Forgot a few pictures...

I forgot a few pictures from the hospital.

Here is Everett just a few minutes old. Clearly not too happy about the process.

My mom brought Sophia later that afternoon to meet 'baby critter' (that's what she calls him). She was overwhelmed and confused. Not too sure about sharing her family with the new addition.

Welcom Baby Barson

Please welcome 'Everett John Barson'. He was born 2 weeks early on December 23rd at 11:44am. He weighed 7lbs and 14oz, and was 20 inches long. He is a very sweet, pleasant baby who rarely cries and sleeps 2-4 hours at a time. Those of you who knew Sophia as an infant would not believe this baby came from the same parents. We actually made dinner and ate it while he slept in the bouncy chair on the kitchen counter. Again, unheard of when Sophia was his age. John refers to him as his 'tax-break/Christmas present'. He currently has blonde hair and blue eyes. I love his prominent hairline and pursed lips.

Labor and delivery was much more pleasant (as much as it could be) compared to my experience with Sophia. It all went very fast. I started laboring about 5am and we got to hospital around 8am, and he was born shortly thereafter. We were released on Christmas Eve day. He slept the entire way home, once again, something that was unheard of with Sophia...are you getting the picture yet.

Recovery for me has been a challenge especially since I have a toddler and 'grown-up' house to handle. Fortunately, my mom and sister have been a huge help with Sophia and the house up-keep. I feel a little guilty since Everett is such a quiet baby I haven't held him as much as I would like because I am juggling Sophia and recovery. Sophia has unfortunately been very sick. My mom and I took her (and Everett) to the doctors on 12/26 because she was running a fever with runny nose and cough. She was diagnosed with an ear infection and sinus infection. Later that night she was up with a temperature of 103.4 degrees. So, Everett has spent a lot of time in our bedroom sleeping because we don't want him to get sick so young. Sophia is also having trouble sharing and being gentle with him. She is naturally a very strong (physically and personality-wise) toddler with definite opinions and ideas of her own. Again my mom and sister have provided her entertainment to take some of the attention from me holding or nursing the baby. Anyway, here are some photos. More to come...

His hospital beanie had red and green yarn with jingle bells attached. Too cute!

The Spokane Sewing Guild gave us this oversized stocking to 'stuff' our Christmas baby into and photograph. He is such a sport already.

Wide-eyed. Doesn't like changing clothes or diapers so, he is usually very awake during these events. We are still getting accustomed to being urinated on. Let's just say that John is thankful that he wears glasses.

Can you believe that this baby takes a pacifier? Something Sophia never did. See the adorable hairline?

He prefers sleeping slightly propped up in his carseat so, we just secure it into the pack-n-play and he sleeps for several hours at a time.

I am perfecting my swaddling technique. Pretty good huh? He very much prefers this to loose bedding.

Christmas

Well, it took us about 3 entire days to actually celebrate Christmas. With Sophia being sick, addition of the new baby, recovery for me...we sort of opened a few presents each night with family. Sophia was really very patient and helped unwrap all the presents.

Here she is wearing my new slipper/socks, a Barcelona T-shirt from aunt Katie, and a lei from aunt Kim (direct from Maui). She is loading batteries into my new flashlight.

A friend from my mom's work sent Sophia this little kid's laptop and she really loves it. She mostly likes to play music on the jukebox function.

I will appologize in advance for not sending 'thank-yous' to those who sent gifts. I honestly can't recall much of what was given to whom. There were times that gifts we opened when I was feeding the baby. Everything was sometimes a blur. We really do appreciate all the gifts and well-wishes. We feel very blessed with our family and friends!

Pregnancy update

Well, we have about 4 weeks until my due date. Sophia was born on her due date so I have no idea when to expect this newest arrival. The official date is 1/6/07. I honestly 'feel' bigger this time around. The baby is surprizingly more active than Sophia ever was, and I didn't think that was possible. His energetic flops, kicks, and sommersaults are getting pretty painful. Someone actually commented on the baby moving while she was standing next to me in line at the store because he was rolling around so aggressively. The baby gets the hiccups often and tends to wake easily in the early morning. I am really starting to lose sleep now since all I do is try to get comfortable or get up to pee.
John and I were able to tour the two hospitals in town while his parents were visiting. We decided on Deaconess and are 'thinking' about getting ready. We are getting out all the baby gear and setting out the clothing. We ordered bedroom furniture for Sophia so that we can transition her out of the crib into a 'big girl' bed. Cross your fingers for us. Still no name for the baby. We regularly discuss names but can never decide or agree. I think that we are going to just go to the hospital with a few top choices and decide there once we meet him. This is going to drive John nuts. Well, I better go get something done...

Mixin'

Sophia really enjoys something that she calls 'mixin'. I basically supply her with flour, water, and all sorts of other 'ingredients' and she has a blast. She loves to transfer stuff from bowl to bowl with spoons and cups. Her coordination has gotten really good since attending the Montessori so, the potential mess hasn't been as bad as you might think. PS, thanks again Julia for the kids Starbucks apron. She loves it!

Our new front door...

On our way out the door to the 'Pepsi Family Holiday Party' we stopped to take a picture sitting on our front steps. That's our very first front door as a home owner. Pretty cool...except for the mortgage payment;) And yep, we have snow!

"Yo, Waz Up?"

Just a cute picture of Sophia, naked of course and wearing DaDa's stocking cap.

Kid's Room

Here are a few pictures of how we chose to paint the kid's rooms. Sophia's room is a cool-blue room with aquarium and spa colors. I painted this huge tree and stenciled leaves, purple butterflys, and dragonflys near the tree and throughout her room.


The baby's room has a farm animal theme. We went very unisex with the nursery for Sophia so we can actually use everything over again for 'the boy'. So I painted a few farmyard scenes around his 'sawdust' yellow-colored room. The paintings are anywhere from 2'-4' tall. My favorite are the sheep and barn. Yes, there are flowers but...they're BLUE.

Misc Pics

Just a few cute pics of Sophia being Sophia. By the way, John and I had our first parent-teacher conference with Sophia's teacher at the Montessori. Her teach has a BA in child psychology and early childhood education, and she has been working there 5.5 years. Sundi (teacher) told us that Sophia is the most independant, strongest-willed girl she has ever dealt with. Sundi told us that Sophia regularly 'challenges' her and has kept her on her toes. Fortunately, the Montessori philosophy embraces individualism. Now, John and I are having to adjust our parenting a bit to work with Sophia's new found freedom. It has actually been working out better lately. I will tell you that she is so stubborn, she will often refuse to say 'please' for something simply out of spite. Grandma Barson offered her M-n-M's the other day and Sophia refused to say please even though she knew she wouldn't get the candy. She also went an hour sitting on her nap-mat at the Montessori the other day because she refused to say please and ask for help.

This is Sophia helping to clean the bowl after we made sugar cookies. She didn't much care for the cookies once they had been cooked.

This is usually how we find Sophia in the morning. Fortunately, we have convinced her to leave her diaper on. Typically, she strips off her pajamas and chucks them across the room within the first few minutes of shutting her door at bedtime. She generally prefers to be without clothes all through the day as well. Now that she learned to change her own clothes at the Montessori we really battle her desire to strip at home. At this point, I am choosing my battles and we turn up the heat!

Cool Artic Blast

The second weekend after we moved into our new house the furnace broke down. It just so happened to be the beginning of 20-degree winter weather. At least the bedrooms are on the second floor and our gas fireplace has a fan. The furnace was out pretty much Thursday through Monday afternoon until it was fixed. We set-up space heaters in the bedrooms. Here is a picture of Sophia cuddling up against me to warm up in the morning. We even brought out the Pendelton wool blanket that Knud bought us as a wedding gift...super warm.

Cool Appliances

Okay, maybe I am a geek but, I love the fridge we choose. We did quite a bit of research through consumer reports and shopped a lot to finally decide on this french-door, bottom-freezer model. I have never had so much room...seems empty. There is an ice-maker in the bottom freezer which, has several drawers inside. The ice maker is best located here because Sophia can't reach it (and the water) like she can with the 'built-in' door models. Then there is the humidity controled fruit, veggie, and deli drawers. Adjustable, see-through glass shelves...need I say more.