Magic....

Is there anything more magical than your sleeping baby????

It is late at night and I just checked on my sweet fat baby and he was fast asleep.

Beautiful.

"God Save the Swing"....

Bryce and I have been struggling with this cold/sinus infection thing. Needless to say---we have not wanted to pass it on to The Boy. So we had to come up with some way of pacifying him at times without too much holding time.

So I bought a swing....and MAGIC!!!

He loves it. Oliver is still so serious---he hasn't really crackec his first intentional smile. He smiles in his sleep and sometimes you can get him to do this open mouth-type-grin. The swing makes him come really close to smiling. He just swings and waves his arms wildly.

May we never run out of batteries. :)

BIG boy...

We had Oliver weighed today by an at-home nurse that was visiting. Bryce and I both took a guess at what we thought he'd be. He was born at 9.6 lbs. At his two week appointment he was 9.8. He is now one month and one week old.

Bryce guessed that Oliver weighed 9lbs. 15 oz.

I guessed that he weighed 10lbs. 5 oz.

We were both wrong....

He weighed

11 lbs 15 oz!!!!!

What a big healthy boy! We coldn't believe it.

Le Petit Kitton inspects Oliver

Kitton has paid absolutely no attention to Oliver since his arrival. It is sad, really, how little attention she has gotten from us as well.

The other day, Oliver was napping on our guest bed and we decided to put her on the bed to see what she'd do.

At first she just jumped off the bed---but we put her back on.
She sniffed his head (and was purring the whole time)---then went off again to mind her own business. I guess she's just not interested in the boy.

Family bed...

I have always said that I would not let our children sleep in our bed. I was so scared of it going on too long end ending up sharing our bed with a 16-year-old.

HOWEVER---it has happened. We put Oliver to bed during the night and he does just fine. He usually goes down about 9pm. We get up to feed him at about 12am and then again at about 3-4am. For these--he stays in his crib just fine.

Then---when he wakes to eat at about 7am---we can't resist. We put him in bed with us. It is so sweet to cuddle up with the four of us (even Le Petit Kitton---who we have totally forgotten existed ever since Oliver joined the family---as you can imagine).

I've got to be careful to keep this in check so that we don't end up with the family bed in 20 years. :)

Medical Bills...

So, I promise not to use my blog as a soap box "too often".

However, as the medical bills have started to roll in, I have to say:

WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE?!?!?!?!!!!!

Here are two of my favorite bills. There is a STACK of these and they come in every day. I knew that we were in trouble when the bills started arriving in BIG envelopes instead of normal ones---because they were too thick to fold.

Because we have insurance, we will only have to pay a reletively small yearly deductable of about $4,000 total. Without insurance I alone am currently over $100,000 in bills.

It is sad that things have gotten so out of control with our health care system. Nevertheless---it is what it is and you HAVE to get health insurance if you done have it.

Okay--off the soap box. :)

More Bonnie Pics....

We had our first official family photos taken by Bonnie. It was really fun---even when Oliver was not cooperating--which was most of the time.

Here are some of the fun---less traditional shots.

Horseback riding with the family...

We met Robyn, Ryan, Jack and Zoe at Sundance for Sunday brunch. Zoe and Jack really got a kick out of helping me feed Oliver. They were so careful and sweet. I told them it was good practice for them---since they have a little sister (or brother) on the way.

Here is beautiful Robyn with Oliver---we are so excited for her little baby-in-the-belly. Oliver and "the baby" will be so close in age. B.F.F's for sure.

There's nothing like a little child labor. We put jack to work scooping up horse poo.

He loved it.

Ryan, feeding an apple to one of the horses. We were celebrating Ryan's 35th birthday, by the way. Happy Birthday--Ryan! We love you! You are such an amazing brother and friend.

Jack---carrying Zoe around. He is going to be so helpful to the new baby. So cute.

Oliver's first BUBBLE BATH....

We gave Oliver his first bubble bath last night. He LOVED it.

Oliver liked it best when he was almost fully under the water.

Check him out---he made some of the funniest faces

Once again--water totally sedated him. He went right to sleep afterwards.

Here are some pictures of friends and family with sweet Oliver.

Aunt Teri

Oliver's Great Grandma Milne

Uncle Daniel
Jeremy and Christine

Pops (grandpa wayne)

Grandma Diane
Aunt Ruby (robyn)

Great Grandma Ballard

Uncle Matthew

(who was scared to death to hold Oliver, by the way)

Pictures from Bonnie..

Bonnie, a dear friend of ours, is a professional photographer. She took these pictures of Oliver (and Bryce) while we were in the hospital. They are amazing. I had to share.

PIctures from home...

Here are just some more good pics from our first week home as a family. Today is Oliver's 3 week birthday. I have now been home with him for 9 days. We are learning a lot (Bryce and I). It is amazing how our "normal' has been rewritten.

Check out that gaze. Love him.

Here is Oliver's "current" favorite position to fall asleep in.

He loves the over-the-shoulder sling.

Bryce---lovin on his little boy.

Bryce---trying to clip Oliver's nails. I have, as of yet, been to scared to try this task.

It'll come, but I am not ready yet .