Tee-ball 2009

Christopher played tee-ball this year, and he had a great time! He loved drawing in the dirt with his shoe and kicking up dirt as he ran . . . and we think he enjoyed batting, running the bases and fielding balls, too. :) His coaches did a great job and made it really fun. Christopher was thrilled to get his first trophy at the end of the season.

Playing "pitcher"

Christopher up to bat

On third base, ready to run home





Christopher, as pitcher, fielding a ball and throwing it to first


Christopher at bat


Christopher running home

Where did May go?

I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. Sarah Kate will be 4 weeks old on Monday! She has regained and surpassed her birth weight, gotten better at holding up her head and moving it around, and started to focus well on faces and toys. She has started taking an occasional bottle without any problems. Just like her brothers, she loves the animals hanging from her playmat. I believe the official smile count is Mommy: 2, Elephant: 4.

Last week she had her 3-week growth spurt, and my easy, sleepy, happy baby disappeared for a couple of days. She was up twice at night again and very unhappy during the day. But on Tuesday night, she actually slept through the night from 11pm until 7am! And during the days, she is happy once again.

Sarah Kate's big brothers are still doing wonderfully with her. Christopher loves to help by giving her a passie when she is crying, and they want to watch her on the video monitor anytime she is in her crib. If she is crying while Will is watching a video, he will ask me to "put the baby away," but otherwise they are happy to have her around. Last week, I ventured out to Sam's Club with the three kids. When we got out of the van, Christopher said, "We are bringing our baby into the store?!?" I said yes, we couldn't leave her in the car. He said, "Why didn't we leave her at home?" I guess he didn't realize she'd be going everywhere with us from now on!

Here are some photos from the last few weeks . . .

Sarah Kate (6 days old) and family--





Sarah Kate and her brothers with Aunt Amanda--




Mother's Day (almost two weeks old)--



Photos in her nursery and trying out the swing (two weeks old)--







And as your reward for making it to the end of this post, here is a video of her brothers' favorite pasttime . . . singing to their baby sister:

A few more things for the record

A few more sweet comments from Christopher that I forgot to include in the last post . . . it is quite possible that I have the most thoughtful 5-year-old boy on the planet. When I was in the hospital, I saved some cake from my lunch to share with the boys later in the afternoon. When I offered some to Christopher, he insisted that I take two bites first, because "you're the one who had the baby." Also, the day we came home from the hospital, he looked me right in the eyes and said very seriously, "Mommy, how are you feeling?" He spent that whole afternoon coming into the nursery and asking, "How is our princess doing?" He sure loves his baby sister! And if you can tell anything about what kind of husband a boy will be by how he treats his mom, I'd say he's going to be a wonderful husband some day.

Also, there's the frequently-asked question: Does Sarah Kate look like her brothers? The answer is yes, definitely, she looks just like Will did as a newborn. In fact, I have already called her Will more than once. (Yes, I call my pink-clad baby girl by her older brother's name. Please don't judge me. I haven't had more than 90 minutes of consecutive sleep in several days.) All three kids have had the same chubby cheeks and the same nose, but Will and Sarah Kate have the same mouth. When she opens her eyes (which isn't often), she looks different from them to me, but with her eyes closed, you can definitely tell she's related to her brothers. Here's the photographic evidence--what do you think?

Sarah Kate:



Will:

Introducing Sarah Katherine

Our baby sister is finally here! Sarah Kate was born on Monday, April 27 at 2:14 p.m. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 inches long. She entered the world looking very purple and slimy, but she got adorable really quickly. This labor and delivery were such a breeze compared to the boys, and we are all doing great.

After 9 long months of waiting, Christopher and Will were thrilled to see her. I called them right after she was born so they could hear her crying (she screamed almost non-stop for the first hour of her life), and they came to the hospital to see her that evening. They gave her toys and oohed and ahhed over how adorable she is. Christopher said, "The best baby in the world has come out!"

The next day, the boys couldn't wait to come see her again at the hospital. Christopher said he planned to come visit her every day. He was excited when I told him that he wouldn't have to visit her anymore, because we were bringing her home the next day!

Now that we are home, everyone seems to be settling in well. Christopher is an extremely attentive big brother. He always wants to know where Sarah Kate is, what she is doing, and if there is anything he could possibly do to help her. He loves to go give her a passy when she is crying and can't wait for her to start taking a bottle so he can help feed her.

Will refers to Sarah Kate as "my baby." He likes to check her out briefly and then move on to playing with her toys. He loves to share things with "my baby" and offers helpful suggestions for her care. The other day when she was crying, he said, "I think she is hungry. We need to order she some food. From McDonald's. I think she would like some french fries!" Will has already asked when we are going to have another baby.

As for Sarah Kate, she is adjusting to life on the outside well. She is a great eater, and a great sleeper about half the time. (Unfortunately, it is usually the daytime half when she sleeps.) She has dark blue eyes right now, and just a little bit of light peach-fuzz hair. She has long fingers and toes. She also has an elusive dimple in her right cheek that you can only see when she makes certain faces.

Sarah Kate has already mastered one skill every newborn should have . . . knowing when your parents have just sat down to eat so you can start crying. Last night, we were getting ready to eat dinner, and it was being delayed by a litany of requests from the boys and trips to the potty with Will. Noel finally sat down with his hot food and said, "cue Sarah Kate." And immediately, she started crying. Fortunately for Noel, I had gotten a head start on eating and went to get her.

We love you, Sarah Kate! We're so glad you are finally here!

Prayers and Career Plans

Will has become very conscientious lately about praying before meals, and he always wants to be the one to pray. His sweet prayers are usually a running commentary of what has happened that day or whatever happens to be on his mind. They always start with "Thank you, God, for our baby." Here are some recent examples:

Thank you God for our baby, and we got a belt for Christopher and some shampoo, and our baby is coming out soon, Amen.
Thank you God for our baby, and I had a birthday party, and it was a Nemo party, and there were party hats, Amen.
Thank you God for our baby, and she's coming out in April and having a birthday party, and I'm sorry, and I want Uncle Jamie to come, and he's coming after the baby, Amen.

For a long time, Christopher has said he wants to be a daddy and a donut-maker when he grows up. The other day, he asked Will what he wants to be when he grows up. Will didn't really understand the question, and when I asked what he wanted to do at work, he said he wants to play at work. (Good answer!) We gave him some examples of things he could do at work, and he said he wants to be a donut-maker with Christopher. Christopher was thrilled! And so Henley & Henley Donuts was born. :) Then Christopher asked me if donut makers ever go out for donuts. I told him that he could just eat some of the donuts that he made, and he thought that was hilarious! It surprised me, because I figured this whole time that he wanted to be a donut maker so he could eat the donuts. Now he's even more excited about being a donut maker someday!

Easter 2009

Ah, the much-belated Easter post. What a great Easter weekend we had. On Friday, we took an Easter basket to Noel's office to hand out plastic eggs with candy and Bible verses about the resurrection inside them. I thought I had explained what we were doing to the boys, and when we got there, there were two women sitting outside. Christopher gave an egg to one of the women, and Will followed his lead. But when the woman thanked Will for the egg, he decided to take it right back out of her hand and put it back in the basket! I explained again that we were giving away the eggs, and he chose another egg to give to her, letting her keep it this time. I realized that part of the problem was that he had originally given her a pink egg--pink is his very favorite color--and the second egg he gave her was yellow. But once we got inside, Will became more generous and handed out all the pink eggs first. As soon as he put an egg in someone's hand, he'd say, "Let's go find more people!"

On Saturday, we had some other families over for an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast hunting for eggs with their friends and then feasting on all that they had found. Then we had pizza and cake--I made a super-easy cake that looked like an Easter basket.

On Easter Sunday, we went to worship and then joined Noel's family for lunch and my family for dinner. It was a full, busy, wonderful day!

Potty Training, Rescue Jet and other happenings

Yes, I realize I have been a terrible blogger lately. Blame it on the end of a pregancy if you'd like, complicated by the fact that I spend most of the day asking Will if he needs to go potty and taking him to the potty. (Because unlike his older brother, who always insists he doesn't need to go when he does, Will says he needs to go potty about three times more than he actually needs to go.)

This has been attempt #2 on the potty training. After Will lost interest during attempt #1, I waited until he asked to wear underwear before trying again. And he has done great! He is super at going #1 in the potty, and we're still working on #2. He also has issues going on potties everywhere other than home. He's managed to go at school the last two weeks and has gone at a restaurant once. Every other time we've left the house, he's pretty much just held it until we get home. I wish he'd learn to go when we are out, but his holding abilities are impressive!

One sweet aspect of the potty training has been Christopher's encouragement of his brother. Christopher has read countless books to Will while he sits on the potty and is eager to join in the celebration when something flush-able is produced. Lately, Christopher has been handing out stickers to Will every time he puts "big pee" or "big poop" in the potty. Christopher has to assess the product and then decrees, "Will! You get one sticker for that! Great job!"

Christopher's latest obsession is superheroes. He talks a lot about good guys and bad guys and has even categorized some toy animals he has as good animals (the tamer, farm-type animals) and bad animals (the wild ones, led by two panthers). He apparently has a movie running in his head which he stars in himself as "rescue jet." Rescue jet has many impressive features, such as a laser that shoots out hot lava to kill bad guys. He flies around, using all his abilities to rescue princesses, fairies and mermaids. (Christopher spends a lot of time with 5-year-old girls, so he knows very well about all the damsels in distress who need rescuing.) Rescue jet also gives great hugs--he simply converts his wings to "hugging arms." :)

Christopher has also started tee-ball. So far they've just been practicing--games start next week, which should be quite interesting. Christopher loves it, and he is very proud of the fact that he hasn't been tagged out. (Admittedly, his teammates are not too great at fielding the ball and throwing it to 1st base. I'm not sure anyone has been tagged out. In fact, at their last practice, some of the base runners were trying to field balls. Hilarious!)

I also feel that I should record for posterity that Christopher was stung by a bee for the first time yesterday. The poor kid sat on one and got stung right on his bottom. Boy, was that traumatic!

And of course, there is the upcoming birth of the much-anticipated baby sister. The boys are ecstatic. A few days ago, I had explained to Christopher that the baby is coming in two weeks. (I'm being induced.) Later that day, he excitedly told our pest control guy that his baby sister is coming in two weeks and "if Mommy told me it was one week, I'd be REALLY excited!!!!" This morning, Will said: "I will be gentle with the baby. I will not hurt the baby. I will share a nice animal with she. I will share the pig, because the pig is not scary." (Oh yeah, did I mention we are having issues with pronouns? He also adds an extra -ed on all past-tense verbs. "Trieded. Glueded. Playeded.")

Easter post coming soon, unless I have a baby before I get around to it! :)