Mimi is 50-something! Happy birthday! What a cute afternoon celebrating at MorMor's :)
My plaid short boys-
Tate LOVED this toy. He played with it forever, and even started to get the hang of the easy ones a little bit! I'm sure a coincidence- but he definitely knew that banging a button would eventually make something awesome happen. Poor kid needs more baby toys...
Ada spent much of her time building a nest on that turquoise bowl back there in the tree. She said its for "any animal that is homeless and would like to be adopted"- I love her precious heart!
It's a boy! And he's here! Tate Anders Dowell was born at 2:23 on March 4, 2013. Weighing in at 9lbs 1oz and 21 in long- he's absolutely perfect! We are madly in love.
Here's the long overdue post about his arrival. :)
I went into labor Sunday night- the contractions I'd been having on and off for WEEKS (yes weeks, I'd been swearing I was going into labor and then Tate would move, causing my labor to stall)- finally turned into the real deal. The contractions were officially painful (no longer just "strong pressure")- but not consistent enough to go into the hospital just yet. I managed to get some sleep and woke up about 4:30 the next morning. They were getting more consistent- and went from 15 min apart to 10 min apart to 7 min apart within about 45 min (do the math- that is a FAST progression!) Steve got here just in time for them to be 3 minutes apart and us to make the 30 minute drive to Katy.
I stayed surprisingly calm throughout it all- no crying, screaming, or puking (unlike Dax's labor!). I got my epidural about 8 cm (because I was so scared to push out what could be a 10 lb baby with no drugs!)- Tate was in fact in a weird position at 8 cm, they had me get into a weirder position to correct it, and he popped out literally 6 minutes later!
Not to brag or anything (ok, I'm bragging), but the nurses said they wish they'd had a video camera to film everything and post to YouTube as the most graceful labor and delivery ever.
Thank you, thank you very much! ;)
This is me about to have a contraction right as Casey snapped the picture-
Let's try again-
IT'S A BOY!
Most beautiful head and face ever.
9lb 1.3oz
So alert
He grabbed Casey's finger and inspected it at 3 minutes old...
Back in mommy's arms- where he's stayed for the last 13 days!
Grams and Papa!
Some daddy snuggle time
He didn't sleep much that first night- he was so into learning all about this new place!
MiMi brought Ada and Dax the next day- Dax is topless in these pictures because he immediately barged in, picked up my cup of (cooled) coffee, and dumped it all over himself. Woops!
"Now YOU kiss Tate, Dax!"
Mommy's tired and Ada's unsure-
MiMi!
MorMor!
In his "Just Born" monthly onesie sticker!
Favorite activity at 43 hours old: yawning.
Getting ready to go home!!!
Loading up in the car-
What is this thing!?
Love him!
MiMi kept the kids for an extra 2 days after we left the hospital- and it was so wonderful to extend the new baby bubble for a little while longer.
I missed my older crazies so much though, and was so happy to see them!
This is right when they got home-
And a few videos of my sweet boy and family the first couple days of his life:
Hanging at the hospital in the middle of the night-
Sitting in the chair at Claire's waiting for the big moment- I'd told her it would hurt/sting/pinch, but she wasn't quite prepared. We were VERY close to walking out of the store with only one piercing that night!
This is after the fact, we were piddling around the store trying on goodies (hence the silly glasses)- she was trying so hard to be brave and smile pretty for the picture! I ADORE this photo. I adore her!
2. Dax is sleeping in his big boy bed!!!
I need to post a picture, but Grams and PaPa got Dax bunk beds- they are so awesome!! So last Sunday Dax made the big transition from crib to bed.
It was a rocky start (lots of getting up, playing, acting silly)- I even found him in Ada's room at 3am one night playing. When I went to pick him up, he just looked at me and said "hhhiiiii!!!!!" like it was mid-day!
But after just a few days of relentlessly putting him back in bed every time he got out (with zero attention- except to repeat "STAY IN BED, DAX"), he is doing AWESOME! He just hops in bed, expects a little snuggle, and lays his head down. I love this picture-
And remember the roller coaster in Dax's room from MiMi & Steve? (Video is linked below) Imagine it is pitch black, and totally silent. I go to check on him (the monitor was on the fritz- but I've since fixed it so I can see his every move), and realize he's not in bed. At that moment, I hear him dismount his car on the roller coaster and begin his descent down the tracks. All I could hear is the rumble of the roller coaster and his giggles of pure joy! I could NOT help but crack up- I managed to keep it together until I sternly put him back in bed, though!
(I, may I brag, also baked the most ridiculously delicious homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Here is the super easy recipe.)
And he ate them! And dropped off lots of presents. :)
This is a video of the kids finding out that Santa did actually come- Ada woke up in the morning, checked the gameroom, saw there were no gifts, and went back to bed. Break a mama's heart!!! So she was quite relieved to find she had in fact been good enough all year for gifts!!!
Scooting in her new scooter :)
Dax pushing his lawn mower around-
And as generous as Santa was at our house- he just can't compete with MiMi & Steve and Grams & PaPa! Here are some cute pictures and videos of the kids with their gifts from family-
Dax riding his roller coaster- he also enjoys riding this in the pitch black, now that he's in his "big boy bed" and has the freedom to escape!
(More on that later- he's actually doing AWESOME! Finally...)
And the kids with their new red Camaro! :)
Videos of them driving are hilarious, why not post several??
Ada driving- nice and responsible.
Dax driving- wild and reckless.
Listen to them "wooooooooooo"-ing the entire time!
Jammin' while cruising down the street-
And here my little hooligans, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! Or "Meh meh" as Dax could get out- (Ada 4, Dax 21 mos)
My Uncle Rick has an awesome lake house on Lake Livingston, and we haven't been in forever!!!
So we packed up the kids and went for the day on the 4th.
I'm not sure if those kiddos have ever had more fun!!
We rode the jet skis-
Dax yelled "VROOM BUM BUM BUM" the entire ride! He loved it.
We (Daddy, Ada, and Steve) fished-
No lie, Ada caught FIVE catfish!!!
We jumped off of the rope swing into the lake!
We rode the boat! I thought Dax would LOVE the boat
(he's obsessed with all modes of transportation),
but he was a little apprehension when the loud motor came on.
And then the wind in his eyes kind of sent him overboard (no pun intended!)...
Dax, calming down long enough to take the wheel with Uncle Rick
driving back to the dock to drop him off! :)
Ada, on the other hand, LOVED the boat ride.
MorMor hung out with Dax while we all continued on boating.
Ada somehow passed out cold while out!
We swam lots.
And here is *almost* the entire fam! We are missing James, Andi, & Colleen, and Audrey. Wait, where's Eric?! He was there, but missed the picture apparently...
There's Steve!!
And here is the original photo circa 2003 displayed at the lake house that we were re-creating. :) Everyone's positions are the same!
Tate LOVED this toy. He played with it forever, and even started to get the hang of the easy ones a little bit! I'm sure a coincidence- but he definitely knew that banging a button would eventually make something awesome happen. Poor kid needs more baby toys...
Ada spent much of her time building a nest on that turquoise bowl back there in the tree. She said its for "any animal that is homeless and would like to be adopted"- I love her precious heart!
