pleasant festivus to you all

tis the season

for one more blog post before Christmas.

Colin loves the vacuum—as long as it isn't turned on. He's funny like that. He gets so excited when we get the vacuum out, but then he cries and wants to be held when we turn it on.

Colin also likes to lay down and pretend to sleep next to Kate when she's lying on the floor.

Yes, Nate is wearing a plastic stable on his head like a hat. And yes, his eyes are glowing red like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Colin is getting really good at feeding himself with a spoon. He thinks he's so grown up when he scoops his own yogurt out of the cup.

Kate was surrounded by pink cuteness when she took a nap last Monday after her 2 week checkup. (Thanks for the super cute blanket Bekah!)

I really like how her hair looked all fluffy-like when I took her hat off.

I guess Colin likes to lie down and pretend to sleep even when Kate isn't lying on the floor.

What a cute boy. And it's a good thing he's cute with the way he's been behaving the last two days. Grrr.

A neighbor brought over a Christmas present and I let Colin unwrap it. He was excited. (Can't you tell?) It was fun to watch him tear into the wrapping paper, and it's getting me excited to watch him open his gifts on Christmas.

Kate once again sporting Sara Lu-Who's stripe-ed pajamas.

My friend Diana gave me this outfit. Before you mock her poor taste know this: she gave me this outfit because she wanted me to take a picture of it, post the picture on my blog, and then make fun of the outfit for being so ugly because she couldn't do so herself because it was a gift from a family member who reads her blog. This one's for you, Diana.

Not only is the overall presentation heinous, the material is stiff and uncomfy and better suited to an octogenarian than to a baby.

Awww.

Yikes!

Nate has pink eye. It's gross. He took these self portraits on Saturday, and his eye was still this disgusting, if not more so, today. He stayed home from work and went to the doctor again (he also went on Saturday and was given a prescription), got two more prescriptions and a shot in the bum, and tonight it looks like his eye is finally clearing up. He's been pretty miserable the last few days, poor boy. Thankfully he's been careful and the rest of us haven't gotten sick.

Yeah, the bow kind of rotated around her head while she napped. It's a good look on her though, in my opinion.

Diana also lent me this car seat cover and warm fuzzy pink thing. They have been wonderful and have kept Kate cozy in her very few adventures outside of our house.

Colin loves to get right up in Kate's face to give her hugs and kisses. He did this without my asking him to. I was trying to get a picture of just Kate because she was wearing a cute little skirt her aunt gave her. (As I was taking the picture I realized that she was also wearing a onesie with the mittens covering her hands, but it was too late to fix that.)

She doesn't seem to mind too terribly much that he's all over her.

Again, awww. I sure do love these crazy kids.

kate at 2 weeks

I took Kate to the doctor today for her 2 week appointment. Dr Taylor agrees that she is awesome and beautiful. Here are her stats:

8 pounds 2 ounces (41%)

20.5 inches long (57%)

14.25 inches around the noggin (57%)

I was super excited to hear that Kate is gaining weight and doing well in all aspects of newborn life. Feeding her has been a constant source of worry for me, but now I can relax (hopefully) knowing that she's getting what she needs from me. Also, I have to take her back again some time this week because, like a moron, I forgot to bring her PKU paperwork with me. Oops. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson with Colin, but no.

And here is a picture of her from today for you all to admire.

getting the hang of it

I'm starting to feel like raising two kids is a possible feat. I still get lots of help (thankfully), but I'm learning how to survive on my own too. Nate's still being awesome. He keeps the house clean, makes dinner, and entertains Colin when I need to feed Kate. And he doesn't even complain about angry baby noises in the middle of the night. What a champ. That about sums it up for us—here are some pictures of our cute kiddos. (And by kiddos I mean mostly Kate.)

Kate was pretty yellow for a while, but she's starting to look more normal now. This is her waiting patiently for a diaper change about a week and a half ago.

Here are some pictures from her first bath. I was pretty paranoid about it, but everything was fine, and she smelled so nice when it was all done.

Baby's first combover. She has some hair in the back, but very little of it on top.

I forced her into the whoville pajamas after her bath. She was thrilled. And then they were way too big so I had to change her again. Poor abused little baby.

Brad, DeAnna and Donovan came over for dinner last Saturday while Brad was still in town. Colin and Donovan played so well together. It was a hoot to watch them interact. When it was time for Colin to go to bed Nate took him in for a bath, and Donovan decided he wanted one too. Nate took these pictures because I was stuck in my room feeding Kate.

One night Kate and I were napping in the recliner. She sort of slid off of my chest and into the crevice between me and the arm of the chair. She was so happy and content there that I took a picture.

I think she had her eyes open when I went to take this, but she closed them up again.

Colin loves to be around Kate. He comes running into my room in the morning to see her and point out her body parts and give her kisses and play with her bouncer. I can't wait until I can get a picture of them both looking and smiling at the same time.

Nate said she was making old man frowns at him, so I tried to get a picture of it.

On Wednesday I took the kids over to Granny's house so we could hang out with Hannah and DeAnna and Donovan before the latter two had to go back to Iowa. Colin and Donovan jumped on Hannah's bed, and then it was time to go to sleep.

They also danced to the Hot Diggity Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Colin and I have never actually watched that show, but I guess he's seen it with Donovan. He loves the hot dog song. He just dances and giggles hysterically when he hears it.

Here's a video of the boys dancing to the song. Sorry it's kind of hard to see—the sun was a little on the bright side.

I have no idea what to say about this picture. Make up your own caption.

She has such a sweet little fat face. That's why I call her Fat Face.

I just wanted a picture of her wearing this cute little dress from Tia. But you can't really tell that it's a dress in this shot, and Kate is pretty mad. She kind of looks like a boy in a dress to me in this picture, but I promise she really did look adorable.

After Kate's bath the other night I tried sticking a headband and bow on her to take a cute picture, but things didn't quite work out the way I planned. From this angle you can't see the bow. (PS, I made that bow.)

This is before I put the bow on her head. I was just trying to get one of her awake. She was not pleased.

I wanted to flip the blanket over so she'd be on a cute pink background instead of white on white, but she was sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to bother her.

Also, the lighting in my bedroom is not ideal.

Oh well. I still think she's pretty.

kate: take 2

My sister-in-law Hannah came to the hospital and played Canasta with me while I was induced. It was nice to have something to take my mind off of being in labor. And it was nice to kick her trash even though I wasn't totally coherent.

My mom holding Kate for the first time. Kate's middle name is also my mom's middle name which is also her grandmother's middle name. That's where it comes from. And it's pronounced "lee-own" not "leon-e" or "whatever other crazy pronunciation you've come up with."

Kate with Papa Silvey.

Kate and Granny Silvey having a discussion.

Kate and Daddy holding hands. I'm guessing this is in the nursery while she's being cleaned and checked out since I wasn't there.

Happy happy Kate getting dressed to come home.

She was much happier once we stopped forcing clothing onto her.

Kate and Nate waiting oh so patiently to be allowed to go home.

Yep, still waiting.

Finally Kate's test results came back and we were given the go-ahead to take her home. The ride home was awesome. Kate started crying as soon as we buckled her into the car seat, but she stopped once we got the car going. Unfortunately I started crying as soon as she stopped and cried the whole was home. I haven't really stopped crying yet. Last night I cried because the pizza cutter was dirty when I wanted to use it and then again when I couldn't decide between a paper plate and a regular plate.

Here's the proud big brother with his new plaything. Colin loves coming to see "Tate" and say "Hi baby!" He gives her pats on the head, smells the flowers on her blanket, points at her nose and eyes, and gives her hugs and kisses. He also loves to play with/in the bouncer she sleeps in so we have to watch him carefully. So far he's been great with her. I hope that trend continues.

I was trying to get a picture of Kate not making strange faces, but I was not successful.

Nate took this one, but the flash kind of ruined it.

I took this one. It's a much better picture.

These are the infamous duck slippers from Uncle Doug. For pictures of Colin wearing the same slippers see this post.

The yellow blanket really sets of the jaundice in her face. So pretty.

We hadn't picked up the mail in about 2 weeks, so yesterday my mom and Colin ventured out into the cold to retrieve it. Colin got to play with all the junk mail. And by play with I mean rip apart.

And here's Nate and Kate after a long day of working and eating/sleeping, respectively.

That's it for pictures. Nate's gone back to work, but he's a champ with taking care of Colin and the house in the evenings. Colin has been playing with his cousin at Granny's house every morning while my mom is still asleep, then he comes home and plays with us. I think his energy level has doubled since last Saturday. I don't remember him being so active before. I've been struggling with nursing Kate, but we're trying to hang in there. Pray for us. Please! Other than that I'm doing really well. Recovery (aside from the consistent emotional distress and relentless crying) has been a breeze. I think that has had a lot to do with all the help we've received from friends and family this week. Thanks guys! As for future pictures of the family, I'll try to blog again when I feel like it.