Henry At 5 Weeks

Grandma Spencer gave Emme and Henry both a sock monkey stuffed animal. Emme has been lovingly taking care of Henry's for him until he's big enough to play with it himself. When he cries, she'll bring him his sock monkey and set it right on his chest to make him feel better. We couldn't take pictures today without including the monkeys.

Henry At 4 Weeks

Naps

Everyday before Emme's nap, we do our routine of eating lunch, drinking a sippy of milk, watching some PBS Sprout, and then reading two books in her bed before she goes to sleep. It's the one time of day that has become a little trickier with two children.

So, often Henry comes with us to read stories and they lay like this on Emme's bed while I read. Emme is in heaven when baby brother gets to lay down by her. And when it puts him right to sleep too, it's a win-win!

Henry's Newborn Photos - Melanie Rice Photography

We had Henry's newborn photos taken when he was six days old by Chris's amazing cousin & photographer, Melanie Rice. They turned out fantastic! She is so incredibly talented. Thank you, Melanie!

{Look how furry this little man is!! So cute!}

{I die. Seriously.}

Now the hard part will be finding enough wall space to frame them all, because I can't choose just one!

Valentines Dinner

When I got Emme out of bed yesterday morning, she was greeted by Valentines from her mama on her bedroom door, and a Valentine from her dada on the kitchen counter.

The Valentine from dad had a note to Emme, a note to Henry and a note to mama inside. It was so sweet that it made me cry as I was reading it out loud.


In keeping with tradition, we had our annual Valentines Day family dinner by candle light last night. Emme was thoroughly intrigued by the candles, and requested to blow them out and re-light them numerous times, to which her loving daddy obliged.

This year we had steak pinwheels, stuffed with blue cheese, spinach & olives, BLT pasta, asparagus and fruit. It was yummy! Even Emme liked the "spaghetti." Win-win.

{Family of four at the dinner table. Yowsers!}

Henry enjoyed the meal too...just a few hours later than the rest of us. :)


Later, Emme got a Valentines day present from mom & dad (a bracelet engraved with "I love you to the moon and back"), and a present from Henry (a harmonica). The harmonica was definitely the hit of the evening. Who knew, right? What a fun day!

Happy Valentines Day

Henry At 3 Weeks

I can't believe how time is flying! This little boy is already 3 weeks old, but it feels like he's been a part of our family forever.

The other day when I was burping Henry in the middle of the night, he locked eyes on mine and then gave me the biggest, sweetest smile. I swear it was real!

Henry remains a fabulous sleeper/napper and eater. His only folly is belly-aching when he's in his car seat. The other day I decided to make my first venture with two kids to the store. It was only Rite Aid, which is a quick trip and only a 30 second drive from our house. (And lets be honest, he'll be on first name basis with this store soon, just like Emme and I.) By the time we got to the checkout, he was in full-scale screaming mode and the cashier was looking at me like, you poor pathetic mother, why must you bringing your rotten kids out in public!? Sigh. We'll try again soon.

When Chris gets home from work every day, the first thing he asks us is, "did you leave the house today?" Six times out of seven, the answer is no. I must say, it's sort of nice just relaxing and enjoying life these last few weeks. (Although Emme goes a little stir-crazy on occasion.) I feel good enough to leave the house but for Henry's sake, we try to stay home & stay germ-free. My only complaint is that daytime television is a total drag. Thank heavens for Netflix.

In other news, I'm pretty sure this boy is going to get used to having no personal space whatsoever, because he's got a big sister that's always all up in his grill. Just look at his expression in this picture. Pretty sure there's more where that came from!

Sleeping

{Touchdown!}

Names

I stumbled upon the most awesome piece of history when I was cleaning out my church bag this week.

Way back in 2008 when Chris and I made the decision that we were ready to start a family, we had a discussion about baby names on the back of the sacrament meeting program during church one week. A few weeks later we started our Aflac supplemental insurance, and two months after that we found out we were pregnant with Emme!

That program got stuck in my church notebook where it stayed until now.


I didn't even remember ever discussing the name "Henry" at that time, but I guess we did. And we had Emme's name written down, just with her first & middle reversed. It looks like we hit the nail on the head with names the very first time we ever discussed it!

Precious

My two handsome men napping on the couch. Deja vu.

Henry At 2 Weeks

We took Henry to the doctor this week for his 2-week checkup. I made it there all by myself with two children and time to spare! *pats self on back* The nurse & doctor both got really excited when we weighed him -- he'd put on 12 ounces in the last 12 days, and the expected weight gain is half an ounce per day, or 6 ounces. So ladies and gentlemen -- we may actually have produced a child who likes to eat! Hooray!

Weight - 8 lbs 4 oz (50%)
Height - 21 inches (60%)
Head - 14.5 inches (50%)

As a side note, Emme's head was 60th percentile at birth & her 2-week checkup, so this boy may still prove to have a large noggin like his sister. We'll see!


2 Week Ramblings:

• This little man acts so ravenously hungry when I go to feed him, it's hilarious! He actually snorts and roots around before he settles enough to latch. Chris jokes that we gave birth to a little piggy.
• Both Emme and I came down with colds shortly after leaving the hospital. I'm doing better but Emme is still holding onto that darn cough that lingers. Needless to say, we've been washing hands & sanitizing hands like mad. My hands are so dry they've started to crack and bleed! Darn Utah winters.
• I'm a Belly Bandit believer! I remember with Emme not being prepared for what my body (& more specifically, my stomach) would look like after giving birth. I felt like I looked 6 or 7 months pregnant for about 3 weeks after her. So this time around I had a Belly Bandit that I wore faithfully night & day for about 6 days afterwards. (They recommend wearing it for 6 weeks afterwards, but frankly it's not very comfortable, and it needs to be against your skin for it to stay put so once you get your regular undergarments back on, it's not so effective.) The result? Although there's still no muscle tone in my stomach, at 7 days postpartum I felt like my tummy looked about 12 or 16 weeks pregnant. Not bad! I'll definitely use this again next time around.
• I took Emme to the library one night last week after dinner while Chris stayed home with Henry. We just needed to get out of the house! She loves the library because it has books and other kids -- her two favorite things. As I sat on the ground in the kids section perusing a section of books, I overheard Emme's interaction with some other kids in the "castle" they have there. The first words out of her mouth were, "I have a new baby brother at home!" It prettymuch melted my heart. She's as in love with this boy as we are.
• I have to say, Chris is a super-dad and a super-husband. He's been so helpful to jump in at dinner time or whenever I need him to help, usually with Emme. Last Saturday morning, after a long night with the baby, Chris woke up with Emme and took her out in to the family room to play until I woke up. When the baby woke up, he came and got him as well. I slept until almost 10am!!! I can't remember the last time that happened -- it was certainly before Emme was born. Thank goodness for families. I can't imagine doing this by myself. Love you, Chris!
• Because this boy is such a content little man, I was able to go to 2 hours of church with Emme this week! I fed Henry and then Emme and I hit sacrament meeting and the first hour of Primary before I came home and switched with Chris. It was so nice to get out.
• Chris and I have been so overwhelmed by the love from our friends, family & ward. We have had so many wonderful meals brought to us, and SO many people have called to come get Emme for playdates. It makes me feel so indebted! We can't wait to find ways to return all the favors. We love our neighbors!