Thursday, December 16, 2010

Snowflake Lane






Mid-week we decided to head up to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. Jer took off from work a bit early so we could go have pizza at my parents' house and then head downtown with everyone to see the festivities. Experiencing a horrible amount of traffic, a torrential down pour, a grumpy 19 month old the entire trip made us really doubt our decision to venture out. However, we finally arrived at my parents house and had a brief moment to down our pizza. Then, my parents said that they'd keep Kenzie and Corban at home and send us out to Snowflake Lane. This sounded like a good plan, so we took our oldest on a special date. She loved it. Of course, when she was asked about it, all she would mention was the snow princess, but we loved the music, snow, drumming and other characters that greeted us along the way. It ended up being a real fun evening, and I'm glad we weren't detered by the rush, the chaos and the rain.



We got everyone bundled up and ready to tromp around Shillter Tree Farm and cut down a tree. Armed with a warm Starbucks latte and a minivan full of kids, we headed to the farm. As we took the exit, we saw that the farm had a pre-cut lot with some beautiful trees. With a week old baby who was going to need to be fed soon and two other ones in the same state, the nice looking trees were super tempting...a little too tempting. We got out of the car, took 15 minutes to make our decision and get the tree loaded up, and we were back on the road. We won't be this lame every year, but it just seemed too perfect this year. I must brag that we got a beautiful eight foot tree for $25. What a steal. I also had to post a picture of the tree on top of the car because we did buy a Honda Odyssey a while back, and I don't think I've posted a picture. Can I just say that I love minivans. Who ever thought I'd say it, but I do love this car. We didn't get many pictures of the kids decorating, but we all chipped in while eating Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Christmas Cookies




Time Out

Kenzie loves her sister so much that sometimes she joins her for time out.

Little Man




First Bath at Home



The Parents and their Son


"Miss"


"Miss, Miss, Miss, MISS, MISS!!!" (translated - Kiss) I was concerned about how Kenzie would adapt to a new baby. The answer - fabulously! She loves her brother so much. All she wants to do is kiss him. If you know Kenzie, you know that she let's us know what she wants, growing in intensity until she gets it. So, she gets pretty excited about "missing" her brother. This is paired with kissing his head, eyes, nose, hand, etc. She also wants to rock him. So, he goes on her lap, and she bounces him up and down with her legs. What a blessing to have big girls in my house who shower this kid with love. The biggest thing is trying to protect him from the love and get the girls to back off a bit.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Kenz


Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cousins


This post is out of order, but I have pictures of times my sister has taken my girls. It is such a blessing on so many levels. It's nice to have a bit of time with just my hubby. However, the bigger blessing is for the girls and the relationship they have with their cousins. They love each other so much.


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The First Few Days





Adapting to home has been going pretty well. The girls really like him. Kenzie wants to give him a "miss" (kiss) all the time. They are both being gentle, although there still seems a need to protect the little guy as they crawl around trying to get closer to him or me. Kenzie actually seems to be easier since we arrived home. Abigail wants to help and hold him. I am pleased with how both girls have responded, so far. It has been amazing having Jeremy at home, and I'm imagining doing it by myself and am intimidated by the future. The girls still need a lot, and when I have him upset and them needy, it shall be interesting. He is a pretty easy baby thus far. He has a real needy time beginning in the evening and continuing throughout the night - until 1-3 AM. However, he then gives us a decent chunk of sleep - about 5 hours. During the day, he has been pretty quiet and easy. I can tell he wants to just suck on things, which makes a pacifier tempting, but we are trying to hold off a bit. He has been a bit jaundice, so it has meant a doctor visit daily. Today (4 days old), his readings have leveled off, so he is in the clear. Some of the pictures above were when we were sitting him in the warm window as the sun shone in. We have been sleeping OK - better, for me, than when I was pregnant. Oh - and on that note, it feels so good to be not pregnant, as the end of the pregnancy was just way too uncomfortable. I loving this little guy. I just love to hold him and stare at him. What a wonderful addition and a huge blessing.

Coming Home




We returned home on Sunday the 21st. It was a nice, quiet day at the hospital where we were able to sleep, watch the Seahawks while the snow fell over Wright Park out our window. Then, it was home to integrate this little man into the family.

Visitors

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

My Boys

Here we are right after Corban was born.

Corban's Birth Story



Friday November 19th my parents came down to visit. I had an early morning doctor appointment, and at that appointment, they scraped my membranes. When I returned home, I began having some pretty intense contractions. It was a lot of pain in my back and reminded me of the contractions and pain I had during Abigail's birth. So, after an hour of consistent contractions about 3 minutes apart, we headed to the hospital. I was so glad my parents were there to be with the girls. As we were driving, things did began to slow down and then slowed down even more once we arrived at the hospital. The first picture here is of me being sent home. Contractions fell off completely, and I thought it was going to be yet another night I thought I was going into labor and wasn't. However, contractions began again around 10:00 PM. Then, they really set in consistently and intensely around 11:00. I labored at home for a bit, determined not to be the idiot that goes in again for a false labor. However, things got intense quick and I was beginning to experience a lot of pain and pressure. I soon began to worry that I was going to be the idiot who had her baby on the side of the freeway. We took off to the hospital. The pressure and contractions were killing me and Jer began to have doubts that we'd make it to the hospital too, but he remained calm as he assured me that we would not have the baby in the car. We left the house around 1:15 AM on November 20th. Corban was born at 2:06 AM. So, there was no time for any kind of medication. I basically had time to check-in, while I was bracing my arms in the wheel chair and groaning through contractions right in the lobby. Then, we were wheeled to a triage room until they immediately realized I was pretty serious about being in labor...that took about two seconds. So, I was taken to the birthing room where they got me hooked up and informed me that I was dialated to 10 had no time for anything but having a baby. Time to push. Pushing was a bith chaotic this time around because I had about 8 people all telling me what to do rather than the rhythm of relax and now push, relax and now push. So, I just tried to push and keep pushing, tuning everyone out but my husband. Out came a beautiful baby boy - all 8 lbs 13 oz of him. He was 20 inches long. Jer was able to cut the ambilical chord. He is perfectly healthy, and we are so excited to welcome Corban John Durr into our family.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

100% Girl


My Girls




Sunday, November 14, 2010

Little Ceasars and McDonalds



We had a fun lunch date today. We had a couple coupons for Little Ceasars, so we went there and got an entire pizza and crazy bread for $2.19. We sat in the back of the van and had a Little Ceasars picnic while watching "Peter Pan." Then, it was off to McDonalds for ice cream. For $2.49, we got the ice cream and a bunch of fun. Jeremy was quick to climb up into the play structure and play with the kiddos. Needless to say, I kept my pregnant body on the ground. It was a really fun afternoon for less than $5. I feel very blessed to have such an involved husband and dad.