Thanksgiving 2012

What a wonderful Thanksgiving - we have so much to be thankful for!  Having little Tyler arrive to complete our family has been such a special blessing.  We are really excited for a fun holiday season this year.  Thanksgiving kicked things off, and we started by spending the day at Grammy and Grandpa Brown's house.  We arrived before lunch and spent the day playing with toys, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV (and the annual dog show!), and enjoying all the wonderful smells that came from the kitchen.  Mel, Aaron and Jackson arrived later that day and we had a lovely meal, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, jello, etc.!  It was delicious.

The next day, we drove to Lafayette, IN for our second Thanksgiving meal at the Harding house.  Tracy and Steve are such great chefs and are very kind to host the Reder crew for the second year in a row.  We missed Grandma and Grandpa Reder of course, but we'll get to see them in a few short weeks at Christmas.  Meanwhile, we had a great turkey celebration with the Harding and Burkholder families!  We feasted on turkey, squash casserole, mashed potatoes, rice pudding, stuffing, etc.!  And of course plenty of pies for dessert.

New Family Photos

When Tyler was a week old, we had a photographer (friend-of-friend) come to the house to take some family pictures.  It always feels weird to me to have family photos hung up where someone is missing, so we needed new ones with little Tyler!  Here are a few of our favorites.

Three Piggy Opera

In October, Cassidy's Kindergarten class put on their first production!  It was called the Three Piggy Opera.  Cassidy was part of the piggy chorus.  She did a great job!  I was so happy to be able to see this play in person, as Tyler was born just 4 days before.  In fact, Erik and I were not scheduled to go home from the hospital until the morning of the show, but we told our nurse how much it would mean to Cassidy, and to us, for us all to be there, so she got the doctor to approve our release the night before.  It was also great that Grandma and Grandpa Reder were in from FL, so they got to attend as well.  She had lots of supporters for her special debut!

Halloween 2012

We had another great Halloween this year, walking the neighborhood with friends and having fun greeting the trick-or-treaters that stopped by.  Cassidy was Rapunzel, Gavin was Snake Eyes (some GI Joe character? We don't know him but Gavin saw the costume at Costco and insisted!), and Tyler was a baby giraffe.  Here are some photos of all the fun.

Carving the pumpkin with Daddy

Family photo!  Apparently we have two Rapunzels...

Post-trick-or-treating

Believe it or not, after about 15 takes, this was the best!

Special Time with Grandma and Grandpa Reder

We are eternally grateful to Grandma and Grandpa Reder for the help they gave us during Tyler's arrival!  They took great care of Cassidy and Gavin during the 4-day hospital stay, shuttling them here there for school and kiddie activities.  After we came home, they helped us get settled and kept the older kids occupied while also getting to know little Tyler!  Dad eventually made his way back to FL, and mom stayed on another 2 weeks to help me transition to life as a stay-at-home mom of 3.  Erik needed to return to work, and I was still recovering from surgery and the exhaustion of newborn days...I don't know that the kids would have ever gotten out the door for school without Grandma Reder here to help!  She was ready to greet them each morning at 7am, fed them breakfast, got them dressed, braided Cassidy's hair, packed lunches...not sure how she did it all before 8am but I am very appreciative!  Meanwhile, I was able to nurse Tyler whenever he needed and didn't have to worry about logistics of each day.  It was a bit scary once mom returned to Florida to face that first Monday on my own!  But we have adjusted and the house is running as smoothly as can be expected.  It's a happy chaos most days, but we are grateful for every second!  We sure miss Grandma and Grandpa, but are looking forward to our Christmastime get-together in just 7 short weeks.

Here are some photos from their wonderful visit...

Bedtime books with Grandma

Gavin loved to try on Grandma's glasses throughout their visit

Making Halloween scarecrows at the local nursery/garden shop

Painting pumpkins!

Tyler's first night home

Family dinnertime

Tyler loved cuddling with Grandma...love this adorable newborn smushy face!

Grandpa and Tyler took catnaps together

Little Tyler bonds with Grandma

The Hardings came for a visit too - we had a blast with them!

We took Grandma to the lovely Botanic Gardens nearby

We had some fun girltime...Cassidy's first mani/pedi!

Tyler's First Month

We can't believe Baby Tyler is 1 month old!  I remember his first few days in the hospital so vividly (and hope I always will!) that it seems impossible 4 weeks have since gone by.  He is doing wonderfully!  He spends most of his time eating, sleeping or getting his diaper changed.  If he's awake, he really likes to be held, but he also spends a few waking moments lying on his jungle mat, looking up at the light and sounds above him.  He eats every 2-3 hours during the day, and goes a little longer, about 3-4 hours, between feedings at night.  We call him the snarfler - our made-up word for the noises he makes when he's eating (or really anytime he's awake for that matter - he's full of funny grunts and sounds).  He catnaps throughout the day, always falling asleep in the car when we're out for school drop-off and pick-ups.  I love watching him fall asleep - in those first few minutes, his face almost always twitches into an adorable grin as he nods off.  The older two kids pepper him with little kisses whenever they walk by and they love to help with his pacifier and baby toys when he cries.  It's already hard to recall life before he arrived - we're so glad to have him here!

We have been so touched by the amazing amount of support and warm wishes we've received from our friends and family, both near and far.  I have barely cooked a meal since he's arrived - we are so grateful for everyone's help.  We are particularly grateful to Grandma and Grandpa Reder, who came up from FL for an extended stay to lend us a hand during our hospital stay and beyond (more to come on that soon!).  Now that we've passed the month mark, we're getting used to the "new normal" around here... and life is good!

Here are some photos from Tyler's first month... 

Arriving home from the hospital on Thursday, Oct 4.

Go Bears!  Already a fan (and potential linebacker...Tyler's a hefty boy)!

Cassidy and Gavin were so excited to have him home

All back under one roof, as a family of five!

They love looking at him...

Tyler's favorite way to sleep (he's a cuddler!)

His first sponge bath at 1 week old...not too many tears!  (And we had Grandma Reder here to help!)

Enjoying his warm hooded towel.

The smile as he falls asleep...I love this!

Cuddling with mommy.  Scrumptious!  I wish he could stay this little forever!

He likes to doze on his boppy pillow

He only enjoys the swing for naps at this point...but so peaceful.

And here he is now, at 1 month old!