Brothers

The boys love their little sister. They need to know what she is doing and where she is at all times. Isayas got to spend a little time holding Lillie and they both had a great time.

Isayas is very concerned when his sister cries. He wants to know what is wrong. Then usually he says, "maybe she's hungry." It's his go to answer and 8 out of 10 times he's right. When we were dealing with the jaundice Lillie was eating every 2.5 hours, so she was hungry often.

Tired daddy

Waymond's been off work since the birth. He's been quite the help, especially at night. He's changed the majority of the diapers since day one. Plus he's been keeping up the laundry and dishes and running to Target and Walgreens late at night. What a man!! Not sure what I'm going to do when he does have to go back to work.

Needless to say, since Waymond has been home our coffee pot has been working overtime! I can't say as I blame him, but we'll need to increase our coffee budget, for sure! Caffeine in the AM (and throughout the day) and some Decaf in the evening.

Mommy's toes

We are still trying to figure out exactly who our little Lillie looks like.  However, one thing is for sure, she has her mother's feet and toes. Her toes are almost as long as her fingers! Definitely a Roberts' trademark!

Skating

Waymond took the boys roller skating today (no school again). This is their 2nd trip to the roller rink and they had a total blast! They skated for about two hours and then came to pick me and Lillie up for our Chiropractor appointment. When we were walking into the Chiropractor Isayas said, "My bottom hurts really bad mom. I did a lot of falling on my bottom. It hurts to walk. And, it hurts on my legs too." What's great is although it hurts and they fall more than they are up, they totally love it! 

Waymond said that the roller rink hasn't changed since we were kids and they are doing all the same races and games. Apparently the only difference is the music. Waymond said there was still the same sketchy guy with a wispy mustache skating around!

7 days old

Today Lillie is 7 days old! I honestly can't believe it's been a whole week! Here are a few pictures that I don't think have been posted yet.

 

Hello world! Just out and she is already checking it all out. She's just a few minutes old here.

Just a few hours old!

I'm looking a little better in this photo, I'm pretty sure I've had a shower here.

I gave birth at The Birthing Inn, a birthing center here in town. Lillie was born at 3:46pm and we were home by 8pm that night (after Waymond stopped by Sonic so he could get a burger). It was nice to sleep in our own bed!

Proud daddy! He got his little girl dressed to go home.

Can you believe those cheeks are 3 weeks early! I try not to think how big she would have been if she would have gone to 40 weeks!

The sound of the boys playing legos must be music to her ears. She heard it so much in the womb that it is normal. She hung out in the bouncy chair and watched them for a while.

Due to jaundice she spent all her free time on days 3 - 5 hanging on a light box on our couch. She tolerated it pretty well.

Today

We actually got a little sunshine today! Woo Hoo!! Me and Lillie sat in the sun as much as possible. She's been cleared of jaundice, but the nurses always recommend sunlight. And, that is a commodity around here. Got to take advantage when it comes out.

I've been trying to take everyone's advice and "sleep when the baby is sleeping." That is indeed good advice, but a bit difficult. It turns out that with jaundice Lillie needed to eat at least every 2.5 to 3 hours. It would make total since to calculate that from the END of the feeding, but nope, its from the beginning of the feeding!

Sometimes there was only an hour between starting and starting again! She's an eater. She is right on target to get back to her birth weight.

This is Lillie's milk face. Mmm, belly full of tasty momma's milk!

She is such a sweet sweet girl. We are still trying to figure out who she looks like. We will see.

Birthday Boy!!!

Ermias has totally been a trooper since his little sister came. On Friday morning when the boys got up I told them that mommy was going to have the baby sometime that day, since Leigh's water broke the night before at 11:30pm we knew it had to be before 11:30pm the next night...obviously I didn't tell them that part (although Isayas would have been more than curious to know the details!). Ermias' first words after I told him the baby was coming were, "Oh man...what about my birthday?" Poor guy. We had planned his birthday party for Saturday at the bowling alley and he was super excited about it. I told him that we'd have to be patient and see how things went, but that we should still be able to have his party and that Lillie was so excited that she wanted to be here for his 6th birthday. Well, Lillie came and we still had the party...although she and Leigh didn't make it! We showed up at the bowling alley a little early and Ermias got to put his name in to the computer screen by himself, which he was very excited about. Several of his friends came, as did a few of our friends and we had pizza, lemonade, and instead of a cake we had donuts! All in all he had a great time, was definitely more patient than I would have been at 6 years old, and bowled like a crazy man. Here are a couple of pictures from the party (thanks to Carlos).

Entertaining Lillie

The boys entertain Lillie while she hangs out on the light bed.

Lillie and the boys

Waymond here...We know that everyone has been patiently waiting for some pictures and an update, so here you go! There will be more to come. Things are going well so far. The boys love their sister, Leigh has been in full-on mom mode and is incredibly tired, but recuperating nicely. Lillie has been doing well establishing an eating, sleeping, pooping pattern.

She was somewhat jaundiced when we took her to the pediatrician for the first time, so they have her on the light bed (Billy lights I think they are called). This, along with getting established on her feeding and pooping schedule, has really helped her out. We have what we hope is a final home nursing visit at noon today, where they will take a blood sample and then let us know if she can go back to the normal non-light bed life. God's grace has been super evident throughout this whole situation and we so amazed at our little lady!

The boys are back in school today after a long weekend. They have been through the ringer for sure...especially Ermias! Honestly though, they have handled the situation like champs, and other than needing some extra cuddle time and wanting our attention, they've done amazingly well. Here are some pictures of them with their new sister! Stay tuned...more updates to come.

Lillian Genet

A little preview video of our newest bundle! Little did I know that when I posted my 37 weeks post that we'd have Lillian less than 24 hours later!

What a ride!  It was a quick one! Real contractions starting at 10am, and Lillian was born at 3:45pm. Fast and furious!

I am tired and sore; she is tired and hungry! Waymond is just tired (think he'll be going through a lot of coffee in the coming weeks) and the boys want to touch her face continually (and hold her hand)!

She was 7.14 lbs, which I was shocked about; I thought she'd be a bit bigger (but thankful). She actually will get to wear the few newborn clothes we have.

More pictures to come when I get them uploaded. The camera is currently with Waymond at Ermias' birthday party! What a weekend!!

Swimming

The boys are doing so well at their swimming lessons. They are in different classes this time and I think it's helpful.

Waymond usually takes them, but tonight I tagged along.

Can you see the excitement? They want class to begin, so they can get into the water.

37 weeks!

Here I am, 37 weeks today! Technically I could have a baby at any point, but at my Midwife appointment today she said, "it could be four more weeks; how are you feeling about that?"My response, "it will happen when it happens, what else can I do about it?"

Although, I must say, I'm up for any day now! It's really finding a balance in my mind of not being pregnant any more and having a newborn to take care of! So, I'm just trying to enjoy the best of what's happening now.

Our little Lillie is moving less and less, but is putting more and more pressure on me. I feel like she stretches a lot more. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night and it felt like she was trying to get out my belly from the left side of my belly button! It looked like I had a baseball right under my skin. So crazy! I think it was her bottom.

I really wanted to wake Waymond up to check it out, but since is was 2am I thought he should sleep. Once the baby is here, I have a feeling I won't be so nice!

We'll keep everyone posted!

The Nutcracker

The boys' music teacher is quite adventurous because she did the Nutcracker with the K-5 graders! Since we had a bit of bad weather right before Christmas break the Nutcracker was rescheduled until after the holidays.

The Kindergardeners were mice. Believe it or not, Ermias wasn't super excited about dressing up and preforming. I guess he likes to dress up on his terms.

First grader boys were soldiers. I couldn't get a good shot of Isayas in his complete soldier outfit (mainly because I was talking to Ermias about having a good attitude about being a mouse), but here they are after the performance.

Ninja

Here's a great shot of Ermias dressed in his newest interest, a ninja. You can't tell, but he has a sword on his back.

Pregnancy 36.1

Why no, that isn't a basketball in my shirt! Here I am at 36.1 weeks. I've had SO many people tell me lately that I finally look completely pregnant. I also here a lot of, "Wow, when are you due?" I think it's because my winter coat doesn't button and my belly sticks out a bit. Maybe I should get a picture of that.

We are getting closer! I'm waiting for the burst of energy that everyone keeps telling me about. Several people have told me that it comes on before you have the baby. So far, I feel like I could take a nap at any given time during the day! And, try to nap at least once while the boys are in school.

35 weeks

Today marks 35 weeks of growing a baby! I'm hoping (and praying) she's ready to come out and meet us all in five weeks! My Midwife thinks she's going to be a big girl, thankfully we don't have too many "newborn" size clothes. We might start at the 0-3 months size at least in length! Do they make talls for infants?

We are gearing up and trying to figure out exactly what we have left to buy that we actually need. Thanks to many many friends we are well stocked with new and used stuff! I love hand-me downs!

The nursery is coming along and we've washed, folded and sorted a lot of baby clothes. We've got sheets on the bassinet, and small diapers ready (disposable and cloth). We tested the car seat (it's going to be a tight fit in the back of our car!)

The boys are excited. They both talk at my belly in the evening and before leaving for school. Lately, Ermias has been making sounds at the baby and Isayas tends to whisper to her (and knock on my belly).

Over the Christmas holiday, Ermias gave her the basic outline of Star Wars (all six episodes), while I just stood there trying not to laugh. It was so sweet! So whether she remembers or not she's had the basics!

So, five more weeks and counting! Fingers crossed!!

Tech-y

Our boys have lived in the US for a year and a half now and they know their way around an iPad better than I do. Its amazing how quickly they pick technology up.

Thanks to Uncle Ryan they are familiar and love Angry Birds. Isayas asked if Waymond could get it on his iPad so he could play it. 

Christmas time

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a relaxful new year's day. We've all been sick, but are on the mend! No more fevers, just lots of blowing noses and now it's mainly me and Waymond.

The boys got so many great things for Christmas, I'm not sure I could list them all. Thankfully they weren't all toys!

They both got some new t-shirts which have now been washed and worn two or three times since Christmas Day!

Can't beat Spiderman and IronMan!

 Stickers of all types and some crafty things.

Several Lego minifigures.

They both got some warm fleecy shirts. Ermias has worn his several times. We might have to get him a few more so he can make it for the remainder of winter.

New PJs and a robe!

Isayas' fleece has a snowboarder on it and he thinks its the coolest thing in the world!

This is Isayas' new haircut. Waymond's getting better and better with the clippers.

I think Isayas looks even more skinny in his new PJs, but they fit well!