Photo Collage

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Some Favorite 1 Week Shots..

Erik is incredibly proud to hold his brother

but he's just so amazed how tiny he is!!

Big Kids

I took some photos of the big kids with Evan when he was a mere 1 week old. I was looking through them today and he is just so SMALL! I am going to do another shoot with all the kids again soon. It can be a bit tricky with Kaitlyn, but we'll get her in there one way or another!! I just love this picture. He is just so NEW. You can still see all his flaky baby skin. I'll post some more favs soon.

Valentines Day and Happenings...

Things are busy to say the least but VERY VERY good!! Valentines was really fun, Toomas got the kids some small gifts, and we got 2 packages in the mail so the littles were thoroughly spoiled :). I received a special gift from Toomas too.. A very beautiful potted, flowering plant on the anniversary of Evan's 1 month birthday (to commemorate his birth). Every child has been given some sort of a plant for their birth and it is a beautiful reminder each time I water it, of their newborn days. So now I have a special plant for Evan too! I love it! The kids had fun opening their packages too.... One package was from Grandma and one was from Grandpa, Jan and Tommy. THANKS everybody and a HAPPY Valentines Day to you too!! The kids really had a special day. PLUS it snowed on Valentines day so they all got to go out (minus Evan) and make a snowman. Yesterday Krista had a gymnastics meet as well and I took Evan along. Everyone at the meet cooed and googled over him and I enjoyed showing him off. I'll do a little update soon on his 1 month old birthday as well. It was a LONG afternoon at the gym, but Evan was very well behaved! I even was able to film Krista and her partner in their first duo performance. Thankfully this is still the beginning of the season because the routine still needs some work, but they had fun and looked AMAZING in their new leotards. Their coach hand-made a good portion of their outfits. I'll post a photo of that soon too.

Baby in a Basket!

Just a few fun shots from last weekend's photoshoot. Gotta love when they are small enough to fit in a teeny basket!!!


















Click to see my BLUE eyes! They're getting bluer by the minute.














Evan giving me the "I'm not so sure about this basket idea" look!



















Awwwww...My sweetheart!

More weight/height stats for the littles..

Here is a brief update on our 2 littlest family members....As mentioned in the previous post, we had our apppointment on Monday with the pediatrician. Of course the big news was Evan's whopping TWO pound weight (1 kg) gain in 3 weeks...He was 4,450 grams and was 55 cm tall. Interestingly he is only NOW at 3.5 weeks reaching Erik's birth height! Erik was one tall little dude for sure!! Anyway, he checked out beautifully and we really didn't have much to discuss with the doctor. The next exam will be when Evan starts his shots in a month's time..

Little Kaitlyn also saw our beloved doctor as well. She weighed in at 13,1 kg or 28 pounds (exactly 50%ile) and was 92 cm or 36 1/4 inches tall. Developmentally she is right on target, doing everything a nearly 3 year old should. The only issues we had to discuss with him was about her eating (or lack of). She just doesn't eat the way I'd like her to! If she had a choice she would live on goat cheese, cucumber and milk. Hopefully she will decide to eat a bit more balanced in the coming months because I'm sick of her dairy obsession (goat cheese, camembert, yogurt, milk, blue cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese!!). For now the doctor reassured us her growth is PERFECT! He showed us his computer screen with her weight gain stats from birth. It was so wild to see. She has remained on the 50% percentile EXACTLY since BIRTH! There was one exam at 12 months when she dipped down into about the 40% but she has stayed RIGHT on track the whole way. The little red dots on the chart were EXACTLY on the line for all of these months! Pretty darn amazing to see that it has remained so precise the last 3 years.

HOLY weight GAIN BATMAN!!!! (Over 2 pounds!!!! Not ME thankfully)

Yesterday we had our pediatrician's appointment for both Kaitlyn and Evan....and well the results are really incredible.

EVAN GAINED OVER TWO pounds in 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I think my breastmilk is really breastcream!!! When he left the hospital he was 3.500 grams (he dropped the full 10% as can often happen). AND I'm happy to say that 3 weeks later...he is a WHOPPING 4.500 grams! The boy gained a KILO in 3 weeks! In US terms this is going from 7 pounds 11 oz to 9 pounds 15 oz!! I'm beyond thrilled for this because I have really been irritated by his latch issues. He is STILL making that loud clicking sound when he nurses. He doesn't appear to be breaking the seal and according to the lactation consultant he is positioned perfectly (this IS my 4th breastfed child so I'm pretty sure I know about positioning. And Erik nursed for 35 months!!). It is just hard for me because he makes SO much noise when he nurses and sometimes he struggles to swallow and coughs and gags so perhaps a forceful letdown is indeed causing this. The other kids never had issues keeping up with the flow so this is new to me.

I'll be back to update Kaitlyn's stats. Just wanted to get this newsflash out.

Daddy enjoying his new little boy!

Toomas is SO loving his little newborn these days too. He never turns down a chance to hold his new baby boy. I know he loves snuggling him as much as I do, but luckily I get more snuggle time for myself--a Mommy advantage!! Toomas is always smelling little Evan and the kids have even said..."Daddy loves smelling babies!" And why not? There is NOTHING better than that sweet newborn smell!

Here are the boys:

My Inspiration

I'm into taking pictures these days...and not just snapshots! I'm talking backdrops and proper lighting...the works! I'm having SO much fun with my new little subject. HE IS MY INSPIRATION!!!! I seriously missed the boat on career choices. I wish I had of known I'd love taking photos of newborns! It was only upon having 1 (or 4 of them) that I realized my true passion in this world. I will periodically be putting up my favorites...*but WARNING I have too many! I really detested and RESISTED photography going digital a few years ago, until I realized it meant ENDLESS shooting opportunities for me (and 3 terabyte hard drives!!)

Evan is doing great...He's such a nice little boy so far. I PRAY it stays this way. Having a newborn like Krista would NOT be possible for me, so I feel like I lucked out in that department. He rarely cries or fusses unless he wants to eat. Usually he is waking 2x at night. Going about 3.5 or 4.5 hours a stretch. Last night he had a 4 1/2 hour stretch and I was up WAITING for him! During the day he eats a lot more frequently but I am so happy about that. As long as he sleeps at night all is well!!! Monday we have an appointment (our first) with the pediatrician. I'll be sure to update with his stats.

Today Toomas went back to work! I'm offically SOLO! It went very smoothly this a.m. too so lets just hope it continues as such. I tell you, we are completely spoiled with the French social system here. I mean TWO full work weeks for the Dad...I think that is awesome!!! He took 5 vacation days of his own to boot, so it was wonderful. We were both really able to enjoy our time with our little newborn Evan.

From 3 kids to 4!

Evan in the same receiving blanket that I came home from the hospital in 35 years ago!!!

First of all HAPPY 3rd week birthday to Evan!!! He's only 3 weeks but it still seems SO strange to see pictures of the 3 kids together (pre-Evan days)...I can't imagine our family any other way now!!! It is as if he was destined to be a part of our family from the very beginning. It just seems so very natural to see the 4 of them now.. It is so neat!

I'm also so surprised and touched by how much everyone LOVES their little brother. I was SO worried that Kaitlyn wouldn't like him or would be jealous of him, but she just ADORES him! When he is nursing she asks to pet his "fuzzies"...ie his soft hair and she is ever so gentle with him. And everytime I walk by with him in my arms and show him to her, she proclaims "Awww,,I LOVE HIM!"... She must say that 20 times a day! WHENEVER she sees him she just yells that out! It is SO precious!

I will say though... that bedtimes have been troubling these days to say the least. The big kids going down only at 10 p.m.!!! Other than that, there has been little difficulty in adjusting to their new little brother. Me on the other hand, nursing VERY often and having very little free time, it has been a BIG transition, but I wouldn't change my life for the world. He is SUCH a good baby and I know that for a newborn he is as easy as it gets!

Appointment with the Lacation Consultant

Yesterday we had an appoitnment with the lactation consultant at the clinic where I delivered. She was the one that saw us for the 10 day old appointment the week before. I called her this week because Evan's latch seems to be incorrect...he is making an enormous amount of noise when he eats and this translates into a lot of burping and spitting up. I also wanted to make sure the latch is correct because this is such an imporant element in breastfeeding.

The first thing she did was to weigh him in. To my delight he had gained 12 oz in only ONE week! He went from 3800 grams to 4150 in only 7 days! This is 50 grams a day---TWICE more than what is expected to gain! This was comforting, but the fact still remains that he is latching improperly...or so I thought. The lactation consultant after seeing us nurse, believed it was more of a forceful letdown reflex issue, and that he is struggling to drink so quickly. She belives that with time he will grow and adjust better to the fast flow of milk. For now I just have to keep my burp cloths handy because he is a SPITTER and a burper! Today we had a big spit-up and more milk came out than I ever could of imagined him drinking at this young age. He's a little "gourmand" as the French would say!!

So I'm happy to report that little Evan is growing beautifully and although there are some issues, the essential element is working and he is growing nicely! In a matter of weeks the latching issues and milk flow issues will be all behind us!