Welcome Kasey!

Just wanted to welcome into the world Kasey Glynn, who was born on Wednesday to our friends Bob, Heather and big brother Keegan!! Congratulations and we hope to meet her soon!

Siblings Bonding

Since we have been home, Ben and Abbey have both been getting used to their new sister, although they have reacted a bit differently. Ben, being an old pro at bringing home a new baby, is excited to hold and spend time with Juliette. You can see how excited he is to be with her.

Here is Ben reading his favorite Cars book to Juliette as she listens intently in her swing...

And when she started to get antsy in the swing, he quickly changed his approach and bent over to sing her a song to calm her down.

Abbey has a bit more apprehension about this new family member. So far she keeps her distance, but likes to point to the new baby to show she is aware of her presence.

I have been trying to capture a good picture of all 3 of them, but so far have been unsuccessful. Neither Abbey nor Juliette seem sure of each other (as evidenced by their expressions below), but I am sure they will become best friends soon. Luckily, they have such a good big brother to watch over both of them!

Even Chien is getting used to the new baby. He clearly has the most experience with bringing home a new baby, but his interest is still peaked as he looks into the crib.

By the way, this crib is very special to our family. My grandfather built it when my Dad was born and all the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids in his family have used it. Ben was the first great-grandchild to use it and we have had it since for both Abbey and Juliette to carry on the tradition. Thanks Patch for making such a great crib that could be passed on for everyone to use!

Juliette comes home!

We left the hospital on Saturday and came home as a new family of 5! Here is Juliette in her coming home outfit ready to leave the hospital.

The stork was waiting to welcome us home!
Since the weather was nice, we went on our first walk. So far, Juliette seems to enjoy walks, which is good because Mommy plans on taking them everyday if the weather permits!
She's already growing and getting used to life at home!

Bella Baby Photographs

The hospital now has Bella Baby come in and take professional pictures of the baby.

You can see our prints at

www.bellababyphotography.com

the login is

0819juliettesheldon

They are super cute. As I was looking at them with Katrina I could feel my wallet getting lighter.

Lots of visitors

Juliette has had several visitors to the hospital - popular girl! Here is Aunt Domi meeting her...
Aunt Theresa...

Uncle Phil and Aunt Sandy (Aunt Sandy is her fairy godmother)...

Just a cute one of Juliette and Mommy...

And here is our new family!

New Siblings

Ben has been very excited for Juliette to come all summer. He knew when it was going to happen and couldn't wait to get to the hospital to meet her. He ran into the room with his arms outstretched ready to hold his new baby sister. You can tell how proud he is in his expression.
Abbey wasn't quite sure what to expect, but seemed to want to cuddle with her new sister...or ensure she could still cuddle with Daddy!


Here's Mommy with her girls...

And her oldest and youngest...

Juliette Kathleen

I hope everyone can join me in welcoming thet newest addition to our family. She was born at 8:18 am. She weighs 6"14' and is 19.5 inches long.

In a first for us the new baby has hair! and it is dark!

Pre-Baby Traditions

We have certain traditions that we have done the night before each of our babies has been born. It pretty much consists of going to Francesca's for some yummy Italian food. My mom has a theory that whatever you eat the night before the baby comes is a food that the baby is sure to like. Since we make a lot of Italian food in our house (it's easiest to make most of the time), we have always chosen Italian to eat the night before. So far it has worked for Ben and Abbey, so hopefully it will work this time too! Thanks Madgie, Patch, Aunt Sandy and Joey for joining us!

Then it's very important to take a last family picture before the family changes!

And here are Mommy and Daddy before switching to zone defense - wish us luck!!

Day out with Thomas

Some friends of ours (Bob, Heather and Keegan) invited us out to a Day Out With Thomas exhibit at the Illinois Railway Museum. Keegan is a 2 year old who is getting into Thomas and Ben loves Thomas, so it worked out perfectly. Ben had a blast! Here he is meeting Sir Topham Hat (which he was much more excited about until we actually got close to him).

Here we are riding in the car right behind Thomas!

And Ben being very shy right in front of Thomas - it's big stuff meeting an engine so famous!

And here is Ben in a lego replica of Thomas - very cool to combine Thomas and legos - 2 of Ben's favorite things!

Unfortunately, our camera kept malfunctioning (which sometimes happens due to the sand that got in it when we were at the beach over Easter) so we didn't get any pictures of the Glynn family or Ben and Keegan playing together. But we had a great time and want to thank the Glynn's for thinking of Ben and inviting us to come along. Hopefully Keegan can come over sometime soon and play trains with Ben!

Wedding

Summer is also a time for weddings and this past weekend was my cousin's wedding. Luckily it was in Chicago so we could attend (I can't travel anywhere else this close to baby being due). The kids were well behaved and had a fun time too! And we got an extra visit from Madgie and Patch!

Congratulations to the happy couple on their wedding and their beautiful baby Jonas!
Abbey watched the festivities with Patch...

Ben and Abbey had fun playing with the favors...
Abbey loves drinking water through a straw!

Since everyone was dressed up, it was a great time for a family picture!

And Ben and Abbey both enjoyed the extra time with Madgie and Patch - reading stories with Madgie is one of Ben's favorite things to do!

Bowling Field Trip!

What a week Ben has had! He went to Six Flags with his cousins and then got to go on a bowling field trip at school! This was the first field trip that I attended (he has had 2 other ones and Pablito went to one of them) and it was so much fun! The kids were all so excited and were very well behaved taking turns and cheering each other on. I helped Ben the first two times bowling, although being 9 months pregnant I probably wasn't much help! He decided he wanted to do it on his own after that! He got so excited just to throw the ball down the alley and then would run back to grab another ball. I had to keep reminding him to watch and see how many pins he knocked down! Luckily there was plenty of time before the ball made it to the pins to remind him! We had a great time and I was so proud of how well he did! I was worried he would get too frustrated if no pins fell, but he was having so much fun it really didn't matter. He wants to go again and this time he thinks Daddy should come too! Oh, and check out those snazzy bowling shoes - also exciting for him!

Six Flags!

Aunt Domi and Aunt Theresa took cousins Tim, Andrew, Cam (almost like a cousin), Hunter, and Caroline to Six Flags and invited Ben to come along! Ben was so excited and I am not even sure he knew what to expect, but just the sound of it had him excited the night before he went. Here he is waiting with Aunt Domi for one of the rides...he looks a little nervous, but she assures me he had fun!

Ben and Caroline get to ride together!

Ben really liked the Merry-go-round. He told me about it the next day and said the horse he went on was brown, purple, blue and black and very pretty! Looks like he was right!

Now Ben looks like he is having fun - no worries before this ride!

Uh oh, apparently Ben did not like the water rafting ride!


Ben had so much fun and it was a really great thing for him to get to do right before the baby comes. Thanks so much for taking him Aunt Domi and Aunt Theresa! Oh, and he is already saying he wants to go again!!

Summer Fun!

As the summer winds down, we have been trying to squeeze in some last minute summer fun, especially before the baby comes! So we set up a little pool in our backyard that Ben and Abbey really enjoyed!

We had Caroline over to play with the sprinkler and backyard toys...did you know a dump truck was really a water toy?

Taking a break from the excitement to drink some juice. Doesn't Abbey look like she fits right in with the big kids? Good thing since she is about to not be the baby anymore!

And Mommy took Abbey to the park one day where she really liked going down the slides...

And swinging on the swings. What a big girl playing at the park!

Paul is very proud of his garden - we have had so many delicious cucumbers this year and the tomatoes are just beginning to ripen...yum!!

And I know some of you worry about Chien, but don't worry, he gets lots of love from the kids!