It's Been a Month Already! Time to Banish Original Sin.

John was baptized last weekend. We had a wonderful celebration with family and friends. I was quite pleased that we made it to mass on time, and I managed to have everything we needed for our lunch afterwards. Well, except dessert plates, but the Christmas ones worked just fine. Thank goodness we had Aunt Kelly around to help out! She was key in the handful of last minute grocery store trips. I was also super thankful that the Lee's brought the beverages. They added a nice element to the day.

 

We really missed Msgr. Heier during the baptism ceremony. He was our pastor who baptized the other two boys who couldn't do the baptism because he is deployed as a military Chaplin. He is also moving to a new parish upon his return. The substitute priest did his best, but it was basically mass chaos during the baptism. No one could hear him. They also rushed the start of the ceremony, so the 7-month-old next to us didn't have time to eat. We were all painfully aware of this during the baptism. I felt so badly for his mother. I've been in her shoes. There were also about twice as many children watching the baptisms as there were adults. The kids were not misbehaved, there was just a lot of movement in the audience :)

 

Despite all this, John was an angel for the baptism and I just kept reflecting on Monsignor's trademark baptism messages to keep in mind the meaning of the day. First, that these babies are prefect in the moments after their baptism and they represent what perfect is. Second, he always discusses the smell of the chrism oil that is used in the sacrament, and each time I smelled that balsam scent on John's forehead, I was reminded of what we celebrated that day.

 

I'm hoping to have pictures of John's smile in my next post. We have started getting real smiles, but nothing long enough to get a picture of yet.

 

With his godmother, Kelly.

John with his parents and godparents, Charlie and Kelly.

It was a beautiful day for a party!

Party preparations - key lime pie!

The big brothers.

The budding chef ready to squeeze and measure the limes...

Flowers from Gigi and Grampy! They are still looking and smelling beautiful!

I figured white was appropriate for the day.

Three Weeks Old

It's hard to believe that John is already three weeks old. We are settling in nicely as a family, and I must admit that I really like having three kids. It's a little crazy at times, but it's also really fun. I guess it helps that after three kids, recovering from delivery is a bit easier and all the new things that come along with a baby are old hat. I was looking back at some old pictures from when Daniel and Christopher were babies and I realized that John has already grown out of clothes that Christopher was wearing at four months! Christopher really was a tiny one for such a long time. Now he feels huge to me. I'll find myself trying to lift him only to discover that he weighs a little too much for me these days. We have an exciting weekend coming up with Aunt Kelly coming in town for John's baptism on Sunday! Hopefully the weather will clear up by then. On this longest day of the year, the sun is just starting to peek out and it's 2:45 pm.

Matt and the three boys on Father's Day.

Christopher holding John for the first time.

Today's picture with the beautiful blanket made by Aunt Katie!

Daniel's Little Builders Graduation 2013

Yesterday was Daniel's graduation from his preschool, Little Builders. It was absolutely the cutest ceremony, and Daniel was very proud to be graduating. Daniel had a few of his words read during the ceremony. In my opinion, they are so Daniel.

 

"I like scratch and smell stickers. It's fun to build with spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. I remember going to the castle park on a field trip. My favorite toy to play with is the marble maze. I was a scientist and liked doing a capsule growth experiment. Another memory I will remember is playing the parachute game. I can kick the ball really high in the playground. It went so far it went into the parking lot! That's all!"

 

Peggy took some wonderful pictures during the event.

 

Two Weeks

John had his two week appointment today. I was looking forward to having him weighed because I suspected that he was getting much bigger. He's already up to 9 lbs. 3 oz.! He's making growing a full-time job. It feels like he spends most of his time eating, sleeping, and making messy diapers. I can't count the number of times I've put a fresh diaper on this one only to hear a nice gassy sound as he fills it before even getting off the changing table. Perhaps he's just slightly partial to the filth. He will fit right in with his brothers. I had to convince Daniel to take off the dirty shirt he put on for school today, "But I've only slept in it the last two nights..." And I gave in and let Christopher put on the clothes he wore from 4 pm until 7 pm yesterday. I have to admit that I really wanted Christopher to wear the shirt he had on at least a couple times before he grows out of it; hence, I was more lenient on the dirty/clean judgment. For those of you who are wondering, Matt was completely appalled with this decision.

Everyone who meets John asks who he looks like or if he's like his brothers. I have to say at this point that John is completely himself. You can tell that he's part of the family, but he doesn't have a strong resemblance with either brother. So far he is more laid back as a baby like Christopher, but big like Daniel was. When he is awake, he is alert and is starting to recognize the voices in the house. Gigi was working on teaching him how to get his thumb, and he remembers where it is. He still has trouble getting it, but maybe one of these days he will.

The older boys are just learning a lot about being big brothers. Daniel keeps asking for ear plugs when John cries. Christopher offered to burp John the other day. Daniel snuck my phone to take some pictures of John sleeping while I was saying prayers with Christopher. After a good year of Daddy being Christopher's favorite (major understatement) during mass, he actually wanted to be next to me yesterday but only because I was holding John. Daniel and Christopher are figuring out the purpose of the humps (Daniel's term) on Mommy's chest. You can only imagine the questions I get about that one.

Big yawn!

Checking out the fire truck at safety day.

This brave soul let my son control a water jet...

And his younger brother, too.

13 days old, happily sleeping.

John Francis Lee

John Francis Lee was born on May 27, 2013, at 6:34 am. He was 7 lbs, 15 oz, and 20.5 inches long. I went into labor just hours after my parents arrived from Texas. They didn't really believe me when I woke them up at midnight to say Matt and I were headed to the hospital. I didn't really believe it either. The boys are thrilled with their little brother, and other than me being somewhat terrified that they are going to smoosh their brother, we are adjusting well.

 

I just said goodbye to my Mom who is on her way to the Cottage. It was great to have she and Sadie here for a week and a half. The boys loved having a dog around, and Sadie was quite tolerant of the extra attention. Being walked by a 5-year-old can't be the most pleasant experience.

 

Brand new!

"John, want to see my flashlight?"

He has his father's toes.

One week old!

Three boys and very proud brothers.