Picture Updates

I stuck my post after Q's so that you could get the short version of what's been going on since we last posted and then see some pictures. Updates aren't half as fun without the pictures to go with them! So following are a couple (well, a TON) of all our latest adventures -- I know there's a lot, but it's been a while!

A VERY proud L showing off her new undies that she picked out. Yup, the girl is potty trained and doing amazingly well. I think both Q and I were pleasantly surprised at how easily it went. Way to go L!


Chilling at C's first pool party (notice the Sumo swim suit on L)

L snuggling in the gorgeous blanket Annie made for C (L took quite a liking to it so we'll see if C will be able to reclaim it).

Partying on 07/07/07 at 7:07



Trying out new rain jackets


C at 2 weeks


The Swaddler (better known around here as the straight-jacket). Normally his arms are plastered to his sides... and he loves it... and we love it.

More Pictures

My parents coming to Columbus to see us
(They snuck away from the tour, drove 2 hours, spent the afternoon, and drove 2 hours back to Kirtland to rejoin the Choir)

L putting Grandpa Pete to bed after a grueling day of play

Nana getting in some more quality time

CINCINNATI to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
(ok, really to see Nana and Grandpa Pete again)

The choir in all of their glory

Grandpa Pete and his first grandson.

MARY AND UNCLE SHANE'S VISIT

They were impressed with how we showed our guests around the town.

The view from our amazing seats (yup, we are ON the field, lounging on a leather couch)

The Crew Cat stopping by our sweet set-up to rehydrate.

The Boy and The Girl

Only one of the MANY amazing meals that the siblings created. It was a week of feasts!

Yikes!

A while ago we grilled some asparagus for dinner, and I wanted to try out a little recipe for balsamic syrup that we have. I thought I was following the recipe down to the letter, but instead of a nice syrup for drizzling over our asparagus, we got this:



I'm not sure that you can get the full effect of this stuff. It approximates the consistency of asphalt. The spoon is actually stuck to it, too. Nice and shiny, though, I must admit.

Balsamic tar, anyone?

Missing Nana

L said it best on the way home from the airport, "I don't want Nana to go. It makes me sad to have Nana leave. I want to cry because I'm sad Nana is going away. I miss Nana." We all do. Mom was a HUGE help and she made the transition to two kids a breeze. If only we could always have her as our personal nanny and maid. Thanks for everything Mom -- you're the best!

One Week Old

These last seven days have flown by. It is hard to believe he has already been around for a full week. And to think I was just suppose to be induced 2 days ago -- ha!

We've loved getting to know our new family member. C is super sweet and mellow. When his grandpa asked L what her baby brother likes to do we came to the conclusion that he enjoys eating, sleeping and looking around. He is pretty content and is letting us get plenty of sleep at night. He'll usually wake up once around 4am and this morning he even let us sleep in until 9am. Nice.

My mom has been making the transition a breeze. I'm a little bit nervous for life without Nana, but I'm living it up while I can. We are lucky to have had her for as long as we have (sorry Dad, you'll get her back soon enough).

This morning we all went for some fresh air at the Farmer's Market. C slept through his first public appearance, but one of these days he'll see the outside world.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and congratulations. It's great feeling so loved. We're doing amazing and loving life as parents of two.

Pool Time

I thought these were pretty funny of Lyds getting down in the pool. She was working it to "The Hokey Pokey." The water was sub-zero, but it didn't seem to dampen her spirits any. Don't miss her "CHEESE!" at the end of the video.

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Wide Eyed

We've had a couple of requests for some pictures with his eyes open so here they are.

And here is the first of MANY story times that he and L will have.

showing off

This post has two purposes:

1.) Brag a little more about our beautiful new baby boy.
2.) Test out a fancy little option I just found for embedding a slideshow using Picasa.



Thanks for humoring a proud albeit slightly geeky dad.

Guess who?

Our as-yet unnamed little bundle of joy arrived early this morning at 6:25 am. B went into labor some time after midnight, we got to the hospital at about 4:30 am, and then he was here within two short hours. Understandably, both Mom and baby are worn out, but otherwise they are both doing very well. I can’t tell you how happy we are to have him safely here, happy and content.

If babies were born accompanied by trading cards full of important stats, this guy’s card would have looked something like this:

name: ???
born: 26 May 2007
blood type: B+
length: 22.25 inches
head circumference: 14.75 inches
birth weight: 10lb 14oz*

For more pictures, click here to see the photos from family’s first few hours together in the hospital.

- Q

*That’s right, you read it correctly. Nearly 11 pounds. And no epidural.

on his way!!

They left for the hospital at 4:10am Ohio time.

Brooke's Day:

- walked for 45 minutes
- washed the car by hand
- did some yard work
- went to the doctor's office for some tests
- helped clean the house
- moved furniture around
- sorted laundry
- chased after a two year-old
- made dinner
- walked another 45 minutes

And still no baby. If that's not enough to put overdue woman into labor, it's hard to imagine what will.

June Baby?

So here's the update for today: induction scheduled for... MAY 31ST! That's 11 days after the due date folks. I guess Memorial Day Weekend is quite a busy one for the hospital (either that or they didn't want to have to pay too many people overtime for the holiday). So I'll go in for a Non Stress Test on Friday and Tuesday and an ultrasound as well on Tuesday. I don't think we'll wait until Thursday -- we'd better not even make it until Tuesday! I guess this is a whole new generation of kids -- maybe he's just comfy and not planning on moving out until he's 30.

Daily Update

We've had a request for daily updates to save people from having to call and ask, "IS HE HERE YET?!" Obviously the answer as of this evening is still NO. But Mom's here and life is good. No more worries about what to do with L if I went into labor in the middle of the night. Plus the babysitting, cooking, and cleaning help is going to take a huge load off of both Q and me.

Can you believe this quilt she made? I seriously thought she just decided to buy it at Pottery Barn Kids instead of make one this time. It turned out amazing. Good work Mom -- you're incredible.


She also came with two suitcases full of clothes from cousins, gifts, and fun finds from her attic. Here is the first surprise L recieved. Look for curly hair in the future. No more washboard mop for her!



Mom also captured this classic one of me... and cereal. I don't know how I would have survived any stage of pregnancy without it.


So the induction will be Tuesday due to the holiday weekend. We had better not last that long, but don't worry -- we'll keep you posted!

B

Still Waiting...

As Q pointed out, there is still no new Baby Beazer to report on. I can already tell that Junior is going to be a compliant, obedient child -- he's heeding my request to wait until Nana comes! She'll be here tomorrow late afternoon; any time after that is fair game. We're only a day overdue and L was 4 days late so we're not feeling too impatient yet. I thought this shot was just too cute of L already showing what a sweet Big Sister she's going to be. We'll keep you posted!

just in case you were wondering....

no, the baby hasn't been born yet.

big brother is watching...

Find your state on the map above, and if it's not dark-green, you probably aren't reading this blog enough. Or else your in-state friends aren't. The map indicates the number of visits to our blog over the last week, and I produced it in the new beta-version of Google Analytics.

For those of you with blogs or websites out there, I hope you know about Google Analytics. It's a web-based tracker that helps site managers monitor how many visitors they get, what links get viewed most , etc. Like pretty much everything else Google does, it's free and easy to use, and -- hooray -- it just got updated. It was good before, I suppose, but now we can get a much finer-grained picture of where readers are (relax: just city names) and how long people hang out on our site (not long at all, I'm ashamed to say). If you are super interested, you can get even fancier: are viewers in Washington connecting directly or through other sites? And that's just the start. I'm geeked about the whole darn thing.

So, looking at the map, we can guess who many of you are, but we're kinda stumped about a couple. Here's a list of cities that are home to our most puzzling mystery lurkers:

Philadelphia
Honolulu
Denver
Ithaca, NY
Watsonville, CA
Louisville, KY
Wallingford, CT
Glassboro, NJ
Naperville, IL
Sydney, Austrailia
Manchester, UK

So...if you live in one of these places, it would be fun to know the identity behind the unexpected locales. Drop us a line or post a comment; lurk in anonymity no longer!

- Q

Mother's Day - with our first video

Mother's Day was great this year. I have been needing a new diaper bag/purse and Q went all over town looking for the perfect one to surprise me. It was so sweet. Also, he didn't have his church meetings on Sunday morning so we got to go together and start the day off nicely.

We went over to the Buxtons for dinner. Ruth had signed up to feed the missionaries so it ended up being quite the crowd, but the boys took care of everything. Q, of course, did an amazing job with the food. It was a wonderful day full of pampering.

Here's our first attempt at including video to our blog. It's from our camera, not camcorder so it may be a big grainy and without sound, but it's a start. It's the girls showing us their dance moves at the Buxtons. You don't see much of L's face, but it was so funny how she suddenly decided that Laura needed some dressing up as well.

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My parents gave me an incredible Mother's Day present this year. They sent maids to clean our place from top to bottom. It was the most amazing feeling to be falling asleep to the sound of someone else vacuuming my house. It was Dad's idea, and it couldn't have been a more thoughtful gift. THANKS -- sure love ya!!!

Crew Game

When we bought our recliner I signed us up to win some Crew (soccer) tickets. The salesman saw me filling out the form and told me that he could probably work something out to get them for us. So we ended up with 4 tickets and VIP parking for the game Saturday. The Farleys had never been so they joined us. It was our second Crew game. The last one was with Dani when L was about 6 months old. She loved it then and was pretty excited about it this time as well. We were unprepared for how cold it got, but we had a great time. Soccer is cool.

Showered with Love

I had decided not to have a baby shower, but some of my sweet friends insisted on at least taking me to do lunch. So Q and L went shopping while I had a fabulous time gabbing it up with a few gal pals at one of my favorite restaurants -- Bravo!. I think we made the waiter a little uncomfortable with all of the baby/birth talk, but we sure had fun.

Going Bananas

L was feeling a little crazy and looking too cute so here are some fun shots. And just to clarify for any who have wondered: we use our initials on the blog as a safety precaution so don't let it throw you off. If you forget any of our names, feel free to email and we can set you straight.

"B"

Cinco de Mayo

We had a great Cinco de Mayo weekend with lots of celebrations and the purchase of a new recliner and pack 'n play. I even got a dozen roses from the checker at Trader Joe's because I was "someone who really needs it." Granted my allergies made it appear like I'd been bawling my eyes out for hours, but I really must have looked pretty bad.

L was totally into the candy that comes flying from pinatas, but not the bashing that preceded it. We couldn't convince her to give any of them a whack (she could just be traumatized by the first one she saw getting swung at -- Dora).

Lots have been requesting last trimester photos so I included one of the family before we headed off to one of the fiestas. Only a week and 1/2 before Q Junior arrives. I think we're ready for him so we'll see when he decides to make his appearance.



B

cooking tips to remember

Note to self: never try to make sweet potato fries in the oven for more than three people. It just takes way too long and you end up baking them in absurdly small batches if you want them semi-crispy. Every time you think it will somehow be different this time around, and it never works. Ever.

Bonus tip for others: ganache will work with half-and-half, but not if you expect to make truffles.

Dang.

Strawberry Season

This week strawberries were as cheap in the store as they would be if you picked them from one of the local farms. So I purchased about 6lbs and we went to work making freezer jam. L was my strawberry washer and stirer (a very important step in the process). We now have tons of jam and only 2 shirts in the washer with bright red stains.

Sisterly Love

My sister Danielle decided that the way she most wanted to spend her vacation time was not on a cruise, but in Ohio -- cleaning tubs, vacuuming, and moving boxes for her 9 month pregnant sibling. What a gal! She was such a big help while Q was in Chicago presenting at his first conference. There is just so much around the house that you can't do when bending and lifting become difficult. Luckily we had some nice days and got to do some fun things like eating out and going to COSI. L loved having her Aunt Dani here so much that she completely boycotted naps so that she wouldn't miss a moment with her. Thanks for everything Fanny!

Easter

Even though it was freezing and snowed during most of the weekend, we had a great Easter holiday with egg hunts and friends from out of town. L discovered that she LOVES Easter Egg hunts. At first she thought it was pretty fun to go and find all of the hidden eggs, but then she realized there was CHOCOLATE inside. She'll never be the same.

The Bennetts (friends from our Logan ward) were visiting from North Carolina. We were able to go to Bravo's! to celebrate Tara and Q's birthdays (even though the waitress thought I was trying to pull a fast one for some free ice cream, "I won't tell anyone -- Happy Birthday you guys! Wink, wink) for our first official "Date Night BBSitting Swap." It will be great to have a couple of weekends a month where Q and I get to go on a date. On Sunday we had Easter dinner with the Buxtons and Bennetts. Mike and Tara provided the girls with another egg hunt... L was definitely getting the hang of things.

Last week when the weather was nice, L and I hung a bunch of eggs from a tree in the backyard. L thought it was great until half of the tree broke off in my hands. My superhuman strength proved to just be a really dead tree. She digs the hanging eggs though and we'll probably have to keep them up until Halloween.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

B

Tie Dyed Eggs

So I'm not known for my craftiness, but I was pretty excited about this Easter Craft. I saw it while looking for a recipe on Martha. Follow the link for instructions. It was easy and fun. These were just our trial run, but I think we're going to make it an Easter tradition. Anyone have recipe suggestions for hard boiled eggs?

Painting Results

L was so excited about her new green room and big girl bed.

How we found her the 2nd night in her big girl bed -- she'd put herself to sleep!

The bright decorations from his b-day detract from the true color. We'll have to do another one later -- but you get the idea. Yellow. It's great.

Bye Bye Baby

Our little baby is growing up and becoming a big girl. Tonight is her first night in a toddler bed. We painted the office a gender-neutral green and moved her into her new room since it is larger than the one she's been in. She'll have it all to herself for a while, but once Junior is a little older the hope is to have the sibling share the space.

Since we were already in painting mode we decided to give the dining room a face lift as well. Yellow seemed an upbeat color and complimentary to our avocado living room. Wow -- let's just say that it will be hard to get depressed while sitting in the dining room.

We took some photos and footage and we'll see if we can upload them soon.

B

just wanted you wanted...more math!

After my last post, my sister sent me one of those never-ending forwards. Usually those types of things just make me despair at the apparently low average IQ of working adults with access to a computer, but -- whatever this implies about me, it's probably true -- I loved this one since it was a bunch of math jokes. In particular, this student's exam answer vividly captures the way I was feeling last week on my econ final:



To see the others, click here.

language breakthrough?

They say that when you're learning a new language, you know it's really starting to stick when you begin to dream in that language (or, at least that's what all the eager new missionaries said in the MTC). I must have turned the corner somewhere in studying four full days for my macroeconomics final -- for two nights now, I've dreamed in math.

Who wouldn't want that floating through their head all night? Thank goodness this quarter is now officially over.