Friday, February 21, 2014

More Life with Matthew Pictures

I just downloaded pictures off of my phone so I thought I would share some more pictures of our life at home these days!  Although this picture is actually from the hospital, I just thought it was cute...
Abbey loves to play with  Matthew on his activity mat.

Tummy Time!
I think I mentioned what a crazy winter we have been having, but here is some evidence of the snow build up in our backyard!
Another cute one from the hospital of Daddy with his 4 amazing kiddos!
Can you see that the temperature gauge in the car says -14!
Cousin Cason sent us this awesome "Mustachifier"!
Juliette holding Matthew.
Ben's turn!
Sleepy guy!
Play time!
Juliette holding him again!
Someone is "Wild About Mom"!
Abbey and Matthew!

Can you tell someone likes to have their picture taken holding Matthew?





Monday, February 17, 2014

Life with Matthew

Well, we have been settling into life as a family of 6! Luckily, we have had a lot of help. Madgie was here when Matthew was born and then Patch flew up the next weekend. We also have a lot of younger helpers.  Abbey loves to hold her baby brother!
She checks on him as soon as she walks in the door and wants to know what he is doing, what he has been up to since she has been gone (at school), when he is going to eat next, etc.  It is very cute.
Patch getting some Matthew time.
And of course we had the stork visit our house to announce Matthew's birth!
Matthew getting some tummy time.
For as worried as Abbey seemed to be about having a baby added into the family, I would say she is the most interested in everything Matthew.  She is so caring of him and you can tell she is truly interested in everything he is doing.  She is always asking what her "little man" is up to!
That's not to say that the others are not interested.  Ben loves to hold Matthew and sing him songs.
And Juliette likes to hold him too, but she really likes to give him kisses and hold his hand too.  And her main way of showing how interested she is in him is to mimic everything we are doing with her baby dolls.  Here is a perfect example...she grabbed the boppy pillow, lifted up her shirt and proceeded to feed her baby!  Also, when we first came home from the hospital, Juliette and Abbey played new mommy and nurse.  They even used a chair to push around so the nurse could push the new mommy and her baby in a wheel chair out to their car to go home! 
And we haven't forgotten (totally) about Belle...
Sleepy guy!
Oh good, here is some awake time!
Our new family of 6!
Madgie and Patch
Matthew is super cute, but a little fussy and not the best sleeper during the night.  We were blessed with 3 really excellent sleepers right from the start, but Matthew is proving he has his own plans! 
Look at his skinny legs!
He sleeps incredibly well if someone is holding him, which is NOT happening in the middle of the night.  We are waiting for Matthew to figure this out!
Paul's work sent us this adorable gift basket!
And while Patch was here he and Ben put together the Utz crib.  This crib was built by hand by Grand Patch when Patch was an infant.  It has been used by all Utz children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, and Matthew was no exception!
Hooray for traditions!

Brotherly Love!
More Patch time
Our four beautiful children!
I love this picture!  As soon as Matthew started to fuss, this is what the kids immediately did!
No. 1 Big and Little Brothers!

Monday, February 03, 2014

Recovering in the Hospital

Well, since everything happened so early, Madgie and Patch weren't even up yet to help! Luckily, Madgie was able to change her flight and come in on Monday (as opposed to Tuesday) and then she jumped right into taking care of the kids and figuring out the routine. She was going to fly in Tuesday so she had a few days with me to get things down before baby came, but she did such an awesome job of just jumping right in and figuring things out! Thank you Madgie!!
All of Monday I was kept on the magnesium drip and it made me feel awful.  I was so drowsy that I couldn't keep my eyes open and I couldn't keep any food down (and by food, I mean the clear liquids and jello they were feeding me post surgery).  I felt pretty awful.  And I couldn't get out of bed, which is important in the recovery process.  But, after a long day, Paul went to pick up the kids from school and bring them to the hospital!  Juliette ran right over to see me - they were so excited!  Ben came over to see me too, but Abbey was hesitant and kept her distance, which is very much her personality. 
While Ben and Juliette visited with me for a minute, Paul took Abbey aside and had her help with a special task...going to get the baby who was in the nursery at that moment!  She helped Daddy push the baby back to our room and that helped her immensely to have that time by herself seeing the baby without all of the hype and fuss that happened when they first came in the door - good thinking Daddy!
Ben and Juliette couldn't wait to hold him!
Look at that excited face!  Baby Girl is reading to hold Baby Boy!
So happy!
Abbey quickly started saying she didn't want to hold him, but she did want to touch him.  They all wanted to touch him!
Again, Daddy to the rescue for Abbey.  He suggested that he hold Abbey and Abbey hold the baby, which worked really well.
Then Juliette wanted to do that too!
That got Abbey comfortable enough that she wanted to then hold the baby by herself.  Good job Abs - you are a great big sister!
First Family Photo - Family of 6!!!
My babies!
That night I was finally able to get off of the Magnesium Drip and felt better within 2 hours.  That meant the next day that I could get up out of bed and also felt up to having visitors.  Madgie came back for more cuddle time.
Jill came to visit!
So did Sandy!
Our cute little guy...
Luckily Aunt Domi was able to come back for a visit and actually get to hold him this time! 
Daddy and baby...
Mommy and baby...

Wow I look tired...I wonder why...
Before we knew it, 4 days were gone and it was time to go home!  By this time we had actually decided on a name for baby...welcome to our family Matthew Samuel!
The kids came straight to the hospital after school so we could all go home together.  They made sure Matthew was safe and sound in his car seat.
Time to go home.  Thanks to Ben for helping push the wheel chair and thanks to the girls for helping carry the flowers!
When we got home there was a surprise...the kids had made signs for us to welcome us home!
Beautiful!  It says "Welcome Baby Brother"!  They had decorated the house for us!
Flowers and cards...
A cookie basket sent to us by Uncle Chris and Aunt Ginny and a gift left for us by Aunt Domi - great things to come home to!
More signs made by the kids - these were made on Sunday when we first went to the hospital!
Better check on baby brother to see how he is doing!
Right away everyone wanted to hold him!
The kids gave him the build a bear they had made for him the night before he was born!
After a long day it was bed time, but not before saying goodnight to baby Matthew!