noah is eight!

noah is eight today! how crazy is that? 

i feel old all the sudden!

we put streamers up last night and decided to set up noah's dinosaurs to party, too

the kids loved it!

first picture as an eight year old!

 michael made pancakes and spelled noah's name with is

 noah went to school like normal

and when michael took olive to speech (bless him) he also took treats to noah's class

and brought the kiddies home from school

we let noah open presents right away

he got a rocket, legos and a dinosaur kit

he loved it all

 cute boys!

 i could not love this boy more!

 after presents, we ate pizza and drank shirley temples

then we sang to the birthday boy

and he blew out the candles

here's noah's sweet dinosaur cake

after we ate and had cake, michael took the big kids to the riverwoods

so noah could do the ropes course and they could bowl and play miniature croquet 

it was a low key birthday 

(i'm not quite ready to throw a party with such a little baby)

but noah loved it

it's so weird to think noah is eight

in some ways it feels like way longer ago that i had him

a LOT has happened since then 

and i'm so grateful life has worked out as it has

noah is a really fun, funny boy

he loves to cuddle and his family is really important to him

his dad is his best friend

he protects his sisters

and he could not be happier to have a baby brother

the other day while holding henry he said, "it only took four tries" :) 

he likes to tease and joke

he is a total homebody 

he is awesome at martial arts

and a great student at school

he is so excited to be baptized 

he loves legos, dinosaurs, and playing with other boys

he's super social

i am so happy i get to be his mom

henry's first bath

henry's umbilical cord finally fell off a couple days ago

i was just holding him at the kitchen table and heard something fall to the ground

not only did it slip past his diaper but his onesie and outfit, too. so weird! 

tonight we gave him his first official bath after the kids went to bed

and he loved it!! he was so cute in it, too!

hopefully it will help him sleep better tonight than he has been recently

i think we have a case of the mixed up days and nights...

michael and i went to boise (with henry)

 we decided to take advantage of my parents being here and go look for a house to rent in boise

laying around to heal is lame...(kidding) 

luckily i've started to feel pretty good already

and traveling was fine

 we drove up on thursday afternoon

and got to the hotel at like 10:30

henry got his own bed

 friday we spent all day looking at houses

for lunch we tried a teriyaki place that did not disappoint

 henry was a cute little traveler 

it was a little crazy to travel with a newborn

and sadly we didn't find a house that was a good fit for our family

despite looking at like 7 houses...

i'm glad we got to know boise a little better

and it was a fun trip with michael and henry

grandma and grandpa kelly are here

the very biggest benefit to having a planned c-section

is definitely being able to plan it

and also plan to have help 

we were so lucky to have michael's parents here for a week and a half

and now my parents are here

 my mom brought a book her aunt gave her as a young girl

it's Aesop's fables and the kids have loved reading it with her

 these girls love sitting on grandpa's lap

i love this one of both my parents with henry

eleanor is a slow warmer-upper but she's getting more and more comfortable with both sets of grandparents

in other news, i think it's safe to say henry will be a thumb-sucker like all his big sisters

eleanor is two!

not only is henry one week old today...eleanor is two! 

i think i have a new favorite picture

oh man, i feel sooo lucky looking at this picture

look at all these little darlings that call me mom

 we had a yummy pancake and sausage breakfast

with hot chocolate

i think eleanor thought she won the lottery when michael kept giving her more and more whipped cream

she loves that stuff and was sooo happy

 grandma and grandpa took the girls out to lunch and ice cream

and when they got home we took some special birthday pictures of eleanor

 here she is in her birthday dress i thrifted a couple months ago

 and here she is with her balloons

 after dinner we had cake 

 she was trying to learn how to blow but didn't quite get it

 she loved her cake

 olive was so excited about eleanor's presents

and may or may not have played with them more than eleanor...

sweet one week old henry slept the whole day away

eleanor is the sweetest girl

she's doing pretty well being a big sister

she loves music and dancing

she is easy going and loves her family

she is so affectionate and smart

we are so grateful she's in our family

our first week with henry

everyone is adjusting well to having henry here

the kids wake up and come straight to our room in the morning to see him

and they each ask to hold him all the time

the biggest issue this week (other than the milk allergy) is that a 24 hr stomach bug got passed around

which was not fun at all

luckily michael and i missed it but his parents didn't and were so helpful despite it

i love that noah's looking down at henry in this picture

he is so happy to finally have a brother

  hazel loves that she can feed henry a bottle

 olive has been so cute with henry and loves to tell me how cute and adorable he is

 look at those cheeks!

 eleanor is mostly happy to be a big sister

she's had a hard time understanding why i won't pick her up

and hasn't been quite as soft while touching him as i would prefer

but she's doing well

 so sleepy

 i don't want to forget what these sweet little newborn legs look like

held by grandpa olson

 me and the birthday girl right after she used pen on the couch, pillow and her face...

 i love seeing noah's love for his new baby brother
it's like part of him was incomplete

 hazel loves her baby brother, too

i'm pretty happy to have the first week over

it's been tough recovering and letting my milk dry up

but between michael being home a bit and his parents being here to help, things have gone pretty smoothly

milk allergies are the worst

night before last henry had blood in his stool for the first time

and every diaper after that, too

he was only two days old when it started

eleanor was 5 weeks when hers started

we took him to the doctor yesterday morning

and i had to stop nursing almost immediately

my milk was just coming in yesterday morning

and then i had to start letting it dry up

i'll admit i spent most of the day crying

at least he got all the colostrum

i love nursing my babies

i was so sad to stop nursing eleanor at 3 months

but to stop nursing henry at 3 days was extra sad

i have a newborn baby that wants to nurse and i want to nurse him and i can't

i have to let my perfectly good milk supply dry up

i am a natural birthing, breastfeeding mama stuck in a c-section delivering formula feeding body

but despite not being able to birth how i want

and not being able to feed my babies how i want

i am so grateful to be henry's mom

i am completely in love with this sweet boy

motherhood is my greatest blessing

i am so happy to have him here healthy and safe

and it's a blessing to know what's going on

and how to help him