Allie is 1 month old!

Grammy and Tom Tom enjoyed meeting Allie and posing for some pictures with their first grand daughter!

She's very alert when she's awake.

She hates to be cold and in our current winter, this means bundling in cozy PJs and blankets.

This is a good recent picture. Amazing how they change in such a short time.

Well, we've made it through 1 month of having 3 kids. It feels like it has gone by so fast. I go back to work in less than 2 weeks, which feels really fast. Allie is doing great, probably around 10 lbs now and still has a full head of dark hair. She has been great, feeding well, sleeping pretty well, and generally being very amenable to the various places I bring her in the Baby Bjorn. Today was Chuck E Cheese as well as a shared back pack ride with Sam. I'll post a picture of that one. The two kids balanced (one on my back and one on the front) so that it actually made it easier to carry both of them. This is a trick I learned in Afghanistan when I was carrying multiple packs. Sam has been improving from his initial shock at being the middle child. I think this has more to do with the fact that he has learned to communicate in the last month. He nods yes and no, he says a ton of words now including kitty, meow, mommy, daddy, jake, allie. He points at everyone when you say their name, and at parts of his body like nose, mouth, and ears. Over the last 2 weeks, he had some good one on one time thanks to Grammy Kris and Tom Tom being in town. We had quite the snow adventure, which I also must blog about at some point. Jake is continuing on, doing well in preschool, speaking in full sentences, writing his name. He is helpful when directed, but is less inclined to spontaneously help. This is Sam's department. I hope that trait continues! We're continuing to be grateful for all three kids, though I look forward to a full night's rest sometime in the future. I'm a little stressed about getting everything done in the next months and years. I am thankful for all the help of our family and Emily, our nanny, but when I am away from the kids doing work, I am constantly thinking about them and feeling guilty about not being with them. When I am with the kids, I think about work and feel guilty about what I am not accomplishing. It's quite the dilemma. I'm not sure I'll be able to figure out the answer, but I appreciate everyone's help in the process.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to around 8-10 inches of fresh powder covering everything.  I don't remember anything like this growing up in Portland so we had to take advantage.  Fortunately I am not on call and did not need to make the trip into the hospital.  Sam enjoyed walking around in his dinosaur snow suit but did not appreciate the sledding aspect however Jake and I walked up the end of our road and found a perfect place for sledding.  We took multiple spills, hit a tree, gargbage can and even a big yellow labrador retreiver but Jake and I had a blast and will hopefully go out once more before dark.  Too bad the camera ran out of batteries before I could get a good video.

The Lodge

Jake was pretty brave and we must have made 10-15 runs down the hill.

Looking down suicide hill....

Allie Baby Book

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My little Sam

Sam is 18 months today. With Allie's birth, I don't want Sam to suffer from the middle child neglect that I hear so often about. He's also just really darn cute when he's not having a tantrum. Here he is on Christmas Eve sporting an adorable sweater.

Mr. Blue Eyes. Sam is so sweet and cuddly when he wants to be. Once we get past the toddler stage, I think he is going to be a great kid to get to know. He's beginning to talk with various words and signs. Exciting times! He says alot of words that are decipherable and signs thank you, please, and more. He has definitely reached the stage where you see in his eyes his understanding of language and commands even before he can respond with words. Amazing!

Here he is after his first haircut. He looks like a little boy rather than a baby. I must admit, I shed a few tears thinking about my little Sam growing up already. He does look handsome with his new look and monkey PJs, doesn' t he?

On the playground in warm gear. Like his cool hat? Christmas gift from Grammy Kris.

Sam, we love you. You may be the middle child but our love for you will be just as great as for your brother and sister.

Our little Allie!

Much to blog about right now, but this picture above pretty much sums up the current state of kids in the household. Jake in sort of overwhelmed but protective mode and Sam in all out "can't deal" mode. Allie is cool, calm, and collected. It's been a big change for all of us. Grandma Barb was here right away so we've had enough hands. I switch between all three of those modes depending largely on the time of day and amount of sleep. Scott has been awesome and Allie certainly gets her disposition from Daddy!

Jake (and I think Grandma) came up with the idea to celebrate Allie's birth with a birthday party. Of course! Complete with adorable cupcakes and we sang Happy Birthday to her. Jake really knows how to welcome his baby sister into the world! Unfortunately about half the cupcakes ended up as a Tucker treat when he snuck them off the counter.

Here is our little Allie in the delivery room. My labor was really short with her, about 8 hours in total and only about 4 sets of pushes. This seems to get easier the more you do it. Well, the contractions never get easier. Whoa, I forgot how much they hurt. She was born on 28 December at 1612. She weighed 7 lbs, 5 oz, and was 19 inches long. She did so well that I got to hold her right away AND we went home in just over 24 hours in the hospital.

We're really thankful for our little Allie. I'm continuously thankful for Scott and his partnership in all this. Grandma Barb was so much help and we were able to spend some time with Jake and Sam especially while she was here. We're looking forward to visits from the McGrail side in the next couple of weeks though we might make a trip to Portland this weekend to make some introductions (as well as maybe procure a new car...more on that later).

Merry Christmas a little late!

Merry Christmas a little late! Here are Jake and Sam in front of the tree.

A family shot, though blurry, but still cute. Obviously no baby yet!

This was from before Christmas. Scott refurbished this old John Deere tractor that we inherited on our property with a cool trailer and new wheels in the front. The boys generally fight over it, but this was one time they worked out their differences.

Grandma Barb, Uncle Matt and Tucker were here for the holiday and we had a nice relaxing time. Lots of baking! Barbara made peach and blackberry pies that are now in the freezer awaiting those middle of the night cravings of a new mommy and daddy. I tried a pecan pie that turned out pretty good.

For those who saw Scott's Facebook photos, you know we had some fresh duck to eat, as well. That may be a new Christmas eve tradition. I highly recommend Duck seared in cooking sherry and blackberry jam!

No baby yet!

Jake's birthday and Thanksgiving

Here is Jake, age 4. His preschool teacher took this and I think it is a great picture of him. I can almost see what he'll look like when he gets bigger.

Here are Jake, Finn, and Henry on our trip to the Olympic National Forest to get a Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. It was a really fun and pretty trip. I definitely think that will be a new tradition now that we are in the northwest!

Here are our friends, Robyn and JR. It was their idea to go get Christmas trees.

Here is our most recent good family picture. You'll see it on a Christmas card coming soon. If only I could see Sam a little better, it would be perfect!

Here's dinner on Thanksgiving. We had the Rohls and Grandma Barb and Uncle Ryan for dinner. It was really good food thanks to help from Grandma and Auntie Kate! Scott fried the turkey and it was soooo good. I think that will be a new tradition, as well. No fires or burns, either, thank goodness!

Here is Jake at his birthday party enjoying cupcakes with some buddies. Hard to believe he is 4!

In other news, Sam is now 17 months old and actually starting to really say some understandable words. We really think his first word was backpack, which he says in reference to our Kelty backpack carrier that he loves to ride in. Then mama and daddy were sort of similar timing. Doggy (when Tucker is around), ball, and bottle have been said in various ways, but definitely understandable and purposeful. He's really cute right now and definitely getting around really well. Not sure how he'll be when baby sister is born, but he's doing well right now.