Out and About

Before Grady joined us, I was a little nervous about how I would do taking three little ones to the grocery store, the playground, parking lots and all that stuff. It's actually been working out really well, especially since both Skyla & Brody have been so helpful with the baby. My friend Jess took this picture of me walking up to her at the playground up the street from our house... Grady has been very portable and cooperative with all our outings. :-)

Grady's Baby Dedication

We celebrated Father's Day this year in a special way, by dedicating Grady at church. We're so thankful for family and friends who we know will walk with us in raising Grady to follow Jesus and to become the man of God we know God wants him to be.

Slippin' and Slidin'

We've been spending lots of time in our own backyard this month, and since we haven't made it out to the store to get a bigger backyard pool than the baby pool we have, we've been doing lots of slip n sliding! Daddy has even gotten in on the action to show the kids how it's done... Typical to their personalities, Brody goes all out, running and sliding, many times right off the end into the mud! And Skyla of course is more concerned about technique, carefully sliding on her knees or tummy and coming to a stop before the end. Grady & I have been hanging out on the sidelines cheering everyone on. :-)

Getting to Know Grady

We've spent lots of time the past few weeks getting to know this new little member of our family, and falling in love with him. He is our "chill baby" - just very laid-back and easy. Both Skyla & Brody are fascinated by him and just love to hang out with him, watching every little face movement and "helping" to change diapers and give baths. We've got lots of new family routines, with Kevin hanging a lot more with the older kids while I take care of Grady and squeeze in a little mommy time. The kids LOVE spending extra time with daddy... :-)

Three Kids, One Week

When we pictured our first few weeks as a family of five, we pictured some chaos, lots of adjustment and being overwhelmed. Instead, with the support of our families and friends, we've had a week of treasured family moments and getting to know little Grady.

We came home last Sunday to a houseful of family and spent a few days just getting settled and hanging out with everyone... then when everyone left by Tuesday night, Kevin was off the whole week so we've continued the "honeymoon" and things have been really special and really quiet. Jess & Jen from our small group put together a rotation of friends who are bringing us meals every night for a couple of weeks - yay! Yummy meals and getting to see good friends.

Skyla & Brody have been so sweet with their brother, and each night he goes in to say goodnight to them, and snuggles with each of them in their bed for a few minutes. And Kevin has been amazing - getting up early with the older kids, making breakfast, bringing me coffee. I love having him home! :-) Grady has been such a "chill" baby so far - sleeping great, grunting when he's ready to eat, and just super laid-back. We're in love...

Skyla takes possession of the Moses basket for her babies whenever Grady isn't in it.

Sammy reading some last books to the kids before she leaves.

This is how we spent our first few mornings on our own - kids playing in the yard, us relaxing on the deck with coffee and laptops and Baby Moses. :-) Pretty dreamy.

Daddy getting in some snuggle time.

Nothing too exciting, just a sweet sleepy baby.

Our friends Jen & Jody brought us dinner one night last week with their two boys, and Trey decided he wants to "buy this baby" to take home with him. :-)

Our three kids. Grady looks so tiny!

First bath - he loved having his head run under the faucet!

And week one is complete. Not sure if the honeymoon will last, but we are loving it so far!

The Rest of the Story

Wow, I can't believe we have already been home with Grady for more than a week. I've posted a few pictures below to cap off the story of Grady's birth... it was a longer day than we had expected, but of course ended perfectly with our little boy's arrival. :-)

Exhausted but so happy... snuggling with our boy.

Gramma & Grampa made it to the hospital as the first visitors, and Gramma got to meet her namesake (Pearson is her maiden name)

Our good friend Lucille has now delivered all three of our kids -
we LOVE having her share in our babies!

Skyla holding her baby brother for the first time. After some initial disappointment that she didn't get a sister this time around, she has settled right into her big sister/mommy role and is constantly helping take care of Grady.

The family of five.

I love these newborn pics.

We are so blessed to have amazing grandparents as part of our kids' lives.

(And I really miss Dad.)

Brody has been saying "I love our baby the bestest" for the past ten days.

Grammy (aka "Sammy") with three of her grandkids. Doesn't she look pretty happy?

Saturday morning photo shoot at the hospital after a good first night's sleep.

I LOVE how tiny he looks in his big carseat.

This time we couldn't wait to get home and be a family.

Inspecting Baby Grady - ten fingers, ten tiny toes, lots of love.