meet henry

we are now a family of four (well, peyson would argue five). we welcomed our son, henry allen, to the nest on mon 12/12 at 3:24pm. he weighed 7lb 13.5oz and measured 19 3/4" long. he has a good bit of black hair and deep blue/grey eyes. he came to us via cesarean birth and it was a truly beautiful experience—thanks in large part to my fabulous ob and the wonderful team of hospital nurses and docs. 

our stay at the hospital was a bit extended because henry is jaundice so we've been working to eliminate the excess levels of bilirubin from his system. essentially, ever since monday night, henry has spent just about every moment of life (with the exception of nursing and some extra cuddling here and there) on and/or under UV phototherapy lights. we were discharged and came home yesterday afternoon but we brought a UV bed with us to continue the phototherapy treatments throughout the weekend until we recheck his blood on monday at the pediatrician's office. from what i understand jaundice occurs when red blood cells break down and an excess of this bilirubin remains because the baby's liver isn't quite mature enough to eliminate all of it. this is usually resolved in a matter of days with continual peeing, pooping, phototherapy, and close monitoring. but henry is what the doctors call a "setup baby" because his blood type is a+ whereas mine is o+. my o+ blood that remains in his system is more aggressive than his a+ blood and attacks his blood, causing more of the dying red blood cells, and thus elevated bilirubin levels. he is not, by any means, a critical case but despite the constant phototherapy treatment his levels remained steadily in the "at risk" categories. he has been eating well and eliminating appropriately, so combined with the UV lights, we are fully expecting good results at our monday appointment. i really hope we'll be able to ditch the phototherapy for good...it's tough not getting to cuddle him as much or as often as i'd like to. thank heavens for nursing!

alright, so here are some photos from our week in the hospital and our first day at home:

merry merry

this will be our first year to spend christmas at our home in colorado. we usually travel back home to missouri to be with our families for the holiday. between wanting to start creating christmas memories at home with marianne and the impending arrival of her baby brother, we won't be traveling this year. as torn and sad as i am not to continue the traditions we've had with our families together for the last ten years, i am so very excited to celebrate christmas at home with our two babies. marianne has been ECSTATIC about christmas. from the moment she saw a tree on display at the grocery (before thanksgiving), she's been asking for one. i negotiated with jerry to get a *real* tree this year—real in that we went to a local tree lot and loaded it up...not the "apply for a state permit to trudge out in the wilderness and chop one down" kind of real. but living, drinking, and dropping needles all over the place none-the-less. i haven't had a real tree since i was a kid and i am pumped to have it...and marianne is too! shy of hauling it in and setting it up, jerry's not a trim-the-tree kind of guy so marianne and i took the honors.

choosing our tree at the tree lot

bare naked

most of the ornaments were
hung low...i had to do a little
redistributing after bedtime

for the last 3 or 4 years i've been making some homemade ornaments to add to the tree. marianne helped me make and hang six yarn-ball ornaments. they were so simple and fun and i just love how they turned out.

start with a foam ball

choose your yarn, glue on an
end of the yarn

wrap, wrap, wrap yarn until well covered

ta-da! marianne is convinced that when grandma, grandpa, nana, papa, and aunt kimmie come to visit later this month...they are coming solely to see our tree. i mean, it is glorious but i don't think she quite gets it that her brother might be the main attraction!

of course we've been talking so much about her brother being born, that marianne has taken to reminding us that she is born too. when we were hanging ornaments, she was curious about this peanut ornament. i told her how we started calling her "peanut" in the hospital after she was born and that her aunt julie found and gave her this perfect ornament for her first christmas. every time she sees it on the tree she says "i'm born."

marianne's favorite ornament this year!

shy of having christmas stockings (which i am desperate to find or make some fun, non-traditional ones) the house is decorated for christmas, my christmas shopping is just nearly complete, and marianne can't wait for santa! but, honestly, she's been a little more excited about her brother's arrival and the birthday party (with "brown" cupcakes) that we're going to have at the hospital! every day she asks if we're going to the hospital. well, today is finally the day! she's at preschool for the day and in just a few short hours jerry and i will be checking in for the scheduled c-section. labor didn't come on it's own and since i had a cesarean with marianne, there's no option to induce labor so we're going in to do things the modern way. it honestly blows my mind that later this afternoon we'll be holding our son, nursing, and changing diapers. i've made myself (and jerry) so busy the last few weeks with nesting to-dos and house projects that i didn't make much time to prepare mentally and emotionally. but maybe there really isn't anyway to adequately prepare for it. even after 40 weeks of carrying this baby and feeling his vigorous kicking, rolling, and punching i still find it absolutely bizarre that there's a baby in there. but i can't wait to meet him and introduce him to his loving family and friends. well, here we go...i can't believe we're doing this!

one last parting gift...a video of marianne having her own little storytime in her blue reading chair (my apologies for the jarring cut):

the belly

here it is at 37 weeks in all its glory.

a breadmaker's hands

i've been anxious to share my love for making handmade bread with marianne and no hands are too small to punch, knead, and shape dough. she really got into the process and devoured the product.

boo. eek. spooky.

my favorite photo from fall 2011:

the pumpkin patch at our local farmer's market

PUMPKIN CARVING:

marianne wanted a scary jack-o-lantern but he turned out a smidge on the friendlier side. she loved pulling out the innards...which was her assigned task. i drew the face and daddy carved. scary or not, marianne was pleased with our handiwork.

pumpkin

elbow deep in pumpkin entrails

marianne took a stab at drawing the face

jack-o-lantern

HALLOWEEN PARTY AT PRESCHOOL:

marianne's school had a halloween party for the kids to dress up, eat yummy treats, make monster-hands, and have a costume parade!

  

TRICK-OR-TREATING:

weeks before halloween marianne had resolutely decided she was going to be a bumblebee. i was a little worried that she might change her mind last-minute but she was all about going as a bee. she LOVES trick-or-treating and refuses to let momma or daddy go up to the door with her. 


we were coaching her on saying 'thank you' after getting her candy. most of the time she wouldn't remember until after she had started walking away so she'd turn around to go back up to the door, wait until she got their attention, and then say 'thank you.' with all of the commotion of other trick-or-treaters, usually the homeowner wasn't paying attention or didn't hear her so most of the time she would end up with another piece of candy. score!!! at one door when she remembered on her own to thank them, she ran to the edge of the porch and yelled "mom and dad, i said 'thank you'!" it was a proud moment! 


i could have let her go all night it was so cute! i think i have more fun watching her trick-or-treat than watching her open presents at christmas...then again, this year will be our first year watching her open gifts at our own home on christmas morning, so maybe that will change.


for some reason i got pretty lousy photos this year and failed to get one of her on our porch with all of her pumpkins (ERRRRRR!!!!) but here are at least a few anyway:

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END:
i finally got around to taking down our halloween decorations tonight and marianne is already asking about putting up our christmas tree. so, i know what we'll be doing thanksgiving weekend! she'll probably ask a thousand and two times before then and, honestly, i won't want to push it off any later/closer to hank's arrival anyhow.