Halloween 2011

Another successful Halloween, the first one with two children.  Matt was going to be Farmer Brown, and Lily a cow, but in the ensuing mayhem of trying to get two kids organized Matt wound up a Monkey during trick or treating and Lily never made it all the way into the cow costume.

We did however get out and trick or treat with Matt from my parents house and he got enough candy to sugar rush him every day for about 3 months.

Trick or Treat practice run!

We went out to the pumpkin patch the week before, and Matt and I carved up the pumpkins last Sunday night.  (Nothing like waiting until the last minute huh?)

Swinging with GranDan

He looks way to natural sitting there doesn't he?

"I got one guys!"

First step, assemble the correct tools for pumpkin carving.

Pumpkin guts!

The pumpkin collection

We bought the big pumpkin with the idea that we could drop Lily in there for some cute pictures.  The first attempt was Sunday right after we carved them.  Lily was not amused

Unhappy baby! 

 Luckily she was in a better mood on Halloween and Jamie got some good pictures.

Hmmm... This pumpkin might have been too big.

A little padding helps.

Time for a nap.

Lily continues to grow, she saw the doctor last week, and is now 10lbs 14oz and 22.25in long.  This kid is much more of a crier than Matt ever was, and for the most part isn't happy unless someone is holding her, usually in combination with walking or bouncing her on the exercise ball.

Passed out baby.

Car rides are especially rough. This is how Matt has to ride in the car.

"Make her stop!"

We do get a few minutes a day in the bouncy chair.

Between the 18 hours a day of sleeping and the 5.5 hours of crying, we get 1/2 hour every day of this kid.

Happy Girl!

Poppy investigating during a quite baby moment.

Matt's new favorite discovery, root beer in the bottle.  One bottle lasts about a week.  Pretty nasty by the end...

Almost 3 weeks old.

A few more notes on things I had forgotten about newborns-

#6. They are REALLY cranking when they're in a growth spurt. They have one every other day or so, so for every 0.5 day of happy baby, there is roughly 1.5 days of cranky inconsolable baby.  Yeah.

#7. They can smell so good 1 minute and oh, so bad the next.

#8. Newborns are sneaky!  They'll wait until the diaper is off, and you're leaning in to make sure that you've wiped off all the grits before unleashing an unholy amount of gas directly into your face.  I recommend a spatter shield.

#9. Another diaper changing tip, their feet are always curled up so that the heels are at their butt. Make sure when changing them to hold the feet, if you let go for an instant, the heels WILL hit the poo, and then they start to kick, sending poo everywhere.  (Remember, they're sneaky!)

#10. Newborns also tell us interesting things about society.  All the old prudes who like to tell you that poop and fart jokes aren't funny are wrong.  Every time that kid poops or farts, she giggles.  Babies 1, Prudes 0.

#11. "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" is the best nursery rhyme for newborns.  You can go on a LONG time, and you don't have to worry about remembering the words when you're exhausted.

Lily is already getting bigger.  She's laughing and cooing (mostly at Matt) and has started tracking as things move in her field of vision.

Passed out at the dinner table.

 Taking Lily for a walk.

 A little rain is no big deal.

Matt continues to love his Baby Sister, sometimes too much, and we're working a lot right now on letting her sleep or eat when she needs to.

 

Digging for a booger.

Got it!

Cuddling Baby Sister.

This is what I got when I asked him to smile.

More Paparazzi!

Matt even sings to her sometimes.

Mockingbird from Virnig Family on Vimeo.

We've gotten to spend a lot of time together while I've been home, playing in the yard and at the park.

This was his book when he was a newborn.  It's gotten way more use as a play station for Trains.

The great PNW childhood tradition of Slug Stomping.

Cardboard Forts in the garage.

Chasing Deer in the back yard.

I think he's trying to catch fish with his bare hands.

Offroad Tricycle riding

 Jumpin'!

He got in the tub himself last night.  "Did you forget anything?"

As long as I was home helping to take care of Lily, Jamie and I decided now would be a good time to get Matt potty trained.  When we asked him if he wanted to be potty trained, he responded, "No! I don't want to be potty trained... I want to be woods trained!"  Too much time with GranDan I think.

Overall he's been doing pretty well, with only a few accidents, most of which when he was distracted by playing too much. (Side note here, rubber boots are not good for potty training.  When accidents occur, they just fill with pee.)

Using the Potty!

 Washing up.  What happened to your pants?

The Peeing Tree

 We call this GranDan style.  Stop the car in the grass, then get out to pee.

Matt has also developed a fake laugh that he finds highly entertaining.  So does Little Sister.

 That's all for now, I'm sure I'll have more later.

More Lily Pictures

Lily continues to grow and seems to get cuter every day.  In some ways she looks a lot like Matt did at that age, but in some aspects she doesn't look like him at all.  Matt and Lily seem to be still getting along really well. (I was worried that Matt wouldn't be so hot on Baby Sister once she arrived)

"Look over here!"

 Last week during Matt's Tub time Lily get her first bath, even though it was a sponge bath, she did pretty well, and came away nice and clean.

Umbilical cords are just nasty.

Loving the baby Sister.

As usual, if Matt's in the room Lily looks for him.

Nose kisses.

Finger grab

A little nap

Tina, James and Isaac sent some awesome hats!

With respect to an average baby, Lily was not a small kid.  Relative to Matt, she's TINY!

Heart shaped feet

She's got the thumb grab down

Saturday the nasty umbilical stump finally fell off, and Lily got to take a real tub for the first time.  Notice the look of contentment on her face.

Chillin' in the tub.

Sister Bister Dister

Lily finally made it home Saturday after a round of antibiotics to knock down whatever little bugs were keeping her temp up during the first 24hours.  36hours of IV antibiotic treatments in a newborn  is not fun, but at the end of the day, she's happy and healthy, and that's the important thing!

 Looking happy to be home.

 Mommy,  Lily and the Birthday Balloon.

Matt is adjusting well,  and is very taken with his new little sister.  He's very sweet with her, but he's still a bumbly 2 year old, so we spend a lot of time making sure he doesn't wind up accidentally squishing her. 

Matt's decided everything needs to rhyme now, not necessarily make sense, and so he refers to Lily as Sister Bister Dister all the time.

She recognizes her Big Brother already, and will turn her head to the sound of his voice, and even smiles at him a little. I'm sure these two will be teaming up against us soon!

Sitting in Lily's bed and giving her some hugs.

 Showing her how to play with the stuffed barnyard he got her.

 Just cuddling.

 Does anyone remember the dreaded bear suit?  Lily has the same opinion of it as Matt did.  Anybody want it, I think we're done with it now.

 

Matt.

 Lily.

When Matt was a newborn we measured his size using Craig, the stuffed bear.  Lily gets to be measured on the Giraffe pad.

  

4days old.

 I had forgotten a few things about having a newborn. 
#1 - God fills them with packing tar before delivering them. 
#2 - No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you will get that stuff on your hands.  Have a strong cleaner on-hand.
#3 - This will be followed by something that looks like stone ground mustard.  If you have any in your fridge, throw it out, you won't be able to look at it, let alone eat it for a long time.
#4 - Never, ever, ever, wake them up when they're sleeping.  If  you don't believe me, try it, you'll regret it.
#5 - Sleeping Babies emit a smell that will cause you to pass out if one falls asleep on your chest.  If you're going to hold a sleeping newborn, locate yourself in a reclined position so that you don't drop them when this happens.

That's all for now, I'm sure I'll be reminded of more as the months go on.

"Wake me up again, and I'll make you pay!"

Jake 

The story...

As some of you know Baby Lily was scheduled for eviction Thursday 10/6.  Obviously that didn't pan out.

On Wednesday, Jamie started to feel what she thought were some Barxton-Hicks contractions around 2:30.   She took a nap, not thinking much of it, but at 4:15 she decided maybe she was going into early labor and called my cell, and Grandma Carla.  Luckily, Grandma answered, my phone was in the locker at  the gym.  Grandma Carla made a dash for our house, arriving around 4:45, which is about what time Jamie's parents managed to reach me.

Unfortunately, I was leaving the gym in everett, which should have been a 1/2 hour drive at most.  Due to traffic I made it home almost exactly at 5:30.  Matt was  running around looking stressed out, so I threw on some Mr. Rogers and gave him a snack.

After talking with Grandma, and looking at Jamie's condition I knew there was no way we were going to make it across the Lake at rush hour, so I called UW Labor and delivery to find out what were our best options.  I got put on hold, and gave up that plan pretty much immediately and called 911.  Jamie's water broke while I was talking with the dispatcher, and the Firemen were there about 5 minutes later.  It's now about 5:45.

The Firefighters did a quick assessment, and the paramedics arrived about  5 minutes after they did.  After another quick check, they determined they would rather deliver on the bed than at the side of the road, and got everything prepped.  Auntie and Uncle saved the day also by showing up somewhere in here and hauling away Matt.

Lily was born at 6:04.  Huge thanks to Medic 35 and Aid 35 for their awesome work!  At that point were were transferred to the hospital.  We've been the talk of the hospital ever since.

Huge appreciation to Jamie, who, while fairly stunned during most of the process powered through like the amazing woman she is!  I also can't thank my family enough for being there to help, especially Grandma Carla for being there help deliver her 2nd Grandchild.

While not exactly the birth plan we had put on paper, in the end everything turned out great.  I'm sure I'll have some more pics to post later, once we get her home.

Jake

Notice the look of shock still on her face in the Ambulance.

Medic 35!

Happy  at the hospital

A little nap

Meeting Baby Sister!

Jake

Little Sister Arrives!

Lily Catherine Virnig (or simply little sister to Matt) was born last night at 6:04 PM.  She was scheduled to be evicted today, but decided that our time table was unacceptable and arrived on her own.  (More on that when I have some time).  Mommy and baby are doing great.

Born 10-5-11
Weight - 9lbs 4oz
Length - 54cm

Jake