Everett's Baptism

Finally it is here, Everett's baptism. I am very excited since I am guessing the outfit will fit him perfectly... another week and I bet it would be too small! We had lots of guests in town this weekend for the big event. Grandma and Grandpa Kirkwood, G'ma Connie, Aunt Deb and Uncle Chris, Abby/Aaron and the girls, Catherine all represented the Kirkwood family. Nanna and Pappa, Shannon and Steve, Joe and Megan, and G'ma Donna and G'pa Roger all represented my family. It was so nice to have everyone in town.

The weather was horrible so we were limited to mainly indoor activities all weekend. The kids hung out at the pool Saturday morning while a few of us went shopping to Hobby Lobby. It is my mom's FAVORITE store and every time they come to town we go there. It is the only store that I know we average 2 hours in every time we go. Sometimes it is a little much, but we get awesome stuff for the house. That afternoon I took a few family members on a tour of my work... it was fun to show my Dad, Grandma/Grandpa, and brother what I do. I think it helped put in perspective why I am on call 24/7 and why I say that I work with grown toddlers. ha ha!

That night we celebrated a number of birthdays. Aarons (BIL), Cindy's (MIL), my Dads, mine, Josh, and Catherine are all between Mid April to Mid May. We had pie, ice cream, cake, and a big big dinner. Everyone fit in our dining/living room at one table like they did for Josh's baptism weekend, but it is getting a little more snug with all the new little ones! The kids had a blast playing all weekend together.

Now the baptism. What an event! We arrived somewhat intact despite the pouring rain on the way into church that morning. I had focused so much on getting us there that I forgot to bring his matching coat and blanket. But somehow ended up with a ratty old dish towel in my hands. Everett was STARVING when we arrived so my mom fed him a bottle. During the homily we heard him let'r rip... I realized it was the very end of the homily meaning it was baptism time... I panicked and turned to my mom and asked, "Did it go through?". She just shrugged her shoulders as she looked. I turned back to the front and saw the pastor coming down the aisle, I asked my mom again, "Did it go through?". She then lifted him up and there was that lovely mustard poop all the way up his back!!! REALLY? Are you FRICKEN kidding me?

Jim already has the diaper changing pad out and a diaper/wipes ready to go... and all I could think of is, "you can't change a diaper in church... do you want to be struck by lightening?". So I grabbed Everett not sure what to do and said to Father Mike, "um, we have a problem" and then I proceeded to show him his back. Father Mike looked at me like, uh what? I said, "We had a blowout". Father Mike goes, "We have a delay of game everyone, cause Father Mike doesn't want to touch that!". So Jim rips Everett out of my hands and him, my mom, and SIL do the fastest diaper change I have ever seen. When I got Everett back in my arms I said, "Game on!". Everyone chuckled but for that 30 second delay I was forsure BEAT red. Father Mike commented that you could tell this was the second child because I wasn't freaking out! ha ha!

The baptism went on without any more hiccups. He was very smiley and Josh watched every move. He was so curious as to what was going on and where "Jesus" (aka Father Mike) was taking him when he brought Everett up front to show the congregation. It was very cute!

We headed back home and had a nice big brunch with everyone who could make it. Most of our family left around two that afternoon, but Abby/Aaron and the girls stayed until about 9pm and Uncle Chris and Aunt Deb stayed until 6pm. They were all leaving early the next morning for MI. It was a very nice weekend and despite the weather, it went VERY well with everyone in town. Thanks to all who got hotel rooms to help with the crazyness!

Aunt Shannon's Baby Shower

This weekend we went back to MN for my sisters baby shower with the Thuente side. We didn't get on the road until 6pm because I was tied up at work (so frustrating). But again the boys traveled extremely well and barely made a peep on the 4 hour drive. We got to MN and was able to put Josh from his carseat to the bed without waking him up... AWESOME! Saturday morning we got ready for the baby shower with my cousin Lisa and sister.

We had a good turnout for the shower, many of my cousins on my dads side and my sisters MIL. We played the Price is Right, the baby name game, and bingo when she opened gifts. Everett did well during it all, although he was a little overwhelmed with all the noise. Everyone wanted to hold him and we was quite happy to be held.

After the shower we had a birthday dinner at my parents for my brother Joe who turned 26. Jim and I joined him and his friends out in Stillwater that night to celebrate and had a very good time. I never really have hung out with my brother and his friends so it was a lot of fun. They are very good people, crazy, but good people. We partied till about 2pm when my brother Jack (18) came to pick us up. We got back to my parents and finally were in bed around 3pm... the bummer part of going out... the kids still get up at 6-7am!

We spent most of the day in MN just relaxing and spending more time with the family. Josh learned how to flip the puck up onto his stick and shoot it. I couldn't believe that he was able to learn the move and do it so quickly. He just gets so excited to play hockey with my brothers and dad. He got the section finals game of my brother Jack on a DVD... we watched it the whole way home and he was SO excited to hear them say Jack Walsh and see him score two goals... we had to keep replaying the goals over and over... So cute!

First week back to reality...

Well the first week is done and over with and I couldn't be happier. I worked some very long hours and realized that what I had feared is likely the truth... the hours on the job are going to be long. I worked till at least 5:30 every night this week... and that meant only about an hour to hang out with Everett before he would go to sleep at 7pm. Josh goes to bed at about 9pm so there is still some time to hang out with him after work.

Our getting ready routine went pretty smoothly, Jim helps get the boys ready in the morning and I drop off around 7:30am. Josh LOVES to help drop off Everett in his room. He helps carry in Everett's things and gives him a big hug and kiss, reminding him he will be upstairs. Everett did GREAT at school. He is sleeping really well, which surprised all of his teachers. They say he is a very easy baby, which I agree with. Jim picks up after work and gets dinner going every night. So things went as smooth as they could for our first go at it. Crazy to think that Everett is almost 12 weeks old.

My last week at home

Really, could it be so... I can't believe 12 weeks have come and gone and that I am going back to work next week. This time around, I am dreading every single part of it... I know that the hours are going to be long and unpredictable and that my bonding time with the boys is going to be very limited... So what better way to ignore what is going on in life than to make baby food! Ha ha! I decided to try it this time around and found it was ridiculously easy. I bought carrots, green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes. After cooking each vegetable according to the best way to preserve nutrients I pureed them in the food processor I bought for Jimbo this past Christmas. Then scooped them into ice cube trays to freeze. After they were frozen I popped 4 cubes into a vacuum freezer bag and sealed them up. It was a somewhat time consuming project, but it was very easy overall and I felt pretty good about myself. I hope that Everett likes it in a few months. I will probably try to make a little more in the months to come just to keep ahead of him, but I have a good start for now.

Update on Josh. He is growing up so fast and learning so much. I look forward to the conversations we have and am amazed at the things he remembers. He repeats so much of what Jim and I say to the point it is scary. Some of his favorite sayings are, "What's up guys", "What are you talking about?", and "Yeah mom, Yeah, that was cool". He is reading his stories now on his own and listening to him read them is hysterical because he gets the main points but will mimick the way Jim/I read them.

Everett is all full of smiles. He really has been such an easy baby. He sleeps great at night, going down around 7pm and waking up around 8 or 9 am with one or two feedings in the middle somewhere. It is FANTASTIC. Josh still gets up more than Everett! It is really fun to see the two boys interact as well, Everett just stares at Josh and smiles. I can't wait to see them play together... it won't be long I know!

I finally had the guts to really chop my hair... well above my chin anyway. It turned out pretty cute but wow was that weird to wash in the shower! Where did it all go!

Easter Sunday we went to church and then to Oshkosh to meet my friend Mandy and her family for brunch. It was delicious and the boys did fantastic. They had the run of the restaurant and the owners thought the kids were hilarious as they ran back and forth from the table to the buffet to get peeps. After brunch we went to their house for an Easter Egg hunt. Eric, Willa, and Josh ran like crazy to find the eggs in the backyard and they were everywhere. Josh definitely understands the Easter Bunny now...

The rest of the day... we relaxed! So don't want to go back to work tomorrow!