Only six weeks?

Jason is growing fast! Recently someone asked how many months old he was... only six weeks! Yes, he is a big boy. He's lost his neck and is starting to get the rolls, chubby cheeks and thighs. He's scrumptious!

Everyone is doing well... Kara and Ben have started to play more interactively together. It's great because they can keep each other occupied for quite awhile. The dinosaurs say hello and go to parties with the Barbies, they read books to each other.

Kara and Ben both love being near Jason. Since he is looking around so much and noticing things in his environment, they now argue over who Jason is looking at... Even Grandpa asks, "why isn't he looking at me?" We all want to feel the love :)

Life on the farm...

We're spending some time in Parlier at Pampa and Grandma 'Rene's house, which means daily walks on the ranch, feeding the koi and giving treats to Rolo, the dog. Kara and Ben love to feed the fish and Ben is always on the look out for the large white "shark" that lives in the koi pond. Kara was very proud that on today's walk, she picked her first Asian pear apple all by herself. If you look closely, you'll see it on the rock beside her along with the leaf and flower she picked up along the way.





Jason has found his time in Parlier to be very relaxing... Oh, what I would give for a nap!

Growing... growing

Because of Jason's jaundice, he went to the doctor at two weeks and three weeks... At his three week appointment, he weighed in at 9 lbs. 5 oz. and the nurse and I were both shocked. He's a good little eater, this one!





We're all loving baby Jason... his soft skin, the little noises he makes when he eats and sleeps, his big eyes looking at us, the sweetness of being a baby.

Party of Five

Even though we feel like life has changed a lot, some things have stayed the same... Kara still enjoys reading books and will quickly correct you if you miss a few words in an attempt to expedite the story. She's been making jewelry and has quite a collection of necklaces and bracelets. Kara likes helping in the kitchen, whether it's baking or peeling hard boiled eggs.

Ben goes back and forth between playing with his cars and dinosaurs and loves this dinosaur application on the iPad... he's learned a lot of the dinosaurs names and says he's a T. Rex (we sometimes call him B. Rex) and that Sho is a Boceritops (also knows as a Triceritops).

We've been to the Natural History Museum a few times in the past month, but this week, we took our first family trip to see the dinosaurs and when we got our Dinosaur Hall pass, it read "Party of 5" which I think is so cool :)

That's my brother!

We wondered how Ben would do with a new baby at home.... and we're happy to say that Ben is so gentle and sweet with Jason. Ben asks to hold Jason and then will sing him songs, or comfort him by saying, "Don't cry, baby."

Ben is very protective of Jason and makes sure other kids don't get too close... he recently told a little one and a half year old girl, "No, that's MY brother." This morning he went up to Jason and called him "cute pie", but most of the time, Ben calls his brother "JJ".

Kara likes to tell other people that she has a new brother and says, "He's really cute."

Jason is doing great - he's gained weight, is awake and has his eyes open for longer periods of time and likes to hold his head up and look around. Can't believe he's going to be three weeks old soon!

A little more Jason...

We were able to bring Jason home on Tuesday and though we're both getting less rest, it's great to be home with the rest of the family.

Like most babies, Jason's enjoying the good life, as his day consists mostly of eating and sleeping. But when he opens his eyes, he loves to look around, hold up his head for a moment and then it's back to sleep.

Hope your day has some magical moments as well!

Welcome, Baby Jason!

Jason was born on August 8th at 1:51pm. He was 7 lbs. 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He is doing great... eating and sleeping and just looking cute.

I still remember the first time I saw Sho hold a baby... and now he's a pro. Any fears and worries he once had are now replaced with love, excitement and joy.

The kids came to the hospital for for the long awaited meeting with their little brother. Kara wanted to hold Jason and give him kisses. Ben covered his ears at any sound of crying, but he did give Jason a few soft pats, then lifted his shirt to show me his baby (a.k.a. belly button).

I hope we're headed home soon, because Kara asked last night why the baby couldn't come home with her... We're all excited that Jason has arrived to join our family and we can't wait to start the next chapter of our little adventure!