Photos and Updates

Brothers
The whole family...I of course have to hold hands to keep the boys fingers/thumbs out of their mouths, Oh, wait, somehow little Henry's fingers got away from me.
Seriously, why do the boys always get those fabulous lashes?
Gerber baby anyone?

We had these pictures taken recently and I was super happy with them. I started my new job at the Public Defender's Office on Monday. So far, so good. I have a lot to learn about criminal law and procedure, but I am looking forward to the new challenges this job will provide. I am also looking forward to less travel and more court room time (like a lot more!).

Ryan started at the University of Wyoming on Wednesday. He will be serving as the Special Assistant to the President. He expects to do all kinds of different work for UW, from legal, to government relations, to policy and if he gets his way he'll poke around athletics when he can. Knowing Ryan, mostly I just expect he'll be watching football practice whenever he gets a break! And of course lobbying on his own behalf for a better parking space at games.

We had a successful and fun trip to Nebraska for Thanksgiving to visit my family, but, we were really tired and ready to get home last Sunday to start the craziness that has been this week. Besides both of us starting new jobs this week, both Henry and I have gotten sick and we have received some reports of Andrew getting in trouble at preschool for kissing. He will apparently kiss anyone he can get his lips on these days. We've had discussions about this at home, but it is a little against my grain to chatise kissing. I was raised Irish Catholic after all and if you've ever been around the Irish they all kiss all the time.

I hope that everyone is having a good week! TGIF!

Can you say STRESS!

So, the other reason I am again failing to blog is all the stress in our lives these recent weeks. Both Ryan and I are starting new jobs in a week. This week is Thanksgiving and the impending stress of the Holiday season is soon upon us. The stress reliever in our lives are our adorable boys. They are both doing really well and we have lots of fun with them each day!

Andrew really enjoys being a big brother and he is as excited as we are to hear Henry start to baby babble and cut his first teeth. We also are guessing that Henry is not too far off from crawling. He is getting up on his back legs, but he just hasn't put together the motions quite yet.

Andrew is doing well in swimming lessons twice per week and he is also enjoying learning several new songs for our church's Christmas pageant, where he will star as the cow!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope to post pictures from the Holiday soon.

Not Giving Up

So, I have been thinking about whether to even continue this blog, since clearly I can't ever find the time to keep up with it. But, I've decided to give it a renewed effort. Mostly, I am too impatient to load pictures on to it and deal with the computer glitches that seem to accompany all my attempted posts. Any suggestions on how to avoid said upload wait times and glitches are much appreciated!

In the meantime if you would like to see pictures of my kiddos, please add me as a friend to your facebook page. You can find great pictures of them there!

South Park Beth

Reflections of Motherhood

Now that I have a newborn again this kind of advice is coming up for me all over again. Truly being a mother is my most cherished role now in life. Prior to being a Mommy I was totally happy with being a lawyer or being Ryan's wife, but now I am so much more and first and foremost I think of myself as a mother. I think my advice to myself would be to trust my instincts. I think I was really worried about trusting myself with Andrew and I was that "google mom" constantly reading a book or checking the internet before making a decision with him. I can say that I am over that. I still like to check for what other people may be doing, getting new ideas for discipline etc. But, my decisions are really my own and what I do with the kids now is really just what I feel works best for them and our family. Henry spends the last couple hours of every morning next to me in bed. He sleeps longer and I get to sleep to 6 a.m. it is a win win situation and I really enjoy having him there with us. I could go on and on about things that I probably do with my kids that some moms won't agree with, but they are my boys and they are happy and healthy.

What would you have told yourself right before having your first baby?

Boys

Today Andrew started pre-school at St. Mary's, he was really excited and did great, he said that Ryan and I could leave. He is Mr. Independent.

Henry had his 4 mos. checkup today and he is really healthy! He weighs 19 lb. 7 oz. (completely off the chart) and is 26 in. long (90%)! I'll post pics from over the summer soon...

SAHM

So, I was so sure that staying home for 3 months with my new little guy would give me ample time to be blogging. However, as you can see from my total lack of blogs that I have not been successful at this. This is my official salute to stay at home moms everywhere. It is way harder than it looks. Of couse, skipping the computer to cuddle with my baby happens a lot too!

And a baby makes 4!

It's a boy! Henry Thomas Lance was born April 28, 2010 at 12:34 pm. I went in to labor early in the morning on Wednesay and my Doctor said we had to deliver early. He weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz. and was 21 inches long. He is perfect! We are home now. I'm having a much harder recovery from my c-section this time around, but hopefully I'll feel better in a few days.

Pictures to Share

Getting closer! Feeling huge!

Handsome Andrew on Easter Sunday.

Finding eggs at the church Easter egg hunt.

Chocolate bunny!

Andrew's haul from the Easter Bunny.

Coloring eggs with Granny in our pjs.

New "Braska" outfit.

I wanted to get some pictures posted this weekend because I'm not sure when I'll be blogging again. This Friday April 30 I have a scheduled c-section for the arrival of Baby Lance #2!! We are all excited to meet him/her and I am really ready to be done with the pregnancy:)

Just call us the Griswolds

Last night at dinner the following conversation transpired:

Ryan: Andrew, will you say grace?
Andrew: Grace.
Ryan: Pointing at his mouth looking at Andrew (channeling uncle Louis a la Christmas Vacation) we want you to say the blessing...
Andrew: The blessing.
Me: (laughing hysterically) Andrew will you please say the prayer?
Andrew: (laughing hysterically) the prayer.
Me: Really Andrew please say the prayer so we can eat...
Andrew: God is great, thank you our food. Amen!

WHEW!

Here I am about one week ago. Baby bump is quite apparent these days.

Andrew on his horse in full Wyoming gear and his cowboy boots!

Andrew saying hi to the baby, someday I'll remind him of these moments when he and his new sibling are fighting.

BABY

Ch..ch..ch...changes...

So, I realize I've been very absent from this blog, but I have some really great excuses! We moved into our new home just before Thanksgiving. We love it, but there is much left to be done. We won't get our yard until Spring and we are still waiting for the last of our window treatments to be made and shipped. We need a lot of new furniture also, but we aren't finding what we want and I'm willing to wait.

Andrew has had a lot of change. Besides moving into a new home, which was hard for him, the first night he kept asking if we could go home, he has also now been potty trained, moved daycares and started sleeping in his twin "big boy" bed. Through it all though he is resilient and doing great!

Of course I've had a lot of change with my body since I am now almost to my 3rd trimester. I am really showing these days and sleeping is becoming much more uncomfortable. Fortunately, though I am completely over the nausea and vomiting and I am really enjoying how often I feel this baby move (much more active than Andrew was).

Poor Ryan is just trying his best to keep the rest of us sane! He often has to walk our dog across the street for 3 am potty breaks (again no yard) and he now has to help tie my shoes and of course share the burden of taking Andrew to the potty all the time. All the while he is working long hours and gearing up for the legislative session. Of course a new job is likely also on the horizon for Ryan since this is the Gov.'s last term this year.

I'll try to post more pics as soon as I can get them downloaded!

Andrewisms II

The other night Ryan and I got a good laugh when Andrew told us that our kitchen table is, "for sitting properly and eating." We kind of looked at each other and said, "properly?" Is our son British?

Every day after we get Andrew from daycare we ask him about his day and he always asks us, "did you have fun at work today Mommy (Daddy)?" Yes, Andrew it is LOTS of FUN!

Andrew loves to talk about night v. daytime and he gets so upset because the bats are supposed to be out at night, and why don't we ever see bats? Thank goodness for his mother we never seem to run into any:)

Andrew: "You're a good driver Mommy."
Me: "Thank you, Andrew."

Watching Cowgirls basketball on tv: "Oh, you silly girls!"

Andrew: "You have a baby in your tummy Mommy?"
Me: "Yes, Andrew, I do."
Andrew: "I have a baby in my tummy too Mommy."
Me: "You do? What kind of baby is it, a boy baby or a girl baby?"
Andrew: "It's a boy baby."
Me: "What are you going to name it?"
Andrew: "Andrew."
Me: "What kind of baby does Mommy have in her tummy?"
Andrew: "A girl baby and I'm going to be a big brother!"

Andrew: "Daddy you have a baby in your tummy?"
Ryan: "No, no baby in my tummy."
Andrew: "Oh."