Grandma's Sweater

My Grandma Becky Huppert knit this sweater and bonnet for me when I was a baby...

...and now Sylvia gets to wear it. 

We miss you Grandma Becky!

The Zoo

Our annual trip to the Henry Dorley Zoo this year was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work.  I was completely exhausted by the end of the day.  Jarod was able to walk around with us for the first hour which was great.  Then he had to go to his CE meeting, which left me with the three kids.  I wore Sylvia in the baby bjorn and pushed Andrew and Dominic in the double stroller.  I quickly found out that if I didn't have the boys strapped in, they would run off in different directions.  It's not too easy chasing after two kids with a baby strapped to your chest.  Luckily, Tad and Sommer joined us after a while and we had a great time seeing some animals.    

We really enjoyed watching Andrew get excited about the animals.  When we first got there we asked him what he wanted to see.  All he talked about was elephants so we headed up to Pachyderm Hill.  He was not interested in stopping to see any other animals on the way.  He just wanted to see the elephants.  When we got there, we learned that there are no elephants at this Zoo.  He was crushed, but quickly moved on to the gorillas.

The gorillas were a lot of fun.  This guy gave us a good show, beating on his chest and everything.  We also had a great time at the new aquarium.  Andrew and Dominic are in love with the movie Finding Nemo. They were excited when the found Dori and saw all the jellyfish.

Sacrament of Baptism

One Month

 

My darling Sylvia, in one month you have already grown so much.  You are a sweet baby, rarely fussy, and you sleep about 6 hours at night.  Thank you.  Nursing you has been so easy.   God was kind when he gave me you.  He knew I would have my hands full with your brothers and that I wouldn't be able to handle a colicky baby. 

 

The first two weeks were hard, but we had the help of Grandma Kathy.  The third week was miserable.  It was my first week home alone with all three of you and Andrew, Dominic, and I all came down with the stomach flu.  But we made it through and now it seems like a breeze.  That must have been God's little way of telling me, "see it's not so bad, you've been through worse".

My Precious Newborn -10 Days Old

Pictures were taken by Misty Kastl with Loves And Hugs Photography.

Bringing Sylvia Home

Time to leave the hospital and introduce Sylvia to her new home. 

 

This homecoming was a little different.  When Andrew and Dominic came home we had lots of family there excited to meet the new little one and we documented every minute with video and photos.  This time we came home to a quiet house.  Both boys were napping and the only visitor we had was Grandma Kathy who was staying to help out.  It was kind of nice to just sit for a few minutes and let it soak in that we were now the parents of three little ones. 

 

 

 How did you get so grown up Dominic?  My little Dominic is having a hard time adjusting to his sister.  These first few weeks have been very hard.  He is constantly whining and pulling at my legs.  He just needs my love and attention.  Thank goodness that Grandma Kathy is here to distract him while I am nursing and help out with everything that needs to be done.  We wouldn't have been able to manage without her!

 

Andrew has got this big brother business down!  He loves looking at her and hugging her.  He can say Sylvia very nicely, but most of the time he calls her Se-va for short.  He thought it was pretty neat when we told him that Sylvia has his nose!

 

Despite the craziness that has come with three children under the age of three and suffering through a week of the stomach flu, we have been enjoying the beginning of our precious Sylvia's life.  We are so blest to have her in our family.