Aaron's Birth Day Morning

My alarm went off around 6:15 on May 6th and I got up to take a shower for work.  I started feeling a little bit of pain, but thought it must just be gas pains.  In the shower, the pains started to get a bit more noticeable and regular, and I started to think that maybe these were contractions.  With both Cameron and Leah, my water broke and then contractions started, so I kind of figured it would be the same for baby #3.  After my shower, I whispered to Tim that I was pretty sure I was in labor and that he should probably wake up, take a shower and get Leah to school.  I helped Leah get dressed, then Cameron woke up and he got dressed too.  We all went downstairs to get some breakfast and Tim took Leah to school.  Before they left, we took a few pictures of the kids and I.

Mama with Cam and Leah.  Leah was grumpy because she wanted Mama to take her to school, because I normally do on Mondays.  She was very upset that we were varying from the routine and Daddy was taking her.  We didn't want to tell the kids I was in labor so when she asked why Daddy was taking her, we said "just because" - and that answer didn't sit right with her!

But she was still happy to give Mama kisses

And kisses for Sweetie too!

Cameron gives Sweetie some kisses

Tim took Leah to school and came back.  It wasn't quite time for him to get on the bus yet, so we did some piano practice.  Cameron wanted to play for Sweetie (something he did quite often), so I sat on the bench while he played.  In this picture he is asking Sweetie what he thinks of the song.

Cameron got on the bus and before we left for the hospital, we took one more belly picture.  I'm smiling here, between contractions!

Around 9am we called Mom to let her know we were leaving for the hospital so that she could meet us over there.  On the drive to the hospital, we had the very important discussion: What to Name the Baby.  We came up with two finalists for each gender and decided to wait until we saw the baby to make the final decision.

We arrived at St. Joe's and since I was feeling pretty good, we parked in the parking garage and walked over to the hospital rather than use the valet parking.  I figured that extra walking was good for me to keep labor moving along!  We went up to the Labor and Delivery triage area where they checked me out and decided that at 8cm, yes, I could be admitted.  We went over to the Birth Place, where Cameron and Leah were both born.  We ended up in the same room that Leah was born in, Birth Place A.

Mama and Daddy, waiting for Sweetie's arrival (again, between contractions... I was not smiling so much during the contractions!)

That picture was taken around 10:40.  My labor progressed pretty quickly and around 11am I was ready to push.  After a few minutes of pushing, our Sweetie, Aaron Timothy, entered the world at 11:06am.

Right after Aaron was born.  Tim got the first glimpse of him and announced to everyone "It's a Boy!"

Mama snuggling with Aaron just a few minutes after he was born

Daddy looking at his new boy

Such tiny hands!!

What a sweet face, cuddling up to Mama

Such tiny feet!

Aaron decided to peek one eye at us.  It took Tim about fifty rapid fire shots to get a picture of Aaron's eye actually open!

After an hour or so, the nurses took Aaron to get cleaned up, weighed and checked out.  Here he is on the scale - 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

Clean baby!

Aaron's first check up

He did not like his first check up

Measuring his head - 35 cm

All dressed in a hat and onesie.  AND, the pouty face that we saw him make on the 3D ultrasound!

Daddy finally gets a turn to hold Aaron

Can't take his eyes off that sweet boy

What a cute little bundle

Nana's turn!

A picture of Mama, Daddy and Aaron

Mr. Aaron in his bassinet.  We put pictures of Cameron and Leah on the sides of it so that he could see his big brother and big sister whenever he was in there (which actually, was pretty much never - we just wanted to hold him!).

Aaron's bassinet sign

Mama and Aaron

Eyeballs!  Aaron peeking over Daddy's shoulder

All of these pictures were taken before the kids got up to the hospital.  Around 1:30, Nana left to go home for a bit and then pick up the kids so that they could come meet Aaron.  Stay tuned, that will be the next post!

Introducing Aaron Timothy!

At 11:06 AM today, May 6th 2013, Aaron Timothy Walker joined our family!!  Most everyone has heard our big news, but here is the introductory email and pictures we sent out.  More blog posts with lots of pictures to follow soon!

Hi everyone,
We are very happy to announce that Cameron and Leah have a little brother!

Here are his stats:
- Aaron Timothy Walker (first name is just one we liked, middle name is after his Daddy and Poppa, of course)
- Born Monday, May 6th at 11:06am (a very accommodating little guy - waited until we got Leah to daycare and Cameron on the bus to go to kindergarten before he started putting any real pressure on Mama!)
 - 8 pounds, 7 ounces (one ounce more than Leah, who was one ounce more than Cam)
 - 21 inches long (a half inch longer than Leah, who was a half inch longer than Cam)

 - Lots and lots of dark hair (well, not as much as Cameron... but does ANY baby have as much hair as Cameron did?)

We are all doing very well. Cameron and Leah came over to meet their little brother this afternoon and LOVE him so much!  They were very sweet, taking turns holding him and giving him his first bath.  We are in the hospital overnight and then will most likely be heading home tomorrow.

Lots of love,
Tim, Kristin, Cameron, Leah and Aaron

A wide awake little guy peeking around Daddy's shoulder

Such a cute little monkey!  The orange hat was chosen by Cameron and Leah.

A very proud big brother!

Leah was sooooo excited to be a big sister!

Our first family picture as a family of five!

Bonfires, S'mores and Camping

Before Sweetie's arrival, Tim wanted to do a bonfire and go camping in our backyard with Cameron.  They picked the weekend after Leah's birthday and had their fingers crossed that Sweetie wouldn't pick that night to arrive.  We started off the evening with a fire in the fire pit to burn up some of the Christmas tree that we had chopped apart.

There are a bunch of short pieces of wood that the kids had fun playing with.

There is a whole pile of these sticks that are great for pretty much anything you can think of.

Check it out - I have two!

Not sure what Leah was trying to make here, but she is obviously working hard.

Again, not sure what this was, but Cam is enjoying it.  They had a blast with those silly little sticks.

Time for s'mores!  Leah asked if she could take care of her own marshmallow.  We said sure and she proceeded to roast it about three feet above the fire.

She is such a little ham!

Cameron is ready to roast his too.  Tim ended up taking over for Leah so that her marshmallow would be usable for a s'more.

Yum, yum, yum!

Big bite!

Cameron and Daddy working on their marshmallows.  Cameron has the Taylor Squat down pat!

Cam's finished s'more - yummy!

We love campfires!

Daddy with Cam and Leah

That night Tim and Cameron slept in the tent, which was set up in our backyard.  They played some Battleship before bed.  As you can see, Cameron takes his Battleship very seriously.

A happy boy to be having so much fun with Daddy!

Sweetie did not come on camping night.  Tim and Cameron woke up bright and early with the sun and came inside because they were chilly.  They had a great night though and Cam loved sleeping in the tent.  We can't wait to take everyone camping, in the backyard or at an actual campsite.

Another of Cameron's Lacrosse

Tim took the camera to one of Cameron's recent lacrosse games and took some more pictures of Cam playing.  There are some great action shots here!

Practicing his scooping

Not doing anything... but I thought it was a cute picture anyways.

Cameron getting ready for the face off

Cam takes a shot - and scores!

He loves to get in the middle of the scrums and pull the ball out.  He is really good at getting the ball out of the middle of a bunch of kids.

Carrying the ball in for another shot

Taking some practice shots on their own goalie (while the other team gets their team picture taken).  I love the look of concentration on Cam's face!

This face is great too!!   (Oh, and he scored!)

Cameron's team and Coach Trevor

Once both team's get their team pictures taken, we are back to the game!  Here is Cam running with the ball (and showing off one of his bad habits of only use one hand on the stick).

Taking another shot (it went in too).

Either catching or scooping up the ball

He turns and runs with it

And a great leaping shot to score one more goal!

We have been SO impressed with how well Cameron has been doing in lacrosse.  He really likes it and is getting great at all of the skills.  It has been a lot of fun watching him this season.

Leah's Third Birthday

Leah's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday so both kids had school and Tim and I had work.  Leah brought in cupcakes to share with her friends at school; she was very excited to get to pick out a treat to bring in.  That evening, Cameron had a music lesson but then we wanted to go out for Leah's special day.  We let her pick where she wanted to go to dinner and she picked Friendly's.  It was not a surprise because it is by far her favorite place to eat!

One of our traditions is that every birthday, the birthday kiddo takes a picture with Mama.  Here are a few from Leah and I on her third birthday.

A nice picture

Silly Leah!

Leah also had her three-year old checkup.  She was very happy that she did not need any shots.  She was also excited because she was weighed on the big girl scale and was measured standing up (as opposed to laying down to be measured and being weighed on the baby/toddler scale).  They also checked her blood pressure, took her pulse and asked her some questions.  She did a great job listening to the nurses directions and was very proud of herself for being such a big girl.

The nurse also checked Leah's eyesight and hearing.  She did really well on the eye test - she was able to identify all of the pictures, even those in the small row.  Her hearing was fine too, although one of her ears didn't test correctly (the machine didn't work).  The doctor wasn't concerned about it at all, which is good given Cameron's history!  The rest of her checkup went fine too - no problems and she was very well behaved.

Here are Leah's three year old checkup stats:
Weight: 30 pounds, 43rd percentile
Length: 34.5 inches, 5th percentile

We knew she was tiny, but 5th percentile?  Our petite little flower! :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Leah - we love you so much!!!!

Leah's First Big Girl Swimming Lesson

Since she was six months old, Leah has been taking swimming lessons.  From six months until three years old, the kids do parent-child swim classes where the parents are in the water with the child.  Leah has always loved swimming lessons so we figured when she moved up to "big girl" lessons (meaning no parent in the water with her), she would do just fine.  We were right - she LOVED it and did so well!!  She was by far the tiniest one in her class (to the point where another mom asked "why is that baby in this class?") but was probably one of the best.  She had no fear in the water and did a great job with each of the things that the instructor had them do.

One of the most important things the kids have to do - hang on to the wall with TWO hands at all times.  More than once (probably 10 times!) the lifeguard had to remind Leah to hold on with two hands.  Leah would turn around, see what else was going on, push her hair out of her face, etc.  She wasn't worried about needing two hands - one hanging on was more than enough.

Back float

Swimming with the kickboard

She did such a great job, even swimming for part of the time without the teacher holding her up

This was supposed to be her smiling at me but she got distracted at the last minute by the life guard standing over her

Time to jump - for how fearless she is in the water, she gets very nervous about jumping and much prefers to be holding on to someone's hands when she jumps into the water

But then, she has no problem going underwater, touching the bottom of the pool, etc.  It is just the initial jump into the water that makes her nervous.  Silly girl!

She loved the lesson and can't wait for next week - every day this week she has been asking if it is swimming lesson day again.