Photo Catch-up: Part 1

We've been busy around here and I have not gotten around to uploading pictures from the last couple of weeks.  So I'll do a few posts to just catch you up on what's been going on.  First up is a photo shoot of Henry with Batman, which (as you can see) went downhill rather quickly!

 

 

 



 Last week Sienna had her first field day.  It had been rescheduled twice (it rained on the rain date!) and luckily it was a gorgeous day.  I brought the boys to go watch; I think Charlie wanted to join all of the big kids in their relays.  Sienna had a lot of fun!

Singing, "You're a Grand Old Flag"

Frog jump relay

Don't trip over that shoelace!

Jumping over the hurdle or doing a funky dance?

A cute relay where they had to put all of these red, white, and blue accessories on

Water break!



Here you can see Sienna in action: The first relay involved balancing a dodgeball inside of a cone while running, and Sienna did well (once she was able to get the ball and put it in the cone).  The second relay was rolling an innertube to the cone and running back with it.  She took her time just a liiiiitle bit more with this one.  I think she wanted to be extra careful that it wouldn't fall!

 



Baby Face(s)

I was planning on posting a really cute video of Henry smiling at me but it is not cooperating with blogger right now. Instead, here is a random array of "the many faces of Henry" captured in the last few weeks!






 






 

 

 

 

 And a few of the best big sister and big brother in the world:

I love these guys.  All three bring me so much joy, and fill our home with fun and laughter.  Sometimes I still can't believe that we are a family of five!  We are very, very blessed.

Our Weekend (with a little video too!)

Our weekend was pretty busy!  Sienna had her last swimming lesson and soccer game of the season.  While she will miss swimming, she was excited to see soccer come to a close.  : (    Sorry, Daddy!  Since I completely forgot to take a picture of her with her trophy, I will use the one from the fall season.  It gives the same effect.

She originally wanted to skip the last game altogether, but then remembered she would be getting a trophy haha!

Another exciting part of the weekend was my friend Raj's book launch party at a nearby cafe. She has just released her first young adult novel that is available as an e-book on Amazon.com.  Check it out here and visit her on her blog!   Raj is such a fun, genuine person to be friends with.  Her youngest daughter is friend's with Sienna and Raj and I instantly got along well and became fast friends.  I have just started her book and have to say it is very captivating and I can't wait to read more!

Although I don't have a photo to capture this, David and I had a dinner date with friends on Saturday night at a local pub.  This was the second time the two of us have left the house together alone since Henry was born!  It was really nice to go out, relax, and just have an uninterrupted meal! 

One of the highlights of the weekend was celebrating my Mom's birthday on Sunday.  My parents, sister and brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law (does that make sense?) and three nieces all came over to eat, play, and have some cake!  We barbequed and everyone pitched in with sides and dessert.  The kids played really well together and ate their dinner picnic-style in the backyard because the weather was gorgeous.  The only snag was when my Dad threw a chicken wing at my Mom and got grease on her new shirt...but that's a long story.  : )  

This was the first time my nieces were meeting Henry, and it was so sweet to see them enjoy a little cuddle. 

This little one really loves babies!  I think she was the most excited to meet Henry and hold him.  She also held him the longest, and kept holding his little hands and feet and smiling down at him.  It was so sweet to watch.

Smiling at her Momma

 

My youngest niece just had a quick little hug and then was done!

 

Their bigger sister is the same age as Sienna.

 

She was super comfortable holding Henry, probably from her experience with having two little sisters!  It didn't take long for her to exercise the one-armed baby hold.  : )

All the grandkids with the birthday girl.  : )

Blowing out her candles on the delicious cake my sister made.  Notice the candles?  We realized the only number candles we had were a 1 and 3 so David thought it would be funny. My Mom appreciated it - you're only as old as you feel, right?

Here's a quick little video that touches upon one aspect of life as the third child.  David and the kids were having an impromptu jam session upstairs and what was Henry doing?  Watch and see: 

Sleeping like a baby.  : )

A Boy and His Blanket

I have wanted to try my hand at knitting for a while, so when I found out I was pregnant with Henry I thought it was a great time to knit a baby blanket.  For some reason I did not start with a simple stockinette stitch blanket, but instead decided to make my first ever knitting project a chevron baby blanket that I had previously seen here on the blog Made.  The pattern is from Purl Bee and can be found here.  I bought myself a pair of bamboo circular needles, which felt better to me than metal ones.  I totally downgraded on the yarn to save money, but I think the yarn still has a great look and feel to it.  I used Red Lion Soft 100% acrylic, worsted weight.  This blanket is knit with double strands of yarn, which makes the finished product thicker and chunkier. 

Here's how it turned out:

I got lucky that Henry is a boy; gender was a surprise this time around but I was obviously drawn to more boyish colors anyway!

I think he likes it!

Yes, there are a number of imperfections and wonky lines (where there shouldn't be any) but doesn't that add to the charm?  At least that's what I tell myself.  I am so happy with it regardless! 

 

Henry at around 1 week, sunbathing on his blanket.  And no, I am not in the habit of tanning my newborns - it was the doctor's orders to help his jaundice.  : )

I would love to try another knitting project when I have a little more free time (and more importantly, free hands!)

Felt Playhouse for the Kids (A Successful Sew!)

Before Charlie was born, I decided I wanted to have a gift for Sienna to open "from Charlie" after we brought him home from the hospital.  I saw this adorable playhouse on the website Homemade by Jill and thought something like that would be perfect!  And so began the most time-consuming sewing project I have ever done.  I wondered if it was worth all that time and effort, but after three years of play and seeing the kids still loving it, I am convinced that it was!  When Henry gets a little older, he'll be able to join in the fun too.  The house fits over an Ikea table we have, that I pull out into the center of the room.  When playtime is over, the whole thing folds up and I store it in one of those oversized Ziploc bags made of heavy duty plastic.  Would you like a little tour of the house?  

 

Welcome!

 

The house also works as superhero headquarters.



You've got mail!

On one side of the house is our window box filled with flowers.

Flowers need plenty of water!  The watering can has strips of Velcro on the back so it sticks to the house.



The flowers are hand sewn and the stems are filled with pipe cleaners to give them structure.

Peek a boo!

The curtains can be open or closed.

The back of our house has a totally unrealistic fruit tree (but how great would it be if one tree produced all of that fruit?) and a basket for collecting it.  The tree also houses a little owl friend.

Thanks for coming, see you later!