Mike and Steph from New York came to visit on Dec. 23rd and stayed with us through the 28th.  We had a great time and really enjoyed them being here with us!  Drew loved it.      Drew got a toolbench, a bike, a ipod docking station (for David’s OLD ipod we gave him… Drew loves to dance!)  among other small items from Santa.  From grandparents and everyone else he got a small trampoline, a TP, cars, money, playdough kit with cookie cutters and lots, lots more stuff. We have plenty to keep him busy for a while!  Dylan got a busy gym, diapers, formula, a tummy mat, personalized luggage, train toys, a riding car and many other things from family.  Both boys got fixed up with fun stuff and we appreciate everything from everyone.  We have such a great family! 

Last week was my last week off and it was VERY eventful and busy trying to get all the things done I set out to do while I was on maternity leave.  I cleaned out the main closets and organized them, I got all of the Christmas Decorations down and cleaned the house thoroughly. I felt good with what I had accomplished.  Today (January 4, 2010) was my first day back at work…. all of my co-workers were so nice and welcoming all day today.  When I got in, they had a sign at my desk saying “Welcome back Lindsey” and I had visitors come by pretty much all day wanting updates on the baby and how we are doing.  My sweet husband sent me flowers today which was so thoughtful and simply made my day.  All in all, I had a wonderful day back at work today.  Being surrounded by such wonderful people has made the transition close to seamless. 

Dylan and Drew were wonderful when I dropped them off this morning.  Drew was so excited that Dylan was going with us to school.  Got Drew dropped off first then got Dylan signed in.  I took a little extra time dropping off this morning to get all of his things settled.  I held together well up until right before I left.  When the time came to hand him over to the teacher, I got pretty sad.  He just looked at me with those beautiful eyes of his and it just made me feel like he was saying “mommy, where are you going?”  I am sure I was just being crazy, but seeing his face that way just made me fall apart.  I had called and checked on him throughout the day today and he was doing fine.  When I got there this afternoon to pick him up, he had a wonderful day.  He ate well and didn’t spit up much today.  Ms. Shelli, one of his teachers said he didn’t sleep too well today because of all the noise of other babies crying, etc… so I could tell when he got home that he was pretty tired.  She mentioned that he had some tummy time and laid on the Boppy pillow for a little bit in front of the mirror and just looked at himself and the baby sitting next to him.  She really enjoyed loving on him today.  She mentioned to me that he was such a mild-mannered, easy-going type of child.  I agree with her and am so proud! 

Drew is doing great and getting way too big!  He is very into Christmas this year.  Nonie is still living with us and fly’s to different areas of the house each night when he gets back from the North Pole.  Each morning when Drew finds him, he has done something different.  This morning, he found him at the top of the stairs with toilet paper pulled through his room.  He loves our little elf!    This week we made our gingerbread house and Drew really got into it this year.  It turned out great and he had a lot of fun putting the candy on and sneaking candy when we were not looking.    We had his parent/teacher conference this week and got an excellent report on his development and behavior at school.  Developmentally he knows most of his shapes and can count from 1-30.  They are currently learning how to write the letters of the alphabet.  Their program is called “Handwriting without Tears”.  He also knows how to spell his name now!  We’ve had a few challenges here at home with his “listening” skills… he is testing the waters, so we are working through that right now.  I believe we are feeling some of the effects of the terrible twos at age three.  Overall, he is doing great, still loves his baby brother and acting like a typical toddler three!

Dylan is developing rapidly also and really showing his little personality now.  At his 8 week visit he weighed 12 pounds and was 24 inches tall.  On the growth chart he measured:  60th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height.  Who knows, he may end up being taller than both of us!  That wouldn’t be too hard to beat.    Developmentally he smiles all the time and if you catch him at the right time he will “talk” (coo) to you.    He has become much stronger in the last couple of weeks.  He is a very active child and I am beginning to think that once he figures out how to scoot around that he is going to be all over the place and into everything!  He is discovering his hands, which we are trying really, really hard to keep out of his mouth.  And… he has officially lost all of his hair on the back of his head from where  he lays all the time.  He looks like a little old man from the back.    We were notified recently that he will have a spot at the daycare center that Drew goes to beginning on January 4th.  We met his teachers this past week and he is going to be in the same class (Baby Bird 1) that Drew was in when he was an infant.  One of the teachers is the same that Drew had… Ms. Jessica… and there are 2 new ones in there, Ms. Shelli and Ms. Melissa.  They all seemed very nice and I know they will take great care of Dylan.  We are about to transition his food intake from 5 oz every 4 hours to 6 oz every 4 hours.   He is very eager to eat and it is difficult for him to hold his 5 oz. in a 4 hour time period… so we feel the need to increase at this point.  His sleeping schedule is improving little by little and I am praying he will sleep through the night soon.  We have not moved him upstairs yet but plan to very soon within the next couple of days.

I go back to work on January 4th and have about 2 weeks left to enjoy being home with Dylan and enjoy this fun season.  David and I are looking forward to Christmas and lots of family time next week.  David’s sister, Stephanie from New York and her fiance, Mike will be staying with us this year and we are looking forward to seeing them!  We will be having Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve around lunchtime and will be having Christmas with David’s family Christmas Eve night.  Christmas Day, everyone will  be coming to our house to see what Santa brings.  Lots of fun and excitement to look forward to as Drew experiences his first Christmas being totally into it.  We’ve been reading him a story book that my mom purchased for him right before he was born about the meaning of Christmas… we read that book to him every night. 

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2010!  I will put another post out in a couple of weeks.  

Milestones… We are enjoying every moment with Dylan and continuing to develop our day to day routine as he grows.  He is awake the majority of the day now and sleeps pretty good at night.  He is getting up about once a night to eat.  He is eating about 4 ounces every 4 hours at this point.  He has been charming us with his smile… he will smile on command now if we do silly things to him like tickle his chin or make funny faces and noises.  

Drew is doing great also and is so excited that we have begun our Christmas decorating.  He and David put lights on all the bushes, he helped me decorate the Christmas tree, and “Nonie” (our Christmas Elf) has arrived.   At age 3, he is very into everything and we are having a blast watching his excitement with it all.  Last Christmas at age 2 is when our little elf Nonie arrived.  We have no idea where the name Nonie came from but that is what he wanted to call him, so that is what has stuck.    Drew is obsessed with the little guy… Nonie has been doing some pretty funny stuff since he arrived from the North Pole on Friday.  The first night he had Drew’s cars out playing with them upstairs, the second night he found him riding on his roller car with his stuffed animals on the back and the third Nonie was hiding inside of one of Drew’s school shoes which were propped up on top of the TV in the living room (as seen below).  Drew  is loving it! 

Drew has been an awesome big brother and loves to help out with Dylan.  As a matter of fact, he is such a big helper that this morning he decided that he was going to pick Dylan up off of his Boppy pillow and bring him to us!  David and I just about had a heart attack.   He was “playing” with Dylan (as seen to the right) and all of the sudden we look up and he has his arms held out holding Dylan around the waist.  We ran to him in a panic and grabbed Dylan but didn’t get on to him terribly bad because he thought he was helping so well.  We sat him down and made sure he understood that if he wanted to hold baby brother that he just needed to ask us… and to never pick him up.

Dylan started smiling on Friday… David and I were talking to him and making little noises and trying to tickle his face and he had the biggest smile!  Since then, we have gotten him to smile multiple times.  (Left- is the best picture we’ve gotten so far)  Our hearts melt when we see it.  He is beginning to show his little personality and continues to be such a great baby! 

Drew has been doing great also!  He adores Dylan and is behaving like a big boy.  We are so proud of him!  Every day we are amazed at his speech and what he is learning.  This week he learned how to spell his name and at school he is learning a new letter each day.  He also says the funniest things like… “when you get littler you can ride the bus with me”.    He is obsessed with school buses and can’t wait till he gets bigger so he can ride one. 

David and I are doing well and enjoying every moment with our boys!  It has been lots of fun and we look forward to raising them and watching them grow up together. 

We hope you and your families have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The picture above was taken on Saturday and Dylan is now 5 weeks old!  (Thank you for the adorable shirts Aunt Sara!! )  Dylan is now eating 3 oz every 3 hours.  and he is getting up 1-2 times a night… which isn’t too bad.  We still have him sleeping in our room for convenience at night rather than having to go upstairs so much.  We are not quite sure when we will take the leap and move him to his room.

Dylan and I are in a good routine now during the day and I am enjoying every moment being with him.  And… big brother Drew is the best big brother in the world!  He goes on and on about “baby brother” and every day when I pick him up from school he calls all of his friends to come see him.  Although it is so sweet, I do keep my distance from all the kids… I am trying to keep the germ spreading to a minimum! 

Yesterday was Drew’s Halloween parade & party at school.  We all had such a nice time.  Drew was a “Fire Chief”… he said he is going to drive the fire truck.  He is totally obsessed with fire trucks!  I decided to dress Dylan in his costume to go to Drew’s party and he was a Giraffe.  I took Drew into school yesterday late since I wanted to see the parade… so Dylan and I followed the line of children into each classroom as Drew and all of his friends showed all the other kids their costumes.  Then in the afternoon, David came and we were all at the party.  It was a fun day and Drew is very excited to go trick or treating on Saturday! 

As of today… we are falling into our new routine very well.  We are getting up about twice a night to feed him and during the day he can go for about 3 hours at a time before the next feeding.  I am cautiously getting out and about now and are enjoying the bonding time we have during the day.  He continues to be such a good baby… and certainly seems to be loving being a “cuddle bug”… Drew was always like that and continues to be (of course… when he wants to)    A difference we have noticed between the two boys is that Dylan doesn’t care quite as much about being swaddled.  I’d say about 30-40% of the time he just wants to be left alone.  With Drew, it was absolutely necessary that he wanted to be swaddled when he was sleeping or napping.  As long as Dylan sleeps… that is all we care about right now! 

I have posted a ton of pictures and more are going up now as I write this post.  Be sure to check out the Pics section browse the shots we have so far.

Thanks again to all of you who’ve kept up and have been thinking about us.  We love you guys.

Lindsey did an unbelievable job and things couldn’t have gone better. Everyone is well and we are enjoying our time with all 4 of us now.

Emotions are running like we all do but they couldn’t be better.  You’ll be hearing from us by phone very soon. 

Thank you all.

More later…