Bedtime Stories

One of the best parts of the days that Sean and Kate are at home is bedtime storytime.  Typically Steve and both kids gather in Kate's bedroom and read a chapter from a special book.  They have spent a lot of time reading from the Lemony Snicket series, but have recently branched out into a series about the Last Apprentice to have a little variety.  Kate loves scary stories and the Last Apprentice series seems to fill that need.

On the nights where we are running behind schedule and story time looks like it is in jeopardy, Sean will ask if we can "make an exception" just for tonight.  Since Steve also treasures that time, it is hard to resist the request.

First Day of School 2015-16

Sean and Kate were very excited to start school again.  Their first day was on Wednesday September 2nd.

I only had time to ask Sean a single question this year, but I will try to do better when I don't have an infant in my arms.  :)  When asked what the highlights of his summer were, Sean said 1) Grandma Camp, 2) the Inn at Otter Creek, and 3) the fireworks show in Arlington.

Sean was starting middle school this year as a joyful 6th grader.  He had been looking forward to this transition for all of the last year, so it was fun to see him finally get to head out the door.  He will be transitioning classes throughout the day, so that should be an interesting change for him.  Sean has grown about 6 inches in the last year and is likely to pass up Steve and Mandy in height this year. His shoe size is already bigger than Mandy's shoe size.

Kate started 4th grade this year.  She moved into a 4/5 split classroom, so we are looking forward to watching her rise to the challenge of working with kids who could push her to excel even more.

Our two older kids continue to bring so much joy and laughter into our lives.  We look forward to another exciting year of watching them grow and learn.

Meeting Gma Great and Barbers

Mimi and Papa called on Tuesday to see if they could bring Grandma Great up to meet Amy when they came north to drop off the Mitchell's dog.  Sean and Kate were excited about the opportunity to see all 3 of the visitors, so we said they should come.

As they were getting close to our house, we got a text from Aunt Jolyn that she and Kent were on the way too. Surprise!

Mimi gave Amy a blanket that Grandma Great had made when Mandy was a baby.  Mandy promptly started tearing up at the thought of that blanket being passed down to her own precious daughter -- darn hormones!

Aunt Jolyn and Uncle Kent also got to enjoy a few minutes with the sleepy baby.  We put Kent to work moving furniture around while he was here, so I think we owe him some ibuprofen.

10 Little Fingers

On Day 2, we tried to recreate a few of the newborn photos that we had taken at the hospital.  Unfortunately, I'm not as skilled at photography as the lady who took those photos.  But I managed to catch a few photos of our little angel.

Striking a philosophical pose so she can impress her daddy.

Look at those long fingers!

Houdini

We got home from the hospital and were relaxing on the couch when we noticed that Amy had removed her own hospital bracelet.  I'm still not certain how she did it, but one minute it was on her wrist and the next it was in her hand.  I think she must have a little Houdini in her.

Day 1

We moved to a recovery room an hour or two after Amy was born and she came right along with us in the wheeled crib below. It's so nice that they don't try to take the babies away anymore, but rather keep the whole family together throughout their stay in the hospital.

One of the things that I found most amazing about this little bundle of joy was how long her fingers and toes were.  They were long and narrow and I could not stop admiring them.

Steve was amazing with Amy from the beginning.  It's an amazing thing to watch your husband fall in love with your daughter in an instant.  He did all kinds of things to lighten the load for me too, making certain that I had the time to rest and recover.

Amy made certain we had lots of opportunity to admire her throughout the day.  Isn't that face precious?

All bundled up for the car ride home.  We started the drive home and I immediately made Steve stop the car so that I could climb into the back seat and keep an eye on this little girl.

Welcome Amy Grace

On August 8th, we welcomed Amy Grace into our family at long last.  She was born at 6:52pm at Providence in Everett, weighing in at 8lbs 6 oz and measuring 21 inches long.

We were admitted into the hospital very early that morning (about 4am, I think) and spent the day with Steve and Debbie encouraging Mandy through her labor process.  About 1pm, Mandy made the decision to get an epidural and by 2pm both Mandy and Steve were napping to recapture some strength for the final push.

After receiving the epidural, we started to see a few dips in the baby's heart rate, especially when the nurses tried to roll Mandy onto her left side to keep the epidural working effectively on both sides. Due to the dip, they started having Mandy wear an oxygen mask.

Debbie was starting to get anxious for Boo (the name we used for the baby before she was born) to make her grand arrival, so she staged this photo for us.

Because Amy had been overdue and the amniotic fluid had shown signs of meconium, the medical team included a NICU unit who would quickly care for Amy if there were any complications presenting at birth.  After about an hour of pushing, our little girl finally joined us.  She didn't cry right away, but once they got her a little cleaned up, she made her presence known and passed the rest of her tests with flying colors.

Welcome to the world, baby girl!