Around Here (aka, Picture Overload)

We've had some exciting news around here lately. The MOST exciting being the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Katherine Grace. We like to call her Kate.

She is an amazing addition to our little family, which seems "not so little" anymore.

The labor and delivery was my hardest, by a stretch (I will remind Kate of this during the tough teenage years). I passed out, bled (a lot, like 3 liters a lot) and the labor and pushing was longer than the others. But it was all worth it in the end. 8 lb 3 oz, 21 inch baby Kate made her entrance into this world at 4:03pm on a cloudy January 23rd. And we can't get enough of her.

Welcome to the world, little cheesy vernix baby.

We all assumed she would have blonde hair and blue eyes like her brothers. But we were surprised with dark hair (a long tuft of it at the crown of her head) and dark blue eyes.

Her brothers love her. A lot.

Andy, waiting to hold her...

I'm loving the pink. and the flowers. and the bows.

Other news headlines include...

Lucas Kimball is potty-trained! He decided about 2 weeks before the arrival of baby Kate that he wanted to wear big boy underwear. And we are all as pleased as punch!

Noah got a "Student of the Month" award at his school in the area of Science/Social Studies

Andy...well, Andy is just as cute as ever...

and Ephraim, oh Ephraim. He is battling a kidney stone for the 9th day in a row. Any suggestions? I feel like we've tried everything...from 2 ER visits, to a CAT scan, to home remedies, to drugs (legal, of course).

But we go on. and our family feels complete. This time for sure.

Chiclet

So what do these...


and my baby have in common?



Seriously, have you seen bigger baby teeth on a child?

This has to be coming from the Hanks side of the family.

Happy Birthday Luke!

I can't believe my baby is 1! How time flies!

What did YOU do last night?

Our night went something like this...

Happy

How can you not love someone who's
this genuinely happy to see you?

Too Cute

We went to the Washington Rec Center last night with our friends, the Mathews. Luke, being the angel he is, fell asleep in the bouncy swing. Thanks, Mary, for taking the picture (we didn't have our camera...and how could we miss a shot like this?)

"Wookis"

Our "little" Lucas is rivaled by few and loved by many. At his two month checkup (which was one month ago...I'm so not on the ball), he weighed in at 14 lbs 6 oz and 24 1/4 inches long. That's 95th and 88th percentiles, respectively. And he doesn't show any signs of slowing down!

He has so far received many endearing nicknames: Hank the Tank (from the doctor), Chunky Monkey, Sweet Cheeks, and Wookis (as Andy calls him...we took the liberty to spell this phonetically).

He rounds off our family so well that Ephraim says we're done having kids.

We'll see about that.

Lucas

I've been thinking about how fast babies grow out of the newborn stage...especially mine. The pediatrician called Lucas Hank the Tank at his 2 week appointment. He weighed in at 9 lbs 15 oz and almost 22 inches long.

I don't think it's very fair that during this precious stage in this little boy's life, I'm not functioning quite at 100%. The recovery from child birth, not sleeping, and other issues that result from a 5 foot 3 inch somewhat petite girl giving birth to 9 pound babies. I'm enjoying mostly every minute of this newborn stage (except maybe at 3am). I just can't help but think that nature could have thought this one through a little harder.

I just wish I could keep him little longer.

I AM crazy

I just had a baby last week. The same time my 2 year old decided he wanted to be potty trained. I have been known in the past to take on too many things at one time. Like when we lived in Kentucky...I was 7 months pregnant with Noah, teaching high school full time, coaching the tennis team, and Young Womens' President. I swore I would never do that again.

But here we are.
I'm recovering from child birth, nursing, have three very young children, and am potty training my middle child.
We're half way there, if you know what I mean.

I AM crazy.

He's here!

We welcomed Baby Lucas Kimball Hanks into the world on Monday, March 30th at 4:00pm. He came in weighing 9lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. Laura, you were the closest! Well, technically, I was because Ephraim and I had our own bet going...I guessed 9'4 on the dot. Now, what am I going to do with the $50 that I don't have to be accountable for?

Don't I look excited to be in labor?


We are home and all is well. The labor and delivery were quick and........painful. But I feel much better with every passing hour. We're excited and nervous to see what the immediate future holds.