Happy Valentine's Day!

Hard to believe that I started this blog a year ago! So much has changes and we've done so much over the past year. It's really flown by...and Hannah has certainly grown leaps and bounds! Cousin Ezra came for a visit and we got the chance to get the 3 kids together for some Valentine inspired pictures. There were a few moments of chaos and it was close to imposible to get all kids picture ready at the same moment, but that's part of the fun of these pics too! For Valentine's Day, Ryan surprised me with a necklace from TJ&Co. It includes 2 silver charms with each of the kids' name stamped on them. I've included the link to the right. Worth a look!

Hannah & Jack

A couple of pics of brother and his big sis.

Don't eat me!

Hannah has really enjoyed getting to know her little brother. She is eager to help with anything we ask her to and is always ready to sing a song or give brother his 'binka-binka'. She is getting familiar with the idea that brother 'eats from mommy' and when holding Jack in this picture she exclaimed "Ah! Don't eat me Jack!"

Meet Jack!

Most of you know that Jack arrived 3 weeks early - on January 31st at 2:09am. He was 6lb, 10oz and 18.5in. His due date was 2/20 with scheduled c-section for 2/14.

A quick recap of events: My water broke the evening of Jan 30th, with Ryan on a ski trip in Lake Tahoe (which may or may not have been a result of me shoveling the driveway that week -- we got a ton of snow and I didn't want to be trapped at home!). Lisa was able to drop Hannah at my mom's and get me to the hospital by 6:30pm and Ryan got a quick last minute flight home, meeting us at the airport at 11:30pm. Unfortunatly, the wait for Ryan put a couple other deliveries ahead of us, and I 'got' to have labor and contractions. Not too fun, but at 2am, Jack was delivered via c-section. Jack and I spent 4 nights in the hospital with Ryan running back and forth between my mom's and home with Hannah. Ryan spent the last evening with me & Jack at the hospital.

Jack has been doing really well since coming home on Feb 3. Although he was dehydrated, jaundiced and lost nearly 10% body weight in the hospital, he has rebounded and at his 2 week check-up this week weighed in at 6lb, 14.5 oz and 20.25in! He is an insatiable eater and it's really starting to show.

Things around the McWade house are a little hectic as we try and realign our daily schedule and catch up on some sleep. Hannah has been responding really well to having a little baby in the house, though it did take her several days to learn to tune out the crying. If she's tired and cranky, the crying will still stress her out, but generally speaking her schedule has been impacted very little. And anyone who knows Hannah knows how much she needs her schedule!

Hannah is really trying to be a good helper to us and Jack. She is always interested in giving him his binky and shushing his crying. When holding him, she gets concerned at his rooting for food against her tummy and says "Don't eat me Jack!" She likes to sing her songs to him and he seems to respond to it really well.

Check back for more pictures, but cut us a little slack if we're less than current...it's a lot of work to get things done with a 2-year-old and a newborn!