Hospital Visitors

We were very fortunate to have several visitors during the 48 hours we were in the hospital. Here is one of Colin's favorite visitors--they bonded while the "biggest brother" was in school Tuesday morning.

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

Daniel was very gentle with him & VERY glad that Mommy's "boo-boo" was better so he could curl up in bed with her. He DID NOT like it the day before when he couldn't hop onto Mommy's lap & cuddle with her because her belly had a boo-boo. The first thing he said when he walked into the room was, "Mommy, is your belly all better so I can get in your bed?"

And, here are our neighbors, Maddie & Allie, holding the little guy. The girls couldn't wait for him to be born so they could meet him. Allie is seven & has told me on numberous occasions that she'll be happy to baby-sit whenever I need her to. Can't wait to take her up on that ;-) Here is Maddie:

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

And Allie:

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

And, the Mommy helping in the corner is Mikki, my neighbor who helped us out by watching the boys while Colin was busy making his arrival. Thanks to their whole family for being such FABULOUS neighbors!!

Here are a few snaps from this morning before we left the hospital. The hospital has a wall on the maternity ward where they put the babies' footprints and the mommy's thumbprint before they discharge you. I got to write Colin's name and his birthdate. Here we are getting it all ready as well as a snap of the finished product:

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

And, just some snaps of the little man as we got ready to leave the hospital and after we got home. He's been SOOO alert today, in-between naps, of course!

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

From Colin Hospital and Homecoming

And, click this pic for the whole album--I left out a few, believe it or not!

Colin Hospital and Homecoming

More to come soon! Nana & Grandpa Sam arrive on Saturday, so the cameras will be clicking. Stay tuned........

He's here!!

Happy Birthday to Colin Christopher!! Here I am with our labor & delivery nurse Desiree prior to their getting me ready to go to the OR. She's 11 weeks pregnant & I'm 39--what a difference, huh???

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

And just the obligatory side shot of me:

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

And, here are Daddy & Mommy in their OR gear:

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

And, enough lead-in. Here are the first pics of our beautiful baby boy:

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

And the first meeting with the "big boys". William kept saying over & over, "He's so cute, isn't he, Mommy?" And, Daniel said, "I just love him!"

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

From Colin's Birth April 27 2009

And if you click this picture, you can see the whole album--all the scrunchy brand-new baby pics with goopy eyes, etc!!

Colin's Birth April 27 2009

Prayers and new babies

So, tomorrow is the big day! Colin Christopher Palen will arrive at some point tomorrow, barring any last-minute name changes or sudden surgery re-scheduling. Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for us! Stay tuned for newborn pics in the next few days.

Soccer stars

William started playing (I use that term loosely, trust me!) soccer on Saturday mornings. His friend Stephen is on his team, but this is the first weekend both boys have been able to make it to the practice/game. William missed the first weekend because we had to go get Daddy at the airport & Stephen was out of town. Both boys were very excited to get to play together, but unfortunately, William's attention span was a little lacking this week. He was more interested in tackling both the goals and the other team than he was in actually trying to kick the ball & learn to play. Here's a shot of him running around in the background of the field while everyone else is at the other end fighting over the ball:

From soccer snaps

And a couple of shots of him & Stephen lazing around while they waited to have their team pictures taken:

From soccer snaps

From soccer snaps

And, their soccer is right next to one of their favorite parks, so we usually head over there for a little playtime afterwards. Here are the boys riding one of the ride-on toys:

From soccer snaps

Random backyard cuteness

Just a few snaps of the boys running around in the backyard. The weather has gone from highs in the 50's/60's to highs in the 85 range. Apparently, this midwestern weather knows no intermediate temperatures!! Both boys had to wear their hats "so the sun wouldn't be too bright" and were complaining they were "very hot" after 1/2 hour or so, but they had a blast. Here's a good one of William actually smiling for the camera:

From backyard snaps

And both boys hamming it up:

From backyard snaps

And just a couple of cute snaps. Daniel's favorite thing to do now is to climb up the slide. Unfortunately, William is usually coming down at the same time! Makes for some interesting backyard excursions most days.

From backyard snaps

From backyard snaps

William's new love

So, at the boys' school, they've been learning about caterpillars, cocoons (otherwise known as a "chrysalis", apparently), and butterflies. William's class captured a few caterpillars, watched them make their cocoons, and when they turned into butterflies, let them go. They also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle & got a caterpillar tattoo to take home. Now, William has seen the temporary tattoos on other kids before & never really shown any interest, but for some reason, this one really struck his fancy. He was SOO proud of it & couldn't wait to show it off to anyone who looked twice at him. Hopefully, we won't be fending off any requests for permanent ones any time soon ;-)

 

 

Mississippi cousins

Here are some snaps of Scott's older brother's three children. Jay Douglas is the oldest grandchild on that side of the family at ten, and the girls will be seven in a few weeks (Oh, my Lord, where has the time gone???) Madelaine is the twin on the left & Meredith is the twin on the right. Aren't they so good-looking in their fancy Easter clothes???

From Palen cousins

Here is a picture of Jay by himself. He was our ring bearer in our wedding & was barely 4 at the time. Hard to believe he's so grown-up now:

From Palen cousins

And, here is Madelaine:

From Palen cousins

And Meredith:

From Palen cousins

Spidey bikes & roller skates

William's big gift was the Spidey bike, but Daniel didn't get left out in the cold. In addition to getting William's old bike handed down to him, he also got some roller skates! He was very excited to try them out. In "stage 1", they lock out & the kids have to basically walk in them. He was pretty good in that stage (with both hands held, of course!) He actually did well in "stage 2", too, which allows the wheels to move forward but not backward. By the end of our walk, he seemed to have the foot movement down as long as he was hanging onto something. Right now, he's unable to stand up in them without holding on, tho. It was just a very mobile Easter for our family!!

Scott helping Daniel get his helmet & knee pads on:

From Easter bike and roller skates

Me helping Daniel get started (igmore the LOVELY preggo pics, please!):

From Easter bike and roller skates

From Easter bike and roller skates

William getting started on his bike for the second time today. He & Scott went outside BEFORE church in church clothes with very emphatic instructions to avoid all dirt. Amazingly, he arrived at church with no dirt or grass stains on his clothes. Hooray!

From Easter bike and roller skates

From Easter bike and roller skates