Okay, some new pictures of Andrew

Okay, I have to admit, I've been really bad about posting recent pictures of Andrew. (Sorry Allyn!) With the sleepless nights, a two year old and unplanned trip to Utah, it's been hard to make the time to download all the pics and then blog them. But I've managed today. Since the last pictures of him on here are from week two, here are some pictures at 3 weeks.

just chillin'

I have a lot of these. I've gotten a better pose of them together from the other day - coming soon!

Blessing Day - Nick did such a great job!

Sleepyhead - they really are so sweet when they are sleeping!

Okay, so this one isn't of Andrew. But I had to show you the great education Alison is getting since Andrew has come home. Breast is best! (btw, this was not staged, she frequently will do this while I am feeding him.)

Sunshine

Have I mentioned lately what a ham Alison is? She has been amusing us a lot lately. She is talking up a storm. She loves to inform us of everything from the color of the crayon she happens to be holding or the fruit snack she is eating to Andrew's state of being - mad, sad, sneezing, sleeping, awake, etc. She is a little sponge and has recently started singing all her bedtime songs with us. She constantly surprises me!

Thanks everyone

Thank you to everyone who have posted such nice supportive comments over the last week. It's been an emotional and tiring week. But the support of great friends makes things like this more bearable. So I thank you all!

I'll be catching up on some photos and things from the last few weeks soon!

If I could just figure out how to get the baby fed without actually having to wake up.....

Kenneth Grant Hughes 1921 - 2008

Kenneth G. Hughes passed away at his home on March 3, 2008 surrounded by his family after a prolonged illness.Born August 16, 1921 in Spanish Fork, Utah, Kenneth was the ninth and youngest child of Joseph Hughes, MD and Delila Rebecca Gardner. He was sealed to his wife of 45 years, Suzanne Hjorth, of Mapleton, Utah, in the Manti Temple on March 22, 1963. Kenneth and Suzanne raised six children in the Washington, DC area: Eric, Brian (Megan), David (Philippa), Neil (Willow), Amy (Nicholas) and Jason (Laura). In addition to his devoted wife, children and 10 grandchildren, Kenneth is survived by his brother Reed Hughes and sister Frances Hillier. He is preceded in death by his sisters Jean Crandall, Bernice Nuttal, Delila Mae and Anne Rowe and his brothers Joseph W. and Preston G.
Kenneth attended Spanish Fork H.S. and later earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry at Brigham Young University. His professional career began after earning a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Utah. Working as a pharmacist, he then enrolled in the Georgetown University Dental School class of 1960. During a 30-year dental career, Dr. Hughes enjoyed serving his patients in his Annandale, Virginia practice. In retirement, he returned to Utah and made his home in Draper.
Kenneth served an LDS mission in the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana and Texas. His missionary service was closely followed by his U.S. Army deployment to the Philippines during World War II. He was attached to the 108th Infantry Regiment.
Kenneth will be remembered for his quiet strength, his sense of humor and his love of the outdoors. He loved being a father and grandfather and enjoyed supporting his children in their many activities.
Funeral services will take place on Saturday, March 8th at 11 a.m. at the LDS Chapel in Draper located at 272 E. Traversepoint Dr. (at the intersection of Traverse Ridge Rd. and Highland Dr.). A viewing at this chapel will be held on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00-10:45 a.m. The interment will be held at Springville Evergreen Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the LDS Church Perpetual Education Fund or the Hydrocephalus Association.
Published in the Deseret News on 3/6/2008.

Goodbye Grandpa

I'm sad to let you all know that my dad passed away Monday morning. I just thought I'd leave you with some favorite pictures of he and Alison. These were taken Jan 2007.

Brother and Sister

I have to say I am really pleased and surprised how good Alison is with her baby brother. She loves to hug him and kiss him and is so excited to see him when he wakes up. I was a little worried a few months ago when she was hitting her dolls and throwing them up in the air and stuff. She's much more gentle with Baby Andrew. One of her favorite things to do is look at her baby pictures. When she first saw them she would exclaim "baby brother!" I had to explain that it was her... they do a look a little alike as infants.

Andrew is doing well; eating, sleeping and going through diapers. Thankfully I am doing well too. We are past the 10 day mark which is where things really got bad last time. My doctor has been checking on me and he says I'm good and don't have to go back until my six week check up. I think if I'd known I should feel as good as I do this time around I would've been a little more concerned last time. OH well - hindsight.....

Most of the pictures I have of Andrew so far are closeups and you can't really see how big or little he is - so when I saw how tiny he looked next to Nick - I had to snap this "perspective" picture. I know 8 lbs 9 oz is a big baby - but he's still pretty tiny.

This is after his first bath. We're not used to having all this hair on a baby and he needs it washed~ He liked his second bath better than the first.

Not even a week old yet....

Here are some newer pictures of him - he looks less traumatized from the whole birth thing!

Here he is in his first ride in his car seat. Doesn't he look cozy? I love his little blue hat - they gave that too him at the hospital. I like to call it his thug hat.


Alison covered him up with her blanket while he was asleep in the bouncy chair. She's a good sharer!


It was nice and sunny today, so I took advantage of the natural light. I love that hair!!!

Welcome!!

He's here!

Andrew Gardner Webb made his appearance into the world at 7:52 PM, Jan. 31, 2008.
He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz and was 20" long. And I might mention that even the doctor commented on how big his head was. OUCH!

He's darling and we all love him dearly. Here are a few pics of those first few days. He's looking less scrunched and traumatized now that we are home. Oh, don't worry - I'll post more pictures.

The delivery was pretty uneventful and I only had to push for 15 minutes - yay Yoga!! Things have been much more normal this time around and I just wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and positive thoughts and energy sent our way. We are so happy that so far recovery has been so much better than last time.

Here's his first photo!Proud parents!

Scrunchy face (Alison had this one perfected too)

Proud Papa - and notice Andrews head of black hair! WOW!

This is Alison's response to the question - Raise your hand if you love baby brother!

She has been so cute with him - she voluntarily hugs and kisses him any chance she can get. She really adores him, but it's still been a rough week for her. She finally took a nap today, I'm trying to go by the two week rule to get adjusted to all of this. It's new to everyone. But we are so happy and he's such a sweet baby. We can't seem to hold him enough.

Not much longer!

So many things to tell, so little energy!

I went to my last pre-natal visit today. Everything is looking good and I will be checking in the hospital tomorrow night! (Assuming there is a bed for me) My doctor assured me I will be having the baby on Thursday. So here we go!!!! I'll be posting pictures up here as soon as I can.

I'll leave you with a few pics of Alison.Our friends were over the other day and Alison was playing with the boys. It got really quiet so of course we started to worry. I found them in her room sharing the chair and reading books together. How sweet!! Ty is one of her many boyfriends.

The dentists in the family will be happy to know that Alison has very good dental hygiene. She reminds us she needs to brush every night before bed. And she thinks a piece of floss is a REAL treat! Only brush and floss the teeth you want to keep!! (Should I let her know those are going to fall out eventually?)

We had a great snowstorm a few weeks back. She was sliding down the slide (sort of like sledding) and having a snowball fight with daddy (below).

And this is what we have for breakfast the day after a snowstorm. A snowball that was kept over night in the freezer. She got up that morning pointing to the fridge and saying something that sounded like 'nobaw'. I finally figured out that was what she wanted. And then she ate the whole thing!
Thanks Shannon for this adorable headband! She loves it and wears it every chance she gets! She even knows that it's hot pink - not just regular pink.

My Belly Pics

Someone (mom) keeps asking to see a picture of my belly. So here you go - 36 weeks. And they say black is slimming. . .pshaw!Just for comparison, this is me at 34 weeks with Alison. I think I looked like this at 6 months with Bruiser. Sheesh!!
This is what Alison does when I ask her if she wants to kiss her baby brother. Cute! I think she's starting to get that there is a baby in there. She felt him kick tonight while we were reading stories. I KNOW she doesn't know how it's about to impact her life! Yikes! If she only knew.

Another Baby Update

No, we still don't have a name. And I'm not making that up! We aren't just being coy. It's a hard thing to decide. It would help if we could spend more than just a week together at a time to actually talk about it some.... Luckily, Nick will be back from his 2nd trip to Japan next week which means he won't miss out on the baby coming early or something. Then he doesn't leave again until the end of Feb.

I had my weekly visit with my OB. My bp's are still low and the baby looks good. However, the doctor has decided he doesn't want me to go past my due date. He wants to induce me on the 31st!! Yikes! I thought I was having a baby NEXT month (never mind that it's only a week early). February 8th just sounded so much further away. So, in just a few short weeks baby brother will be here and that's that! I'm excited, but nervous about having 2 to take care of. Alison is great, she is 2 though and showing me her independent side. Which includes but is not limited to: saying "no" a lot, refusing to wear the clothes I pull out for her, and spending 3 hours during nap time in her bed refusing to succumb to the wonders of slumberland. I think she's also cutting her 2 year molars - that'll make you cranky too.

I need to take some pictures, but really all I do lately is hold it together until nap time so I can catch up on the sleep I missed the previous night from 3rd trimester induced insomnia!! Did I mention that this pregnancy is so much better than the last one? I'm sure all my complaining wouldn't lead you to believe it!

On a brighter note (literally) we had several 70 degree sunny days this week and it was FANTASTIC. I believe it's just a tease before the cold and real winter hit in February. It was nice while it lasted. I even ate lunch al fresco with my good friend Megan on Monday. What a nice distraction - a rueben on toasted rye, awesome fries and a good friend.

Christmas videos

I promised my mom I would get these up today.

this is Alison with her stroller taking it for a spin....

and here she is coming back!



more present opening...



I do love how she crumples the paper into a ball to throw away. She does that with Kleenex too.

Measurements

Well, here's some fun kid trivia.

Alison had her 2 year check in and weighed in at 25.5 lbs and 2'8" tall. I did a growth predictor and she is supposed to be around 5'3" at age 18. She is a petite little thing.

Now, as a contrast, I went to the doctor again today for another ultrasound and they told me how much he weighs. Are you ready? I wasn't - He's already 6 lbs. 15 oz!!!! and I have 6 weeks to go. Conceivably he could gain 3 more pounds before my due date!! AAAAHHHHHH. Alison weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz at birth and wasn't even 10 pounds at her 2 month check up.

I think this is a good thing - meaning my placenta is obviously working correctly this time. It also proves that I wasn't crazy thinking I was a lot bigger this time around. Bruiser is the best nickname we've heard yet. I think it's going to fit.

Merry Christmas!

So I'm a week late in posting some Christmas pictures but here we go! I have some video too - but I'll have to post that later.I think she was more interested in opening presents than having her picture taken!

Some ornaments - really I just wanted to see if I could get a cool close-up.
Our tree! We got a real one this year and I think it's so cute. Plus I raided IKEA's ornaments when they were 1/2 off the week before Christmas so we were able to make it look decorated! Notice the bottom middle of the tree is a little bare. Thank sticky fingers (aka Alison) for that!

This is our Christmas morning breakfast tradition. My mom got me a belgian waffle iron for Christmas one year after my mission. So we started then but then left off for a few years. I started it again last year and I decided they looked so good - I should take a picture for you to see! Granted they aren't "REAL" belgian waffles (those of you who know, know what I am talking about). But they are tasty nonetheless! I mean really, when don't strawberries and whipped cream taste good together?

Baby Boy Update

Okay, so I know ultrasound pictures are somewhat annoying - but my doctor got a really great shot of baby brother's face! I can see it pretty clearly - but I also know what I am looking for! Tilt your head to the right and then your face will be matched up with his. The 2 lighter colored circles are his cheek and his nose and then his eye is just above that. You can sort of see his mouth too. I don't know if that helps - but hopefully it does! I guess it doesn't really matter - we'll have pictures of the real guy soon enough!I've started going to the doctor every week now (I'm 33 weeks) for a non-stress test and an ultrasound to check fluid levels. Everything went really well this week. The baby is moving great, his head is down and there is plenty of fluid. I feel really good and my bp's are still low - in the 100/60 range - which explains my light-headedness! When I saw my perinatologist a couple of weeks ago he was very optimistic about how good I looked, as well as the baby. My OB confirmed the same things this week. So hopefully the next 7 weeks will be very uneventful and things will continue to go well. Especially since Nick will only be home for this next week and then he's basically gone until the end of January. Yes, that's right. And I'm due the 8th of Feb. So I hope this little guy isn't in a hurry.

We really haven't decided on a name. We're not trying to keep any secrets - we just haven't had enough time to discuss it. Besides, we'll probably change anything we decide on at the last minute anyway.

Alison loves kissing baby brother (my belly) and we are getting her some baby doll supplies for Christmas so she can start practicing. She's really cute everytime we see babies out and about - she gets really excited! 'Baby!!!!' she exclaims and then she runs over and takes a peek. Cute.

Someone's 2!!

Happy Birthday to Alison! We had a fun little party early so Daddy could be here. But I will say that after 6 pm is not a great time for a party for someone who starts getting ready for bed at 7. But we had fun anyway. The balloons were a big hit! Every present opening was punctuated by "It's Mine!!" She is cracking me up lately , the way she has started talking. I've included a little video clip of her to give you a taste. I haven't had a chance to really edit it though - sorry for some of the weird camera shots!She totally gets the present thing now. She was timid at first but went at it after the first one!

She got some percussion instruments from grandma - including this triangle. She's a natural!

THE BALLOONS!!

Old and New Friends

I got to see an old friend of mine yesterday - so good to see you Jenny! And our kiddies became new friends! Aaron is only 2 months old and already weighs 13 pounds - Alison barely weighs in at 25.... Anyway, here's some shots of our visit! She was so good with him.

And yes, I think I am addicted to digital scrapbooking - well , I still have a lot to learn but it's fun!

Dress Up

Someone asked me the other day if Alison liked to dress up. I said not really. Then I remembered she loves hats. And recently she has taken to this princess hat which is part of a halloween costume she didn't use. Notice how well it matches her PJs!

Digital Scrapbooking?

This is my first real attempt... not sure I really like the finished product. I do like that I didn't have to get out any supplies (glue, paper, scissors, etc.) I think I need to crop the pictures down some, or not put so many on. I love the continuous shutter option on my camera so I end up with a lot of series shots and then I think they are all so fun I can't get rid of any of them! I took these this summer at our local county pool's splashpad. She's grown up so much since then. (Click on the pic to see it bigger)

Let the FUN begin!!

Now that December is officially here - Alison is really getting into the Christmas spirit. Click HERE to see what I'm talking about!!

Happy Christmas Season to everyone - pull out the Christmas CDs!!

(ok, it was so fun I had to get Nick and I in on the action: Click HERE to see it!)