Brotherly Love

The Papasan Chair: Out of Retirement

Here is Lucy, now 2 weeks old, lounging in the Papasan Chair this morning with Gus. Yes, we have already had a few adventures and its only 7:30.

And Below: Gus, at 9 days old, in the same chair. Oh my, look at the size of his noggin.

.....and, I'm spent!

Cousin May Annalee is Here!

Congratulations to Uncle Ben and Aunt Holli, they just welcomed a baby girl (yay team pink) yesterday afternoon. Her name is May Annalee and she was 8 pounds 1 ounce at birth. These little cousins are exactly one week apart- and come to think of it, Holli and I are also exactly one week apart in age. Crazy! Can't wait to meet little Mae, hopefully sometime soon.

Lucy the Milk Monster

When Lucy was born, she weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. At two days old, she had dropped to 7 pounds 6 ounces- most babies lose some weight right away. Yesterday at her 5 day old weigh-in, she tipped the scales at 8 pounds even.

She has been sleeping a ton, but when her eyes are open we all get so excited. She has such gorgeous dark blue eyes.

When I put Gus to bed at night, now I have one more person to read to. She seems to like story time just as much as he does. And he thinks it is so fun to have her laying in bed next to him for a bit each evening.

Getting the hang of it

Gus is quite natural with his baby sister, actually. He marvels at her feminine long long fingers and toes. Everyone wants a turn to hold her, and he is right up there. always asking to hold little Lucy.

She seems to like him and recognizes his voice for sure. Its really sweet to watch.

Welcome Lucy Kathleen

Well, the blog voters were right: we had a girl! Lucille Kathleen was born May 16th, 2008 at 10:51 am. She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces with a head of dark hair. (same weight and hair as momma, 29 years ago). She has absolutely melted our hearts and is the perfect baby (I know all mothers say this bit, so just bear with me). Gus is a great big brother, loves to kiss her and is very gentle with her. "Good morning, Lucy" he said this morning.

The birth was very easy and just as exciting as last time- even though it was a scheduled C section. When they said "we have a girl" it was the best moment ever.

Well I have a little hungry girl in the next room, so I gotta get. I will post more details later.
Thanks for all the support and well wishes- We are very thankful to be a happy and healthy - and now complete- family unit.

Blue Lake

Grandpa Dick and cousin Jack always make it up to our neck of the woods Mother's Day weekend for some fishing- this year they hit Blue Lake (and little Blue Lake). Here are some pics that Jack took. Gus horsed around with Grandpa Dick and devoured Jack's lasagna. He was sad to see them go.

A little Vintage Gus to tide you over...

Until we have pictures of the new baby, I have been poring over Gus's newborn pics.

I just love this one of Gus and Matt. His yawn, plump belly, tinyness. Matt was building the deck (4th of July, 2005).

Fencing

Here is what it looks like, now.

note the beer bottle, that was a crucial fence building ingredient

And Gus, soaking in the 74th annual May Day parade in Oroville

Fence Building 101

Step One: Drill the post holes.

Step Two: Setting the posts. (Requires lots of cement mixing pouring, string pulling, and level use.)

Step 3: Hanging the cross beams.

Step 4: Building the gates. Matt was so proud of his handy-work, he had to bring it inside so we could ogle the right angles.

And that is what we are up to. Obviously, we still have to nail the main fencing part, the planking, to finish the project. My dad is bringing his nail gun to help with that phase.