Church Debut.

What a blessing it was to introduce Thatcher to his church family last Sunday!  Of course, he remained in his car seat and covered with his car seat canopy in an effort to keep him safe from germs, but it was a blessing just the same to get to share our excitement over him with folks who have been praying for us since his conception!

And, in addition to their prayers, I'm thankful for my awesome "church" friends who have loved this baby boy with handmade hats and clothes and shoes worn by their own children.  

Welcome to The Way, Thatch Thatch!

Fourteen Months.

Emmy,

You are a hot mess.  And absolutely TONS of fun!

Your personality continues to blossom.  You are silly and have started to do just about anything for a laugh...put blankets over your head, act goofy in the bathtub, make eye contact with anyone who'll look your way at the dinner table and simply start to giggle...it's hysterical.  Our pediatrician told us to watch out for you and your tendency, based on birth order, to be a little bit of a "class clown."  I think it's safe to say between her prediction and your family influences, we're not too far off the mark.

You love playing with your siblings.  Now that we're home, you are so sweet to Thatcher.  If he makes a noise, you're crawling over to him as quickly as you can to check him out.  We're still working on the concept of "gentle," but you love to hug and kiss him and truly have the best of intentions when attempting to give him his paci or put socks on his feet.  Even though you love your baby brother, you still prefer to play with Babe and Harry.  Your squeals, combined with theirs, make me smile on a daily basis.  You love to play "chase," "peek-a-boo" (you've got the "boo" downpat!), color (this is an absolute favorite of yours), and read books.  

You're still wearing 12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  You eat anything and everything we put in front of you and always want whatever you see others eating.  You love to sing songs ("Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "Ride Your Pony," and "The Alphabet" are favorites) and will often sing things on your own (in your own little language).  We always know when you're finished because you clap excitedly and loudly proclaim, "Yay!!"  Speaking of your own language, you talk ALL THE TIME.  We just have no idea what you're saying.  You will jabber a mile a minute and use hand gestures the entire time.  It's fairly obvious you've got something important to say!  You love to pretend to talk on the phone, too.  I have a feeling you might have your Dad's personality.

You've taken 8-10 steps a handful of times, but still prefer crawling and/or cruising as your primary modes of transportation.  You will walk long distances holding onto someone's hand or while going behind your push toy, though.  The big kids love to "help" you walk.  You still have 8 teeth, have completely given up the paci, and love the bath.  You also love to swing and I'm trying to do better about getting us outside when the weather allows.

You're into everything: every cabinet, every drawer, every trash can.  You are curious and love to explore.  You're still a phenomenal sleeper at night (down around 7:00 pm and up around 8:00 am) and take a solid two-hour nap every afternoon.  You know a dog says, "ruff, ruff," love to wave "bye, bye," and give the best kisses.  

You are such a joy!  I love you like crazy, Doe Doe!

Love Language.

Harris' love language is, without a doubt, physical touch.  And probably a little History channel, too. :)

Just Hanging Around...

Ben and I had a fabulous second week with our boy!  Ben was able to take off work for a full two weeks, giving us such great quality time adjusting to our little man.

With Harris and Hadley in school all day and the limitations placed on my body with the c-section, we decided to take Emmy to Ms. Ginnell's last week as well, leaving Ben, Thatcher, and me to make the most of our time during the school day.  I'd say we did a pretty great job.

We got up with the big kids each morning and made sure they got a great start to their day.  Then, we did whatever we desired until it was time to join the car rider line:  one day, after Ben returned from shuttling everyone around, we climbed back in bed and slept until 11:30!  We also spent time during the week making a trip to Wal-Mart, browsing the Verizon store and finally upgrading our phones, visiting with a few friends, and heading to a movie.  If you haven't seen "Argo," drop what you're doing and go!

I so enjoyed the time spent with my newest little guy and my favorite man on the planet.  I have to admit it's been a little boring around these parts with Ben back at work, but it's also given me a chance to get back into the swing of things and establish a little bit more of a routine.  We decided to keep Emmy at Ginnell's two days a week (both to give me a little break and to give her something different to do!) and so far, things seem to be working out nicely.

I really can't complain. :)

The Inaugural Chick-fil-a Visit.

January 29, 2013.

Thatcher slept through his first Chick-fil-a family dinner. :)

The Chick-fil-a Tuesday night dinner is one of my most favorite family traditions.  Every Tuesday, for the last 14 (?) years, my family has eaten dinner together at Chick-fil-a, courtesy of Mom.  And even though we've recently changed locations (we're splitting time between our old stomping ground and the new store that's a bit closer for most of us), the company is still the same...

We should seriously buy some stock in that place.

The Rest of Week One...

We finished up the rest of Thatcher's first week of life in a laid-back, stress-free, family-friendly kind of way.

DoDo came to meet Thatchy and spend the night with us on Friday.  The kids has a blast playing with her and Ben and I enjoyed introducing her to "Impractical Jokers."

As DoDo was leaving on Saturday morning, Granti came by to take Harris and Hadley to her house for the afternoon, leaving Ben and me time to nap when Emmy slept and snuggle with our littlest ones before the big kids returned.  It also gave the big kids a chance to get out of the house for a little bit, which they much appreciated.

Thatcher and Norman spent some time getting to know each other, too.

Granti, Babe, and Harry came back in time for dinner on Saturday (and Granti spent the night with us again!).  Because we had Granti's help, we decided to go ahead and give Thatcher his first "bath."  He wasn't a fan.

But the kids were HUGE fans of holding him once he was all wrapped and snuggly warm in his towel. :)

After his bath, Harris and Hadley hit the sack and we spent some time sharing "Impractical Jokers" with Mom before calling it a night ourselves.  Sweet Granti spent the night in Babe's bed (that Granti is a sucker!) and woke up to spend Sunday morning holding Thatcher and watching "Roseanne" while I slept on the couch and Ben took the older three to church.

Mom ended up heading home before Ben and the kids returned, leaving us on our own for real!  We spent Sunday afternoon napping and then made our traditional Sunday night "breakfast for dinner."  While Ben cooked, the kids had a great time playing around. :)

Babe and Emmy Doe had an especially fun night together...

It was a crazy fun, crazy tiring, crazy crazy week.  And it's only the beginning...

The First Few Days...

We we left the hospital on Thursday and were discharged before lunch.  Ben and I loaded Thatcher up in Big Red (our van) and headed home to meet Granti.

With everyone else at school/Ms. Ginnell's, it was a fairly quiet afternoon.  Ben dropped me off at home and headed to Publix for lunch (sub sandwiches...I definitely miss eating cold deli meat while pregnant) and meds. :)  We enjoyed a peaceful lunch and then I passed out for an hour or so...but Ben and Granti had a great time entertaining (or being entertained) by Thatch Thatch. 

Mema got a little great-grandson loving, too, when she stopped by to stock our refrigerator with some of our favorite meals:  chicken and dumplings, roast, and banana pudding.  I love my Mema.  And her cooking.

Ben headed out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to purchase a "husband" pillow to make it easier for me to relax and nurse (I'd been complaining about leaving the hospital bed behind, but a Craftsmatic adjustable bed just wasn't in our budget...) and made it home just as Granti was leaving to pick everyone up from school.

The kids were STOKED to get home to us.  It was wonderful to see their smiling faces walk through the door.  Harris even wrote a story for Thatcher at school:

"I like my baby bruthr.  I like my mom.  He is cuming home tomoro.  I kant wat."

And Emmy enjoyed her new little brother much more at home than she did at the hospital. :)

Unfortunately, after spending the entire week with the older kids, Granti had to go to work on Friday.  She stayed with us through dinner and bedtime on Thursday and then headed home to get herself ready...and I managed not to cry as she drove away (only because she promised to return for the weekend!).

We made it through our first night as a family of six pretty uneventfully and even managed to get everyone up and out the door on time on Friday morning (props to my super awesome husband).  Ben and I spent Friday sleeping, relaxing, and loving on our new baby before we had to share him with his older siblings after school...

I love the way they love him!