5 Belly Buttons

That's right! As of yesterday, we have 5 belly buttons in the house. Ellie's chord dropped off yesterday, exactly 3 weeks after her birthday. Yay for her first bath in the sink! At first she didn't like it, but then realized it was much better than a chilly wash cloth. In case you were wondering...she's an innie.

Cousins

Grandma had John, Eve, Bella, and Marco over for a sleepover last night. Since they were all together, I figured I should get a picture. Couldn't get them all to smile or look at the camera, but at least they're all in the frame. They had a blast!

#2, #2...HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVE!

This week my sweet Evelyn Rose turned TWO! Obviously I can't capture everything about her in even the longest of paragraphs, but to quickly summarize, I think her PJ's say it best..."Wild Child". I don't know if she's had a growth spurt lately, or Ellie is just so small that my perspective has changed, but all of a sudden Eve seems to be such a big girl. We won't have her stats until her Dr. visit Tuesday, but it's not just her size that makes her seem like a big girl. She learns so much so quickly. It's partly due to having an older brother, but also partly due to her personality, and a lot due to "Monkey see, Monkey do". She has no fear, except the dark hallway at church, and for some reason the balloon tied to her chair at her birthday party. She has no trouble hanging with the older kids, keeping up, and sometimes even getting ahead. She's a trooper and a tough cookie. She rarely every cries from pain, but often screams in frustration. She's very much in an independent phase, wanting to do everything "self" from putting on her clothes to buckling her seatbelt...hence the frustration. She's very strong willed, often very good at following directions, but at the same time, very quick to test the limits. She likes to have her way (what 2-year-old doesn't?). She's become quite good at pitching fits. Her favorite phrase is "NO, NO, NO" (almost always in 3s). She's actually quite good at sharing when we walk her through the steps. She thinks her older brother is the coolest and copies his every move and word. She loves making people laugh and is quite good at it. I still say she's going to be that girl that can burp the alphabet or say "pull my finger" and get away with it because she's so darn cute. She loves running in circles (literally). She loves throwing herself on the ground, saying "ouch" in a funny voice, and laughing hyserically. Her favorite song is "Eye of the Tiger". Her favorite action hero (since every little girl has a favorite action hero) is Ironman. She loves transformers, playing in water, The Freeze Dance, walking in princess high heels, wearing a tiara, stuffed animals, books (sometimes reading, but more often flipping through them quickly), cats, cookies, and cupcakes...and a lot more, but that's what comes to mind right now. We call her our little European hugger. She likes to give one with her head to one side, then one with her head to the other side. I don't know how she came up with that, but it's really sweet and fun. She takes one nap in the afternoon for 2 or 3 hours. She has 10 teeth, and I think 2 more on the bottom poking their way through...still no molars on top. She's not a great eater anymore...unless it's cookies or cake. She likes to color and paint. She likes to shake her head while dancing. She hates getting her diaper changed. She comes to snuggle with me in the bed when she wakes up in the morning. She loves her Daddy. She bows and nods her head as she's praying. This week I caught her singing "Are you sleeping Brother John", but would've never known that's what it was if John wasn't singing it at the same time. She says and sings a lot, and a lot of it we can understand, but there's a lot where I'm certain she knows exactly what she's saying and we have no clue. I could go on and on, but mostly she just makes me smile...and laugh a lot. Happy Birthday sweet little Evelyn Rose!

Silly Bandz. She didn't need any coaching on how to wear them...ALL of them

The Ironman cake. Just what every little girl dreamed of!

She wasn't really sure what to think of the candle.

But finally figured it out and enjoyed it

And, thanks to her great big brother, enjoyed licking the candle too. You can learn so much from a big brother!

And some things come naturally

John helped open the presents. Once Eve figured it out, she started just tearing the paper - in very tiny pieces - and handing the pieces to John. He was oh so patient with her, and even took the pieces and said "thank you"

If you ask her how old she is, she'll tell you "I'm Ironman". Now she has the mask to prove it.

A Glimpse Inside

The other night Ellie and I were relaxing on the couch. When I looked down and saw how she was sleeping to peacefully, I made Buck go get the camera. If you can't tell, that's her foot, sole-up, right under her armpit. The other leg was folded up like a frog's leg underneath her. Kind of goofy, I know, but it was so neat to me to be able to see what she might've looked like inside, right on top of my belly...not too far from the same size.
Ellie had her 2 week check Tuesday of this past week. Everything was great. She's up to 21 inches and 8 lb 2 oz. Growing like a weed! I'll have to post her percentages later because they aren't in front of me, but they were all over the place (such a wide range with a tiny difference in length or weight when they're so tiny). She got two thumbs up from the doctor...and no shots!

What I Learned In Church

With each of our children I have had a very eye-opening moment (doesn't well describe it, but I can't think of a better word right now) in church...maybe "awe inspiring" is closer. There have been other similar moments with the same realization, but at least one hugely moving moment in church with each. Each time, it strikes me...something we so often forget. I look at a new baby and realize how big and amazing God is. This tiny thing, created by God. Really I've just been an incubator for 9 months. God has used two tiny little cells, and created a living, breathing child that has everything it needs to live a full life. A tiny heart that's beating that will last a lifetime. A stomach that, granted will do some maturning, but can already process food to sustain life, and has all it needs to fully mature and last a lifetime. Teeny little toes that will learn to run in a few years. Every brain cell needed to accomplish God's plan. It's just absolutely amazing to me and nearly knocks me out of my seat to look at this little package and realize what all is inside, and what amazing God is required to create such a thing. It's really beyond my comprehension, and I hate that so quickly we forget this. I hate that we can't have this sense of awe when meeting everyone with whom we come in contact...realizing they had the exact same beginnings, with the exact same Creator. Surely I'd have more patience and grace if I remembered daily that sense of awe that this 2 year old and almost 4 year old were created in the image of a holy God and He is still transforming them in that same image.
So, that hit me again last night in church, but I learned something else, too. Much simpler, but still very special to me. Ellie is 2 weeks old today. Still not awake much, and definitely still not smiling...except in her sleep. Last night I was holding her in church. She was sleeping. I just happened to look down when she gave the biggest smile. Then I realized (the first thought that popped into my head), she's going to have a beautiful smile. Really beautiful.

One Down - Many to Go

It's John's last day of his first year of school! Wow, that flew by! Who knows how many he has left to go. Of course, he really couldn't care less that it's the last day of school. One of his friends had a little party. I tried to explain that it wasn't a birthday party (which obviously is CRAZY), and I told John it was to celebrate summer. "It's already summer" he tells me. OK then, it's just to go see what superhero toys he has. Good enough. It was supposed to be a water party, but got rained out, so they played inside. Of course, with a ton of "new" toys, John found a little corner for himself and was completely focused on the toys...social butterfly.
I'm so proud of what he's done this year. Who knows how much of it is because of school, and how much of it is just general development, but he really has come a long way. He functions much better in a group, follows directions much better (things like sitting at the table for craft/snack time or sitting in circle time), knows his colors, some numbers, some letters, sort of writes his name, counted flawlessly to twenty-ten (30...everything was perfect through 29) the other day, tries to read/imagine stories, plays well (relatively-as far as a 3-year-old is concerned) with others and is quite good at conflict resolution when he can stay calm. I really think school has been good for him, and although he doesn't seem to LOVE it, I think he likes it alright. Next year will be more of the same...three mornings a week of 4-year-old preschool. Really??? 4-year??? Good job, Buddy! I'm proud of you!

One Week - Plus

Well, a little over one week in, and everybody still loves each other, so I'd say we're doing great!
WARNING: This post is long...more for the kids to look back, so you may want to scroll to the pictures at the bottom and spare yourself the details.
John and Eve still want to hold Ellie, and fight over her a little, but the newness has worn off a bit, so it isn't as hectic trying to watch them. John is so very proud of Ellie and tells everyone that he has a new baby sister (including Mom every time she comes over...I'm pretty sure she's figured it out, but gives an excited and surprised response every time). Eve is very intent on making sure Ellie has her pacifier and looks like she wants to give her lessons...she IS quite the expert.
I didn't write much about Ellie's birth (don't worry, no gory details). We went in to St. Francis early Sunday morning to be induced. They started the drips around 7:30, and she was born at 2:09. Same standard labor and deliver as with John and Eve. The funny part is that we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl, and the doctor didn't tell us. The cord was wrapped around her neck (we didn't know that until she was born...all vitals were great through labor and delivery, so no stress). The doctor immediately cut the cord and pulled her in tight to clear her airway and such. "Well, what is it???" We had to ask. Even then the doctor had to look. Oops! She said she wasn't used to looking and announcing since everybody knows ahead of time these days. It was kind of funny. Anyway, she was pretty purple, maybe from the cord, I don't know, but a few screams and her color was quite nice. Her head was a little purple and bruised from quick delivery, but it was hard to notice with newborn color anyway. She had newborn rash just like John and Eve, but that cleared up really fast...along with the bruising (which I don't think ever really even looked like a bruise). We decided on her name an hour or two after she was born, and didn't tell anybody until John woke up from his nap. Just like with Eve, he was the first to know. John and Eve came to meet her around 7 or so (looking back on that, I think it was a little crazy of me, but didn't feel crazy at the time. I was anxious to see them and have them meet Ellie). We checked out the next day. I think I already wrote about her biliruben. It was a little elevated on Tuesday (13). We went back in Wed and it was up to 14.9, but the doc said not to worry unless it wasn't better by Friday. She still looked yellow on Friday, so we took her in and it was 14.3. With that he said keep an eye on her, but don't worry about bringing her in before the standard 2 week well visit unless it gets bad. Her eyes and gums are still a little yellow, but it's certainly not getting worse. This morning I noticed her eye a little goopy. I think she's probably got a plugged tear duct (just like Eve). Funny how all three have had lots of the same little things when they were new. Exciting news...I think every now and then I see some tiny dimples. I LOVE dimples! John has one on his right cheek. I think Ellie's will be very subtle and only seen when she smiles, but still, I think they're there. Fun. She's still sleeping a lot. We have 2 or 3 awake periods during the day, but not for long. She's sleeping great at night. Wakes up every 2-4 hours to eat, but eats extremely quickly and is back asleep. I hope this lasts!
As for the others...
Eve has some funny new(ish) habits. She loves Iron Man and transformers. She has started to enjoy squinching her eyes shut and squealing/screaming at the top of her lungs (which is met by laughter-stifled discipline...it really is hilarious, but not OK inside). She also enjoys running around in circles and spinning...not new, but still a favorite past time. We're really enjoying her stringing words together. It's been quite entertaining. She's also started spending a large amount of time on the potty. I've never seen her actually do anything but sit there, but anything in that direction is in the right direction and is met with lots of praise. I'm in no hurry to potty train, but if she's interested in sitting on the throne, who am I to hold the princess back?
John just had his end-of-the-year performance for preschool. He did a great job singing and doing the motions...until the song where he turned his back to the audience in boredom, then kept tapping (or doing something behind his back) the kid next to him. Such an instigator. He counted flawlessly to 29 for me yesterday. I was so impressed! School really has been great for him in lots of ways, I think.
A few funny conversations he's had recently, which tell a lot about what he hears repeated frequently...
1) Role playing between 2 Iron Man action figures, one much larger than the other
"Why are you so much bigger than me?" "Because I eat lots and lots and it helps me grow bigger"
2) Tattling on a Shrek figure (can you tell we like fast food toys) "He said "Hey!" but really he should use his manners and say "Excuse me""
He was right on both accounts.
Today was a big day for us, well me. Buck started back at work yesterday after attending John's program. Today was the first day having them all home to myself all day. Thankfully Suzie called to meet us at the park with Maddie. We had lots of fun playing (thanks to an extra pair of eyes), then went to Target on our own (the kids were so well behaved!), then went to Moe's for lunch. I was a bit nervous, but I was carrying Ellie in the carseat. John wanted to hold my hand, and I told Eve to hold his hand. Everyone did just as they were supposed to and I thought it was so cute. Dora was on the TV at Moe's...a cookie to top it off...and we're home for a good long nap time. WE DID IT! I'm really so proud of the kids. They've been great.

First bath at home...not a fan.

Here are some black and whites I took...sort of stealing some ideas from a photographer friend of mine that came for a quick shoot for some material for her blog

30 TOES! Somehow that number seems more shocking than 3 kids.

And here's our campfire marshmallows. Forgot to rotate the pics before uploading to the blog, and don't know how to rotate here...sorry.

Three's Company...and Busy

Just taking a quick minute for some updates while I should be doing housework. Ellie is 6 days old today! She's doing great. Eating has not been her forte, but I think that's party my deal. She's gaining weight well and all, but she's been having some patience issues with her transition to milk. John had the same issues and they resolved within a day or two. She's made 3 trips to the pediatrician already because of biliruben (again, seems to be a standard with our babies). Her numbers aren't super high, but they just wanted to make sure they weren't increasing. We won't have to go back until her 2 week visit. Yay! Her weight was down to 7 lb 8 oz by day 2, then back up to 7 lb 11 oz by day 3! She's been sleeping almost all the time, which has been our other small problem with eating, but clearly by her weight, she's doing just fine. Two days ago we had our first little awake spurt, and yesterday had two good ones. This morning she was awake in the crib and Eve went in, stood on a box, and way petting her head over the side. So sweet. John and Eve both still really love her and want to hold her a lot. Mom has been around helping a lot, and Buck has been home almost the whole time. I'm certainly not ready to fly solo! John went to the strawberry patch with school this week and went to a model train exhibit with Grandma and Mo (which he LOVED) yesterday. We had a fun little camp fire last night with marshmallows...a hit for both, definitely. We're trying to spend lots of time with everyone, and I'm finding myself being so very careful to make sure everyone has equal time.
Eve has been counting some for the past few weeks (we didn't even try to teach her until we noticed somehow she already knew two, three, four (or five...it's something kind of in between), and eight. Today she did 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,2. Very impressive!
John has all of a sudden become obsessed with Trasnformers, and was singing the song and playing Transformers a lot last night. Too bad I couldn't get it on video! It was hilarious. I'll have to post pictures soon. So much to do!

Eliza Jane

Unedited, uncut, and out of order. Things are pretty busy, and needless to say, we're pretty sleepy. Here are some pictures to enjoy, though...

It's A...TIGER!

Most door signs in the hospital say "It's a Girl" or "It's a Boy". Ours say "It's a Tiger!". Today was such a special Mother's Day. An early trip to the hospital for scheduled induction at 39 weeks, at 2:09 pm I heard "It's a Girl!" I have to say I was a little surprised. My gut was it was a boy, mostly because that's what most people guessed. What a sweet little girl...my baby girl...an incredibly special Mother's Day gift! Baby Ellie, Eliza Jane Buckingham weighed in at 7lb 15oz. 20.5 inches of beautiful baby! Unfortunately I don't have a way to upload pictures just yet, but they're on the way. We're both doing well. She's been eating great. She was born hungry and knew just what to do. She has a good bit of hair...not quite as thick as John and Eve when they were born. It's hard to tell hair color for the first day or so, but it looks like a light brown, dark blonde. She's been pretty quiet, only fussing for her bath and diapers. Buck took John and Eve to shop for a little present for her and have some time with them while Grandma came to meet little Ellie. John and Eve came back to meet her and it was just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen! They were both so excited! John used the sweetest, most gentle little baby voice. It was almost as if he couldn't stand himself. They both wanted to hug and kiss her, both held her so sweetly, and John coached Eve on how to gently stroke her head. I really can't express what a sweet time it was. We had a birthday party with chocolate cake to top it off. There really is nothing that could top this Mother's Day. I'll never be able to express or even completely understand how incredibly blessed I am. What a special family God has given us. A wonderful Daddy, wonderful kids/siblings, wonderful aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. God is so good!

Off to the Hospital!

This blog title/entry was supposed to be for me and the new baby, but Eve beat us to it. Today we were eating lunch. Fortunately Buck was working from home today. John and I had just gotten back from the Mother's Day Brunch at his preschool (so very sweet...the kids all sang and he did a great job singing along and doing the motions...skidamarinki dinki dink and a rewritten version of "Let me be your teddy bear"...placemats with John's answers to questions about me and a cute little picture of him). Anyway, I digress. Eve was standing in her chair and we were repeatedly telling her "EVE, ON YOUR BOTTOM!". So, of course she fell between the chairs at the table. Not sure if she hit her head on the other chair or on the floor, but somehow with no sharp object around and no blood to be found on the furniture or floor, she ended up with a little gash on the back of her head. I was holding her to calm her down when all of a sudden I saw Buck's eyes and knew something was wrong. He saw the blood in her hair. So, we put a wet rag on it and she actually calmed down pretty quickly, and it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. I took her to the Dr.s office. They said it was borderline, but to head on to the ER.
She looks like a gangsta' with the wrap on her head. It was just to keep a piece of gauze over the cut to help the numbing gel work it's magic. 2 staples (she didn't even flinch! What a trooper!), a handful of stickers, and hundreds of $$ later we were on our way home. So, Eve wins the race to the ER (surely not our last trip, but first of at least a handful), AND wins the weekend race to the hospital. Hopefully next time it's my turn (to the hospital...that is)! Praise God that she's doing just fine and not even bothered by it. No problems from the blow to the back of her head. She's just her normal little self. He is a great protector and healer.

Proud of Two

Still no baby news.
Quick update on Eve...I feel I have to record this since she's so very proud. In honor of her upcoming birthday #2, she's all of a sudden become very intentional about putting two words together. If only we could've had a picture of her beaming face when she showed Daddy her sippie cup and very carefully said "apple...juice". It really is like a switch went off, like all of a sudden she understands that words can work together. She's still mostly repeating rather than trying to mix and match herself, but it's been a very obvious transition, and she's so very intentional about it, it's really fun to watch.
Oh, and I forgot to mention in the previous post, she also knows Batman...na na na (that's right...she knows both the character AND the song).
I had the first parent-teacher conference for John this week. She says he's really doing well, behaving nicely and participating nicely. He's coming along well with all the "educational standards" however you evaluate that for a 3-year-old. Of course, he doesn't like to participate in singing and dancing with the class, but he's capable, and that's what matters. He's never been a performer, and probably gets that from me. He does well playing with others, following directions, answering questions during circle time, and all those other things that make a mommy proud. Good job, buddy!

Catching Up On Pictures

As a part of nesting, I feel like I have to catch up on some pictures. Luckily I'm not too far behind. These are all from April. Enjoy...


Here's one of my all-time favorites. John was about 18 months. Posted for comparisson...

Apparently this is genetic. Thank you Aunt Michelle for the boots. Thank you John for the face (I told him to make Eve smile...this was the result...monkey see, monkey do). Not sure which side of the family to blame for the phenomenon, but I think it's pretty funny, and dog gone cute.

Recently I bought my first box of butterfly bandages. Buck was playing guitar and John had a little dancing accident. He hit his head on the banister and sliced his eyebrow open. Not such a big cut, but it was on his forehead. He really handled it well. Fun TV and Spiderman bandaids fix everything.

John had his first field day a few weeks ago. Eve and I went to watch. The first event was an obstacle course. Eve wasn't in the mood to cheerlead...she wanted to be a part of it all. Fortunately nobody seemed to mind, and John enjoyed the company.

She also slowed him down a bit in parts. The big competitor he is, he sat down on the ground just prior to the finish line. We'll have to work on endurance, I suppose.

The parachute was a big hit

For everyone

Unfortunately after that John was done. He got a little clingy and didn't want to participate, so Eve and I left. Apparently the whole class was pretty much done. It was fun while it lasted.

In preparation for Aunt Michelle's visit, we painted her some pictures.

John got a little bored with using just brushes

Eve caught on to the trend and somehow turned into Braveheart. You can see why we do this outside with our swim gear on. Painting is (as often as possible) followed directly by playing in the sprinklers

John came out a little cleaner...but not much. It sure was fun, though.

Last but certainly not least...Strawberry picking with Aunt Michelle

Yum!

Now THAT'S a mouthful!

Nice proof to show we did it.