I took Benjamin to take pictures in his baptism outfit. I thought this one would be a piece of cake because he's such a smiley baby...nope. We got a few cute ones anyway. I guess my babies just like to make me sweat! Here are a few of our favorites.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Catch Up Time
Just the title is kind of funny to me. I've been needing to update the blog, but I don't have time to catch up. Since there is no time, I'm just finally going to borrow it from time I should be spending folding some laundry. It'll get done in the end. (Or one could say that it's never done, but I'm taking the glass half full attitude!)
That's the state of things around here. It's been three and a half months since the last blog. So much has happened, but time has flown by. Every day comes and goes so quickly...I think that must be why my house looks like a tornado hit it. Our days are full of I don't even know what. I do know that our children are growing like crazy. The girls are getting to be so big and smart. Benjamin is finally looking more like a normal baby...he's about ten pounds and full of smiles. Responsibilities aside, our lives are very full. Andrew and I are totally content to have such sweet, healthy and really fun kids.
Well, rather than trying to write about all that's happened in the last three months , I'll let the pictures and captions do all the talking.
Hannah got to meet Benjamin in the NICU. She had to be over 3 years old and not running fever. She was very timid. I think the NICU was a weird place to be.
We got to home after three days. Benjamin passed his carseat test and we were off! It's hard to believe that anything can be that tiny. The straps were as tight as possible and they were still too loose! Benjamin's waving goodbye. He was definitely ready to be free of all those wires.
Ellie meets Benjamin. Her first impression was, "It's so cute!". Then she wanted to "hold her".
Andrew's favorite picture of Ellie with Benjamin.
What a difference two years can make! The one on top in Hannah and Benjamin and the one under that is Hannah with Ellie in the hospital when she was born.
Pat and Cathy stopped in with the girls over Thanksgiving. Here's a shot of all the Portele cousins.
Pat's big hands, Benjamin's little body!
Mom came and stayed with us the second week after Benjamin was born. As always she was a tremendous help. Don't know what we would have done without her!
Christmas was fun and exhausting. Sadly all of my pictures from the day were lost. Here's one from right after the tree was put up.
Just after Christmas, Chris and Jess came to visit for just a couple days. It was great to see them again and to spend time with Joshua, too. It's hard to believe a year has gone by since they left for Peru. Here are a few shots of the kids.
Boy Meets Girl. Benjamin's future wife was born just three weeks after him. She was due to come two weeks before him, but that wouldn't have been proper. So, here they are just a couple days after Emerson Rose was born. We're looking forward to a good relationship with Ben's in-laws (our great friends) Blake and Kristen!
Here Benjamin tries to put the moves on Emmy just a couple days before Valentine's Day. I've got to hand it to him...she's pretty cute!!
I was trying to take a picture of Benjamin when he squirmed to look up at the TV. In the second picture, he's watching the game with Daddy. Who doesn't like a little mindless entertainment?
We were blessed to have Benjamin baptized on February 15! We had lots of friends and family to celebrate with. It was a great day. Uncle Chris is Benjamin's godfather.
Smiles!
Benjamin, February '09 and Ellie, February '07
We were so excited for Benjamin to finally meet Granny. We had a really nice visit and he seemed happy to be with her!
Ellie in a nutshell. What a goof ball. She's having an awesome hair day!
The girls on "Western Day" at mother's day out. Don't let their smiles fool you. Their "Go-Texan Day" attitude went out the window promptly after we left the house. It turns out that they do not like to wear bandannas.
This is the most recent picture of Benjamin. After lots of hard work, he is on the verge of 10 pounds. Woo hoo!
Okay, back to it. The laundry is calling my name...no, wait that's Ellie.
That's the state of things around here. It's been three and a half months since the last blog. So much has happened, but time has flown by. Every day comes and goes so quickly...I think that must be why my house looks like a tornado hit it. Our days are full of I don't even know what. I do know that our children are growing like crazy. The girls are getting to be so big and smart. Benjamin is finally looking more like a normal baby...he's about ten pounds and full of smiles. Responsibilities aside, our lives are very full. Andrew and I are totally content to have such sweet, healthy and really fun kids.
Well, rather than trying to write about all that's happened in the last three months , I'll let the pictures and captions do all the talking.
Hannah got to meet Benjamin in the NICU. She had to be over 3 years old and not running fever. She was very timid. I think the NICU was a weird place to be.
We got to home after three days. Benjamin passed his carseat test and we were off! It's hard to believe that anything can be that tiny. The straps were as tight as possible and they were still too loose! Benjamin's waving goodbye. He was definitely ready to be free of all those wires.
Ellie meets Benjamin. Her first impression was, "It's so cute!". Then she wanted to "hold her".
Andrew's favorite picture of Ellie with Benjamin.
What a difference two years can make! The one on top in Hannah and Benjamin and the one under that is Hannah with Ellie in the hospital when she was born.
Pat and Cathy stopped in with the girls over Thanksgiving. Here's a shot of all the Portele cousins.
Pat's big hands, Benjamin's little body!
Mom came and stayed with us the second week after Benjamin was born. As always she was a tremendous help. Don't know what we would have done without her!
Christmas was fun and exhausting. Sadly all of my pictures from the day were lost. Here's one from right after the tree was put up.
Just after Christmas, Chris and Jess came to visit for just a couple days. It was great to see them again and to spend time with Joshua, too. It's hard to believe a year has gone by since they left for Peru. Here are a few shots of the kids.
Boy Meets Girl. Benjamin's future wife was born just three weeks after him. She was due to come two weeks before him, but that wouldn't have been proper. So, here they are just a couple days after Emerson Rose was born. We're looking forward to a good relationship with Ben's in-laws (our great friends) Blake and Kristen!
Here Benjamin tries to put the moves on Emmy just a couple days before Valentine's Day. I've got to hand it to him...she's pretty cute!!
I was trying to take a picture of Benjamin when he squirmed to look up at the TV. In the second picture, he's watching the game with Daddy. Who doesn't like a little mindless entertainment?
We were blessed to have Benjamin baptized on February 15! We had lots of friends and family to celebrate with. It was a great day. Uncle Chris is Benjamin's godfather.
Smiles!
Benjamin, February '09 and Ellie, February '07As soon as I caught this picture of Benjamin it reminded me of Ellie at this age. It's crazy how much they look alike in this picture!
We were so excited for Benjamin to finally meet Granny. We had a really nice visit and he seemed happy to be with her!
Ellie in a nutshell. What a goof ball. She's having an awesome hair day!
The girls on "Western Day" at mother's day out. Don't let their smiles fool you. Their "Go-Texan Day" attitude went out the window promptly after we left the house. It turns out that they do not like to wear bandannas.
This is the most recent picture of Benjamin. After lots of hard work, he is on the verge of 10 pounds. Woo hoo!Okay, back to it. The laundry is calling my name...no, wait that's Ellie.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Benjamin is here! Here's the story...
Well, that was fast! I got off of bed rest on the 12th of November. We quit the terbutaline pump on Monday, the 17th and by early Thursday morning Benjamin starting making his way into the world. I contracted all morning long while the girls were at MDO not knowing for sure if I was really in labor. My contractions were eratic...never really taking a pattern and they didn't hurt that much.
Andrew came home just before 2 o'clock to go pick the girls up from school and that's when the situation became more clear. My contractions picked up substantially and we decided it was time to get to the hospital. We met Grandma and Grandpa Graesser at MDO where they took the carseats and the girls home with them. We sped on to the hospital and made it just 90 minutes before Benjamin was born. It happened very quickly...so fast in fact, that there was no doctor present for the birth. My nurse caught Benjamin. My doctor didn't get there until about 10 minutes after he was born. Hard to blame her...she'd been told just an hour before that I was only 4 cm.
Anyway, it was fast and furious and a little scary. Benjamin came on November 20th at 4:17pm (36 weeks and 1 day). He was 5 lbs 0.3 ozs and 18 inches long. He looked perfect...was assigned an 8-9 Apgar, but then his breathing became labored. He was grunting a bit trying to get good breaths, so they rushed him off to the NICU where they got him started on some oxygen. His breathing came under control within a couple hours and they got him off the oxygen by about 7pm. We finally got to go be with him in the NICU around 7:45pm. The moment I saw him I was in love. He's so sweet...I just marvel and the blessings of God's creation.
We got to feed him at that point and visit for a while. We have continued to go back for each feed throughout the night and this morning. The nurses seem confident that he will go home with us on Saturday. We are looking forward to getting him to ourselves.
Thank you all for your prayers throughout this pregnancy. God has given us peace throughout this time and through our family and friends, has blessed us with His mighty provision. We could not have made it through this time so well without you all.
Thank you God for our precious baby boy! He is an amazing blessing to our lives, just as his sisters have been. Thank you for loving us so much.
Here's our sweet little boy...
Benjamin's blood pressure cuff. So tiny!
I finally got to meet Benjamin!
Benjamin and Daddy. My what a big head you have Daddy!
Andrew came home just before 2 o'clock to go pick the girls up from school and that's when the situation became more clear. My contractions picked up substantially and we decided it was time to get to the hospital. We met Grandma and Grandpa Graesser at MDO where they took the carseats and the girls home with them. We sped on to the hospital and made it just 90 minutes before Benjamin was born. It happened very quickly...so fast in fact, that there was no doctor present for the birth. My nurse caught Benjamin. My doctor didn't get there until about 10 minutes after he was born. Hard to blame her...she'd been told just an hour before that I was only 4 cm.
Anyway, it was fast and furious and a little scary. Benjamin came on November 20th at 4:17pm (36 weeks and 1 day). He was 5 lbs 0.3 ozs and 18 inches long. He looked perfect...was assigned an 8-9 Apgar, but then his breathing became labored. He was grunting a bit trying to get good breaths, so they rushed him off to the NICU where they got him started on some oxygen. His breathing came under control within a couple hours and they got him off the oxygen by about 7pm. We finally got to go be with him in the NICU around 7:45pm. The moment I saw him I was in love. He's so sweet...I just marvel and the blessings of God's creation.
We got to feed him at that point and visit for a while. We have continued to go back for each feed throughout the night and this morning. The nurses seem confident that he will go home with us on Saturday. We are looking forward to getting him to ourselves.
Thank you all for your prayers throughout this pregnancy. God has given us peace throughout this time and through our family and friends, has blessed us with His mighty provision. We could not have made it through this time so well without you all.
Thank you God for our precious baby boy! He is an amazing blessing to our lives, just as his sisters have been. Thank you for loving us so much.
Here's our sweet little boy...
Benjamin's blood pressure cuff. So tiny!
I finally got to meet Benjamin!
Benjamin and Daddy. My what a big head you have Daddy!
Baby Belly
I don't know why, but I feel weird taking pictures of my belly. There have been a few requests to see this growing mountain...so I caved. Here it is in all it's glory at 35 weeks.
Two Birthdays and a Halloween
October absolutely flew by...even on bed rest. The girls both had their birthdays. Hannah turned the big 04 on the 22nd and Ellie hit the 2 year mark on the 31st. They had a party with friends. It was very pink and all about the princesses they are. They had a lot of fun, especially Hannah who has been talking about her 4th birthday for the last six months! Here are a few pictures from the party.
Hannah Grace and Ellie enjoying the candy from the pinata. It was a very girly pinata...no hitting. They each pulled ribbons from the bottom and one lucky girl (Lauren) tugged on the one that opened the door at the bottom. Don't know that any of them would have been strong enough to actually whack that think open! Well, maybe Jacob! Either way - Candy for everyone!!
Hannah and Lauren pulling ribbons from the pinata.
The birthday cupcakes.
Sugar comma in 5...4...3...2...
Halloween was fun this year. Of course they got to celebrate twice dressing up for "circus day" at mother's day out and again on the 31st. For Hannah, this meant that she could be a princess and a ballerina for Halloween. What a deal!
Princess Hannah
Ellie the lady bug.
October 31, 2008
Even though Ellie was initially scared of the pumpkin (she would point at the huge orange thing and cry, "Hunkin, Mommy! Hunkin!"), she got over her fears in time to de-gut and carve! Again, there was girliness all over this holiday...we carved a flower in the pumpkin upon Hannah's request.
Hannah Grace and Ellie enjoying the candy from the pinata. It was a very girly pinata...no hitting. They each pulled ribbons from the bottom and one lucky girl (Lauren) tugged on the one that opened the door at the bottom. Don't know that any of them would have been strong enough to actually whack that think open! Well, maybe Jacob! Either way - Candy for everyone!!
Hannah and Lauren pulling ribbons from the pinata.
The birthday cupcakes.
Sugar comma in 5...4...3...2...
Halloween was fun this year. Of course they got to celebrate twice dressing up for "circus day" at mother's day out and again on the 31st. For Hannah, this meant that she could be a princess and a ballerina for Halloween. What a deal!
Princess Hannah
Ellie the lady bug.
October 31, 2008
Even though Ellie was initially scared of the pumpkin (she would point at the huge orange thing and cry, "Hunkin, Mommy! Hunkin!"), she got over her fears in time to de-gut and carve! Again, there was girliness all over this holiday...we carved a flower in the pumpkin upon Hannah's request.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The trouble with Benjamin...
Well, life is never boring. Just before Hurricane Ike made its way to Houston, my doctor put me on bed rest. It seems that my body is more ready to have Benjamin out than Benjamin is ready to be out! I had dilated 1cm at 26 weeks. Crazy. So, as many women have done before me, I am on my behind for a total of 9 weeks. We even got to make a trip to labor and delivery the following day. Benjamin and I got a couple doses of steroids and I was sent home the next evening with a Terbutaline pump (which delivers meds into my leg 24/7) to keep me from contracting so much and a home contraction monitor. What fun!
If we learn nothing else from this experience, we will come away knowing how loved and blessed we are. God has put people in our lives who are so willing to take care of us. We've had friends bring food, take our kids and provide moral support. My mom has come to stay with us and is keeping my house better than I ever did...not to mention feeding us with great food! Andrew's parents have been so helpful in taking the kids when Mom needed to go home for a few days. I don't know how we could have done this without all the support and prayers from friends and family.
So, one of the perks of all this craziness is that we got to see a Perinatologist this past week and were able to see little Ben in 3D. What a cool thing - especially this far along. We've decided he's definitely got some Portele in him. I hope that he gets some of Andrew's features (eyes, for one).
The doctor reassured us that this little guy should make it to at least 35 weeks if we keep doing what we're doing. It was a relief to hear that. So, our scanner isn't working, but here's a picture of the ultrasound photo. Hopefully you can make out his face.
If we learn nothing else from this experience, we will come away knowing how loved and blessed we are. God has put people in our lives who are so willing to take care of us. We've had friends bring food, take our kids and provide moral support. My mom has come to stay with us and is keeping my house better than I ever did...not to mention feeding us with great food! Andrew's parents have been so helpful in taking the kids when Mom needed to go home for a few days. I don't know how we could have done this without all the support and prayers from friends and family.
So, one of the perks of all this craziness is that we got to see a Perinatologist this past week and were able to see little Ben in 3D. What a cool thing - especially this far along. We've decided he's definitely got some Portele in him. I hope that he gets some of Andrew's features (eyes, for one).
The doctor reassured us that this little guy should make it to at least 35 weeks if we keep doing what we're doing. It was a relief to hear that. So, our scanner isn't working, but here's a picture of the ultrasound photo. Hopefully you can make out his face.
Trip to Sheboygan, WI and Chicago!
The trip to Sheboygan was a lot of fun. We got to spend time with almost all the Graesser's. Jason and Brandy couldn't make it and they were missed.
We got to meet baby Katelyn! She's a sweetheart. We were able to be there for her baptism. It had to be the smoothest baptism I've ever seen. Katelyn slept through everything! We also got to spend some time at Mel and Dave's house. They have made it into a wonderful home. Thanks for having us Mel and Dave!
Then we spent a couple days in Chicago before going home. It was fun going to the Navy Pier. The girls really enjoyed the rides. We got to do a little shopping on Michigan Avenue and spent some time at Millennium Park. We also took a little sunset cruise on the lake. Ellie screamed the whole time, but it was quite a view of the Chicago skyline. Too bad the camera died. Sadly, we have no pictures of that. We rode the bus a lot. The girls loved that it was so bumpy...wish I could say the same for myself!
So...here are the pictures.
Hannah holding Ellie for take-off out of Houston. The girls did great on the plane. Neither of them has acquired an "inside voice", but at least they weren't screaming!
All the Graesser cousins hanging out at Aunt Mel and Uncle Dave's house. Hannah loved being around all the babies! From left to right: Peter (Michael and Kim's son), Katelyn (Mel and Dave's daughter), Hannah and Ellie.
Katelyn's Baptism. Katelyn wore the same gown that Melissa wore when she was baptized.
Hannah and Ellie on the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier in Chicago.
Some of you haven't seen me recently...this is my belly pic at 24 weeks! Haha...we took this at Millennium park at the great big jelly bean (you can see it at http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/cloud_gate.html). We had fun taking some goofy pictures. By we I mean Andrew and me...the girls slept through the whole thing. At least we can still laugh at ourselves.
Hannah was our official tour guide at the Chicago Zoo. The zoo was free and a great last activity before we left for the airport.
We got to meet baby Katelyn! She's a sweetheart. We were able to be there for her baptism. It had to be the smoothest baptism I've ever seen. Katelyn slept through everything! We also got to spend some time at Mel and Dave's house. They have made it into a wonderful home. Thanks for having us Mel and Dave!
Then we spent a couple days in Chicago before going home. It was fun going to the Navy Pier. The girls really enjoyed the rides. We got to do a little shopping on Michigan Avenue and spent some time at Millennium Park. We also took a little sunset cruise on the lake. Ellie screamed the whole time, but it was quite a view of the Chicago skyline. Too bad the camera died. Sadly, we have no pictures of that. We rode the bus a lot. The girls loved that it was so bumpy...wish I could say the same for myself!
So...here are the pictures.
Hannah holding Ellie for take-off out of Houston. The girls did great on the plane. Neither of them has acquired an "inside voice", but at least they weren't screaming!
All the Graesser cousins hanging out at Aunt Mel and Uncle Dave's house. Hannah loved being around all the babies! From left to right: Peter (Michael and Kim's son), Katelyn (Mel and Dave's daughter), Hannah and Ellie.
Katelyn's Baptism. Katelyn wore the same gown that Melissa wore when she was baptized.
Hannah and Ellie on the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier in Chicago.
Some of you haven't seen me recently...this is my belly pic at 24 weeks! Haha...we took this at Millennium park at the great big jelly bean (you can see it at http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/cloud_gate.html). We had fun taking some goofy pictures. By we I mean Andrew and me...the girls slept through the whole thing. At least we can still laugh at ourselves.
Hannah was our official tour guide at the Chicago Zoo. The zoo was free and a great last activity before we left for the airport.
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