Bringing baby home

Three kids is a bit busy, but for the most part we are adjusting well. We just don't do anything beyond feeding baby, holding baby, feeding kids, trying to get ready for the day, and then trying to get to bed at night. It's a good life.

Sienna is such a sweet, cuddly baby and while the boys have been thrown for a loop, they love love love their little sister. They both are acutely aware of her and her needs and remind me if I'm not getting to her fast enough.

Baby Sienna

So sweet and innocent
We all love her already!

3 minutes old

Sweet baby Sienna was born on November 6th at 11:53 a.m. I had contractions for a couple months, and then super intense ones all day on the 5th. I had dinner out with some friends and they wanted to rush me to the hospital but since I'd been doing the same thing for weeks, I wasn't as worried. I was up the whole night suffering, and by 5:30 a.m. I begged Ryan to call my mom so we could get into the hospital. I am friends with the anesthesiologist who works there, so of course I was interested in seeing him immediately. My wonderful friend came and hooked me up so that by about 10:00 I was happy, and then she was here before noon! What a dream.

She is so sweet and perfect and looks almost exactly like Jamison! It is amazing how quickly you fall in love with these little fresh people. Jamison and Carter love her too and were so happy to see her. To be honest, they enjoyed moving the bed up and down with the buttons a little more, but they also thought she was great. How did our family ever feel complete without her?

Halloween

In their Halloween shirts at Lorie's house
Pirate Jamison

Pumpkin Carter

We had such a fun Halloween! Lorie had us over for a healthy lunch before all the candy began. She is such a great aunt to the boys and we'll miss her since she is going to Scotland to work for the next year. Trick or Treating was super fun and the boys were happy with about 10 pieces of candy. (What a relief since I was tired and it started raining. Our neighborhood is very hilly and it is quite a workout just getting door to door. If you think I'm a wimp, come try it next year.) They loved even more to answer the door and hand out candy. I love that part too - but I have to be concerned when the "kids" coming are in college: one particular friend was balding! That is serious desperation for some candy.

Out of the Crib

Carter's last morning in his baby bed.
First night in the big boy bed! The stars make it awesome.

Since the baby is due at any moment, I figured it was time for Carter to stop sleeping in her crib. I like to think ahead. I can't believe what a difference it makes to see him in a big boy bed. He loves it and feels so proud to be in the same room with Jamison. They look so cute sleeping in there together. I guess it's official, Carter isn't a baby anymore! Sadly, his sleep-in's are over as well - now that he's with Jamison they both are up at the crack of dawn. I had been spoiled by his lazy sleep-in mornings. Too bad Jamison can't sleep past seven...

Scared Mom at the Scarecrow Festival

Tons of Inflatables
Fun friends Jack and Max

Loving it!

My friend Jen and I are on the same baby schedule. She has two boys the same ages as me and we are both due in the next few weeks. So we decided to take the boys to the Scarecrow Festival. It was super fun and a beautiful day to be outside - tons of inflatables and games for the kids. We'll see if Jen wants to come with me again though...

At one point the kids took off in different directions while playing games. Jen offered to watch Jamison so I could grab Carter, only I couldn't find him. It had been 5 seconds! The place was huge and tons of people everywhere and then my mind races because some guy had been looking at me and trying to get my attention (I think we had been on a date or something and I avoided him), but of course now I'm sure that he was after my adorable kids. So, after 15 minutes of panicked looking (it felt like eternity), I found Carter happily playing a toss the beanbag game. He was totally uninterested in me as I sat down on the ground next to him and cried with abandon for a few minutes. Let's blame it on pregnancy hormones, but not finding your kid is the worst feeling in the world.

Party in St. George

Lounging in our hotel room
Carter CRASHED in the afternoons after swimming all day.

Dad snuggling with boys before we left. They are so cute!

So, crazy woman that I am, I took the boys (without husband but plus my mom and dad) to St. George for one last party with them before the new baby. Don't mind that I'm the size of New York, we still had a great time swimming, playing mini-golf, going to parks, and best of all watching my dad win the Huntsman games in tennis! Of course - he's very sporty and has always been disappointed with my lack of coordination. We had so much fun - my boys LOVE St. George and are sure that it has something to do with monkeys since it was clearly named after Curious George. In fact, for years, the boys have called it "EE EE OH OH" (monkey sound) since St. George was too hard to say.

I did have a lovely swelling episode after eating my favorite Japanese grill (Samurai 21) and then going to Les Mis with my Dad. At the intermission, I couldn't walk because my legs had absorbed all of that salt and I could hardly even bend my knees! Lovely.

Babymoon

Beautiful Sun Valley

Fun times! You can't even tell I'm pregnant - oh wait, maybe you can.

See the swan? We stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge.

Ryan and I took one last trip together without the boys before the new baby. We are so lucky to go play with our friends the Johnson's and their best baby in the world. Really. He either sat silently or slept the entire time. Where do you get those kind of babies? We had a great time enjoying the beauty of Sun Valley, golfing, reading, playing cards, playing tennis, swimming and eating. It is always fun to remember how much we like being together - it sure makes for a different dynamic when you aren't trying to juggle the kids!