Christmas Pictures Take 1

Jackson is such a proud big brother!  He looks like such a big boy here!

Jackson was the easy one this year - maybe there's hope for a few years from now.  Although by then I'm sure Jackson won't want to be in pictures!  There wasn't a single picture with Brendan smiling.

I thought that they might do better if they were holding a present but then Brendan held it in front of his face!  Plus Lydia was starting to get fussy so I had to put the pacifier in.  Our photo session for the day was done!

I attempted to get a picture of the 3 kids for our Christmas card.  Attempted being the key word!  Every year this causes so much frustration as we try to get a cute picture.  I remember when Luke and I took our first Christmas card picture - just the two of us and Rudi and it took forever for us to get a nice shot of just us.  Now I am leaving out the two of us and Rudi and just working with the 3 kids - they're hard enough!  I realized that this isn't going to happen without Luke around though because I need someone to help keep their attention and bribe them to smile.  And now we have to make sure Lydia is in a happy mood and won't start to cry.  Plus I have to get the kids to put on their "church" clothes which both boys absolutely detest right now ... Grrrr!  Oh the joys of the season!  On a good note, both boys were more than willing to hold Lydia for the picture (I think that Jackson will end up holding her as Brendan just has her lay on him and doesn't really support her!).  So here are some shots from our first attempt.... we'll see what we get next time.

Sibling Love

These two have become really good buddies now that Lydia has arrived.  Although Jackson certainly has taken on the role of big brother and will talk Brendan into doing things for him.

Believe it or not, they don't always get along:)

I love how Lydia looks so tiny next to her brothers - or should I say, how Brendan and Jackson look so huge!  I don't really know when they grew so big!

Week 1

Daddy and Lydia cuddling at night.

Lydia's first bath .... she didn't like it.

This is supposed to be Lydia's bed right now but the boys seem to think that it's theirs ...

I realize that Lydia is actually 2 weeks old at this point but life is a bit busier so we’re a bit behind in updating the blog. 

So far life with a family of 5 is busy but definitely not unmanageable.  I really think that it was easier going from 2 kids to 3 kids versus 1 to 2 kids.  Jackson and Brendan are able to play together (and usually play pretty well).  It gives me time to take care of Lydia without having them climbing all over me. 

Lydia is a pretty good baby.  She gets fussier in the evenings but nothing too bad.  I think that she gets fussy because she struggles with burping.  She’s my first child that likes to sleep in the morning.  Brendan and Jackson were always early risers and Lydia will sleep in until about 9am before she has awake time.  She typically gets up every 3 hours or so to feed during the night (a couple of 4 hour stints as well).  But the best part is that as soon as she’s done nursing, she falls right back to sleep. 

Introducing Lydia Kae

Love, Love, Love this picture.... Brendan wasn't so sure of her at first but we had to hold Jackson back:)

Luke and his daughter and the birthday boy.

Brendan is all about her pacifier and wants to hold her whenever he sees her.

Mom and the 3 kids before heading home. 

Our 3 children... what miracles they all are!
 

I can't believe it's been 6 days since Lydia has arrived.  Life has adjusted so quickly and I can't imagine it without her!  After all of that waiting, we are all in love with this new little girl.  Our actual due date was the 19th and she decided to arrive on the 17th (actually if given her choice she would've waited I'm thinking).  I had been having contractions for some time now and last week Wednesday they started becoming more intense but didn't get too close together.  Around 4:30 in the morning, my water broke (something that didn't happen until I was at the hospital with the other two).  We called the doctor at 5:30am and he sent me right in because I had Group B Strep which meant that I needed some antibiotics before delivery.  So, we called my mom and she came over to be with the boys.  We arrived at the hospital around 7am and were hooked up to the IV's right away.  When they checked me, I was only dilated to a 2 so they started me on pitocin.  And our long day began.  Both of the boys were super long labors as well and honestly the worst part about it is that we get anxious for things to happen - epidurals make the wait much more bearable!  So we settled in and started watching some Netflicks shows.  Thank goodness for wonderful nurses as well!  Around 3pm I was still only dilated to a 5 so our nurse had me lay on my side for awhile and things started to progress some more.  At 5pm she came in and switched me to my other side and within an hour I went from a 5 to fully dilated!  It was amazing how quickly it went.  Of course by then I had started shaking and when I told her that she called the doctor right away since shaking like that is a sign that you're ready to push.  It took only 10 minutes of pushing and Miss Lydia Kae arrived.  Even when we started pushing, she wasn't completely down but she came down quickly.  When she arrived, she had the cord around her neck twice so it took her a minute to let out that first cry.  But it certainly is a beautiful sound!  We spent some time cuddling with her and then called her big brothers.  My mom and dad were quick to rush down with them to meet her and find out her name.  We didn't tell them the name initially because the Kae is after my mom and my sister and we wanted to see my mom's reaction.  Unfortunately Sara was working so we had to tell her on the phone but she rushed to the hospital after she got off working the next morning.  I can't get over that miracle of birth and the joy of seeing a child for the first time.  It's amazing how much love I have for the kids and how much more I fall in love with Luke with the birth of each child.  He has become a pro at being a labor coach!  More posts to come with Lydia's first few days but we're finding ourselves a bit busier these last few days.  However, it's a good kind of busy!

She's here!

Introducing Lydia Kae Hansen
Born November 17, 2011 at 6:52pm
8 lbs. 14 oz and 21 inches long

Brendan's Birthday Party #2 and Baby Update

Last week Sunday we had Brendan's birthday party with my side of the family.  Of course Brendan made out like a bandit and is now busy playing with even more new toys (even though Jackson tries to claim them as his own and give Brendan the older toys).  I can't believe that Friday will be his 2nd birthday.  I tend to get a bit emotional on their birthdays and with pregnancy hormones this could be an extra emotional birthday:) 

Brendan had some help on his candles from some of his best buddies.

I really am not a fan of seeing myself in pictures (especially when I'm 9 months pregnant) but I figured I should document that I was at least pregnant and about ready to burst at Brendan's party. 

So far no new news on the baby front.  Initially the doctor had thought we'd induce this week since Brendan was such a large baby (9 lbs. 8 oz) and each successive baby tends to get bigger but he doesn't think this one will be as large so we're waiting with and induction and praying that baby will make the decent sometime in the next week.  I'm definitely feeling ready to hold her yet my biggest concern is that she's healthy and delivery goes well.  The boys are all ready as well (including Luke!).  Luke has been great these last few weeks helping me with the boys and giving me some time to relax and to "nest" ... he's hoping that we now make it through this week so he can get some hunting in. 

Halloween

Aunt Sara with Jackson the Transformer and our strong-willed child Brendan.  (At least they sat for a picture!)

The "scary" Transformer!

Evan, Jackson and Lauryn right before heading out for all the candy

One unhappy little guy ... even the pacifier didn't make him happy!

Jackson was counting down the days until he could go trick or treating all week long.  Thankfully the night turned out to be perfect for trick or treating and the boys were ready to go.... well until Brendan had to put a costume on ... he DID NOT want to wear a costume.  But right before they left to go house to house with their cousins, we put it on and he kept it on.  I think he was consumed with the idea of getting more candy and didn't realize he still had his costume on.  Lots of candy at our house now and two boys that LOVE to go through all of it.