Blessing Day

William was blessed by his dad today. Grandma Bates was able to come and spend 2 weeks with us. Grandma and Grandpa Loveland were planning to come as well, but there was a change of events and we are grateful they didn't leave when they were planning to. Things worked out.

William...growing up

Just a quick snapshot of William...He's changing from a newborn to an infant right before my eyes!

6 weeks

Just a few pics of William spending time 'talking' with Ben. They both seem to love this little ritual! (a couple aren't clear if you look at them full size, but they are also the ones of Williams smile, so I couldn't just leave them out. He smiles alot for Ben--maybe because he's learned what 'funny looking' looks like? Dads do the silliest things...)

William is 6 weeks old!

Can you believe it's been 6 weeks since this sweet miracle came into our lives! He is growing and developing the way he should. Ok, so he doesn't sleep totally thru the night yet...I think he did better a few weeks ago...but he sleeps pretty good thru most of the night. He never did get his days and nights mixed up and he takes naps and bedtime seriously! I can't complain. We love having him around.

Spring Break 2008

Andrew and Joshua are out of school on Spring Break. I'm happy to have them home--I always enjoy when they don't have school--but it can be challenging to keep them from 'getting bored!' Keeping 3 boys busy and kind is...hmmm...interesting.
So our first activity was going to the DuPage Children's Museum. (It's much closer than the Chicago Children's Museum!) And boys will be boys...the most entertaining place they could find was the Wind and Water area. In fact, except for only a few minutes with the Giant TinkerToys, Michael spent all the day in the water trough and bubble blower. We had a great time and look forward to going back in a couple of days.

One Month Old

Ok, so it's taken me a whole month...and then some...to get things updated. But I do have good excuses! First of all, I guess I can say that we are all doing well, and making the adjustments to having a baby in our home. William started off with a broken collar bone (one of those minor complications of big babies) and a high bilirubin count so we had to bundle up the little guy and head off to the doctor a couple of days after we brought him home. Of course, by that time, things had improved and the Doc set us up with the usual 2 week visit. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera (I was a little preoccupied at the time) so I don't have pics, but he checked out great then. He was up to 10 pounds 7 ounces by two weeks. Ben even came with us to the appt. But he had to leave later that afternoon for Massachussetts. He had a week long training to attend. So once again, I was a litte preoccupied with survival--2 boys to get off to school, and homework to get done, a very nice preschooler (and wonderful helper) to keep busy and happy, and a new baby and mom (that would be me) to take care of. I'm can say, 'We survived!' and the kids only missed the bus one time--that was my fault! Michael helped take care of William and was so excited to help feed him a bottle. (Of course, I took advantage of the break for my hands and grabbed the camera) When Ben did come home, we were all happy to see him, but I think William missed him most (well, besides me). He was used to 'talking with Dad'. So the many faces of William is a sample of how he responds to Dad.

It's about time...

Well, what do you know. Joshua finally lost his first tooth! It's been loose for forever (or at least a couple of weeks). But if finally was just hanging on by a thread and I couldn't stand it any more. I asked him if I could take it out for him and he said yes. Of course, it came right out! Now we're working on a top front 'snaggle' tooth... (there isn't a tooth missing yet on top. That's just the space between his front teeth)

The many faces of William

Ok, so this is pretty self explanatory. Don't you just love to look at a baby face? (infant acne and all)My favorites are the smile (of course!) and Bill the Cat pose. Can you see the resemblance?