How I Survived

Fortunately, the hospital stay was nice and short due to everything going smoothly and Matthew and I being healthy.

But even two days away from my little buddy was hard!

Knowing it would be a bit of an absence, I took some pictures of Michael with me to look at while away from my little boy.

It was also handy having these because so many of the nurses remember us being there when Michael was born and it was fun showing them how much he had grown. No one could get over how cute he was!




















And one of my all-time favorites....

First Pictures to Post

We got home from the hospital yesterday evening...so all in all, it was a very short stay, thanks be to God!

The hospital was kind enough to provide patients with wi-fi (hence the first post about Matthew) but the connection, understandably was not fast enough to deal with pictures easily, and we didn't have a camera cord to upload them straight out of the camera. Even pictures are families sent us had a hard time making it through.

So, without further ado, I give you the first blog pictures of Matthew!!






This one is Matthew freshly born. Not only does he bear a resemblance to Michael, but the fist...Michael is always holding one fis like this...it's so "boyish"


Happy Daddy.


I love holding my kids like this. Their little head fits so perfectly under my chin. Totally could stay like this all day!

It's a boy!

Matthew Stephen was born today at 2:07pm. He weighed in at 8lbs, 7 oz making his birthday stats:

11-10-09....8.7!! The doctor commented he should be a good poker player when he grows up :)

The delivery went well and Matthew is a cuddly little boy who sleeps very well in our arms, or in the bassinet, so hopefully that trend will continue! He has hair, the same color as Michael's when he was born, and blackis eyebrows, so maybe it'll be a little darker. His face looks similar to Michael's, especially in pictures, but also looks different than him. He is handsome, like his brother!

I am feeling well, though recovery is kind of a funny thing...if I remember, Day 2 is always a little rougher than Day 1...so, not to be a pessimist, I'm also trying not to be disappointed if recovery takes a little backslide tomorrow and the next day.

The only downside to the whole day is that we miss baby Michael terribly. the hospital just yesterday made a policy preventing anyone under 14 coming to visit, so we will have to wait to introduce the two brothers...and, unfortunately, I have to wait until Thursday or Friday to see my other baby boy :(

We brought pictures of him to keep us company, but nothing is the same as the real deal. Hopefully Michael Sr. will be able to sneak away to play with him some and serve as the parental ambassador for the both of us.

Anyways, we praise the Lord for answered prayers for a healthy baby and safe delivery! Thank you to all who joined us in prayer, and we will post pictures as soon as we are able. Suffice it say, though, he is a cutie!!

Much love,
Michael, Kim, Michael Jr. and Matthew.

Keeping Cool

While the weather here has become much cooler (thankfully!!), we have still had a few days where it has been warm enough to merit some water fun.




Now, I know they sell all sorts of fancy water tables and whatnot, which I am sure are fun. I've discovered all you really need is a water container with a spout and a container for the water to go in.


Oh yeah, and a 15 month old.




And you have plenty of opportunity for fun.











Plus you don't have to go far when you get thirsty!



Because playing outside is thirsty work....






Plus, when you get tired of sitting on the concrete, you have a seat ready to go!





So yeah, it's an economical solution...




But still a fun one!

Won't Be Long...

Before I'm protecting Matthew from the Michael-monster....






....instead of him protecting me!!



(Or trying to anyways!)



(Less than 5 days!)

Musicians

An almost-nightly ritual: guitar time with Daddy.



Michael gets to play with his own little ukulele, but most often likes to just go strum the big guitar with Dad.



Sometimes, I get in on the action too by dancing crazy, and it's fun to get a few smiles from Baby Michael when I do that :)

Na-Na?

What...you can't tell that I'm asking to go outside?

I mean, it makes perfect sense to me: Na-na=outside. You don't see it?

Well, I guess that is just one of the things parents and their kids get to have: their own secret language that makes sense them and is non-sense to the outside world.

Here's the brief evolution of the word: 99 is the number above our door. For months, Michael has been saying, "na-na" whenever we go into the door and we always say, "99, that's right...we live at 99!"

But now, he somehow has it in his brain that 99 is also the magic word to go through the door the other way, to the outside.

Since Michael's walking has been continuing to improve, we have been going outside a lot to get him to stretch his little legs. He has some new shoes which he likes and a growing sense of confidence and curiosity.

So, several times a day, pleading with me, he uses his little code-word, "na-na" to bring my attention to the door, indicating he wants to go outside.

Trouble is, when I open the door to go outside, and as I'm turning back to lock the door behind us, he's already got the gate open and is toddling down the walkway laughing and snorting with his arms up for added balance. It's funny, and scary at the same time! He's on the move!

And you would think even after a long walk to wherever he wants to go, that it's easy to get him back to 99...but no! He gets really sad whenever I bring him back in. In fact, if I set my keys down where he can reach them, he'll grab them and hold them up to the doorknob pleading and looking at me, "na-na? Na-na?" It's sad/cute/funny all at the same time.

I love our little prisoner!