Matthias's First At Home Bath

He loved the bath...

 

But not the drying off.

Isn't that the cutest pouty face you've ever seen??

Happy 2nd Birthday, Charlie!

Last Friday (4/24), Charlie celebrated his 2nd Birthday.

Charlie enjoying some Bean Street Cafe coffee.  "Mmmm...Good." 

His is such a fun loving little boy.  He loves making James laugh (along with everyone else!), is fearless and full of energy, likes to do things without help, and loves to climb, jump, and wrestle.  He gives the best hugs and kisses, and says the sweetest "OK" you've ever heard!  He also may be the world's messiest eater.

He's not quite ready for a birthday interview, but I can tell you that his favorite food is bacon, his favorite color is orange, his favorite T-shirt is his Dinosaur Train shirt, and he can sing a mean "Paw Patrol" theme song (I'll have to see if I can get it on video here sometime soon - it's adorable).

Without further ado, here is the link to his Birthday Video.  We love you, Charles Norman!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B01dH4iSONWvNDZMeDNYazE3dDQ/view?usp=sharing

It's A Boy!!

Meet Matthias John Nett

On the morning of Friday, March 20th, I woke up a little before 6 am needing to go to the bathroom.  When I laid back down in bed, that's when it hit - the first contraction.  It was 10 days past the due date, and the day my OB left for vacation.  Thankfully, though, it was the first day of Matthew's vacation and he awoke not too long after I did.  The contractions were about 6 minutes apart, so he went downstairs to work out a little bit.  After about an hour, they were coming in at 5 minutes apart, so he called his parents to come watch James & Charlie.

We got to the hospital a little before 9, and the contractions, which had been coming every 4 minutes, started getting further apart.  I was 4 cm dilated when they admitted me.  I tested positive for Group B Strep (you can read more about that here), so I was given a dose of antibiotics via IV.

Things went along pretty smoothly for awhile.  I had gone to bed late the night before and didn't sleep well, so I laid in bed for a couple of hours and was actually able to doze a bit between contractions.  The on-call doctor, whom I had never met before, popped in at some point to introduce himself and see how things were going.

Just around the time the IU game started (2:45), things got a lot more intense.  I labored on the birthing ball for about an hour.  I was pretty exhausted, and climbed into the bed.  The nurse checked me, and I was 8 cm dilated.  She started getting the room ready for delivery.  I kept alternating between being really hot and really cold, so poor Matthew kept having to turn the fan on and off and cover me with a blanket when I nicely commanded him to :).  At one point, he was feeding me ice chips and gave me some right before a contraction started.  I couldn't stand to have anything in my mouth, so I spit them out on the bed, which made Matthew laugh, which made me yell at him not to laugh.  Sorry!

My hands and legs started going numb with each contraction, and I said something to the nurse.  She told me that I was breathing too quickly through the contractions.  About the same time, the baby's heart rate started to decelerate with each contraction.  They hooked me up to oxygen, although I'm not entirely sure if it was for my benefit or the baby's (or both?).  Around that time, it seemed like the room was suddenly full of people, which made me start to worry.  I thought maybe something was wrong that they weren't telling me about, and when I asked what was wrong, the nurse said "You're going to have a baby!".  (I think it was a neonatal team that was brought in, but I'm not sure).

I was checked again, and the nurse said with one more contraction I'd be at 10 cm.  I was feeling a lot of pressure, and with the next contraction, I didn't push per se, but gave things a bit of a nudge and my water broke.

When the next contraction came, it was the craziest thing - my body started pushing without me consciously telling it to.  And out came his head!  His shoulder was stuck, so the doctor told me to do a small push between contractions so he could reach in and dislodge his shoulder (ouch!).  He came slipping out with the next contraction at 5:03pm.

Matthew cutting the umbilical cord

He came out an angry little guy - he screamed for quite awhile!

We got to cuddle with him for a while and feed him before he was cleaned off, weighed and measured.  He was 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.  By far our biggest baby!

My parents and then my brother and sister-in-law came to the hospital to meet him.

We got to spend a couple of hours with him before they took him to the nursery for observation and his first bath.  Matthew & my brother tagged along to get some pictures (at my urging :).

The next day, he got to meet his big brothers.  It was love at first sight.

He also got to meet my Grandpa (who was too nervous to hold him) and the Nett side of the family, including his 6 month old cousin Caleb (I love that they'll be in the same grade when they start school!).

He wasn't named for almost 24 hours.  We really struggled with a boy's name the entire pregnancy.  About a week before his due date, we sat down came up with a list of 4 names that we liked, although we weren't sure which one was "the one".

After spending some time with this beautiful boy, we decided on Matthias John.  Matthias, which is the German form of Matthew, was the name of Matthew's Great Great Uncle.  He was his maternal Grandmother's favorite Uncle, and Matthew was named after him as well (his parents preferred the english Matthew to the German Matthias).  Thanks to a little research done by his Great Grandpa Stengel and Grandpa Nett, we learned that St. Matthias was the apostle that replaced Judas.

His middle name is after my Grandpa, John Vincent Stengel (my Grandpa goes by Vince).  March 20th is the feast day of St. John, which also helped us in making our decision :)

We are very in love with our little Matthias John!

And for those of you wondering if he looks like his brothers, here are their side-by-side pictures from the day they were born:

Yet Another James Birthday Post :)

This is the last one, I promise!  I wanted to share what we did on his big day.

As you may know, one of James's favorite foods is pancakes, so we asked his Grandparents to meet us at Cracker Barrel for a special breakfast.

After breakfast, there was some present opening...

...followed by the obligatory visit to the gift shop to check out the toys.  He tried to use the grabber to get Scrambler out, but was unsuccessful (yes, I am still pregnant).

With James's Grandpa in tow, we then headed to the Kentucky Science Center.

As usual, the boys had a blast at the water table.

James really enjoyed the body exhibit, too.  The kid loves all things skeleton related.

We headed back to our house for lunch, and James's Grandma brought over this amazing construction cake:

There was more present opening...

...and then some playing while Charlie took his nap.

The Birthday Boy requested kimchi for dinner, which was followed by even more present opening (!)

And our annual family picture.  I think these are the best smiles yet!

When then headed to comfy cow for yet another of James's favorite foods: ice cream!  His aunts,uncles, and cousin met us there to celebrate.

And of course, there was more present opening :)

We feel so blessed to be near family that love James like they do.  Thank you all for helping making his day so special!

And now for a trip down memory lane :)

James's 4th Birthday Party

Picture from James's Birthday Party Invitation

With the baby's due date so close to James's birthday, we did something a little different for his party this year.  Instead of having it at our home, we had it at a place called KaZoing that has bouncy houses and a playroom.  The kids had a blast (and we hope the adults did, too!).

We spent 45 minutes in the room with the bouncy houses.  Unfortunately, the kids (and adults!) were so fast that most of the pictures turned out pretty blurry.

After running, bouncing and sliding, the kids enjoyed some cake, cupcakes, ice cream, and snacks.  A big thank you to James's Grandma Patsy for the awesome Bob the Builder cake!

We then ventured to the playroom for some more fun.

How James "poses" for the camera.

James and his Godparents: Aunt Jill & Uncle Matt

 And I can't resist sharing a few pictures of our precious Godson :)

Happy 4th Birthday, James Hardin!

Our 2nd Annual Interview with the Birthday Boy

(see last year's interview here)

What is your name?  Rubble

How old are you?  Four

What is your favorite color?  Yellow

What is your favorite number?  Four

What is your favorite song?  Paw Patrol song*

What is your favorite food?  Pancakes

What is your favorite sport?  Baseball

What is your favorite sports team?  The baseball sports team

Which baseball sports team?  The Reds

What is your favorite book?  One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Construction Worker**

What is your favorite video?  McQueen

What is your favorite toy?  The Birthday toys.

If you could do anything, what would you do?  Play with the choo-choo's.

*We've never heard the Paw Patrol song before, and when asked to sing it, James yelled "Paw Patrol!" and then said "That's it!".

**While at the Science Museum today, he told me "When I go to work at a hospital, I want to take pictures of people's skeletons."  So we're not ruling out Radiologist :)

---------------------------------------------

Youtube has gotten stricter with copyrighted material, so I'm trying a new way of sharing the video this year (I just had to include some of James's favorite songs!).  Click on the link below to view his birthday video.  If this doesn't work, please let me know.  Enjoy!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B01dH4iSONWvVDUtMVNYWHUweTQ/view?usp=sharing

PS - I'll hopefully be back soon with some pictures from his birthday party and his actual birthday.  That is, if I don't go into labor first!

Caleb Joseph's Baptism

 On Sunday, February 15th, Caleb Joseph was baptized at St. John the Baptist Church in Starlight.  He was so good during the baptism - I had never seen a baby smile while getting cold water poured on his head before!

Matthew & I feel very blessed to be Caleb's Godparents, and are very thankful that Matthew was able to get this job in Indiana so we can be near to him and watch him grow.  We love you, Caleb Joseph!

Heavenly Father, thank you for this token of Your love

A precious little angel sent from heaven up above

As we commit him to you, may You stay forever near

And send a guardian angel, Lord, to guide and watch him here.

Help him always feel Your presence, love and gentle hand; 

Then Dear Father, through Your love…have grace to understand.

And through this cherished honor, Lord, help us be his guide

That we may help to raise him to become Your joy and pride.

In every way please give him wisdom as we watch him grow;

Let us be within Your will, speak gently so we'll know.

Last of all Dear Father,

Stay within our hearts each day

And keep us near Your heavenly flocks

Oh Father Dear

We pray.

(source)