Monday, October 17, 2011

First Week With 3

Well, we survived our first week with 3 little kids. Am I really a mom of 3? It's finally sinking in that it's actually true.

This week has been tiring of course, but has really gone as well as it could have. Smith is the ultimate sleeper!! We never really experienced this with our other two and I have to say, I like having a sleeping baby. As long as he's wrapped tightly, he can pretty much fall asleep anywhere and anytime. So, at night, he still wakes up every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to eat, but then fortunately goes right back to sleep (almost all the time). I still have nightmares of spending hours awake at night with Zack just trying every trick to get Zane and Emerson back to sleep. Eventually, after 7 weeks, Zane turned out to be an amazing sleeper. Emerson, not so much. I realize this may not last, but I'm trying to feel thankful for now. Smith is also a good eater. He does want to eat often, so it's been a little tricky trying to sit and feed him and also manage all the other millions of needs of Z and E. They've been pretty patient, but they do want to kiss, hug, cuddle Smith and me while I'm feeding him which is hard too. It gets a little crowded!

Zane is super loving toward his brother. He wants to hold him all the time, caress his soft cheeks and hair, laughs at everything he does and gives him a million kisses a day. He shows love that way. Emerson, on the other hand, shows love by sharing her toys with Smith and by "helping" me get him when he cries and singing to him when he's sad. They both also always want to hold his hands in the car. When she holds him, she gets super stiff and stares straight ahead and after about 1 minute she says, "All done" and gives him back. So cute.

Zack has been absolutely amazing. I don't know how he's even getting through the days. When he gets woken up at night, it usually takes him a while to get back to sleep so he's up for a lot of the nights too. Then, on top of that, he's been cooking us dinners, helping around the house, playing with the kids, running errands, taking the kids to their activities, and still managing to keep up with his running schedule. He went back to work yesterday so I've been on my own. We are both exhausted but I think doing much better with the shock of everything than when we transitioned from one baby to two. But let's face it, Emerson was not exactly the easiest baby. ;)

Here are the pictures from our first week...

This picture is right when we got home from the hospital. My mom was holding Smith and Emmy just wanted to keep giving him toys to hold so my mom had a huge handful. Zane just wanted to stare at every part of him.

Zane can not get enough of Smith's rooting for food. He thinks it's hysterical when he opens his mouth and tries to "eat" whatever is next to his face. So Zane spent a lot of the first days putting his fingers and face up to Smith's mouth and cracking up when he tried to "bite" them. Emmy's gotten better about not poking him right in the face and eyes.


Our sweet Zane LOVES his brother!
This girl loves to be cozy and watch TV.
Here's our sweet guy snoozing...
Then, a rare wide awake moment!


Asleep again - I love how he's in an enormous outfit and laying so stiff. I guess he was too tired to move to get more comfortable and I just left him right there to sleep. :) Oh, and Zane picked out his Halloween socks. Nice.

Emmy was hanging out with her little brother - she was trying out his car seat. She feels and looks like a huge giant compared to baby Smith.
Emmy gave Smith Elmo to hold and got super excited everytime it looked like he was holding it.
Hanging with Dad.

Hiccups

This was our first car ride as a family. They all barely fit in the backseat. We did pretty good. We ran errands as a family of 5 two different days and I took the all 3 kids by myself to our rec center play place. I know that seems like no big deal, but trust me, it was a big accomplishment.
Smith slept the entire time on every car ride, except for a tiny bit of time when he was hungry and cried. Emerson plugged her ears the whole time he cried. Drama queen!
A couple days ago, we got out in the afternoon on a perfect fall day to rake our leaves. Well, Zack did all the work. Zane and Emerson tried to help too.




Then, right in the middle of raking, we found a huge caterpillar and it entertained us for a while.




Jumping in our pile!

More pictures of the little man.




First bath - he really didn't know what to do. It was on the verge of crying but never really did. Big brother and sister had the best time helping.

I love this picture because it's Emmy's little hands washing Smith's hair.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Zane and Smith

Zane and his little brother Smith look so much alike!

Zane
Smith

Zane
Smith
Zane
Smith

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Smith - Hospital Days

We are so happy to share that our sweet baby brother finally decided to join the family. Smith Abram Weingartner was born on Monday, October 10th, at 3:29 am. His due date was October 1st, which means he came 9 days late (just like Zane). Right before he was born, the doctor felt my belly and guessed that he would weight about 7 1/2 - 7 3/4 lbs, just as my OB doc had predicted a few days before. They were way off! He weight 8 lbs, 14 oz. Wow! He was also 20 1/2 in tall. He is a big, strong, healthy boy.
I was scheduled to be induced on the 11th, but luckily I went into labor late Sunday. My contractions started around 5:00 or 6:00 Sunday and when we got to the hospital a few hours later, I was already 4 1/2 cm dilated. Considering I was only starting at one cm, that was moving pretty fast! Then, about 3 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital, Smith was born. I was thankful that everything went smoothly and quickly - much easier than the last two.
From the first second we saw his little face we were in love. Right after they cleared his throat out, he cried for literally about 5 seconds and then for the next 20 minutes or so, he was completely calm and quiet. He laid on me and looked right at my face, and around the room, that entire time. This reminded us so much of what Zane did when he was born. Smith also looks EXACTLY like Zane did when he was born. I'll have to post comparison pics soon.
Since then, he's been doing great. He's been a fantastic sleeper and eater so far. He cries absolutely histerically every time we change his diaper, but other than that he doesn't cry very much at all. I'm hoping his relaxed personality sticks.
Emerson and Zane are adjusting pretty well I think. They've been helping me out a ton and when he starts crying, they immediately come to his rescue - with singing or offering him his pacifier or being silly. Emmy's accidentally bumped and banged him a few times already but I think she's genuinely been doing her very best to be gentle. Zane's gotten to hold him by himself a few times and is so sweet and gentle.
Today was tough, mostly because Zane and Emerson have been waking up consistently before 6:00 am. So after being up most of the night with Smith, and then being up that early with cranky, tired other kids is a little crazy. I know we'll all start adjusting soon though and it will be good.

So, here are a TON of pictures. I accidentally posted them backwards...starting from when were just about the leave the hospital down to the very first shots.

Zane and Emerson helped us pick out his "going home" outfit. We called his shirt a "Super Smith" shirt.
Zane and Emmy both wore this hat. I can't wait to find pictures of Zane in it to compare. They look so much alike, it's crazy. We also tried a pacifier right before we left and he loved it. Yes, we are those parents who used a pacifier before even leaving the hospital - don't judge. ;)
We had lot's of visitors, but my two favorite visitors were Zane and Emerson. I will post a video soon of them meeting their brother. Here's Zane trying to get Smith to grab his finger.

Grandma Fran talking to little Smith. She came to stay with the kids for us during the night while we went to the hospital. Thanks, Grandma!


Our 3 monkeys!!



The whole family...


Pappy and Smith
Grandma Shirley




Aunt Nell

After the first night in the hospital.

All of the rest of the pictures are from the delivery room...
First shampooing...
Sad face
Happier

My mom and Nell


Proud dad
Big boy

He was sucking his thumb right off the bat.
My dad
Aunt Jord
Smith was and is a rooting machine. He constantly has his mouth open searching for food.
Right after birth - calm and happy guy