On Our Own

After my mom left I got to adjust to having two kids at home without 24 hour extra help.  Both Anders and Alden have been really good and neither of them are particularly difficult kids but it is hard trying to balance keeping Anders away from other people so he doesn't get sick and not having Alden go stir crazy in the house.  Luckily, Alden totally loves his baby brother and so that helps keeps Alden appeased when we have to stay home.  We also had some days of really nice weather when Alden could go out in the yard and play or ride his bike and that also helped keep him happy.

Anders has been a fairly good sleeper so far.  He goes about 3 hours between all his feedings and has a couple hours of awake time first thing in the morning and in the evening.  I am very grateful he has not tried to have awake time at night yet.  I also love the fact that Anders sleeps really well in his car seat because that means when the weather has been nice I have been able to take Alden out on walks at the park and Anders will just sleep in his car seat the whole time.  Anders is super sweet and I just love taking pictures of him (as you will see) and I love cuddling with him!

Anders having his awake time in the morning.

He just likes to lay there kick his legs, stretch his arms and look around at everything.

Anders really likes to be all swaddled up when he sleeps.

Anders having more awake time.  This is one of Alden's favorite times of day.  He loves seeing Anders awake and looking around.  This is a video of Alden giving Anders some kisses.

As I said...I just love to take pictures of my new baby! =)

Alden likes to try to give Anders toys.

Alden had so much fun just playing in the front yard.  This day he decided he wanted to pull weeds and then break sticks in half.

I just sat and watched with Anders in the carrier and occasionally directed Alden on which weeds to pull.  He was so excited to help me.

He had so much fun doing yard work and then breaking all the sticks he had collected.

These are things that Alden loves to play with inside.  He loves his pirate sword and Jake headband.   I think he is just so cute.

I love how cute Anders' face is when he yawns.

Anders stretching out one evening before bed.  Here is a video of his stretching and you can hear all the cute little noises that he makes.

So precious!

I love just cuddling with Anders and I take boatloads of pictures (partially so I have good ones to send to Drew).

Alden was so excited when we went to the park.  He would ride his bike on the trail while I pushed Anders in the stroller and Alden was so excited when he got to ride on the swing and have me push him because it was free one day.  (There is only 1 swing at the park close to us and it is often being used)

We are loving our time together!

Alden loves to be close to Anders as much as possible.  It is nice to see Alden so happy about his little brother.

Anders stretching out one morning after we all got up.

Alden loves watching Anders right now but he is going to be so excited when Anders is actually big enough to play with toys.

Alden got to pick out this toy for Anders and he loved giving it to him, even though Anders can't really do much with it yet.  Alden was just excited for Anders to have his own toy and to be able to show it to him.

First Few Days at Home!

It was amazing finally having Anders home!  It was so nice to just be able to hold him and cuddle when ever I wanted and Anders didn't have to get poked by the nurses all the time.  His heels looked really beat up by the time we left from the hospital because of all the times the nurses had to take blood, so it was nice that those could finally start to heal!  We did have to go to the doctor the first day home but they didn't have to take any blood.  They just had to weigh him and it ended up being great news because he had gained 2 oz!  That was great because it meant he was eating enough on his own.

I loved the fact that Alden could now see his brother and it was so nice that Alden seemed to love his brother right away.  Alden just wanted to be near his brother and help hold him sometimes.  It was really sweet!  It was also really nice having my mom around to help as we tried to get settled into a new routine at home.  It was nice just being able to relax around the house with the boys but Alden did want to go outside and play so it was nice having my mom there so one of us could occasionally take him outside and let him burn off some energy.   Here are a bunch of pictures from Anders' first few days at home.

I just love watching him look around at everything!

Mommy loving her cuddle time and finally having a little baby healthy enough to be home!  It was a very emotional first week and so when we finally made it home and I realized we were through the worst of it, I just wanted to hold Anders and not let him go!

Anders' looking a little grumpy.

Alden loves to interact with his brother so I had to teach him how to be really gentle.

I finally have my boys in the same place!

One of the times Alden got to play outside and ride his bike around.  It made him so happy!

Grandma holding Anders while Alden gives him kisses.

I love my new baby....I just can't say that enough!

His scrunched up sad face.

Me and my boys! I can't wait until Drew is back and I will have all three of my boys together!

Alden wanted to make sure that everybody got kisses.  So sweet!

Anders squirming around on the ground.  

I just love seeing Anders' eyes open and watching everything.

Cuddle time in the morning.

I just like taking lots of pictures of Anders.  I think he is just so cute.

I love how Alden is looking at the camera here.

 I just love how happy Alden looks here.  (And don't worry someone is still helping Alden hold Anders you just can't see them in the picture)

Grandma loving on her new grandson!

 I just love how peaceful he looks when he sleeps.

 We took Alden out during that first week home and let him pick out a new outfit for Anders.  He picked out the "husky dogs" as he says.  You can see the pants in these pictures.

I am just loving being home with my two sweet little boys!