Still growing!

Yes, Alice is still growing and we are growing as a family, learning how to do things with 2 kids.  It's incredible how long it takes us to leave the house.  It's kind of ridiculous actually.  And besides Alice's needs, Evan is in a phase where he wants to know why everything happens and he wants to recall ridiculous facts about previous conversations that might be related to what we are about to do (I'm not sure how many different parks he described to me or the mode of transportation we took to get to said parks when we told him we were going to Lake Harriet park last weekend).  We do eventually make it out the door, and typically come home exhausted but happy.  We'll see how long that trend continues (the happy part).

I've written before about how Evan likes to make up songs about what he is doing.  We'll hear him singing the narration of his play when we're out of the room (he seems embarrassed when he gets "caught" so he'll typically stop singing if we step into the room).  Recently, he started singing a song when he's getting dressed - specifically when he has his shirt off.  We like to refer to it as the "big belly button" song.  This video doesn't do it justice (thought we'd use one with his shirt on), but it's still pretty cute!  (In case you can't hear his lyrics, he's singing, "big belly, belly button")

Awake little Alice.

Evan trying to play with Alice.  Sometimes the toys might end up right in her face during these interactions....

based on Alice's response, I think this was likely one of those interactions.

Evan on climbing structure at Lake Harriet Park.  Not going to lie, I was super nervous about him being up there but he wanted to and he handled it like a pro.  This part of the park is not recommended for children under the age of 5 - parents of the year.

Family of 4

I always think there will be more time to post pictures and little stories and then I find myself trying to catch up.  It's been a great few weeks as we adjust to being a family of 4.  We had more family in town visiting which is always nice and celebrated 4th of July with a few tame fireworks (we're talking poppers and sparklers - but given the neighbor's show, we might have to step it up next year).  Evan just liked staying up late I think:)

Alice is growing like crazy!  She looks different every day and is gradually increasing the time between her feedings at night which is to mommy and daddy's benefit. We're all loving her, even her big brother.  Evan always looks for her when he comes up from nap, or when he comes home from daycare.  He'll bring her a pacifier and looks for toys that she won't choke on - he brought me a huge bear the other day and told me, "see mommy, she can't choke on this."  If it helps keep his lego pieces away from her, I"ll take it.  

Roasting marshmallows for s'mores on 4th of July

Licking marshmallow off his hands - he didn't end up eating the whole thing.....

most likely b/c he wanted to get back to playing construction site - he's been moving dirt and landscaping rock around the premises for a while

Wouldn't be the 4th of July if we didn't let Evan stay up past his bedtime and walk around with lit fireworks.  He loved the sparklers!  And no one got burned.

Little miss Alice, awake!

Eating her hands

And in her favorite position - some nights Jake holds her like this for hours (can you blame him?)

Evan received his first new Lego set this week - he LOVED it!  He was so serious about following the plans with daddy.

End result - a super awesome fire truck.  You can tell he's doing his best fire truck wail here.

Alice Caroline is here!

Yes, we had our second baby last week.  In a rather hasty fashion at that.  Alice Caroline arrived Tuesday June 25, 2013 at 4:25 pm.  Let's just say she'll have a story to tell about her birth.  One that involved a very short labor for mommy at work (and maybe some denial that she was even in labor), followed by some good luck having daddy close to home that day, and some fast first responders.  We needed some assistance getting to the hospital as things progressed extremely fast once we were in the car.  And even though I'm sure Jacob could have handled it, neither of us wanted to have him deliver the baby on the side of the road. In the end, she was delivered by an OB, at the hospital.  Just like we planned.

And she's perfect.  Born at 5 lb, 10 oz, she's over her birth weight already - girl likes to eat.  And Evan is taking well to her.  He responds to her crying by getting her blankets, pacifiers, or toys.  She's pretty boring to him yet, but they'll get there.

And we had some awesome help from family last week that allowed us to stay with Alice in the hospital and not worry about Evan.  So thank you to our wonderful families!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Here are a few pics (in no specific order) of our little girl and her proud big brother!

Snoozing at home.

Evan playing at the park with grandma and grandpa - he got to hit up the splash pad that day too.  He was in heaven!

It's hard to read, but Evan's wearing a "big brother" sticker he got in a card.

Checking out daddy in the hospital.

Evan giving Alice a blankie.

Evan checking out Alice for the first time - he was super quiet and unsure during this visit.