galore beneath the Christmas tree...


...and a special surprise waiting for a sweet little girl in our kitchen too! (Rumor has it that one of Santa's elves spent several hours putting it together at our house on Christmas Eve. Those elves are just so dedicated to making children's faces light up on Christmas morning!)


Evander enjoyed all the commotion, bows, and wrapping paper, and a special Santa hand-me-down from his big sister...




Sofie seemed to be in shock, but had a merry time opening up all her packages and spent lots of time playing with each one's contents before moving along. Here she is in baby doll heaven...


We let her discover her new kitchen on her own and we were nearly an hour into our festivities when she finally exclaimed, "Wook at dis!" and set to work trying it out. I could swear I saw her peering at it several times before she actually acknowledged it. I wonder what she was thinking :) In this picture you can see she's busy cooking with some makeshift pots and pans. Later she got some real ones in another package, but she was too busy playing to open presents at this point!




Here she is showing her babies how the oven works. What a little mommy!


After everything was finally opened Sofie and Daddy had a fun time exploring some books with Sofie's new Tag reading system.


Here are the requisite pictures of the aftermath!



And...somehow I never seem to get a decent picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits. I don't have a single picture of Sofie in her Christmas dress last year, and this is the best picture I managed this year.


Once we were all "dooded up" we rounded out our day with a visit to Nana and Grandma's house for lunch and more presents and then an evening at Grannie (Great Grannie!) Gracie's house. Absolutely exhausting, but in the best sort of way! It was the most wonderful Christmas I can remember since my own childhood. Can't wait for next year!!

Four Months

Moose you are four months old and you've spent this month charming our socks off. Just a few short months ago, when I was having an exceptionally rough time transitioning from a parent of one to a parent of two, a kind midwife told me that things would get easier in stages. "Things get a little easier at six weeks," she said, "and then easier still by twelve weeks. By the time you hit the six month mark things will feel normal again." So far she has been absolutely correct, and your grinning and giggles certainly have a way of making me forget about the hard stuff!

You are getting so strong. You spend your tummy time locking your little arms firm to push your chest right up off the ground. You grab everything in sight and it all goes straight into your mouth for a nice coating of slobber. You are rolling with ease from your back to your stomach and you've accidentally rolled from your stomach to your back a few times too. When I put you down for a little play time I usually return to find you flipped over and half a circle from where I left you. It will only be a matter of time before you'll be my constant underfoot companion.

You're pretty easy going most of the time and you love to watch what's going on around you. You'll sit in the swing or the Bumbo seat intently watching us go about our daily activities and when I glance up to check on you I'm always greeted with an instantaneous grin. You seem to think Sofie is magical and you are pleased as punch when she takes a moment to goof around with you. She is the lucky recipient of most of your laughter.

You've got me pretty convinced that you'll teeth earlier than Sofie did because you've been coated with drool for the past few weeks and you want everything to go straight to your mouth. Your hands are still the easiest target and you're often gnawing on your thumb, but you will attack my hands, shirt, arms, face, and any toys within reach. You sit on my lap during mealtimes and you get so excited each time I take a bite and the food comes towards you, kicking your legs and leaning in for the kill. We gave you your first taste of cereal this weekend and you were so thrilled to see that spoon finally coming to your mouth. You grabbed for it with both hands and guided it right in...and then you were so monumentally disappointed! Thank goodness there are tastier things in the world than rice cereal :)

Van, when we brought you home and set to work learning how to manage a second child a friend commented that having another baby makes things, "exponentially harder." He was right, but what he failed to mention was that your presence here would make our lives exponentially better too. Your little glowing face has helped us muddle through the rough spots and we look forward to spending each and every day, good or bad, with you.

O Christmas Tree

We put up our sad little Christmas tree (which I secretly love) tonight. This was the first year that Sofie was really able to participate in the trimming, hence:

In case you're unsure of what you're seeing here, it is no less than ten tree ornaments all hung on the same two bottom most branches. Now, those of you who know me well will not be surprised when I admit that I am a wee bit anal about some pretty silly things like, oh I don't know, ornament spacing? But every time I look at those poor sagging branches I have to stifle a giggle and so there will be absolutely no rearranging while my sweet unsuspecting little girl sleeps.

I'm not particularly fond of decorating the Christmas tree but one of my favorite things to do every year is pull out all the Christmas ornaments and reminisce. I've been collecting ornaments for awhile now, picking one out each time we visit some place new, and almost every ornament has some sort of story or special significance behind it. I'm really looking forward to the days when I can bore the kids with all my tales :) This year the most poignant ones for me were all Vance family-centric. The small collection we've got going from my niece and nephew, beginning with Lillie's tiny baby hand print from '04. The log cabin ornament Janna gave me on my birthday when we were vacationing in Colorado the year I was pregnant with Sofie, and the one from Mohican Lodge I got last year when we all stayed there for Kyle and DeAnna's wedding. I suppose I'm missing the crew this holiday season more than I had realized. I feel very lucky to be near so much of our extended family and to firmly look forward to the days when we get to reunite with those who are far in miles, but always nearby in our thoughts and memories.

Roly Poly

Evander started rolling over like a week ago (oh my gosh I am that awful mom who didn't manage to record anything regarding her second child!!! No wait, I can figure this out...Evander started rolling over last Thursday when Nana and Grandma came to visit, so that would be November 19th.) I've been trying to get a decent video of him doing it, but so far I've been unsuccessful, so instead you can watch this video and see him roll most of the way over.



So far he can only go one way, from his back to his stomach over his right side. He spends a lot of time working on getting himself over his left side but he just can't seem to manage that last little bit, that pulling his arm out from under himself bit, and I can't even express to you how intensely frustrated he is that he can't do it yet. Once he's on his stomach he's not particularly happy about the arrangement since he's not a huge fan of tummy time, but he hasn't even really attempted to roll from his stomach to his back yet. I suppose that's next!

Don't Worry

I happen to believe that there is nothing sweeter than the sound of a child singing. And of course my child singing is the sweetest sound of them all. I managed to start recording this video tonight without Sofie noticing (because if she had noticed there would be absolutely no singing and a whole lot of close-up shots of Sofie's nose pores!) Consequently there is absolutely nothing to watch, but just listen to my sweet girl singing.



As a side note, this song has never really been one of my favorites but we recently checked out a children's CD from our library by Elizabeth Mitchell called You Are My Little Bird and this is one of its tracks. I absolutely love the CD. This song, especially when a child's carefree voice sings it, has been such a message to me this week. Here we are entering another crazy holiday season and I know so many people who are deeply worried about so many things. I hope you'll all find a moment to join me as I work towards casting off my worries and embracing life's simple pleasures in their face.

Thomas the Train

Or, "the tain Thomas" as Sofie fondly refers to him, is a huge hit at our house. This little battery powered engine has provided Sofie with hours and hours of fun. Daddy bought Thomas for Sofie's birthday, and while the $20 price tag seemed a bit lofty at the time, Thomas has definitely earned his keep here. Thomas doesn't need a track, and loves to take excursions down the long hall outside our apartment. He is quite strong and is often successful at climbing over small obstacles or, as you'll see in the video, shoving them out of the way. He can also be pushed without stripping his mechanics. So, all in all an awesome toy for any well-loved kiddo on your Christmas list. Last night Daddy was feeling compelled to get in on the fun and set up some obstacle courses for Thomas to conquer as the kids looked on...



And here you can see that Evander is already well on his way to becoming a Thomas enthusiast as well...



Rah!

Three Months

Young man, you are three months old. I had completely forgotten how much three month olds totally ROCK until we somehow blinked a few too many times and found ourselves here at the three month mark. You are happy happy happy and oh so very happy to smile and coo at us whenever we've got a moment to devote to you and actually look you in the eye. Poor second child! As a condolence, though, you think Sofie is absolutely fascinating and you're only too pleased to grin away at her crazy antics. She's equally enthralled with you and reminds us often that you're her brother.

You are starting to enjoy the typical baby games, like So Big and Pat-a-Cake, and the not so typical ones, like practicing your jab on your sister, clapping and dancing around the living room with mom. You're still a huge fan of your toys, especially the bears above your changing table and Mr. Monkey. In fact, I think you talk to them almost as much as you talk to us. You've figured out that you have control over your hands, albeit very jerky control, and sometimes I find you practicing intently, holding your little fist steadily right in front of a bear's face. You are showing preference for your left hand (cool!) and have figured out how to bring both hands together, mainly for the purpose of slobbering all over them. You are still pretty interested in your thumb when you can manage to pop it into your mouth.

You are getting stronger every day and starting to enjoy tummy time for longer periods of time, especially if there's something interesting to look at. When you're on your back you crane your neck around and pull your body up onto your side. I imagine it won't be much longer before you accidentally flop yourself over.

This month I buzzed off your fuzzy little grandpa hairs, and while it was technically your first haircut there are no pictures because Daddy was oddly attached to them and refused to participate! I did, of course, pack away your peach fuzz for memory's sake. I think you look quite handsome without them, and while we're on the topic of looks, don't tell your sister, but I think you're much cuter than she was at your age!

Van Van, lately I've been working on finding a job, and since I'm hoping to be hired somewhere relatively soon we've been trying to get you familiar with a bottle. Despite our early successes you are now absolutely REFUSING that stinkin' thing. If you're in a good mood you'll patiently use your tongue to shove it out of your mouth over and over again until we grow tired of trying and leave you alone. If you're anxious to eat you just scream bloody murder. It's causing me a fair amount of anxiety, imagining how awful it might be to leave you for so long without your comfort, but it's also helping me take the rejection inherent in trying to find work in stride. How can I let anything upset me when someone like you, with your big smiley eyes, wants nothing more than to spend all your moments with me :)

For Grandma Debbie

Translation:

Mama: Ok, where is Grandma Debbie?

Sofie: Where is Grandma Debbie?

M: Yeah, where is she?

S: Uhhhhh, Ca, ca ca, ca ca, Colorado?

M: Yeah. How did she get there?

S: ...

M: How did she get to Colorado?

S: Up the airplane!

M: That's right! Did we take her to the airport?

S: Grandma, Grammie, Grandma Debbie's all gone up the airplane.

M: Yeah. She flew to Colorado. Did she fly to Colorado to see Lillian and Clayton?

S: Yeah.

M: Do you miss her?

S: Yeah.

M: Wish she would come visit soon?

S: Yeah.

M: Say, "I love you Grandma Debbie."

S: I love you!

M: Bye bye.

S: Bye bye.

How Sofie Learns

Here's Sofie's version of, "Why?"

What a crack-up!

Trick or Treat

Just wait 'til you see what we're cooking up for next year :)

Two Months

My roly poly little man, two days ago you became a two month old. Almost two weeks ago I had you in to see the pediatrician because you had spit-up quite forcefully a few times and she suggested that perhaps you were maybe overeating just a bit since you were not quite two months old yet and closing in on 14 pounds already...oy! And I thought your sister, who was nearly 12 pounds at two months old, was a chunker :)

***I must be honest and report that the rest of this post, on October 8th, consisted merely of little notes to myself and only now, on October 20th, am I finding the time to return to fill in the details!***

You started smiling a few weeks ago and that has made you much more fun to hang out with. When you're particularly happy your little nose scrunches up and wrinkles form between your eyes. You draw in your breath and squeak like some folks do after a particularly hearty bout of laughter. You like to interact with your toys, grinning, batting, and jabbering at them, especially the monkey on the mirror that reflects your face into the rear-view mirror of our van. It's always a treat to click your car seat into place and watch you greet your little friend!

One day Sofie and I were sitting on the couch goofing around and laughing about something and you were nestled in my lap. I glanced down and noticed that you were smiling away as if you were in on our little jokes, and just like that my whole perspective changed. I had been caring for you and Sofie as separate little 'ploys, juggling each of your needs throughout the day and paddling my boat between your islands trying my best to give each of you undivided attention. All of the sudden we were a team. Shortly after that incident I was alone in the evening with the two of you for the first time and trying to put Sofie down for bed. Her bedtime routine still includes nursing, and you were fussing and wanting to nurse too. I didn't want to leave one or the other of you to cry so I reluctantly decided that I was going to try some true tandem nursing. I was worried that Sofie was going to be upset about it or that you would be a ball of squirminess, unable to get comfortable within your sister's space, but instead the two of you seemed to think it was great fun. You were so focused on Sofie and she just giggled away at you and held your little hand in hers. It just reinforced the sense that we are together now, a family, and I stopped frantically paddling and docked my boat. We've been learning to live together on the mainland ever since.

***And now, embarrassingly, it is October 27th and in less than two weeks you will be three months old. How busy you've kept me! I hope to be much more punctual in the months to come...***

You've been hard at work on getting your thumb in your mouth and I often find you busily slobbering all over your hand in your futile attempts. Somehow, your hand becomes possessed by the intensity of your quest and it clenches tightly into a fist right around your little thumb. You're not a bit disheartened by it's uncooperative nature and go right on jamming your fist into your mouth and sucking away. You love to stand up and when I make the mistake of trying to sit you down on my lap for a chat you lean your little body forward and flex your legs until I get the right idea. Your little legs are so strong, it's as if you'll be walking in no time!

It's strange to me how different it already feels to be raising a little boy. I'm already torn up by the thought that someday, maybe, you'll love some other woman more than you love me. But for now, my little Moose, I'm the one who cares for you, soothes you, makes your eyes light up. For now, and for many moons to come, I am the one. There is no fortune more great.

Buds

Two Years

Punky Bru you turned two over a month ago and, dear God, you've been acting TWO for a few months now. These months since your brother was born have possibly been the most exasperating of my life, trying so hard to outwit you on such a small amount of sleep. I'm learning, slowly and reluctantly, to let go of my tendency towards structure and I consider it a pretty good day when there has been some sort of bathing, eating, and sleeping and not too much screaming :)

You are speaking pretty fluently in long sentences. A good majority of your sentences begin with a whiny, "I want..." or, "I wanna..." and lately you're throwing in a whole lot of, "No mom! My turn!" You crack me up regularly with the things you come up with, the tone you use and your assortment of facial expressions, especially the squinty-eyed inquisitive face and the brow-furrowed grimace you shoot my way now and then as if to say, "Mom, what the heck were you thinking?" I can't imagine where you picked that one up :)

You're pretty good at counting and can count from one to ten on a good day, but more often you recite, "One, two, five, six, seven, eight!" You know the A,B,C song quite well, but can only identify letters O and B on sight. I've been trying to work with you on shapes and colors too, but you get quite frustrated with both concepts, so most days we don't end up spending too much time on them.

Your motor skills are coming along nicely. You're becoming a much faster waddly little runner and both of your feet come up off the ground when you jump these days. You enjoy kicking balls around in the yard and I think you're really going to like soccer someday. You're not as interested in throwing and we're working on the whole catching thing too, since most of the time your hands come together a moment after the ball has dropped to the ground. You like to draw circles, you complete puzzles with speed, you enjoy peeling stickers off their backing and decorating the house with them, and you love to fold clothes. You're actually better at folding clothes than some adults I know!

You're quite a girly girl and you absolutely love your baby dolls and insist on bringing at least one with you every place we go. You love trying on shoes and picking out your outfit for the day. You've requested that I put hot rollers in your hair, ask for spray after I give you a hairdo, and you like to sneak into my make-up bag and know exactly how to apply each different part.

You're interested in the potty and all other bathroom behaviors and regularly take your pants and diaper off and run around all willy nilly. You like to "go potty" and will sit, wipe, and wash your hands, but you've never actually made a deposit. We haven't formally begun training because you are notoriously awful at reporting dirty diapers, preferring instead to wear them until they hang to your knees and deny their obvious need to be changed. I have intentions of working on some sort of formal, consistent training this winter when we are cloistered in the house most days. Until then, you're content to pretend.

You're great at pretending. You like making "hamburgers" out of old peanut butter and jelly containers I've rinsed and set out on a shelf for you, or having tea parties with the set the Vance's sent for your birthday. You regularly push your stroller or your shopping cart towards the door as you bid us goodbye. When I ask where you're going you choose from your repertoire of destinations, "I'm goin' uh (Target, the mall, the library, the hospital, Nana's house)."

Sofie-Sof you are working so hard on becoming independent and you've been a little ball of frustrated energy much of the time lately. Most days I'm so overwhelmingly relieved when bedtime rolls around and the house, for the most part, regains a sense of peace again. But Daddy and I start giggling over the funny things you've said and done all day almost immediately after you're tucked in tight and in next to no time we're missing the chaos, the sticky urchin grin, and determined defiance. We are, and always will be, completely enamored with you, our wonderful, terrible, two year old girl.

Mr. Smily

Moose started smiling in response to silly faces, high pitched voices, and cooing a week or so ago. At first it was almost exclusively Daddy who was the recipient of his happy grins, but everyday he seems to get a little more generous with them, smiling more often and at more people and things. Here are a couple of short videos we've caught!

First Bath et. al.

So we just gave Evander his first bath...he was sooooo stinky! Ok, not really, I'm just way way way behind on my posting. Since I'm starting to really get behind and since I have several other topics waiting in the wings I'm going to try and combine several posts here that I might've otherwise posted separately if our month had not been such a giant roller coaster. Hang on!!!

We gave Evander his first "real" (i.e. not sponge) bath on August 19th. He loved relaxing in the warm water until I started to wash him up. He wasn't so sure he liked that at all and it all went downhill from there. For the record he now LOVES every minute of his bath time, although he's still not too keen on that whole getting dressed thing that happens afterwards!

As you can tell Sofie was absolutely delighted by the whole bath time event, and she has spent many hours since then playing with Evander's bathtub.

Immediately after Evander's bath we dressed him in this special outfit that you may remember seeing Sofie in way back when (you can revisit here). Recall that this bunting has been worn by Aunt Janna, Ben, Uncle Kyle, cousins Lillian and Clayton, and big sister Sofie and we had a very special reason for choosing the 19th to snap some pictures of Evander in it. About four hours after these photos were taken the newest member of the extended family, cousin William Alexander, was welcomed into the world!

The bunting has been passed down to baby Will, who will surely be one of Evander's best buds! (Incidentally, you'll notice that I've added a new link on my blog list where you can read all about Will's adventures!)

On September 6th we all headed down to Grannie Gracie's house to enjoy the Labor Day holiday and Evander and Will got to meet each other for the very first time.

They weren't especially impressed, but I'm sure that will change with time :)

I just love this picture (stolen from Aunt DeAnna!) What proud grandparents! Will is practicing his dirtbike racing...it's totally in the blood :)

Bottle

Evander took his first bottle today while I went out ALONE! for the first time since he was born to get myself a haircut. Nana reported that he vehemently denied that weird plastic nipple thing for some time before he figured out that the stuff inside of the bottle tasted very familiar and maybe he was more interested than he gulp gulp gulp thought!

The last ounce was still resting in the bottle when I got home, since expressed breast milk is pretty much liquid gold and we exercise an extreme reluctance to discard it, and after I spent a minute or two checking out my new hairdo in the bathroom I returned to find Sofie, little mama that she is, doing this...

So we took a few minutes and fed him the rest of the milk together :) Evander didn't seem too traumatized by the whole bottle experience, although he has been pretty much attached to me since the moment I walked in the door as if to say, "Mom that whole bottle thing was ok and all, but this...you're not going to take this away from me...right?!!!"

One Month

Little big man you turned one month old last Sunday and oh what a cyclone of a month it was. After your rapid fire birth we brought you home to a very very affectionate big sister who hugged and kissed the whole family into a pretty solid summer cold. And, as if stuffy nosed 2 AM feedings greeted by a mommy who sounded like Darth Vader weren't fun enough, your poor little body decided a UTI would be the perfect topper. You landed yourself a four day stay at the children's hospital complete with eighteen puncture wounds and three catheterizations. It was enough to throw this mommy into a bit of a tailspin which she is just now starting to catch her bearings from. Through it all you've been a little fighting trooper, surely living up to your name, a good, strong man (child!)

You are enormous. I look at you and wonder how on earth you ever fit inside my belly, how you ever could have made your way out in one piece. Your body is completely different than Sofie's with your lanky arms and long, thin fingers and toes. You inherited my hands and feet and I love them on you. Your fuzzy little noggin is covered with the softest coating of downy hair. I love to rub it while you nurse. You love to eat and you are growing so fast, already in your 3-6 month clothes. I tease that you're a boob man. When you're hungry you shake your little head and then dive in like a fish going after a worm. When you're sleepy you nurse comfortably, sighing and making little crooked half asleep smiles, and when you finally pull away you nuzzle in as if you had a pillow.

When you are calm you are incredibly focused and your body relaxes as you stare contentedly off at the object of your choice as if you are analyzing its complexities. When you are active you grumble and grunt, waggling all your appendages in quick, jerky movements with a frustrated air. You are intense.

Evander, I have a feeling I'll always remember this month as one of the most challenging months of my life and I may never reminisce fondly about the circumstances surrounding it and how they made me feel, but meeting you has filled me with awe. It's hard for me to believe that just one month ago I had never smelled your little head, a scent so uniquely your own even fresh from a bath, or felt your little hands gripping tightly to my shirt, or heard you softly breathing, sighing softly in your sleep. I will always remember this month as the month I met you, and that's more than enough to make it one of the most incredible months of my life.

Labor Day

Happy Yesterday Was Labor Day!

Evander's labor story is FINALLY posted. Scroll down and check it out :)

E is for Evander

Anyone wondering how on earth Grey turned into Evander? I sure would be if I were you! Well...after yet another conversation with Ben in which he recounted the reasons he wasn't 100% thrilled with the name Grey (1. It's more of a nickname than a full name. 2. It's meaning isn't particularly meaningful.) I thought maybe I'd acquaint myself with some other options. After sticking my nose into some baby names websites for awhile I came across the name Evander and immediately felt attached to it. Not really that surprising when you consider that we were considering the names Evelyn, Evany, and Evangeline (just me...Ben hates that one) for a girl before we knew we were having a boy. Also, I think Evander is reminiscent of the names Oliver and Xavier which I'm fond of. I was really excited to run it by Ben because I was pretty confident he was going to like it too. Especially since it reminds me of the names Vance (which we both think is a great name that we might have considered if it wasn't Aunt Janna's married name) and Vaughn (another name that Ben is attached to but it belongs to both his uncle and his cousin already...Ben used to tease me and say he wanted to name his son Otto Vaughn Otto!) Evander also carries a solid meaning: good man or strong man, and some decent history too. In Roman mythology Evander was a Grecian hero, deified after his death, who brought the Greek pantheon, laws, and alphabet to Italy. He was said to have wisdom beyond that of all the Arcadians. So I wasn't too surprised when Ben jumped on the Evander bandwagon. We spent a couple of weeks trying it on for size and the rest is history.

Now the only question is...what should we call him?!

Nicknames I'm currently using include: Mister, Boss (because he is), Moose (because he's enormous), Pteradactyl (because he sounds like one when he gets mad), and Grey (we're all using this one accidentally from time to time!)

Nicknames associated with the name Evander include: Van, Vander, Andy, Vandy, and Evan. We're leaning towards Van at the moment, but I'm not completely sold on it. Ben has also suggested just plain E. Sofie's pronounciation, "Vanner" makes me grin :)

Uncle

Alright alright...I admit I'm having a mad case of writer's block and the labor story is nowhere near ready to post, but truthfully there is just so much I want to express and the words just aren't there to describe it. I'm going to try not to feel too guilty about taking my good ol' time to complete it, and in the meantime there are a million pictures that I want to post. Can you believe that Mr. Evander is already a whole week old?!!

I cropped the clock out of this picture, but it read 10:46 AM. Eleven minutes old and being weighed for the first time. By this time he had already pooped once. The midwife suspected he was actually 10+ pounds at birth. I'm still not quite sure how I carried around, let alone delivered, such a mammoth child!

Here's Daddy checking out his little boy for the first time...

...and Sofie checking out her baby brother for the first time :)

Footprints!

First bath!

This one reminds me an awful lot of the first picture of Sofie that I posted on the blog. You can see it here. You can definitely tell they are siblings!

This was Day 2 at the hospital, August 7th. It was the first time Sofie got to hold her brother.

Me with my snuggle bug. I wish they never grew too big for this!

Here we are on the 8th all ready to go home and waiting for transport. He'll never wear that outfit again :( Sofie never wore her homecoming outfit again either. I guess I make giant children!

Being wheeled out...

...and on our way home. We had to move the carseat straps up already!

Sweet sleepy profile.

Hanging out with Nana awake...

...and asleep.

Sofie's babies are really enjoying all of Evander's stuff. There always seems to be a baby in his carseat, swing, and bouncy seat!

Case in point. She instructed me to lay him down with the rest of her babies, and I coaxed her into laying down too :)

Our little Oompa Loompa. Aunt Barbie gave him these shoes and Sofie insists that he wears them when we leave the house!

A nursing mama's view.

Picture crazy mama took about twenty pictures of one week old Evander hanging out in his swing. This first one looks so much like some of Ben's baby pictures it's almost scary!

I think that'll about do for an update from our new family of four. We are busy working on adjusting to this new normal, trying to get as much rest as possible, and falling in love with this big little guy, but I'll do my best to post another update soon!