Our first week as five...

Andy, Charlie and I got home from the hospital just barely in time to see the girls off trick or treating on Halloween...they had a blast...admittedly, Andy and I ate the majority of the "good stuff" out of the buckets, and the rest got thrown in the trash this morning...I couldn't believe that Lauren walked around in those unbearably uncomfortable shoes, but she did, and Kate was so hot and sweaty by the time she came home, she was just a mop of red curls under her pumpkin hat. Being our first Halloween in this neighborhood, we didn't know quite what to expect, but the neighborhood didn't disappoint...I couldn't believe the masses of kids and people that knocked on the door...there were so many groups out on the sidewalks while Lauren and Kate were out, and we finally had to turn off our porch light because we ran out of candy...where do all these kids live?



We celebrated my birthday on Sunday afternoon at my parents' house---Andy's parents were here, plus my brother's girlfriend, plus Allison and Ted (what's a party without them?)...I guess the girls got bored with all the adults...Lauren pulled Kate around on this rug for a long time...

Charlie has found his thumb a few times, although he won't do it for me (nor will he take a pacifier from me, I'm learning)...what a dream of a baby...he's been so easy from the day he was born. And I know it may/will all change as he grows, but he's so easy and predictable so far...he figured out his days and nights after about a week, and has fallen into a good pattern of sleeping for a few hours and then being awake for a few hours...and he's so content when he's awake. Now that he's awake more in the day, he's sleeping well at night...it takes about an hour to get him changed and nursed at night, but then he'll go right back to sleep...last night he went 6 hours between feedings...he did wake with a messy diaper, but I didn't feed him and all of a sudden it was 3 AM and he was finally waking to eat again...good boy.
First family picture...Lauren has the baby in case you can't see him...
Not quite sure what Lauren's doing with Charlie's head...so far the kids are adjusting well...they had undivided attention from Andy's mom all last week, so that definitely helped the transition...we'll see how this week goes when my time is split....

Kate loves all the "baby gear"...Lauren was the same way when Kate came along, and I know it's just a phase, thus I'm not worried about it...although it is slightly embarrassing to be with Kate in the store and she's chewing on a baby bottle full of water...I've become that mom with a 2 year old and a bottle...although I think she's already lost interest in "her" bottle...now if she would leave the pacifier and bouncer alone...we haven't even brought out the little swing yet...

Andy with Charlie and the original Charles "Chuck" Hyer--his dad...our Charlie is named after Andy's dad Charles, and my dad Stephen

This is one of the those moments that I was so livid, all I could do was grab the camera...it's about 10 at night in this picture...the girls had been "in bed" for 3 hours, but they have a really hard time settling down and going to sleep...we're trying to get them to sleep in the same room, but they enjoy each other so much that all they do is play (why can't they play that well during the day???)...They had changed out of their pajamas and into play clothes, and Kate was carrying her diaper when they wandered out into the kitchen...I think that both kids are extremely sleep deprived these days, as they don't go to sleep until after 9, and are up at 6:00 every morning because of Day Light Savings...even Lauren is napping right now, which never happens...she must be tired...I hung the picture frames in the background right above their little table, and they LOVE to look at the pictures and "blow" out the candles from their bday last year...

Andy's mom was a great help this week with the girls and baby...the kids miss all her attention now that it's just me...don't you love Lauren's devil-eye expression?...she's such a pill these days when I try to take pictures...

I never get tired of taking pictures of the babies sleeping with their dad...I have tons of all three kids sleeping on Andy just like this...he falls asleep so easily...wish I could do that...I've decided that Charlie looks like Lauren...the 2 girls look nothing alike, and I was curious what the boy would look like...he has the same eye shape as Lauren...at least they will look related (unlike Lauren and Kate). Unless something totally changes, his eyes look like they will be blue like Lauren's too.
Making cookies with Grandma...

With 2 games left in a very long season, Andy has finally declared that the season WAS NOT a total waste, like we thought it would be...Lauren actually stays on the field for most of the game, and even follows the ball around for the first half...I've decided that the games are just a few minutes too long...if each half was about 3 minutes shorter, I think the kids would do better...they just sort of poop out/lose interest after so many minutes...but she sure is cute out there in her little uniform...she's such an athletic kid that we're still holding out hope that she just might enjoy sports and be pretty good at them...right now success is marked by how long she stays on the field before walking off in tears...


I forgot to include how long Charlie was when he was born, and someone commented that they wanted to know...his official birth stats...

8 lbs 9.9 oz.
22.5 inches
12:15 AM

Big, long boy...