New Year's Eve

We spent our very first New Year's Eve at our house together with just our family.  We've always visited family every New Years since Dave and I got married.  It was kind of fun to stay home and do stuff with our kids.

We played lots of games.  Our favorites are the Carrom board that Grandma and Grandpa Judi gave us for Christmas and Spot It.  Kate's favorite game is Life.

Then we watched a movie and then we had some treats.  The kids all stayed awake until midnight.  After midnight when we were putting Ty to bed he said that he wanted to stay up.  He loves to stay up and asks if he can every night. 

Ty and Nick

Ty has been throwing some nice tantrums lately.  One night he wouldn't stop crying, so I took Nick into his room and he calmed right down.

And then Ty poked himself in the eye...but he was still happy.

Christmas Day 2012

The kids woke up at about 7:00 on Christmas morning.

This is Ty's "I'm really happy because Santa brought me a garbage truck" face..

 Santa brought Jack little legos...

 Santa brought Kate a mini Julie American Girl doll and the book set.

 Other gifts...
Kate got this bed for Kit.  I painted it and made the pillow and mattress.  Grandma Cox made her a quilt that matches the one on Kate's bed and a doll size afghan.  She also got some books and a basketball shirt and some other things.

Jack got handcuffs (that broke within the hour), more legos, a magnet board for his room, books, and more.

 His favorite gift was basketball shoes (like Jimmer's).  Kate got some too.

 Matching shirts.

 Our favorite present was Nick!

 This is one of the few times that Nick was awake for very long.  Ty was giving him lots of kisses.

We spent Christmas day playing lots of games that we got for Christmas.  I felt great, so I made a lot of Christmas dinner with Grandma Judi's help (ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, jello, carrot pudding, chocolate cake, etc.).  Jack and Grandpa played a lot of basketball too. 

Christmas Eve 2012

 Christmas Eve evening we did our tradition of letting the kids open one present.  Pajamas!

 

 Nick didn't get new pajamas.  But he didn't care since he was only 5 days old.

 We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Judi with us.

 Then we acted out the nativity with our puppets.  Ty was the innkeeper.

 Jack was Joseph and a shepherd.

 And Kate was the angel.

 Kate is a wonderful helper.  She's great at holding Nick. (Jack is too!)

 Little Nick had his first sponge bath at home.  The kids were right there to put his binkie in when he cried.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Nick Two Days Old

Nick and I got to go home from the hospital on Friday morning.  He was circumcised Friday morning and they wanted to watch him for a few hours before they let us go home.  They were also a bit concerned about his weight, because they thought that he'd lost 9% of his body weight.  Dr. Tom (our pediatrician) came to see him and said that he looked great and that the scale was probably wrong at birth.

Dave and the kids and grandma and grandpa went to Santa Fe Friday morning to do some Christmas shopping.  So, Nick and I hung out at the hospital until early afternoon when they came to pick us up.  Nick slept and I read and enjoyed the quiet.  

 Then we got to go home!

 Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to the ward Christmas party.  They got to sit on Santa's lap.  Ty very bravely told him that he wanted a garbage truck.

Nick One Day Old

Nick and I spent a very relaxing, quiet day in the hospital the day after he was born.  Dave and Ty and Grandma and Grandpa Judi spent a few hours with us.

Ty loved holding Nick!

 The nurses brought him to me that evening with this Christmas onesie and hat on. 

Kate and Marianne spent a few hours with me while Dave and the boys went to basketball practice.  Kate is such a great helper!

The dietary department (aka cafeteria) brought us this huge tray of goodies.  I'd heard rumors that if you have a baby at the hospital here at Christmas that they bring this to you. 

Nick's Birth Day

Nick Parker Judi a.k.a. "Baby Brother" was born Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 at 3:18 pm.  His due date was December 24th, so my doctor (Dr. Bridge) induced me a few days early.

We went to the hospital at 7:30 am.  I wasn't dilated too much, so the doctor gave me something to change that and to induce labor.  By noon my contractions were hard enough that I decided that I wanted an epidural.  I spent most of the morning lying in bed hooked up to lots of monitors and cords checking my email and reading.  At 1:30 the anesthesiologist arrived and gave me an epidural and then my doctor broke my water.  After that I just got to lie back and relax until Baby Brother decided to be born.  I actually had to wait for about 45 minutes for the doctor to come back to the hospital, otherwise he would have been born at 2:00.  After two pushes he was born.  The cord was wrapped around his neck, but the doctor just unwrapped it and he was fine.

I got to hold him for a while right after he was born.  Then they measured him and weighed him.  His birth weight was 7 lbs 8.5 oz, but we think that the scale was wrong because the next day he weighed 8% less than that.  I think he was about 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19" long.  He has lots of dark hair and long feet and toes.

Dave and I waited for a while until my epidural wore off so I could change rooms.  Then Dave picked up the kids.  Ty spent the morning at his friend, Ian's house.  Kate and Jack were at school until noon (it was a short day), then they went to the Vest's house too.  At 1:30 they went to our friends, the McDonald's house and stayed there until Dave picked them up. 

Seeing Baby Brother for the first time...

The kids were wearing their shirts that they tie-dyed in art class.  And Ty was wearing his pajamas, because he never got dressed at Ian's house.  It was really cold too, like 10 degrees when they came to the hospital and he was wearing shorts.  He loves shorts

The kids loved taking turns holding Nick.  (We didn't decide on his name until before we left the hospital.)

Later that evening, Vaughn and Marianne came to see us at the hospital.  They drove all day Weds and then spent a week with us. 

The first night I slept great.  I had a nice nurse that watched Nick so I could sleep for a few hours at a time.  There was only one other couple in the OB unit the whole time that we were in the hospital.  The nurses and doctors didn't come bother us too much.  They figured since it was my 4th baby that I knew what I was doing.  Nick didn't eat much the first day.   He slept a lot!

Crazy Hair Day

The last week of school before Christmas break was Spirit Week at the kids' school.  The only day that they participated was Crazy Hair and Pajama Day.

Snow Day

Friday was our first snowfall of the year.  Kate and Jack were really excited to get their snow clothes on and went to the bus stop early so they could play in the snow until the bus came.  Luckily, they ended up deciding to close school at 10:00, so I got to pull the kids off of the bus and let them come home.  The bus was really late picking up the kids and then it was waiting across the street until the road to the school was cleared of cars that had slid off. 

Ty has been waiting to play in the snow and build a snowman for a long time.  He even saved his carrot from dinner the other night for his snowman.  

The kids spent a few hours outside on Friday and Saturday sledding, shoveling and building snowmen.  They loved it!