Picture Perfect

I'll start with pictures since they are more fun!

Day 2
Just home from the hospital:


Day 3
First time Paul wants to "hold it"


Day 4
First bath


Happy again


Day 6


Enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom takes a break


Day 11
First big outdoor adventure - to the park with Paul







Week 2


I love her spunky hair


Bonding with Dad



Almost 3 Weeks
First time going to church



I know pictures are much more fun, but what mom doesn't want to gush about her new little one, so here come the boring words.

Kate's timing couldn't have been better. All I wanted was to not be in labor all night long, and Kate gave me that and then some. I woke up Tuesday morning after a normal nights rest and noticed that my still painless contractions were quite regular. I was hopeful, but not convinced, that Kate would be born soon. By 8:30am I figured I should call my mom and at least see if she could fly out just in case it was the big day. I had a scheduled appointment at the clinic for 10:30, but the hospital triage desk said I might as well go there instead of to the appointment just in case I got admitted. I'm glad I took their advice! At 10:45 I was admitted and Kate was born just 3 hours later.

Kate is a wonderful baby! We are still working on the whole burping thing, but she seems to be doing great with all that eating and sleeping that newborns do. She is definitely not as demanding as Paul was and that is a relief. I can't wait for her to wake up a little more and start showing us her little personality.

As for Paul's side of the story, well...
He is actually doing better than I hoped. He gives "baby sister" many more hugs and kisses than he does kicks and hits. He doesn't want to get in the car and go anywhere unless she is coming too. And he always wants to see her when he wakes up, especially if that means waking her up.

Between Dad taking paternity leave and Grandma and Grandpa coming to visit, Paul had a lot of attention that first week Kate was home. I think it helped a lot with the transition.

Grandpa spent hours with Paul outside playing baseball and basketball. Paul was in heaven. He is actually a pretty good little t-ball player, but I get a kick out of the backhand swing Paul occasionally shows off. Maybe we'll put the kid in tennis someday.


Paul also spent those first two weeks bonding with Daddy. They have become quite good buddies and I love watching them play.




And here is the big boy himself showing off his new haircut. I can't believe how much he seemed to grow during those two days I was in the hospital. He is a good big brother.

She's Here!

We're happy to announce the birth of our baby girl, Katherine. She was born at 6/1 at 1:45 pm, 8 lbs 4 ounces, 22 in. long. Toria and Kate are doing great. We'll post more pics soon.

Paul the Jumping Bean

Paul has been really active lately, probably related to the great weather, and it is bringing out a fun, athletic side of him.

Jumping has become one of his favorite things and it adds a little flair to his step everywhere he goes. Here are a few clips of his jumping progression. Sadly he no longer says "bibbit" (like a frog) when he jumps, but he is getting quite good at jumping off of higher and higher platforms.




The other day I came looking for Paul and was surprised to learn what had been keeping him so entertained.



My favorite is when he adds a little jumping to his dancing.



He is also really into balls. I'll probably regret letting him throw balls around the house sooner than later, but it is a great way to pass the time on a rainy day. Thanks Grandma for the balls.



Maybe someday it will all amount to something. But for now I enjoy watching him try.

Oh, so close...

18 month mark, Easter, Spring and everything in between

These last couple of months have been great. Filled with lots of outdoor time, a trip to see family, and of course Paul growing up and learning new tricks. Here are a few highlights:

• Paul is officially one and a half! (okay, I'm a little late on this one, he turned 18mo on March 10th).
  
• Paul got to hang out with Uncle Connor before he became Elder Connor - we love our missionary
• When we left for the week to visit family, the snow was still a foot deep. One week later we came back to no snow and great weather. Spring is in full swing and we love it!
• Lots of park/outdoor time
• Paul is that much closer to becoming a big brother! Just another month.

Here's the big boy himself at just about the 18mo mark:

I can't believe how much Paul has learned in this last month or two. Just around his half birthday he hit a growth spurt in his vocabulary and lately I've heard him use at least one new word a day. He feels so much older now that he is better at expressing himself. So much fun.

Family!
We never seem to take enough pictures when we are visiting family, but here are a few from our trip to see of Elder Connor.









Easter!
I think Paul learned more about candy than Jesus this Easter, but at least he enjoyed the holiday right. He quickly realized that plastic eggs are filled with candy and had to stop each time he found an egg at the Easter egg hunt and eat the candy before moving on. He also got a few fun toys he's enjoyed playing it.
Here he is discovering his Easter basket and then enjoying the egg hunt.






Spring is Here!

Here is Paul enjoying the outside. We spend hours at the park each day. Luckily there are a lot of parks in the area so Paul can make new discoveries each day. There are also several trails within a mile of our house and we are trying to take advantage of them while the weather is so nice.






I am loving spring as much as Paul is. I can't get over how beautiful all the new growth is and how great the weather is. When we moved here in August, many of the plants in our yard had already lost their flowers and then when fall came I had a hard time believing that all these dead plants would ever be green again. Despite my lack of faith, spring has come and each day is a new surprise. I have so much fun just walking around the yard discovering new flowers on plants that I previously thought were just ugly filler bushes. I had not idea there would be this many flowers. It smells heavenly.

Here is our backyard just one month ago:


Here is what it looks like today:

And the best part is, there are so many more plants and flowers yet to come!

Here is Paul playing outside. I think the puddles were a little distracting. He usually jumps and hops on command. It is a great way to get him from point A to point B when I don't feel like carrying him. At least he was having fun.




Getting Ready for Baby

Funny how, now that I know what I'm getting myself into, I'm so much more excited for our new baby to come along. I guess it was too much to take in when I was pregnant with Paul so I figured I'd just wait and see how motherhood was before I established any expectations. Now that I've had a little taste of it, I can't wait for another baby to come along.

Paul on the other hand, has no clue what is coming to him. I've been trying to prep him, but there is only so much a boy his age can understand. He can say baby and correctly identifies baby items, but he doesn't understand that what is for baby isn't also for Paul. So I've pulled out some old baby toys hoping he would get sick of them before his sister comes along. I don't think my plan is working. I'll find Paul laying on his tummy on a blanket saying baby while playing with a rattle. I think he thinks he is the baby.




Wish us luck!

Our Snowman and other videos

We finally built that snowman I've been dying to make all winter long! The weather has been beautiful and the snow has started to melt just enough to make building a snowman quick and easy. Thanks to the cool snowman kit Paul's cousins gave us we had great success. Here is a video of Paul encountering the snowman.



Paul has been pretty busy lately learning new words and tricks.

Paul recently learned how to say "where is it?" and "there it is". Now he likes to go around the house and come up with things to look for and find. One of his favorite things to look for are clocks. He can find them almost anywhere since he calls everything with a gauge or dial a clock, even this thermometer.


Paul's most recent word is bubble, and like clocks, he manages to find them everywhere.


Here's Paul showing off his new jumping ability


Paul loves music time and has started to learn the actions to some songs. I think his favorite spot in the house is his "dancing platform" which is simply an unassembled coffee table. And since I don't want him dancing on a table that is more than a foot off the ground, I don't think I'll be assembling it anytime soon.

It's a Girl!

Just wanted to share the good news!
Our little girl looks healthy and we're excited.

Big Things and Little Things

We have BIG NEWS!

We are so excited to share the good news that we are expecting baby #2 in early June!
I know we've already told so many people, but it doesn't feel official without a blog post. I have an ultrasound this Friday and if we're lucky we'll have a Boy/Girl announcement soon!

While it is hard to trump such a big thing as having a baby, Paul does a lot of little things that are also blog worthy; so here they are.

The Little Things

• Paul's vocabulary is growing every day. While his only official/consistent words are still "Ah Oh" and "Tick Tock" he repeats most words I say to him and can point words I say like ears, nose, water, car, etc.
• Paul has started to imitate me, and not just the little things that must look like fun to a toddler (e.g., taking out pots and pans, pushing buttons on the phone, and moving laundry from one basket to another). The other day he went into my bathroom, took out the blow dryer, plugged it into the electrical outlet, rubbed the dryer on his head, and then put it back in the bathroom drawer.
  
• Paul finally figured out how to climb on things like the kitchen chairs and then onto the kitchen table. I don't think he will be a climber, but he sure has fun conquering everyday obstacles.
• Paul is getting better and better at stacking blocks and legos. It keeps him entertained and gives me a nice little break. We recently set up a tent in the play room and often I find him in there just playing away with his various blocks and stacking toys.

Here are some pictures of what Paul has been up to lately.

Paul is obsessed with steering wheels:


Stacking blocks in his tent:


Merry Christmas!
Paul wasn't so sure about meeting Santa at Dad's work party. Maybe next year...


Paul with his big Santa gift:


Lots of love from his cousins and grandparents:


More fun Christmas toys:


Paul got to rekindle an old friendship when some friends got stranded here at the airport.
He was a bit nervous at first...


But things warmed up after he remembered the value of a good handshake:


Paul walking in Mom's shoes:


I know I shouldn't be surprised by it, but I still am amazed at how much snow has piled up after what has felt like so little snow fall. After all it is only January. At least it is beautiful.

Here is our house:

And here is the street we live on:


Finally, Paul's dancing just cracks me up. He has been "dancing" ever since he learned to sit and wiggle his hips. Every few weeks he adds a new step to his routine. The evolution has gone something like, stomp stomp, turnaround, squat, clap, lunge. Unfortunately he is even more interested in electronics than dancing so I've had a hard time capturing all of his moves on tape, but here is what I have so far.