the zoo

This past Saturday I went to the Columbus Zoo with some friends. We had a few hours of sunshine (in between down pours!) and there was a parent magazine expo thing that was held at the zoo, so it worked out perfectly. We didn't get to see everything, but it was still fun! I tried to get pictures of L-boy next to some animals to prove that he was there ... but they didn't turn out as good as I wanted. Oh well!
I promise she's not picking her nose ... honest!

Four adult women, three monster strollers, three adorable kids, eight hands to take care of 'em all.

playing with the camera

Please don't let this peaceful mask trick you ... he has a strong set of lungs, and he's not afraid to use them! Although these precious times make it all worth it.

family fun

Having family visit is so much fun!

my boys

L-boy seems to settle into a routine for all of two or three days or so, and then it's starting from scratch again. One of those sweet episodes was his being happily alert at about 6:30am right before Ryan needed to start getting ready for school. I would lay him next to his dad in bed while I took a minute for myself. I would come back in the room to see them just looking at each other, and it melted my heart every time. Aren't my boys cute?!

it's all about perspective

It's funny how the 'first' anything will get you excited as a parent. This picture was taken to document L-boy's "first" blow-out ... and as I look back at it I wonder how on earth such a thing got me so excited. After many other episodes far worse than that pictured below, I now realize that a blow-out is nothing to be celebrated. But I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss, and for that brief moment in time, this was a happy occassion. At least it gives me perspective during those 3am changes when we go through four different diapers at once. :)

pampers commercial

So I am a big nerd. While Ry went to church on L-boy's second week birthday, I set up a little photo shoot in our living room. It is absolutely amazing for me to see how much he is growing, and to try to capture it with pictures. It's easy to overlook the smaller details in the day-to-day activities, so I had a lot of fun taking these! I was thinking about submitting them for a pamper's commercial ... what do you think? ;)

three weeks old!

Ryan and I voted on a very important matter today, and we have decided that we need to have all the family come back and stay with us again. While it's fun to finally be on our own and begin to feel like we actually are the real parents of this baby boy, we're also thinking that the fun is over and would like to have our moms/dads/siblings come out again to hang out. :) What do you say?

In all honesty, the past three weeks have gone by so quickly and we are so grateful for all the help that we received from family and friends! L-boy is growing like crazy, and definitely strengthening his vocal chords every day. After Ryan's mom left Ohio, we had a short weekend just the three of us, and then my brother, his wife, and their 10-month old daughter came for a visit on their way up to New Jersey. They ended up spending a little longer with us than expected, which was awesome! We had fun playing with the kids, going to parks, showing them around where I used to work on campus, and watching plenty of Seinfield and movies! :) Their little girl looks so big compared to L-boy - it's hard to imagine that he will be that size someday!

Now it's Sunday, L-boy is three weeks old, and we're on our own again. Just the three of us ... our own little family. Is it okay that we still get a little nervous? And that's an understatement? :) Ryan is amazingly wonderful at juggling school and being a dad, and I am still slowly recovering. Hopefully I'll be able to return to being a normal wife again soon, but in the mean time, the help from family and friends (especially Ryan!) has been amazing and so much appreciated. We are so blessed!! Thank you thank you thank you!!

I guess life will settle into some kind of routine now, and part of that will definitely include more frequent posts on our blog. :) Here are just some random pictures ... hope you enjoy!! More to come shortly!!

test run

R & I took L-boy to the park for the first time last week, mostly to get out of the house and to test the new stroller combo. Pretty sweet ride if you ask me!

bath time fun

L-boy's first full-bath experience was a little less than ideal. Ry and I took a little longer than he would have liked, and he let us know that he was a little unhappy! But we still had fun, and have tried to speed things up a bit. He's so dang cute in the towel - I love it! :)

the little one

Here are the long awaited pictures of the little guy! Isn't he amazing? Of course we have to say that, being the parents and all, but we have it on good sources (grandparents) that he is way cute. This post is also monumental because it is my (Ryan) maiden blog post (shocking, I know). L-boy was born at 7:59am on April 6, 2008 - it's hard to believe that he's been with us for over a week! We're having so much fun with him already ... we just can't get enough (except those 3 am diaper changes, but he's cute then too)! Both mother and baby are doing well. Heather actually is one of those miracle stories where she woke up at 3:30 with contractions, we were at the hospital by 5:30 and the baby was out before 8 - all without the help of an epidural. Although that sounds nice and short, it was in no way easy, and she handled it incredibly well - she amazes me!

Her mother was here with us for a week, and now Grandma #2 (well, they're both #1 in our book, but it's my mom this time) is here and they have been AMAZING at helping with some of the early morning wake up calls. My dad was also able to come and enjoy some Papa Gary/L-boy bonding - they are so good with him.

So he's feeding well and growing, holds his head up like a champ (already!), and went in for his first pediatrician check-up today - he already weighs 8 lbs 5 oz! And Heather was worried he wasn't eating enough ... whatever. We love him!