Someone is Three today

Three years ago (above), and now (below).

Happy Birthday, buddy!

Tying the Knot

Congratulations to Aaron and Aunt Molly, who are newly engaged (as of yesterday, in fact). A wedding in the family is always something to look forward to. We are all very happy to hear their exciting news.

The Murphy-O'Brien wedding: Does it get any more Irish than that?

Congrats!

Sandbox Fun

Raking the sand- a very Zen activity

Ah... for a brief moment, the sun comes out.

And a picture of Lucy, of course. Loving the binky.

Sweetness

Sleeping so sweetly. And she has her Daddy's beefy forearms.

Gus in Action

Playing with a truckload of sand and exhibiting typical almost-3-year-old behavior. Enjoy.

Lucy in Action

This is as exciting as it gets, but of course we think she's captivating.

Fun Weekend

Snuggling with Dad

Hanging with the Fam- good to see you Tim and Kathy

Slingin' it, thanks to Brooke and AC

Running with the Dogs

Fishing Blue Lake

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.

Tomorrow is May 1st

Tomorrow, the calendar changes to May and I am having a holy-cow moment. Baby will be here in 2.5 weeks and its coming so fast.

So many of our friends have just had babies, its officially my turn next. The kick-off of Baby boom 2007-08 was in September, with W-T and his wife having a girl, then in January, Jake and Andi had a baby girl, in March Katie and Joe welcomed a boy, then two of Matt's co-workers had babies in April, one boy and one girl, and just on Sunday, my friend Amy and her husband welcomed a baby girl...

Ben and Holli are due towards the end of May, so they will probably be next in line.

This cute little crew (Lola, Loreine, Sawyer, Sage, Joel, and Chloe)will have a new member in a couple of weeks. Who shall it be?

BBQ Chicken

We had a nice barbecue tonight- the weather was nice and it felt like a grilling evening. Gus loved the chicken and stripped every last bit of meat off the bones. Proud carnivorous parents we are.

35 weeks

Yikes.

4 weeks from today....

Gus will be a big brother, and I'll be holding a newborn in my arms.

We scheduled the C section for May 16th. Cross your fingers for me that the Dr. gets safely back from his trip to Germany the day before. If he doesn't I'll have the back-up OB deliver baby, but I prefer my Dr. He delivered Gus and is quite the character- and very experienced and practiced. A true cowboy OB/GYN. Well, that's what you get in Okanogan County.

This pregnancy has literally blown by for me, I guess working 40 hours a week and being a mom to Gus has probably helped that along. Maybe these last four weeks will pass slowly.

I am filled with so many emotions: anxiety, bittersweet feelings, and curiosity, but overall I am just darn excited.

Its been nearly 3 years since Gus was a newborn, and I am starting to wonder if its like riding a bike, I hope I haven't fallen out of practice with newborn care. This time, I'll have my right-hand man, helping me along. Gus informed me the other day that the dominoes he was playing with were a no-no for baby. "Baby might choke on these" he said. Thanks, buddy.

Have a good weekend. Its Matt's birthday weekend- we'll be having tri-tip barbeque and carrot cake with Grandpa Tim and Grammy Kath.

Twins

I was looking at old photos today, and I came across this one. Its not the best picture, but G and M look so much alike here, at least I think so. Especially in the mouth, cheek, and eye area.