First Turkey Day...

And Fen keeps meeting more and more family. We enjoyed family, friends, and a great thanksgiving feast over at his Great PaCurt's. And for the first time in about six years, we had all the kids together at my dad's this year too. What a wonderful year...and so much to be thankful for! We are really enjoying the holidays with our precious little bundle...who is growing like a weed already. Here are turkey-day weekend photos.

Papa and Granma's family... all together at last.


Fen's Turkey Day Lunch Look...and his nighttime playtime.


Fen's cousin, Whit and Thanksgiving lunch with Mom and Dad.

So many to love and loved by so many...

More pictures from this weekend.

Grandmother with Fen; Tia (Auntie and Godmother Lo)


Mom gets Fen dressed for Christening; and Dad comforts Fen at lunch (post baptism).


Drew, June, Grandmother, YiaYia with Fen; Sisters: Loren and Candice

Fender's Baptism

Difficult to keep the updates coming lately with all the fun going on. Last weekend we had the MLS Cup and this weekend we had Fender's Baptism. Now we have Thanksgiving coming up this weekend. Fun Fun Fun.
Mom, Dad and Fen

The baptism couldn't have gone any better. Fen was quiet the whole time. His eyes popped open when the water was poured onto his head three times, but not a cry to be heard, not even with the "musical people" (getting passed from one person to another). His Godmother, Manassa processed him into the church. His Godfather, Garrett, held him while Fr. Bob gave him his blessings at the front of the church and he carried him to the back of the church. His Daddy held him by the baptismal fount and gave him to Fr. Bob for the christening, then his Godmother, Loren, processed with him back to the front of the church, where I held him as Fr. Bob announced the new member of God's church to the congregation. It was all so beautiful, especially because it was shared by so many! Fender had TWO greatgrandmothers present, three grandmothers, great aunts, cousins, and friends present to witness his birth into the church and the beginning of his spiritual journey through life.
Godparents: Garrett, Loren, Manassa
GreatGrandmother and Great YiaYia

By the way...Fen was 6 weeks old last Wednesday, at which time he was 24 inches long and at my appointment today, he weighed 11 lbs even. Yea. He has his two month check up in a couple of weeks.

First sporting event...

Fen's first excursion to a sporting event just happened to be the MLS Championship game in Frisco, TX yesterday. He was SOOOO great and wasn't any trouble at all, but I paid for it as he didn't want to rest much last night and I got about 1 total hour of sleep. I'm a walking zombie today. But yesterday he was great. He rested through the first half, then needed a little 15 minute walk around with Drew to settle down, then he wanted a feeding, but was awake and quietly taking in all the sounds, smells, and bright colors and images float around all around him through the rest of the game. He fed again after the game, just before we all went out for a family dinner, and to my shock and relief...he slept through the entire meal. I SOOOO didn't want to be the "mom with the screaming baby" and had been seriously dreading any dinner "out." And just because this one went well, doesn't mean I'm not still dreading each and every "dinner out." But did I mention how great he was last night! ;)

Here's a couple of pics from this weekend's events. Ted (Pops), Susan (Nana), Chad, and Riley were in town and stayed with us, and we met up with Bobby in Frisco for the game and dinner. It was such a fun weekend...and Sebastian really enjoyed some quality play time with Riley!

Election Day...

Placing our votes... the girl forgot to focus before she took the picture, but you get the idea.

One month size comparison...

Wow... look how much my head has grown:


Home from the hospital, less than one week old.


Getting ready to go vote, almost 5 weeks old.

Getting dirty and cleaning up...

Making handprints in clay is messy business...


But cleaning up is fun...

4 weeks old...

Halloween was chaotic, but fun. Between Fen's need for attention, Sebastian wanting to lick all the trick-or-treaters silly, Drew studying, phone ringing, and dinner... there was never a dull moment for the couple of hours we handed out treats.

Today Fender is 4 weeks old and cute as ever. He is just over 22 inches long and our best attempts at weight measurement without a baby scale, show he is approaching 10 lbs now. We won't know an accurate weight again until his 2 month appointment.

Here's a picture of Fender today at 4 weeks old.

Happy Birthday, Granmamma

In honor of mom's birthday today...here are a couple of fun halloween pics with Fender and his first pumpkin. We're also going to watch "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"... a Halloween tradition. :) Happy Birthday, mom. Here's your grandson. Happy Halloween, everyone. By the way... he is going to be a baby "Chewbacca" (from Star Wars) for anyone who is wondering after looking at the furry pictures below.

I'm three weeks old today...

Here are a few pictures from the past week. All is still going well. Mom is exhausted and Dad wishes he could stay home with us instead of working. Never-the-less...we are beginning to establish routines. Fender sleeps very well most nights, only waking to feed about 3 or 4AM and then again about 7AM. He is more alert for longer periods of time during the day and captivates us all with his big blue eyes. We're still waiting to see what color his eyes and hair turn, or if they will stay the same.

Mommy and Daddy Pics...

Fender & Sebastian...the early days...

Week two...

Fen and I had our two week checkups today. All went well for both of us. Fen weighed in at 8lbs 4oz today. That is an increase from his birth weight of 7lbs 10oz and was over a 1lb increase from the weight he left the hospital at, which was 7lbs. Yea. And for all the "short" comments we got from the sono staff during the pregnancy, he has grown over an inch more now and is in the 75% height range, putting him above average. Our little boy is doing great!

My body is recovering from the surgery pretty well. I've lost 20 lbs since delivery day and doc says my incision is healing very well. I was okayed to resume all normal day-to-day activities...walking, driving, etc. Yea. Now I just need to get that spare carseat base into my truck so we get get out once in a while.

Drew is faring pretty well too. He is busy with work and studying for his exam in a few short weeks, then gets to take care of me and Fen, so he's probably the most overwhelmed of us all, but he really seems to love being a daddy!!!

Here are more pictures from the past few days.

Life adjustments...

Things are still going beautifully. Drew and I are beginning to establish a routine, but when he heads back to work on Monday we'll have to make adjustments once again. At the moment, Fender has been sleeping pretty well at night. We typically have to wake up about 3 or 4 AM for a feeding, and then we are good until about 7AM. After his morning feeding, Fen gets "nap time" on Daddy's chest while Momma (that's me) gets to grab a morning shake, have time with Sebastian outside, shower, and cleanup before the next feeding. Mornings are great!! The rest of the day is mostly feeding and sleeping for Fen. Drew studies and helps clean house, do laundry, and fix food. I try to rest most of the time between feedings. My insides are still recovering from th c-section. Hurts tons when I let my pain killers wear off completely. I take them much less now, but regret it if I take too little. It serves as a good reminder that I am still recovering and need to take it easy. So that's what I'm trying to do...at least through the weekend while I still have Drew.

Here are a couple more pictures from the past few days...

I'm a cutie...