Our Ratings Boost

Jason was just joking how it's like we've added a new character to the blog like when a struggling sitcom introduces a baby for a ratings boost and I was looking for a comment boost... :)

But our little Autumn is a star indeed. She's got all kinds of fans already. It was no big secret that Jason wasn't too big on the idea of a third child, but he went along with it knowing it'd be like this when the kid got here:



Yeah. He's sold. He's so sold.

And after 11 days of bed rest, this hospital stay is like a vacation for J, even though he's still the only one of us who has ever changed her diaper. He hasn't lost his touch when it comes to swaddling and he's been taking great care of both of us while I work on recovering a bit more. But it's given him plenty of time to become totally smitten with our baby girl.

And he's not the only one...






As I mentioned yesterday, Dalton was happy to check her out:


And then sort of stayed away for a bit too:




But his feelings may have changed when Autumn broke out some big brother gifts:






Of course, Gramoo is a fan...I think she's especially thrilled that I'll have the chance to have a daughter too:

I think Gramoo was also excited to get to buy some cute, summery baby girl stuff for someone. She brought some adorable outfits from Janie & Jack for her first granddaughter.

Aunt Jess couldn't wait to meet our little princess, stopping by as soon as she got off work:


Lauren was among the first to meet Autumn, but held off on holding her for a day (today) when she was feeling a little more prepared :)


Actually, that must've been Dalton's tactic as well...today when the boys visited, Dalton was much more interested in touching and kissing his sister:




He also noticed that her hair had been cleaned...yeah, last night the nurse gave her a shampoo which she loved:


It still wasn't squeaky clean but it'll do for now:


He was excited to hold her today:




Eastie had another turn too:


I think she's absolutely stunning:



(No idea why this one turned sideways on me.)

Even with her milk moustache:


Hope you enjoyed today's dose of the new and improved S family. Till the next "episode"...

As Autumn Arrived....

"Wabie" is here...and no longer a Wabie. We are pleased to introduce our daughter: Autumn Violet:


She was born at 8:49 this morning (August 24, 2009) weighing in at a nice, average-sounding 7 pounds, 9 ounces:


The C-section was planned (since Thursday) and went well. A little delayed on the start time because another mom was needing an epidural down the hall and the anesthesiologist had to take care of her first. But soon they got down to it and cut our daughter out. I finally got my, "It's a ____!" annoucement. It's even on video. They showed her to me briefly before taking her to the warmer with her Daddy. It wasn't too long (although it felt like it) before they brought her to meet me.




Daddy has had quite a bit of time to bond with his little girl...it's hard with C-sections because I can't hold her so well to see her just yet. But Jason gets to gaze all he wants:




I'm recovering pretty well, pain is an issue...moreso than I remember it being with Dalton. But I've already been up in a wheelchair to switch to a different room. It started raining and our room started raining seriously large amounts of water inside. Now we're in a different, drier room.

The boys will be all confused when they come back tomorrow. Oh yes...back. They came this morning after a trip to Build a Bear. They had an "Autumn Hugs" bear with little leaves printed on the white fur. Neither boy could agree on an outfit apparently so she has two.

Easton loves little Autumn already...we knew he would. He wanted to hold her and pat her and kiss her and touch her. He's seriously enamored. Dalton, eh, not as much. He checked her out but was a little afraid to get on the bed or really check things out. I think her large amounts of unwashed black hair were a little scary to him but Easton wasn't swayed a bit. Dalton gave her a few kisses and checked her out up close with Bubba:


They are all totally precious. I'm so excited to have my two boys and a little princess now!

And so far, all is well with this little girl...she's nursed quite a lot today...the nurse is impressed. She's snuggled with Daddy a fair amount too. I need to get in on that a bit more but sometimes she just seems so content in her little bassinet that I don't want to mess with her:


We're so glad she's here and that we don't have to debate over a name. We've been waiting for someone to call "Autumn" going on 6 years now! And she's here!

We are so blessed and so thankful! God is so good!

Two and a Half Man

My Widdle Diddles is 2.5 today. However, that doesn't matter much because he thinks he is three and will always tell you that. It's best if you don't try to tell him otherwise:


He's such a fun, bright kid...






Even if he doesn't do his best smiles for the camera:


Jason took the kids to McDonald's to celebrate his two and a half-ness...and to play, really. I had to miss out (and make my own breakfast for the first time in a week and a half). Oh well.

Camera Phone Phans

I've clearly been spending a lot more time in front of my computer lately. And so I have finally taken the time to transfer a bunch of pictures from my phone over to the computer. You've already seen a few of them in my post-bed rest orders entry. And the "Wimp" grocery shopping post. But there's more.

It's funny that our kids (mine and Jason's) are growing up in an age where they've never known a land line phone...and they know that phones nowadays can take pictures. So we'll be walking along somewhere and they'll stop and ask me to take their picture...here's a few of those requested photo ops...

With the M&M display at Walgreens:




Outside my doctor's office:


Just outside the rec center:




Then there's times when it's really nice to have my phone on my when I might not otherwise have brought the camera...

To dinner at Cracker Barrel:


Breakfast at Mimi's Cafe:




Another one of E's stud poses in the fedora at Target:


On my mom's deck after a day at her pool:


At Kmart's arcade:


Trying on new backpacks:


The Halloween stuff at the craft store:




Just a walk around the block with a stop to bike around at the park:


Easton was so sweet that day and got off his bike to volunteer to push around his brother who has a hard time pedaling himself:




The last thing I love about my particular phone is that I can upload pictures so super easily to Facebook or my blog:


What did I do in the days before my Blackberry? I'm not sure I want to remember. :)