Dallas Stars Game

Ryan has been working crazy hours but one of the nights a partner gave him 4 tickets to the Dallas Stars Ice Hockey game so we met up at his work and headed over.  Trying to get Kherington to come was like pulling teeth.  She wanted to stay home with Grandpa.  Then when we got there all she wanted was popcorn.  We went through 3 buckets of popcorn (good thing it wad bottomless).

Kevin on the other hand hadn't been feeling well, but really wanted to go to the game.  He was funny. He thought the girls cleaning the ice needed to put clothes on so they wouldn't be cold.  He was also very concerned that the goalie just stayed in one place instead of moving around with everyone else.

Jonathan Week 2

Two weeks old and Jonathan is still a very easy baby.  He hasn't had much awake time and really that time is normal spent eating, pooping or crying.  He loves to be swaddled.  I'm pretty sure his hair is going to end up brown instead of red.  He had is 2nd pku screening and did awesome.  I cuddled him up, the nurse poked his heel and she she sucked harder on his pacifier but didn't cry the entire time.  He had his two week check-up and everything looks good.  He is up to an even 8 pounds (he was 7lbs 3 ounces when we left the hospital) so he's apparently a good eater.  That puts his weight in the 25th percentile.  He is 20.5 inches (20th percentile) and has a head circumference of 14 inches (30th percentile).  I'm a little surprised with the percentiles because he seems like a pretty solid baby so I'd l think he'd be closer to average.

The kids like having Jonathan around and have included him in a couple movie times.  Kherington still likes to hold the baby every chance she gets.  Kevin still likes to pet Jonathan or just cuddle up next to him.  He tries really hard to be gentle, but lets be honest, that's pretty difficult for a two year old.

3 : 1

Ryan only took one of his 3 weeks of paternity since he is just starting busy season.  The plan is to have him take the other two in April or May.  I remember blogging about my first day home alone with two kids and it wasn't a very productive day.  I think my standards just must be a lot lower now because I thought it was pretty easy.  I stayed in bed until nearly 9am.  When I did get out of bed, I found Kevin and Kherington watching pbs kids together and they had helped themselves to breakfast.  It is nice that Kevin is already potty trained (day one of potty training Kherington was my first day home with two kids). 

Jonathan continued with his sleep, eat, poo pattern.  We didn't do anything spectacular, but the day was just fine.  Hopefully we'll add some more fun activities into the mix and I'll figure out how to fit some workout time in with 3 kids and a husband working long hours.

Kherington's Ballet

I've been looking for a way for Kherington to meet some other little girls and found a ballet class that is once a week during the day.  She was super excited.  The first class went okay.  I was a little surprised at how shy she was.  I wasn't able to find her tap and ballet shoes with such short notice (I signed her up Thurs evening and her first class was on Sat) so I think that might have had to do with part of the shyness.  When we got home she couldn't stop talking about class.

Jonathan 1 Week Old

I still can't get over the fact that we have baby.  The week has flown by.  It has been nice to have Ryan home.  He is a very productive guy so in addition to watching/entertaining kids, our house is clean and organized.  Not sure how long that will last but it's nice for now.

Jonathan was an amazing baby at the hospital.  Then the first night home we was up all the time and cried a lot.  Then on top off that the next morning he wouldn't nurse (but would eat what I pumped from the bottle).  Very frustrating.  I was a little worried, but read that sometime babies are like for a day or so after getting circumcised.  Sure enough about half way through the day he was back to normal.

He pretty much still sleeps, eats and pees/poops all day.  Then at night he is more awake, but that isn't saying much.  The first 4 days he didn't seem to care if he sat in a dirty/wet diaper but starting day 5 that was no longer the case.  He went a couple feedings where he wouldn't nurse on one side...still not sure why, but after a couple tries I got him to take it again.

Sunday Ryan's cousins came over to visit and brought dinner for us to enjoy together.  It was fun seeing them.  Kherington especially love Becca.  Earlier I had Becca and Jared's Christmas card and Kherington snatched it from me and took it to store on her bed.  We're lucky to have family here.

Jonathan's hair was a medium brown when he was born.  We're still speculating as so whether it will turn red or not.  If you look at Kevin's baby pictures you'll see in some his hair looks brown too but by 2 weeks old he was a definite red head.  I'm excited to see how Jonathan's hair ends up.  I'm also excited to chop off the long rat tail in the back but figure I should give it a chance to see if he loses his hair so it doesn't even matter.

The kids are loving the baby equipment more than Jonathan.  They keep getting out the baby toys and playing the bouncer.

We've tried tummy time a couple times. Jonathan isn't a fan.  It probably doesn't help to have his siblings trying to help his enjoy it which ends up with them shoving his face down in to the blanket. 

Jonathan has pretty much lived in onsies and sleep sacks.  He loves to be swaddled too. Someone gave us a combination sleepsack/swaddle and that is my favorite new baby item thus far.  It makes it quick and easy to change diapers and get him swaddled right back up.  Kherington is still request to hold the baby all the time, but is good about giving him back as soon as he cries.  Actually both Kherington and Kevin get me and tell me Jonathan need to eat when Jonathan starts crying. 

2 Months Stateside - What we like/miss

We've been back in the States for 2 months now!  Crazy.  Time has really flown by.  We've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, moved into our new place, had a baby, have church callings and more.  I kept thinking I'd write this post at 1 month back but it never happened.  So after being her for 2 months I still catch myself either wishing I could trade this life in for my old one or thinking oh, it is so nice to be back.  Here's why:

Why we miss it:
Friends - yeah, I've blogged about this already and it's getting better, but I still miss our friends.  I must say I do love that we can facetime and email and whatnot so it's not too hard to stay in touch, but I would really like to be able to just go hangout...not so feasible.  It's not just me that misses friends either.  I look at Kherington and just feel sad that she don't have any friends.
Walking - I got used to walking everywhere and it was a really good way to get out of the house and do something while still being productive (grocery shopping, banking, visiting friends, park, etc).  It's not that I can't walk here but it seems so much more inconvenient and it's hard to motivate myself to do it.
Simple Life - It was nice to not feel the need to buy things and be happy with what we had. In the States because there is so much access and everything is relatively inexpensive I find myself often times justifying buying things that we want but don't need. All that adds up and ends up hurting the pocket book a little...plus we still really don't have the space to continue to acquire things.
Travel - It is sad to not have a 'next big trip' or even 'next day trip' to look forward to.  Where every weekend is filled with the whole family exploring new sites, food and experiences.
Yard - I loved having a yard.  It made our apartment seem so much larger and it was nice to be able to just open the doors and have the kids run around or get tons of energy out on the trampoline.

What is nice...basically thoughts that have crossed my mind
Laundry - I left my clothes in the washer overnight and they didn't smell like mildew in the morning. Plus after 4 years of hang drying, I now own a dryer and my washer can wash cloths in 45 minutes.  That means in the time it took me to just wash our clothes in Belgium I could have them washed, dried, folded and put away.
Oven - My cookie sheets fit in the oven.  In Belgium I only ever used them to store toffee in while it cooled because they were too big for the oven.
Garbage Disposal - We have one.  No more making sure every crumb is off the plate before washing dishes.
Recycling - No pressure to sort out all the trash.
Costco - I love Costco.  There is one just 15 minutes from my house.  Far enough to keep me from visiting all the time, but close enough to have it be convienet.
Night shopping - I can shop after the kids go to sleep and everything is still open.  Or if I opt to shop during the day, it isn't weird that I have kids with me.
Returns - I can return anything I don't want to keep and it is easy.
Weather - It is January and we can be outside in a light jacket most days (there have been a couple cold ones).  We'll see what I think about the weather come summer.
Play Room - I haven't decided if I like this more than a yard...don't think so...but after having a playroom where all the toys can be instead of out in the main room it would be hard to go back.
Fridge - We have a normal size fridge/freezer.  It actually looks a little empty until right after a Costco run but nice that we always have room to store anything.

Growing Kids - Doctor and Funnies

On Monday the kids had a doctor's appointment.  I had made it earlier in the week thinking it would be good to meet the doctor before actually having the baby.  Well, that didn't turn out, but at least we actually had a pediatrician on file.

It worked out nicely for me.  Since Ryan was on paternity leave, he got to take the kids to their appointment.  I had thought Kevin needed to get caught up on his shots but Kherington was in the clear.  I was wrong.  Kevin needed 2 shots, but Kherington needed 4 (now she's good until she's 10).  They were very proud of all their smilely sticker bandaids.  Plus when they were done, Ryan took them to Chick-fil-a so by the time they got home they were all smiles.

Here are their stats:
Kherington - 36 pounds (10 percentile height, 35 percentile weight)
Kevin - 31 pounds (15 percentile height, 50 percentile weight)

Funny stories (most are Kevin)
- We were reading the scriptures and normally we read a line and the kids repeat.  Ryan was reading and Kevin repeating.  Kevin was supposed to say, "He said to Alma," and instead of repeating, Kevin responded, "I have no idea what he said it Alma."
- Kherington was excited about her new underwear and showed us that it was orange, not wanting to be left out, Kevin yells, look at my blue underwear and turns around and moons us...haha...he pulled both his pants and underwear down instead of just his pants.
- Ryan was changing Jonathan's diaper while sitting in bed and thinking, it's nice our kids haven't been big on peeing with their diaper open.  Sure enough Jonathan peed right on his face.  Literally.
- Kevin gets really upset when Ryan calls Jonathan "Bum, Bum" which is what Ryan calls Kevin.  I guess Ryan needs to figure out some a new nickname for the new little guy.