Julia has arrived!

We joyfully welcomed Julia on March 30, 2011 at 4:17am. She weighed in at 8lbs15oz and was 21.5 inches long. Julia's birth went smoothly and swiftly, and she is healthy for which we are very thankful. She has continued to do well and is nursing like a champ, already up and over her birth weight :)

Nathan is very excited about his new sister and is doing well with the transition. He likes to help change her diaper and give her lots of kisses.

Check out this link to compare to Mr. Nathan when he was born. We think they look quite a bit alike. http://chris-betsy.blogspot.com/2007/03/nathan-has-arrived.html

Happy 4th Birthday, Nathan!

Another March 7th has come and gone. Nathan turned 4 in style! He thoroughly celebrated with friends from school, cousing, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and us. Nathan and his friends enjoyed a visit from a magician, complete with a real rabbit appearing from an empty box!

Our big boy is learning so much every day, it is a joy to watch him play and (usually) express himself in more and more sophisticated words. We are so lucky to have Nathan in our lives! We love you, buddy.

Little Miss

As d-day approaches, I have had lots of chances to check on the little one in various ways and we are happy to report that there has been nothing to worry about from these checks. ("Lots of chances" is the nice way to say that I'm getting comfortable in waiting rooms!) Earlier this week, I had another ultrasound and the tech flipped into 4D mode. Wikipedia tells me that this means 3D in real time, as opposed to a regular 3D which is time-delayed. Anyway, I got a few neat peaks at the little miss that you can see below. Here she is, resting her face on her arm, and looking quite peaceful. We never had this type of view of Mr. N, so we find the level of detail interesting. Things are getting more imminent!

Christmas Crafts

I've been starting more holiday craft projects than I care to admit, but here's one I actually finished to give to Nathan early so he could play out Rudolph's story. I started with an unpainted wooden sleigh and 3 reindeer (sunshinecrafts.com).

I applied acrylic paint, fashioned harnesses out of pipe cleaners, attached bells with thread, and filled the sleigh with Santa from Tar.get and sparkly presents from ACMoo.re. Voila! It's a little cumbersome as the reindeer are a bit tippy, but Nathan can make it fly while he sings Rudolph. He is old enough to understand how pipe cleaners work, so he can hitch up the reindeer with a little help.

A sentimental Dec. 4th - the continuing story of Ned

Today is a post in honor of my paternal grandmother's birthday. She started a wonderful tradition many years ago - on her birthday, she gave each of her grandchildren a Christmas ornament. It was like a reverse birthday present to usher in the holiday season. These gifts were highly anticipated by all of us as she took care to choose ornaments that each of us would especially like. There were several years when I was a fairly young child during which I was quite obsessed with stuffed animals. Accordingly, she selected the cutest possible bear ornaments for me. These bears, among the other ornaments which are also very special, were lovingly unpacked year after year and placed in prime spots on the tree when I was growing up. The tradition continues now that I live in my own house with a growing family - the bears are always front and center on our tree!

My particular favorite, quickly named Ned for some forgotten reason, is a sweet brown bear peaking out of a sparkly red stocking with a beautiful black velvet sole. I loved Ned so much that my parents had to pack him away LAST in an ornament box labeled "Ned" when the tree came down every year. This way, he could be FIRST out at the beginning of the next Christmas season. I hate to admit, but I think there were tears involved several years when Ned finally had to be packed away. I no longer cry to put him away, but I do still feel a special delight when Ned makes his first appearance each year. It is a particular joy to share this old Christmas favorite with my son. This year, I let Nathan hang Ned up on our tree. He did a great job! I wish Nathan could have met my Grandma - I think she would be pleased to know that her ornaments now bring him happiness, too.

(sorry for the blurry pictures!)

Family news

We probably don't have many blog readers since we have neglected the blog this past year and posted 100 times more photos on Facebook, but we have good reason to start posting here with greater frequency. Nathan has big news - he is excited to become a big brother this spring! Chris and I are quite happy ourselves and looking forward to the chance to parent a little girl in addition to our big boy! Things are going well so far, and hopefully that "uneventful" status will remain for the next several months as April 2 is the due date.

Do you see resemblance to Mr. Nathan at his 18w ultrasound?

(Nathan, left; sibling, right)

Where has summer gone?

No, we have not given up the family blog. Yes, the summer has gotten away from us! We thought we'd share some pictures from our vacation at the end of May. We were very pleased that Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa could join us for a European adventure. A good time was had by all.

After arriving at Heathrow, Grandpa arranged for us to get out to the English countryside by taking a bus and train. We were all exhausted and happy to arrive at a wonderful cottage in the Cotswolds just a few minutes walk from the train station. The town we stayed in for several nights is called Moreton-in-Marsh, the first of several distinctly British towns we visited.

We took a lot of bus trips to Bourton on the Water, Chipping Campden, and Oxford. Nathan LOVED feeding the ducks in Bourton and we were all taken with the miniature village, we took in high tea in Chipping Campden, and the academic sights of Oxford were fascinating.

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Happy Easter

We thoroughly enjoyed a gorgeous Easter weekend. Nathan loved coloring real eggs and hunting for eggs that open to reveal treats!