Lovin' on baby brother...most of the time

Here are some delicious pictures of Olivia and Adyson with their brother from this week. 99% of the time, they are both very sweet with him, particularly Mommy Olivia. Olivia loves to hold the baby and kiss him. He responds well to her even toned, calm voice. She sings to him and reassures him with her sweet words when he starts to fuss. Recently she has been asking to hold him while she sits on the couch after i feed him. She cradles him like a professional mommy, and rocks him back and forth in her arms. Olivia still remembers the advice i have her when the baby first came home from the hospital and she now uses this same advice when coaching Adyson around the baby....she tells her that if she is going to talk to him that she shouldn't touch him a lot, and that when she touches him she should either talk quietly to him or not talk at all. She tells her that both things at the same time can be a little too much for a new, little baby. Wow, her memory continues to impress me!!! Good luck getting Adyson to follow that advice although, as it may be nearly impossible for her to speak softly and to refrain herself from touching him incessantly!! And this leads me to the title of today's blog.. Most of the time is in reference to yesterday evening when after telling Adyson 1 million times to put away her football, she threw it one last time and it landed on Trevor's head as he lay in his bouncer. Hmmmm....that was the end of the football... and almost Adyson =)
Poor little man screamed for 15 minutes!

Olivia and Trevor

Adyson and Trevor

Adyson and Trevor...notice him pointing at her, as if to say: "watch out, she's trouble!" =)

Trevor and Olivia

Trevor and Olivia

My happy boy!

Olivia and Trevor in bed; I love how she has her arm wrapped around him as she shows him her new toy!

A kiss for baby brother

Things to look forward to this week....

-Adyson's sugery is on Tuesday at the crack of dawn (not that we are necessarily looking forward to this in a good way...but more looking forward to getting it done and over with).
-Olivia's class trip to the Wildlife Experience on Wednesday
-Trevor's 8 week check up on Friday....a few weeks late! I can't wait to see how much he has grown, and to inquire about his possible third nipple =)

The girls had their birthday party tonight!!! Will post pictures of all of the fun in a separate blog tomorrow!

Poor baby

What a crazy week this has been. Adyson developed a bad cough and cold which went on for days and days. Of course we tried our best to keep her away from the baby, but this was nearly impossible. For those of you who know my little Adyson you will understand me perfectly. When she started complaining of a sore throat we thought perhaps she had strep throat so Wayne took her to the doctor. Much to our surprise her throat was fine, although she had developed an ear infection....her first one which is pretty rare given her age. Trevor had a little cold at that time l but we were not too concerned. The next day he developed a cough as well so back to the doctor we went just to be safe given his young age. His pediatrician said that his lungs sounded OK at that time so home we went! The next day he developed a little fever and was wheezing so they advised us to come back in. The girls had just laid down for a nap so as you can predict they were in fine moods when I had to wake them up and drag them with me to the doctor. Sure enough, when they checked him out they were very concerned about the sound of his lungs, and his labored breathing/increased breath rate. They sent us right to the hospital, and Uncle Steve came to the rescue and met us there to exchange the girls. The snow had conveniently just started to come down and the roads were super slick....just to make things even more exciting! When we arrived, tests confirmed that he had RSV. They decided to admit him, and as luck would have it the hospital was completely full and we had to be transferred to another hospital down town (much less convenient than the one we were at which was 1/2 mile from the house). I went with the baby, and Wayne returned home to be with the girls. I forgot to mention that Wayne was also super sick at the time, so it was probably a good thing that he wasn't around the baby. Here are some pics of our poor little man. He is on the mend and will hopefully feel better each day.

Preview

On a happier note, here are some pics of the girls from the Denver Stock Show Rodeo. The girls had a blast. Olivia's favorite event was watching the little kids ride the goats....it was hysterical! Crazy that they were all her age....cannot imagine her having enough guts to do that!
When I asked her if she would, she said "Mommy, that is not safe!"....very predictable Olivia response.


And lastly, a few more pics of the little man....he is growing so fast!


Adyson has a follow up appointment with her ENT tomorrow to confirm that her ear infection has cleared up so that we can proceed with her surgery on Feb. 1st. Too bad we can't get a frequent flyer discount! Hope this week is better that last !

Fun in the snow

Climbing up the "big mountain"

Isn't she adorable?

My Olivia!

My little man, all snuggled up

Olivia and Adyson; love this pic!

The girls

All bundled up and headed outside

Yesterday all the girls wanted to do was go outside and play in the snow. The temps had finally warmed up so it was a great day to do this ! What a chore to bundle all 3 of them up however.... the prep time was almost as long as the play time. It was all worth it though, as they had tons of fun climbing snow mountains and rolling down hills. At one point Adyson complained that she was tired and when I asked her why she said: "well mom, i just laid in my bed for nap time and i didn't fall asleep. So, now you should pick me up and carry me b.c I am so tired mom!". Ahhhh, she is too much! The pics posted above are some from our little outside snow adventure.

Cold, busy day in Denver

Trevor smiled for the first time a few weeks ago! Of course the flash made him close his eyes on this one...

Like the mohawk?

A playdate with our friend Garrett....Trevor was filling his pants =)

Garrett is all smiles, as Olivia snuggles with Trevor

Trevor is staring at his big sis!



Today was absolutely freezing!! In the teens to be exact. Our school district was closed due to the weather, although of course this didn't affect me since I am on maternity leave. Surprisingly, we were the only district in the metro area that closed the schools....perhaps this has something to do with the fact that our new superintendent is from Tuscon! Anyway, ironically on this frigid day we had lots of appointments and things to do so we couldn't relax all day inside in front of the fireplace.
Trevor and I had an appointment in the morning, and then we promised the girls that we would take them to the pool. Of course they remember everything so we had to follow through on our promise. On our way we stopped to pick up Trevor's birth certificate. At the pool, Trevor and I watched as the girls swam with dad. He loves the warmth of the room, and the white noise of the fountain. I have to say i do too. The girls are doing better and better in the water, especially Adyson. Today she wasn't bothered by the water splashing all over her face and even went under the fountain. Olivia is going to take a little more time...but she will get there as well.

When we returned home, I bundled the girls up and then they ventured outside to play in the snow with dad. They threw some snowballs, made snow angles, climbed some mountains, and then ran inside for some hot cocoa. Their little cheeks and toes were frozen! Olivia put her feety pajamas on to stay warm. Then Adyson and I ventured back outside to her ENT appointment while Wayne stayed home with Olivia and the baby. Little Miss Adyson needs to get her tonsils out =( We scheduled the surgery in several weeks while I am still off with the kids. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and she will recover quickly. She was a hoot in the office, and was super patient (we had to wait close to an hour before we saw the doc). She had a blast playing with the gloves in the exam room, and later hiding from the surgery scheduler under the chair in her office.

Cool kid!

Adyson is ready for the snow!

Olivia and Adyson as they prepare to go outside.....

The aftermath.....

Our New Addition!

Hello! We would like to welcome Trevor Halsted to the world! He was born on the afternoon of Monday, November 29th! I had contractions on and off all weekend and by Monday morning contractions were 5 min apart. When I arrived at the doctors office I was 6 cm dilated and things moved fairly quickly and smoothly. Trevor was born several hours later in a smooth, uncomplicated delivery. Our nurse was amazing and was actually in Wayne's masters program so we knew her...small world!
The girls came right after Trevor was born and they fell in love. The nursery was pretty empty at that time and the girls were able to join us for his first bath. Olivia even helped!
Trevor is now 5 weeks old and has been an amazing addition to our family. He started to smile around 3 weeks and he LOVES to smile and stare at Olivia. She is just fantastic with him. She holds his hand while they are in their carseats and today when he was fussy in the car, she told me that she was "rubbing his cheek gently". Adyson is really into the baby as well; so much so that every time he makes a noise she runs to him and tries to "fix the problem" =)

The girls had a blast on Christmas this year; some of their favorite gifts were dress up clothes, light up shoes and their pillow pets.