Phoebe's visitor

Once Conrad discovered how to climb into Phoebe's crib you can often find him in there. I am a pretty deep sleeper so sometimes it takes me a little while to hear her crying in the morning. Conrad generally beats me in there and is trying to comfort his baby sister. When I come in he excitedly tells me that his tiny baby sister is awake or that baby sister is sad. It melts my heart every time and I feel so grateful that he loves her and wants to take care of her. He is one amazing big brother. -Katie

too much of a good thing

In our house vitamin time is happy time. Conrad calls them "snack" because they look just like fruit snacks, which he LOVES. Whenever I give them to him he gives me the most happy, drawn out "tank you mama".

I was spending a little time with Phoebe on the couch when Conrad came to me with his bottle of "snacks". He had already has his for the day so I told him no more and he went away to pout. A little later he came up to me so happy and said, "mamma look". He opened his mouth and it was packed with "snacks". Looks like they need to get off our counter (hopefully I can still remember to give them to him!) and a little more out of reach! -Katie

late night snack

It's a common sight to see Conrad holding Phoebe's hand when we get them out of the car, but tonight he was fast asleep and she was sucking on his hand. It made us smile and laugh. -Katie

dice game

One of Conrad's favorite things to do now is play the dice game - aka Yahtzee. It's cute to watch him play as he rolls the dice, arranges them, writes his score and then says, "mamma's turn". When you ask what he got, he will always say 26. I love watching his brain work! -Katie

flu shots

Yesterday I came home for lunch and told Katie that at work they were giving flu shots. We thought it would be a good idea that we all get flu shots so that we don't get Phoebe sick. The plan was to get everyone ready to go by the time my lunch was supposed to be over and get there in time for the shots, but it seemed like everything was working against us. First we both lost our cool with Conrad and yelled at him. I hate yelling at him because he is just a fun loving little guy. I apologized and we went out to the cars. Next, I forgot my keys. Then, we were half way down our street and had to turn around to get the forms I had filled out for the shots. So we were off again. This time we got to the end of our street when I heard Conrad say, "oh baby sister spill!" That means that she threw up. I looked back and her car seat was full of spit up! "We should have been there by now!" I was thinking. We turned around again and went to clean her up. I got her changed and cleaned out her seat. When I went outside Katie was crying and Conrad had this guilty look on his face, he had hit her in the head. Now we were off for the third time. Kate had to drive the suzuki. She was ahead of me and when we went into the APX parking lot she went the wrong way and we got separated, but we made it in there.

I got my shot, it wasn't bad. But then I looked over and the girl that was giving Conrad his shot was not holding his leg and he was of course moving around trying to get away, but she was holding the needle right there at his leg so every time he moved it poked him again! I ran over there and held his leg and she finished. I felt so bad for him. It had to have felt like running his leg thru a sewing machine! Lucky for us it was ice cream day at APX so we all got a treat. Now after all that Katie went home with the kids to take a nap and when she woke up she was having a reaction to the flu shot and felt sick as a dog and couldn't go to her own dinner and a movie party at her parent's house. Poor girl. What a crazy day!

rans

sunken sailboats

I've been searching websites trying to find activities to do with Conrad to keep us all entertained. It's been harder than I thought because most of the stuff I found he just isn't quite old enough yet, but I thought making these sailboats would be fun.

Ransom made the boats and Conrad drew on the sails. We were excited to go test them out. They placed them in the river and they immediately started to sink. Next time we need to find a calmer place or make heavier duty boats. Luckily Conrad wasn't too disappointed because there were plenty of rocks to throw in the river! -Katie

looks like she might be a thumb sucker

Phoebe at 2 weeks

Phoebe had her 2 week check up today. Conrad was very good at the appointment with the help of games on an Ipod touch. She is perfectly healthy and unfortunately already growing. -Katie

Weight: 7 lbs. 8 oz.

Height: 20.5"

Head: 14.25"

puppy

Before Phoebe was born we bought Conrad some new toys that he could play with while I nursed Phoebe so that he had something to look forward to whenever she was hungry. We should have skipped buying the toys and just given him the basket because 9 times out of 10 he dumps the toys out and puts the basket on his head and runs around on all fours saying he is a puppy. He sure is a character! -Katie

swaddling

Ransom LOVES soft blankets so he always wraps our kids up in them. I usually try to convince him that we should just use a receiving blanket, but Phoebe is only waking up twice a night so how can I argue with him? -Katie

Phoebe (5 days old)

early morning snuggle

Conrad has been sleeping through Phoebe crying in the middle of the night, but I guess last night we let her cry too long because Conrad came running into the room crying, "Momma, baby sister". Ransom went and laid down by Conrad while I fed Phoebe. It was quiet so I quietly yelled for Ransom. Suddenly I heard Conrad say, "Daddy, Momma". I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Ransom fell asleep and Conrad was wide awake. I was about to put Phoebe back in her crib when Conrad started to cry and say, "my turn". He was one happy boy! -Katie

Conrad and Phoebe (5 days old)

camera upgrade

Ransom let me order a new camera and I am in heaven! Ransom must like it to because he has used it way more than me so far. -Katie

Phoebe Rae

Thursday morning we woke up at 4am to drop Conrad off at my parents and went to the hospital to be induced. All along I had been telling my family that we can call them when something starts happening so that they didn't have to be at the hospital all day like they were when Conrad was born, but luckily my mom came anyways. Things seemed to be moving slowly, but I was just happy to have an epidural! My doctor (Dr. Judd) came a little after 9 to break my water. The nurse checked me again to see where I was at and somehow I had become fully dilated. They hurried and called my doctor back while Ransom and my mom frantically called family to let them know what was going on. I just sat there in complete shock. As my doctor walked back in the door my mom just kept saying that she wasn't ready for him yet.

Within a few minutes, 4 pushes, and with the help of forceps Phoebe Rae Bigelow was born at 9:47am on September 9. She weighed 7lbs 2 oz and was 19" long. She was tiny and absolutely perfect.

Conrad is definitely in love with his baby sister. He is very possessive of her and always thinks it is his turn to hold her. Luckily there was an iphone there to distract him with so other people could have a chance to hold her. Ransom's mom watched Conrad for us while we were in the hospital. She said he would wake up in the middle of the night asking for baby sister, if he got an owie baby sister was the only thing that would make it better, and when playing cars the smallest car was always tiny baby sister.

I feel so blessed to have her here healthy and safe. It's amazing how you can love someone so fast and how it seems like she has been with us forever. I am so grateful for all the love and support we have been given by our family and friends. -Katie

Ransom & Katie, Conrad & Phoebe

Conrad & Phoebe (1 hour old)

Conrad's fun day

Well Labor Day (my due date) has come and gone so tomorrow morning I am being induced. Today is Conrad's last day of being an only child. I am full of mixed emotions. I am so excited to meet this little girl, but I love all the one on one time I get with Conrad. I know once she is here everything will be fine, but thinking about it makes me nervous.

We aren't sure how he is going to adjust to not being the center of attention so we wanted to make his last day filled with things he loves. Last night we took him to see a "big movie". Today we made cookies, played, and took him to the park. I love this boy. -Katie

a moment of insanity

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but tonight I went and played racquetball with Ransom and Emily. I ran after the ball once and decided that waiting for the ball to come to me was a better idea for right now! We didn't play for long, but it was so much fun. -Katie

baby sister

Baby sister is officially late now. I went to the doctor today and and will be induced Thursday morning so hopefully she will be with us sometime Thursday! I'm pretty uncomfortable, but I am enjoying any extra one on one time I get with Conrad and trying to make the most of it.

It's going to be interesting to see Conrad realize that baby sister is a person and not a belly. If you ask him where baby sister is, she could be anyone's belly, but luckily he only kisses my belly! He's usually a sweetheart so I think he is going to be a great big brother! -Katie

for the love of a child

It's amazing what you will try to do as a parent to make your child happy. All it took was Conrad saying, "Daddy drive please" in his cute little voice. -Katie