Easter 2011

After last year's Easter fiasco whereby we all got dressed up, went to church, and the boys acted like fools, we decided to not attend church on Easter. Plus, with Gracie being a newborn and me having very little sleep, it was best for everyone to not go. We did go out to Nonna and Papa's house to open Easter baskets, eat, and hunt for eggs!

Easter morning

The Easter bunny came! Andrew was completely thrilled and so excited about the bunny. Austin is questioning the feasibility of a bunny coming in the house with baskets. It is a little hard to believe to be honest. I mean, how does a bunny carry baskets? That didn't mean Austin didn't love opening his to see what was inside!

Grace is 1 month old!

Andrew loves having his picture taken with Gracie!

ADHD guest post

Ever since Austin was diagnosed with ADHD I've looked on the web searching for any tips from other parents on things that have worked (or haven't) for their child particularly as it relates to behavior issues. While Austin does have some inattention problems, his is mostly the impulsive behavior side of ADHD. I found a mom's view of ADHD a year or so ago and submitted a guest post a few months ago about behavior plans and it was posted today!

First few weeks

Grace was born 3 1/2 weeks ago. So far, things have been quite hectic. While we were in the hospital, we insisted Grace's bilirubin level be checked the day before we left the hospital. She was already getting yellow and both Austin and Andrew were jaundiced before leaving the hospital. We wanted to be prepared to stay an extra day if needed and didn't want to find out last minute if we needed to stay. The level on that day was 10 something and they rechecked it the next day before we left. At that time it was 12 something. It had to be closer to 13 before we stayed over or before they recommended home therapy.

We followed up with the pediatrician the day after we got home from the hospital. At that time, her level spiked to close to 18 and home health came out with a bili bed. Grace spent 2 days on the bed (just as Austin had done 7 years ago when he was born) and her level dropped to 12. We had to follow up with the pediatrician the next day and it spiked again. Thus began our saga of doctor's visits, heel sticks, and copays for the first few weeks after Grace was born. Luckily, Grace turned the corner today and her level was back down around 12. No more doctor's visits for us any time soon! Here are a few pics from her time on the bed.

Austin's birthday weekend

Austin turned 7 on Friday, April 1st. Gene went to school to have lunch with him and I signed up to be the mystery reader for the day. (Austin's class has a mystery reader every Friday after lunch.) We also let Austin pick where we would go for dinner that night, our first dining out experience as a family of 5. Of course, he picked Chinese, his favorite.

Yesterday, we had a bowling party for Austin and a few of his friends. This was the best money I've ever spent on a birthday party. All we had to do was show up with cupcakes and they handled the rest! The kids had a great time bowling and eating hot dogs and cupcakes.

Today, we had family over for lunch and cupcakes and to open gifts. Overall, Austin had a wonderful birthday weekend!

Welcome Grace Anne!

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Hospital pictures

After Grace's arrival, we spent a few days in the hospital. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our time in the hospital including one of us going home!

Grace Anne Fambrough

Grace Anne Fambrough was born on March 11, 2011 at 6:39 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Proud big brother Austin!

Sweet Andrew hugging his sister!

Gracie's nursery

Over the Christmas holidays, Gene painted Gracie's room a light lavendar color. We ordered a new crib. (A few weeks before we found out we were expecting again we got rid of the crib we used with the boys.) We purchased a dresser for her room and bedding. And a few weeks ago we received beautiful artwork for her room. Gene finally hung the pictures up today (5 days before Gracie's arrival). The room turned out super cute!

The countdown

We are officially 2 weeks (actually a week and 6 days) away from Gracie's arrival. But who's counting, right? We (aka Gene) still need to hang pictures in her room. We also need to rearrange some things in the kitchen to accommodate bottles and pump equipment. Other than that, everything is done.

Austin is asking a lot of questions about how the baby is going to come out and is bragging to everyone that will listen about how his baby is about to pop out. He's very excited but very concerned about me. I've tried to reassure him that everything is going to be OK. Andrew doesn't know what's coming of course. He's still too young but he does talk about his sister, Gracie, and is very interested in his new cousin Max. He likes to hug and kiss on Max although he doesn't quite know how easy to be with a new baby.

I'll post pictures of the room soon after the pictures are hung. In the meantime, the countdown is on!

The tooth fairy flies again!

Austin has had 2 loose teeth for a while and we've been just watching and waiting for them to fall out. He refuses to let anyone mess with his teeth. He'd rather walk around with them barely hanging on rather than wiggle them enough to pull them out for the tooth fairy to visit. I guess those dollars aren't all that important to him.

Last week, he and a friend bonked heads at school making the top tooth even looser than it already was. So all weekend, we watched and waited. On Sunday, we thought we were going to be able to pull it but Austin refused. So, Monday I e-mailed his teacher to let her know to be on the lookout for the tooth. She responded a little bit later that the school secretary pulled it!

Andrew had to show me his teeth too!

Then, on Thursday, Austin came home with another pulled tooth! Again the school secretary pulled it. She must be one magical tooth puller. The tooth fairy visited our house twice in one week. I think that may be it for a little while.

Baby Shower #2

Friends and family threw me a baby shower. We truly are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family members to help us celebrate our little girl's arrival!

Basketball

Last fall, Austin kept asking if he could play basketball. The season didn't start until winter and, as luck would have it, would end just a few weeks before Gracie's scheduled arrival which worked out well.

The first practice and game were painful to say the least. But he practiced and got somewhat better. By the end of the season, he had decided that basketball wasn't his thing. I think Austin thought that they'd just stand around and shoot the ball like he does at home. At least we've ruled one more sport out! We did manage to get some pictures of him playing though.

Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! We always get the boys something small from us for Valentine's Day. We got Andrew a couple of books, some Mike & Ikes (his favorite candy), some M&Ms, and an Iron Man toy. He's obsessed with Iron Man; we have no idea why. Austin also got some books and M&Ms, some gummy bears, and a Lego set.

Baby Shower

The people I work with threw Gene and I (and Gracie) a baby shower. Luckily, we hadn't gotten rid of everything that we had with the boys so we had most everything. But, every baby should be celebrated whether it's your first or third. And since this one is a girl, she needed some new pink pretty things!

Gracie update

I realize that I have posted anything about Gracie. You know, the surprise 3rd baby we're having that just so happens to be a girl! I've started my every 2 week appointments and am right on track. I'm 30 weeks (give or take a few days) and I'm officially scheduled for a c-section on March 11. I'm carrying her differently than I did the boys. I'm not quite as "large and in charge" as a friend of mine said. I was concerned about it just because I'd done this twice before and with both I was quite big around. But my doctor says that everything is fine and I'm measuring right where I'm supposed to be.

Over the Christmas break, Gene painted Gracie's room purple and her dresser arrived yesterday. We were fortunate to be given a crib from a good friend, but the FDA (or whoever) has since banned drop sided cribs so we ordered a new one. That should be here by the end of January.

I've started tagging the boy's clothes for consignment. And it's sort of bittersweet. Looking at all the tiny little boy clothes that Austin and Andrew wore and knowing that there's not going to be another little boy to wear them. But, that's all part of it I guess. And we'll get rid of stuff that's taking up room in the basement. That's one good thing (among others) about Gracie joining our family. We've been forced to weed out things that are old and throwing things away that we don't need. The sort of thing that you always avoid until you move.

On a sad note, I traded my car last night. I bought the Maxima in 2002 after I got my first official, real job at the 'Cross. Overall, the Maxima was a great car! Sure, we went through tires like they were water and I was on my 4th alternator. But I loved the sporty-ness of it, it's get up and go, and the gas mileage. But, alas, it was not big enough to fit Gracie and since I'm the one that does most of the kid hauling, I traded it in for an Armada. We picked it up last night. This thing is a beast! I feel quite powerful in it. It really is super nice and I look forward to driving it. I, of course, don't look forward to a car payment after years of not having one.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas was so much fun! The boys were up at 6:30 wanting to go downstairs.

Austin got a new 4 wheeler!

Andrew got a new jeep!

Andrew spent most of his time stacking his presents. He finally started opening them.

And to top it all off, it snowed on Christmas day! We had to go outside for at least a few minutes to try out the new toys and play in the snow.