Harry Potter

Here is a video of Jack being Harry Potter. He's got a stick in his hand as a wand. It gets kind of long... sorry I don't know how to edit yet.

Somber Face

I just had to post this adorable face.

Our Little Pooper

If you aren't a fan of gas... especially in the form of a liquid... I would recommend holding off on having a baby! The yellowish streak that stretches about a foot long would be my daughter's projectile poop. So much for letting her "air out" for a bit.

One Month Old Today!

Wow... how quickly a month goes by. Which means before we know it summer will be over too!
Amelia has been a very good baby. She has her moments, like most babies do, but it only seems to be when her dad is holding her! Poor guy.

She sleeps 5-6 hrs at a time at night. And is sleeping well during the day too. We've seen a few smiles here and there, but I'm still not certain it's because of me... or just gas. Luckily, Ellie has been very helpful and Jack seems to just disregard her.

On her two-week birthday, I came down ill. I actually had to go to the ER and ended up having my appendix taken out. It hadn't ruptured, but still pretty scary to have surgery when you are nursing a 2-wk old. I wasn't sure how all that was going to work out. But it did and thankfully I'm all healed and back in the swing of things.

Here are some recent pictures of her... filling out quite nicely!

More Pictures

Our friend, and long time sitter, Nicole with Ellie & Amelia

Sleeping... which she's been very good at.

Grandma Barb came for a visit on Sunday.

Proud Dad

The Little Sister

Ellie & Jack have both now met their little sister. Ellie came home on Thursday afternoon for a bit and immediately asked to hold Amelia. She held her much longer than I thought she would, and asked when she would wake up. Ellie still thinks that this little sister is going to start running around and playing Barbie's with her. She'll soon find out that Amelia isn't that much fun yet. She was very excited to get to see her and barely wanted to leave my side to go play with Lilah. I'm sure she'll be glued to me next week when she returns and wanting to be very helpful!

Jack, on the other hand, had a different reaction. We met Dennis & Jane in Boone for dinner, so we were at a restaurant when Jack saw her first. Amelia was asleep, and Jack just smiled at her and said, "Baby Sister." He stared at her for quite a bit, and then took his finger and poked her hand. When she stirred, he was quite amazed. I think he thought she was just a doll, since she wasn't moving. After dinner, again, he stared at her for a bit, and then poked her hand to make her move. It was hilarious! He just kept making sure she was alive and that she moved.

Since being home today, he hasn't really had much interest in her. He and Billy got up before us and they played quite a bit before we girls got out of bed. But he's just been busy all day playing and being his normal self.

I'm anxious (& a bit nervous) how next week will go when we jump back into our "normal" schedule. And starting in June we start a summer schedule with no school/daycare at all. Should be a busy summer!

Amelia Marie Faubus

Prayers were answered, and Miss Amelia Marie Faubus was born early Tuesday morning, May 22 at 1:23am. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 13 oz, and is 20.5 inches long. She has a bit of fuzzy blonde hair and a little round face.

I started having contractions after lunch on Monday. Even though we were very anxious, it was nice to have a day home to get some projects done and prepare for her. I cleaned the house, did the laundry, caught up in my office, hung some pictures on the wall, etc...maybe that's what put me into labor?!

Billy was excited to be able to start...and finish...a project in the backyard. I peeked outside periodically to tell him the progress, and then went back in the house. I think staying busy helped keep his mind off the coming attraction. And now the new grill "patio" is ready to be used.

We ate some dinner, knowing that it could be awhile before I was able to eat again, and after careful consideration as to where to watch the season finale of Heroes, we headed up to the hospital in Ames at about 7:00pm.

I used hypnobirthing again (did it with Jack) and it went well. I spent 95% of the labor listening to calming music in self-hypnosis. I think Billy felt a bit useless, but he did as I asked and just hung out waiting for the real action. I had a pretty intense contraction at 1:18 and it broke my water, the doctor came in and set up the bed, I pushed 2 times, and out she came at 1:23! So I can't complain of 5 minutes of uncomfort.

She has been a very good baby so far. Nursing is going well, minus the fact that sometimes she wants to sleep thru feedings. I'm sure that won't be the case in a few days. She doesn't fuss or cry much, and seems to enjoy just hanging out. Hopefully that continues when her brother and sister return and start taking up some of my time and attention.

Speaking of those two, they have been in Gowrie with Grandpa & Grandma Shepherd. Ellie will get to meet her sister tomorrow (Thursday) but Jack won't until probably Saturday. And Ellie will be off right away again with my sister to go camping for the weekend. We are blessed to have lots of family close to help out.

Keep the blog on your speed dial, as I'll try to post new pictures and any new adventures. New babies change so fast, and I'll want to keep it all documented! God has blessed me with another healthy child, and Billy the awesome experience of being a father. We are so thankful and honored to be given the privilege.

Still Waiting....

Well, it's May 21st...one day before the "official" due date, and no baby yet. Ellie & Jack are pretty much gone for the next week (setting up camp with Tony & other family members) and Billy is on vacation all week. So we are definitely feeling the need to have this baby.

Billy has started working on a project in the backyard to pass the time, and I going to tackle the painting of our bathroom. You can only walk so much! We are very anxious and each evening before going to bed wonder if this will be the night we get woke up to go up to the hospital. Be praying that it's soon... otherwise Billy will be back to work, and the kids will be back home... and our "downtime" will be done before she arrives instead of after! :)

Video

I've heard that most people were not able to upload the video. So I deleted the first link, and let's try another! Try to load above, but if it doesn't work, try going directly to youtube.com by clicking the linked title above, "Video." Sorry, I was trying to eliminate the extra step for you!

Planting Green Beans

This is my first attempt and putting a video on the blog! If it doesn't work, than here are a few stills that I captured too. I'm sure this will just make my dad's day (who is a proud gardener) ... my kids planting our first row of green beans in the garden.

For those of you unfamiliar with my childhood, green beans were always my nemesis in the summer. I didn't like the hot weather, the bending over, the bugs and other scary things in the garden, or anything that had to do with gardening those darn green beans. So slyly, I convinced everyone else in my family that I was incapable of picking them, and instead sat inside and waited for them to bring me a 5-gallon bucket full to break while in the air-conditioning watching tv. It was still awful, but not helping was not an option.

Now, here I am passing the curse along to my children. Luckily, it's only 1 row of beans (not 5-8) and I think we'll all be able to handle the work. Will canning beans be in my future when we get a bigger garden?? If so, again, I'll be passing the buck to Billy & my kids for the outdoorsy stuff. I'll be inside...where there aren't risk of daddy-long-legs.

Bed Head

Jack recently got his hair cut again. I took both of the kids up to the Salon Professional Academy in Ames (hair school) where Gretchen, our long time sitter, is going to school. She did a great job...even amongst wiggly heads! Jack's hair is very cute... combed. But for some reason, sleeping is not a good thing for it. He wakes up in the morning and at naps with quite the bed head. Yesterday, I think because he had some sunscreen residue in it, it was worth the price of admission to see it. I'll let you sneak a peek for free here on the blog!

The Countdown is on...

Publish
Well, just a few days left of the pregnancy! I'm "officially" due sometime between May 18 and the 22nd. But really, anytime could be baby time. We are all getting very anxious around here...including mama...who is getting pretty uncomfortable. I have my last PChef show on Saturday, and we have plans on Sunday for Mother's Day with family. But starting Monday the 14th, I'll be ready to go. Billy's birthday is on the 19th, and he's hoping he'll share a birthday with his first born. My sister's birthday is on the 20th. Plus numerous other close family and friends have birthdays between the 17th and 22nd. So I think we might be able to make someone happy!

Ellie is old enough to understand that a new sister is coming...and is very excited! Although, I think she thinks she'll be able to play Barbies and babies with this little one right away. That might be a big disappointment, when instead she'll be spending the summer fetching diapers and corralling her little brother for me. Here is a picture of Ellie hugging my belly... if that wasn't obvious.

I'm hoping the hospital has wireless Internet, because I'm taking my computer and planning to email/blog the new baby pics. We are excited to see what this Faubus baby is going to look like!

Pictures

Just a couple of cute pictures that I wanted to post of the kids. Bath time, which is INSANE! They are getting too big and ornery to bathe together anymore. And them working on a wrecker truck together.

Karaoke must start early

Like any really fun, cool person... my kids love to sing and dance. The Easter bunny brought Ellie a pop star get up and she and Jack like to get dressed up and sing with the radio. Here is a particular funny evening when they both had "microphones" and were singing it up in their jammies after bathtime. Jack is sporting some fairy wings. Hilarious!

I wish I had the picture of me when I was about 8 years old, singing on a table in my living room with a similar wig on. You'd probably see a very close resemblance of Ellie & I. I'm sure my mom remembers that picture.

An evening in the park

After dinner, when the weather is nice, we try to get outside with the kids for about an hour or so before bedtime. We did this last summer/fall, and are so happy to start the routine again. Sometimes we just take a walk, or play in the backyard. If we have enough time, we try to get to the park. This particular night last week, the kids got a special treat and we went over to Slater (5 miles away) and went to the big wood castle park at the elementary school. We all had a blast! Unfortunately, I'm not as mobile these days to run and crawl after the kids, but we still managed to get dirty and wear the kids out before bed.

Couple's Baby Shower

Some friends of ours recently had a Couple's Baby Shower for Billy & I. As a first time parent, I didn't want Billy to miss out on the festivities, even though I've had my share of showering. We asked guests to bring diapers, wipes, or frozen meals... as most of the other catagories are covered. Everyone was very generous. Thank you again to those that attended!

Here are a couple pictures: Billy was pumped that one couple brought wine w/ their meal for us. And then the other is the fabulous "diaper cake" that Sarah Burnett made. I hated taking it all apart! It was done so well.

Let's play ball!

Jack, all boy, thru & thru... has become quite the little ball player. He's had an amazing arm since he could throw. And then a few weeks ago when we got the T-ball set out, we found out he's quite the little hitter too.

At a garage sale this past weekend, I was able to purchase regular sized baseballs, softballs, and basketballs at a quarter a piece! What a steal! He's pretty attached to the basketballs. We have a shorter kid-sized hoop in the garage that he can get those big sized basketballs into and every time he proclaims triumphantly, "I did it, Mama! I did it, Billy!"

Warmer Weather!

The other day when I picked Ellie up from school, I told her that she didn't need to put her coat on, and that it was nice out. She asked if the weather was going to stay warm, and are we done with the cold? I said, "Yep! I'm pretty sure." She exclaimed, "YES! Now we can wear dresses!"

I've been telling her for a couple weeks now that it's just a bit too chilly to wear dresses, and she's been anxiously waiting to wear them and flip flops. How exciting!

Can you say....trim!?!

The west side of our yard got a much needed haircut a couple weeks ago! A row of VERY overgrown honeysuckle bushes were trimmed down to a more manageable height! We were tempted to trim them all the way back, but we do like the bit of privacy and border they create between backyards.

Here is a picture of Billy in the midst of it! We burned it all the other day in the garden and we are anxious to get the ashes tilled into the dirt this next week....I guess that can make really great garden soil. I'll believe it when my tomatoes and potatoes are bursting forth!

Some Easter Fun

We had a blessed Easter this past weekend! My sister and her family were able to come and stay a couple days with us. Ellie was thrilled to have her best friend, Lilah, here to share in all the festivities. Friday and Saturday we had a successful garage sale...and are happy to be able to get both cars in the garage now after eliminating some things.

On Saturday, we took the kids to a carnival and egg hunt here in town. We are very lucky to have a community that does things like that and makes it a great opportunity to meet new people. The kids had a blast! Nicki and I were tired. But we still managed to get the eggs dyed before supper.

Easter morning, after finding eggs and baskets that the Easter Bunny brought, we all went to church at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines with Lutheran Church of Hope. Lots of great things about spending Easter morning with over 12,000 other worshippers...but also kinda hectic too! We enjoyed the service, but we hope our little satellite of Hope, Northbranch, will have it's own service next year in Ankeny.

We hope your family had a blessed Easter weekend! Jesus has Risen! Alleluia!