Introducing Tate Anders Dowell!

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-

Leaving the hospital!

Dax at the hospital-

Photo Dump

Just another random phone photo dump here!

MorMor made Ada and Dax special quilts- this is Ada's, which she actually made several years ago.  

She used all of Ada's old baby blankies for hers.  

She loves this thing- and rarely lets Casey and I borrow it!

This is Dax's that she just finished- it's made from all of his old t-shirts!  

He loves it, and calls it his "MorMor Blank"- it is so soft, warm, snuggly, and COLORFUL!  

I'm obsessed.

Ada took this one.  I just think it's so cute.  She was having a "Circus Parade" and took several photos of her animals on display :)

"Dress Crazy" day at church- she wanted to wear just the Rapunzel dress, but I tried to explain to her that "dressing crazy" meant it had to weird and funky, and tried to force the leopard sweater on her to spice things up.

In the car on the way to church, Ada stated "I am just wearing this sweater for now, Mom.  As soon as I get to church I'm going to take it off.  OK?"

At least she's honest!

I've been taking the lazy mom route the past few weeks at Ada's dance class and letting Dax bring the iPad.  He is just so much to keep up with, keep out of things, keep alive, etc- and it buys me a good 30 minutes of time to watch sister, too.

This is a picture of him watching a video on YouTube he somehow found.  Of a cat.  In the kitchen sink.  Getting a bath.  A 6 minute cat bath.  What happened to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"?!  Ha!

Trying to start new tutu trends at dance class.

Tutu shawl: Nailed it.

Ada is obsessed with African animals.  This is her picture of Africa- the first picture was the original, and then she added a pink hippo and giraffe that I thought was too cute not to get another picture of!  She did this all on her own- we don't do any "lessons" on stuff like this- she just soaks up any information she can on it!  The obsession began with Lion King. :)

She also did the next few drawings on her own, too.  She loves Africa and Anatomy. :)  She said she learned all of the human body stuff from Blues Clues.

Top left: human heart.

Bottom left: "eye in the dark"- ie: dilated pupil.  (Seriously!)

Right: lungs

Left: baby in my belly

Right: tongue with "bumps to taste food"- taste buds!

2 Months of Random Cuteness...

...aka Photo Dump!

 If you wanted a Thanksgiving post- this is about all I've got!  

Sonshine had a Thanksgiving lunch that Dax and I enjoyed with Ada bug. :)

Actual conversation-
Me: Dax, have you been eating your play-doh??
Dax: Ummmmm.... No?

Rooting for Johnny Football to win the Heisman!  :)

Doing one of our sporadic "lessons"!  She loves them, I don't get them together enough.
This lesson had her create and fill in a chart with different stickers.
Usually it's some random letter tracing or number recognition.  :)

 We went to see Peter Pan the play!  

Play date with our sweet, sweet friends Olivia, Rory, and Reese!  (And their mommies!)

 Playing a game at a birthday party- Dax sitting in Ada's lap melted my heart!  Lasted a whole 65 seconds!

Brain freezes and sugar highs at Frozen Yogurt!

This cracked me up- this just illustrates Dax's proficiency with technology at the ripe age of 21 months (accidental or intentional, it still amazes me).  He can effortlessly navigate the iPad- he knows which folder all of the fun apps are in, which apps he likes, and is learning how to actually operate a few of them.  
I pulled up my photo album and found this.  (This is a screen shot)  Dax had gotten my phone, unlocked it, pulled up the camera, switched the lens (so he could see himself on the screen), and proceeded to take hundreds of self portraits!!  Hilarious!

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Dax singing along with Phillip Phillips's "Home" in his carseat-

Ada showing her ballet positions, Dax stealing the spot light in the background-