tidbits

This first picture happens pretty often. As Chad heads out the door each morning he grabs his stethoscope. Then, as a way to delay his departure, Aimee tells him that she needs to listen to his heart. Of course then Porter needs in on the action.


This picture of Pratt in the doll stroller had to be taken since this happened a lot with Porter. Porter does most of the pushing of it now, and since he isn't as interested in playing house, Pratt has only had one ride. Lucky!

This last picture is Aimee and Porter "having dinner" before church the other week. Funny story: My neighbor had her little baby boy just two weeks before Pratt. While her mom was in town helping out she gave the new baby a tiny little argyle sweater vest for church. Her little girl, who is two got concerned and told her mom that the sweater was Porters. I thought it was so funny that such a little person associated argyle sweaters with Porter!

gardening

For this time of year, last weekend was a scorcher here! Chad had originally planned to spend the entire day studying, but couldn't resist a little time out in his garden. Knowing how busy he would be for the next two weeks, he decided to include Aimee and Porter in the project so he could spend some time with them. It was semi-successful. They both made it through round one. By round two, Porter managed to stick with it long enough for me to get a little video, but Aimee had lost all interest. She did, however, enjoy the frog that Chad caught while working in the dirt. Honestly as a kid I hated when my dad forced us all to go help plant the garden, and then followed up by making us weed. Yard work just isn't the out to me that is is to Chad. Either way, I love how he brought the kiddos in on it. Those two adore their daddy, and Chad reciprocates that adoration. He is so in love with his family! I feel so blessed to have such a handsome husband who works so hard to make his family #1, especially when it would be so easy to put us on the back burner. I love this time in our life and sometimes find myself dreading moving on to the next phase. How could life possibly be as wonderful as it is now!

six weeks

Yesterday Pratt was officially six weeks old! It is amazing to me how those nine months that you carry your baby drag, but then time seems to just run away once they are here. These pictures are of Pratt when he was just eight days old. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just six pictures to post! He has already changed so much. In fact, the last time he was weighed was a week ago, and he was up to eight and a half pounds, and now has a small double chin! While that weight may not seem like much to some people, it is a record for us! We tend to grow very small people. That means he has put on 2 pounds since coming home from the hospital! Part of this may be due to all of the pumping I have had to do to keep him fed, since nursing him has been quite a challenge. With that one exception in mind, he has been an absolute joy! My mom used to tell me how I was her easiest baby. Well, so far, Pratt is definitely mine! If he is full and clean he is pretty much a happy little guy. He has almost just slipped right into our family, like he was always here. We love this little guy so much, and his sweet, patient little spirit has been such a blessing to us!

blog worthy

Every once in a while when something funny or extra sweet happens Chad will tell me that it is "blog worthy." To be honest I usually forget, and the event goes un-blogged. Chad followed up this time, however, and here I am posting a pretty cute Aimee funny.

The other night we were having tubby time. Aimee and Porter were just getting to the point that we were ready to get them out when Aimee said, "Mom, somebody peed in the water!" It just so happens that I know my daughter well enough to know that even though she said it in a way to accuse Porter, I was suspicious. I came back with, "was that somebody you?" She very meekly said, "yeah." The tun was drained and refilled, and bedtime was successfully delayed by an extra 10 minutes.

As for the photos, I think the only one that warrants an explanation is the one with frozen peas on Porters ankle. He was getting out of his high chair and took a spill. The crying lasted longer than usual, and he refused to put any weight on it for the rest of the night. Since Porter isn't a good enough pretender to pull off a limp we figured this one was for real. I guess the Ibuprofen and ice worked because he was back to running after Aimee the next morning!

slowed down

Before Pratt was born my calendar was full! I had things I wanted to be sure got done before one more little body was added to the loading and unloading in van. After March 4th I pretty much left my calendar wide open. My recovery with Aimee and Porter were very different, and I wanted to leave room for that uncertainty. In some ways it has been hard not having things to keep the kiddos and myself busy. Chad doesn't call me Bullet (as in a bulleted list) Girl for nothing. There have also been lots of yuckies going around, and we have been trying to not bring them all home. On the other hand, it has been nice to not feel guilty about wearing my PJ pants after I get out of the shower at least five days a week! It has also made for some nice time to just enjoy working into our new family dynamic. These are some of the pics from the last two weeks of us just taking it one day at a time. Porter has actually started taking an interest in Pratt. He now asks to hold his baby, and even gives him little kisses. Aimee is still very interested in him as well. She is my awesome big helper. She gets me diapers and wipes, throws away the dirty ones, holds Pratt as often as I will let her, and is great to "bink" him when he cries. She is the one that shared her baby with him while he was swinging, and was thrilled when I let her help feed him a bottle. I also included a picture of her fashion sense she must have inherited from her dad. The pic of her on the couch was the outfit she came up with after church last week. Life is good,and we are enjoying every minute!

the new normal

It has been just over two weeks now with our little Pratt, and it has been awesome! One of the big advantages I had coming into this delivery was that I knew the day and the hour, and I was able to prepare and plan, two of my favorite things. I had a to do list that for the most part got done, which gave me a lot of piece of mind. It made my stay in the hospital less stressful, knowing most of the loose ends were tied up. Actually I had a fantastic stay at the hospital. There were the things that I expected that were great, like being in a brand new hospital, the awesome 24 hour room service, and having my doctor being the one to do rounds on me. Chad and I were also able to Skype several times while I was there. It was nice to be able to "be with" my family even when we were apart. Plus it was nice to not have the kiddos bouncing off the hospital walls. I also had a few very pleasant surprises like a fresh warm cookie each afternoon and some really amazing nurses, one in particular, that made my stay very memorable! I also hoped for the best and prepared for the worst with the kiddos once we got Pratt and me home. I admit it was a little rough at first. My mom had some frustrating travel difficulties that left me that first day home alone, and was almost by default rough. Lucky for me I have some super amazing friends that got me through it! Once my mom got here things got better and worse. On the one hand, she was wonderful to keep life moving. She did my laundry the entire week! That alone was a huge gift since that is my least favorite chore. She also kept us all fed and my little people busy so that I could focus on feeding Pratt. Between having Grandma around and me not exactly at the top of my game, Aimee and Porter spent a few days testing the limits of what they could get away with, and how much attention they could get. After a day or two they learned that Grandma wasn't going to let them get away with being naughty, and things got better. Pratt also had a touch of Jaundice which meant three days in a row going to the Dr. to get it checked. Not fun. On the plus side this c-section has been the easiest to bounce back from, so even with all of the going out, I was able to keep my pain in check. We did get to enjoy a few laid back days with Grandma before her plane took off and the Aimee's tears started. She has been praying for Grandma everyday since she left. That week of having my mom here helped me get rested up for life to resume it's new normal. Since then I have braved the grocery store and the doctors office. We also have survived Porter having the flu. Our neighbor whose wife recently had their first baby said to us several weeks later that he didn't know how women do it, especially after having to give birth and then take care of a new person. My answer was adrenalin. Somehow I forgot the real answer. It is divine help. That and the best husband in the world! It is amazing how having a new one of Heavenly Fathers little spirits join your family reminds you of how very blest you are. That has been the best part of the last couple of weeks. Each time I get up in the night to nurse, or even have Aimee and Porter do something they aren't supposed to, I feel an added help reminding me that these little people are children of God, and that I am privileged that He has trusted me to raise them. It makes it much easier to not be so upset, and handle the situation with love and kindness. Maybe that is why he is still sending them, I need those reminders again. I am just so grateful for my growing little family, and to know that if I can just keep that in mind as I try to teach my kiddos who they are and why they are here that we can be together forever!

pratt kevin williams

The guy in the temple told me it was a "military holiday." March "forth." For us it was just awesome! With my kiddos still sleeping in their beds, Chad and I headed to the hospital. After a whole lot of paperwork, pre-op, and waiting, we finally got our new little guy here! Officially, Pratt Kevin Williams weighed in at 7 pounds even, was 18 and 1/4 inches, and has a head full of dark crazy hair! Chad and I agree that it takes a bit before you can usually tell who or even what a baby looks like. This little guy has already changed looks about five time today, so I guess he is no exception! The best part of the whole experience for me was that I wasn't alienated from it all. With both Aimee and Porter I basically got to see them long enough to take a picture, and then spent about 3 hours waiting to be cleared in the recovery room before I got to even hold my baby. Today I didn't miss a thing! All of the measuring and cleaning was done right next to me while I got put back together. Then later I took pictures, was around while Chad made a few phone calls, and got man-handled by a well intended nurse that must have not realized that I have nursed before. I watched Pratt have his first bath, and get his footprints taken. It was amazing. The adrenaline did finally slow down enough to remind me that I had also just had abdominal surgery, and I had a few not so pleasant firsts, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world! This hospital just opened last June, and is the only one in the city that allows a c-section mom to recover with her baby. Such a great choice!

The other huge highlight of the day was having our whole family of five together for the first time. Chad eventually pulled himself away to go home and get the kiddos. He even put Aimee's hair in fresh piggy puffs for the occasion. He arrived back at the hospital about two hours after he left with a flower and candy bar bouquet, one very excited little girl, and one very uninterested little man. I don't think it was the reunion that Chad or I had pictured in our heads, but it was at least memorable. Just moments after the crew got here we were greeted with fresh warm cookies for the whole family. This at least made getting in the door possible for Porter. Aimee on the other hand just wanted to hold her baby. She has been looking forward to this almost as much as Chad and I. I would say the picture of her holding Pratt is one of my favorite of the day! Once the cookies and newness wore off things kind of turned into a circus, and the visit ended up being much shorter than planned. Chad hauled the kiddos back home, and got them to bed. He and I had a final phone call for the evening and we called it a day. It was a really great one though!