Blessings

We have been so blessed by the outpouring of love from our family and friends since Tanner's birth and we're basking in it. My family has made meals for us and my mom has gone crazy with homemade gifts that we are thoroughly enjoying. I will get pictures of them up here shortly. :) Howard's family stopped by with gifts for all the kids. We've had neighbors stop by with diapers, small gifts for the older kids, clothes, etc. It's been very touching to see the concern and love from our neighbors. We do honestly live around some of the nicest neighbors we could ever have hoped for!

The church that the kids and I have been attending for the past few months has completely reached out to us and embraced us as family. One of the girls I've kinda "clicked" with made this great cheesecake for us. Some of the blueberries are already missing in the picture because Chase and I went crazy eating them off the cake right away before Howard suggested that I might like a picture of it!

This girl is also the one responsible for the beautiful lilies pictured here. The church family visited us in the hospital, had a flower at the front of the church the Sunday after Tanner was born to celebrate his birth (even though we weren't even there!). We have received phone calls, meals, visits and encouragement from this wonderful body of believers. I want to share more about the church in the future but for now we are just being blessed from all directions and so thankful for all the prayers, support, meals and gifts that have been sent our way. :)



Loving...

...every moment we have with this cutie.

Brothers

Before we had Tanner, Chase told us that he wanted another sister so that he wouldn't have to share a room when the baby got older. We took it in stride and soon after Tanner's arrival Chase came to me and asked if we could move Tanner into his room soon. I had to break it to him that he'd be sharing with Alexa for a little while longer. :)

I love this picture of "my boys" (still weird to think that I have sons, plural). The feeling is mutual between them from what we've seen and I'm praying for a special bond between them as they grow...

Chase has taken it upon himself to make sure that Tanner gets read to. He recites the baby stories that he remembers as he pages through the baby books. It is so cute!

He's Here!

By now most people know we had a baby boy on February 8 but in case you missed the update here it is! :) Tanner Lynn was born at 9:20 am via c-section weighing 9lbs. 8oz, 22" long.

 My recovery has been much swifter than I expected. Tanner has been doing an amazing job nursing and he seems to be a pretty contented baby at his point. We are so grateful for that!

 The kids were beyond excited to meet Tanner. Chase has surprised us and completely fallen in love with his little brother. He's the first to jump up and tend to him if he starts to cry and wants to hold or feed him a bottle if given the chance. Alexa would rather watch him and talk to Tanner but she seems to be adjusting fairly well at this point. I will try to keep updating as best I can. The long nights/lack of sleep and c-section recovery don't make it easy to get on the computer (it's an additional flight of stairs for me to handle to get to the computer)

We are completely taken with our little guy. After my first night in the hospital I said to Howard that I don't know how it's possible to fall so completely in love with a baby you've only known for a few short hours. The amazing thing is that it doesn't just happen the first time, or the second...my heart has expanded exponentially each time we've had another baby. We are feeling so blessed right now!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a great, low-key day with the family for my birthday. I woke up to the smell of waffles cooking (my favorite breakfast food). The kids and I came downstairs to fresh waffles, eggs and sausage. Such a nice surprise and so yummy!

Since I just feel huge anymore we didn't do much moving. :) Howard treated us to the Olive Garden for lunch where I had a delicious shrimp dish and just enjoyed family time. The kids excitedly brought out a cake at dinner time from Coldstone Creamery. It was a cookie dough delirium cake and my word it was sooo good! I don't splurge on stuff like that much with having diabetes so it was such a treat! Howard and I both relished every bite of it!

Now we are just waiting for our little one to make his/her appearance. I've had a few rough nights recently where I was having inconsistent contractions so I'm just hoping we can make it to Tuesday without any major episodes at this point! The baby's room is ready, the house is ready and (we think) we're as ready as we can be at this point. I am so eager to meet this little peach fuzz! I've been thinking all along we're having another boy but the only dream I've had about the baby was that it was a girl. Who knows! I truly am in the dark on this one so I am so eager to find out what we're having. Howard and I were just saying the other night that it really doesn't matter either way to us. We have been blessed with a son and a daughter and they are both wonderful blessings to our family. God knows best what will complete and complement us perfectly!

Icy Wonder

Grateful to wake up to heat and electric this morning! We weren't sure what to expect with the big ice storm predicted.

I can't bend much at all so I shot a few shots of all the beautiful ice but nothing like I wanted to! :-)

Our neighbors gave the kids permission to go sledding on their hill so they took full advantage of the ice to try it out.

Alexa did it once and refused to go up again so I pulled her around the sidewalks and road.

We walked 1/3 of a mile around our place before the plows came through. I can't handle much more than that these days! It was pretty and we enjoyed our morning out. The kids are exhausted and napping and I'm getting ready for some hot chocolate. I love the beauty of winter days!

Thank goodness for brothers...

...who are willing to dress up with you.

Thank goodness for sisters who are willing to play cars and trucks with you! :-)