highey-birday to gus

notice the one boot, one shoe. we believe in letting our kiddos pick their own clothes around here ;)

my boy turned 2 on december 28th. in so many ways he seemed 2 already, yet thinking about him being 2 blows my mind at the same time. confusing, i know. we had a small-ish party at the house with the lawrence family, atkins family, our family & grandma & grandpa pierse. it was perfect for a 2 year old. the highlight of the day (for clay& gus at least) was a game of tag played in the backyard by all of the kiddos (ranging in age from 2yrs - 8yrs) and dads. apparently it was quite fun, and although gus couldn't really play 'tag' per se, he was running, laughing & exuding just pure joy thinking he was right in the middle of it all.

luci & i picked out the decorations. she picked out matchbox car stuff, cars stuff, and firetruck stuff (3 different party themes). cause she knew he'd like them all and she couldn't decide. so we had 'transportation' themed cups, plates, napkins, balloons and a cars cake. the one thing we forgot? party hats. actually, i hadn't forgotten. i had decided they weren't necessary. till luci mentioned party hats to gus & suddenly he had to have them. luckily a quick call later to the lawrence family resulted in thomas the train hats (thanks lawrence family) that fit in nicely with our 'transportation' theme. that said, once the party got going we forgot all about said hats. alas, not to let them go to waste, we wore them that night for family dinner & cake part deux.

clay has said repeatedly that the sweet sound of g's laughter on that day will stay with him forever. sounds like a perfect party to me :)

Christmas 2011

Better late than never, right? We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Grandma & Grandpa Pierse came down as they have the last few years & somehow it makes the whole thing feel more official. Having grown up where Christmas = going to our grandparents homes to play with cousins & eat a huge family meal, I'm glad my kiddos at least get to have one set of grandparents here to share the day with.

I waited until Christmas Eve to put any gifts under the tree...which was a good move because Lu & Gus were RELENTLESS in their quest to open gifts. I let them open the gift from cousins Asher & Lila first & on Christmas Eve morning because I knew it would keep them busy all day.

60 cardboard box/blocks will do that.

(the assembly of which also kept mom, grandpa & dad busy for an hour or so)


one of g's favorite gifts...his caterpillar lawn chair from sissy. they used to fight over luci's butterfly lawn chair...but no longer!

and one of lu's favorite gifts...a princess umbrella from her grammy & grandpy.

she's wanted an umbrella for ages. now she wants for rain...

and my baby boy just chilled ;)
dad made a FANTASTIC apple pie. isn't it pretty?

he did the lattice work himself. and this was the first time he'd done that, i might add. impressive, right? maybe he should take over in the kitchen....

look what my baby found!

his fist!

fun with paper

with all of those Christmas & birthday toys, guess what had them giggling up storm?

why, 3 feet of unrolled easel paper, of course.

my girl is into writing fancy like, with balls on the ends of her letters, just.like.mom.

and my big boy. i butchered his hair last week. cause it had to be cut right.that.minute....

for reasons that i can no longer articulate...cause they don't make sense anymore.

but i assure you, i had my reasons at that time.

sadly said butchering was cut short by a blowout diaper from baby hugh. the kind that goes all of the way up to the neck & soaks through the diaper, clothes, a swaddle blanket, and a white swing...including the straps. nothing a little oxi clean couldn't handle.

i'll keep him anyway.

the throes of sleep deprivation

it's that time of post partum. the throes of sleep deprivation. hugh is 8 weeks today, and i haven't slept through the night now in over 8 weeks. he's had a handful of nights where he has only gotten up once to eat - the remainder he's been up 2 or 3x or many hours of the night. i'm hanging in there. some days more gracefully than others. the hardest part of parenting thus far has been the sleep deprivation. you'd think by the 3rd time i'd somehow be better at it, but i'm really not. and of course the wakeful hours are more challenging as there are now 3 sweet little beings depending on me to meet their nearly every need. when mama's not well rested everybody feels it :(

that said, i'm hanging in there. because really - what other choice do i have? interestingly enough i find it hard to sleep during the day when those rare opportunities arise...i'm not so good at go, gO, GO...okay, now sleep, sleEP, SLEEP!

this of course contributes to how shamefully behind i am on posts:
-hugh's birth story
-hugh is one month
-Christmas
-gus is two
-hugh's baptismal weekend (this coming weekend)

so there. at least now i'll hopefully remember to get back to them. i have lovely photos to document said occasions, as i am now the proud owner of a gently loved nikon d40 after much consternation & family 'discussion'. hopefully one day we'll both be grateful we can see the spirit of our 'used to be young' children in the photos i'm now able to take. cause one day, God willing, our roles will go back to being primarily husband & wife instead of mama & dad. and if we make it there, i'm sure we'll be like the rest of the reminiscent parents remembering only the good & the lovely. i mean really, how blessed we would be to have the 12 weeks of total sleep deprivation as the most difficult thing we encounter as parents. it'll be just a minor blip we can laugh about. at least...that's what i pray for.

my in-laws

when i saw this photo i smiled that inside way down in my soul kind of smile.

amanda took it at g's birthday party.

this photo captures the spirit of my in-laws in a way that words cannot.

i love it. (and them ;)

frog boots

somebody got some new frog boots for Christmas from grandma & grandpa.

g is currently in LOVE with boots, so the timing was perfect.

i love this photo...the ridiculousness of g's chocolate face, choice of outfit, goofy expression & toddler pudge combined with luci's melting in the background reveal a great deal about the dynamics of our home these days...

hugh @ 1 month

anyone else thinking of ed grimley?

a month already. holy moly. i'd say i've been lucky enough to receive two social smiles at this point. one a week ago yesterday, and then again a few days ago. he's starting to track really well with his eyes, and he's crazy strong. strong neck, and already putting weight on his legs (to express his discomfort with gas or reflux usually). he's quite a chill baby, and really only cries when he's in pain - which is unfortunately more often than i'd like it to be. at 2.5 weeks he was diagnosed with reflux & we went right to prevacid which seems to be helping in that regard. he's still crazy gassy, which i know is due to my oversupply of milk & my overactive letdown. i'll appreciate these things in a few months when i can nurse him in 15 minutes, but for now he's not ready to drink from the milk fire hose so the poor thing is often in pain. i've started block feeding (only one side per feeding) & i'm hoping that will help.


his first blow out poo was earlier today. he has yet to sleep more than 3 or so hours consecutively. he seems to have very little differentiation between night & day. some nights are not so bad considering he's eating every three hours (easy feed, easy burp, back to sleep in less than an hour), and some nights i see every hour on the clock. luckily with mom here i've been managing naps most days.

no babies were harmed in the making of the above photo ;)

i love my kiddos

but i'm pretty much exhausted by them 24/7 these days. even the nights that used to be rejuvenating now belong to hugh. but time will march on, regardless of how well rested i am. and one day i'll be up nights for a very different reason...be it driving or dating or both...and finally now with kiddo #3 i realize it'll be here before i know it. kindergarten registration is in like 2 months! go ahead...just try to mention luci going to kindergarten without me bursting into tears. so i'm doing the best i can. there is a shortage of patience, a lot of tears, more yelling than i'd like to admit (from all parties), and for sure more tv than needed, yet time keeps marching on. hugh is already a month old.

my mom leaves tomorrow. she's been here since a few days before hugh's birth, with the exception of a 3ish day reprieve covered by grandma pierse. i'm sure she's ready to go. i'm sure i'll cry when i drop her off at the airport tomorrow like i do every time she leaves me post partum. words cannot even begin to express my gratitude for her willingness to stay & help us for over a month. mom, you are simply the best. dad, thanks for sharing her. i'm so, so blessed & grateful.

clay & i will be on our own with the kiddos from monday afternoon until wedenesday when his parents arrive for Christmas and to see me through the six week mark when it's safe for me to lift gus into his crib again. i'm excited for that. i miss putting the little nutter to bed all by myself.

physically i'm progressing. i have hugh's birth story post started, but it is long. i'd say i'm about 80% most of the time, and have been since 2.5 weeks or so. but i've sort of plateaued and that is bumming me out. that said, the double ear infection & sinus infection i was diagnosed with last week probably wasn't helping. luckily i'm a few days into antibiotics & starting to feel better in that regard.

and now i'll stop rambling & try to quickly post some photos before i hear i'm needed. big kids are hiking with dad & baby is sleeping in the chair with grammy. it's pretty rare that i do anything other than sleep when i'm not needed, but with short windows i'm going to try to be better about posting :)

Lu's Christmas Program

my angel :)

The Lu's last program at Good Shepherd. She's been practicing singing the songs at the top of her lungs for over a month now....pretty much all day. She's a singer ;) I adore this preschool & what they teach...my favorite song by far has to be Happy Birthday, Jesus!. You can't help but feel joy in your heart when 100+ kiddos joyfully sing Happy Birthday Jesus super loud.

Makes me smile just thinkin 'bout it.

g's christmas party

i read the kiddos three Christmas stories, they sort of decorated a cookie (ie, ate the frosting) & then hung out. a perfect party for the 2ish year old set!

st. lucia day

The day of Saint Lucia in Scandinavia is an essential part of Christmas in Scandinavia.
Each year on December 13, Saint Lucia is celebrated widely with candlelight and traditional candle-lit processions. Lucia herself was Christian and died for her faith. The December 13 holiday honors her.
The eldest girl in the family portrays St Lucia, puts on a white robe in the morning and is allowed to wear a crown full of candles. She serves her parents Lucia buns and coffee or mulled wine.
In church, women sing the traditional St Lucia song which describes how Saint Lucia overcame the darkness and found light. Each of the Scandinavian countries has similar lyrics, in their native tongues.
In Scandinavian history, the night of St.Lucia was known to be the longest night of the year (winter solstice) which was changed when the Gregorian calendar was reformed.
During a dark winter in Scandinavia, the idea of light overcoming darkness, and the promise of returning sunlight has been welcomed by the locals for hundreds of years. The celebrations and processions on Saint Lucia Day are illuminated by thousands of candles.
As many say, it wouldn't be Christmas in Scandinavia without Saint Lucia Day.

Grandma Pierse was very thoughtful & made sure Lu had a special St. Lucia day. We forgot about the white dress we had planned to wear, but Lu didn't mind. I have photos of Lu & Grandma Pierse making scones, but it is on my other memory card - to be continued!

gus quotes

scene: watching tv. a sofia vergara covergirl commercial comes on.

gus: "cute. cute! CUTE! hug her? i hug her? peeeeaaaassse?"

at least we know he has good taste, right?

scene: the bathroom. luci had just gone, and i was having a turn as well. gus bursts in.

gus: "i try? i try this.potty. right.now. i try this potty peeeeaaaase?"

if only i were ready to potty train. but i'm not. so he sat on the potty with the lid closed. and i taught him to flush. we'll see how long that pacifies his potty wishes.

my three peas

ms. amanda lemme borrow her fancy camera! i still don't have the eye that she does, but man it sure was fun to play around & get photos like this...especially given that the nearly two year old was dive bombing the blanket non-stop...

Hugh Halvorson Pierse

was born on November 17th at 8:47pm.

hugh weighed in at 8lbs, 13oz and measured 22in tall.

contrary to 'our plan' (He laughed), sweet baby hugh made his own path into this world and did indeed come out through a hole in mama's belly. on his way out he took a big gulp of amniotic fluid or blood, and came out a frightening dusky blue. the x-rays of his lungs were very white, which apparently is bad as they are supposed to be black. that said, the nicu pedi told us he was one in a million because despite those lungs being full of fluid he was doing an amazing job of using them & quickly transitioned to room only air. after two nights in the nicu he was declared a 'well baby' despite the continued presence of fluid because he was doing so well breathing & eating.

sweet amanda took these photos on friday night (11.18). i was still pretty out of it, and by the looks of it, so was baby hugh. that's a feeding tube he has in his nose - he wasn't allowed to eat until they were certain his lungs were working. never fear, they were good to go by saturday morning. we came home around noon on monday to a very eager big sister & brother!