An Artist in the Making???

I got home today after quite a crazy weekend, with Henry being hospitalized and all and was trying to get some housework done! Mondays are great catchup days as Dan usually isn't home until 7:30 or so! Jack and Nick were busy watching their little shows (Pokemon, Power Rangers, etc.) and Luke was having a blast coloring. He honestly was sitting there for almost an hour, until, I really looked at what he was doing! It seems that he found a few markers in our box of crayons! How could I not have noticed when he was sitting with me at the kitchen counter!!! OYE!

Look at his arm....of course his marker of choice was BLACK!!!
When I "drew" (no pun intended!) his attention to his hands, he looked at them and said, "oh, yucky!"
Off to the bath...
***Quick Henry update...HE IS HOME! Yeah, the bilirubin was down to 10.7 this morning! Another check tomorrow and hopefully he will have no more heel sticks for blood in the future!

The Future's So Bright....

We gotta wear shades...in the hospital, that is! Yep, Henry is back in the hospital due to his high bilirubin levels. (Dr. Dan just got a call though that said it was down one point, in just 2.8 hours...yeah, Henry!)

Nana and I got to the hospital after Dan came home (he met them up there for his admission!) to watch the boys! We had been there, staring at our adorable Henry Stephen when Jackie looks at us and tells us that we aren't supposed to be really looking at him because of the UV rays! UGH! We soon called Papa who came to our rescue with sunglasses for all! Notice Jackie's cool shades, I had Jack's in my purse, so we put them to good use!

Here is Henry under the lights...with his shades on!
Mommy with Henry!
Steve, in my glasses, Nana (not looking at Henry!) and Jackie in Jack's cool shades!
Henry is only allowed out of the double lights unless he is eating or getting a diaper change! Here is one of those times as Jackie is burping him!
Steve sat down for a quick family photo!!!
Grandma Terri came as did Aunt Laura and Uncle Kyle (bringing more baby clothes and pizza!) Here are Kyle and Laura (again, with their glasses) watching our baby Henry!
I LOVE Steve's family! He and Jackie have so much support from both sides, they are truly blessed. One thing though that is great is that they always share great information about Steve! Today Laura looked at little Henry's feet and specifically big toe and spoke of how it is so much like Steve's, especially the BIG size!

Some comparison photos...

Here is Henry's big feet!!!
And here is Steve's big toe...very similar, eh???
Hopefully, Henry will get to go back home tomorrow and Jackie and Steve can enjoy their baby in a calm, quiet house, and not worry about billirubin numbers!

Let's Bowl, Let's Bowl, Let's Rock N Roll....

Dan and I had a night out without the boys at a local bowling alley. It was a fundraiser for the school district I work for to raise money for Smart Boards. We played 3 games, the first two were Scottish doubles (I think that is what it's called), where we bowled as a team. Dan would bowl first and then I would have to knock down any remaining pins. The next frame we would switch. The one thing we realized was that we aren't very good bowlers, but then again, the rest of the couples we were playing with weren't so hot either! The last game then, was a crazy bowl!!!

Here is Rod and Tim, two of my colleague's husbands posing with Tim's size 15 shoes...who knew you could get bowling shoes in size 15???
We arrived around 8:30, but didn't start the games until 10. We felt SO old as everyone was yawning, even before we began. We did manage to get a quick photo...both Dan and I in our black!!
Crazy bowl was definitely fun...we had to spin around 5 times and then bowl, bowl laying on our stomach and one of our faves, sit on someone's knee while bowling. I sat on Dan's, but for some reason all the guys sat on each others knees...here Dan is on Tim's, nice, eh?
We didn't get home until after midnight and then I sat and talked to Kristin who had been watching the boys until almost 2...wow, I haven't done that in MONTHS! What a fun night...definitely not our ordinary Saturday evening!!!

How quickly this has turned...

into a blog all about my handsome new nephew, Henry!!!

Jack FINALLY went back to school today after being home 4 days. What a great day to go back as tonight he had a swimming party to go to a the local YMCA. It worked out great as I dropped him off (luckily two of his old daycare teachers were there, so they helped with getting his hearing aids back in after he was finished swimming!) and headed off to visit Henry, since they live just down the road!

It seems that Henry is a bit jaundiced so Dr. Dan got a bili blanket sent over to the house. Because of the jaundice, he had been pretty lethargic and sleepy all day (thankfully they called after we were home and he was screaming...music to my ears!) Anyhow, we only got to stay about 45 minutes or so, but I got to hold my little man for quite a while! I then passed him off to Nana who was recruited to spend the night!

Here is our Henry sleeping oh so soundly!
He was starting to wake up just a bit before we left...notice the little bili blanket???
Here is my baby, Luke, meeting his newest cousin for the first time....all he kept saying was "hi, baby!"
We always knew Nick had a big head, but WOW...
Here I am giving eskimo kisses to Henry! I have done this every time I've seen him...I think it is going to be like our "special handshake!" Thanks to Nick for taking this picture!
I am off to sleep now as I have my first 5K run tomorrow morning! Wish me luck! Although we are supposed to be getting some rain/snow and if that's the case, I'm ditching!!! Hopefully I'll have pictures to post of it tomorrow!!!

Hospital Visit...Take Two!!!

Today I had yet another day off as Jack was STILL sick and Nick was sent home yesterday with a 100.6 fever and diarrhea. After talking to Steve and Jackie, I knew I needed to head to their house to get some cleaning and some last minute baby stuff together, since Henry was almost a month early!!! I hauled the boys with me, I figured they could lay at Jackie and Steve's house as well as they could here, and honestly both boys were really acting like themselves!

After a few hours there and some major work completed, I headed home to meet up with Dan, who had taken Luke to CID! We all headed out to the hospital then to see our little Hank!

Luckily we were the only ones there so I got to hold little Hank. He was SO sleepy!!! He had just eaten so he was what Dan and I called "in food coma!"

Here I am with Nick and Hank! And his stuffed animal friends he received from Jack, Nick and Luke!
I had to give Hank up to Dr. Dan for another physical once again. His lungs sounded great and he got the okay to go home tomorrow...after his circumcision! :( Jack got close for this one picture! He is so happy to see his cousin!
Here are a few close ups of our cutie Hank! Look at all that hair, and the yawn!!!
Here is a head on shot! (Uncle Steve taught me how to flip pictures, but I'm tired and the boys need to go to sleep, so I'll post this and hopefully figure out how to flip it later!) Isn't he cute though???
Even though Uncle Steve has his own son now, he still has plenty of time to play with his nephews! Here he holds "baby" Nick!
You may be noticing that Aunt Jackie hasn't been in any pictures. That is because I was only taking pictures of Henry and since we were there, she never got the chance to grab him. So, here are some pics of the new Mommy!!!

Aunt Jackie and Nick!
Aunt Jackie and Jack (we had to bother Aunt Jackie during her phone conversation!)
Here Jackie and I are together! Love ya, sis!
Jackie, Steve, and Hank will be heading home from the hospital tomorrow! We are going to let them settle in and then the paparazzi will be back, hopefully this weekend!

Baby's Birthday!

Yesterday morning, Aunt Jackie went into the hospital as she thought her water had broken, it hadn't, but she ended up staying overnight because her blood pressure was high. Last night it turns out that her water really did break and so labor began. Things were slow going but she had an epidural so at least she was comfy. I was home with Jack b/c he is sick so when I got the text from Uncle Steve saying that she was at 6 cm, I headed up there, that was around 3ish.

Here we are, when she was fairly comfy and happy! Sorry the picture is so dark, but the room was dark and cool...Jackie was feeling really hot!!! By around 5:30, she wasn't happy or comfy any more, so I left and joined my mom, dad, Dan and Jack in the waiting room. We waited...(here is Papa and Jack, who isn't looking too bad!, while they are watching cartoons!)
and waited.... (Here is Dan trying to get comfy, in his work clothes, by sitting on the floor!)
...staring at this door, waiting for Uncle Steve to come in and tell us the news...
When FINALLY, around 7:30 Uncle Steve turned the corner into the waiting room...
...to tell us that he was the proud father of HENRY STEPHEN!!!

Hank was born at 7:21 p.m., today, Tuesday, March 24 (the same date that Aunt Jackie had her surgery to remove skin from her neck after her melanoma diagnosis last year!!!) He weighed in at 7 pounds, 20 1/2 inches long. He has a full head of brown hair, just like his daddy!
Here is the happy family!!! Notice how alert Henry is, he is already a smart guy!!!
Here is a picture of me with my new nephew! He is SO CUTE!!! I honestly fell in love with him upon seeing him!
Nana and Papa with their 5th grandchild....4 boys and 1 girl!!!
It just so happens that Henry was seen by his pediatrician tonight too! Here is Dan checking him out...Henry got a clean bill of health!
Uncle Steve's family arrived just minutes after Henry was born (excellent timing, especially considering they had a LONG drive, almost 1 1/2 hours!) Here Grandma Terri giving Henry "just one more kiss!" He is so loved already!
Steve's older sister, Jen, made the trip with her husband, Mike and two little girls, Annie and Allie!
Laura, Steve's younger sister, got some cuddling time in as well!
Poor Jack SO wanted to see his newest cousin, so thankfully Daddy found him a mask to wear, just so no germs were spread! Can you tell by his eyes that he's smiling??? He is so proud!
Speaking of proud, look at this mom!
Jackie, I am so proud of you for your strength you demonstrated yesterday and today. What an awesome day for your baby to be born - March 24. This same day last year was a very scary time and now look how you will remember this day, with the birth of your son! Henry is so lucky to have such awesome parents! We love you and HENRY so much!

Strawberries, Spices and Suckers in Soulard!

When we first moved back to the midwest from New Jersey, we ALWAYS went to Soulard's Market for our fresh fruit and veggies. As the boys came along one by one though, it became harder and harder to go as it is usually very crowded and honestly just a hard place to navigate, especially with three little boys. Well, my dad (mom too!) brought up going and of course I jumped on that bandwagon! Aunt Jackie and Uncle Steve came along as well (as this was Uncle Steve's first trip there!)

Here is our group! (You may be noticing Flat Stanley, the little paper boy Jack is holding...Dan's cousin, from NJ, asked that we show Flat Stanley the midwest...tomorrow he gets to visit Dan's office for some medical attention as Luke ripped poor Flat Stanley into two pieces while shopping at Soulard...thanks to Papa for finding a vendor with tape for a quick repair!)
I absolutely LOVE this place! They have TONS of vendors selling fresh veggies, fruits, bakery items and a FABULOUS spice shop! The flowers are beautiful too! I bought myself a dozen roses for $5, honestly, can you beat that???

Here are the boys (and Flat Stanley) eating their apples I had just bought, posed in front of the florist there! It smelled wonderful! (A second before this picture was snapped Jack had Stanley on Luke's head, which explains Luke's left hand position!)
We always like to get there early as it really gets busy in the late mornings, especially on a Saturday! We navigated easily at first, but then as it started getting more crowded and after we had been there about 2 hours, Luke was getting a bit fussy! Thanks to Papa for saving the day and getting the boys (especially Luke!) some candy from a vendor there!

Here is Luke with his sucker that Papa bought him! Thanks Papa!!!
Like any good open air market, Soulard has street musicians. Uncle Steve gave Jack some money to put in his tip jar and the banjo player asked Jack if he wanted to play. Of course, Jack was a bit nervous at first, but then stepped up and strummed that banjo while the guy sang a great song! If you ever run into Uncle Steve ask him to do a rendition...he does a great job!
After just about 2 hours there, our trip to the market had come to an end! The boys, I think, overall did a good job! Luckily there were lots of sites to see including a pet store and some chicks for sale...they were TOO CUTE!!! We will definitely make another trip in the near future!!! Look at Luke being such a great helper and carrying my flowers while Aunt Jackie pulls our cart! What a great team!
Thanks to Aunt Jackie, Uncle Steve, Nana and Papa for the invite and the help once we were there! Next time we'll have to make sure Dan is off so he can go too!!!

Kiss Me, I'm...

Well, although I don't think we have any Irish blood running through our veins (just Italian, German and Lithuanian!), the leprechaun smooched all three boys in their sleep Monday night, just before St. Patrick's Day! Yep, as seen below, Nick was kissed on the arm and Jack on the leg. Luke didn't want to show his green leprechaun lip print on his arm, but it was there! The leprechaun then left the boys a green bucket full of green plates and sports bottles, sour cream and onion pringles (in three little green cans!) and some rainbow candy! What a fun day! Although, Jack and Nick were worried Tuesday night that the leprechaun would come back. Luckily they were convinced that he had gone back home! Whew!

Here is Nick showing his smudged lip prints!
And here is Jack's leg, with the evidence of the leprechaun kiss right on there!
Hope you all had a great St. Patrick's Day! I did attempt to make corned beef and cabbage and all who tried it (none for the boys, Aunt Jackie or myself!) loved it!!! It was easy too! Thanks to Erin Gagen for the recipe, corned beef, cabbage, a Guiness and a bay leaf in the crock pot over night!!!

Chuck E. Cheese, Please!

Months ago, we made plans to meet up with Jennifer, Robb, Luke and Kate at Chuck E. Cheese. We figured the kids could play and eat, and we could sit around and chat. Turns out that Jack was then invited to a birthday party there for his friend, Amber on the same day at about the same time! Perfect unintentional planning there! :)

While Dan and I ate salad and the boys chomped on pizza, I got to feed Kate. After her lunch, she was still a bit hungry and found my fingers! Too cute!
This was the first time that I totally let the boys walk around by themselves. We got there at 11 on Sunday, so it wasn't very crowded and the boys had to check in every so often, as I only gave them a few tokens! They had such a good time as did we adults, but it was then that I realized that the boys are certainly growing up!
Luke LOVED putting all our tickets into the Ticket Muncher! He fed those things in there and worked so hard. He didn't want Daddy to help him at all. In fact, he would tell Dan to pick up the tickets that had been dropped!
Remember this name...Luke Kraph! I swear he is going to play for the Cardinals one day! He is seriously quite the awesome baseball player. He knows everything about the Cardinals (but I certainly wouldn't expect anything less from Jennifer's son!!!) Seriously, we were at his house last year (when he was only 3) and we were watching a game on TV...he knew all the players from their walk, stance at the plate. Honestly I didn't even know some of their names! Skee ball was just another success for this little guy! He blew my scores out of the water!!!
It was almost time to go, but I wanted to get one good shot of the four boys! Too bad Chuck E. had to come out and totally freak my Luke out! Big Luke and Nick weren't fans of him either!!! We knew it was time to go then, but what a great day we had hanging with Chuck!