The Keene Family

The big weekend finally arrived: Jennifer's wedding! Jim's sister has been planning her wedding to Matt since February. She was nervous I'd go into labor on the altar... we solved that problem, didn't we? :) Our first family of four picture is outside Pasta Bella in Seattle on Friday night, for rehearsal dinner. We were honored to be very involved in the wedding: JT as ringbearer, Jim as groomsman, me as matron of honor, and Haley as honorary flower girl. Grandma Keene went emergency shopping and found the perfect dress for Haley. Grandma Cole got out her knitting needles and whipped up a premie-sized white hat and booties to match. Here Haley and I are waiting for pictures outside the church. The wedding was lovely, and soon after we headed to the reception where we ate, danced, and caught up with family and friends. I have to say that we could not have made it work without the help of Grandma and Grandpa Cole. They carted our bags, held our children, drove us around,...

We got the birth pictures last night from our photographer and they are amazing. We are so thankful that Sarah was there to record every moment. She was there for over seven hours and sent us 155 pictures - one set in B&W and one in color. I narrowed it down to 33 to post online and make a video. I get a little teary when I watch it... is it hormones or is it pretty beautiful? :) To view photos individually, click here .

So far, JT has been a wonderful big brother. He was so interested in Haley when he visited us in the hospital. He pointed to all of her parts and named them: "Eyes... nose... mouth... ears..." and then he noticed something suspicious: "Hands go?" They were all wrapped up in her swaddle. :) We were pleased that he made the connection: "Baby, mom's tummy, out!" When we got home, he asked to hold Haley. Either he has watched other people hold babies or someone gave him instructions at some point, because he holds his arms out like a pro. He is still working on being gentle, which is so hard for a toddler. He's working on being gentle when he climbs on up my lap, too! JT has all sorts of new responsibilities now that he's a big brother. His favorite is checking on Haley to see if she's sleeping or awake. Usually she is asleep. Yesterday Haley was too tired to nurse, so she got breastmilk in a bottle, and JT wanted to take it to her. He also to...

I had been thinking of finding a TV show that JT could watch after Haley was born as a "big brother" treat. We tried out a few shows before we landed on a winner: Bob the Builder. He has two Bob the Builder books that are his current favorite reads, so it worked out perfectly to try out the show. I did a search on DVR and scheduled it to record a month or so ago (what did we do before DVR?) so we'd have a little stock pile. He LOVES it. He knows some of the lines, like "No prob Bob" and "Yes we can!" He watches for his favorite characters (Scoop and Lofty). Salespitch for the show: I love that it has two fifteen minute segments, that there is always a lesson in character, and that they talk about how to use resources responsibly. Awesome. Watching Bob with dad after lunch While JT watched his show, Haley got to try out her new swing. We didn't have a swing with JT but I thought I might appreciate having one with two children in the house. She l...

Monday morning, we started slowly packing to go home from the hospital. Haley passed her car seat test and her pediatrician checkup with flying colors (praise!). I put her in the only outfit I grabbed when I packed Friday night... since Haley's room wasn't ready, we didn't have any clothes ready either. It was gigantic on her little frame, but looked great (thanks, Aunt Merrie). She also sported her new pink Harley hat from Grandpa Keene. When we got home, all three of us headed for a nap. Our Moses basket is camped out next to the big squishy chair that is now my daytime home, and Haley thinks it's pretty great. We love the new swaddle blankets (thanks, Megan) and she stays cozy in her two layers of clothes, hat, and two swaddle blankets that the hospital recommended we use to keep her preterm body warm enough. Grandpa and Grandma Cole brought JT and Slider home, along with dinner, and then we all said good night. Thanks to my parents, Jim, and my friend Jen, Haley...

Haley Lynn Keene joined our family on Saturday, August 21st at 2:36 AM. Story and pics below. Much to our surprise, on Friday, August 20th, at 7:22 PM, my water broke. It was a shock because not only is it a little over four weeks early, my water didn't break with JT and it isn't likely to happen anyway... but it did. JT and I took the dog on a walk, had a snack, picked up the toys, and he went to bed. Then I called Jim and told him to come home from work. I called the hospital and let them know we'd be arriving soon, and texted our birth photographer to let her know to meet us there. Jim called a neighor to come wait at our house until my mom could arrive to spend the night with JT. (Side note on the birth photographer... what a great decision. These are just a few pics that she's already sent, but she was here for seven hours taking pictures and there are more to come. She even got to come into the delivery room! I would highly recommend her: www.sarah-ellen.com .) By...

Sad, sad... the Coles left for home today. Last night we celebrated with a yummy steak dinner and s'mores by the fire until we were all falling asleep and had to crawl into bed. Everyone spent the night at our house and they left for the airport after a strawberry shortcake breakfast (one last splurge from Grandma Cole). Today when JT woke up from his nap, he said, "Ali Madi Preston go?" and I said, "Oh, remember? They had to go home." He asked, "Grandpa Cole's house?" and I said, "No, they had to go home to North Carolina and see Uncle Jeff." So JT thought about that, and then said, "Airplane. Fly home." :)

My friend Sarah hosted a lovely baby shower for me and Haley this weekend. It happened to be on the 15th, which is exactly one month until her scheduled arrival! We had a great time, and Haley got some adorable clothes chosen by people who clearly know my style, Harley hospital hats ( JT had one, too ), her beautiful bedding, and some staples, like binkies and a wipe warmer. Thank you, Sarah!

We took advantage of the gorgeous, hot weather on Saturday and went out on Puget Sound. Grandpa Cole drove us in his boat up to Poulsbo (which happens to be where Jim proposed ten years ago...). Madi and JT enjoying the ride - check out that hair! Ali was in charge of the map My mom and Gena enjoying the bow Climbing the rock - JT wanted to join in The kids at the top - JT got a boost up :) Enjoying my ice cream with my "pregnant glow" (aka 95 degrees outside) JT's first ice cream cone - Grandpa Cole insisted he get his own, and he even picked out his own flavor: cherry chip. He managed to eat quite a bit on his own before Madi finished it off! Back in Port Orchard on the dock

Last week Jim and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. We went to dinner and a movie ( Inception - go see it!) while the Cole kids babysat JT for us. They had quite a wonderful time while we were gone! A wagon ride to the park Practicing his throws with Grandpa's wiffle balls Playing telephone with Preston Family singalong!

JT passed his two-year-old checkup today with flying colors. He weighs 28 pounds (55th %), is 35 inches tall (70th %) and his head size has settled into large (98th %), instead of off the charts. :) He got his shot and took it like a champion, only proclaiming "Hurts!" and then moving on to better things, like his Garfield Band-Aid. We were happy to report to his doctor that he is all caught up in language skills and even ahead in colors and numbers... so we were given a new assignment: letters. Good thing he got letter cards for his birthday! Here he is on the way home, enjoying his first ever sucker that he got on the way out. I was eating apple slices and he pointed out that his sucker was "like Mom's apple" and he was right, it was apple flavored!

We took JT to his very first Mariner's game this week (and they won!). Aunt Gena, Preston, Madi, Ali, and Grandpa Cole came too. It was great! Jim and JT watching the game Meeting the Moose - awful lighting! Watching for trains Enjoying the view