Better by the Moment

Auntie Anna's new house!

In Love

Cheese!

Sleeping Beauty

I officially became the at home mom this week- a title I've been wanting for so long! Brian is working hard applying to different districts for an administrative job and returned to work this week after two weeks off with our family! Although we'd rather have Daddy at home, life is good and we feel very blessed.

Nolan the Cup Stacker

Go Nolan Go!


Our champion

Thanks to the Hazen High School Cup Stacking team, Nolan has been invited to compete in the State wide competition on March 15th in Auburn! Although 16 seconds slower than the world record holder for his age, he's excited and ready to compete! We can't say the same for Brian though who has spent the last two nights trying to beat that world record for the 4 and under age group. No luck so far!

Family Pics

Aunt Naomi and Great Grandma Betty Stewart

Auntie Anna

Auntie Erin
Nana, Amy, Claire, Adam, Granddad Taylor
Papa and Grandma Stewart
Brian, Papa with Nolan, Great Grandma with Claire, Auntie Erin

Uncle Jeff

Uncle Adam

Smiling

Hello-

Thanks for the great comments about the blog and for checking it often! Claire has been great. She is smiling and has been quite the feeder. We are trying to keep her on schedule with sleeping and eating, and we can't complain. We are getting sleep in the night; for the last couple nights we have been able to get 4 hours straight through. Amy is feeling well and we have made a few outings with the whole fam. just fine. We would still love visitors, so give us a call if you want! :)

Nolan or Claire?

Did you guess the correct order? Nolan, Claire, Claire, Nolan. Don't they look alike? She's Nolan with brown hair.

She is still eating on schedule and sleeping lots. The doctor appointment went well, although she has dropped about a pound in body weight. We (OK, Amy) has brought her back up to the 7lb range. Her temp. and blood sugar are back to normal. More soon!

Nolan and Claire Video

Here is a video of a happy brother. Keep your volume down due to the loud grandpa in the background... :)

Giving you what you want - more pics

Claire has been sooo quiet except when she wants to eat, and she has been sleeping an awful lot. She does not like her arms tucked in to the blanket, and likes to move them around as if saying "Hip Hip Hooray!" She has not enjoyed the basinet and would rather sleep strategically placed between us. She even let us sleep for 3.5 hours straight last night. Too good to be true (but it is!).

She had some problems with low blood sugar (38 score) at the hospital, but when we left she had consistently good readings (all above 65). She has been lethargic here at home, but she is eating well and quite the pooper. Today is her post-partum appointment, so we will keep you posted about that.

We had lots of visitors yesterday: Auntie Anna, Nana, Alison and Kaelan, Josh Polansky, and Erin Isbell. Erin brought us tons of food and Josh was able to stay for awhile and play puzzles and dinosaur capsles with Nolan.

Nolan is doing a great job of being a big brother but still needs his attention. We are having a lot of "father and son bonding"going on with stories, baseball, and trains. He is grabbing my arm as I type and ensuring me that at 7:30 he can watch Wiggles. Now I have to break the news to him that it is over and we have to go!

Take care all. More soon. Enjoy the pics of Nolan and his baby sister!

1 day old and loving life

Claire has been really getting attached to her thumb. Here are some pics to prove it. She has been a wonderful cuddler and squeaks an awful lot. She is not much of a crier, but has let us know her disproval when necessary. She has a nice set of lungs...

We came home today and will have pics to show you how well she is enjoying her new digs.

More Pics

I will upload tons more pics soon (and try for video) but she has been sleeping quite a bit!!

Our Beauty has arrived!!

After waking up at about 7:30, I noticed my wife was doubled over in pain from her contractions. I had slept through them, evidently they had been going on since 4am. They had been happening about 15 min. apart since about 6am. But after two "false alarms" in the past month, we weren't in too much of a hurry to gather our things and go. But at 8am, they started getting closer together, and at 8:15 we decided to make the trip to Overlake because they were now 6 minutes apart. Luckily Adam, Amy's brother, lives across the street from us, so he was able to take care of Nolan. Nolan thought that everything was fine because he had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on.
At 8:45 we arrived at Overlake, 8:55 her water broke, and at 9:08am on Sunday, February the 10th, 2008 we had the beautiful Claire Anna Stewart, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and 20.25 in long.
And yes, there was no time for an epidural or IV, or anything. She was fully dilated and ready to go!!
Amy and I are parents again. We are so happy. I can't believe I have such a strong and amazing wife, I was so impressed with her strength and courage and fell in love with her all over again. The strength she displayed was inspiring...

Enjoy some of the pics. She has a full head of hair and looks a lot like Nolan did (just1.5 lbs lighter and 2 in. shorter).

Waiting for Baby Claire!

We're anxiously waiting our new arrival! After several attempts, baby Claire has decided that maybe February 12th will be the right time for her entrance to the world. We'll see if we make it that far! We have a C-section scheduled for that Tuesday morning. Nolan's only concern is when he'll be able to play catch with her! Thank you all for your warm thoughts!